"Darren, get back here!" El yelled as she chased Darren throughout the house. An impromptu game of tag had somehow broken out, and Darren had just tagged El. Will watched in confusion as Dustin laughed next to him, the person he usually gravitated to at these types of parties, most likely due to the fact that Dustin didn't drink and just talked to Will. They heard Lucas scream as El tagged him, giggles erupting from her and Max as they both began to run as fast as they could. Lucas smiled a bit as a tall figure ran past him.

"Oh, Mike!" He yelled as he began to chase after Mike. Mike usually wouldn't be the type to join a game like this, but ever since people started showing up, Will had been acting distant. He wasn't even looking at Mike, and got himself out from under Mike's arm when El and Max came down stairs. Mike was confused about all of it. How do you go from kissing someone in the morning to completely ignoring them? Mike shook these thoughts away as he continued to run faster, trying not to think about it.

"How does stuff like this even happen?" Dustin asked through his laughter. Will shrugged.

"I don't know." Will replied, turning towards Dustin, who was sitting next to him at the counter. Suddenly Mike and Lucas ran into the kitchen, Mike going behind the table as he tried to trick Lucas. He tried to make Lucas believe he was going to the left, but Lucas thought quick. He tagged Mike as he ran to the right side of the table. Mike sighed.

"I'm out." He said as he went and sat next to Will.

"Wait, what?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not playing anymore." Mike replied, crossing his arms.

"Dude, you can't do that. I just tagged you!" Lucas responded.

"So?" Mike asked. Lucas sighed as he turned around, seeing Max and El in the living room.

"Oh, Max!" He yelled as he began to chase her. The two girls bumped into people dancing as they tried to get away. Will and Dustin laughed a bit as they watched.

"Tag is so stupid." Mike said. Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you're such a baby." Dustin responded. Mike gave him an offended look.

"No I'm not! I just don't think it's fair!" Mike said.

"How is it not fair? It's called tag, he tagged you." Dustin responded. Will laughed a bit.

"Whatever. Stupid game." Mike muttered. Dustin laughed.

"Want a beer? It'll make you feel better." Dustin responded. Mike looked over at Dustin.

"Nah, I don't drink that stuff anymore." Mike said. Dustin's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" Dustin responded. Mike nodded.

"Yeah." He said.

"Why?" Dustin asked. Mike smiled, looking down a bit as he glanced at Will.

"Oh, you know, it's not healthy and such." Mike replied. Dustin nodded.

"Makes sense." He responded. Will continued to not look at Mike, just crossing his arms and looking down, and Mike noticed. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, someone came up to the three, specifically standing in front of Will.

"Hey, uh.. wanna dance?" A girl asked nervously. Will didn't even know who she was, but he noticed three girls standing off to the side and watching. She turned to look at them and they encouraged her silently. She sighed a bit.

"I.. um.." Will started, the girl turning back to him.

"Dude, go!" Dustin said suddenly. Will looked at him, then at Mike, before turning to the girl and hesitantly nodding. Mike furrowed his eyebrows a bit as the girl led Will to the living room. "Wow, he actually went."

"Yeah, well you kind of told him to." Mike responded, kind of annoyed.

"Yeah, but I mean.. this is the first time I've seen him dance with somebody else other than you, and sometimes El." Dustin said. Mike looked at Dustin before looking at Will, who was dancing with the girl to "Come on Eileen."

"Come on Eileen

"Yeah.." Mike said as he turned back to Dustin. He felt kind of hurt. Why was Will acting so weird? Everything was fine this morning. "You know what.. I'm.. I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"I'm Mary by the way." The girl said. Will nodded as he spun her in a circle. He felt very uncomfortable doing this, but the girl looked kind of desperate. It wasn't nearly as fun as dancing with Mike though.

"Cool, I'm Will." He responded. The girl nodded.

"Thanks for doing this.. my friends were kind of pressuring me to dance with a guy.. and you seemed nice." Mary said.

"Oh, well thanks. And I figured." He responded. Mary smiled a bit.

"Am I that obvious?" She asked.

"Ehh.. kind of." Will replied. They both laughed a bit. "I hope your friends stop pressuring you into doing stuff you don't want to do."

"Thanks.. I really do wish I could be myself around them." Mary responded.

"I get that." Will started, "You should though.. and if they don't like it, screw them." Mary smiled.

"Thanks." She responded with a smile. "And yeah, screw them." Will nodded as the song ended. "Thanks, I'm.. gonna go back to my friends."

"Good luck." Will said. Mary smiled as she let go of Will's hands, waving as she walked away. Will waved back before going back to Dustin. "Where'd Mike go?"

"Bathroom he said." Dustin responded. Will looked down a bit, realizing what probably just happened.

"You know what, I just remembered.. Lucas asked me to uh.. check his room.. for my notepad I left here a few days a go." Will said, obviously lying as he got up. Dustin nodded as he watched Will leave. Will knew for a fact that Mike never used the bathroom at parties if they weren't at his own house. He had a whole conversation with him and El about it, talking about how unsanitary it was. Something was up, and Will knew it. Will went upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Occupied." Mike's voice said from the other side.

"It's me." Will responded.

"Oh." Mike said as he opened the door, just standing there. "Have fun with your girlfriend?" Will rolled his eyes.

"Says the one with an actual girlfriend." Will responded. Mike sighed.

"Why did you dance with her? Usually you politely decline when girls ask you to dance." Mike asked.

"I was just being nice, plus she seemed desperate" Will replied.

"Desperate?" Mike responded.

"She was pressured to do it by her friends, and I wanted to help out." Will said. Mike sighed.

"Sorry.. I don't know.. I guess you've just been acting weird all night." Mike responded.

"Weird?" Will asked, "How?"

"You stopped talking with me and stuff when people started arriving, hell, you won't even look at me." Mike replied. Will looked down a bit as he crossed his arms. "What's going on, Will?" Will sighed.

"I don't want to do this right now." Will responded, trying to walk away. Mike grabbed his hand.

"Will.." He started. Will pulled his hand away as he walked towards one of the rooms down the hall. "Will, please just talk to me." Mike said as he followed Will into the room.

"No, there's nothing to talk about." Will responded.

"Please, just tell me what's wrong." Mike started as he closed the door behind him. "Did I do something wrong?" Will turned towards Mike.

"Mike, it's seriously nothing." Will responded.

"Will, I can tell when something's wrong." Mike said. Will looked down a bit.

"I'm scared, okay? I'm fucking scared.. I-I wasn't even thinking about anything when we kissed, and now I'm realizing.. this sucks." Will responded. Mike stood there with wide eyes.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Mike asked.

"We live in Hawkins, Indiana, the place where I've been bullied since I was like five because people thought I was gay.. and here we are.. two guys." Will replied. Mike looked down a bit.

"Yeah.. you're right.. wow.. I didn't think about that." Mike started, "I'm scared too, but.. I really want to be with you, no matter what." He walked up to Will, standing in front of him as Will looked down.

"I do too.. but I just don't know how long this will work.." Will trailed off, looking at Mike. "I mean.. we'll have to end things eventually.. right? And.. what if that just ruins the rest of our lives? Then what, we just.. continue to be miserable?" Mike lifted up his hands to cup Will's face.

"Yeah, but even if we do end up having this.. super sad break up.. I'll just be happy knowing I at least got to be with you.. that I got to love Will Byers." Mike responded, giving Will a reassuring smile. Will frowned a bit, tears filling his eyes.

"Then please.. break up with, El.. it's not fair to her." Will said.

"Well.. I was going to, but.. she seemed upset this morning.. so yeah." Mike responded. Will nodded. "I will though, soon." Will still looked down a bit.

"I'm still not sure.. I just don't know what the future holds.. and I'm really scared." Will said.

"Yeah.. not knowing is the scariest thing." Mike responded. Will let out a small laugh. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to.. I would never make you do something you were unsure about. But if and when you're ready to take the risk.. I'll always be here."

"In.. Lucas's room?" Will asked, sniffing a bit as he smiled softly. They both laughed a bit, before just standing there, staring into each other's eyes, Mike still holding Will's face. Mike leaned in, connecting their lips. Will held the back of Mike's neck as the kiss continued. Suddenly the door opened, and the two pulled away.

"Hey, Dustin said you'd be up here. Are you guys okay-" Darren started before pausing, just staring at the two boys, who were now looking at him with wide eyes. Mike quickly let go of Will's face, and Will quickly let go of Mike. Darren looked down awkwardly, eyes wide. "I'm not gonna question it.. but um.. I'm here if you guys need to talk to someone. Bye." He said awkwardly before closing the door. Mike turned to Will with wide eyes.

"Shit." Mike said.

"We should probably-" Will started.

"Yeah." Mike interrupted as they both began to leave. They headed downstairs before Lucas stopped them.

"Mike! I've been looking everywhere for you, dude. Can I talk to you?" Lucas asked. Mike looked at Will, then back at Lucas before nodding.

"Sure.. sure." He replied.

"Great!" Lucas responded as he pulled him back upstairs. Mike gave Will a panicked look as Lucas pulled him. Suddenly someone tapped Will's shoulder.

"Will, I need to talk to you." El said suddenly. Will turned to her.

"Oh.. um, sure." Will responded. El nodded as she pulled him upstairs as well.

To be continued..

an: hope you enjoyed!!

decided to update again bc i didn't update as much last week lol