∘˙super soaker, chapter 10
The moon was starting to pull Will's focus away from the words Mike had just blurted - the light was entrancing as it reflected off the lake. It reminded him of when he used to gaze out his bedroom window as a little kid, staring up at the moon and thinking about the day he'd just had. How he used to climb into his warm bed and feel excitement bubbling in his stomach for when he would see Mike at school. How he would see him the next day. And the next. That same sensation started to spread through him now, only it was set on fire - the shrooms were enhancing it.
Mike waved a hand over his eyes. "Where have you gone?"
"Sorry," Will shook his thoughts away, "Mushrooms make me distracted, I guess."
Mike was still holding his hand.
Will peered down at them through the water - they were muddled and meshing together in his vision, almost becoming one hand.
His fingertips were all wrinkly now, so were Mike's.
"Sorry, practice for the test? Um, how do we... start?" Will asked.
Mike bit his bottom lip. "I... I guess the position first."
"Right." Will held his breath.
"Start with the water one?"
"Can you clarify what that is?" Will pressed. "My brain is starting to go mushy."
"Like, if you were going to, you know, 'do it' in the water with your next boyfriend. Or if I was gonna do it with my next... whatever."
Mike was now waving his other hand around. "That position."
"What?" Mike said, a little panicked.
"I thought you meant practice the rescue position. For drowning. You mean those positions? Like we did in the storage closet?"
"Yes, those ones. So we're not bad at them, remember? Not dying virgins, or chickening out because of inexperience."
"While practicing our mouth-to-mouth and CPR?"
Mike began thinking, his brow furrowing. The moonlight caught the side of his face.
"I mean—" Mike stammered. "We could do both? Like, we practice the position and then we... practice the CPR part after? To make sure we know it for Karl? We can start ticking off everything on the list? Be efficient with it?"
Will's tilted his head. "Mike, CPR requires being on land. And being... clothed. Probably."
"Right. Yeah. Obviously."
Mike's grip tightened on Will's hand. He was clearly feeling high and… not thinking.
"So just the position?" Will clarified. "The... water one?"
"Yeah." Mike's voice dropped lower. "Just that. For experience."
The absurdity of it should have made Will laugh. They were both naked in a lake at one in the morning, high on mushrooms, practicing for some hypothetical future encounter with other people while they held hands.
But nothing about this felt funny.
"Okay," Will croaked. "As usual, can you—"
Mike's throat expanded as he swallowed. "I think—I think one person would be against something. Like the edge. Or a wall. Or—" He gestured at the tree behind him. "Something to brace against."
"In front." Mike's voice was soft. "Facing them."
Will's entire body felt electrified. The water suddenly felt warmer, the moon suddenly brighter. "Should we—" Will started. "Do you want to be against the tree or—"
"I’m already here," Mike said quickly. He moved backward until his shoulders fully hit the trunk, the rough bark scraping against his skin. He winced slightly.
"Careful," Will murmured.
Mike positioned himself, arms floating at his sides, legs treading water to keep himself upright. "Okay," Mike said. "So you'd—you'd come here. In front of me."
Will's legs felt disconnected from his body as he moved forward, a little closer.
Their bodies weren't touching yet, but Will could feel the heat from Mike, even through the cool water.
"Like this?" Will whispered.
"Yeah," Mike breathed. "And then—then you'd probably put your hands somewhere. To steady yourself. On the—on the edge or the tree or—"
Will's hands came up slowly, shaking, and pressed against the tree on either side of Mike's head.
Mike broke their eye contact.
"And then?" Will asked, even though his brain was screaming at him to stop, to pull back.
Wasn't he supposed to be saying no to this?
"And then—and then you'd probably—your legs would—"
"Would wrap around you," Will finished.
Will didn’t move. The water lapped gently between them, he could feel his own arousal pressing against his stomach under the water. He couldn’t help it, everything was so heightened. He could see from the way Mike's eyes kept fluttering closed that Mike was maybe in the same state and trying desperately hard to fight against it.
"I—" Will's voice came out strangled and a little embarrassed. "I can't. I'm—Mike, I'm hard. I can't practice like this. It's too—"
"I'm fine with it," Mike said quickly.
"I'm fine with it," Mike repeated, his voice sounding sure. "It's—it's just bodies. We're both—it's the mushrooms making us hard. It's fine. I’m fine with it."
Will hesitated, his hands still pressed against the tree on either side of Mike's head. Every instinct was warning him to create distance before this went too far. This was about to be the furthest they’d gone. But Mike was locked in on his eyes, like it was right, like he thought it was right. It felt right.
So Will moved and lowered his hands from the tree to Mike’s shoulders.
Mike sucked in a sharp breath in response, his whole body tensed.
"Sorry," Will said immediately, starting to pull back.
"I'm fine with it," Mike whispered for the third time.
Will's hands settled more firmly on his shoulders. He could feel the tension thrumming through him, could feel the way Mike was trembling slightly under his touch. Or maybe he was just cold, he couldn’t tell.
Mike was searching for something in his gaze, but after a moment, hesitantly and carefully - his hands moved under the water.
Will flinched at the contact, his breath was lost somewhere in his throat. Mike’s fingers were a welcoming warmth against his skin - they were gentle, exploring.
They traced delicately along Will’s waist under the water, charting the curve of it.
“Is this okay?” Mike asked softly.
Will nodded in response, trying to keep his expression normal.
It was like that was all he needed - Mike's hands moved lower, trailing down Will's hips. His fingers brushed over the sharp point of his hip bones, tracing around the dip there.
"You've said that before," Will barely managed to say.
Mike’s clasp strained suddenly on both sides of his hips and pulled him closer. The water made Will's body feel weightless, effortless, so he automatically wrapped his legs around Mike's waist. The touch of their skin meeting made them both pant at the same time.
Will instantly realized - it was more than just their skin touching.
Will could feel it pressing against him - Mike was really hard. His erection was trapped between their bodies, the tip of it pressing into the side of Will’s thigh. It felt different than Will had imagined when he'd seen it briefly before Mike had gotten in the water, or in the basement - it was firmer and… real. Will’s own body instantly responded, blood rushing - becoming even more stiff. It pressed against Mike’s stomach.
"Oh god," Mike mumbled, his face going pale in the moonlight. "I'm—I'm sorry, I can't—"
"Don't," Will muttered. "Don't apologize."
"But I—" Mike's hold faltered, like he couldn't decide whether to pull Will closer or push him away. "This is—we're supposed to be practicing and I'm—"
"You said you were fine with it," Will reminded him, his own hold loosening on his shoulders at the hesitation.
"I am," Mike said desperately. "I am fine with it but I'm also—" He stopped. "I can feel you."
"Yeah, I can feel you, too," Will's face turned red as a lobster. His cheeks were boiling. "We should stop," he choked out, but he didn't unwrap his legs.
"Probably," Mike agreed, but his hands stayed on Will's hips, fingers pressing into the soft flesh before they moved down to his thighs next.
They remained frozen like that - wrapped around each other, the only sound the water rippling about and against the tree, both of them hard and trembling.
"Why don't you… you know—"
"Um—" Was all Will could get out.
Will was terrified to move. What if he—what if this was too much? He felt as though he was going to explode. "I'm not sure I can," he whispered.
"Will. I don’t mind what happens, okay?"
Before Will could catch up, Mike pulled him in - eliminating the last inches of space between them. His hips shifted and Will's entire body lit up. Mike's face dropped to Will's neck, his breath was hot against his skin.
Then Mike started moving.
Unhurried movements first - just his hips rolling slightly, creating the barest amount of friction between them. But it was enough. God, it was enough.
Will's head tilted back, a sound escaping his throat that he'd never made before. Mike's fingers pressed harder into his thighs, and Will responded automatically by moving his hands from Mike's shoulders to tangle in his wet hair, gripping, needing something to hold onto as Mike continued to move beneath him.
The water created resistance, made every motion feel more difficult, more intense. It made every point of touch between their bodies feel amplified.
Mike's mouth pressed against Will's neck - not quite a kiss, just contact. Somewhere to rest while he was catching his breath. His hips began to move faster, more erratically. Mike's erection was sliding against Will's inner thigh and Will could feel himself pressed against Mike's stomach, could feel the way Mike's muscles tensed every time Will moved in response.
Mike's teeth grazed Will's neck and Will's entire body jerked.
"Sorry," Mike gasped. "I didn't mean—"
"You can do it again," Will heard himself say.
God, how brave mushrooms made him.
Mike looked at him for a beat, then did it again without a second thought. His teeth scraped along the sensitive skin, and Will groaned. They were grinding against each other in the dark water, both of them chasing something they'd never experienced before, both of them too far gone to stop. Mike was gripping so tight now he could leave marks - he was making muffled sounds against Will’s neck that drove him insane. Will had never heard Mike like this - never heard him so undone. Will's hips rolled forward, pressing harder against Mike's stomach. It felt so good. Unbelievably good. He didn’t know if it was the water or the shrooms or… Mike. But before he could help it, he moaned - louder this time.
Mike's hand suddenly came up and pressed over Will's mouth.
"Be quiet," Mike panted. "You're moaning, Will. You're—they're gonna hear—"
But Mike couldn’t even control his own voice, his breaths were dying on release. “Mmmh,” he moaned back quietly, placing a finger in Will's mouth.
Lucas's voice cut through the night.
Mike froze. His hand fell away from Will's lips.
They both went completely still.
They sprang apart as if electrocuted by an invisible force. The water that had held them together now rushed cold between their bodies. Mike pushed off the tree, creating distance, his chest heaving. He pushed his wet hair back from his forehead.
"We're—" His voice cracked. He tried again. "We're in the water! We're swimming!"
"MAX IS FREAKING OUT! SHE THINKS YOU’RE DEAD!"
Will's heart was still racing, his body still plusing with interrupted want. He couldn't look at Mike or process what had just... what they'd almost—
"We're coming!" Mike called back, his tone similar to the way he yelled up to his mom from the basement.
They swam toward the shore without speaking. The silence between them was different now - heavy with something neither of them knew how to look at. The mushrooms were still making everything feel too significant, too layered. When Will's feet found the muddy bottom, he stood up too quickly and stumbled. Mike's hand shot out to steady him - an automatic reflex.
Will didn't know what he was apologizing for. The touch or the absence of it. Maybe both.
Their clothes lay scattered across the grass, Will pulled his underwear back on with shaking hands, the wet fabric clinging uncomfortably. Mike glanced at him quickly and did the same, turning his back. Will watched the way the moonlight caught the water running down his spine before forcing himself to look away.
They walked back through the trees. Will could still feel the touch of Mike's hands all over him, could still hear the sounds they were making. His body hadn't gotten the memo that it was over - he was still half-hard, still aching with it.
The tents came into view, Lucas and Max were standing by the firepit - expressions curious and slightly concerned.
"There you are, you fucking idiots!" Max snapped. "We thought—" She stopped, taking them both in. "Why are you soaking wet?"
"We went swimming," Mike said.
"Swimming," Lucas repeated slowly. He was clearly still high, his eyes glassy. "In the middle of the night. While tripping?"
"Yeah," Will cleared his throat. It was the pool party incident all over again. Why did Max and Lucas suddenly feel like their parents when they got into these situations?
"That's..." Lucas started laughing. "That's actually insane. You guys are crazy."
Max was still studying them. Her eyes moved from Will to Mike and back again, taking in their wet clothes, their flushed faces, the awkward something between them.
"How was it?" she asked, but there was something pointed in her tone.
"Cold," Mike said too fast.
"Really cold," Will added.
"Uh huh." Max crossed her arms. "You were gone for like an hour."
"We were just floating," Mike blurted. "Looking at the stars. Lost track of time."
"Right." Max's eyes narrowed. "Floating."
Lucas was nodding slowly. "The stars are crazy tonight. I saw one that looked like a—" He stopped, tilting his head. "Wait. Mike, why are your lips all red?"
Mike's hand shot to his mouth. "What?"
"Yeah," Lucas squinted at him. "You have like—really red lips. Did you eat something?"
"Berries," Mike said immediately.
"Berries," Max echoed flatly.
"Yeah. I found—there were berries. By the water."
"You ate random berries," Max said. "While tripping on mushrooms. In the dark."
Max shook her head. "Are you out of your mind?”
Lucas was still staring at them with a confused expression. "You guys' hair is all messed up too. Like —"
"Swimming," Will interjected. "We were swimming. Remember? We had a splash fight."
"Right, but like—" Lucas swayed slightly. "Will, you have a mark on your neck."
Will's hand flew to his neck. "Huh?"
"Yeah, like right—" Lucas pointed vaguely. "Is that a bruise? Did you hit something in the water?"
"A rock," Mike spat out. "There was a rock."
"A rock," Max repeated again, her eyebrow raised so high it was practically in her hairline.
"Yeah, he—" Mike was looking anywhere but at Will. "He didn't see it. It was dark."
Max was trying very hard not to smile now. "And this rock just—what? Attacked Will's neck specifically?"
"By Mike's berries?" Max asked innocently.
Lucas gasped suddenly. "Oh my god, Mike—what if the berries were poisonous? What if that's why your lips are all red and you're acting weird? Should we take you to the hospital?"
"I'm not going to the hospital," Mike squeaked.
"But what if you're dying?"
"I'm high, okay?" Mike threw his hands up.
Suddenly, Will noticed music floating from Lucas and Max's tent - from the boombox they'd brought along. I Melt With You by Modern English filled the space around them, the sound washing over the clearing. The lyrics felt as though they were being written by an invisible hand across the tent canvas, across the sky. I'd stop the world and melt with you.
Mike's head turned toward the sound, his expression going dazed. "I love this song."
Max burst into laughter. "You two on mushrooms make no fucking sense. So, Wheeler, have you apologized to Will about pushing him on the lifeguard stuff?"
"What?" Will turned to Mike.
Mike looked at Max like he wanted to kill her and her first born.
Max looked at Mike, as if to say, got you.
"Okay, we're going to bed now," Mike announced, grabbing Will's arm and practically dragging him toward their tent.
"Sweet dreams!" Max called after them.
They heard Lucas ask, "Wait, what the hell is going on with them?" and Max's response was too quiet to hear, but it made Lucas dissolve into giggles.
Mike and Will tumbled into their tent and Mike immediately zipped it shut behind them
They changed in silence, backs to each other. The wet clothes peeling off, dry ones going on. When they lay down in their separate sleeping bags, side by side, Will could hear the distant hoot of an owl somewhere in the trees. The tent fabric moved slightly in the breeze, casting shifting shadows from the moonlight.
Will tried to sleep. He really did.
But his brain wouldn't shut off. It kept replaying the lake - hands on his thighs, gasping, groaning, a mouth on his neck, the feeling of being pulled close - in a sort of desperate and needy way. Will's body responded to the memories. His dick stirred, started to harden despite his best efforts to think about literally anything else.
Stop, he told himself. Stop thinking about it.
But he couldn't. Because it felt so... pleasurable. And he wanted more, wanted to know what would have happened if Lucas hadn't interrupted.
What would have happened?
Because for Mike, this was just practice. Just helping out a friend. Mike had made that clear, hadn't he? All the talk about positions for when Will was with someone else. When Mike was. He was just being a good friend. Teaching Will things, making sure Will wasn't inexperienced.
It didn't mean anything to Mike, did it?
But it meant everything to Will.
He rolled onto his back and sighed loudly, frustrated and aching and so confused he wanted to scream.
"You can't sleep," Mike whispered.
Will's blinked rapidly in the dark. "I'm fine."
The tent was silent except for their breathing and a cricket somewhere nearby, the wind in the trees, Lucas's distant snoring from the other tent.
"You wanna play another game?" Mike asked quietly. "To help us get sleepy? And I have another joint. We could smoke it?"
Will wasn't going to argue. His high was wearing off, leaving him feeling a little raw and exposed. "Sure."
He heard rustling as Mike dug through his bag - then the flick of a lighter. The smell of weed filled the small tent. Mike took a hit, the cherry glowing orange in the darkness, then passed it to Will. He brought it to his lips and inhaled deeply. They smoked in silence for a tick, passing the joint back and forth. Will could feel the weed settling into his system, making everything comfortable again.
Then Mike tried to speak but the words came out wrong, jumbled.
"What... what would you do if this was real?"
Will almost sat up. But he didn't move, his heart restarted. "What?"
"If this whole thing was real. If I was a guy you actually liked." He heard Mike gulp, then take another hit of the joint. "What would you do?"
Will couldn't answer. Because Mike was a guy he liked. Mike was a guy he—
"I don't know," Will managed. "I'm—I'm not sure."
The joint came back to Will. He took a long drag, needing something to do with his hands, needing the calm it might bring. The silence rolled on as the tent filled up with smoke - heavy and clouded with all the things Will couldn’t say.
"What... what would you do?" Will stuttered. He passed the joint back. "If I was a... girl."
Mike was still for so long that Will maybe thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then, in the darkness: "I would want to finish."
Will coughed some smoke out.
"I..." Mike's voice was shaking. "I would want to make you feel good."
Will's physical form dissolved into some kind of phantom, one that was overheating. His arousal, which had been a dull ache before, flared back to life with painful intensity. He crossed his legs beneath the sleeping bag.
Will could hear Mike shifting beside him, his breathing had gone shallow and quick.
"Are you—" Will started, then got muddled. He didn't know how to ask, didn't know if he should ask. He regretted speaking almost instantly.
"Yeah," Mike said anyway, understanding the unfinished question somehow. "I'm still—from before. It won't go away. I keep thinking about—"
"I—" Mike tried. He shuffled again. "I'd want you... here. If it were real."
"Tell me what you'd want. You have to now."
Will clenched his fingers into a fist and bit down on his cheek. "I'd... want to feel good."
He heard Mike's sleeping bag zipper open slowly.
"Come here," Mike whispered.
Will sat up slowly - he couldn't really make out Mike's face in the dark, which might have been a good thing. He shuffled over a little, unsure where Mike wanted him to go. He positioned himself on the edge of Mike's sleeping bag, elbows holding him up.
"If this were real," Mike's voice came out like gravel, "I'd want you to get on top of me."
His brain couldn't process what Mike was asking, what Mike was saying. But his body...
Mike's hand tugged gently on Will's arm. “Yes,” he whispered.
"Just—just to see what it would feel like. If it were real. If you were—if I was—" He didn't finish.
Will's entire body was trembling as he slowly moved over Mike. He lifted one leg, then the other, positioning himself carefully. His knees bracketed Mike's hips. He was straddling him now, sitting back slightly on Mike's thighs, his hands hovering uselessly in the air because he didn't know where to put them.
"Like... like this?" Will's voice was a shaky mess.
Mike nodded - Will could feel the movement more than see it in the darkness. Then Mike's hands came up and rested on Will's waist. They felt steady and knowing, but Will didn't know where to look. Down at Mike's shadowy form? Away?
He settled for staring somewhere behind him. Whatever was going on between them was unbearable. Will could feel it. He felt as though he was slowly descending into madness, he questioned if any of this was even real.
Mike's thumbs rubbed small circles against Will's waist through his shirt. "We don't have to—"
"I want to," Will muttered fast. "I mean—what would you want next? If this were real?”
Will's hands were still hovering in the air. He didn't know what to do with them. Didn't know what came next without a prompt, didn't know anything except that he was on top of Mike and the air between them felt impossible to breathe - not just because of the smoke. Will felt his eyes starting to string.
"Your hands," Mike hushed. "You could—you could put them somewhere. On me. Or on the—on the ground. Whatever feels right."
Will's hands came down and settled on Mike's chest. He could feel Mike's heart pounding beneath his palm, noticed the way Mike arched a little.
"Like this?" Will asked, nervously.
"Do you want to practice for the test? Your... mouth-to-mouth technique."
Mike moved a little higher up his waist and traced back down, like he was trying to calm Will - or maybe himself.
Will leaned forward, his face getting closer to Mike's in the dim smoky tent, he inhaled a brave breath and closed the distance.
Their lips touched gently, just enough for Will to exhale into Mike's mouth like he was supposed to for CPR - but the moment their lips made contact, they both flinched.
The touch was… overpowering - too much and not enough all at once. Will started to pull back but Mike's hands tightened on his waist - not letting him go far. Pulling him close, pulling him down.
Will's hips dropped and slacked, settling fully onto Mike's, and they both gasped. They were both hard, that was obvious. The sweatpants between them did nothing to hide it, Will could feel the whole thing. Mike was grabbing him greedily now, and then he started moving. Guiding him, rocking Will's hips forward in a slow rhythm.
Yep, he was losing his mind.
Will didn't even realize he'd said anything until it was too late, something in his brain must have clicked and reached deep to pull it out but— "Are you using CPR as an excuse, Mike?"
"If I'm right, by the rules of the game… you have to take off your sweatpants."
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