Chapter Text
The first time Mike gelled down his hair into a side part, Will thought it must’ve been a sign that Vecna had returned and was showing Will his greatest fears all over again. Sure, interdimensional demons and being rejected by all those close to him was pretty terrifying, but Mike appearing as Ted Wheeler’s doppelgänger was a new horror that left Will completely and utterly shell-shocked.
It's a Friday evening in the midst of April and they’re in Mike’s room getting ready to sneak into Family Video with the Party for a movie night. (“Sneak in” is rather generous—Robin promised to unlock the back door after Will had fluttered his eyelashes with a sad pout. “You’re horrible, Byers,” she had muttered, endearingly pushing his face away. “I’m only doing this because I owe you for saving me from that demo. But if anyone finds out about this, I swear to God…”).
Will is standing in front of Mike’s open closet doors, riffling through his clothes to find something to wear. Will has been busy trying on nearly every shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket in Mike’s closet that he doesn’t notice Mike leaving to head to the bathroom. He only notices his absence when Mike returns, hands patting at curls that were now carefully parted to the right and slicked down at the sides.
Will looks at him with his mouth agape in complete and utter horror, rubbing his eyes and doing a double-take because there’s no way this is real. Mike continues to shrug on the jacket sitting at his desk, and grabs a pair of beat-up sneakers to put on, oblivious to the crisis Will is currently enduring.
I need to fix this before the Party sees. They’ll never let him live this down.
And with that, Will approaches Mike, who's now sitting on the edge of his bed and tying his shoes. He steps between Mike’s open knees, holding the sides of his face to shift his gaze from his dirty sneakers and up into Will’s eyes. Will can’t help the swelling that appears in his chest at how beautiful Mike looks like this, with deep brown eyes staring widely into his own and full lips parted slightly. However, Mike’s new hair was like a smudge across an otherwise exquisite painting, and Will can’t bear to look at it a second longer. With that in mind, he resolutely makes up his mind to continue with his plan.
“You have something on your face,” Will lies, rubbing at an imaginary spot on Mike’s face. His other hand grips the top of Mike’s head to hold him in place, successfully ruffling Mike’s hair slightly in the process.
“What are you doing?!” Mike exclaims, wriggling away from Will’s grip. “You’re messing up my hair!”
“Hold still!” Will tries to wrangle Mike into place, internally panicking that he won’t be able to fix Mike’s hair before the Party arrives.
“Stop it, Will! I just finished getting ready, and you don’t know how long this hair took,” Mike complains, shimmying out of Will’s grasp.
No! Will thinks. Think of something quick, c’mon!
In a moment of panicked desperation, Will moves from his standing position between Mike’s knees to straddle his lap. He grips Mike’s hands between one of his own, pinning them behind his back as his other hand holds the side of Mike’s face.
“I told you to hold still,” Will whispers, now close enough to notice the slight dilation of Mike’s pupils and the smattering of freckles coating his nose as he lets out a breath.
“Oh…okay,” Mike replies breathily, eyes rapidly darting between Will’s plush pink lips and his glimmering hazel eyes.
Will removes his hand from behind Mike’s back to place it back in his hair, Mike moving his hands to grip tightly at Will’s hips with his newfound mobility. Will continues to rub at the pretend spot on Mike’s cheek. He slyly moves his fingers between Mike’s curls, trying to mess them up as much as possible without Mike noticing. His warm and solid body atop Mike’s lap turns out to be an extremely good distraction, at least for a few moments.
“Will…” Mike sighs, chest now rising in short successions as he attempts to take in quick puffs of air. His hands grip impossible tighter on Will’s hips, pulling him such a slight distance closer that would’ve otherwise been unnoticeable had Will not known his boyfriend so well.
“Shhh,” Will replies, smirking. Knowing he has Mike wrapped his finger in this state, he halts his efforts at removing the imaginary stain on his cheek and shifts his hand to cup Mike’s jaw. Holding Mike’s gaze, he leans in, close enough that Mike feels the promising puffs of air from Will’s mouth against his own lips, but not close enough to make proper contact. Mike leans closer attempting to connect their lips, but Will leans back teasingly, evading Mike’s attempt.
“Will,” Mike whispers, “please.”
Smiling, Will slowly brings Mike’s face towards his own, finally placing a gentle, barely there kiss on Mike’s lips as their eyes flutter closed. Mike grunts, clearly dissatisfied.
“Needy,” Will chuckles, before tilting his and Mike’s heads in opposite directions to properly slot their lips together. He opens his mouth against Mike’s, tenderly sucking on Mike’s bottom lip as he feels Mike inhale a stuttering breath through his nose. He brings his tongue out to lick at Mike’s bottom lip, causing Mike to open his mouth in a slight gasp. Seeing this moment as an opportunity, Will slides his tongue forward and licks achingly slow at the roof of Mike’s mouth.
Mike’s moan is muffled by Will’s mouth, but Will knows he’s affecting Mike by the way his hands shift from the vice around Will’s hips to grip at the back of his shirt. At the same time that both of Will’s hands travel to grip Mike’s curls (not having forgotten the reason he started this heated kiss in the first place), Mike’s hands slide from Will’s firm back into the pockets of Will’s jeans, squeezing at his even firmer ass.
“Shit,” Will gasps, pulling away from Mike’s mouth, hands tightening in his hair and tugging away from Mike’s scalp.
“Fuck,” Mike groans in response before leaning forward to recapture Will’s lips in his own. Now he’s the one licking into Will’s mouth, using his hands to pull Will forward by his ass as he arches his back up to be closer to Will.
Will’s knees—which had been steadily placed on either side of Mike’s lap—now widen on instinct, lowering Will deeper onto his lap. His cock faintly grazes Mike’s rock-hard one, causing them both to moan into the next heated suck of their lips. One of Will’s hands stays firmly in Mike’s hair, scratching at his scalp, while the other travels to the front of Mike’s chest, comfortably resting on the region between his sternum and his throat. He grabs firmly onto a handful of Mike’s curls and tugs as he rolls his hips down, firmly pressing their hard groins together.
Mike breaks their kiss—a strand of spit still connecting their now cherry-red lips—to moan loudly, following the pull of Will’s tug with his head as his eyes roll slightly back into his skull.
Will’s about to tug him closer to reconnect their lips when a blaring beep is heard from outside. They jump slightly at the unexpected sound before realizing it's the Party honking from Mike’s driveway telling the pair to “hurry up.”
“Shit,” Will sighs, head falling forward to rest on Mike’s shoulder as the two catch their breath. “I…I can’t believe they’re here already.”
After a moment, Will lifts his head to look at Mike. He internally glows with pride looking at Mike’s hair, curls completely awry and devoid of any stiff pomade. His plan had been more than successful. With victory on his mind, Will hops from Mike’s lap, stretching his back slightly to hide the smile that was uncontrollably growing across his face.
“Welp, they’re here!” he exclaims giddily, clapping his hands together once as he looks at a befuddled Mike. “I guess that means we have to go. Now.”
“Will, I can’t leave like this!” Mike says stressed. “I look like a mess!”
There is no way I’m letting him undo all my hard work. His hair looks normal again. I won’t let him ruin that.
“We need to leave,” Will insists. “And you know how upset Robin will be if we keep her waiting and she misses her date with Vicky again.”
“Will…” Mike says desperately, glaring down at his bulging jeans, then back at Will’s glowing eyes. “Go down and tell them I’ll be out in five minutes. Please,” he begs, running his fingers through his messy hair.
“Nope!” Will replies, popping the “p” in the word. He yanks Mike’s hands to pull him into a standing position, grabbing one of Mike’s jackets he’s now claiming as his own and leading the two of them out the bedroom door.
Will ignores the complaining behind him as they walk down the hallway and stairs, Mike frantically adjusting his dick to hide how hard he is. The complaints are white noise to Will's ears, because he can’t help but focus on the growing warmth in his chest: his plan to avoid any cruel (albeit deserved) comments regarding his best friend's (secretly boyfriend's) interesting choice of hairstyle had been an extraordinary success, and for that, Will was a happy, happy man.