“Hey,” Mike says, offering him his canteen as Will clambers to the platform. “Want some?”
On another night—or if Will were another boy, one who liked someone in a casual way, not bone-deep, not known-since-forever—there may have been a fleeting thought, like indirect kiss. But tonight, here, in the Upside Down, with the boy Will’s held in his heart so long that the only people he’s loved longer are Jonathan and his mom — tonight, Will just nods, and drinks gratefully.
He passes it back to Mike, and says, “So… is it everything you thought it’d be?”
Mike looks at him, and Will tilts his head, eyes flicking to their surroundings.
“Bigger than I thought,” Mike says. “Well, kind of. I knew, rationally, that it was a flip of Hawkins, but…”
“It’s weird for me too,” Will confides. “It felt endless, back then, but – it was endless like the forest, not—” He gestures over the town.
“Yeah,” Mike says softly, and he’s just. Looking at Will.
“I used to be so scared of it,” Will says suddenly, and it’s not news, it’s nothing Mike wouldn’t already know, but it just – comes tumbling out. An avalanche, no stopping. “Nightmares for years. And that week, it was – I’ve never been so cold. But now, I look at it, and it’s—” He struggles, then says, a little defeated, “It’s familiar.”
“Hey,” Mike says, and he’s close, suddenly. Hand on Will’s arm, steady, unwavering. “It was scary. It is scary, even – you’re just a sorcerer now, and you’ve faced even worse things since. Anyone would be scared to find themselves here, and you were just a kid. Just a kid, but you survived. You’re brave, Will.”
Will can’t speak for a moment. It’s all in his throat—his heart, his words, everything, a huge jumble—and he wishes he had his markers, his brushes. Everything is a little easier to show than to say.
“And you’re wise, Mike,” he says eventually, cracking a smile.
Mike huffs a laugh, relieved. He’s always had the most earnest eyes Will’s ever seen. It’s hard for him to imagine being anywhere but Hawkins, even with the year he spent in Lenora, but Will thinks even if he managed to get out—even if there was anywhere in this world he would want to go—he could spend his whole life looking, and still never find eyes like Mike’s. Even before they made something in his stomach tighten, they’ve always meant safety, meant trust. They’ve always meant someone who believes in him.
“I learned it from you,” Mike says softly. Will hums, a little shy, and looks out over the Upside Down.
They don’t have much time, but maybe they have time for this. Just a moment’s reprieve before the end of the world.
“You were right,” Mike says quietly, suddenly. Will turns his head to look at him, and finds Mike already looking back. “I’m—” He hesitates, knuckles tightening over the platform barrier. “I’m not like you,” he says, and something inside of Will turns to glass. So he did figure it out, then.
“But you’re still my best friend,” Mike says suddenly, fiercely. Like Vecna himself couldn’t tear that promise away from him. “If you’ll have me,” he says, ducking his head, a flash of bashfulness. “I know I haven’t always been the best at it—”
“No, no,” Will says, feeling his voice start to shake. “You’re a great friend, Mike—”
“No,” Mike says firmly. “I haven’t always been, not to you. And I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. I should have been there for you, and helped you, and I wasn’t there. That’s on me.” His eyes are so dark, so sincere. So lovely. “You’re my best friend, Will. I’m not okay unless you’re okay. I promise I won’t let myself forget that again.”
Will loves him. Will is in love with him, but before that, he loves him, and this surety, this – this pledge, it—
He wipes his eyes, tearing up a little. “I didn’t want anything to change,” he says, and Mike –
His lips twist, just a little, but more wry than anything. “I think things have to change,” he says, “but the one thing that won’t is that you’re never going to lose me. Not ever. Okay?”
“Even though we’re not the same?” Will can’t help but ask.
Mike squeezes his arm again. “Even then,” he says, then quirks his lips up. “No matter what. Let’s go crazy together, right?”
Will huffs a wet laugh. “Right,” he says, then looks up at the sky, up the rest of the tower they have to climb, up to where a planet is maybe going to drop on them. “Crazy together. Always.”
