love that you saw a heart wrenching prompt and immediately thought “hold up i know just the right mf for the job” like what does that say about me (i’m flattered, really 🖤) also insane timing because i had a miwi draft! tw: internalized homophobia
mike waits patiently for his cue, heartbeat picking up when he finally hears steps behind him. he takes a deep breath, turns around and it hits him.
like a wave. like lightning. like an avalanche. because he was expecting to see his soulmate, and by god— after all this time, he just might be.
will is smiling at him. dressed in white, golden sunshine and in infuriatingly adorable flush on his face. mike can’t stop staring. he’s not exactly sure he wants to.
“for the record, i told the boys this wasn’t a good idea.” will shifts his weight on his feet, walks a step closer. a criminal distance, in each other’s orbits at all times. mike can see a new beauty mark in the apple of his cheek, count every eyelash. he’s going insane.
“but they insisted it’ll be funny, so—“ will’s hands finding mike’s tie, gentle but anxious. seeking for connection but also distraction. hazel eyes casted away.
“are you ready to say ‘i do’?”
those last two words awakening the dormant beast that’s been kept in the tower of shame deep down inside mike’s mind palace for as long as he remembers.
beaten into shape, forced into conformity.
‘mom, why do people get married?’
‘it’s something you do with someone you love very much, sweetie.’ karen had said to mike. 5 years old. made perfect sense at the time, he knew exactly what he had to do.
best friends mike and will officiated their own wedding. at the swings where they met. wore their favorite gowns, their d&d costumes. will even handcrafted them matching rings— because according to mike, “will is good at everything he does”. he still is.
that day they have promised to love one another for the rest of their lives. the biggest promise mike’s ever made.
that, besides that ridiculously hot night of the summer they graduated. hanging out alone in mike’s basement, locked away from the world. when will came out to him.
‘hey, heey, look at me. yeah? will, you being gay is not going to stop me from being your friend. okay? your best friend, always.’
memories of a past life overlapping behind the tears now brimming inside mike’s eyes. kaleidoscope lense. beautiful, so beautiful, but almost too overwhelmingly bright. like all of will.
‘are you ready to say ‘i do’?’
‘i already did. don’t you remember?’
standing right before mike, is the future he can’t have. not if he isn’t brave. not if he keeps hiding.
something cataclysmic clicks. the world itself shifts on its axis. a long awaited epiphany.
he can’t get married— again. not today. not to her.
mike’s internalized homophobia is so interesting for me to write so would love to make a longer piece of this mayhaps we’ll see
romaincrisis
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
theartofmadeline
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
