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It happens like most unexpected things do, when you least expect it. Just like any other summer day, they were down in Mike’s basement. Only a few summer weeks had passed, and they were already bored out of their minds. Will was staying the night, and they were watching some trashy movie Nancy had rented that weekend. None of them was paying much attention to it anyway.
Maybe it was because the movie was that bad, maybe because it was a romance film, or perhaps because he really hated himself and his happiness. Mike opened his mouth and said something he would very probably regret. As he so often did.
“Have you ever kissed anyone?”
Instant regret hits his gut. He is such a fucking idiot, really. Will looks at him with a mix of confusion and concern(?). Fair enough, it was so out of the blue. If he were Will, he would have been worried that he had somehow suffered an impossible concussion somehow.
“Um…what?” Will seemed to recover from the initial shock before Mike did. Ironic if you asked him.
“Nothing!” sounding a tad too defensive for his liking. “Just- Forget I said anything. It’s just, we are very bored and the movie...” He genuinely didn’t know what he was trying to say here. Mike decided he should probably shut up now. Perhaps the best decision he has made in a while. “Just forget it, please.” That last part came out a bit more strangled than he wanted.
Will looked at him, really looked at him. Mike prayed that he would let it go. He knew he was looking at Will with what Nancy called his “puppy dog eyes”. Maybe, just maybe, that’s what convinced Will to drop it. Relieved, Mike saw as Will turned his attention to the movie, and Mike did too.
Mike relaxed into the cushion as he took a deep breath. At least he managed to avoid the consequences of his own stupidity.
It is not like he cares. He doesn’t, really. It is just something they never talk about. With Dustin and Lucas? Sure. But with Will, it was different. He had never brought it up on his own, and Mike had never asked. He had found out he was more than okay to go at Will's pace for everything, to be honest.
Mike didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Like Lucas and Max had been an on-and-off thing for so long, Dustin had met Suzy at summer camp. And he had dated El for a few years. Sure, it didn't work out, and El told him he was a sloppy kisser after they broke up… Point is, they all had kissed someone already, and Will hadn’t. Mike didn’t want to make the guy self-conscious.
So yeah, they never talked about it. But seeing on the screen, he couldn't help but wonder. Mike had always thought that even if it's not something they discuss often, Will would tell him when his first kiss happened. They were best friends after all, weren't they? Granted, he hadn't told Will about his, but he was missing after all.
Maybe Mike just hoped Will would tell him if it happened. They were doing better now. They had gone through a rough patch (completely Mike’s fault, by the way). Mike was a dick. For a long time. But he had apologised relentlessly; he still did so sometimes. They were slowly progressing towards how things used to be.
Or so Mike thought. But maybe not because Will clearly had not told him about his first kiss. Which Mike was convinced had already happened. Because, well, they were 17 and Mike had eyes. Will was attractive. Objectively so. He had always had girls running after him, even if he never seemed to pay them any mind. Plus, he was away in California for like a year. So yeah, Mike really thought it had already happened.
And even if Mike clearly hadn’t stopped thinking about his stupid movie while the movie went on, he really thought that Will had. That is why he might have gotten a bit startled when he heard Will’s voice again.
“For the record, I haven’t.”
Mike felt as the muscles in his neck tighten from how fast he turned his head to look at Will. Meanwhile, Will hadn’t even taken his eyes off the film. Mike looked at him open-eyed anyway.
“Wait- Really?” Weirdly enough, something settled in Mike’s stomach.
“Yes, really.” Will giggled in that light-hearted way he usually did. “I really don’t understand why you are so shocked, Mike.”
“Well, because it’s you!” He said without a second thought, in Mike’s fashion.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Michael?” Without real venom behind his words. It was more like the playful tone he would use when Mike would go on about some bulshit.
“Well, you are objectively attractive. And you were in California for so long. I don’t know, I just thought it had already happened, and you just hadn’t told me.”
“You think I’m attractive?” His voice sounded light with laughter, but Mike swore he saw a glint of actual curiosity behind his hazel eyes.
“Of course! And not just me, but plenty of the girls in high school think so too. I bet I could think of three different girls who would like to be your first kiss.” Well, that definitely sounded weirder than he intended.
“Oh, sure.” A look Mike couldn’t decipher crossed Will's face. He looked away from Mike when he said, “I’m just not really interested.”
For once, Mike was silent. What did that mean? Mike wasn’t kidding when he said there were at least three girls at school willing to kiss Will. Were none of them Will’s type? he didn’t even seem to know who they were.
Then, a dangerous thought crossed his mind. Maybe Will already liked someone else. That would explain why he wasn’t interested because he wanted to kiss someone specifically. That would make sense.
“So, you like someone, then?”
He spoke carefully as though not to scare away a wild animal. The thing is, he was definitely stepping into unknown territory. He didn’t know Will had a crush. Now he thought about it, Mike doesn’t recall Will ever talking about a crush. This whole thing rubs him the wrong way for some reason. Maybe because Will would tell him such things.
“Umm…Maybe I do.” Will looked defeated, like he had no choice but to let it out. And Mike got it, okay? Sometimes having a crush is a bit embarrassing, but it couldn’t be that bad.
“Oh?” He had really tried to sound inquisitive, but it came out more as disappointing. But like, why would he even feel disappointed anyway? When Will didn’t say anything else, he asked the next logical question, “Do I know th- her?”
Will looked amused at his question, as if he was wondering how stupid Mike Wheeler could really be. That’d make two of them, actually.
“Mike, it’s Hawkings, a small town in rural Indiana. Of course, you know them.”
“Oh, okay.” Silence “And, who are they?” Mike could actually see the red rise to Will’s face now.
“I’m not just going to tell you!” Will sounded a bit too defensive, and Mike tried to ignore the tug at his heart. He was a little hurt that Will didn’t feel comfortable telling him.
Maybe that is why he says what he says next.
“Well, I think you should go for it, actually.”
“Really?” Will’s tone was amused in a way Mike didn’t quite understand.
“Yes, really.” Mike emphasised as he tried not to think too much about it. “Clearly, half of Hawkins has a crush on you. Chances are this person does too.”
“Well, first off, I don’t think that is true, but thanks.” Before Mike could protest, Will continued, “And, still, it’s fine. I’m way too scared anyway.”
A lightbulb seemed to light up in Mike’s head.
“Is it because of the kissing thing?” It was supposed to be a question, but it came out as a sentence. “Are you scared of giving your first kiss?”
Will seemed to grimace at Mike's mention of kissing again. He felt so smart, like a detective who cracked a case. That’d explain Will’s behaviour during this conversation.
“Uh, sure, you could say that is part of it.”
That made it look like it wasn’t what Will was originally thinking about. Nonetheless, Mike still thinks Will is just too embarrassed to admit it himself. So you could argue that it was with a great sense of friendship and camaraderie that Mike uttered his next sentence.
“I could teach you.”
Silence overcame them, because how couldn’t it not? Will’s face got impossibly redder, although it was barely visible in the dim basement light. Mike needed a few seconds to really look at Will’s face before he realised what he had said.
“Um- I mean. I just thought that you wouldn’t be nervous because it is just me, right? Like, it would be fine to try it out. Although El told me I was a loosy kisser a while back, so maybe I am not the best teacher. I don’t know. Maybe I could just give you pointers? That-” and Mike would have continued talking. He usually rumbled when he got nervous, okay?
“Okay.” Mike finally shut up. He blinked at Will, confused. He wasn’t looking at him directly. Apparently, Will really liked the basement floor now.
Did Will just agree to kiss him? Mike’s head felt dizzy. Could they run out of air in the basement? Because oxygen wasn’t reaching his head, clearly. There was no way he was thinking straight.
“Okay?” He couldn’t think of anything more articulate to say.
“Yes, okay”
Mike took a deep breath.
“Will, I kind of need you to look at me for this”
“Oh yeah, you are right”, Will spoke impossibly low as he turned around, sitting with his legs crossed, to face Mike.
“Right, so first you should probably ask if they are okay with you kissing them. Done, right?” Will gave him a small nod. “Then you should get as physically close as possible and-” He said as he raised his hand to lay on Will’s cheek, his thought process gone.
The thing is, thinking before acting and/or speaking has never been one of Mike’s strongest suits, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. He knows. He knows that if he thinks about it, he will chicken out and never do it.
Maybe that is why he breathes through his nose and gets his face close to Will’s as fast as possible. Their lips colliding for a few seconds, more than actually kissing.
Well, that was something. He had really done it. He kissed Will Byers. Granted, it wasn’t more than pressing their lips together, but it was a kiss, nonetheless.
“So…” Mike felt slightly breathless, “yeah.” Wow, so articulative, you could really tell his writer side was taking over here, such a way with words. Mike wanted to disappear.
“That-That’s it?” Will sounded slightly disappointed, “I thought it would be, I don’t know, more.”
Great Will had hated kissing him. He should have listened to El; he was a terrible kisser after all. This was so embarrassing. Not like Mike cared that Will didn’t like kissing him. Because he didn’t. Because why would he, right? Nonetheless, his brain was working overtime to fix this. His brain didn’t seem to produce great ideas today, though. It didn’t seem to think them through either, because before he could stop himself, he was talking again.
“Umm…Not really, no.” A pause. Mike swallowed hard. “There are like, steps. Yeah, steps.”
“Oh, sorry, okay.” Will’s eyes were slightly more open than usual. “So, what is this new step?” Caution painted his voice.
Instead of answering (Mike doesn’t think he could form a coherent sentence right now, much less detailing what he was about to do), he just got impossibly closer. Their legs fully pressing against each other. Mike placed his hand on Will’s cheek once again. He took a moment to really look at Will. He was sure he was doing his puppy dog eyes again, he couldn’t help it. The other boy looked back at him with a strange determination in his eyes.
“Ready?” Will gave him a small nod.
Like this, Mike kissed Will again. This time, instead of pulling away right away, he lingered. He moved his lips against Will’s at a steady pace. And this time, Will seemed to be more prepared and reciprocated the kiss with ease. He placed one of his hands on Mike’s leg, for balance, of course.
This was good, really good. Mike caught himself thinking that this felt very nice. He felt dizzy with it, too. Soon, he found himself thinking that he wouldn’t mind doing this every day.
They pulled apart ever so slightly for air, like they couldn’t even bear to be away from each other. They were both breathing hard now. Mike couldn’t think properly. It had been a while since he had a proper, coherent thought anyway.
“I could- I could teach you the next step, if you want. You are pretty good at this one already.” What the actual fuck is wrong with you, Michael? He thought, cringing at his own words. This was it, Will was going to push him away, call him a freak and never speak to him again. He couldn’t believe he managed to fuck this up.
“Ple- Yes.” Oh, okay, or maybe not.
Mike didn’t want to waste any more time and kissed Will once again. They were fully kissing now. Making out even, if you will. Mike thought of every moment of his life that led him to this. Will’s hands around his neck, slightly plating with his hair. He hadn’t taught him that.
It was all too much for Mike. He pulled away to get some air in his lungs, maybe try to think for a minute and realise why this was a bad idea. Stop this before it was too late. He could feel Will’s breath against his. The air heavy around them.
Apparently, Will got tired of waiting and pulled Mike back into a kiss. And maybe this was their best kiss so far, or so Mike thought. Or maybe each kiss was better than the last. He didn’t know anymore. Maybe he just really liked kissing Will.
A thought crossed his mind for the first time in like an hour. He, Mike Wheeler, really liked kissing Will. That was a fact. He really could do this every day.
And maybe, in between a practice make out session, is not the best time to realise you like your best friend of ten years. But Mike’s never claimed to be perfect. He realises, in that exact moment, that he had always treated Wil differently in relation to his other friends. He had been pinning for years and was blind and stupid enough not to realise it sooner.
Maybe this isn’t the best moment to remember other things, either. Because the moment his brain begins working again, he remembers why they are doing this. Will wanted to practice. Practice kissing for this other person, this girl, whom he already likes.
Mike thought he was going to be sick. He felt like a monster, a pervert even. His friend had trusted him with something, and he had taken advantage of that vulnerable position. He was such a horrible person and a worse friend.
He pulled away quite abruptly. He, obviously, couldn’t continue doing this. Will was more than ready anyway.
“Um… Sorry, but I think you are clearly ready.” With a twist in his heart, he thought that at least he got to kiss Will before he confessed to this mystery girl. “You already know how to kiss. You should tell this girl you like her. I’m sure she’ll like you back.”
Silence was all he could hear. All of his family should be asleep by now. He couldn’t even hear Ted’s night TV on. It was defending. His head was starting to hurt.
Then, Will laughed. Not like a chuckle or a giggle. But an honest-to-God laugh. Mike had never felt more confused in his life. He couldn’t find humour in this whole situation. On the contrary, he felt quite miserable right now.
“You really are an idiot, Michael.”
“Auch, okay, I know. Point taken. But I am not following right now. I don’t know what you find amusing about this.”
“Mike, the person I like, is you. It has been you this whole time.” Mike fell silent.
“Oh. Really?”
“Yes, really.” Mike couldn’t believe his luck.
“In that case, this person, they definitely like you back.”
They both laughed at Mike’s joke, the absurdity of the situation and their own stupidity. Mike felt very much relieved right now.
“Can I kiss you then?”
“Please.”