Chapter Text
“Have fun with Max” Mike swallowed uncomfortably and waved him goodbye.
“Tell Lucas I said hi!” Will’s grin didn’t meet his eyes.
He shut the door behind them and began walking towards Lucas’s car.
“Wheeler!” Max strode up to him brandishing some sort of paper.
“Max?” He raised a brow
She shot him an angry look, sighed and looked towards the front door.
“You know what, I’ll ask Will instead. By stalker!” She waved to Lucas
“Bye, babe!” Lucas waved. “Come on man! I’m starving!”
“Okay, Max will kill me if I don’t ask. Are you and Will finally together?” Lucas asked pulling out of the drive.
"Move!" Lucas honked his horn at the paparazzi blocking their way.
Mike closed eyes, “I don’t know; not exactly” the words and uncertainty in them physically pained him.
“You share a mortgage, how do you still not know?”
Mike only shrugged, “maybe it’s just not in the cards.”
“About 100 photos and 20 articles would suggest otherwise. Care to explain or is today going to be full of awkward silence?” Lucas quirked a brow.
Mike thought for longer than he probably should have.
“DUDE!”
“Yeah, okay. It started with Will’s number one fan” Mike's voice dripped with hatred at the mention of Sheldon.
“This guy is the absolute worst. I mean he is always hanging all over Will, and you know Will he’s too nice to say anything.”
“The comic signing was going fine, we even had a pretty decent crowd around our booth but that piece of shit, Sheldon gave Will his own underwear to sign!” Mike seethed.
“Really?” Lucas laughed pulling into the diner parking lot.
“It’s not funny” Mikes jaw clenched, “Will’s mouth was open in the picture and it was strategically placed.”
Lucas’s jaw dropped. “What did you do?”
“Well I sorta snapped.”
The underwear had barely slipped from Will’s fingers when Mike stood up adrenaline completely taking over. He pulled Will out of his seat looked over at that disgusting mouth breather and seethed.
“I don’t share” for the briefest moment he realized just how ridiculous it sounded considering they weren’t together, but he brushed it off. He pulled Will flush to his body and kissed him.
It was just supposed to get rid of Sheldon but the moment their lips touched he forgot everything. He may have even forgotten his name; the only thing he did remember was he was kissing Will.
He was finally kissing Will, who he’d loved for years. So instead of pulling away or remembering they were in front of a crowd he put every ounce of longing into that one single kiss terrified it would be the only one he’d ever get.
He heard cameras click and about a 100 people excitedly speaking at once but none of it mattered not to him.
Will broke the kiss first. His hair was a mess and his cheeks were flushed and for one frustrating moment it took every bit of Mike’s willpower to not do it again.
“So you kissed him in front of about 100 people without his permission because you were jealous” Lucas said after ordering his lunch.
“Well when you put it that way it doesn’t sound as chivalrous as it felt” He muttered.
“Was he pissed? I would’ve been pissed” Lucas took a sip of his Coke.
“He was flustered” he blushed thinking about how cute it was. The way he had pushed him into the stall and cussed at him. "Ivan, our publisher asked us to play a long a little for the fans."
"what does that mean?"
"People really liked the idea of us being together, so I-" He paused knowing how bad it sounded. "I convinced Will it would be fine, we'd just have to hold hands a little in public"
"So you agreed to lie to ALL of your fans as an excuse to hold his hand?" Lucas drummed his fingers on the table.
"Basically" He shrugged feeling little remorse.
“Will didn't like the idea of lying though" guilt hit him at the memory
"But he mostly understood" He paused swallowing hard. "Until we did the interview our publisher set up. I may have pushed it too far” he admitted.
“Of course you did” Lucas waited patiently for him to continue.
“So we wound up doing an interview with couples weekly. Will thought it was supposed to be about our comic books but Ivan warned me ahead of time that it was with couples weekly”
“You didn’t warn Will?” Lucas blinked.
“It didn’t come up?” He winced
“MIKE!”
“Who said I love you first?” The interviewer asked
“Will” he looked over waiting to see that expression the one that he kept pushing him towards.
“I did not!” His blush was deep, angry cutting eyes shot his way. He decided to push it even further.
“He said it with his eyes” He could feel a ripple of satisfaction run through his body as about 100 different expressions crossed Will’s face.
”What possible reason could you have for doing that to him?!” Lucas gave him a disapproving scowl
“I don’t know” He looked down at the table.
“Yes you do! You just know it sounds bad!” Lucas folded his arms and waited.
Mike gave a loud huff and shook his head.
“Seeing him so worked up about people thinking we are together… well it was kind of addictive”
Lucas stared at him
“What?! He’d get all red and wide eyed and then get this mad little bunny face. It couldn’t be helped” His voice pitched the way it did when he knew his defense was weak.
“You realize you sound insane right?”
“I did apologize after”
“Not the point, Mike!”
"Hey listen. I'm sorry. Maybe I took this a little too far. It was just so fun messing with you... I didn't think" He admitted feeling a small pang of guilt.
"It's okay, like you said we will figure it out right?" Will didn't look convinced, he looked like a scared puppy at the pound
"Hey let's take the rest of the day off? go grab some kung pao chicken and go home? Maybe watch a movie?" He studied Will's face and watched it soften in real-time.
"Yeah, that sounds good” Will gave a small smile.
When they got home with their food they both got into comfy clothes and snuggled into the couch.
“Here” Mike handed him a spring roll. Will ate it in two bites while Mike looked for something to watch.
Will gave a satisfied groan as he swallowed the bite.
“Better?” Mike chuckled
“Yeah, I’m way hungrier than I thought. Here try this” Will said feeding him a bite of his chicken.
He loved days like this. Just the two of them watching movies too closely on the couch.
“I’m sorry did you just say he fed you?” Lucas interupted
“Yeah? Why?” Mike asked cocking his head.
Lucas shook his head, “I don’t know Mike! Why don’t you feed me a bite of your French fry”
“what?” He blinked, “No that’s weird”
Lucas stared at him waiting for the light bulb but it never came.
“Anyway” Mike said eating a fry, “for the next week we mostly just worked on the next issue of The Cleradin files”
“Aww, this is so sweet” Will giggled reading Mike’s rough draft.
“Which part?” Mike smiled
“The part where Atticus spins Nathaniel out of the way because he’s never been to a zoo and doesn’t trust the glass at the tiger exhibit” Will laughed eyes crinkling.
“This is going to be fun to draw!” He said excitedly. “Can you explain what you mean by ‘linger here’ though?” Will eyed the vague text then turned to Mike.
“Oh sure, you know linger” Mike looked around considering how to explain it.
“Here stand up.” He said getting to his feet as well. “Okay you’re Nathaniel and I’ll be Atticus”
“Okay” Will didn’t bat an eye he was used to Mike explaining things using themselves by now.
Mike wrapped his arms around Will’s waist and got closer than was necessary. Will’s signature scent of clean cotton and cinnamon toothpaste hit him and he felt his whole body ease.
“So Atticus will look at the tiger holding Nathaniel like this” he pulled Will closer.
“Then he will look back at Nathaniel like this” Mike looked into Will’s eyes then his lips then bit his own bottom lip. Will’s eyes scanned his and he licked his lips swallowing hard. Mike had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be showing that Atticus was scared.
“Got it!” Will smiled completely oblivious to what was actually happening and went to the desk to start using his sketchbook.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Mike’s voice pitched defensively.
Lucas continued to stare at him before breaking out into laughter.
“This explains so much about the Cleradin Files” he laughed tears in his eyes.
“Shut up!!!” Mike folded his arms.
"No really" Lucas laughed, "Max is going to be so excited that she was right about it being your doing!"
“So what happened after the couple’s weekly article came out?” Lucas asked still laughing.
“I sort of… well”
“Shit Mike what’d you do?”
“Nothing bad but…” he buried his face in his hands, heat creeping up his neck. “I really liked it. Like too much. They used a photo of Me, Will and Smeagle at the park and we looked like a family so…”
“How can I help you today sir?” The UPS clerk smiled
“Can you blow up this magazine cover?” Mike smiled pure joy radiating from him.
The clerk looked at him then the cover, He pursed his lips like he was trying to keep from laughing.
“Of course, how big would you like it?” The clerk politely enquired
“Poster size?”
Lucas began laughing hard. “Oh my God Mike! What did Will say when you brought it home?!”
“He doesn’t know. I realized how crazy it was after I picked it up and snuck it in the house when he wasn’t looking” Mike shook his head.
“Dude, I knew you had it bad, but this is another level.” Lucas said wiping tears from his eyes.
Mike’s cheeks turned a rosy red as he quietly ate his burger.
“Okay” Lucas said finally pulling himself together. “I know you liked it at first but there’s been a lot of articles did it get to you at all or do you really not care?”
“It didn’t bother me until I saw the Reddit thread.” he sighed.
“Oh God, look at this one” Will laughed clicking onto the Reddit link
CleradinNerd83 1yr ago
Is it just me or does Mike Wheeler of Upside Down comics seem insanely possessive of his business partner Will Byers?
I asked Will out on a date at the last con I went to, he’s pretty cute. Well his partner found me in the bathroom later and asked me what my intentions were! Anyone else have a weird experience like this?
"That's ridiculous" Will laughed.
"Yeah people will believe anything" Mike said looking down.
Quailman 1yr ago
Yeah! He is insane man! I remember going to a signing and Will just politely smiled at me and I swear the guy flipped me off after.
Sugarbutt 1 yr ago
OMG! I have a picture of this! Check it out!
Below was a photo of Mike behind a smiling Will making an angry face with his middle finger out.
“Well, that’s got to be a bad angle" Will said graciously.
"It could have been directed at anyone!" Mike defended
WillfollowtoMordor 9 mo ago
My friend has a huge crush on Will and he swears that Mike slipped him a laxative when he wasn’t looking one time.
CleradinNerd83 9 mo ago
No way! Really?!
IamtheBat
Is this your friend?!
Below was a photo of Sheldon and Will speaking but in the background, Mike was glaring at them with what looked like two halves of a broken pen, ink coating his hands.
Will's mouth hung open for a moment before he shut it, "Clearly you are upset because your pen broke." He said clearing his throat.
"Obviously" Mike folded his arms.
"How long was the thread?" Lucas grinned sipping his drink.
"Too long" He sighed, "There were twenty more photos after that."
"Dude why are you scaring guys off instead of just telling Will how you feel?!" Lucas reasoned.
"Did you really corner some guy in the bathroom to ask what his intentions were?!" He chuckled
"More than one" He muttered.
"There was MORE THAN ONE?!" Lucas mopped his face.
"They weren't good enough for him! They just wanted him for his body!" He could hear how flimsy his defense was but didn't care.
"MIKE! That's not your call to make!"
"I'M HIS BEST FRIEND! I HAVE TO PROTECT HIM FROM THESE CREEPY CON GUYS!" He threw his arms in the air.
"YOU ARE A CREEPY CON GUY!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Gentleman, I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you continue to yell" The restaurant manager said sternly
"Sorry" they said in quiet unison.
"Just keep it down, gentleman" he nodded walking away.
"Well a week later Mrs. Byers and Hopper came to visit"
"You know her last name is Hopper now, right?" Lucas's voice was low now.
"Yeah, but it's too weird to say. Anyway, we had to share a room because they think we are together and his mom is crazy happy about it."
"Mike... This is crazy. You've got him lying to his family!" Lucas shook his head.
"I never said I was proud."
"Okay, just tell me" Lucas said tiredly.
"His mom was pretty excited She kept asking us to kiss" He chuckled
"Come on boys! Don't hold back on my account!" Joyce smiled
"We aren't Mom" Will blushed
"Oh Will! It's the love of your life! kiss him!" She needled.
Will's face had turned blood red and he looked like he wanted to leave the human race. "Mom" he muttered.
Mike grinned watching the two of them go back and forth.
"Yeah, sweetheart, why don't you kiss me?" Mike winked at him.
Will stared at him wide-eyed and flustered the hint of an angry bunny lurking under the surface
"You realize how insane you sound right?" Lucas deadpanned.
"No, I'm the only one making any sense. For the love of God, have you seen how cute Will is?!" He blew out a breath.
Will leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek, the touch sent a small shiver down his spine.
Mike looked at him trying to remember how to breathe.
"Oh Honey, you can do better than that!" Joyce chided
"Joyce, leave him alone" Hopper said from the couch.
"I'm gonna go take a shower." Will muttered.
Once Will left the room Joyce went to her purse and pulled out a card.
"Mike honey, I got this for the two of you but I think Will would be too embarrassed if I gave it to him" she smiled slipping it into his palm.
He coughed as he looked at what she had given him, "Thank you Mrs. Byers." He pursed his lips cheeks turning red.
"It's a very tasteful place, Hopper and I go all the time" she winked.
"Thank you" His voice cracked on the words as he looked at the Love Stuff gift card in his palm
Lucas’s whole body was shaking with laughter.
“Shut up!”
“Okay, okay what happened next?”
“Will had a panic attack.” He said grimly
“Over the gift card?” Lucas’s face turned serious
“No an article about all our exes came out and a reporter questioned him when were coming out of a grocery store”
“Oh no”
“Yeah, you know how private he is about stuff like that. I feel horrible; I shouldn’t have taken it that far.” his voice was quiet.
“Yeah, you messed up.” Lucas agreed.
Mike looked at him anguish on his face.
“What did you do when they questioned him?” Lucas’s voice softened a fraction.
“I got him out of there! Picked him up and ran- fans made tee-shirts of the picture” he rubbed his temples.
Lucas chuckled, “Wait what exes did they talk to?”
“All of them” Mike paled, “even Cindy and Carlton.”
“Wait! Cindy was before you were out as BI. What could she have possibly even said?" He challenged
"She could have really flayed me but she didn't" He sighed
"Wait how? I don’t even know why you broke up.”
“She asked me to spend less time with Will and I…” he looked down and mumbled something incoherent.
"You what?" Lucas asked curiosity lighting his face.
“I called her a bitch and broke up with her” Mike muttered again slightly louder.
The fry Lucas had been eating fell out of his mouth as his jaw dropped. “Mike that was 16 years ago”
“I know” he rubbed his arm.
“You called the first girl to ever touch down there a bitch because she asked you to spend less time with Will.”
“yeah, so? she was being unreasonable!”
“No, she wasn’t!” Lucas shook his head
"He's my best friend!" He defended.
"You don't have a normal friendship!" Lucas sighed as though gathering his strength
“okay what did Carlton say?”
“Basically that I broke him and Will up.” He rolled his eyes.
“Well, you did I remember you telling me about it. You hit him right?” Lucas challenged
“Not on purpose! And Will gave me hell for it afterwards!” Mike folded his arms
Will had gotten back to the dorm late after Carlton stormed out.
“Will, I” Mike began, seeing the tears in Will’s eyes.
“Save it!” He shot back. “Why did you do that?!”
“It was an accident! I swear I didn’t mean to hit him!”
“Not that! Why’d you kill his paladin 15 minutes into the game?! You and I both know no level 3 party could have survived that attack and you just killed him and had it fly off!”
“It was the campaign!” He defended.
“That’s bullshit and you know it” Will said poking him hard.
“Fine, I’m sorry! I didn’t like that you made him a paladin that’s my character build!” He pouted.
“Fuck you Mike! He wanted to be a paladin! I tried to get him to go for a rogue, but why does it matter? Why do you even care” he pressed angry tears spilling from his face.
“It doesn’t! I don’t care!” He said feeling the anger in his chest rise. “It’s just one game! Why are you so pissed?!”
“He broke up with me because of it!” He cried.
Every ounce of anger drained from him replaced with regret. “Will…”
Will sat on his bed burying his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry." He said softly, sitting next to him on the little bed.
"He didn’t deserve you and he is missing out” Mike said anger suddenly filling his chest.
“No Mike! I didn’t deserve him… We had plans and now” Will’s voice broke as he began to cry.
“You didn’t tell me about the DnD part!” Lucas seethed.
“Didn’t seem important” Mike muttered.
“Mike, what the” Lucas’s voice began to rise but he caught sight of the restaurant manager and lowered it.
“Does Will know that you’ve been ruining any chances of him finding love for years?!” Lucas whisper yelled.
“I’m not doing it on purpose Lucas!” He whispered, “and I don’t know, but I never met another boyfriend after that.” He said looking away.
“You realize you are the villain here right?” Lucas glared.
“Yes! Of course I do!” He combed fingers through his hair. “I literally can’t stop and it just got worse once we decided to lean into the lie.”
“What do you mean?” Lucas’s face filled with dread.
“I pushed it too far on our month-long convention tour.” He took a deep breath, “I’m pretty sure I ruined everything”