Archive of Our Own ^beta

Will Byers had always been too competitive for his own good.

Mike, if put on the spot, could probably name five times Will had made something super uncompetitive into something that felt like the championship of the universe. That was just in Will’s nature, to make everything a competition, and it was a miracle he had never gotten into sports, because if Will had been the one to get into basketball instead of Lucas, there would have been tears shed.

Not by him, of course. By the other team.

So when Mike glanced out the window in his English class, set on focusing on anything other than syntax - seriously, he was a senior. Why was he still learning syntax? - and saw flurries falling from the sky, he grinned. After the bell rang, it would only be a matter of time before Will found him with a snowball, and he had to be ready.

He stared out the window, letting his mind wander and completely disregarding his teacher in the process - one that he actually liked, mind you, but he was being boring as hell, especially with the prospect of a snowball fight of epic proportions staring Mike in the face, taunting him, challenging him.

Both him and Will had too much experience in actual combat against the Upside Down for it to not be blown out of proportion. And Mike was going to be prepared.

He knew how to pack the perfect snowball. Years of living through Midwestern winters had proved to be helpful when learning the intricacies of winter combat. He also knew where to find the best snow on school grounds: the football field. It was at the back of the school, and on a Friday? The back would be nearly empty, completely untouched by kids excited to go home, trampling the fresh powder and slipping on ice in their hurry. 

But, everything Mike knew, Will was sure to know, too. They’d spent every snow day together, even the days where it had been impossible to drive or ride a bike; Karen Wheeler had bundled Mike up like Randy from A Christmas Story , complete with the scarf up to his eyes, and sent him out into the cold (mostly to get him out of her way, but that was neither here nor there). Mike had never been able to move any more than his legs, but that had been enough to practically swim through the snow to get to Lucas’ house, then Dustin’s, then finally Will’s, where they would play in the woods until they couldn’t feel anything . After every single part of their bodies had gone numb, they would run into the Byers’ house, warm from Joyce’s attempts at baking cookies. They’d peel off every piece of clothing, one at a time, help themselves to some burnt cookies and lukewarm cocoa, and would sit around and play with Will’s action figures for the rest of the day.

It was heaven . Some of the best days of Mike’s life had played out just like that.

But, alas, it made combat hard. Will had all the knowledge Mike did, and that left Mike vulnerable. He had no upper hand.

Not unless he went against their strategies, that is.

Will had seventh period with El, who would surely take his side. They were siblings now, bonded at the hip, nearly as inseparable as Mike and Will themselves. El’s powers would make a definite impact on Mike’s campaign, but she had made a promise to herself to try to only use her powers in events of apocalyptic significance, and no matter how much Mike and Will played up this snowball fight, it would never meet her world ending criteria.

That left Max, Dustin, and Lucas. 

Mike thought about who would be the best candidates for his army. Lucas was athletic, and could throw a snowball really hard and really far. He was also good at dodging, and was strong, so he would be good for making forts and executing missions.

Dustin, on the other hand, could barely throw to save his life. He could maneuver decently enough, and he would probably perform better under pressure, but Mike considered his intelligence. Out of everyone in their nerdy little group, Dustin would be able to make the most incredible machines to shoot snowballs at the opposing side, and that was invaluable to Mike. He would not want to go up against that, not after what happened in the Great Snowball War a couple years ago. He had almost died .

That left Max. She was a combination of the both of them, enough agility to avoid fire, but also smart when it came to executing plans Mike wrote in the snow. The only thing Mike had to question was her loyalty; she was loyal to a fault in real life situations - seriously, Mike wouldn’t rather have anyone else on his side in an actual espionage situation, although he’d die before letting Max know that he thought that highly of her - but she seemed to have a traitor streak in her when it came to matters like this. Especially if the person she was betraying was Mike. 

Weighing his options was taking so much time, Mike was surprised when everyone started moving to pack up, chatter slowly building in volume and the scraping of chairs on the tile breaking Mike out of his plotting.

He checked the clock. Almost time for the bell to ring, almost time for the fight to begin.

Mike closed his eyes, visualizing his friend’s schedules and their locations. Max and Dustin had the same seventh period, but it was on the other side of the school. Lucas was closer, but he was also just down the hall from Will, so if Mike booked it…

The bell rang. He slung his backpack onto his back and shouldered his way into the hallway, weaving - quite magnificently, he might add - through the throes of people darting this way and that. He turned, then turned again, sprinting down hallway after hallway, until he saw a mop of barely-contained fire colored hair. 

“Comrades,” he said, saluting them both.

Max turned before Dustin did, something wicked flashing over her face before it was replaced by indifference. “Really, Wheeler? We graduate in, like, five months. Are you being real?”

“Are you ?” Dustin asked, affronted. He flipped around and threw an arm around Mike’s shoulders, though it looked uncomfortable because of the height difference between the two of them. “This is our last first snow of the season, Mayfield. If we strategize well enough, we could go down in history.”

“It snows everywhere, Dustin,” Max pointed out, unimpressed. 

Dustin shook his head, letting his arm slide from Mike’s shoulder in favor of grabbing Max. “Not everywhere, my dear Maxine. What if you end up back in California for college, hmm? Or - god forbid - Texas or Florida .”

Max rolled her eyes. “You know I’m going wherever Lucas is going.”

There was a point Mike could convince her on. “You know, Lucas is going to be on Will’s team -“

Max’s eyes flashed with something nearly as heated as her hair. Mike grinned. Got her.

Dustin held a hand out behind his back, and Mike not-so-subtlety slapped it in victory. 

Max held up a finger. “ Only because I want to beat that stalker’s ass. When I win, I’ll never let him forget it.”

Dustin grabbed her hand and shook it excitedly. Max kept her arm limp, but the smile on her face was one that even she couldn’t suppress. “Oh, we’re gonna win. No doubt about that. Right, Mike?”

Mike nodded, glancing up and down the clearing hallways. “Right.” He nodded towards the door to the art room, which had a back door that led to the side of the school. “C’mon, you guys. We have a plan to put into action.”

***

“How is this legal?” Max asked, loudly enough that Mike had to shush her like a librarian. She made a face at him, which he just tossed back at her.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s legal,” Dustin said, glancing out over the top of the wall hiding them from the grassy field. “It’s only illegal if they catch you.”

Mike sat back against the wall, stunned. “Dustin, I’m not sure that’s how legality works.”

“Shut up, Michael. What are they gonna do, throw us off?”

Mike stole a peek over the wall, looking down down down at the snow-covered concrete beneath them. “I mean, yeah.”

Max scoffed as she continued to pack snowballs, a quick learner, considering she’d only had to deal with snow for the past couple of years. Snow was sticking to her ponytail, making her red hair glint in the sunlight in a way that Mike couldn’t describe as anything other than blinding . “They wouldn’t do that. We have our terrific escape plan, right? They’ll never catch us.”

Dustin looked away from his position as spotter to squint at her. “That was sarcastic,” he said, disappointed. He turned back to spotting with a huff.

“No shit, Sherlock!” Max exclaimed, half-heartedly throwing a handful of snow at Dustin. It wasn’t packed enough, though, and it exploded into a little flurry of snowflakes before it could make it to Dustin.

“Guys, guys. We need to focus,” Mike said, snapping with his already-nearly-frozen fingers. Dustin stuck his tongue out at Max, which, mature .

“How is this even going to work, Mike?” Max asked, and she sounded genuinely curious, which was quite a surprise. 

Mike shrugged. “Ask Dustin. All I asked for was a slingshot, he’s the one that built it.”

“It’s not just any old slingshot, my friends!” Dustin cried, abandoning his post to brag about his invention. Mike and Max rolled their eyes in tandem. “This baby right here will launch snow from this very rooftop all the way down to the grass field, where the enemy will set up their base!”

“Right,” Max said, stretching her vowels. She shivered, and distantly, Mike felt bad for her, because she was wearing a thin sweater and a beanie they had pulled from the lost and found. She’d only barely complained about lice before they were outside and freezing their asses off. 

Mike wasn’t faring much better. His ripped jeans would have already been soaked through if he hadn’t had the brilliant idea of snagging a pair of sweatpants from the lost and found, too. Ones that held water, of course, so when he tried to walk, they sagged so bad Dustin had pointed out that he could see the entirety of Mike’s back pockets. 

Dustin was the only one who had come prepared, with nearly all of his winter gear bundled around him when he had appeared at school that morning. Something about Mrs. Henderson forcing him to stay warm, but Mike had a hunch he had predicted the weather and had been too much of an asshole to say anything.

“How will we even know where they are?” Max asked, looking down at the snow covered field, long since abandoned by the PE classes of Hawkins High. “For all we know, they could be camouflaged.”

“They won’t be,” Mike said, confidently. “Will was wearing green today, he’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, once they start building their base, they’ll be easy to spot.”

Max and Dustin exchanged a look. “Oh, so now we’re noticing what Will wears every day?” Dustin asked, adjusting the angle of his slingshot slightly. Despite the freezing temperature, Mike could feel his cheeks warming, defrosting the icicles that had replaced his eyelashes. 

Yes , okay, maybe Mike had some sort of small - minuscule, really - romantic feelings for Will. And yeah , he may have noticed them while dating El, but they were past that now, weren’t they? Mike had gotten it through his thick skull that Will didn’t feel the same way - wouldn’t ever even consider feeling the same way - and he was fine with that. It didn’t mean he couldn’t continue to indulge in his small, teeny tiny, microscopic crush he had on Will. 

“Shut up, you guys. You’re acting like twelve year olds,” he whined, finishing a snowball Max had abandoned. Since when was it okay for them to tease him about this stuff? Since never. They’re not seven .

Max laughed at that, a gleeful, happy, evil laugh. “That is the most hypocritical thing you have said today, Mike Wheeler. We’re literally gearing up for a snowball fight.” Dustin reached out to give her a high five, and she gladly returned it, smiling widely. 

Mike knew why Lucas loved her so much. It was hard not to love her. 

Except for when Mike hated her guts. Like now, for instance. 

“Yeah, okay, whatever. Can we focus please .”

Right as he said that, he spotted a small green figure making its way across the white, moving carefully but quickly. 

Will .

Mike’s heart definitely did not do a little skip-slash-cartwheel thing, nope. 

“They’re here,” Mike whispered, as if the tiny people on the field would be able to hear him if he spoke too loudly. Almost on cue, they all started looking around, probably for their opponents, before they began to dig up some snow, likely in order to make a base. 

Mike really did know Will too well.

“Okay, so we’re all clear on the plan?” Dustin asked, quietly. Mike and Max nodded, and Mike walked over to the ladder that led down from the roof to the alley below. Looking down, now, he felt a little queasy. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to climb on the roof. 

Anything to win. 

He turned, saluted Dustin, and carefully made his way down the ladder, only losing his footing on the snow covered rungs once. Right as he was about to take the last step, though, he slipped, falling the remaining couple feet into the snow below.

Ow . 

He stood at the bottom and looked up, shrugging like it wasn’t a big deal. He took some time to dust his ass off before taking a step back, motioning to the ladder for Max.  

Max scoffed, before swinging a leg over the side of the wall. She looked back, and he distantly heard Dustin laugh before she was making her way down the ladder. She somehow managed to make it down without slipping, but Mike wasn’t particularly surprised. That’s why he chose her, after all. 

She punched him in the arm, a little unnecessarily, he thought. “Let’s do this, Wheeler.”

Together, they ran out to the field, being as loud as they could. The snow quieted their footsteps, so they yelled like they were running into a battle to the death. Their goal was to lure Will’s team out into the open, so Dustin could pick them off with slingshot. 

It was a great plan, if Mike did say so himself.

Mike picked up a handful of snow and packed it as tightly as he could with his freezing hands before he was turning to the other side of the - already impressive - walls of the other teams’ fort, arm raised and ready to throw. 

“Prepare to die,” he panted out, already exhausted just from running that little way. Will looked up at him, a mischevious glint in his eyes, and Mike wasted no time chucking the snowball right at his face. 

Mike saw it go through the air in slow motion, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Max’s snowball traveling right at Lucas, and then time sped up again and Mike’s snowball hit Will square in the forehead with a wet schlop. 

Will fell back like he had been shot, which, Mike supposed he had maybe packed the snowball a little tight, but before Mike could feel any regrets, Will was on his feet and running at him, a big red mark on his forehead. 

“Shit!” Mike shouted, comically slipping on the snow in his haste to turn and run in the other direction. Once he finally gained enough traction, he sprinted out in the open, dodging this way and that to avoid Will’s attempts at retaliation. He got pegged a few times in the back, but nothing particularly bad, until Will somehow managed to hit him in the back of the head at the same time Mike tripped on something hidden under a layer of white powder, sending him tumbling forward, straight onto his face. 

“Ha!” Will panted, getting down on his knees next to Mike, who was resigned to his fate of a cold, cold, miserable death. “Sucker!”

Will flipped Mike over and straddled him, holding a giant pile of snow between his hands, right above Mike’s face. Mike would be scared of Will, if he wasn’t fucking straddling him . How was Mike supposed to think, in this position ? “Any last words?”

Mike grinned, ready to say something epic, a la Mercutio or Anakin Skywalker, but then Will was being thrown sideways by a snowball the size of Mike’s head. 

“Holy shit, Dustin!” Mike cried, sitting up to look up at the roof. Dustin was laughing his ass off, but Mike couldn’t see him so much as hear him. “I didn’t even get to say any final words, asshole!” He yelled, tossing a middle finger towards the school. 

Will groaned, pulling a hand over his head. Shit . Mike didn’t mean for anybody to get hurt -

Especially Will.

“Fuck, Will, are you okay?” Mike asked, crawling over in the snow to get to Will. 

Will groaned again, but as Mike got closer, he could see a grin on his face. “Gotcha,” he said, sitting up. Mike looked at him, confused, before he was being lifted into the air like he weighed nothing at all. 

Mike made an undignified noise he’ll deny to his grave, but can anybody really blame him? He just got lifted into the air out of nowhere like he was being abducted by fucking aliens or something.

“Did you really just fall for the fake-being-hurt schtick, Mike? Really?” Lucas asked, his voice muffled from facing the opposite direction of Mike’s face. And if Mike turned his head a little to the side, he would be staring directly at Lucas’ ass, so he would rather not think about the fact that he was being carried around like a sack of potatoes. “We’ve been having these sorts of fights for how many years and you’re still falling for Will’s puppy dog eyes? When will you learn, man?”

He also just fell for the oldest trick in the book, so. Fuck him, he guessed. 

“No,” he grumbled, defiant to the death, and that’s when he heard a scream coming from behind him. He looked up, arching his back in a way that was really, really uncomfortable, but it was worth it to see El with her arm outstretched as she used her powers to throw a snowball the size of her body at Dustin on the roof. He ducked for cover just in time, but his contraption was probably destroyed from the force of the blow. Max ran over to give El a high five, then the two of them sauntered over to Mike, arm in arm. 

“Oh, is this a betrayal, now?” Mike asked, dropping back down. He kicked his feet, just for fun, then felt Lucas’ grip on him loosen just enough to scare him into staying still. His nose bumped against the back of Lucas’ hip as he walked, and Mike sighed. 

“Yep!” Max said happily, with what he assumed was a giant smile on her face. “Did you really think I was going to side with you, Wheeler? When El and Lucas are on the other team? Yeah, no.”

Ouch. 

“You…cheated,” El said, panting. Mike made a face that no one could see, due to his unfortunate position. “Snow ball fights must be fought from the ground. No excuses.”

Mike threw his hands up in exasperation, but doing so just ended up with him on his back in the snow as Lucas dumped him unceremoniously in their fort. “We never actually agreed on those rules, El. That was only to stop Lucas from dumping the entirety of Will’s roof on us as we went inside.”

Lucas held up a finger. “Which I never did, to be clear. I was just going to dump a ton of snow on you guys as you walked inside. The avalanche was purely coincidental!”

Will rolled his eyes. “No, it wasn’t, Lucas. I vividly remember you doing some sort of maniacal laugh before I was blinded by snow.”

Max and El shared a giggle while Lucas held up his hands in surrender. 

Mike took the opportunity to run. 

He was off, running through the trampled powder like he had never run before, and he heard some yelling behind him as they undoubtedly started running to catch him. 

Then he heard a scuffle, and he made the fatal mistake of looking over his shoulder. At first, he laughed as he saw El and Max turn on Lucas, shoving some ice down his back and taking him to the ground, but then he saw Will coming at him full speed, and he barely had time to prepare himself for the impact before he was being tackled back into the snow behind him. 

“Gotcha! Again,” Will said, breathless, pinning Mike down to the ground by the shoulders. He stared down at him, eyes wide, and God , now was not the time to notice how gorgeous he looked, how the snow glinted in his hair and his eyelashes, how his cheeks were flushed from exertion and the cold, how happy and giddy he looked. 

Now was definitely not the time.

“Will,” Mike gasped, but not from his crush, oh no no no, from the fact that Will straddled him, but this time, over his stomach, and no matter how much Will tried to deny it, Will Byers was a man now, and Mike felt like his insides were collapsing from the weight. “ Will.”

“Yeah?” Will was quiet, arms still pinning Mike to the ground. His voice was almost as soft as the snow that was surrounding them, and it melted Mike. 

Mike was going to try to be polite first, but only because he liked Will. “Get off,” he demanded, but it came out as more of a question than an order, and Will grinned wickedly above him. 

Will leaned down, squishing Mike’s insides even more, and he whispered in Mike’s ear. “No.”

So much for being diplomatic. Will sounded much too happy about Mike’s clear suffering for him to care anymore. 

Mike grabbed handfuls of snow with each hand and shoved them up under Will’s jacket, freezing fingers running over Will’s warm abdomen. Will squealed like Holly used to when Mike would make a face behind his mother while she was taking a picture, and Mike laughed despite his stomach still being crushed by the boy on top of him. 

“ Mike !” Will shrieked, wriggling on top of him like a fish out of water, until the snow in Mike’s hands melted to nothing more than water. He could feel it running down Will’s sides, and Mike could only imagine it soaking into the band of Will’s pants before he realized he probably shouldn’t be thinking about Will’s pants while he was underneath him. 

He pulled his hands out of Will’s shirt, intending to grab another handful of snow to torture Will with when Will grabbed some snow and covered Mike’s face with it, sending him reeling. 

Mike bucked, back arching off the ground enough to send Will sliding off of his stomach, and above the chorus of cold cold cold that was singing through his head, Mike could hear Will’s giggle, and it was the sweetest sound on earth. 

Their friends were probably watching them, wondering what the hell they were up to. Mike glanced over to make sure they weren’t, and sure enough, Lucas was wrestling with Dustin as Max and El watched, cheering them on. 

Mike looked back at Will, where he was laying in the snow, watching Mike watch the others. He smiled when Mike looked at him, and Mike smiled back. 

“Truce?” Mike asked, holding out a hand. 

Will thought for a moment, looking up at the sky, and then shook Mike’s hand. “Truce.”

Mike grinned as he laid down next to Will, their heads nearly touching just like the rest of them were. It wasn’t like Mike noticed, anyway. “It was fun while it lasted.”

Will scoffed. “Oh, yeah, you always enjoy losing, don’t you?”

Mike sat up on his elbows to look at Will, face full of mock offense. “ Excuse me? I’ve won, like, every snow ball fight we’ve ever had. I don’t think you should use that tone with me, William.”

Will mirrored his position, and whoa , they were really close. Mike could feel Will’s warm breath on his freezing face. “Oh, but Michael , you know I’m right. What does the PE coach always say?” Will looked down at something below Mike’s eyes before he looked back up, eyes wide, and straightened up. Suddenly, Mike’s insides felt like they were on fire, and he could practically feel the snow melting off of his face in cold lines as his cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of pink. Will cleared his throat and continued in a terribly nasally voice, sounding all too much like the Hawkins High physical education teacher. “ It’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s about enjoying the game! ”

Mike couldn’t help himself; he cracked up. He legitimately doubled over laughing, hands on his belly, and soon, Will joined in, throwing his head back and laughing at the sky. 

“She - she always seemed to say that when I got a bloody nose from dodgeball -” Mike managed in between wheezing laughs that were making his stomach cramp. That just made Will laugh harder, falling back in the snow, and Mike rejoined him, looking up at the clouds above them that would probably keep them from being at school the following day. 

Once their giggles subsided, a tension settled over them that Mike had never noticed before. It was expectant, almost electric, and Mike gasped in a breath of freezing Indiana air as Will intertwined a pinky finger with his. Mike looked over at him, eyes wide, but Will was still looking at the sky, eyes gleaming. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Yeah, you are. 

“What is?” Mike asked, quietly, voice barely a whisper as he took in the gorgeous sight that was Will Byers. 

“The snow,” Will said quietly, closing his eyes. Mike watched as he gestured to the sky with his free hand. “It makes everything soft, it smooths out all the ragged edges of the world. It’s just so -”

“Pretty,” Mike and El finished at the same time, and Mike looked up to see the rest of the group standing above them with fond eyes. Max’s hair was down, beanie nowhere to be seen, and it was so messed up that Mike could already hear her complaining as she brushed it out. El had some blood dried on the bottom of her nose, so Mike could only guess what had went down while he and Will had been away from the group. Dustin was clutching his hat to his chest, probably wrinkling it beyond recognition. Lucas had his arm around Max’s shoulders, hand rubbing up and down her arm in an attempt to warm her up. 

Will’s pinky was still intertwined with his, and Mike was struck with just how lucky he was to have experienced so much with these people, to have been lucky enough to have crossed paths with them all when he did. He realized how truly changed he was, thanks to them.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, because it was silent except for the distant sounds of life in Hawkins continuing through the snow. 

“I love you guys,” Max said suddenly, and even she looked surprised by her admission, because she brought a hand up to her mouth. 

El gave her a small smile, taking her hand down and holding it in both of hers. “We love you, too,” she said softly, and everyone nodded their agreement. Max looked like she was about to start crying, and Lucas pulled her closer to his side. 

“Snow angels?” Will asked after a while, looking at the standing group expectantly. 

Dustin laughed and dropped to the ground. “Of course,” he said, and the other three followed. They laid in the snow for a while, perfecting their angels, and it was heaven, to Mike, and he would definitely be writing about this later, because this was in his list of top fifteen days ever, for sure. 

Suddenly, their perfect day was interrupted by the squealing of tires from the parking lot, and they all sat up to see what the commotion was. Dustin gave a shout as he scrambled to his feet, running towards the parking lot, and Mike and Will shrugged at each other before following. 

“Steve!” Dustin yelled, wrapping the older boy in a hug as soon as he was out of his car. Steve rolled his eyes but hugged Dustin back, just as hard. 

“Hey there, Henderson. Mayfield, Sinclair,” Steve said, nodding to Max and Lucas. He grinned at Will and El. “My wonder twins! What’s up?”

El smiled at him and gave him a side hug, since Dustin was still taking up the entirety of the front of Steve’s body. “Hello, Steve.”

Steve looked at Mike, and his face fell. “Wheeler,” he said, with a curt nod, which, ow , that hurt. It wasn’t Mike’s fault that Nancy decided she deserved better than Steve fucking Harrington. 

Will barely stifled a giggle, and he got an elbow to the stomach from Mike for it. 

“What are you doing here?” Max asked, any trace of tears on her cheeks from earlier gone, replaced by a bright red that could only be elicited by Lucas, El, or the cold. “Not like you to come back to this hell hole.” She nodded at the school. 

Steve shrugged, peeling Dustin off of him. “Claudia sent me. She figured you guys would be having a snow ball fight and wanted to make sure you all got home okay. Yes, even you, Wheeler,” he said, throwing an unimpressed glance at Mike. “She didn’t want you guys driving on roads like this, so I’m your knight in shining armor.”

“Not much of a horse,” Max grumbled, and El giggled. 

Steve looked at her, bewildered, when Dustin poked him in the side. “Why were you talking to my mom?” He asked, voice dangerously close to a whine. 

“What, I always try to take my dates out before I take them to bed, Henderson, it’s the gentlemanly thing to do -”

A collective groan rose from the Party as Dustin punched Steve in the arm, face red and ready to fight. 

“Steve!” Dustin cried, and Will and Lucas both winced. “My mom is off limits!”

Mike finally let his laugh out and Steve looked at him and winked. Will nudged Mike’s shoulder, motioned to his face, and that’s when Mike realized his face was probably the same shade as a tomato. 

“I took her to lunch, man, Jesus!” Steve laughed, but then as Dustin hit him again, he frowned and hit Dustin back. “Is it so wrong to hang out with my little brother’s mom? She’s a nice lady, Henderson, get your mind out of the gutter.”

Dustin shut up immediately after that, but he still glared at Steve. Steve looked incredibly uncomfortable as he motioned to the car. “Can we please get going? I’m freezing my ass off, here.”

The Party all grumbled their assent, and as Dustin and Max raced for shotgun, the rest of the kids slid into the backseat. Steve watched with thinly veiled amusement as Max beat Dustin to the passenger seat. She stuck her tongue out at him and he flipped her off, grumbling as he got into the back seat. 

“You guys are going to have to double up,” Steve pointed out, really unnecessarily, Mike might add. Will was already sitting on his lap, and Lucas was making pouty faces at Max, who looked back at him with a wink.

Dustin, ever the gentleman, sat down on the other seat, and patted his lap once for El. “M’lady,” he said, tipping an imaginary hat. 

“Oh, fuck that,” Max said, then grabbed El’s hand before she could sit down and brought her onto her lap in the front seat. 

Dustin shrugged. “Her loss,” he said, to nobody in particular, then tried to pull Lucas onto his lap, making kissy faces all the way. 

Steve sighed as he started the car. “I guess I don’t have to tell you guys to buckle up,” he grumbled, throwing the car into reverse. “Just…try not to die? And if you ruin my seats, I swear to God, no more free movies.”

Will saluted him. “Sir, yes, sir,” he said with mock seriousness, and Mike hid a laugh in Will’s shoulder. 

The car ride was quiet, with some old Christmas song playing over the radio. Mike didn’t realize how cold he was until his entire body was tingling as it defrosted thanks to Steve’s car heaters. El’s head was bobbing to the side as she seemed to fall asleep, and Max ran her fingers soothingly over her hair. Lucas and Dustin still shoved each other back and forth, but it had calmed down significantly from before. 

Will’s entire body was shaking from cold, and Mike did his best to warm him up, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. Will smiled at him, sheepishly, then put his forehead against the side of Mike’s. “Come over?” he whispered, nearly nuzzling into the side of Mike’s head. “I think my mom’s making macaroni and cheese.”

It was a miracle Mike was still breathing, honestly. He was surprised he hadn’t dropped dead from being this close to Will yet. 

Lucas hit Will in the arm. “I want some of Joyce’s mac ’n’ cheese!”

Will rolled his eyes and pulled away, and even though Mike could breathe again, he missed having Will in such close proximity. 

He was still sitting on Mike’s lap, but whatever. 

“I didn’t invite you, did I, Lucas?” Will said through his teeth, raising an eyebrow that was teetering dangerously between challenging and pleading. 

Mike looked back and forth between the two of them, confused. There was some sort of silent conversation going on between them, and Mike was a little scared.

Something dawned in Lucas’ eyes, and he finally folded, visibly deflating. “Yeah, okay, you’re right.”

“No, Will,” El said, sternly. She shot him a look, and then he shot her a look, and Mike hid behind Will’s shoulder to avoid being caught in the crossfire. “Mom always makes enough for everyone. Everyone is invited.” She gave a small nod, like because she had made up her mind, she had the final say. 

No matter how much fire Will sent El with his stare, she wasn’t backing down. After an intense staring contest only broken up by the Christmas music on the radio, Steve stopped the car to look between the two of them. “I believe El, sorry, Will.”

Will sighed and leaned back against Mike, the ends of his hair brushing against Mike’s cheeks, and Mike found he couldn’t breathe again. Steve put the car back into drive, and was silent for the rest of the drive. 

Luckily for Mike, the drive from Hawkins High to the Byers’ home didn’t stretch on forever, like it seemed to in his head. It felt like hours before they were finally pulling into the familiar driveway, next to an unfamiliar car. 

Steve threw the car in park and barely remembered to turn it off before he was out the door and running towards the house, a wide grin spread across his face. Mike shrugged at Lucas, who shrugged at Dustin, who shrugged back at the both of them. 

Will clambered out of the car in a rush, slightly squishing Mike’s thighs uncomfortably in the process, and nearly hitting Mike in a spot that would have left him immobile for the rest of the night, and he ran out of the car too, following Steve and Max and El. 

Mike shrugged to himself, this time, but followed. 

“Robs!” Steve all but yelled as the door opened, revealing none other than Robin, and she laughed giddily as Steve lifted her up and spun her around in a hug. 

She hugged him back, tightly, and when he finally put her down she ran an exasperated hand through her short hair. “Hey, guys,” she said, slightly out of breath. She grinned as she patted El on the head. “Little Byers. My main lady!”

El grinned and gave Robin a small hug before Joyce was following, looking flustered, hair in a messy updo. 

“You’re home! Finally! I was just starting to get worried!” Joyce exclaimed, using her forearm to wipe a lock of hair out of her face. Mike looked closer and realized her entire hands were covered in flour, and there were smudges of it nearly everywhere on her person. She smiled pleasantly at everyone, and Mike smiled back, even though it wasn’t meant only for him. Joyce’s smile was always warm and friendly, and it felt like home. “Well, come on inside, it’s freezing out here!”

Steve looked between Robin and Joyce, his confusion written clearly on his face. “Wait, why…?”

Robin hip checked Joyce, who let out a laugh that she covered with her arm. “Just hanging with my favorite mama. I’m trying to teach her how to cook, but failing miserably.”

Joyce’s laugh trailed her inside. “It’s not my fault the recipes are hard to read!”

Robin held a hand out for Steve, and he took it, grin replaced with a soft smile. “Joyce, it’s like I’ve been saying, the recipes are just like chemistry. You have to add all the right ingredients at the right times or else the cookies won’t work , okay? Like, my mom’s cookies are the best, but that’s only because she bakes them with extra sugar and hatred, but somehow that makes them so good- ”

Mike stopped listening, and the rest of the Party turned to each other and blinked. 

Dustin threw a thumb over his shoulder. “Steve and Robin should date, right?”

Will and El’s faces both screwed into grimaces. “Ew, Dustin, no!” 

Dustin squinted back and forth between them. “ How? Robin is so bad ass, she’s perfect for Steve!”

El shook her head as she peeled off her jacket and dropped it on the porch. “Robin does not like Steve like that. Steve does not like Robin like that, either. They would be like me and Mike.”

“Hey!” Mike said, affronted. “I didn’t ask to be brought into this!”

El smirked at him, but her eyes were loving, and he knew she meant no harm. “Bitchless,” she said, giving him one of her conversation-ending nods, then turned and walked into the house. Max snickered at him as she followed her inside. 

Mike watched after them, mouth open. “I totally did not deserve that.” He turned to Will, who was conveniently leaning down and hiding his face. Lucas was just straight up laughing at him, but Dustin just looked confused. 

“Steve and Robin would be perfect for each other,” he whispered, shaking his head. “One day they’ll get together and you all will see! I’ll be right, again .”

Will shook his head, and now Mike could see his face, and he was bubbling with laughter. It looked terrific on him. “Okay, Dustybun,” he said, and then his face straighted for a second before he was cracking up again. Dustin walked inside in a huff, and Lucas followed him, giving Will a fist bump on his way. 

Mike peeled off his jacket, too, to avoid soaking the Byers’ house. Will was watching him, something unreadable in his eyes. “What?” He asked, side eyeing him. 

“You had better take those God awful sweatpants off, too,” Will replied, a laugh painting his voice. He shrugged, but his face was dusted pink. “Since we’re stripping, or something.”

Will’s face wasn’t the only one bright red, now. Mike looked at Will, stunned, and Will giggled nervously before he went inside, leaving Mike to stare at the door in shock. 

Mike carefully took the sweatpants off - leaving his jeans on , thank you very much - and left them in the ever growing pile of clothes on the front porch. 

He walked inside to find everyone gathered around the table, the smell of something burning overtaking the usual scent of the house. 

Robin was exclaiming something so quickly and high pitched that Mike couldn’t understand, but he could hear Joyce’s laugh coming from the kitchen. 

She walked out of the room with a pot held between her oven mitt clad hands. “Burnt mac ‘n’ cheese, anyone?” She asked, grinning sheepishly. A chorus of affirmations answered her, and her grin grew as she set the pot down on the table. “Help yourselves!” 

Mike walked up behind Will and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Can I get a change of clothes?” He whispered, hair falling like a curtain between his face and the rest of the table. 

Will looked at him, and their noses just barely brushed, sending fire down Mike’s spine again. “Sure,” he whispered back. Then he grinned. “I’m gonna need you to move so I can get up, Mike.”

Mike hadn’t realized that he was still leaning over Will’s shoulder, faces nearly touching, so close to kissing him it was honestly a miracle he hadn’t just leaned in already. 

Everyone always did tell him his mouth moved faster than his brain. Maybe that was true, in more than one sense. 

“Sorry,” he breathed, backing up and giving Will enough room to stand up and lead him to his room, even though Mike had been to his house hundreds of times and knew where to go. 

“Use protection!” Someone called behind him, and Mike whirled around to see Max saluting him, a stupid grin on her stupid face. 

Mike used the last of his brainpower to flip her off, and the entire table erupted in laughter. He walked down the hall to Will’s room, where Will was holding the door open for him, like the gentleman he was. The last thing he heard before Will closed the door was Dustin saying something along the lines of “Why would they need protection? What’s back there?”

Dumbasses . 

Mike shivered and remembered why they were back here in the first place. For him to change into some warm, dry clothes first and foremost, not for him to do something stupid like kiss Will or admit his feelings. No matter how much he wanted to. 

Will was looking at him with that unreadable expression again, just staring, and Mike couldn’t help staring back. He glanced down accidentally, and nearly jumped when Will wet his lips that Mike was definitely not staring at. Mike looked back up in a hurry, cheeks flaming at having been caught, and found that Will was looking somewhere below Mike’s eyes, too, and oh, god, when did it start getting hot, all of a sudden?

There was that tension again, the same one that Mike had felt in the snow, and some traitorous part of Mike’s brain thought about what would happen when the tension finally snapped. Would it snap them together like a rubber band, or would they stay the same as they always were? People, friends, best friends?

Friends aren’t electric like this, Michael. 

The tension between them - electricity , Mike’s brain not-so-helpfully supplied - was sinking into Mike’s skin, into his nervous system, misfiring synapses and making it impossible to think, breathe, move. His chest felt like it was about to burst - from his feelings for Will or from his inability to breath, he wasn’t sure - and he couldn’t help glancing back down at Will’s lips one more time. 

And, of fucking course , Will was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, making Mike dizzy with how much he wanted to just close the distance between them and pull Will into a kiss, to finally take what he wanted, what he had wanted and longed for and dreamed of for so long. 

Will cleared his throat, and Mike’s eyes flicked back up to his hazel ones. Will gestured to his dresser and walked over, and Mike felt caught, like he had been staring at Will for years, instead of the mere seconds that it probably was. “Clothes,” Will said, voice low, and he pulled out a green flannel and some sweatpants. 

Mike smirked, walking over to grab the clothes from him, and his brain could still be misfiring, but he was pretty sure Will shivered when their fingers brushed. “I thought you didn’t like sweatpants?”

Will ducked his head and began to slowly back towards the door. “ My sweatpants are okay, other people’s are not.”

Oh. 

Mike gulped, and Will’s eyes widened so fast it would’ve been funny if Mike wasn’t absolutely mezmerised. “I - I mean -” Will threw a thumb over his shoulder, mouth moving for a few seconds with no words coming out. Finally, he managed to squeak, “I’ll go.”

He whipped around and began to hurry towards the door, but Mike didn’t want him to go. No, Mike wanted Will to stay . 

So he reached out with his free hand and grasped Will’s wrist, gentle yet firm, and Will stopped in his tracks. “You can stay,” Mike whispered, and he cleared his throat and tried again. “Stay.”

Will gulped, Adam’s apple bobbing, eyes glued to where their hands were connected. “Okay,” he croaked out, looking up at Mike’s eyes, searching for something. 

Mike finally realized the implications of what he was asking, and he could feel his face turning red again, but really, had it ever gone back to normal? “Um. Maybe can you just…turn around? For a second?”

What was he doing? He’d seen all of Will, Will had seen all of him, they’d gone swimming together, had taken baths together when they were still in kindergarten and it hadn’t mattered. Why was he worried about it now?

Something about it felt too intimate, he realized. He would be too vulnerable. 

Naked , his brain chirped, and Mike gulped. 

“Y - yeah, of course, yeah,” Will stuttered out, politely turning back around. Mike reluctantly let his hand drop as he focused on changing. 

He peeled his jeans off as quickly as he could, and bleh , whoever let him wear wet jeans for this long was absolutely criminal . He grabbed Will’s sweatpants and threw them on, jumping on one foot at one point to get them on. Will’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Having fun back there?” He asked, tone light and teasing. 

“Shut up,” Mike grumbled, and that just sent a new wave of laughter through Will, to which Mike smiled. He took a deep breath and pulled his shirt over his head with a little bit of difficulty. It stuck to his stomach from being wet, and Mike wrestled with it for a second to try to get out of it. 

“Jesus, Mike, are you losing a fight to a shirt ?”

“Just because you grew to be big and strong doesn’t mean the rest of us did!”

He finally got it off of his head, curls wildly falling over his shoulders. Mike grabbed Will’s flannel - oh my god oh my god oh my god - and tried to stay as calm as possible as he shrugged it on, one arm after another, leaving it unbuttoned as he looked at the sleeve in awe. “Will!” He said quietly, rubbing his thumbs gently on the insides of the sleeves. “This is so sof- ”

He was cut off by Will’s lips on his, hitting with such a force that he had to take a step backwards to stay upright. Mike looked at Will, eyes wide, but Will was a man on a mission, kissing Mike like it was the air that he needed to breath. 

Mike’s brain finally caught up, and his eyes fell closed as he grabbed either side of Will’s face, pulling him impossibly close. Their teeth were clacking with the force of the kiss, but Mike didn’t care, because oh my god, Will was kissing him . 

Will was kissing him.

He was kissing Will.

Mike ran his tongue along Will’s bottom lip and Will gasped, giving Mike the perfect opportunity to kiss into his mouth, making a sound Will would probably never let him forget. Will ran his hands through Mike’s hair, fingers getting caught in knots in the curls, and this time Mike gasped against Will’s lips, shivering at the contact. 

Will must’ve decided to stop playing around, because he took the opportunity to push Mike backwards until he was leaning against Will’s dresser, wood digging into his lower back painfully, but Mike didn’t care, because it meant Will could explore his mouth with a newfound excitement. 

Mike had forgotten that his - Will’s - flannel was still unbuttoned until he felt Will’s damp shirt against his skin, and he shivered from the cold this time. 

Will’s hands left his hair and found their way to the back of his neck, then down the front of his bare chest, then back up to his hair. Mike felt like he had been underwater for too long, heart about to rupture, head spinning, so he pulled away, just barely, just enough to breathe. 

Will chased his lips for a moment, then realized that he, too, probably needed to inhale, and leaned back. “Holy shit ,” he whispered, and Mike wasn’t sure whether or not he was meant to hear that, but he most certainly felt the same way. 

Will’s hair was sticking up at odd angles, and his face was flushed, but Mike thought he had never looked more beautiful. He did put out a hand to pat down Will’s crazy hair, though. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Holy shit.”

Will looked at him through his eyelashes, and Mike couldn’t help but leaning forward and pressing another chaste kiss to Will’s lips. Will smiled against him, and then he pulled away, laughing. “Well, I was going to profusely apologize, but then you had to go and be a big sap so I’m feeling a lot better about this whole thing, now.”

Mike laughed, light and airy, and Will smiled at him, embarrassed. “Why would you ever apologize?”

Will shrugged and played with a button on Mike’s flannel. “I didn’t know how you’d feel…” he trailed off, then shrugged again. 

Mike looked at him, at the beautiful boy in front of him, and leaned forward to lean his forehead against Will’s. “Will, you don’t ever have to apologize, okay? I’m the one that should be sorry.”

Will huffed a laugh that Mike could feel on his face. “Why would you apologize?”

“Becuase I was too chicken to kiss you before,” Mike said honestly, and Will leaned forward and brushed his lips against Mike’s. “I shouldn’t have waited this long.”

“Well, I guess neither of us have anything to apologize about, do we?” Will asked, pulling away and attempting to button up Mike’s shirt. “We should probably head back out there -”

Mike dropped his head against Will’s shoulder and buried his face in his neck. “ No ,” he whined, nuzzling in as close as Will would let him. 

Will laughed, and Mike pressed his own smile against Will’s pulsepoint, a smile that only grew wider when Will’s breath caught. “ Mike ,” Will chastised, but it had no heat, so Mike kept going. “Mike, they’re gonna know .”

“Don’t care.”

“ Mike ,” Will tried again, exhasperation evident in his voice. “Let’s go .”

With that, Will walked away, and Mike’s head was in a free fall for a moment before he caught himself. He pouted at Will, who just laughed, and held out his hand. 

When Mike took it, butterflies erupted in his stomach, so persistent he was sure that they would break out and flutter through the room. 

They returned to the table - hands glued to their own sides to avoid any embarrassment - and found it littered with dollar bills. 

“What’s going on?” Will asked, looking just as bewildered as Mike felt. 

Max took one look at them and started shoveling money towards herself and El, taking as much of it in one go as she could. “I win!” She cried triumphantly, high fiving El when she had a decently sized pile in front of her. She looked at Lucas with a smirk. “I told you so!”

Lucas sighed. “I think I overestimated their stupidity,” he said, disappointed. 

“What -?” Mike asked, and the table burst into laughter. Will shrugged at him, and he shrugged back as he took a seat next to Will. 

He helped himself to a bowl of slightly overcooked macaroni and cheese before he took Will’s hand under the table, and Will gave him a secret smile as he served his own dinner. 

Dustin looked at the two of them and shook his head. “You two are disgusting,” he said with a giant smile on his face, and Mike couldn’t help the blush that climbed to his cheeks. 

Will just laughed, and then he was smiling at Mike unabashedly, and Mike smiled back. 

The conversation around the table picked up again, and soon everybody was laughing together, and Will’s hand was still in his, and Mike knew.

This was officially the best day ever.