hear me out byler au/variant typa thing where they are a comic writer duo who met as kids/teenagers and have always created together, so much that it engrained in their way of writing/drawing to do things in a way that complements the other's style. their comic book series about two young boys who are best friends and save the world together blows up and loads of people start shipping them and hoping they end up together as the series is still ongoing. mike and will are both very surprised by this, as the characters were based on themselves and their relationship and they never intended it to be romantic. will feels extremely guilty and wrong because he is in love with mike and is scared he unconsciously let that show in his art. mike is a bit taken aback but mostly just confused, cause the things people point out as having romantic undertones have always just been normal in his relationship with will. they both dont really know how to address this so they start to be awkward with each other in a way theyve never been. they dont talk about it and continue to write the story as they had it planned, with the characters as best friends. will opens up to his queer friends and they are all super sure mike is queer and will should totally talk to him about both their relationship and changing the direction of the story. mike however feels very accussed? attacked? about someone he intended to be just like him being called queer in a very unconscious way, even though he isnt homophobic and is totally accepting of will and his friends, theres still an element of 'but that is not me' because internalized homophobia is a bitch. he actually hasnt dated anyone in years. so he goes out and tries to flirt with women even though that never interested him before. some girl flirts with him and he kisses her and he doesnt really feel anything but then again what is he supposed to feel maybe thats just what it is like. she pulls him into a situationship and he just doesnt know how to get out of it because he doesnt have any good reason to break it off cause there is nothing really wrong it just doesnt feel right. he is starting to question his heterosexuality more clearly now but saying that out loud still feels like too much. he just says everything is going well to will because just like with the girl he cant say much else cause that would mean coming out. and he is too scared. its all too much. is that why he felt so different with will? were all those people right? will is just living the new awkwardness of their relationship and the seemingly great appearance of this girl in mikes life right as this whole shipping thing started. and he interprets it as mike being grossed out by being called queer and marking a distance. this keeps going for a bit until it explodes because they cant coexist normally anymore and they just get worked up and scream at the other. they say some hurtful things rain fight style. will impulsively tells the press their creative partnership is over. this is so public like mclennon style. but of course it wakes mike up from his paralysis and he goes find will and confesses and its all so much and fuck they can finally be fully honest with each other and be affectionate unapologetically. they get together and then they obviously create a beautiful romantic development for their characters. the comic series and its authors love story become iconic queer history.
