Archive of Our Own

Mike sits on the couch in the party’s shared apartment, waiting for the rest of his friends to finish getting ready for Halloween night.

His own costume is simple enough as he decided to put his glasses to good use and dress up as Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors for that reason and that reason only. It’s not like his best friend turned boyfriend has had an affinity for the musical for years and Mike was hoping to appeal to that specific affinity. But if he was then he’s hoping it's just subtle enough to not come off as desperate or to tip off anyone else of their shared affections.

Beside him, Lucas is stretching in hopes of showing off his very recently acquired skill—a backflip—the sole reason he chose to dress up as Spiderman tonight.

Max comes into the room dressed as Wonder Woman with her golden lasso cleverly wrapped around her cane and her usual red glasses inadvertently matching the rest of the costume. As she walks in she announces “Alright El and Will are just about ready, but I have no fucking clue what’s up with Dustin.”

“Woah, you look amazing,” Lucas says. He lets out a dramatic gasp, “and we’re both superheroes, great minds think alike. Hmm or is it soulmates.” Lucas grins, hands over his heart, eyelashes fluttering.

Max, endeared and amused, playfully responds, “I don’t know, this absolute nerd kept mentioning to me that I would look great as Wonder Woman, who just so happens to be my favorite superhero. I wonder how the hell he could’ve known that, or that it would work.” She gives him a little shove and they share a smile.

“We’re ready!” El calls from the hallway. She emerges with Will, visibly giddy. She’s wearing jeans and a large flowy white top with a loose vest over it, her usual long curly hair straightened. Will is more elaborate with a red striped vest over a long sleeve yellow shirt, his eyepatch, and an unmissable blue hat with a yellow feather. “We’re from Labyrinth,” she explains, “I’m Sarah and Will is Sir Didymus!”

“We wanted our costumes to relate,” Will picks up, “El got excited when she saw a character with an eyepatch and thought it would be the perfect excuse for me to wear it instead of my prosthetic.” Mike can feel Will’s fondness coming through as he speaks and Mike can tell how touched he is at El’s thoughtfulness.

“I also just wanted an excuse to be Sarah,” El cut in. “We watched the movie with Jonathan, he loves it and wanted me to see it and I loved her. We need to make sure to take a picture to send him!”

“You guys look great!” Max exclaimed, Lucas agreeing.

Mike studies them, or more specifically Will. He kind of wishes he was the one matching costumes with Will, he kind of wishes he could get up and kiss him right now because he looked so cute. But alas, he holds himself back as none of the party know they’re together. They’ve been wanting to keep it to themselves for now, basking in these exclusive shared feelings.

They had gotten together last year in their second semester as freshmen, when Mike acted on his pent up feelings impelled by his jealousy, completely shocking Will who was attempting to explore the college boy market.

They spent three whole days wrapped up in each other, making up for years of repressed feelings, laying out everything emotional and physical. It largely consisted of Mike apologizing for being oblivious to both Will’s and his own feelings for so long.

Once Mike had understood his feelings for Will were not platonic, he pounced. He mourns the fact that he could’ve made a move earlier if he wasn’t so dumb and had realized what he was feeling.

Their decision to keep it a secret came down to wanting to live in those three private days forever, no pressure from anyone else, their relationship entirely theirs after having it been influenced and dictated by outside sources and societal expectations. It was also fun calibrating how much they could get away with in front of their friends, realizing how blurred the lines in their friendship had previously been when their increased affections caused essentially no fanfare.

Maybe Mike's biggest reason for keeping it secret was because he did not want to risk having to switch Will out as his roommate in the apartment. There is an unspoken rule about couples not sharing rooms; with Max and El in one room, Dustin and Lucas in another, and of course Mike and Will sharing their own, the rest of the party none the wiser.

As he stares forever mesmerized by Will, Mike notices something. “Did you draw on a little dog nose?” he asks Will.

“Yeah,” Will chuckles, “gotta make up for the lack of dog ears,” he says as he points to his head, bashful.

Mike's eyes are bright, cheeks pushing them up into a squint as he smiles, “Adorable,” he says while holding back a chuckle of his own.

Mike can never hold back his fondness for Will, a fondness that only grows when Will always blushes in response. Mike has to cross his arms to contain himself from scooping Will up and showering his rosy little cheeks in kisses.

He settles for a smile so big it's bordering on scary and a quick wink aimed at Will who turns his head to hide his own lovesick grin. But like a magnet Will's head turns back to lock eyes with Mike once again, no longer afraid of his own feelings or Mike's.

“Well I think it’s really fitting,” Max interrupts their love fest, “Will’s the only one willing to tolerate Mike's odor, just like how Sir Didymus lives in the Bog of Stench.”

“Hey!” Mike shouts as everyone else bursts into laughter, “What is with this rhetoric? Will, tell them I don’t smell!”

Will pauses his laughter, hand covering his mouth, locks eyes with Mike and slowly raises his brows along with his shoulders. It’s adorable, it’s so damn cute but, “Will!” Mike shouts in disbelief.

Will resumes his laughter through apologies, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Mike. You know I don’t mean that,” he pauses again, “I make sure you smell good.” Everyone laughs again.

“I do not need you to make sure I smell good, I don’t stink!” Mike retorts.

“Alright, alright,” Lucas saves Mike from making things worse for himself, “We are still missing Dustin. Anyone know if he’s almost ready?”

Before anyone can respond a series of loud footsteps echo down the hallway. Everyone turns towards the entrance and an unusually tall figure appears. There Dustin stands in heels, fishnets, a green lab coat dress, pink gloves, and pearls. There’s a stunned silence as everyone gawks at him.

“What? Never seen a costume this sexy before?” Dustin confidently asks the room. When only silence is returned he continues, “I’m Doctor Frank-N-Furter, y’know, from Rocky Horror.”

“No, we know that,” Will says, “We just...” he trails off.

“Did not see that coming,” Lucas finishes for him.

“Well I think it looks really great,” El speaks up, “I can help you with the makeup quickly!” She passes him into the hallway to get supplies.

She returns and starts on his makeup and that's when the questions really roll in when everyone seems to realize this is real.

“So,” Will starts, “are you gonna let us know how you landed on this costume?”

“And where the hell did you get those heels from?” Max tacks on.

Dustin sighs, “Well it started with Robin and Steve okay. Basically I was talking to them about seeing Rocky Horror with Will and all of a sudden me and Steve are fighting over who’s more of an ally and Robin is egging it all on. Long story short this will get me closer to fifty bucks so someone needs to get a good picture of me in this costume by the end of the night.”

“Alright great. But don’t start complaining when you have trouble dancing cause you're in heels not sneakers,” Lucas warns. Then like a soccer mom, or a future pop star, he starts hustling everyone to get going, “Everyone else, put your sneakers on. Now are you all ready, did you eat, do you have the energy? Yes? Then let's go!”

“This better not be a repeat of last year, Mayfield,” Mike warns as they turn onto the street of the house party they were attending tonight.

“The hell Mike, I distinctly remember the culprits being Lucas and Will and I know you know that, asshole. I made sure I was in charge of finding the party this year because I’m obviously the only person everyone can trust to bring us to a normal party, including you Wheeler,” Max shot back, annoyed at being implicated in last year's Halloween disaster.

Last year being their freshman year of college, when Lucas took them to a frat party on Halloween. Only when they got there the girls were let in while the original party was barred until they paid a fee. Their next step was of course to sneak into the party around back, assisted by Max and El, their inside sources. Out of spite they pounded back as much of the frats alcohol as possible in the hour before they were spotted. They went from dancing to booking it as they were all chased out of the house.

When they were fat enough away they all stopped, panting quickly turning into laughter which quickly turned into vomiting for Dustin, who had taken extra advantage of the bar out of spite for having been impeded from the party. Will took this time to inform them of a different party he had been invited to and fifteen minutes later they were entering a new party at no cost.

When they thought they had achieved sweet victory things took a turn when they started to realize that the vampire esque decorations in this house were not just up for Halloween. After one drink the party once again booked it before they could be involved in any rituals or sacrifices. Safe to say it was a disaster, but here they were all dressed up ready to give Halloween parties another go.

“She is right. I trust Max’s judgement of other people. Judging is one of her specialties,” El said, bringing out her earplugs to prepare for the increased volume as they get closer to the house.

Max snorted, agreeing with El “Damn right.”

Exasperated Will said “How many times do I have to say I’m sorry. Look, it really wasn’t as bad as you guys all make it out to be.”

“Will, sweetheart, I love you but I will never go to one of your weirdo art friends places ever again, okay. Trust me that was the smell of real blood some of those people were drinking,” Max retorts.

“Oh yeah, I almost shit my pants in that house,” Dustin chimed in. “Maybe it didn’t seem that bad to you because you have that whole sunshine, innocent on the outside and disturbing macabre artsy thing underneath going on. Like, seriously I don’t know how after everything you’re still a horror fan you weirdo.”

“Yeah, I thought I was done seeing creatures from the upside down but you bring them to life man,” Lucas agrees.

“You all make me sound disturbed, I am as perfectly well-adjusted as I can possibly be,” Will defends. He uses his two thumbs to point to himself to emphasize his next words, “Will Byers: Normal Boy.”

“Normal Boy!” the rest of the party echoes, laughing.

“Normal party!” shouts Mike as they reach the house, “Last year was so wild there is no way tonight will be half as bad.”

“As long as there’s no entry,” Lucas protests.

“Guys, stop complaining, this is gonna be a great party and a great night, all thanks to me,” Max said as she led the way to the entrance.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived so they quickly got some drinks and joined in with the mix of costumed party goers.

After about an hour of so-called dancing, bordering on shifting from foot to foot, Mike subtly moved further from the makeshift dance floor to take a break near the kitchen entrance where the music isn’t too loud. He watches his friends all dance, reveling in the fact they are all getting the chance to live normal happy lives.

His eyes automatically lock on to Will as he and El hold hands jerking each other back and forth, laughing. He can’t believe how lucky he is to have these people in his life. He can’t believe how lucky he is that Will waited for him all that time, and he really can’t believe how he didn’t realize his own feelings sooner. They were always too big to fit inside of him, coming out in ways he couldn’t control, filtering out into pain, hurt, jealousy. Now when the feelings overwhelm him they’re expressed through love and affection.

Slowly his friends regroup as they all start to make their way over to where Mike is standing, looking to catch their breath from the non-stop dancing, or back flip attempts in Lucas' very special case.

“I told you to trust Max’s judgement!” El starts a little too loud now that they are further from the music and with her earplugs still in, “This party is perfect!”

Max grins, smug, while everyone whoops in agreement with El, all still hyped on the excitement of the dance floor and their first drinks of the night. “No crazy frat bros after us or blood drinking artsy kids,” Dustin laughs out, “Just normal, cool people.”

”And you losers!” Max can’t help but tease.

”Woah, leave me out of this. Spider-man's been the life of the party with his sick ass moves,” Lucas defends himself proudly, but unfortunately his words come out muffled with his mask still on.

”No clue what you said, but you sounded proud to be a loser. Way to embrace it man,” Mike says.

Lucas lifts his mask over his head to respond only to be met with groans from the group as they shield their eyes, teasing. “Nooo, put it back on. Please, my eyes!” Dustin puts on the performance of a lifetime.

Now Lucas grins, “Okay now that is not believable at all. I may not shoot webs but these looks are the real killer,” he ends it with a point and a wink towards Max.

She winks back smiling then deadpans, “Put that back on.” Lucas brings his arm to his chest and flinches back like he’s been shot, gasping. Standing back upright, he and Max share a look and break into laughter.

It makes Mike turn to Will, who’s to his right, glad that like Max and Lucas their friendship is the foundation of their love.

The conversations between their friends fade into the background as Mike studies Will, shining under the party lights and misted with the exertion of dancing. Will, feeling his gaze, turns to make eye contact with Mike. Automatically, Will smiles then tilts his head, scrunching his cute painted nose, eyes squinting, face filled with warmth.

Mike is bewitched, he aches for physical contact. He lifts his right arm, intent on slinging his arm around Will's shoulder, squishing Will into his side, and pressing their temples together when “Will!” someone cuts into their conversation and the little circle they’ve formed. “Nice costume!” the mystery guy says squeezing in next to Will taking Mike’s place and halting his arm which was headed for Will.

Will takes in the guy, surprised, then smiles and replies, “Oh! Hey! Thanks,” he turns to the rest of the group gesturing to the man and says, “Guys this is Carlton, he’s in my class.”

Mike has closed his eyes trying to reign himself in, pissed off at the interference meanwhile everyone else lets out a greeting. Will gestures around the circle to each member of the party saying “These are my friends Dustin, El, Max, Lucas, and Mike.”

Carlton followed Will's gestures starting from his right where Dustin stands and eventually landing his gaze on Mike who stands on Carlton’s left. “Oh!” Carlton startled as he took in Mike’s appearance, “It seems I’m not the only one who decided to go as Seymour.”

Realization sets in among the group that Carlton is dressed in the same costume as Mike.

Mike's brain is processing everything a little slower, first, pissed that his arm is not currently around Will, in fact Will is no longer even standing next to him and secondly, he has been stuck on the name Carlton since Will first said it, because Mike knows that name. Carlton isn’t just in his class, Carlton had fully asked Will out last month. Mike remembers how pissed he was when Will first started to tell him and how smug he felt when Will recounted how he had turned him down.

When his mind fully catches up with the current situation, Mike bristles, he cannot believe this fucker has the same costume as him on and completely stole his spot next to Will. The fuck is he getting at?

Mike realizes the guy’s looking for a response and is only able to grit out, “Yeah, I guess so,” and completely struggles to keep the threat out of his tone despite his attempt to swallow his anger down for the sake of everyone else, including Will, who is laughing about the coincidence.

“Well it makes sense that Will’s not the only fan of Little Shop in the friend group,” Carlton laughs. Mike does not. “Maybe I can call you Seymour II, like in the movie,” and again all of Mike’s friends are laughing—at something Carlton said.

Mike tenses his jaw, silently seething. Now this was an undeniable direct attack at him.

Carlton just admitted to knowing Will’s a fan of the movie, there is no way him dressing up as the main character is a coincidence. He definitely did it to win Will’s favor, and okay maybe Mike did too but it is completely different. Mike is dating Will, they’re in love. Will turned down this loser, he set boundaries and this guy is desperate enough to continue trying to win him over with this lame ass tactic.

And why the fuck is he Seymour II, Carlton should be Seymour II, in fact Carlton should be seen no more. Mike has known Will since they were five years old. He will never be a number two when it comes to Will. He was his first kiss, first boyfriend, first love. All Carlton is is a guy Will rejected, making him number two by definition, nay, by law!

He feels a sudden chill and he looks down to see he’s just crushed his plastic cup in his hand, his drink spilling all over his hand; courtesy of his anger rising as he steams in his own thoughts. Mike wants Carlton as far away from him, his friends, and most importantly Will as possible.

Fed up with this guy, Mike thinks up an out. “Well I’m gonna go get another drink,” Mike starts stiffly, turning to Will, “Will, you want to get something too?”

“Oh, my cup’s still full actually,” Will smiles as Mike. Foiled by logical choice Mike can only nod in response.

Will, distracted by the excitement of the party has not yet caught on to the war that surrounds him and Mike cannot blame him, in fact he’s glad Will isn’t even entertaining the thought that this guy is vying for his attention. Mike turns around ready for a brief moment of reprieve when…

All of the sudden Mike hears an agitating, grating voice as Carlton butts in “Hey, Seymour II, would you mind getting me a drink too?” Mike spins around to face Carlton and Will head on face tight, and in that moment Will recontextualizes everything, able to read Mike like a book.

Meanwhile, the fucker’s smiling wide, fake genuine look on his face like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Fucking innocent act. And not in the cute, sexy, teasing way like Will that he so enjoys.

As Mike's face starts to contort, Will places a hand on his wrist—the wrist attached to the hand that crushed his cup—eyes meeting Mike's. A silent plea to be civil with this man, to not cause a scene. Mike focuses on Will's face, Will’s touch on his wrist, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath; reigning in his inner alpha.

Mike takes his free hand and briefly squeezes Will's hand on his wrist, a slight nod as he speaks, constrained “Sure, the punch?”

“Yes, perfect. The punch!” Carlton cheers.

“Alright,” Mike sucks in a breath and smiles tightly, “the punch.” Mike would really love to give Carlton the punch, but a drink will have to do.

He walks over to the makeshift bar, visible from where they were standing, Dustin stumbling behind in his heels looking to get his third drink of the night. Mike tosses his crushed cup in the trash and very conspicuously wipes his wet hand on Dustin's back to dry it off. Mike hands a cup to Dustin, then grabs two more.

“Thanks,” Dustin says oblivious to the way Mike just used him like a napkin. “That Carlton guy seemed nice, funny too,” Mike jerks his head, incredulous, which Dustin seems to mistake as a nod of agreement. “Another art student. Seems like he might be into Will too. I think he’d be great for him, no?”

“Great for him? We barely even know the guy. He could be weird, deranged, obsessive, I don’t know.” All things Mike is definitely not.

“Woah, chill out dude. You’re right we don’t know him, so just as much as he could be crazy, he could be a great guy. Will deserves to finally meet someone, why are you so against it?”

“I’m not so against it. I just mean you just met the guy and you’re already pushing this. I get you’re obsessed with being ally of the year or whatever but Will does not need to date every guy he talks to.” Mike fills the cups with punch, a bit too forceful.

“I’m just calling it like I see it man. The dude came up to Will to meet all his friends, he remembers details about him like his favorite musical, and he’s looking all sweet at him. I don’t know what Will wants, but the door is certainly wide open with that one,” Dustin finishes, refilling his own cup.

Mike rolls his eyes. He already knows all of Will’s friends, they’re his own. He remembers Will’s favorite musical, he’s watched it with Will even though he couldn’t care less about the movie; so it does not matter that Carlton stole the idea to dress as the main character from him, Mike still beats him in that department. And Mike looks sweet at Will and he always has, to the point none of their close friends noticed when they went from friends to boyfriends because ever since he was a kid he’s looked at Will with love in his eyes.

Carlton has nothing on him, yet the guy is still trying to take his place. Even after Will has directly turned him down. What a fucking dick.

“Whatever,” Mike says to Dustin who’s starting to walk back, “Will doesn’t like him, you’ll see.”

“Oh, we’ll see Michael,” Dustin grins as they both look towards their group where Carlton takes a step closer to Will and places his hands on his shoulder, laughing.

Now this he cannot tolerate. Mike was being civil for Will’s sake, even getting this guy a fucking drink. But this asshole is still all up on Will flirting with him after he already made it clear he wasn’t interested. Now he must take drastic measures for Will’s sake.

Mike slows down a bit, Dustin somehow pulling ahead, walking confidently in his heels with the power of witnessing gay. Now Mike would blame his next actions on a rat sitting in his hair controlling him, but that movie does not exist yet and Mike is not sorry about what he does.

Mike takes a sip from the cup in his left hand, swishes the liquid around and spits it back out into the cup in his right hand. He looks back up as he resumes walking, making direct eye contact with Max. He quickly averts his gaze because if he doesn’t acknowledge it neither can she.

He reaches his group of friends plus one intruder, squeezes between Will and Carlton, back to his rightful place, and absolutely fucking beams as he hands Carlton the cup in his right hand, “Enjoy.”

“Hey, thanks man,” Carlton says and takes a sip, Mike stares. “Ooo, zesty,” Carlton compliments.

“Indeed,” Mike smiles, nodding. Few things give him this perfect mix of evil happiness and satisfaction; but he is beside himself at how well this turned out.

Usually when he gets pissed he can’t do anything about it cause it's someone in the party pissing him off on purpose followed by everyone else ganging up on him. This time he is triumphant.

Satisfied he turns his head only to be met with Max’s fear-inducing blue-eyed stare. Her jaw is dropped as she stares into Mike’s soul then she lets out a gaspy laugh in disbelief, bordering on a scoff.

Mike averts his eyes, lifts his cup and downs his drink, returning his gaze to Will and sweeping him into a conversation before he can catch on to any of the silent conversations or the one-sided battle playing out.

When Carlton once again tries to butt in on their conversation Mike takes Will’s hand dragging him onto the dance floor. He slings his arm around Will’s shoulder and whispers in his ear, “Are you having a good time?” successfully saving his princess.

Will looks up at him, smiling and shaking his head. “Of course I’m having a good time. And curiously so are you, bringing me out to dance hmm?” he questions.

“What? I like dancing too, y’know.”

“Righttt,” Will drags out the word, “and it has nothing to do with Carlton showing up, not to mention in the same costume as you. You forget your complete inability to hide your anger.” Of course Will sees right through him, no sorcerer powers necessary.

Mike's hand slips from his shoulder to Will's waist, confident from the coverage of the crowd and the shield of alcohol and their proclaimed best friendship. There's not much they could do at this point that their friends wouldn’t deem normal between the two in their friendship.

Unable to lie to Will, Mike lets out an exasperated sigh, “He was totally trying to steal you away from your friends. You clearly told him you were not interested and he's still trying to get with you. He followed you to this party and he showed up in a Seymour costume cause he knows you like the movie. How desperate can he get? And he was definitely being rude to me with his little jokes, he was totally jealous which he has no right to be.”

Will eyes mike, raising his brows, “Yes, because you’re never jealous,” Will smiles as Mike rolls his eyes. “Look, you don’t have to be, okay. I’ve loved you since we were kids, it's always been you Mike. No matter what jokes some guy makes. No one knows our relationship like we do. You’ll never be number two to me, you have and will always be my number one.”

Mike completely melts, Will always knows exactly what Mike needs to hear, exactly how he needs to be loved. Everyday they prove how perfect they are for each other, how clearly they’re meant to be.

Mike squeezes where he holds Will’s waist, “You are the greatest gift across all of the earth and frankly every hidden dimension or planet out there. I am unbelievably lucky to have you in this life. I’ve never loved anyone as I love you. I will choose you everyday, over and over again.”

Will’s eyes shine with warmth and tears from the words, reveling in Mike’s adoration. He gives a faint nod and shy smile in response, secure in their love for one another with or without words. “And for the record, I made my boundaries clear and I can take care of myself.”

“Well, you might technically be the one dressed as a knight tonight but you’re still my princess, okay. My Audrey, my Cleric, my Sorcerer. And I shall defend you and your good name as is my sworn duty, Will Byers.”

“Will Byers: Normal Boy.”

Mike tilts his head, hums, and corrects “Will Byers: My Princess.”

Will giggles, “Yes sir,” he startles at his own words and hurries to correct himself, “S-Sir Michael the Brave. Is what I meant.” His eyes are wide, cheeks burning. Mike lets out a bright laugh at Will’s words and his ability to fluster himself. Mortified, Will ducks his head and hides in Mike’s neck.

Mike is incredibly endeared and definitely a bit turned on by his words. He can barely contain himself, he needs to let his love out in a more than friendly way. He brings Will out of hiding and leans down, giving Will a quick kiss before he can overthink his surroundings.

“Oh,” Will gasps shocked and lets out a sweet little laugh, “Suddenly Seymour?” He’s so caught off guard he forgets his own embarrassment as it's replaced with warmth.

Mike smiles so wide he briefly worries how insane he looks, but Will is just so fucking cute and such a fucking dork. He is so glad he wore this costume, Carlton be damned, if it means he gets to see Will make dorky little references like that.

Will is the most endearing person he’s ever met and all he wants right now is to kiss his entire face and oh would you look at that he’s dragging Will down the hallway, looking for a secluded place to do just that.

After returning to the group from their very innocent love fest, Mike sticks to Will like glue the rest of the night, which is not new. In fact it was already his plan for tonight, it's just a bonus that it also helps him to avoid a solo conversation with Max and to ward off him.

Max had recently split off to mingle with her friends who invited her, so Mike doesn’t stop Will from going to help clear a path for Lucas to once again show off his back flip when he downs his drink pulls his mask over his head and determinedly says “I’m going in.”

Mike, drunk off the punch and Will's company, made the mistake of thinking he was safe. But sitting there with El and Dustin wrapped up in their own conversation gives Max the perfect opportunity to sneak up next to Mike and draw him into a one on one confrontation.

“Alright Wheeler, spill, and not into anyone’s drink this time,” Max gets right to it, not afraid to address the elephant in the room, or rather the spit in the cup.

Mike ironically chokes on his own spit and splutters, “W-What can you possibly be talking about?”

”Seriously? That’s how you’re gonna play this one? We made full on eye-contact and you’ve not been subtle about avoiding me since.”

Mike moves to get up off the couch and walk away without responding, like the avoidant king he is. Max of course does not let this happen, she blocks his way, and pins his left foot to the floor with her cane causing him to yelp in pain and fall right back onto the couch.

She levels with him, “Look, I know you’re insane, especially when it comes to jealousy and even more so when it comes to Will but I still have not fully processed the fact that you spit in that guys drink just because he was talking to Will. That’s a lot even for your crazy ass. So either this guy killed your grandma or you’ve finally realized you’re obsessed with Will in more than just a friend way.”

Mike stared at her, breathing through his mouth like an idiot, ironic as it is. He had a lot he wanted to say to her. He even wanted to admit to spitting in Carltons drink because even after hearing how crazy it sounded said out loud by someone else he was still proud he had done it, giddy in fact that he had spit right in that asshole’s drink and the idiot had no fucking clue and not only drank it but enjoyed it and then thanked Mike for it.

Maybe he would have admitted it to her right there if it wasn’t for the fact she brought up his obvious feelings for Will because Mike is fucking stubborn and confrontation only increases his determination to oppose. Max brought up not one but two of his supposed secrets right now and Mike cannot give her the satisfaction of being right.

He shifts his gaze slightly past her, turning up his nose and scoffing, “I did not fucking spit in anyone’s drink. That Carlton guy was an asshole and if I were to have spit in his drink—which I did not—it would be because he’s an asshole not because of one of your fucking crazy conspiracy theories about me and my feelings.”

It’s Max’s turn to scoff now, raising her voice, “I fucking saw you Mike, not just spit in his drink but your face when you realized he showed up in the same costume as you. And don’t think I didn’t notice your dressed as one of Will’s favorite characters from a movie you don’t even like.” She pauses, lowers her voice and smugly continues, “Deny all you want Wheeler, but you are the most obvious person I know and I know what I saw, my glasses made sure of that. Your denial is its own admittance and either way the truth will come out because you’re too proud to let this go unnoticed.”

“What-fucking-ever Wonder Woman. Go save your boyfriend from himself before you have to share your cane with him on the way home after he breaks an ankle,” Mike snips, successfully stomping away this time.

What the fuck did she know anyway? Okay, maybe she knew practically everything. Whatever, she still has no clue he’s actually dating Will so he still has the upper hand. And he didn’t admit to anything, she’s not as good as she thinks she is.

It doesn’t matter, he got his revenge on Carlton and had a great time with Will and their other friends. It was a good night.

He turns back to see where everyone is and notices them all regrouping. Well, looks like it's about time to head out anyways.

The group stumbles through the doorway of their apartment, still giggling from recalling the events of the party that literally just occurred.

As soon as Dustin’s inside he rips off his heels and lands face first on the couch groaning in a mix of pain and brief relief.

“Dude, we told you to take them off before we walked home. I do not understand your determination to be in pain,” Lucas says, incredulous.

Another groan from Dustin and, “I told you, if I were to take them off before I got home my ally ship could be in jeopardy and I do not want to risk that after the lengths I’ve gone through tonight. These are the challenges of women and my empathy knows no bounds.”

El is thrown into a fit of giggles at the absurdity, “Dustin, I don’t even wear heels, or at least ones like that. Max also does not. Who exactly are you empathizing with?”

“I’m telling you he’s just in it for the money, how much you got riding on this bet huh Dusty?” Lucas provokes.

Dustin lets out another groan into the cushions below him, once again triggering laughter throughout the group who was in the middle of dismantling their costumes.

It’s not that late yet and no one seems ready to go to bed still feeling the high of the party.

Max points to the alcohol visible on the top of their fridge and suggests, “Party with just the party?”

Laughter starts again and everyone seems to agree. They all go to quickly change into comfy clothes and gather back in the common area scattered on the couch, loveseat, and floor. Lucas brought over the alcohol, mixers, and cups, passing everything out.

Once they are all seated with their drinks Max once again questions the room, “What about a game?” Met with agreement she proposes, “Truth or drink? It's easy, not too serious or involved.”

As everyone agrees, Mike hits Max with an incredulous stare, suspicious of her intentions. She shrugs at him, nonchalant, and decides to begin the game.

“Alright then, El!” she pauses thinking, “Whose costume would you never want to wear?”

“Easy!” she begins with a bright smile, “Dustin’s!”

“Hey!” Dustin shouts as everyone else around him dissolves into laughter.

“I would apologize to you,” El starts, “But you are making it clear that it is a very painful costume. I do not want to wear something painful.”

As the laughter dies down El continues, “Well I guess I will ask Dustin now. Did you have a different costume you were planning to wear before the bet?”

“Oh, the bet was always part of it. But, originally my idea was to dress up as Tammy Thompson because all the gay people I know seem to talk about her when coming out. But Robin stopped me and said that would be more like a hate crime so I went with Rocky Horror instead,” Dustin explained leaving everyone confused and Will cringing.

El hums, considering, “I think I understand less now,” she jokes.

“Alright you all had your fun with my costume but we can be having more fun.” Dustin considers his options and lands on “Mike,” smirking, ready to stir something up. “Have you ever had a steamy dream about someone in the party?”

“What kind of question is that? What the hell Dustin!” Mike exclaims, appalled.

“A fun one! C’mon. Oh and El doesn’t count you guys dated.”

“Ugh! I haven't even…” he flails trying to convey he’s never had a dream like that about El.

“Oh, don’t worry, I did not think so,” El, getting the message, says with a hint of relief and amusement.

“Whatever, just ask a different question,” Mike rushes to move on.

Dustin does not let it go, “No way man that's against the rules, of which there are only two, it’s very simple.”

“You can always just drink,” El smirks at him, “that is rule two.”

“This game is rigged! Taking a drink is basically the same thing as answering the question!” Mike whines.

“Technically, that only goes for yes or no questions,” Lucas cuts in, ever so helpful.

“Okay so new rule, no yes or no questions. That’s fair,” Mike says with all the confidence he should not have.

“Come on man, don't be a buzzkill. We basically know everything about you anyway, what are you worried about?” Lucas urges.

“Some people here just love to conspire against me, okay. You don’t get it because the person here with the biggest hate boner for me has a love boner for you,” Mike attempts to defend himself. All he really accomplishes is vaguely grossing the party out with his word choices, everyone grimacing.

To everyone's relief El gets them back on track. “Come on Mike, it is just a game, we are all friends. Didn’t you start the friends don’t lie rule in the first place?”

Mike splutters, he can’t really argue with that one. So he looks to his lifeline, Will… who shrugs and tells him to chill out. Okay he actually gives Mikes hand a squeeze which is very calming and reassuring and persuades, “Come on, everyone’s having fun, even you. You're just pretending so you can be oppositional.” Of course he can’t resist teasing Mike either.

Mike relents, like always with Will, muttering “Fine.”

Two can play at this game though, so Mike looks Will in the eyes and declares, loud and proud, “Yes.” Will bites his lip in an attempt to control his responding smile, excited by Mike’s boldness, rather than shy.

The room erupts ready to throw a mountain of questions at him. “Uh uh, since you guys are all about the rules of this game, I do not have to answer any follow up questions,” Mike successfully dodges the consequences of his answer.

Unfortunately this does not stop the speculation, namely Lucas and Dustin arguing over it being them; it is unclear whether they want it to be themselves or not.

“I’m flattered Mike, really. But it’s never going to happen,” Dustin lets him down easy.

“Shit, is it me?” Lucas wonders, “It cannot be Max or we’ll have some problems. And no way it's Dustin, Mike would classify that as a nightmare. I’d say that about me too but I’d be insulting myself, so. Wait, it could be Will! Mike definitely wouldn’t mind a dream about Will.”

Max of course is just sitting back watching this play out, more than content to watch Mike scrabbling. Will is sitting in a mix of shock and entertainment at the turn the conversation has taken; a raise of his eyebrows in anticipation of how Mike will handle this.

Unable to listen to any suggestion of his sex dream being about anyone except Will but also unable to survive them discussing his sex dreams about Will, Mike hurries to move the game along.

He calls out Lucas, mostly to get him to stop talking, “Lucas! My turn, listen up. Alright, um, how many times did you faceplant trying to backflip?”

“No way, I always land on my feet,” Lucas claims as he contradicts himself by taking a drink, setting off laughter as the group realizes the implication of the action.

Lucas turns to Dustin, no introduction just right to it, “With all this talk about being an ally what are you doing for the black community? Hmm.”

As Dustin scrambles to catch up with the abrupt question, Max tacks on, “Or the disabled community!”

Dustin turns his head towards her, lifting his arms in a “what?” gesture and deadpans “Max, I’m disabled.”

“Oh, right,” she pauses. “Well, what are you doing for the black community,” she pivots back to emphasize Lucas’ question.

Dustin shakes his head in disbelief at the audacity, still entertained though. “You’ve seen it, I use my commanding tone and confident demeanor to prevent people from steamrolling over the other students. I talk so much I gotta use my voice for good.”

“Hmm, true,” Lucas considers, “But you do that for everyone.”

“That’s because I’m an ally to everyone.”

“Not to me,” Mike pipes up, unwarranted.

“Well you’re a wealthy, white, straight man,” Dustin rationalizes. Mike hmphs unable to argue with most of the statement but not correcting the fact that he is the farthest thing from straight.

“You bring up a good point Lucas. I definitely gotta up my ally game for the black community, honestly we all should,” Dustin acknowledges.

“We can talk about this for real when we’re sober,” Lucas proposes. Then he tacks on, “Well, you can also be paying for my lunch sometimes.”

Dustin glosses over that last comment and turns to Will. “Well what I would like to know, Will the Wise, is where you disappeared to during the party. Wait, not where, but with who? Hmm. Were you with Carlton? I swear you came back flushed.”

Will pauses as the rest of the party, sans Mike, oooohs like a bunch of middle schoolers. He tries to play off his rising blush by keeping his facial expressions nonchalant.

He can’t help but to look at the floor as he narrowly evades the bomb sitting at the center of the question. “I was not with Carlton,” Will is careful to avoid any emphasis in the sentence, afraid to indicate any of the truth of who he was with and what they were doing.

Dustin squints at Will for a moment. “Alright,” he relents, not seeing any of Will’s usual tells that he’s lying.

Mike and Will both smile, mirrors of each other. Will was telling the truth when he said he wasn’t with Carlton, so the party believed him. Little did they know if they just looked a little deeper they would discover a world of truths right in front of them. But placated with a boring truth and with the alcohol inhibiting them from noticing Will’s evasive tactics of not answering the asked questions of who and what, they were content to move on in search of more fun.

Will, excited by getting away scot-free, takes his time choosing a person and a question, feeling a bit mischievous. He quickly finds Max who despite suggesting the game has yet to be asked a question.

Using this observation and his knowledge of his friend, Will says to her, “You are never usually the one to suggest these games unless you have an ulterior motive.”

Max hums in response, not denying it, smiling a little like she finds Will cute as he tries to unravel her. “So, what is it? Why are we really playing this game?” Will finishes, a bit proud.

The party all look on, enraptured in silence as they watch this play out. Max does not say anything. Her amused grin shifts into a smirk as she lifts her cup and takes a nice long sip, all the while maintaining eye contact with Will.

The tension breaks as El cheers, thrilled by the back and forth. Dustin blowing air out of his mouth, incredulous. Mike and Lucas share matching shivers, both of them unnerved. Will just sits back, hands up in surrender, not surprised at Max’s show.

Unrattled, smirk still intact, Max narrows her gaze onto Mike. His eyes widen in terror for whatever is about to come out of her mouth; afraid she’s actually about to answer Will's question by getting whatever answers she’s looking for out of Mike.

He holds his breath as she finally breaks her own curated tension. “Be honest here. When’s the last time you showered?”

Mike remembers how to breathe, relieved, while everyone else bursts into laughter at his expense as usual. He uses his annoyance at himself for having been so afraid to play up his annoyance at the insult; whining as usual to play off his nerves.

They continued on asking each other questions, laughing the whole while, even avoiding answering just to have an excuse to drink.

Every time Max’s turn comes around Mike tenses up ready for her next move in their never ending back and forth. He would usually not be too worried, used to her antics and always ready to give back what he gets but tonight is different—tonight she has ammunition, real ammunition, something she saw with her own two eyes. This time she doesn’t even have to make it up. Yet she never asks him the question.

When it finally came Max’s face did not change at all which is exponentially scarier. “Have you ever spit into someone else’s drink?”

“Okay what kind of question even is that?” Mike huffs caught off guard having been lulled into a false sense of safety from Max’s strategic restraint.

“Just a general question. I mean you did work at a coffee shop for like a month and you always complained about customers. Any assholes you had enough of and decided to spit in their drink as revenge?” Max plays it off innocently.

Having enough of her games Mike declares, “As a matter of fact I have spit in some asshole's drink before.”

There is an absolute uproar. Everyone is speaking over each other. Max sits back smugly at her accomplishment. Mike sits in the middle of it as everyone else gapes at him.

“Oh. My. God.” Dustin says in shock.

“What the fuck,” Will mutters in confusion, with a hint of intrigue.

“Gross,” El scrunches up her nose.

“You are insane,” Lucas deadpans, not surprised yet somehow still utterly flabbergasted.

El gasps as if she found the final piece to a puzzle, “Is that why you got fired so quickly?”

“I didn’t get fired,” Mike hesitates, “Well I kinda did but, whatever, it wasn’t for that.”

“Holy shit you got away with it, and at work. I did not think you could be subtle,” Dustin says in awe.

“How did you do it? Why did you do it?” Lucas demands answers.

Dustin and Lucas are hugging each other in disbelief and excitement. The room quiets down, all eyes on Mike, filled with anticipation. Will, astonished, laughs out “Did you really do that to a customer?”

Mike, distracted by Will’s laugh, his beautiful smile, doesn't think before admitting, “It wasn’t a customer.”

A chorus of gasps, once again and El, confused questions “Who was it then?”

“Yeah, Mike, who was it?” Max urges.

Mike finally realizes what happened and wants to yell Objection! Leading Question. Cause this is just not fair.

He might have admitted to spitting seemingly on his own, but he would argue it was entrapment. And now his admittance to it not being a customer was done under duress, the duress being Will’s distracting beauty.

Lucas speaks up when Mike takes too long, “Oh no it better not have been one of us. You can’t have done this to us. A spit swear is one thing that is another.”

Dustin barrels on right before Mike can speak up, “Oh my god it's one of us. Oh my god!” He starts pacing back and forth, muttering god's name till he suddenly turns to Mike sharply, “Lucas is right Mike. Spit swearing is one thing, this is another. This is fucking biological warfare!”

“Alright, alright! Everyone calm down, I’ve never spit in any of your drinks, I’ve only thought about it,” Mike finally gets out.

“Thats not fucking funny,” says Dustin pointing at Mike.

“I don’t understand,” El says. “Who else could it be, you only ever hang out with us,” she giggles, fully knowing what she’s doing, “you really have no other friends. Honestly you almost only hang out with Will. But you said it wasn’t his drink either.”

“No, ugh!” Mike is so overwhelmed and frustrated now that he completely forgets that he can argue against answering any follow up questions. But even so, no one here was about to let this go over any frivolous rules.

“I don’t know, he said that in a blanket statement about all of us,” Max piles on, loading another bullet in her gun. “He’s been dodgy all game can we really trust him? I think we need to ask if it was anyone here’s drink individually,” she’s fully loaded now.

Met with no protests from the panicked party, she fires, knowing right where to aim. “Like El said you spend the most time with Will, did you spit in his drink?”

“Okay! Enough! Look, it was Carlton! It just happened tonight, he was antagonizing me!” Mike shouts, exasperated, needing the torturous interrogation to stop.

He locks eyes with Max who is absolutely beaming, the way she always does when she wins at a video game.

“Mike, seriously? You can’t do that to people, especially my classmate,” Will reasons.

But Mike disregards all reason, he zeros in on how Will refers to Carlton as a classmate instead of a friend. Win for Mike. Not only that but despite his reasonable words, Will doesn’t look mad; in fact it looks like he’s hiding a smile, a laugh. Mike knows, he’s spent so much time studying Will and his mannerisms, habits, expressions. Will is amused by Mike’s insanity, even at the expense of his classmate.

“No!” Dustin jumps in panicked, “You can’t do that because it’s biological warfare Michael! Oh my god, he can’t know, he’ll sue.”

“It cannot be considered biological warfare, Dustin,” Mike rushes to debunk him, “I wouldn’t even say I spit in his drink exactly, okay. Look I just took a quick sip of my drink and let it fall back out into his.”

Mike takes his drink and Lucas’ drink and demonstrates exactly how he sipped from his own and then spit it back out into another.

“See. Nothing that crazy.”

Max takes issue with the demonstration. “Hell no! You did not just let it fall back out! You basically gargled it!”

Cue the chorus of disgusted groans from the party.

”Saying I gargled it is an extreme exaggeration!” Mike will not stand for this ludicrous embellishment of his actual slightly less unhinged actions.

“Oh, it was at least two swishes!” Max argues. “You made it seem like it was barely in your mouth for a second.”

”Hold up,” Will interrupts. He points to Max. “Max, you saw this happen?”

”Oh yeah,” she admits unashamed. “It basically happened right in front of you all, and none of you noticed. Maybe you all should think about drinking more responsibly,” she says with mock disappointment and a shake of her head.

As everyone protests and scoffs at Max’s jest, Will beams in pride. “I knew it! Her ulterior motive for the game is revealed!” he announces, victorious.

Everyone stops their fussing and looks on at Will, all of them endeared by his devastating adorableness. Unperturbed by the sudden silence, Will continues to grin proud of himself, triggering everyone’s laughter with his cuteness.

Max begins a slow clap, letting Will soak up his victory. “You got me honey,” she concedes to him, admittedly biased.

Then she turns to Mike, biased in the complete opposite direction. “Now that it’s confirmed I am an eye-witness. I reiterate: swishing occurred.”

”Alright! So some swishing occurred,” Mike gives in. “But compared to gargling, it’s not that crazy! Besides he enjoyed it, he called it zesty. He’ll never know and he never will, he’s just Will’s classmate. In fact Will doesn’t even ever have to speak to the guy again. Yeah, that’s a great idea, a bonus even.”

“I do not see how that makes it better,” El deadpans.

“Yeah, that's still kinda nuts man,” Lucas doesn’t let up.

“Well what do we expect from Mike, he does wild shit like this pretty often, especially in the name of Will,” Max says objectively.

Mike cannot accept it being stated so factually. “How is this in the name of Will? Just because he knows the guy?”

“You did call him an asshole when you only just met so the only thing you know about him is that he’s friends with Will,” El notes.

“Exactly, it’s the obvious reasoning,” Max adds on, “Mike's notorious for being jealous of new people. I would know,” she finishes the opening statement pointedly.

“Especially when it comes to Will. It took like three weeks for you to stop glaring at me when we first met, and I was friends with both you and Will,” Lucas piles on the evidence.

Another witness—Dustin—steps up to the stand, “They have a point, I remember just last year you actually gave that girl the complete wrong directions when she was trying to get Will to walk her new class she didn’t know how to get to.”

“Well Will had a class to get to too, in the complete other direction and she was persistent and Will is too nice to say no,” Mike objects.

“Okay if I recall Will did not have a class, you two were going to get lunch together while I went to class. He definitely had time.” Overruled. “And Will’s not even into girls I don’t understand what there was to even be jealous of.”

The prosecution does not rest. “And that time that guy was just trying to ask Will about an assignment. You totally scared him off, you don’t do that for anyone else's classmates,” El continues presenting the argument.

“Hey, that guy totally had an ulterior motive, okay. Like, I bet he was trying to get Will to do that whole assignment for him,” Mike starts to appeal with a ridiculous excuse, when he notices Will blushing and hiding behind his hand.

He realizes Will is enjoying this. Mike lets his flimsy defense hang to instead revel in the fact that Will is into his borderline obsessive possessiveness that’s exclusive to Will.

The appeal is denied. Dustin continues to conduct the cross examination.

“And just at the party when we were getting the punch before the incident you totally freaked out on me when I said Carlton seemed like he was into Will.” Dustin gasps, leading the witness, "That's totally why you then spit in his punch, you realized he was interested in Will and got super jealous. You can’t do that to your friends, you don't even know if Will likes him or not.”

“Will does not like that asshole,” Mike asserts, “And that was not it, he was being an asshole to me in general.” Objection sustained. Jury will disregard Dustin’s last statement. But they did still hear it…

“I don’t know he seemed like a pretty nice guy,” Lucas testifies as a character witness.

“And funny,” El corroborates, “and he totally understood me and Will’s costumes so that makes him pretty cool.”

“Are you kidding me? He was clearly just desperate for Will to like him. He might’ve complimented his costume but I bet he hasn’t even seen Labyrinth. And dressing up like Seymour, how obvious can he get?” the defendant submits his testimony as character evidence.

“Oh and pray tell why you decided to dress up like Seymour? You don’t even like that movie,” Max accuses.

“Ugh! that's not the point!” Objection, relevance. Sustained. “We’re talking about Carlton and he was an asshole; calling me number two when I’ve known Will basically his whole life. He was trying to one up me all night to win over Will. He clearly knew Will would be there and that he likes that movie so he dressed up as Seymour and sucked up to Will to try to get with him again.”

Will's voice is calm in the stormy conversation, “You don’t like Little Shop? We’ve watched it together like five times?” Previous objection overruled by Will Byers privileges. The court will take a brief recess.

“W-What? No! No, I like the movie—I like watching it with you!” Mike desperately backtracks.

“Did you say ‘again’?” El cuts in, ignoring Mike and Will’s trivial domestic.

“Huh,” Mike questions.

“You said try to get with him again,” El elaborates, “You mean he has before?”

Mike stares at Will, unsure if he’s revealed something Will wanted to keep secret.

“He asked me out like a month ago after class. I turned him down,” Will clarifies.

“Oh shit, I can’t believe it but Mike’s not entirely crazy, Dustin says. “You already turned him down but he was still trying to win you over.”

“See!” Mike throws his arms up in vindication.

Dustin whistles, “Damn Byers, we knew you were a lady magnet, but you got men chasing you non-stop too.”

“Shut up, that’s not true,” Will denies, blushing.

“Wait,” says Lucas, “How come only Mike knew this? And why’d you turn this guy down initially?”

“Did Mike make you turn him down under duress? We know how he is when it comes to you, you can tell us Will,” Max tries to create a safe space for Will.

Mike is insulted but cannot necessarily deny he would never do that, “What the hell!”

“No, I just wasn’t interested guys, c’mon. Mike didn’t have anything to do with it. It just never came up with any of you,” Will says.

Mike is tempted to correct Will, because frankly he did have something to do with Will turning the guy down, on account of the fact that they are actively dating, but he holds back. Since he does not clear this up though, the others start putting his past crimes—or victories if you ask him—on blast again.

The court is back in session. You may be seated.

“Are you sure because I remember when that one guy at the bar went to buy your drink and Mike completely intercepted,” Lucas recalls. “Like put his arm around you and said he was the one paying for your drink. He basically made you turn the guy down.”

“Yeah and why did it come up with Mike and not any of us,” El protests. “Especially me, we always talk about boys together. Did Mike force you to talk about boys?”

“Oh my god now he’s competing for the number one ally award too?” Dustin complains, then realizes, “Wait what am I talking about he’s actually preventing gay love. Phew, I’m still good.”

“Preventing gay love? I would never!” Mike objects.

“Only if it involves Will and someone who’s not you, you possessive weirdo,” Max presents her closing statement.

All of the evidence is utterly damning. Michael Wheeler is convicted on account of jealousy issues, exacerbated when concerning a one William Byers. The defendant is sentenced to whatever is about to occur next. Case dismissed.

Dustin, Lucas, and El all guffaw at Max’s blatant statement. No one is able to disagree due to the evidence presented. Will’s face turns an even deeper shade of red than it already is. Mike winds up to react when instead, absolute chaos erupts.

Dustin screams “NOOOOOO,” jumping over the coffee table to reach Lucas who was about to take a sip of his drink. Dustin's hand grabs Lucas’ wrist, gripping tight in order to prevent Lucas from bringing the cup the final inch to his mouth.

The cup.

The spit cup.

The room goes silent, Lucas’ eyes move from Dustin to the cup, and then he lets out a scream in a familiar pitch they haven’t heard since they were twelve.

Lucas screams until he runs out of oxygen, then heaves in deep, panicked breaths while muttering “Oh my god,” over and over again.

Dustin, steadily reaches for and grabs the cup from Lucas then gradually releases Lucas’ wrist with the slow calmness you have when approaching an injured animal.

Dustin keeps one hand extended towards Lucas grounding him, whole body still except for his opposite arm. “It’s okay buddy, alright. I’m just gonna set this cup down right here in the middle of the coffee table, alright. Look, it's the only cup on the table now.”

Lucas’ eyes clear, he turns to Mike, “You,” he seethes, “I almost drank your fucking spit. What the fuck is wrong with you.”

The shock of the situation sits in the air a moment and then it’s completely shattered by three absolute cackles as El, Max, and Will lose it, cracking up at everything that has just occurred right in front of them.

The three can’t sit up right, doubled over in laughter, tears in their eyes. The complete opposite of the three horrified boys all standing around.

Dustin, terrified at almost witnessing Lucas drink Mike's spit, Lucas petrified at almost drinking Mike’s spit, Mike considering running for his safety. With the other three laughing at them the tension between them starts to disappear as the boys all turn their focus to the common enemy in this very instant.

“You think this is funny?!” All three boys shout in sync at the other three party members.

This only spurs them on more, Max barely getting out a “Yes!” through her laughter and gasps for breath, tears streaming down her face, matching her other two accomplices.

All three boys begin ranting at once in disbelief. They are utterly unable to comprehend the comedy in the current situation, not even caring that they are being drowned out by the other tirades happening all at once.

The three giggling messes slowly catch their breaths, calming down to the background noise of three war torn boys bloviating about the mass destruction that’s occurred.

Eventually the rants wind down and the laughs wane until they meet at a complete stop, silence throughout the room. Slow eye contact between all the party members and the room bursts into laughter again, population: the whole party.

The absolute absurdity of it all, mixed with the drinks and silence can only result in raucous laughter shared with the entire group.

When they’re guaranteed to receive a noise complaint tomorrow, they begin to come back down to earth once again. They all take deep breaths, calming themselves so they don’t succumb to the laughter again. They wipe their eyes and slouch back against the nearest surface when they realize they can’t muster the energy to sit up straight.

Max fights for her life as she breaks the word drought, “I cannot fucking believe you almost just drank Mikes fucking spit.” She gasps in another breath, “I would have never fucking kissed you again Spider-man.”

“Well I think I might’ve cut my fucking tongue out my god,” Lucas says voice laced with the experience of a veteran. “My life flashed before my eyes. I’m so glad we’re all alive. I love you guys.”

“Even Mike?” El questions, her giggles returning.

Lucas blanches at the reminder and ignores the question about his devastator in favor of his savior. “I fucking love you Dustin. I don’t say it enough. I will never make that mistake again.”

“Ally to all,” Dustin salutes.

Basking in the absurdity of the situation Will breathes out, “All this because of Carlton?”

“What a stupid fucking name,” Mike groans.

“Woah, hold on,” Max protests, “I will not let you rewrite history. All this because Mike is insane.”

“Indeed he fucking is,” Lucas agrees.

“Did you really need to spit in the guys drink?” El asks exasperated.

“And then demonstrate it using my cup?” Lucas emphasizes.

“Hey! I was just trying to prove that it wasn’t that bad. You all were making such a fuss. Dustin called it biological warfare which is an absolutely ridiculous hyperbole,” Mike defends.

“No, it was a pretty apt claim,” Dustin interjects.

“Yeah! And let me reiterate—I almost drank your fucking spit!” Lucas asserts.

“You make it sound horrible! It was barely my spit, it was probably about ninety percent drink and ten percent spit.”

“Well that ten percent is one hundred percent of your fucking spit!”

“Come on Lucas, Mike's spit is not that bad,” Will chimes in defending Mike. “Besides you're the pioneer of spit swears in our friend group, you don’t have that much of a leg to stand on.”

“Spit shakes involve hands only. I was about to consume Mike's spit,” Lucas stresses.

“C’mon it can’t be that bad, Carlton called the punch zesty, maybe I improved it,” Mike suggests. Will bursts into giggles at Mike's ridiculousness.

“Well he didn’t know,” Max excuses, backing up Lucas. “God knows how he didn’t know, I’m sure it had an evil tang, considering it was your spit.”

“What the hell are you talking about? My spit does not have any sort of flavor or evil tang! What the fuck!” Mike shouts. “There is no taste. It would not be that bad, you wouldn’t be able to tell a difference. Lucas would’ve been fine.”

“Literally no one here would be fine with drinking your spit,” Lucas gestures to everyone, requesting back up.

“I would rather still be in a coma than drink your spit,” Max says.

“I would rather die of dehydration than drink your spit,” Dustin declares.

“El kind of used to,” Mike points out.

“Yes, used to, and now I know what good kissing is,” El remarks. “I never want to come in contact with your spit again.”

“Well Will wouldn’t mind!” Mike blurts indignant with everyone ganging up on him. Will freezes, laughter dying and color creeping up his face.

“Are you kidding? Of course he would mind!” Max opposes. “Just because you want that doesn’t mean he does.” Will curls up, completely hiding behind his hands now; an attempt to disappear since he has no clue how to navigate this situation.

“Woah, what the hell are you even saying?” Mike exclaims. “You don’t know anything.”

“Look man, you’re just really speaking for Will on this and I don’t want to speak for him either but I am betting he would definitely not want to drink your spit,” Lucas explains.

“Trust me he wouldn’t mind it, right Will?” Mike prompts Will, gesturing towards him. Will briefly peaks through his fingers releasing a squeak as he’s put on the spot in the most embarrassing way, too mortified to come up with any real response.

“Oh my god look what you’re doing to him,” El gestures to the panicked Will.

“Seriously dude, I really don’t think Will wants anything to do with your spit,” Lucas reiterates.

“That's just not true, I know for sure he wouldn’t mind,” Mike triples down, uncaring of the implications, determined to win his case for once.

“What do you possibly mean you know for sure?”

“I just do.”

“HOW?!” everyone shouts, aggravated.

Frustrated, Mike gestures at Will, trying to meet his eyes or prompt him to jump in. Will, intent on avoiding this entire ordeal, does not grant Mike any sort of relief. Mike is spluttering now “I—I,” he hesitates, “because…”

“Oh, just spit it out!” Lucas urges.

Mike considers the choice of words, then raises his eyebrows, an evil smirk on his face.

“No! No, no, no! You know what I meant, asshole!”

Mike lets out a frustrated sound, flustered and fed up he blurts out “Because he’s literally covered in my spit right now!” instead of just saying their dating like a normal person would.

“What?!” the whole party, sans Will, essentially exclaims in confusion and disgust. El and Dustin are both gagging a little. Mac and Lucas are offended on Will’s behalf, bracing to protect him.

“Mike! Don’t say it like that!” Will shouts mortified from behind his hands.

“I just meant we’re dating. Okay? We kiss everyday. I kissed him all over tonight so like technically he’s covered in my spit,” Mike elaborates.

There’s an abrupt silence as everyone processes the statement. You can almost see the collective flashback as they all recount every moment of the night in this new context, attempting to wrap their heads around it all.

Dustin’s the first to speak. “What, that's where you disappeared at the party?” he asks Will, “Not with Carlton?”

“No, not with Carlton,” Will agrees.

“Can we stop talking about him, I can’t stand that stupid fucking name of his.” Mike’s only concern being the fact Carlton is still being mentioned.

“Everything is starting to make a lot of sense now,” El reflects.

“I gotta hand it to you, I thought I was just going to get a spit confession. Maybe get you to realize your jealousy is because you’re in love with Will. I did not see this already dating plot twist coming,” Max admits, still satisfied with the unforeseen results.

“I can’t fucking believe it finally happened and none of us knew,” Lucas exclaims, met with agreement from the rest of the party. “We all know Will is good at hiding things, but my god Mike is obvious. How the fuck did you pull it off?”

Mike and Will share a look, then a shrug. “I mean, I guess we just never kissed in front of you,” Will tries to account for the lapse in knowledge.

“Oh my god,” Dustin starts, “They were so fucking in love before basically nothing between them changed. Jesus Christ.”

“You’re both so dumb,” Max shakes her head in disbelief of everything that transpired tonight and apparently beforehand.

Will rolls his eyes, unable to defend himself even if they had successfully kept their relationship from the rest of the party. “Sorry for not telling you guys sooner.”

“As long as you are both happy, we’re happy,” El speaks for the party who murmur in agreement.

Max is hit with another thought. “Wait, how long has this been going on for?”

“Since last semester,” Mike reveals, proud.

“What the fuck?” Dustin and El shout in unison, finding it to be the only suitable response.

“All fucking summer?” Max cries, unable to accept she’s been in the dark so long.

“How the hell? Once again, Mike is not subtle at all,” Lucas questions again.

“Look, I’ve run the numbers and that right there has to be why we didn’t notice a change. He was not subtle before so we didn’t notice when they actually got together because he is still not subtle, we just all got used to it,” Dustin reiterates his earlier hypothesis.

Mike rolls his eyes, “Whatever,” and approaches Will from behind. He wraps his arms around Will’s middle and slouches to rest his chin on Will’s shoulder, sulking because he absolutely cannot refute the points being made. And at this point he doesn’t even care to, because he gets to hold Will like a teddy bear and plant a kiss on his neck now, right in front of everyone.

Witnessing this display of affection brings another question to Lucas’ mind. “Wait so you two…” he gestures at them practically on top of one another, “in your room…”

“We are not switching rooms,” Mike shouts in panic, eyes wide. He clutches Will even closer, tightening his arms around him as if the party is about to yank them apart. “No way!”

Max and Dustin share a scoff at the pathetic display, yet neither are surprised by the response. Will, on the other hand, finds himself simultaneously bashful, shocked, and delighted. The party all talked about how Mike gets jealous when it comes to Will, and Will has seen and heard Mike’s love for him first hand these past few months. But for Mike to display his feelings for Will so openly, so unashamed even when the rest of the party finds him pathetic, it qualms a fear he did not realize he was harboring. It's something Will did not know he craved, something he did not realize he needed—an indisputable declaration of love packaged in such a simple and trivial act. But to Will it means the world.

“Chill dude,” Lucas puts his hands up in surrender, “I’m not gonna argue with you. I don’t want you spitting in my drink.”

“Wait, does this mean I have to be an ally to Mike?” Dustin questions, dismayed.

When the hype of everything starts to die down, the tiredness of an endless night starts to creep in. The night may not have been as crazy as Freshman year but man it is now just as memorable in a completely different way. Everyone moves to get up ready to pass out in their comfortable beds.

Before he disappears down the hallway Lucas calls to Mike who is still clinging to Will from behind, “You have to clean up man, you basically caused this whole mess and I refuse to touch that spit cup of yours.” The rest of the party following Lucas and humming in agreement.

Mike scoffs in disbelief but is way too happy with Will snuggled in his arms, relationship out in the open, to actually argue back. And to be fair Lucas is kind of right.

Now everyone else is sequestered to their rooms, leaving Mike and Will alone to clean up the drinks. All the cups are empty except for the cup. Will stacks all the empty cups together as Mike grabs the bottles of alcohol and mixer.

“I’m glad we told them,” Mike says to Will as he shifts the bottles around to also grab the stack of cups from Will.

Will hums in thanks to Mike and watches him walk everything to the kitchen, “Me too, but I would’ve maybe liked to have told them in, you know, a more normal way I guess.”

”Well I think this was wayyy better. More dramatic, I know you secretly live for that,” Mike accuses as he goes around the kitchen throwing away the cups and using his height to replace the bottles back on top of the fridge.

Will giggles rolling his eyes, “Think whatever you want but we all know you’re the dramatic one.” Mike holds his hands up in surrender and starts walking back towards Will.

“I still can’t believe it. Did you really spit in his drink all because you were jealous over me?”

Mike reaches Will, standing in front of him, hands immediately finding their place on Will’s waist. Mike’s eyes meet Will’s one remaining eye and his other eyelid mostly closed over his implant, no eyepatch or prosthetic. “Part of it was my possessiveness. Part of it was my anger. Part of it was in defense of your boundaries.” Will stares up at him, head tilted back slightly, listening intently.

Mike ducks his head slightly, crowded above Will’s face, and lowers his voice, “All of it was my love for you. I’d do anything in the name of loving you, baby.”

“All in the name of Will Byers: normal boy?” Will smiles up at him, all giddy, “Even biological warfare?”

Mike’s left hand stays on Will’s waist while his right travels up to run through Will’s hair and anchors on his neck. “Even biological warfare,” he agrees, “All for Will Byers…Love of my Life,” ending his statement with a kiss to Will’s forehead.

Will’s eyelids flutter reveling in the sweet action and Mike’s admission of unwavering love bordering on lethal. “For the record,” Will reassures, “I don’t mind your spit.”

Mike leans down, pressing a kiss to Will’s neck. He lifts his head, “Oh, I know,” he says and ducks back down escalating to sucking on Will’s neck, then nipping teasingly.

Will’s breath hitches at the sensation and he gasps out a “No,” takes a deep breath, “I mean it.”

Mike pauses his actions and lifts his head, straightening up both hands back on Will’s waist, looking for a hint as to what he seems to be missing in Will’s words. He finds Will reaching down to the coffee table and lifting up the remaining cup. The cup. Unsure Mike asks for clarity, “Is that… are you?”

Will looks up at Mike through his lashes, face the perfect mix of sultry and sweet. Will nods and slowly brings the cup to his mouth. Mike is frozen, unprepared for what Will is doing and for the arousal it brings on. Will’s eye contact is unflinching as the cup makes contact with his pink lips and he confidently drinks down the mix of beverage and Mike’s saliva.

Mike starts to vibrate while watching, finding this unbelievably hot. Will gulps down the last of it and catches his breath. Mike whispers “Baby, what are you doing to me?” and promptly raises his hands from Will’s waist to greedily grab at Will’s face, bringing their lips together in an immediate open mouthed kiss.

Will, dumbstruck at the response, drops the empty cup, hands latching onto Mike’s crewneck desperate to anchor himself, fingers shaking with the effort. He kisses Mike back, meeting him with the same desperate hunger; exhilarated by his efficacy in riling up Mike. Mike licks into his mouth like he’s searching for proof of his own flavor mixed in with Will’s and the alcohol.

They separate, gasping for breath, Mike’s hands still gripping either side of Will’s face ensuring he does not move back any further, the thought unbearable. Will’s own hands release their tight grip on the fabric of Mike’s crewneck, flattening out to rest on his chest. Will looks at Mike, swollen lips matching his pink cheeks, the face of an angel.

Mike is astounded, “Don’t look so innocent after that,” he shakes his head in disbelief, thumb brushing against his cheek, hot to the touch.

Will lets out a breathy giggle and blinks up at Mike coquettishly, eyebrows drawing together and replies innocently, “I have no idea what yo—”

Mike doesn’t let Will finish, pushing his thumb into Will’s mouth. Will’s eyebrows take a detour upwards and he lets out a tiny gasp around the digit, then automatically begins to suck on Mike’s thumb.

Mike stares, mouth open, breathing heavily, hard in his plaid pajama pants. He pulls his thumb out of Will’s mouth and across Will’s bottom lip spreading Will’s saliva with it. His thumb continues until it’s resting back on Will’s cheek as his eyes flick all around Will’s face collecting every detail of his reaction.

Mike presses the entire lengths of their bodies close together, his behavior rewarded when he feels Will’s hardness against his own. Stood at his full height and having rendered Will languid leaves him tilting Will’s head back while looking down at him and holding their bodies together. Compelled by their shared arousal, Mike follows his demanding desires.

“Open.” Will obeys Mike’s command without a second to spare, lips stretching, glistening with a mix of his own saliva and Mike’s.

Mike swishes around his mouth, gathering his saliva. Will watches with a mix of curiosity and anticipation, mouth remaining open in obedience. Mike opens his mouth right above Will’s and spits, transferring his saliva into Will’s waiting mouth.

Will’s top lip quivers, shivers spreading throughout his whole body, as dazed by the action as he is turned on by it. Eyelids closing, his tongue rolls back as he closes his mouth, lips pushing together, puffy and flushed; taking a second to soak in the intimate act.

Will’s lids flutter back open, gaze finding Mike’s to ensure he’s watching. In his own show of devotion, Will drinks down Mike’s spit. Mike’s right hand drifts down, thumb following the action, tracing the path down Will’s throat, feeling the Adam's apple jerk as Will swallows his saliva.