Every time Will talks about something with that spark in his eyes — rambling, humming under his breath, or even scolding Mike himself— Mike is always fighting two urges.
I want to kiss him. And. I want to listen to his voice forever.
That’s how it started. Forehead kisses.
Most of the time Mike totally abused the height difference. And secretly? He found it ridiculously adorable how Will would blush just a little because of it. It got even better once Will stopped getting embarrassed and just kept talking through the kisses. Even if Mike does kind of miss the days when this still worked as a way to get Will to stop being mad at him.
byler hugging and will just gets enveloped in mikes arms cuz of his long limbs and mike feels good cuz of wills warmth and because he feels like hes taking care of will
There’s just some days where a person should take off. Not because they’re ill or because they have other affairs to handle. Nope. For Mike Wheeler, he just wanted to skip school because he felt like it. With the sun out beaming, no clouds in the sky, Mike wouldn’t waste such a perfect day to sit in a concrete building hearing his teachers drone on and on with feigned interest. So, the best thing to him, the most reasonable option he could think of, was to pretend to be sick.
“Oh, Mike you don’t look too good.” Karen frowns at him, eyes inspecting her feeble appearing son who had the comforter all the way up to his chin as he groaned and moaned about a nonexistent stomach bug. “Is it something you ate, dear? Swear, you seemed fine last night.”
“Must’ve been lunch in the cafeteria yesterday. It was mystery meat Monday.” Mike’s acting was superb. He had splashed a half-empty water bottle onto his face, damping his skin and hair enough that it looked like he sweated profusely all night. A few times he let his body jerk around on the bed like he was holding back from throwing up, fake gagging and heaving. “I… I think I can make it to school, though. Don’t want to mess up my attendance. Right?”
“Oh, no, no, no.” Karen shakes her head, carding her fingers gingerly through Mike’s hair. “Your health is much more important, Michael. Also, if you’re sick and this is contagious, I refuse to let you contaminant any of your classmates. You’re staying home.”
Internally, Mike was doing a little dance at his devious plan succeeding. “Aw, but Moooom! I wanna see Will and them.”
“Not another word, young man.” Karen scolds. “I’m calling the school. You’re going to rest up and get better. That’s final, Michael.”
“Okay.” Mike pouts, really selling it.
With that, Karen left to phone in his absence, and just then Holly enters his room. “I know you’re lying Mike. You’re just trying to ditch.”
“Get outta here, you snitch!” Mike throws a pillow at his little sister, who gracefully dodges and makes faces at him, blowing a raspberry.
“I’m gonna tell Mom on you!” Holly’s lowkey a hater. She’s just mad that she has to go to school and take a test she didn’t study for. If Holly has to suffer through her lessons, then Mike should too!
“MOM! HOLLY IS BOTHERING ME!”
“LEAVE MIKE ALONE, HOLLY! HE’S SICK!”
“NO HE ISN’T!”
“MOOOOOM! SHE’S STILL HARASSING ME!”
“HOLLY! SO HELP ME - GET AWAY FROM YOUR BROTHER! NOW!”
A typical Wheeler morning if anyone’s being honest. Karen drove Holly to school and told Mike she’d be gone all day doing errands, but if he feels worse, that he should let Nancy (who’s home from college) know. Mike put on his sweetest, biggest, most grateful smile ever that had Karen kiss his temple and say “just relax for the day, okay?”
Once he heard the car peel off down the driveway, Mike hopped out of bed and rushed to Nancy’s room. He banged on the door loudly, ignoring the obvious shriek of irritation, and was unsurprised to see Nancy opening her door glaring at him, behind her laying cozy in the bed was Robin AND Jonathan.
“Ooh, company.” Mike teases mercilessly even if he thinks Nancy’s love life is gross and damaging to his sanity.
She hisses. “Shut up. What do you want?”
“Pretend to be Will’s mom on the phone. I wanna him to skip school with me and we go on a daytrip date to the city.” Mike watches Nancy tiredly sigh before marching to pick up her bedside landline, and punching in the numbers.
“Hello? This is Hawkins High, correct? I’m Joyce - Joyce Byers. My son’s Will, a senior. You might know him since he won that art contest last autumn. Yup! That’s my boy!”
It’s genuinely eerie how well Nancy can mimic Joyce’s voice. Mike’s sure his sister has sold her soul to the Devil at how faultless her inflections were. A sleepy Jonathan cracked one eye open, saw the Wheeler siblings were up to their shenanigans again, and proceeded to turnover, deciding not to ask why Mike’s trying to break his younger brother free from school like it’s jail.
“He’ll only be available to attend his first period class. I forgot that he has a doctor’s appointment. Why yes, it’s going to be an all day affair. Okay. Uh-huh. Thank you! You have a lovely day also!”
Mike buzzes around Nancy peskily. “Did it work! Did it work! Did it work!”
Nancy slams the phone on the hook and flicks his forehead. “Duh, it worked, Mike. I’m a professional at getting my way. Now, shoo! I'm busy here!”
Not needing to be told twice, Mike grabbed his car keys and drove to Hawkins High. He waited patiently in the parking lot, eyes lighting up when he saw the front door entrance open, revealing Will waltzing down the steps with his bookbag slung over his shoulder. Mike leaned against his car, arms outstretched, readying for a silly hug that Will was so kind to provide.
“Did my sappy boyfriend literally do the most so we could ditch class?” Will giggles, kissing Mike’s cheek, and grinning nonstop. “Y’know, I really thought I had to go to the dentist or something. Should’ve known you’re up to no good.”
“What? Little ole me?” Mike dramatically plays offended. “I’ll have you know breaking the rules is always worth it, if it means I get to spend alone time with the Will Byers.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Will steels his face only to fold and smile as Mike kisses him right on the lips. “Okay. I take it back. It’ll get you somewhere. You goofball.”
They slide into Mike’s car, zooming on the highway to the city. They’re impromptu date had all the fixings. Mike took Will to the art museum to marvel at the art pieces. There once was a time when Hawkins Elementary had a field trip to look at paintings and sculptures, the field trip too costly for Will’s parents to afford, so he ended up being left behind while the Party got on the bus calling bullshit their cleric wouldn’t be with them. Mike’s making up for it, righting all the wrongs that happened in his boyfriend’s life himself. That’s how the day kept elevating, seemingly going in their favor. Mike bought Will whatever food he wanted. He and Will then got swept up in a neighboring parade, walking beside the floats and dancers that welcomed them. Finally, Mike drove 30 minutes out from the city to the beach.
“See what happens when you just go for it, Will? The universe rewards you.” Mike laughs, feeling the wet sand between his toes, tying his hair up in a ponytail. “Can’t believe we could’ve been trapped in Calculus when the weather’s this inviting.”
“Yeah. It’s great.” Will sounds breathless, eyes warm with fondness as he tracks Mike’s each movement. “We should do this more.”
“Definitely. I like taking you out. Pampering you.” Mike flirts, well, he hopes he’s flirting.
“Lucky for you, I like being pampered.” Will also hopes he’s flirting back correctly.
They maybe might’ve spent the next hour cuddling in the backseat of Mike’s car, exchanging slow, soft kisses while being extra touchy feely. Maybe they even talked about their future, like saving up for an apartment or just giving into the college dorm life. Mike really likes the idea of moving to New York, obsessed with Broadway since he joined theater at school, but Will prefers San Francisco because it never gets cold in California. Both agree they’ll have one cat, one dog, a couple fish, and a pet bird for flair.
“Would you still find me handsome if I got wrinkles?” Will asks absently, head lying on Mike’s chest, his head on Mike’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
“Are you kidding me? Wrinkles are so sexy. I’ll kiss every wrinkle. What about me? What if I lost all my hair?” Mike asks, rubbing Will’s back, fingers drumming down his spine.
Will hums in consideration. “I’d take all your lost hair and make a doll out of it.”
“Ew, you freak! For real?” Mike’s half-appalled and half-curious. He tells Will, “Then when all your teeth fall out and you need dentures, I’ll make a necklace out of your teeth like in the ancient times.”
“Oh, and I’m the freak.” Will props his head up on his chin, eying Mike with an amused stare. “Well, you’re a weirdo.”
“Freak!”
“Weirdo!”
They banter back and forth with no malice in their words. On the way home, Mike and Will held hands a majority of the drive, thumbs caressing skin gently, lovingly. He easily drops Will off at home, Joyce and Hopper unsuspecting that Will had been a nearly 2 hour drive away from Hawkins on an unauthorized excursion. Mike sped off, beating Karen and Holly home, hurrying into his bed.
“Feeling better, honey?” Karen questions, peeking through his door and Mike nods.
“Better than ever, Mom.”
Later that night, Mike and Will talked for hours on the radio, recalling their memorable day off and plotting when to do it again.
“You’ve been holding out on me, Mike. Had I known you could’ve been getting us out of school no problem, we could’ve been robbed Vegas ages ago.”
“Ugh. Not this again.”
Perhaps, the next scheme Mike does is campaigning to people that contrary to popular belief, Will is in fact, the evilest one of the couple.
after st5 can we just get a byler spin-off of them being soft and enjoying life? like i wanna see mike and will cuddling, going on dates, reading/drawing together, staring at longing and lovingly, being clingy, playing with each other’s hair, kissing, teasing each other. like i just want to see them happy
Oh but how William Byers loved Michael Wheeler. He loved the way Mike spoke his words, the way they left his mouth before he realized. Mike’s mouth was grand too, big coscade lips, so very pretty. Cheekbones that stretched for days, just like his legs. And soft, soft curls, bending away and sprouting out.
Mike was always sprouting out in away. Venturing the world, crossing its forests and rivers in his mind and in his ways. Will loved the way Mike led the way, taking Will’s hand and running the both of them off, so fast that neither of them could breathe, choking on their own laughter.
Will loved the way Mike was both the lost and the found at once. Will loved the way Mike told his jokes, and how red he got when he was jealous. Will loved the remarks Mike had at the top of his head. Will loved Mike’s sass and salt. Will loved Mike. Will loves Mike.
