BAD - will byers x mike wheeler
synopsis: mike and will can’t hide from each other anymore. suggestive
warnings: slight internalized homophobia, aged up characters (everyone’s 18-19), underage drinking
tags: college! au, real painful and mutual gay yearning, some small lumax and dusie moments
author’s notes: wanted to do a fully song based fanfic, literally shuffled my playlist and immediately thought of byler when this song came on
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“You two really can’t handle a drink like a real man.” Lucas joked, looking between Mike and Will.
The two party members were clearly wasted, passionately singing in their impromptu karaoke session in Mike’s living room. Somehow, the perfect storm happened for the party to meet up at his house like old times and get drunk together: his parents went on a trip, Holly was sleeping over at her friend’s house, and Nancy and Johnathan were on a roadtrip together.
Will and Mike were drunkenly singing ‘Live Wire’ by Motley Crue, per Mike’s request. Will of course went along with it, as there were few things he wouldn’t do for his friend; a painfully inaccurate word he was forced to use to describe the one-sided love of his life. The two of them were drunkenly slurring through the song in the second half, and everyone could tell they were mentally gone. After the two were done singing (to the rest of the party’s relief), Will sat back down with a slight somber look.
He thought about just how long he’d been silently pining for the boy sat next to him. It’s had to have been at least five years at this point. Although, Will couldn’t remember the exact date and time he fell for his best friend, he remembered the moment he realized. It seemed like lifetimes ago, partly because it was. Max had just joined the party (or rather in the process of joining), Dustin hadn’t met Susie yet, El was presumed dead by everyone, and all of them were at least half the size they all were now. He’d never forget Halloween of ‘84 for multiple reasons: they all dressed as Ghostbusters, Lucas and Mike fought all day long about who was Vekman, and Max was in her Michael Myers mask that scared the shit out of everyone then. Will even recorded some of the night on Bob’s fancy camera.
But he also remembered just how intense his ‘now memory episodes’ were. That night in particular was so intense that he barely realized there were kids bullying him in that moment. All Will remembered was Mike being by his side, being the first one there for him. He remembered how gentle he talked to him as he pulled him out of it, and he remembered the tingling sensation he felt as Mike held his arm around him and took him to his basement. He remembered Mike and him declaring they’d go crazy together.
Will couldn’t really believe in that much anymore. He wanted to do something crazy with Mike. He wanted to do the unthinkable. But Will knows Mike had his new girlfriend and couldn’t feel even a sliver of what he felt for him. Will ended up drowning in this thoughts: he hadn’t even noticed Dustin and Susie belting out to ‘99 Red Balloons’ by Nena or El monotonously singing ‘Don’t Wanna Fall In Love’ by Jane Child before Max and Susie loudly joined in. While it wasn’t that noticeable to anyone else that he was practically zoned out, of course Mike would notice.
“What? You don’t like Jane Child or something?” Mike asked jokingly, but opening the door for Will to tell him what was bothering him.
“I really don’t.” Will responded in the same joking tone, deciding to opt out the conversation. “At least not when El sings it.”
Mike snickered at his retort, resulting in El hitting the both of them in a playful and friendly way. Next, the party watched Lucas serenade Max with ‘P. Y. T’ by Michael Jackson. Max sang along at some parts, but was mainly laughing at how screechy and off pitch Lucas sounded at some parts in the song. Mike harmlessly put his arm over Will. Or at least, that’s how it appeared. Will got those same feelings tenfold that he got on Halloween in ‘84 due to the contact. And while it appeared like mindless and drunken friendly affection to everyone including Will, it was anything but that for Mike.
It took many years for him to admit it to himself, but Mike definitely had a thing for Will. His childhood best friend. The first friend he ever made in his entire life. He knew the arm thing was bold, but Mike figured he could chalk it up to drunkenness if he needed to explain himself. His arm almost felt like it was on fire draping it over Will. His mind was starting to realize that this was the feeling all those corny love songs were talking about. He never felt this before, he never felt this with El. Never felt this with his recent ex-girlfriend. He felt so indulgent wrapping his arm around him like he did when they were kids. Like a pit opened up in his stomach and he didn’t know what it would take to close it. Mike was fully overthinking the contact despite not willing to move his arm away. Would the party notice? If they did would they say anything bad? Was it obvious that he had a thing for Will? Could everyone see him drowning in his feelings for the artisan? Mike was silently wondering if Will felt the heavy emotions he felt.
On the other hand, Will was partly freaking out, but mainly sulking. He assumed Mike just put his arm over him in a friendly manner, but it was very hard for the sensitive boy to take it that way. He was suddenly very thankful that he became fire engine red after a drop of alcohol. Or else, his feelings for Mike he tried so hard to suppress would show. He studied Lucas obnoxiously singing to Max with that loving look in his eyes. He couldn’t even be mad at the two, they were so cute together. But, part of him wondered would he ever have Mike look at him that way. Did he look like that when he looked at Mike? Could everyone else in the party but Mike see that he had these intense feelings for him? Will felt stuck at a crossroads, not knowing what to do. Did he want things to stay the way that they were out of comfortability? Ensure that Mike wouldn’t leave him? Or did he want to potentially ruin the most important relationship in his entire life? Did he want to risk pushing his love away from him?
Max and Lucas studied the two silently pining boys that were lost in thought. To get them out of their heads, both of them decided to playfully yell and sing in their faces. This successfully brought both of them out of their drunken daze, even causing Mike to hilariously fall backwards.
“I want to play spin the bottle. But, we can take a shot if we don’t want to kiss the person.” Susie announced.
“This is why my girlfriend’s the genius.” Dustin bragged, liking Susie’s idea.
“And you better drink if it’s not me.” Susie retorted, looking at Dustin.
“I’m down, everyone else down?” Lucas asked bluntly.
Sounds of agreement filled the room as they all looked around for one of many empty beer bottles they had laying around Mike’s living area. Once El found one, she boldly went first, the bottle comically landing on Mike. After a lot of playful ‘oos’ spread across the room, she ended up giving him a peck on the cheek.
“I can say this now that you’re broken up, but you guys used to torture us when you two first got together, Jesus.” Max retorted a little drunkenly and playfully.
“Oh please, and you’re acting like you and Lucas were any different.” Mike retorted.
“They are different. They’re better. And still together.” El monotonously joked, causing laughs from everyone.
“That is true. They’re better together. And Lumax is still going strong.” Will agreed through chuckles.
“You guys have got to stop calling us that.” Max retorted playfully.
Mike rolled his eyes and shrugged as he spun the bottle, which ended pointing to Max. Max made a bunch of vomiting noises while Mike didn’t hesitate at all to pick up his drink and take a shot of it. While it seemed under the guise of this playful rivalry Max and Mike had ever since they became friends, Mike truly wasn’t in the business of even pecking the girls in the room on the cheek: Dustin would kill him if he kissed Susie, Lucas would probably be fine about Max but didn’t want to, and him and El were basically brother and sister now that they broke up over a year ago. The truth was he didn’t want to kiss the girls. He was dead set on kissing one particular boy in the room. Max spun the bottle, which ended pointing to Dustin. It resulted in a cute peck on the cheek.
A couple more rounds end up happening, some people even more drunk than when they started. Lucas spun the bottle and it ended up on Will. After having drank one too many times, he conceded and kissed Will on the cheek. Or at least that’s what he aimed to do. What ended up happening is that the two accidentally actually kissed, which neither of them minded. Everyone seemed surprised, joking as they asked how the kiss was to both Lucas and Will in a playful and fun manner.
“Hey, I’m not mad. Rather it be Will than either of you buttheads.” Lucas retorted, motioning between Mike and Dustin.
“Hey! What’s so special about Will, huh?!” Dustin asked, playfully betrayed by Lucas.
“He’s the only one of the core four that’s not a butthead.” Lucas joked.
“So you’re calling yourself a butthead?” Max asked playfully, lightly jabbing her boyfriend’s side.
“You think I’m a butthead?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you chose to be with a butthead, what does that say about you?” Lucas joked.
“Eh, you’re the least butthead guy here, I can tell you that much.” Max retorted, playfully glaring at Mike.
Mike didn’t return the playful energy back, feeling a pit of jealousy watching the two kiss. Truth be told, Will and Lucas did have a secret and special bond. Lucas was the first to figure out Will was gay, and he supported him still after all these years. And Will seemed to talk to Lucas more and more over the years whenever he was struggling. He tried to pretend it didn’t hurt him, but Mike felt a little sad about that. And now Lucas got to kiss him? He knew it wasn’t anything serious, but Mike wanted that to be him.
He seemed to only snap out his jealously when he noticed that Will pecked his jawline. Lucas, much like figuring out Will was gay, was the first and only person to know about his crush on Mike. And, him being the ever observant one, decided to comment.
“For the jawline? Quite scandalous.” Lucas teased, sharing a look with Will. To everyone else, it seemed like an inside joke none of them were in on.
“Give me a break, he’s too tall and I’m too drunk.” Will retorted with a chuckle.
This caused more laughs around the room. Mike definitely was noticeably taller than Will, you could see the difference clearly as they sat next to each other. Mike was the only one not really laughing, as his mind was silently reeling from the feeling of Will’s lips on his skin. It seemed that too much time had passed, as everyone looked at Mike with anticipation. Once Mike realized they were all waiting for him to spin the bottle again, he slightly shook his head before doing so.
After a couple more rounds, Dustin, El, and Susie announced they’d be leaving. Everyone gave each other hugs to them before they left. Soon after that, Lucas and Max ended up leaving. This left Will and Mike alone, with a tension replacing the presence of their friends. Mike started to shamelessly stare at Will now that the two were alone, mentally thinking of ways to take advantage of the rare opportunity.
“Wanna keep drinking?” Mike asked Will.
“Uh, yeah. I don’t mind.” Will responded tensely.
Will seemed to stare back, but definitely not as blatantly as Mike. As he watched him stumble over to the kitchen to grab two glasses, Mike poured the last of the second bottle of alcohol. He drunkenly looked over at Will, slowly stumbling back to where he was on the couch. Mike at this point was halfway staring and halfway attempting to form his words.
“We should cheers to something.” Mike retorted drunkenly.
“What could we even cheers to?” Will asked confused.
“I dunno. Friendship?”
“Friendship?”
“I mean yeah, you were kinda my first friend.”
“But that’s kinda lame.”
“Okay then genius, what do you wanna cheers to?” Mike teased, looking over at Will.
He pondered on it for a while before looking back at the dark haired boy. Will simply shrugged before the two just decided to chug their shots silently, not really having anything to cheers to. After both of them finished off their drinks, Mike wiped his face with his shirt. There was a long and awkward pause, giving Mike more time to study Will. His face was doing that specific scrunch he had when he was irritated and upset. Did he do something wrong? Did he do something that reminded him of an asshole at art school? Was art school even going good for him? Was his mood even related to Mike? Was this about earlier? He couldn’t keep quiet anymore, and refused to further speculate what was wrong with Will.
“What’s wrong?” Mike asked concerned.
“There’s nothing wrong… why do you ask?” Will asked.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine. It’s just… been a while.”
“Yeah… but you sound weird.” Mike stated drunkenly, starting to lean on Will for support.
“I’ve been doing bad. I’ve been terrible, is that what you want me to say?” Will asked in a snappy and defensive tone.
“No! But… I just wanna know what I can do… to make you feel better. You’re acting weird.” Mike softly slurred into Will’s shoulder, pausing to remember what he wanted to say.
“Ugh… it’s… nothing.” Will grumbled, trying to push Mike away. Their increased closeness was scaring him and giving him false hope.
Mike, not believing a word from Will’s mouth emerged from the crook of his neck and shook his shoulders. He personally was getting a bit upset and irritated that Will felt the need to hide things from him. He hadn’t given him a reason tonight to be upset with him. Or to hide anything from him.
“Come on! There’s no one here but me. Talk to me.” Mike whined.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Will retorted.
“But you can talk to Lucas, right?”
“Huh?”
“You two are closer now… you used to talk to me…”
“Mike, it’s not even about that-“
“Then talk to me.” Mike whined, leaning on Will and pushing him onto the couch. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“This is wrong.”
“What?”
“It’s hard to keep doing this, Mike.” Will stated emotionally.
“Doing what?” Mike asked sadly. He started assuming the worst, assuming Will didn’t want him around anymore.
“Pretending that I don’t love you, Mike!” Will exclaimed, not able to filter his words anymore.
“What?” Mike breathed out in shock.
Silence filled the room. Will started thinking about how years and years of pining were about to end terribly. He held on for so long, held it together through middle and high school. He started to wonder how long he would have been able to keep that dark secret to himself if he hadn’t overdone it with the drinking. If he didn’t get so unreasonably mad at the boy pining him down to his couch. Why did he say that? He knew Mike didn’t feel the same and yet he blurted it out anyways. He knew Mike had a girlfriend, he knew Mike wasn’t into guys. He knew he didn’t have a chance and still blurted it out anyway.
‘I fucked up. I can’t believe I fucked it up’ Will thought sadly.
“What did you say?” Mike asked again, softly with anticipation.
“I love you, Mike.” Will said with less confidence and vigor, attempting to hide his face.
Mike just looked at him shocked. Will liked him? For how long? Outside of his confusion at how Will could possibly like him back, Mike was on cloud nine. The friend he had a managed to develop a intense gay crush on liked him back? He wasn’t going to hate him for liking him? Mike felt like the luckiest person on Earth at the moment. After processing the wave of emotions that hit him, he couldn’t help but break out into a smile, causing Will further confusion and fear.
“You like me? For real? You’re not just saying that?” Mike asked with a giddy and drunk smile.
“Yeah?” Will said a bit breathlessly.
“Mm… you really like me back?” Mike mumbled into his neck.
“Yeah…” Will repeated mindlessly, not believing what was happening. “Wait… don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“Broke up with her.”
“Why?”
“She’s not you.”
“Yeah, she was better than me.”
“Not true. No one’s better than you.”
“But she was so nice and pretty and-“
“She’s not you.” Mike reiterated.
As he took in Will’s scent, he started kissing and nibbling on Will’s neck, his impulse control almost completely gone after shot number two. He barely kept himself together in front of the party. Barely contained his jealously. Barely contained his feelings for Will. But now, he was taking full advantage of the fact the two were alone now. Will gasped, tensing up even more with the sudden contact of Mike’s teeth on his neck.
“Mm… do you want me to stop?” Mike breathed softly into Will’s neck, knowing even in this state he shouldn’t go too far with Will.
“Mm, no.” Will said with a shiver.
Mike didn’t waste time, continuing to bite harder, aiming to leave marks on Will’s skin. This only caused the already shy boy to writhe underneath his touch and underneath his teeth. Mike’s lips slowly traveled up his neck, lingering on his jawline. Will’s eyes had this glossy and longing look that seemed to set Mike off. His soft lips met Will’s, both of them only tasting just how much alcohol they both consumed. But that seemed to be the last thing on their minds. Will dreamt about this moment a multitude of times. So many nights where he’d have to mentally recover from the thought of kissing Mike. But his dreams paled in comparison to reality. The way he pulled him closer, the way his hand cupped his face, the way his tongue glided over his.
Mike let all of his restraint go out the window, continuing to passionately kiss Will. After a certain point, he fully pinned him down and stopped him from writhing under him. The kiss seemed to last an eternity, and the two only broke apart to catch their breaths. Mike looked down at Will, admiring how he looked under him pinned down like this. He studied his swollen lips and his dazed expression. This image of Will would stay with him for a while. Part of him almost wanted to take a picture of him like this. However, he settled on the mental image. Mike leaned back down and passionately kissed Will again. But, there was a noticeable difference in confidence on Will’s end.
Will finally reckoned with the fact that he wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t making this up, and Mike wasn’t kissing him like this just because he was drunk off his ass. As he emotionally realized this, he had less hang ups about reciprocating. It was easier to not hold back anymore. Will pulled the boy closer to him during the kiss, wanting him as close as possible. The night ended passionately in Mike’s room, both boys sprawled out on his bed in nothing but their underwear. And for the first time in years, Will and Mike slept peacefully with no worries or nightmares. And it was all because of one drunk night.
fin.
