Chapter Text
Will’s perspective:
Will blinked his eyes open at the quiet tapping sound coming from the hallway. He sat up, still half asleep, and looked over at the other side of the bed. “Carlton,” he whispered into the darkness, getting only a slight groan in response. “Whatever,” he said, mostly to himself as he got up and stretched.
The time on his alarm clock read 3:36 am. An insane hour for anyone to be knocking. Who was even coming over? Will hadn’t spoken to anyone other than his mother, and she didn’t say anything about coming down. “What the hell?” He muttered, confused as the tapping became full blown knocking at the front door.
Carlton stirred in the bed as Will opened the door as quietly as he could and stepped out. The knocking stopped right before he got to the door, and Will, in his half asleep state, didn’t think to look through the peephole. The light in the hallway streamed in through the crack in the door as it slowly opened to reveal the person responsible for waking Will up.
Will froze with his hand still on the doorknob. His eyes moved over the tall, slender frame in front of him. Even though it had been a while, no amount of time could ever make Will forget that face. It looked different now, more tired and sunken in. Will wanted to cry, laugh, and hug him all at once.
Mike stood in the doorway soaking wet and breathing heavily with his bag at his feet. Will felt his eyes start to burn as tears began to build up behind them. What is he doing here?
“Mike?” Will was in shock and he was worried, but more than anything, he missed his best friend.
“Will,” Mike breathed shakily, “I-I know how long it’s been, and I’m sorry for showing up here without warning. I probably woke you up too and I’ve just been so shitty to you and I’m sorry.”
Mike was rambling, like he always had. Will always found it really endearing if he was being honest, but right now he couldn’t even process what was going on. He was confused and sad and so goddamn tired, and he missed Mike so much for so long.
“You probably hate me and you have every right to be mad at me. I should’ve reached out. Jesus, I’m so sorry, Will. I’m so, so sor-”
Will lunged forward and pulled Mike into a tight hug, before he could spiral any further. He wrapped his arms around the back of Mike's neck and squeezed his eyes shut as tears started rolling down. He felt Mike’s face in the crook of his neck.
“I missed you,” was all Will could say, his shock making it impossible to think of anything other than holding Mike, who was dripping water and freezing. He was shaking like a leaf. “I missed you too,” he whispered.
“Will, who’s-” Carlton rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks, confused at the scene in front of him. “What the hell?”
Will and Mike jumped apart, Carlton’s voice snapping them back to reality. “Oh, uh Carlton,” Will stated, wiping his eyes, “this is Mike. Mike, this is Carlton… my boyfriend.”
Carlton squinted at Mike, seemingly trying to size him up. Will mentally rolled his eyes. Carlton always did this. Every time Will talked to anyone, Carlton got all defensive and possessive, and made people uncomfortable, so they’d stopped talking to Will. It felt like he didn’t even see his friends anymore, but he wasn’t going to let that happen with Mike.
Mike extended a hand as Carlton approached the door. The whole interaction was awkward, even for Will, but Mike didn’t seem deterred. “So, you’re Mike. I’ve heard about you,” Carlton looked at him disapprovingly. Mike nodded with a polite smile.
“Yep! And you’re the boyfriend, who I’ve heard nothing about, I presume?”
Will froze. He knew that Carlton would bring this up later. “Okay, why don’t you come in, Mike,” Will chirped, standing between Mike and Carlton to avoid any more conversation.
As Mike picked up his bag from the floor, Will turned to give Carlton an apologetic look and gesture for him to go down the hallway. Carlton did, but he didn’t look happy about it. Will fixed his face back into a smile and turned back around to Mike.
“You can set your bag down there,” Will said, pointing to the space next to the couch as he sat on the chair across from it. “Sit down,” he added, knowing that Mike would’ve probably kept standing there awkwardly if he hadn’t told him what to do.
A silence fell over the apartment as Will didn’t want to force Mike to speak. “Sorry,” was all Mike said as he looked down at the floor between his feet. Will wasn’t sure exactly what Mike was apologizing for, but he was sure it was something that he didn't want an apology for.
“Stop saying that,” Will whispered with no real bite behind his voice. Mike looked up as if wounded by Will’s words. He didn’t move his head much, but more looked up through his eyelashes at Will, and Jesus. Will felt heat rush to his face and thanked a God he didn’t believe in that he hadn’t yet turned on the lamp.
“Why?” Mike asked, still looking at Will like that. Will stuttered for a moment, still not fully focusing on what he was going to say. “Because,” he decided, “You don’t need to be.”
Mike looked back to the carpet, leaving Will missing that look. “I still am,” he countered. Will sighed softly, not trying to seem annoyed. “Mike, you show up at my door at three o'clock in the morning, sopping wet, and looking like you haven’t slept in days. You clearly have something going on and my bet is that it’s not your fault.”
“Okay, yes, but it is my fault that I never reached out until now. I mean, we’re supposed to be best friends. Who the hell just ghosts someone like that? We promised that distance wouldn’t affect us, but clearly it did and I just let it.”
Will felt that familiar guilt curl up in his chest and flop down in the middle of it. “That’s not your fault, Mike. People get busy, and I didn’t exactly reach out either.” He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he knew that if they’d both reached out as much as they’d wanted to, Carlton would have suspected something of Will.
He always got really protective of Will which, in a way, was honestly really sweet of him, but after a while it felt like every time he was around anyone, Carlton felt ‘abandoned’. He’d stopped visiting his friends from college because the arguing was just getting so exhausting, and eventually, he’d stopped trying to see anyone who wasn’t family.
Obviously if someone called, he would answer, but Carlton didn’t like to travel, so Will would tell people something along the lines of “aww I can’t make it. Maybe next time!” But then the next time would come around and Will would say that same thing again.
It wasn’t all Carlton, though. Will was busy with work and hobbies, and he didn’t have a lot of free time or money to go on these trips. It was hard, initially, to stay in when he wanted nothing more than to see his friends, but he was used to it. And Carlton always made it up to Will by taking him to an expensive dinner, or buying him flowers or something like that.
Will was sure that Carlton wouldn’t approve of his friendship with Mike. They’d always been the closest in the party, and Carlton already told Will to act less ‘lovey dovey’ with Lucas the one time they had visited Lucas and Max. Will hated when Carlton was mad. He almost always just went silent until he wasn’t anymore which usually required Will to stop what he was doing and beg Carlton to talk to him. Then, they’d fuck and everything was fine again.
Will wished that, just once, they could actually have a conversation and he could explain things without having to apologize for things he wasn’t even doing.
Mike still wasn’t letting it go. “That doesn’t make me any less at fault. I know you’re too nice to be mad at people, but please just let me take accountability here, okay?”
Will nodded with a sigh. He still couldn’t bring himself to blame Mike, but he’d say whatever he needed to so that they could move on. “So, what happened?” There was so much that Will was still confused about. Why was Mike in New York? Why at 3 AM? And why did Will still feel his stomach flutter every time they met eyes?
“What?” Mike asked, “Oh, you mean why did I show up randomly without warning? Yea, sorry. I should’ve explained that first.” Will laughed lightly in realizing that Mike had barely changed. Personality wise, at least. Physically, though, he’d changed a lot.
Mike’s face got serious before he continued. “I, uh, I’ve been struggling with y’know money and bills and all that.” He took a deep breath as if trying to figure out how to say what he needed to say. “I lost my house a few days ago and I just kinda panicked. It was really impulsive of me to come here, I know that, but I just felt like I could trust you more than other people, I guess.”
Will felt his heart break and then warm, immediately after at the fact that, after all this time, Mike still went to him. It made him feel special.
Mike looked back at him with a pained expression, almost like fear? “Can I crash here for a few days?” As if Will could’ve possibly said anything other than ‘Of course, Mike’ and ‘let me get you some clothes to change into’.
Once Mike was in dry clothes, and patting his hair dry with a towel, Will brought him a blanket and pillow to make the couch a little more bearable. They hugged one more time before Will went back to his and Carlton’s room.
By the time he closed the door behind him, Carlton was tucked under his blanket— not the same blanket as Will used because it was ‘too hot’— facing away from Will’s side of the bed. Oh god. Will could already tell he was mad. He climbed into his side of the bed and under his comforter, taking a deep breath before he started talking.
“Carlton? Are you still awake?” Silence. “I’m sorry. I know this is sudden. I just didn’t know what to do. And I know what that sounded like, but he really didn’t mean it. He doesn’t realize how things sound sometimes. I… he’s great and he’s just going through a lot right now. Please don’t make this a whole thing.” Again, silence.
Will sighed and laid down, facing the wall. “Goodnight, Carlton. I love you.” There was a quiet shuffle behind Will, and Carlton mumbled back, “Love you,” as if out of obligation. The cold in the room seemed to crawl underneath Will’s blanket and grab hold of any exposed skin it could find. Will’s stomach sank. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, wrapping his blanket tighter around him.
Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t fall asleep. Too many thoughts popped into his head and he was cold, but also starting to sweat. His breathing quickened and he could hear every little noise in the apartment like it was right next to him. “Carlton,” he whispered, hoping that Carlton would miraculously completely forget about giving him the silent treatment, “Are you asleep yet?”
Carlton mumbled incoherently. He was probably tired, so Will decided to just get some water. “Sorry,” he whispered into the dark. No response. Of course.
He stood up and walked to the door, trying to open and close it as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t wake Carlton. The hallway was slightly lightened by the first rays of sun glowing through the living room windows.
He hurried towards the counter and leaned down on it with his arms holding up most of his body weight, took a few more deep breaths, and grabbed a glass from the clean side of the sink.
As he walked towards the sink to fill it, he realized that his hands were shaking too bad to hold it as is, let alone full of water. He set the glass back down next to the sink and went back to his previous position to continue trying to breathe.
A voice rang out behind him, making him jump. “Will?” Mike was slowly walking into the kitchen, shirtless and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “That you?”
Will sucked in a sharp breath at Mike’s groggy morning voice. Will that’s weird! He internally scolded himself for still finding that so attractive.
He hadn’t even heard that voice since they lived together during those eighteen months when things with Vecna were really bad. Aside from the life long trauma and constant danger, Will missed that time in his life, or more what could’ve been that time in his life if he wasn’t spending every day pretending not to be in love with Mike.
But it’s okay because Will was totally, completely over Mike. There were no more feelings of that sort anymore. They were simply best friends again.
“Yea,” Will practically squeaked out. Turning around to face Mike. He leaned on the island right across from Will, their legs almost brushing at the calves.
“What’re you doing up? You, like, just went back to sleep.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Will replied, still a little distracted by Mike’s exposed shoulders and chest.
Mike nodded in understanding. “Me neither,” he leaned forward to whisper, “but hey, at least it’s a Saturday. God, could you imagine working all day after last night?”
Will laughed, but it came out as more of a huff. “Yea, I’d be a zombie.” Will hoped it wasn’t too far. He’d made references to his trauma before, mostly as jokes, but no one really understood, especially not Carlton.
Mike laughed, really laughed, and the sound made Will want to curl Mike up into a little ball and hold him to his chest for the rest of their lives.
What the fuck, Will? Okay. So, maybe he wasn’t completely over Mike, but he couldn’t change things. Mike wasn’t like him and he knew that, so why couldn’t he forget this silly crush?
“Carlton has work today, though,” Will spat out quickly, trying to change the subject, “I hope he’s not too tired.”
Mike’s face straightened almost immediately. Weird. Maybe he was just… done laughing? Whatever. He nodded lightly and broke eye contact with Will, looking around the kitchen.
“So, uh, it’ll just be us two for the day?” Mike asked, seemingly trying to act nonchalant. Will needed something to do with his hands to avoid reaching out to brush through Mike’s messed up hair. He nodded at him and turned around to grab the glass and fill it up.
Full glass in hand, Will looked back to Mike. “Why?” He asked, tilting his head. Because why would he care? Mike shrugged. “I don’t know. Just… curious I guess.” He looked at Will through his eyelashes again. Damn. it was like he was doing it on purpose now.
Will nodded, still a bit distracted by Mike. “I’m gonna go shower,” he blurted out after a beat of silence, setting down the cup and walking back down the hallway a little too quickly.
Once he got to the bathroom, Will locked the door behind him and leaned on it for just a second before he leaned over the sink, staring into the mirror like it had all the answers. It did not. He was left staring for a while, none of the thoughts in his mind coherent, but one.
Jesus, Mike is beautiful. Not just when the rain made water drip from his hair down his temples. Not just when he was in Will’s sweater. Mike just always looked like that.
There was no way he would be able to spend the whole day with a shirtless Mike and not stare openly at the scars wrapping around his torso. They made Mike look so cool. Like insanely cool. They were a reminder of Mike fighting, and winning.
Just the thought of it made Will feel like melting. Maybe a part of him believed that Mike had been fighting for him. That was crazy, though. Right? He was just trying to save the world, and Will was making it all about himself. He needed to forget all of this and just get in the shower.
He wasn’t in the shower for longer than five minutes before he felt the thoughts of Mike shirtless started to physically affect him.
Shit. No no no. Stop. This was bad. Mike was right outside of that door. Not to mention that Will already had a boyfriend who was asleep in the next room. But Mike was just so fine, and he looked at Will in that specific way. Dammit. The thoughts were already too vivid to suppress. Reluctantly, he moved his hand down between his thighs.
He got a hold on himself and, very hesitantly, started moving. It wasn’t like someone could walk in and catch him dick-handed, but it was still embarrassing to be hard out of your mind about your best friend not wearing a shirt while your boyfriend was in the same apartment.
Those thoughts quickly dissipated as Will grabbed just the slightest bit tighter around himself. His hand on the wall curled, trying to grab onto anything possible. He could barely stay quiet and the fact that Mike was just on the other side of the door made it even dirtier.
A knock startled Will enough to make him gasp. “Will?” Mike called from the other side of the door, “you okay?”
At the sound of Mike’s voice, Will’s hand quickened its movement. It wasn’t on purpose, but it wasn’t exactly unwelcome either. “Yea.” His voice trembled. God he was so gone.
“You’ve just been in there a while, sorry. I was just checking in.”
Will closed his eyes in focus as he felt himself getting closer. He didn’t want Mike to stop talking just yet, but he didn’t want him to be right there when Will inevitably made some kind of embarrassing sound. “Oh, uh, I’m good. Just warm water, y’know?” Will was, like, eighty percent sure Mike could hear the sound of his voice wobbling with every movement of his hand.
“Oh ok. Well, enjoy your shower I guess. Maybe we could hang out today. I mean, if you’re not busy.” Mike was making it much harder to be quiet and at this point Will probably wasn’t capable of just stopping even if he wanted to. “Y-yeah. That sounds great,” he rasped out, not even bothering to slow down his hand. He could tell he was close as Mike’s footsteps receded back to the living room. “Shit,” Will whispered to himself, quickly turning his head to press his bicep into his mouth to keep quiet. Not long after, he came on both the shower wall and his own hand.
He huffed out a laugh in disbelief at himself. There was no way he had just jerked off to the thought of Mike.
After catching his breath and standing under the water for a few extra minutes, he turned off the shower and got out. The air was cold compared to the water he was just under. Will hated the cold. He shivered, wrapping a towel around his waist and leaving the bathroom.
When he got to his room, Carlton was already gone for work. Will wasn’t sure what he was expecting, Carlton almost never even bothered to say bye before he left, but something about how they left things last night really pissed him off.
That was a later problem, though. Right now he just wanted to spend time with Mike. Maybe to make up for lost time. Maybe for other reasons, but that wasn't the point.