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parkitaco · 2 years

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byler 50 for the ask game i need this for reasons

Will Byers is good with secrets.

He hasn't had much of a choice, honestly, given the types of secrets he has. When he was younger, his biggest secret was liking boys. Then it was liking one boy, specifically, and then it was monsters and hell dimensions and government-issued secrets that he legally wasn't allowed to tell anyone. He'd never admit this, but those secrets were far easier to keep than the first two. He’s spent a good portion of his days learning how to keep quiet, how to omit information when necessary, how to keep his lies, on the rare occasions that he needs them, simple and believable.

(Okay, there had been one exception to the simple and believable thing, last year in that godforsaken van, but that was an outlier, okay? He’d been overtired and probably contact high and Mike had been freaking the fuck out, so he’d- he’d gone a little overboard with that one. Whatever. Everything turned out fine in the end - better than fine, even.)

Mike Wheeler, on the other hand, is not so good at keeping secrets.

Will chalks most of this up to his boyfriend’s general lack of a filter - Mike has never shied away from saying what he’s thinking, and a lot of the time, what he’s thinking happens to be terribly incriminating. He knows that Mike has had to keep secrets too - secrets that, as it turns out, line up almost exactly with the ones Will’s been keeping. And to his credit, Mike had managed to keep most of those for a decent amount of time, but the ways in which he kept them were significantly- well, there was a lot less delicacy, in Mike’s case.

Will doesn’t blame him for any of it, of course, because he knows how Mike’s brain works and knows that he doesn’t mean any harm, but it does make being his boyfriend - more specifically, his secret boyfriend - a bit tricky.

Like right now, for instance. They’re sitting in the basement with the rest of the Party, and Mike’s all curled up against Will’s side in an entirely incriminating manner. He’s also wearing Will’s sweater, which he could maybe have gotten away with under normal circumstances, but throw in the fact that this is the third time this week that he’s showed up in public wearing Will’s clothes, and- well, Will’s pretty sure the Party’s onto them at this point anyway.

“Mike, what do you think?” Dustin asks, and Mike stirs against Will’s side, blinking blearily at him.

“About what?” he asks absently, shifting and wriggling closer to Will, who is barely suppressing an eye roll.

Lucas looks like he’s on the verge of laughter. “Dude, were you listening at all? We’re trying to decide what movie to watch.”

“Oh,” Mike hums, and Will can feel the sound from where Mike’s chest is tucked up against his arm. “Uh, whatever you guys want, I don’t care.”

At this, the entire Party levels him with matching looks of concern - even Will glances down at him with an eyebrow raised.

“You don’t care,” Max repeats slowly, staring at him like he’s sprouted a second head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not have an opinion on something.”

Mike’s face flushes adorably red, and he looks like he’s seconds away from hiding his face away against Will’s shoulder, which would probably seal their fate as the most obvious couple of all time. Will elbows him, bugging his eyes out, and Mike clears his throat quickly as he sits up a little straighter, less like he’s curling as close to Will as he can get, which was, of course, exactly what he was doing. It’s still not- an entirely platonic position, with Mike’s thigh still pressed flush against Will’s and his fingers brushing Will’s where his hand rests on his knee, like he’s fighting the urge to thread their fingers together, but it’s- well, it’s a slight improvement. Even if Will’s side is now upsettingly cold where Mike was just leaned up against it.

“I’m, uh,” Mike starts, and Will immediately thinks oh, no, “I’m focused on more important things.”

Will resists the urge to bury his face in his hands.

“What sort of important things?” El asks, looking entirely amused, and Will glares at her, willing her to stop talking.

“Um,” Mike says, looking more flustered by the moment. “You know. I was thinking about- world peace. College applications. The future. My history project due on Monday. How to get my Spanish grade up. The SATs. What to do about-”

“Okay,” Will cuts in, sensing an onslaught of true Mike Wheeler word vomit brewing, and he reaches over with one hand to clamp his palm over Mike’s mouth. “We get it, Mike.”

Mike looks, for all intents and purposes, entirely relieved at the interruption, and he slumps back against Will’s side, because clearly he’s learned nothing from the past few minutes. “We should watch Star Wars,” he says against Will’s palm, the sound muffled from the contact, and it’s all Will can do to repress the shudder that runs through him at the feeling of Mike’s lips moving against his palm.

He must see the expression on Will’s face, or something, because all at once a gleeful glint appears in Mike’s eyes, and he presses his lips more flush against Will’s hand, kissing it firmly, because clearly he’s trying to give Will a heart attack.

Thankfully, the rest of the Party doesn’t seem to notice, having gone back to squabbling over movie options as soon as Mike stopped talking, and for once in his life Will is grateful for his friends’ short attention spans. Even so, he retracts his hand, sending Mike a burning glare that is probably entirely undercut by the blush in his cheeks, and Mike grins proudly to himself, turning to face the screen as it flickers to life. His leg presses against Will’s, firm and purposeful, and Will allows himself to be a little bit stupid about it when he presses back, biting his lip to hide a smile.

Mike’s pinky finger links through his, and Will forgets to worry.

It’s only later, when they’re standing in the kitchen together after the Party leaves, throwing out the last of the trash from downstairs and placing the popcorn bowl in the sink, that Will decides to make fun.

“I can’t believe you,” he says, shaking his head good-naturedly as he wets a sponge and begins scrubbing at the stubborn butter stains on the inside of the popcorn bowl. “Your Spanish grade, Mike, really?”

“Hey, I was doing my best!” Mike yelps, shoving the empty Dorito bag onto top of the already-full garbage can and walking over to stand beside Will at the sink. “You were no help.”

“I wasn’t the problem,” Will murmurs, smirking and not looking up from the bowl.

Mike glances down, watching him scrub at it. “You don’t have to do that,” he says, reaching over to tug the sponge out of Will’s hand, and Will gives him a look even as his fingers go slack and he turns to face Mike, one hip pressed against the counter. “And don’t you want to know what I was actually thinking about?”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that it was-”

“I was thinking about you,” Mike interrupts before Will can finish being sarcastic, dropping the sponge unceremoniously on the counter and twisting around to mirror Will’s position, hand pressing against the top of Will’s against the counter.

Will presses down a smile. “You don’t say.”

“I was thinking,” Mike continues, not noticing Will’s facetious tone, or maybe he just doesn’t care, which is probably more likely, “about what it would be like to not think twice about sitting next to you on movie nights, and I was thinking about how much I like cuddling with you on the couch and how I want to do that all the time, and I was thinking- that I love you, basically.”

It’s nothing Will hasn’t heard from Mike before, but his face flushes anyway, and he shifts a little closer, the hand that’s not gripping the counter rising up to cup the side of Mike’s neck. “I love you too,” he says. “And- we will get to do those things. Eventually. Just- not right now.”

“Not right now,” Mike agrees, bobbing his head, because really, the whole secret thing had mostly been Mike’s idea in the first place. It’s almost funny, how in the beginning, Mike was the scared one who wanted to keep them a secret, and Will who willingly obliged, maybe a little selfishly, because he wanted Mike Wheeler all to himself for a little while, but this whole time, Will is the one who’s been better at hiding. Mike’s ready to stop hiding now, probably, if this conversation is any indication - almost, anyway. They’ll get there soon. Plus, the Party definitely already knows, so that takes some of the pressure off.

“You’re so pretty,” Mike murmurs, tilting his forehead to press against Will’s, and Will’s flush deepens, a pleased smile spreading across his face. “Have I told you that?”

“Yes,” Will laughs, as Mike’s free arm wraps around his waist and tugs him in closer, chests bumping.

“Oh,” Mike says, grinning teasingly, “Well, have I also told you that you’re my favorite person ever? And that you’re the smartest and bravest person I know, and that I’m so lucky to have you, and that-”

“Okay,” Will says for the second time tonight, laughing quietly, and he brings up the hand that’s been pressed against the counter and presses his fingertips against Mike’s lips gently. “I appreciate it, Mike, I really do, but I kind of really need you to shut up right now.”

“Why?” Mike asks around his fingers, feigning a pout, and Will grins as he slips his hand away from Mike’s face to cup the back of his neck instead.

“So I can do this,” Will murmurs, and tugs him in sharply, pressing their lips together firmly, and whatever fake-complaint Mike had locked and loaded seems to vanish instantly, his grip on Will loose and relaxed as he smiles into the kiss. He tastes sweet, like buttered popcorn and candy, these moments always made a little more special by the fact that they don’t get very many of them. Will would like to kiss Mike Wheeler more often that he does, maybe, like, all the time, actually, and the possibility that he could actually have that sometime soon has him smiling against Mike’s mouth and curling a hand through his hair, gentle and loving and sweet.

“You know,” Mike says against his mouth, pulling back a little, “If you had just said so, I would have stopped talking way sooner-”

“Shut the fuck up,” Will interrupts, hazy and kissed red and needing to be kissed again immediately. “Shut up, shut up, shut up-”

“Okay,” Mike says, and when Will goes in for another kiss, he doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

#you're so right anon ty for this (50 - putting a hand over the other’s mouth to shut them up)#byler ficlet #byler #established relationship #secret relationship #mike wheeler #will byers #the party

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