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Will sighed after checking his watch for the fifth time since stepping out of the car. It should have been obvious Mike's five minutes tops would turn into twenty or more. Will would have known immediately, he would have noticed the signs the minute they entered Hawkins had he not been drowning in stress. He would have clocked Mike's weird behaviour because he couldn't remember a road trip during which Mike Wheeler had not talked his ear off. And when was the last time Mike had missed his uneasiness?
God, he was so spoiled.
The point was that Will had been distracted, tormenting himself with hypothetical scenarios that would most likely not happen. He didn't want to be dramatic, but after everything that had transpired, coming to his hometown made him tense. Even without the supernatural stuff, Hawkins had not always been a kind place to Will, so there was that. Also, there was the fact that their first stop was supposed to be at the Wheelers, and while he loved Mike's mother... well, Ted Wheeler was far from being his favourite person. Fortunately, it had nothing to do with their relationship —the man had not disinherited Mike or anything— but, somehow, he managed to make the wrong comment every time. Will preferred not to give him reasons to complain.
"Mike, we are going to be late."
"We are almost there."
Will groaned because he didn't want to be lectured by Ted Wheeler about punctuality on his first day in Hawkins, not when this was their first visit in almost a decade. However, he knew that look on Mike's face. The I'm gonna ignore the rest of the world until I get this out of my system look . Any other day, Will would watch fondly, but today Mike was driving on his nerves. He kept looking between the piece of paper in his hand, their surroundings, and some gadget Dustin sent him.
"What are you even looking for? Isn't it easier to ask someone at the reception?" Will got no reply aside from a dismissive gesture.
When Mike walked around the garden's fountain for the third time, Will tried to snatch the paper from his hands, but Mike slapped his hand away. Will pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to avoid an argument. This was not how his weekend was supposed to go.
"Do we have to do this today?"
Mike turned to him with a dead-serious expression. "We do."
Will threw his arms in the air in defeat and walked to the nearest bench under the shade. He comforted himself with the image of Mike sleeping on the floor while the other muttered another curse for Dustin.
After another ten minutes, Mike finally gave an enthusiastic shout and ran to pull Will from the bench where he was sitting, dragging him towards a row of compost bins. Mike spent a couple more minutes moving Will around as if he was looking for the right angle for whatever he was trying to do. The only reason Will wasn't resisting was to speed up the process. If Mike realized he was glaring at him, he wasn't affected.
Mike breathed deeply and slowly exhaled before taking his hand and looking into his eyes. Will still didn't understand what was happening, but Mike's earnest eyes and smile almost made him forget his irritation. Then he opened his mouth.
"Will Byers, would you play D&D with me for the rest of our lives?"
Will short-circuited, "What?"
Mike looked at him unimpressed, annoyed, "You were supposed to say yes. "
Yeah, Michael and his beautiful smile would sleep in Jonathan's car.
"Really, Michael, we came here for a campaign? We were supposed to meet your parents like half an hour ago."
"No, we weren't," Mike said with a pout.
Will tried to understand, he really did. They had been busy lately; it had been a couple of months since their last campaign. But Mike had forced him into a midnight flight after a week of working after hours on the pretext of arriving in time for lunch with his parents. And now either they would be late for the appointment or such appointment never existed.
Will concluded Mike had gone crazy. Or...
Will narrowed his eyes and tried to get a better look at Mike's face. "Michael, did you eat the cookies from the glove compartment?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Jonathan told you not to touch those. Argyle gave him those cookies!"
"I didn't touch the damn cookies!" Mike huffs. "I can't believe I brought you all the way here, and you are more concerned about cookies."
"I don't even know why we came here."
Mike stared at him for a moment and deflated. "You really don't know where this is, do you?"
"A garden in a community centre, what about it?"
"A community centre that used to be a Kindergarten."
It took Will a full minute to understand how that made Mike's actions make sense.
"Fuck," he winced.
"Yeah, fuck." Mike was feigning his most contemptuous face, but Will knew he was unable to truly get angry at him.
"Was there ever a lunch with your parents?"
Mike raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously, Byers, that's what you need to clarify?"
Will rubbed his face and tried to order his thoughts. There was a weird mixture of emotions about to make his chest burst. He was happy, of course —overjoyed, actually— but he was still cranky from the journey and a bit annoyed at himself for not realizing what was happening sooner.
"Sorry, Mike," he said after a moment. "Mi head was somewhere else."
"I'm sorry I didn't notice." Mike cupped his face, brushing his cheekbone with his thumb, searching his eyes as he did whenever he provided comfort. "Are you okay now?"
Will placed his hand over Mike's and smiled. "I am now that I know we are not meeting your father."
Mike chuckled. "I can't say I'm offended."
Will lowered both of their hands but didn't let go. "Sir Mike, your action."
Mike's face was radiant when he spoke. "Thirty years ago, I asked you a question, and you said yes ." Will didn't dare to move, hanging on his every word. "Ever since that day," Mike paused as if remembering something, "even though I was confused for a while, I knew we would be together for the rest of our lives." Mike breathed deeply. "So, Will Byers, I brought you here to ask you to make that promise official."
Will couldn't contain himself anymore. He launched himself at Mike and kissed him with all his being because no words felt enough to convey how he felt. There was no way to express how glad he was for having Mike Wheeler in his life. That despite all the hardships and changes, they had remained a constant in each other's lives.
Mike chuckled when they broke the kiss. "Was that a yes ?"
"Mike, the answer has always been yes. "
Will leaned in for another kiss, but Mike stopped him.
"I forgot the ring."
Will rolled his eyes fondly as Mike fished his pockets for the velvet box. He presented it to Will with a flourish.
"You know, this would have made things much clearer when you asked the first time."
"I was nervous, okay?" Mike was red as a tomato. "Just take the ring, Byers."
Will took the gold band delicately, trying to absorb every detail. Just when he thought he couldn't get more emotional, he read the inscription on the inside.
The best thing I've ever done.
Will wiped a tear away before putting on the ring. "You are a sap, Michael Wheeler."
Mike took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "But you love me."
Will smiled teasingly. "I didn't say it."
There are things that never change, Will thought as they smiled at each other in pure adoration.
"You didn't have to."