#lee!mike

Michael Wheeler was suffering.

Not in the sense of pain or discomfort, but in the sense of wanting. He wanted something... there was an itch that he needed to be scratched, if you will. A very, very specific itch. The kind that makes you laugh if someone touches you a certain way. Mike wanted that more than anything right now.

He was never very good at expressing his emotions or wants, but when it came to this topic, he would never be able to say anything. No, not Mike Wheeler. Plus, who would he even ask? Nobody would be willing to do that to him, right?

So when he's hanging out with Will Byers on a normal weekend day, he can't help but to provoke a little bit.

It started off with some contemplating. A bit of nervousness would wash over him the moment that Will stepped foot into his room, the two sitting down on his bed each doing their respective activities. Will was drawing, it looked like he was drawing a person. Maybe he was drawing Mike. Mike was reading a comic book. Or, well, he looked like he was reading a comic book. He would flip the pages every few seconds or so but not paying attention to any of them, only to the way that Will's hand glides across his paper, the way his fingers readjust the pencil in his hand. The way he taps his fingers on Mike's bed when he thinks. It makes Mike go crazy, until he forgets to turn the page-

"Mike?

Will waves his hand in front of Mike's face and the boy snaps back into reality, inching away from the hand in front of his face as his fingers flexed. He could feel his face get warm.

"You okay?" Will asked, soft as ever.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Mike answered. A bit too quickly. Will raised an eyebrow in some confusion but nodded and turned back to his paper. Mike leaned against the wall, looking at Will's side. He bit his lip, fingers twitching. Just one movement, and maybe Will would think to get revenge.

Mike propped his knees up, comic book flat on them, and he turned a page before quickly prodding Will in the side. The boy jumped with a gasp, inching away from Mike.

"Hey!" He'd managed with a jumpy giggle. "Don't do that," Will smirked, looking at Mike as he rubbed his side free of phantoms. He turned back to his sketchbook.

That was it? No, "I'm gonna get you for that" or "If you do that again, I'll do it to you", or anything? He was hoping for at least a poke back.

Mike smirked. Looking away, he imagined Will's fingers digging back into his side, then turning it into scribbling and squeezing and eventually it turning into a full-on one-sided fight where Will is on top of Mike wrestling him down and kneading into his ribs and-

Suddenly, a squeal.

Mike covered his mouth as if it would cover up the sound that just came out of him.

Will had been trying to get his attention again and break him from his daydream, and in a failed attempt to do so, resorted to placing a gentle poke to his side.

The two looked at each other, Mike wide eyed with his face as red as a tomato, and Will with his eyebrows raised and a small smirk on his face.

"I'm- sorry, I didn't think you'd have that kind of reaction." Will giggled, bringing his hand up to his mouth. Mike stammered, looking for a response. Something. To make him continue.

"No, it's okay! I- uh... I- I don't mind,"

I don't mind? God, that sounds so weird. Why would he even say that-

"...So, you don't mind if I just-"

Suddenly Mike was giggling. Loud giggles poured from his mouth. He jolted as Will's fingers lay on his side.

"I haven't even moved yet, Mike."

He was laughing for no reason. Just the gentle tapping of Will's fingers, his hands resting on his sides, got him overly giddy. Then Mike was readjusting himself, propped up on his elbows as Will straddled his waist. Mike's heart dropped to his stomach, and he felt the butterflies flutter around as Will's fingers tapped over his sweater once more.

Will grinned softly, slowly pulling up Mike's sweater. He looked almost eager. Like he's wanted to do this for so long. Or at least, something similar. Mike shivered, then slightly jolted when Will's fingers made contact with the soft skin of his stomach to pull up the shirt beneath.

"God, your fingers are so cold-" He lay on his back, covering his face with his hands. He sucked in his stomach with a shiver as Will's hands landed back on his sides, which were now bare. Christ, why did he have to build so much anticipation? Mike waited, biting his lip with a small whine. He groaned softly at Will's small chuckle.

"Hello?!" Mike squeaks, uncovering his face to be met with Will's brown eyes, and the evil grin on his face.

"Sorry, sorry, It's just... I don't really know what you want, you know?"

"Bullshit!" Mike cried through soft giggles. And after a long pause, he whined out, "Just do it already!"

Will smirked, and Mike threw his head back in laughter immediately as Will clawed into his ribs. Scribbling over each individual bone, poking into the divots that separated them, quickly raking his fingers down each ladder. Mike bucked his hips, uncharacteristically high-pitched laughter pouring from his lips. "Wait- wait!" He cried out suddenly, going to grab at Will's wrists, and Will paused.

"Yes?" He asked, waiting for a response. His fingers rest on Mike's ribcage. Mike stammered, groaning before muttering out, "N-Nothing,"

"What were you gonna say?" Will leaned in, tilting his head a little bit. Beckoning. Mike groaned. "Nothing! K-Keep going, please?" He asked, his face bright red as he hid behind his hands again. The second squeal of the day escaped his lips as Will's fingers now attacked his tummy. Gently scribbling over the bare skin and especially attacking the spot on either side of his stomach where it met his sides. It killed Mike Wheeler. Will was having the time of his life. He dared to imagine he was having even more fun than Mike now, as his fingers wiggled and scribbled over his exposed stomach and sides. Seeing the love of his life with that giant smile on his face, hearing that laughter that he barely gets to hear anymore... it's bliss, and Will adores every second of it.

He smirks down at Mike, who's thrashing and bucking, but not actually trying to get away. If anything, he's leaning into the touch. And if there's anything Will wants to do before this comes to an end, then he would like to do it now.

"Hey, Mike, want some fruit?"

The rhetorical question was enough to make Mike's eyes go wide in his mirth as Will took in a big breath and leaned down. Mike squeaked and threw his head back as Will planted a giant raspberry on his stomach.

"SHUT UP!" Mike cried through laughter, shaking his head.

"We know you don't actually want that," Will hummed softly. A little bit uncharacteristic for him to be so teasy. But when it came to Mike Wheeler, he would do anything. Even if that meant wrecking him silly.

Will took in some more air and blew another raspberry, directly on Mike's bellybutton.

snrk!

"Oh my god, did you just snort?" Will smirked, merely lifting his head from Mike's stomach as he wiggled his fingers over the boy's sides.

"No!"

"Friends don't lie, Mike,"

Suddenly, Will's fingers slowed to a stop, resting on Mike's sides. Unfortunately, this was almost worse, as Mike kept jerking and squirming. Waiting for him to continue.

"W-Why'd you stop?"

Mike's tone made Will melt. He wanted to crumble and just wreck him, but he couldn't let Mike get away with snarky comments now. Especially not lies. Not when he's in this position.

"Did you snort?" Will asked.

Mike scoffed through small giggles. "Fine! Yes- I did, can you please-"

"Okay, okay, jeez. You're such a baby." Will chuckled softly, and slowly grabbed Mike's wrists in one hand and pulls both his arms above his head. Mike's eyes go wide once more as this occurs, shaking his head softly. "No, no, no, Will, please- that's so bad!" He whined.

"Should've thought about that before you lied to me, huh?"

"I didn't lie!"

"Yes, you did, you told me you didn't snort when you obviously did," Will teased.

"That's not fair- NO!"

Mike shrieked as Will's fingers dove into his armpits, and he clamped his arms down in cackles. He squirmed desperately despite the fact that, now that Will's fingers were trapped beneath his arms, nothing was happening.

"Mike," Will hummed in a low, sing-song tone. "I'm not doing anything yet. And you kinda trapped my hands," He smirked wide.

"Wihill please, it's so bad," Mike whined.

"Dude, shut up, stop begging," Will giggled out, wiggling his fingers from under Mike's arms earning a shrill squeak. "Let me have my hands back."

Mike slowly raised his arms back above his head, flinching a few times before his arms fully went up. Will couldn't help but giggle each time he jumped, and now that his hands were free, he simply wiggled his fingers in his direction. Mike wrapped his arms around himself, a wide goofy smile on his face. "Stop it-"

"Oh, okay." Will said, his hands now in his lap.

"That's not what I meant!" Mike whined.

"What'd you mean, then?" Will asked.

God, Mike loved hated this. He hated how good Will was at teasing, especially alongside the fact that Will knew exactly what he wanted. He was just acting oblivious.

"You're so mean-"

"Oh, I'm mean? Okay, let's see how you like this-"

Mike erupted once more into chaotic laughter as Will's fingers found their way to his hips. They drilled circles into the skin, and Mike couldn't help but buck and grab Will's wrist as he squirmed desperately. "WILL!"

Will ignored him, smiling softly down at the boy beneath him. God, he was beautiful. A beautiful, beautiful boy. He grinned, and now reached behind him and squeezed gently down his thighs. Mike giggled softly, covering his face with his hands again.

His legs kicked out as Will's fingers squeezed his kneecaps, and he let out another shriek when Will's fingers wiggled behind his knees.

"OKAY- OKAY! WILL!"

Mike whined out, tapping the bed three fast times. Will smiled softly, and his fingers slowed to a stop behind Mike's knees. He looked at what he caused.

Never did he think he'd get a chance to be straddling Mike Wheeler, sweat slicking his hair to his forehead, face red and wet from tears of mirth, and a big, wide smile plastered on his face. But he would cherish every moment of it.

"Can I do one more thing?" Will asked.

Mike whined softly, hiding behind his hands. He nodded.

Will smiled softly, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss to Mike's stomach. Then peppering kisses, all around, leaving Mike in giggly squeaks and giggles. Then to end it off, one last raspberry to the center of his stomach. Mike cursed as Will additionally shook his head to add to the sensations.

"Okay- okay!" Mike giggled, pushing at Will's head once the raspberry became too long for his liking. If even possible.

Will smiled, his chin laying on Mike's stomach. "That... was fun," Mike shyly admitted, looking off to the wall. "Really?"

"...Yeah. You're good at that,"

"At what? What do you mean?"

"...Shut up." Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Will grinned widely, laying down on the bed besides Mike. They lay in silence for a moment, before Mike speaks up.

"I'm gonna get you back for that."

"Wh- You asked for it!"

"Yeah, I know... thanks, by the way,"

Will pulled Mike's shirt and sweater back down and picks up his sketchbook. The page has been opened to an unfinished drawing of Mike, waiting to be finished.

Mike yawned, turning on his side, facing Will. His forehead rested on his shoulder, and he almost immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Will looked over, smiling softly down at him, and started drawing.

Will brought his own school work, which was a little different than Mike’s. It’s an art project, to no one’s surprise, and it had to be perfect according to Will. Where he’s at with it is painting the smallest of details to his claymations of people, having to make sure his hands don’t wobble too much where he smudges the paint.

After forty-five minutes had gone by, he started to feel Mike’s eyes on him, watching him focused on painting. He didn’t mind it at all, until Mike started to nag him to help him with one of his own school work that required art, but not to the degree of Will’s. Still, it is something Mike has been dreading to start, not having a single artistic bone in him.

Mike kept the sad puppy dog face, oblivious to what Will was telling him to not do. “Just help me with it whenever you can, that’s all I’m asking.”

Will sighed, dabbing his paintbrush in a water cup to add a new color. “When you mean ‘help’, you actually mean for me to just do it for you, right?”

Mike slightly threw his hands up in mock offense, although Will was right on with his assumptions. “Of course not!” That earned Mike another side glance from him. “I just don’t know how to really start it, so maybe you can help me out with that. After, I swear I’ll take on the rest.”

Will groaned, but not from Mike’s suggestion. He swiped a little too harshly when painting eyes on one of the claymation people, making it look messy. He hated a messy look on his art.

Deciding to take a deep breath and fix it later, he starts putting his attention onto the small trees he made out of cardboard, grabbing a nearby glue stick. “Are you even done with your other homework you have?”

Mike, who is still laying on his stomach with his elbows propped up, only shrugged to his question. “I mean, sorta yea. I’m kinda waiting for you to finish up so we can start my art homework, that’s the most important one.”

Will shook his head. “I don’t remember agreeing to help you with it yet.”

Mike whined. “Oh c'mon, please?” He goes back to making the face everyone cannot say no to, scrunching his eyebrows a little high with his eyes slightly crinkled up. Will can sense it, and tries everything in his power to not look over his shoulder at Mike, no matter what he says.

“I still have my own I have to work on, which I’m literally doing right now. It’s going to take awhile, I’m sorry.”

Will hears Mike sigh dramatically, which has him bite the inside of his cheek to not comment on. He feels himself on the edge of it, on the edge of almost falling for it. The slight whine caught in Mike’s tone, the scrunch of his brows and crinkle of his eyes, having a sad longing expression written all over his face. It’s the infamous lost puppy dog face, and Will has witnessed so many lose to it.

He can’t. He won’t. This art project he’s doing is worth half of his grade, he can’t abandon it to start another that’s not even his. Mike is going to learn the lesson of patience today, and that you can’t always get everything you want, no matter how hard you try. Everything is fine, just focus on folding the green paper in a way that almost looks like leaves—

“I can’t believe it.” Mike’s voice pulls Will out of his train of focus, having him pause his movements yet again. He hasn’t looked over yet, though.

“Can’t believe what?”

“That you don’t love me.”

Will perks his head up, staring at the wall in front of him for a few seconds. His left hand does a little twitch, and he finally fully faces over to look at Mike, turning his entire chair around.

There he was. On the bed, wearing that stupid lost puppy face that he hasn’t dropped once, the one where Will has the sudden urge to wipe it right off of him.

“Okay, that’s it.”

Will got up from his chair, a little too fast for Mike as he flinched and started to sit up on the bed to put a bit of distance between.

Will moved in silence, avoiding Mike’s flailing hands to grab his wrists as he settled for a seat on his waist, not wasting any time on showing his true motives by shoving his hands directly to Mike’s underarms.

Thank god nobody was home and it was just the two of them, because Mike screamed bloody-murder.

“WAHAHAIT!” Mike spluttered out through his frantic laughter, cheeks becoming tinted pink in an instant over embarrassment from how easy it always is to take him down with just a couple of wiggling fingers to his skin. He absolutely hated walking around with “the most ticklish” title in the friend group, but thankfully for him most of the time he didn't get attacked unless it was well deserved.

Like right now, in only Will’s eyes.

“You just couldn’t leave me be, huh?” Will calmly talked over Mike’s giggly protests and pleas that fell on deaf ears, trying to press half of his face in a nearby pillow to muffle his laughs that are soon to become hiccupy. Will squeals when tickled to pieces, which Mike adores. For Mike, he hiccups, which Will adores. The littlest details in both their laughs that gets them to pray for opportunities to fall in their laps as an excuse to get one another.

“You just had to keep bugging me while I was doing my work.” His left hand started to travel lower, getting him on the start of his upper ribs. Mike bucked his hips, but Will barely moved from where he was sitting on his waist. Mike is starting to think that maybe joining Lucas whenever he heads to the gym isn’t a bad idea after all, because he would’ve already gotten out of this. He’s sure of it.

Will kept talking, ignoring how bad the rapid squeezing to Mike’s side is getting him to cackle nonstop. “You just had to go and try and trick me using your sad puppy dog eyes, huh? Did you really think that was going to work on me? I need you to think again.”

Will decided to have a heart and stop for a moment, letting him catch his breath. Mike furrows his brows in a mock of confusion, yet his big smile and sheepish giggles tell Will otherwise that he knows exactly what he’s talking about.

“Ihihi dohon’t— huh?? Puppy dog eyes…? Whahat do yohou mean—“ but Mike couldn’t finish his sentence as more giggles cut through, because Will started to lightly prod in various places around his stomach and sides as he narrowed his eyes down at him. “Oh yeah, act dumb, because that’s gonna make me stop tickling you.”

Will has been itching to go in for the kill, for the one spot that nearly has Mike see heaven itself from how terribly it tickles. He couldn’t resist anymore, and decided Mike didn’t deserve any build-up for it anyway, not today at least. After a couple of more pokes and prods up and down his sides, he all of a sudden latches his hands firmly on each side of Mike’s hips, poised for a brutal attack.

Mike was barely given any time to register what’s to come, gasping before letting a giggly shrill overtake him from fingers now rapidly pinching his hipbones, so loud it nearly had Will stop to cover his poor ears. Yet he just laughs alongside Mike over his ridiculous squirming that gets him nowhere and the hiccups in between his laughs that come from deep within the chest. God, he could do this all day if homework wasn’t silently calling his name this entire time, having to put an end to this soon.

“IHIHIM— IHIHIM—“ Mike squeezed his eyes shut to try and stop the tears from laughing so hard to roll down his rosy cheeks, but it’s quite inevitable. Will can’t help but start to softly smile down at the sight underneath him, resorting to scribbling at the hips so Mike can have a chance to speak.

“You’re…? You’re what?” Will teases gently, slowing the tickles altogether once he can tell that Mike’s giggly hiccups in between are starting to get painful. The sight of Mike being so relieved to finally bless his lungs with air, cheeks burning, body all limp has pulled Will’s heart strings a little, starting to rub small soothing circles on all the spots he targeted in the last three minutes as a quiet ‘sorry’ if he ever went too far.

He never goes too far whenever he tickles Mike, though. If anything, small disappointment waved over him the second Will stopped, wishing tickles didn’t tire him out so easily so it could go for longer without Will ever overthinking he’s done too much.

But of course, the thought of Will ever finding out how much this enjoys Mike would surely kill him on the spot from humiliation. He’ll continue to stay silent.

For now.

“I’m sohohorehehey…” He finished his sentence after a couple of more moments pulling himself together, slowly opening his eyes to look up at a smiling Will who holds so much love for him behind his gaze.

His hands go right back to his hipbones, resting there to give the illusion he’ll start back up again, having Mike flinch. “I don’t think you are.”

Will lets a few seconds go by of watching Mike let out another batch of giggly pleas, shaking his head, hands wrapping tight around Will’s wrists but not doing much to push back. He’s not even tickling him, yet Mike is doing so much laughing that it’s satisfying enough for Will to call it quits.

“But,” he swiftly gets off of Mike’s waist, heading back to his chair while biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning over Mike’s dumbfounded expression over him going back to his art project like nothing happened. He picks up where he left off on paper macheing the trees, grabbing the glue stick nearby that’s already got the cap off. “This project won’t finish itself, so I’ll let it go. For now.”

From behind, Will hears quiet shuffling, assuming Mike is sitting up to go fetch his own half unfinished homework, thinking how right Will is. It won’t finish itself.

However, he sees Mike pull his own wheeling chair next to Will from his peripheral vision, making him stop to look up with a raise of a brow.

“Then, when you’re done, you’ll hundred percent help with mine, yes?”

Cue the look.

Mike just looked at him. “You tickle me all the time. I tickle you all the time.”

“Yeah, but I want to do it good to prove you’re more ticklish than me.”

Mike felt his cheeks heat up the slightest amount, but he couldn’t help rolling his eyes with a grin. “Okay, one, there’s no way I’m more ticklish than you.”

Mike clasped his hand on Will’s knee - no squeezing or pinching or wiggling fingers, just simply holding - and huffed out a quiet laugh from his nose when Will immediately flinched his leg away with a breathy giggle and grabbed at Mike’s hand. “Two, like I said, you tickle me all the time.”

“But you always tickle back, so I don’t get the chance to test what I want to.”

It was true. For all his lank and long limbs, Mike was pretty good at overpowering others during tickle fights - except against Lucas, who had just enough braun and skill to perfectly pin anyone in the friend group and tickle them until he was satisfied. Against Will, tickle fights were reasonably matched, but Will was just a little more ticklish and Mike was just a little better at getting away; even if Will was getting him good, Mike could ultimately turn the tables in the end and have Will be the one pleading through desperate laughter.

“‘Test what you want’? What does that even mean?” Mike asked.

“It means I’m pretty sure I can get you to give up just from soft tickles where you’re the worst, but there’s no way I’d be able to try it without you letting me.”

Gentle tickles did get Mike pretty bad. Sometimes dragging nails made him go crazier than squeezing or digging fingers. Especially where he was the most ticklish, where he almost never let anyone’s hands get close enough to tickle.

The two boys stared at each other for a few moments in a silent stand-off. Big, pleading doe eyes met narrowed, reluctant ones.

But both knew what the outcome would be.

“Fine. But I honestly doubt you’ll succeed in getting what you want,” Mike conceded. He couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.

Will grinned. “Want to make a bet? If I get you to surrender, I get to pick all the movies we watch for the next week. If I don’t, then you get to pi-“

“Then I get to tickle you.”

“No. You tickle me all the time anyways!”

“Those are my terms,” Mike stated firmly, suppressing a grin when Will blushed. It was always fun to make Will blush.

“Fine.” Will stuck out his chin in a silent challenge and reached his hand out for Mike to shake, which he did.

And so, moments later, Mike was lying on his back on the sofa and Will was sitting on his hips. Will was pressing his knees tightly against Mike’s upper arms, just above his elbows, to keep Mike from lifting his arms (and, ultimately, from hiking his shoulders up).

“Ready?” Will looked way too excited.

Mike swallowed. “Ready.”

Fingernails gently started dragging across his shoulders, and Mike felt like the resulting goosebumps had nearly exploded out of his skin with how fast they erupted all along his arms and down his back and up the nape of his neck. He could bear this, though. Deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Will’s hands converged inwards to gently scratch at Mike’s collarbones, one finger on each. When he started the slow flicking of his fingers, back and forth touches that barely had his nails touching Mike, Mike really had to fight the yip that so desperately hung in his throat; he could feel his arms shaking, the touch just ticklish enough that he don’t have the control to stop any unconscious reactions.

“This isn’t - hng - isn’t even that b-bad,” Mike said, trying for nonchalance but instead sounding like a choking Jar Jar Binks.

“Okay, sure,” Will supplied, and Mike couldn’t decide what was worse - the way he could feel his entire body blushing, the way he could hear Will laughing softly at him, or the way his nerves were alighting like little ticklish sparks as Will’s fingernails continued on their path of destruction.

“Oh my God - oh my God, Will!”

Yeah. Definitely Will’s fingernails.

Will’s greedy fingers had finally reached their ultimate destination to Mike’s neck, scratching nonsensical patterns up and down the sides where the skin was thin and sensitive, and Mike could hardly believe the sharp shriek resounding in the air had come from himself.

Mike had a really unique laugh, high and pitchy and all over the place - especially when he was being tickled, with that dash of desperation thrown in there that made it even more uncontrollable and wild. To be honest, Mike wasn’t a huge fan of his own laugh; he thought it was too shrill, too grating, too annoying, especially when compared to people like Will who had giggly, bubbly laughter. He typically tried to hide it with scoffing snorts and holding it back as much as possible, even with some of his friends.

Not from Will, though. Never from Will.

Not that he could stop his laughter from pouring out of him at this point, even if he wanted to.

Mike felt his shoulders fighting to come up and defend his neck against those evil fingernails, but Will really had him pinned good. He tried turning his head to either side, but it just left the opposite side of his neck wide open to Will’s tickles. He tried bringing an ear down to his shoulder since his shoulder couldn’t come up, but it wouldn’t reach.

Will’s slid his nails up below Mike’s jaw and kept doing the wiggly-scratching pattern that had Mike in absolute stitches. Mike had never had his neck tickled like this before - he always knew that was where he was the most ticklish, even with the neck typically being a second-thought spot for tickles. Quick squeezes and squishes of fingers definitely happened and had been used against him before, but this was crazy and Mike felt like his body was trying to vibrate out of his skin. It tickled, and he apparently felt like he had to let Will know.

“It tickles!”

As if Will couldn’t tell from the shrieky, pitchy laughter pouring out of his boyfriend.

When Mike tried pressing his chin down to block the sensation, Will simply moved his fingers to flutter against Mike’s ears and against the back of his neck as much as he could. It made Mike arch his neck up so beautifully to escape the feeling - and made it perfect for Will to tickle under his chin until it pressed desperately down again.

Mike was dizzy with giggles and shrill laughter and the insane fun of it all. Through watery eyes he could see Will grinning at him, and it made him laugh harder.

“Okay, okay, I give!”

Will pulled his hands away immediately - he apparently couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing Mike’s throat, though, laughing against the skin when Mike let out one more giggly shriek (which made it tickle even more). Will leaned back enough to release Mike’s arms, and in his freedom Mike could only grab Will’s hands and try to calm his shoulder that kept trying to tick up and protect against the phantom tickles that had him still giggling quietly. “Holy shit. Okay, yeah. That tickled.”

Will was looking at him with such a huge grin. “I really love your laugh.” No teasing. No sarcasm. Just a matter-of-fact statement that had Mike flushing all over again.

“Can you even call that a laugh? It’s like, squeaky brakes. Or a banshee,” Mike joked. But Will could always see through him.

“It’s adorable. It makes me smile,” Will said.

And Mike could tell he meant it. Was he ever going to stop blushing today?

“You know what makes me smile?”

Will was giggling even before Mike sat up and managed to reverse their positions, straddling him and holding his hands inches from Will’s sides. Will tried pushing Mike’s hands away, squealing, “wait, wait, th-this wasn’t the deal! I won!”

Mike grinned. “I know, I know. But guess what?” He leaned down. “I don’t care.”

If Mike were asked to describe himself, he’d probably stick to three main ideas: smart, creative, and resourceful.

If anyone else were asked to describe him in three words, he’d probably get a lot of: loud, opinionated, or annoying.

The last of which, he firmly disagreed with, particularly when it came from either of his sisters or one antagonistic redhead.

Though he had to admit, the first two were pretty accurate. Mike really understood that right now, physically unable to shut up about the stupid movie they just watched.

When Will suggested he stay over and watch a movie with them, Mike thought they would be picking from their typical selection. Gorey slasher films and low-budget horror or intricate plot lines, tangled with cool action sequences like Star Wars or Blade Runner.

According to house rules, though, Will and El always took turns picking when they had their movie nights. And tonight was El’s turn. When Mike asked if he could choose, being their guest and all, he was vehemently denied by both parties. Apparently, whenever the party watched stuff all together, he almost always got the final say.

Which certainly wasn’t untrue, but they didn’t have to look so annoyed by it.

Mike just wasn’t expecting El’s first and only choice to be some long, overemotional love story. It wasn’t even a weirdly entertaining rom-com like the ones his mom would fall asleep watching on the couch next to an empty wine bottle. This was some kind of soap opera, so much drama, even more crying, and almost no comprehensive plot.

Sure, maybe he didn’t have to say anything. He and Will could’ve wished El a good night, slinked off upstairs to his room, and made fun of it together. Or maybe he shouldn’t have even thought about the movie at all. Pretend it doesn’t exist, completely erased from memory.

But he loves El. She’s one of his best friends. And as a friend, he had to tell her,

“That might have been the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”

The second those words left his lips, they’ve been at it nonstop, back and forth like lawyers in a courtroom. Will and El may not actually be twins, but one thing they definitely shared was their ability to hold an argument on a topic they were passionate about.

“How could you not like it?!”

“It made zero sense!”

“It was beautiful!”

“Yeah, maybe if I was blind and deaf! I’d definitely appreciate it then.”

“They are in love! You’re just jealous!”

“El, I am telling you, I have never-”

On and on and on. Mike wasn’t even sure how long they’d been talking, but a glance at the living room TV showed the tape paused at the end of the final credits. Definitely a good few minutes.

So focused on proving a point, Mike completely forgot about the other body on the couch. That is, until the blanket over his shoulders slowly slid away, Will stealing the whole thing for himself.

“Does it really matter so much?” Will mumbled, stifling a yawn into his blanket-covered hands, “Can’t you guys just agree to disagree?”

Thoroughly silenced, the two put their bickering on hold to glance at each other and then at Will, pressed into the arm of the couch on Mike’s other side. Mike was instantly swayed, ready to put this whole thing to bed and crawl back under the blanket with sleepy-looking Will.

El didn’t have the same motivations. “I can agree, if he!” She poked a finger at Mike’s chest for emphasis, “Takes back what he said!”

Mike leaned away, crossing his arms over his chest, “That’s not even what agree to disagree means. You can’t try to change my opinion!”

“I can if your opinion is garbage.” El tilted her head at him in a way that reminded him so much of Max. She wasn’t even here, and somehow she found a way to harass him.

Before he could protest, Will spoke up again, “Guys, it’s not a big deal.”

Will continued to be the voice of reason. Always kind, caring, just. One of the best people to have on your side in-

“Mike, just ‘cause you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Jaw-agape, Mike whipped around to see Will’s sleepy smile, green eyes blinking innocently at him.

“Yeah, Mike.” Mike could tell El was grinning just by her voice, “You just don’t understand.”

Unbelievable.

This was unbelievable. They’re totally uniting against him!

“Wha- I-” Mike swore he got whiplash looking back and forth between them, “I do understand!”

El hummed, pressing another poke to his side, making him flinch, “You said it didn’t make sense.”

Mike spluttered, waving his hands in vague disagreement, “Well, yeah. Because it doesn’t!”

“So you admit it?” Will leaned forward, hooking his chin over Mike’s shoulder, “You just don’t get it.”

Will’s words came out as little puffs of air at the side of his neck. It felt weird, a little tingly, but he couldn’t let himself be distracted. Not when he was trapped between two people dead set on proving him wrong, when he knew he was right.

“That’s not what I’m saying. It was just weird.” Mike’s hands moved carefully in front of him, as if he was trying to show each step of logic in his words, “I mean, if that girl was always crying over her boyfriend, why didn’t she just break up with him?”

Like a coordinated attack, El and Will spoke at nearly the same time.

“She has a name!”

“People can’t be emotional?”

Mike’s eyes were wide, feeling like he was digging a hole he’d never get out of, “That’s not- No!”

“Michael,” Will quietly tutted behind him, “Don’t you have two sisters? What would they think if they heard you right now?”

El immediately nodded, leaving no chance for rebuttal, “Yeah. Do you not listen to women, Mike?”

Will sighed, “Definitely doesn’t listen to his mom.”

El did the same, shaking her head, “Poor Karen.”

Mike didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help but laugh. The ridiculousness of the situation and Will’s every word made his hair stand on end. It got to him.

And, of course, they did not let it go.

“I cannot believe you, right now.”

“What’s so funny?”

Mike hid behind his hands, effectively chased away by his attackers. That might’ve been a mistake, though, allowing them to quietly communicate with their eyes over his shaking shoulders.

Before he knew it, Will’s hands slipped out from under his blanket to hold Mike’s hips in a secure grip. Then El slid just a tad closer on the small couch, knee pressed against Mike’s thigh.

A sharp poke to his stomach made him flinch again, uncovering his face to shield himself. El was smirking at him, and if he turned his head, he was sure he’d find Will making a similar face.

“I think,” She poked him again, “We can make you like the movie.”

“Wait, Jane. We can’t change his opinion.” This was it. The moment Will would realize he was right and come to his rescue. “We want him to admit he doesn’t understand the movie or listen to women.”

Mike had never felt more betrayed.

“I’m not saying any of that! It’s not even tru- Don’t you dahahare- shit!” Mike jolted when nimble hands reached out to scribble over the uncovered parts of his belly. He reached for El, managing to grab hold of her wrists and attempt to force her away, but a firm squeeze of his hips had him recoiling into himself.

“Will! You trahaitor!” Mike forced the words past bitten lips, trying not to laugh. El continued the assault on his midsection, rapidly wiggling fingers never staying in the same place for more than a second.

“How am I a traitor?” Will pushed under his shirt slightly, making him gasp and hide his face in the back of the couch, “Did you assume I wouldn’t get the movie either?”

Mike couldn’t answer. He knew if he opened his mouth for anything, all the laughter fizzing inside him would come spilling out. Especially with Will drawing lazy circles with his thumbs over Mike’s hips. The contrast between El’s speedy, all over the place movements and Will’s slow, light touches; it was driving him nuts. His brain couldn't handle processing two completely different sensations.

“Will’s seen it before.” El piped up, poking at Mike’s arms, clenched tightly over his sides, “We both like it.”

Now he really felt crazy. Mike was sure Will didn’t care about that movie at all. He knew Will liked a good love story every now and then, ‘good’ being the key word. That thing El had them watch barely counts as a movie.

Of course, he couldn’t say any of that with these two heathens torturing him just for having good taste.

Will squeezed his hips again, and he jumped, back arching away slightly. This created the tiniest gap needed for El to finally worm her small hands against Mike’s sides, squeezing as fast as she could.

“Nahahahaha!” Mike couldn’t take it anymore, trying to push away from the feeling only to press closer to Will’s chest, “Stahap! Stahahahap!”

“We told you what to say.” El and Will spoke at the same time. How nice of them to start doing the creepy twin thing right this second.

Mike shook his head, sliding down to rest his head on Will’s stomach. He could see the other boy through squinted eyes, a blanket around his shoulders, and a tiny smile on his face. Someone guilty of betraying their best friend should not look so comfy.

“Nehehever!” Mike twisted for leverage to get his legs up off the floor, kicking El away, “Ihihit’s bahahad! Ihihit’s a bahad movie!”

El let out a surprised giggle as she scooched to the other side of the couch, leaning away from flailing limbs, “Will!”

“I got him.” Will took the place of scratching along Mike’s sides, hands pushing up his shirt, “Grab his ankles.”

“NOHOHO!” Mike thrashed on top of the cushions, hoping he’d fling himself onto the floor. It was no use, though, a sudden pressure holding him very still. El was using her powers on him. All he could do was sit there and laugh as she slid her own legs over his shins, securing him in place.

“Wahahait WAIT STAHAP!!” As soon as El released her psychic hold on him, Mike squirmed as hard as he could. But with Will holding him down, still pinching at his sides, and El practically sitting on top of him, there was nothing he could do.

“What do you say?” El blinked over at him, waiting patiently for his confession.

Mike closed his eyes, trying to think through the fog around his brain. What did they even want from him?

“Wiiilll! Stahahap!!” He shook his head desperately, mind blanking on anything that wasn’t the feeling of short nails gliding across his skin, “Ihihi cahan’t remembeheher!”

Will glanced down at him for a moment before looking over to El. She smiled and Mike just knew he was rolling his eyes, that traitor. “If you forgot, it probably means you don’t care.”

“I cahahahare!! Ihihi cahare! Dohon’t! Dohohon’t!!” Mike had a perfect view of El slowly lowering wiggling fingers towards his socked feet. “Ihihi lied! The movie is good! Ihihi swear!”

Once again, his tormentors made eye contact with each other. Mike was never hanging out with just the two of them ever again, if it meant constantly being scrutinized with no words. El looked down at him, tilting her head suspiciously, “So you lied?”

Oh, fuck, that’s not-

“NOT WHAT I MEANT NOT WHAT I- AAHAHAHAHA!!!” Mike threw his head back when manicured nails dug into the arch of his foot. El held one down in a surprisingly strong grasp while the other wiggled like it was trying to separate from his leg and hop away.

At the same time, Will’s gentle fingers left his torso completely to skritch at the sides of his neck. Mike leaned as far as he could towards the edge of the couch, but Will quickly pulled him back with a giggle, this time keeping one hand on his chest.

“You can’t escape, Mike.” Did Will even realize how ominous that sounded? “Just say what we wanna hear.”

“IHIHI DIHIHID!” He knew he definitely said something. There was too much going on, too many fingers scribbling and wiggling and tickling. Mike was falling apart into tiny smiling pieces. If he couldn’t wade through the maze of his own mind, would they never let him leave?

Mike felt scratching underneath his toes, making him screech and curse uncontrollably, “You didn’t. You said you lied.”

El’s words barely registered; the slow curling of her nails pressed right below the gaps between his toes sent tickly shocks through every nerve in his body. The only thing stopping her was his thin ankle sock, and if Mike knew El well, she’d be crazy enough to remove it.

Another poke at his neck made Mike’s laughter pitch up at the end, a weird squeaking sound that made him feel flushed. Will seemed captivated by it, squishing into whatever crevice Mike couldn’t cover with his shoulders hiked up to his chin. Over and over again, trying to recreate that sound.

Only just remembering his hands were free, Mike covered his neck and grabbed Will’s wrist, “WIH- BWAHAA!” Only to immediately shoot his arm back down when Will’s hand on his chest poked under his arm instead. “WILL, PLEH-a! PLEHEAHESE!!” There it was, that pitchy, embarrassing squeak.

Blearily, he peered up at the boy staring down at him. Mike swore Will had hearts in eyes. There was a giddiness about him, like watching Mike lose it over something so silly was more entertaining than anything on TV.

Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Mike took deep, gasping breaths, prepared to thank whatever being on earth or above or across dimensions for saving him.

“Kids?” A low voice cut through the living room, slowly approaching from the bottom of the stairs. Mike didn’t feel quite so thankful anymore.

Ice running through his veins, Mike quickly gathered the energy to fling Will’s blanket over himself, frantically whispering, “Hide me! Hide me!”

Will laughed softly at his antics but helped cover up Mike’s fluffy black hair and upper half. El was already sitting on part of his legs anyway, so it probably didn’t look weird. He hoped so, anyway. The other two gave a quiet greeting, “Hi, Hop,” as the man walked into the room.

“Hey, what’s uh-” Mike held his breath through the pause, “What’s going on in here?”

“We watched a movie.” El chirped, Will humming in agreement.

“Oh, yeah? Just the two of you?” Hopper was gonna kill him. It’s after midnight, he’s pretty sure, and here he was screaming and swearing in the man’s house. And it wasn’t even his fault!

“Yeah.” Will’s hands found him under the blanket, lightly scratching at his collarbone. If Mike could get away with it, he would bite those fingers right off. “Mike left a while ago.”

“Uh-huh. So that is..?” Hopper must’ve pointed at Mike’s twitching legs, all he could do to keep quiet under Will’s sneaky hands.

“What do you mean? Those are my legs.” Will sounded confused, as if he didn’t understand Hopper’s issue with his legs being twice as long as usual.

A sharp poke to the center of his foot made Mike snort quietly, jolting in El’s grip.

“Yeah, Hop. He’s gone.” El giggled at the little squeaks growing in frequency as Mike’s resolve was slowly broken down.

The room was quiet for a moment, outside of Mike desperately trying not to giggle every time Will poked his neck.

“Well.” Hopper chuckled, “Good riddance.” What the hell?! Is making fun of him all this family ever does?

“Just try to keep it down, your mom is still sleeping, okay?” At the whispered agreement, Hopper turned to walk back out of the room.

“Alright, good night, kids.” A pause and then, “Good night, Mike.”

Will and El immediately broke out into a fit of giggles. Mike quietly called out from under the blanket, “Nihihight ch-chief!”

When Will threw the blanket off him, Mike’s hands were over his face, a soft dusting of pink over his cheeks. “I hahate both of you.” He mumbled.

Mike yelped when he felt another poke at his foot, “Like you hate the movie?”

How is this still happening to him? Is this karma for something? Mike could barely remember what he had for breakfast, let alone what evil thing he had done to be facing universal justice.

“Ehehel, stahap! Hop told us to be quiet!”

Will slid his hands over Mike’s stomach once again, making his arms fly down from his face, “Pretty sure he told you to be quiet.”

Mike shook his head, smile wobbling as he looked up at matching grins, “Ihihi cahahan’t! Pleheheheahese!”

Tapping along the edges of Mike’s belly, Will hummed as if thinking it over, “And what do you have to say?”

“Ihihihi- ehehehaha!” El dragged a nail up and down one shaking foot, replacing any answer he may have had with incoherent giggling.

“Don’t think that means anything.” Will shrugged.

When Mike thought of their friends, he always associated Will and El with a sort of innocence. They were never the type to skip school or break curfew if they could help it. Sometimes, though, he forgot just how devious the two of them could be, especially when working together.

They were being gentle now, slow movements and soft, light touches over some of the most sensitive parts of him. Enough to keep him giggling like mad without all that screaming he was doing earlier.

“Wahahahai- Ehehahahaha!” Mike was quietly losing his mind to the slow circles tracing just above his hips and the light scratching over the ball of his foot.

Is this what people mean by ‘tickled silly?’ Incapable of stringing words together and laughing at the slightest touch? Mike felt a whine building in the back of his throat, ready to start pleading for his freedom.

“Will?” El paused, noticing Mike’s descent into delirium, “Do you think he needs a hint?”

Will looked down at Mike’s face, now partially squished into Will’s thigh. His cheeks were still a bit pink, making his freckles stand out, even in the low light. A toothy smile took up most of his face, eyes shaped like little crescents, and his shiny black curls were thoroughly ruffled by all the squirming.

Will hummed, brushing a strand of hair out of Mike’s face, “Maybe? He looks a bit out of it.” A mischievous little smile bloomed across his face, “I think we killed him.”

“Mike.” When he didn’t respond, El huffed, poking his foot once more.

“Whahahahat?” That low giggly whine finally bubbled out of him.

“Did you understand the movie we watched?”

Oh yeah. The movie.

Mike forced himself to shake his head. This was not the time to be prideful. “Nohoho.”

“And do you listen to women?”

He hesitated for a second too long, apparently, El digging into the arch of his foot, “OKAHAY!! OKAY! Nohoho Ihihi dohon’t!”

El smiled, hopping off the couch and freeing Mike’s legs, “Good. Think about that next time we watch it.” She picked up her blanket from where it had fallen to the rug at some point and said a quiet good night to Will before taking off.

Mike found the energy to roll onto his side, curling his legs up to his chest, “Ihihi hahate ihihit here. Ihihi wanna go hohome.”

“Mike.” Will giggled at him, poking his cheek, “Don’t you wanna come sleep in my bed?”

That had Mike pushing himself up to stand on wobbly legs. He almost fell over, Will quickly grabbing his arms and laughing, only mildly concerned.

They got ready for bed together, and when Mike’s face hit the pillows that smelled faintly of cheap bar soap, fresh linen, and just Will, he finally felt normal again.

Except for one thing.

“Will?” Mike whispered to the boy crawling under the sheets beside him. Will hummed, so he continued, “Did you really like that movie?”

Will turned to look at him. Even in the dark, Mike could make out the happy crease of his eyes and the cheeky little smile stretching across his lips. Mike gaped at him, and he laughed.

“I’m leaving.” Mike shuffled away but let himself be stopped by a pair of hands grabbing his and Will’s quiet protests.

“Just wait, okay.” Will looked like he was trying so hard not to laugh in Mike’s face. Clearly, something about his grumpy frown was funny. “I’ve never actually seen it.”

What.

“What?!” Mike whisper-shouted, grabbing Will’s shoulders and shaking him, “What are you saying?!”

“I always fall asleep.” Will couldn’t stop giggling now, pushing Mike’s hands off him, “I knocked out like ten minutes in, and when I woke up, you guys were fighting.”

He knew Will looked sleepy earlier. Mike can’t believe he didn’t notice. How did El never notice if Will’s done this more than once?

“So you had no idea what we were talking about?” Will shook his head, “What was all of that for, then?!”

“Mike.” Will grabbed his hand again, smiling too sweetly to be so evil, “You’re really easy to mess with.”

Mike refused to look at him, knowing if he did, those sparkly green eyes would flush all the annoyance out of him, “I’m telling El.”

“You wouldn’t!” Will leaned over him, and Mike closed his eyes, “Miiiike!”

Mike grunted as a body flopped on top of him. Will mumbled into his chest, “I’ll just keep you here then.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just scream.” Will groaned, and Mike chuckled, pushing a hand through his hair.

Will pushed himself up on his forearms, a determined, little pout hovering over Mike’s face, “I’ll stop you.”

Almost unconsciously, Mike’s hand trailed down soft brown hair to cup Will’s cheek, “How would you do that?”

Either Will leaned in first, or Mike closed his eyes too soon. He couldn’t be sure. All that seemed to matter right now were the lips currently slotted to his. Soft and warm and a tad minty with toothpaste.

The two of them were having a sleepover, just as they used to. Mike had suggested it hoping to add back some normalcy into Will’s life. Things hadn’t exactly been smooth since Will disappeared, but everyone was doing their best to act like it was. Will didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t great either. Mike being the one to help definitely made it more tolerable.

Mike gasped and jumped for his friend. He tackled him onto the cushions of their makeshift fort. “Will! You know I will win this!” He wrestled the book out of Will’s hands and set it to the side. He then stared at Will for a second before moving his hand next to the other’s side.

Will jumped and went up in a renewed giggle fit, not trying to cover his sides at all. Mike experimentally squeezed Will’s side. He yelped but still didn’t move.

“Mike!!”

Not realizing what was happening, Mike let up and left Will alone. He didn’t notice the suppressed – but still obvious – pout that came from the action. “Don’t steal my stuff, Byers,” he joked.

Will huffed, frowning at his friend. Instead of letting well enough alone, he lunged for Mike’s book again right as he was about to grab it. Will held it above his head and stuck his tongue out. 

“Will! What did I just say? Come on!” Mike lightheartedly complained, trying to pull the book from Will’s grasp. “Why do you even want the book?”

“None of your business!”

Mike groaned and latched onto Will’s ribs, eliciting a shriek and the book to go flying. Mike pushed Will to the ground of their fort and pinned him there, holding his wrists gingerly to the pillows and blankets while he sat on his thighs. “What is your deal? It’s almost like you want me to tickle you.”

The brunette went beet-red, turning his face away.

“Wait. Will-”

“No!”

“Awe Will! Is that what you want?” He asked, releasing one wrist in favor of gently grabbing Will’s face and turning it towards him. “Is that why you’ve been provoking me ever since you got here?”

Will blushed profusely, both at the embarrassment of the situation and Mike’s hands on his face – wait why was that flustering?? – and shook his head.

 Mike laughed and leaned closer to Will. “You know, you could have just asked. You don’t have to annoy me just to get tickled. You know I don’t have an issue doing that.”

“Well, yeah but-” Will stammered, “How do you even ask for something like that? That’s so embarrassing!”

“Oh. Well, we could come up with a code word? Would that help?”

He nodded timidly, moving his hand to cover his eyes. Mike’s hand was still on his face. 

“Okay, we can do that then!” Mike grabbed the hand covering Will’s eyes and moved it. “You don’t get to hide though.” 

“Ughh, I hate you…”

Mike gasped. “I’m trying to help you! But I could always just be mean and not tickle you.”

“Fine! Please?”

“Okay, okay! What about watermelon? Whenever you just… need a laugh, say that you want watermelon. I’ll help you out.”

Will nodded again.

“Okay, practice.”

He took a deep breath and tried to look away, but Mike stopped him and gave him a reassuring look. “I want watermelon.”

With no further fight, Mike dug right into his ribs, letting his arms go as a result. Will yelped, grabbing Mike’s wrists but not really doing much about it. He exploded into cackles and tried to sink more into the ground. 

“Mihihike! Noho!”

“No? You asked for this!”

Will shook his head, trying halfheartedly to buck Mike off of him. “Shuhush!”

Mike frowned before moving a hand to drill into his hips. “I will not shush, you jerk!”

Byers squealed, giving up on holding Mike back so he could cover his face.  

“Awe, someone’s shy, huh? How cute, Will!”

“Noho!”

“No what? You have to use your words,” Mike teased, moving to spider across his stomach. He snorted, turning his face into the pillows while still covering it with his hands.

Mike’s eyes gleamed. “You snort! Do it again!” He vibrated a hand into his belly, eliciting a flurry of snorts and a giggly protest. “You’re like a little piggy! How did I not know this? Cute,” he said in awe.

Will flushed, still snorting, and bucked his hips halfheartedly. “‘M nohot cuhute!”

“Of course you are! I could just eat you right up, Will,” he taunted. “Actually, that’s a great idea. Raspberries sound good!”

The younger’s eyes widened and he moved his hands to grab onto Mike. “Wahahait! Whahahat?”

“Raspberries! You know what those are, silly!”

“Mihihike! Dohon’t behe mehean!”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t want-?”

“Mike! Pleheahase!” Will pouted as best he could to get Mike to just get it over with.

“Fine, fine,” Mike sighed. He then rolled Will's shirt up slightly before he took his wrists in his hands and pinned them to his sides gently. Will giggled as Mike took a deep breath and paused for a second. The younger groaned, the anticipation making his giddiness worse.

Mike finally relented and blew a raspberry on Will’s stomach. He shrieked and kicked his legs out violently, falling into loud belly laughter immediately. It was so boyish and adorable that Mike was in awe. 

He blew another raspberry right above his navel and let go of his hands in favor of pinching his hips. This resulted in more snorts and halfhearted protests from the brunette. He was able to get in at least three more before Will shoved his head away from his stomach. In turn, Mike stopped tickling entirely. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! Was that too much?” Mike asked immediately, holding Will’s hand.

Will giggled as he caught his breath. “Noho, I just neeheheded a second. Ihi couldn’t talk.”

Mike had a worried expression on his face, leaning closer to Will to examine if he was okay. “Do you want to be done? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“No! I- sorry, not yet. I just need to catch my breath.”

“That’s okay. As long as you’re happy, Will!”

Will tried not to focus on what Mike was saying. The whole situation was embarrassing and Mike was being so teasy – and sweet? – that it made Will’s stomach feel fluttery. The effects of tickling were weird. He took a couple minutes to breathe before opening his eyes again. 

Mike asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good now,” he paused for a second, staring at his friend expectantly. “You can. Um. Start again. If you want.”

Mike laughed before starting scribbling on his ribs again. “Tell me if it’s too much again, okay?”

Will nodded in response, giggling and moving his hands to cover his face with his hands. Because his arms were up, Mike ventured upwards and began to drill into his underarms. Will screamed and slammed his arms down, turning his head into the pillows and blankets. He dissolved into cackles that would probably raise concern if you didn’t have context. Even then, they were still very shrieky and Mike worried for his lungs. But he hadn’t tapped out yet, so he kept going. His laughter covered the sound of the door opening and someone coming down the stairs into the basement.

“What is happening down here?”

Mike stopped dead in his tracks, turning his head to see none other than Nancy outside their fort with her arms crossed and a very disappointed expression. Will gasped in greedy breaths.

“Mike, why are you torturing your best friend?” She asked in an accusatory tone. 

Mike sputtered. “He literally ask-!” He paused to see Will with a worried and embarrassed face. He figured outing Will wasn’t in his best interest. “He deserves it! He keeps stealing my stuff!”

Nancy seemed unamused, entering the fort. “Right. I don’t think murdering him is the way to deal with that.” She pulled Mike off of Will and shoved him to the ground, climbing on top of him and forcing his arms above his head. He struggled all the while, but inevitably lost the fight.

“Nance! Cohome on!” He protested, trying his best to squirm out of her grip. “Let goho!”

“Will, hun, do you want to get him back?” She turned to the still-giggling boy, who nodded frantically and crawled over to the siblings excitedly.

“Will! It was all in good fun, right?” He pleaded, squirming nervously in Nancy’s hold. “You won’t do anything brash, right?”

Will smirked at him. “After that torture?” He giggled. “I’m getting revenge.”

Mike gawked at his best friend. “Will!”

The brunette didn’t wait any longer, immediately vibrating clawed hands into his lower ribs. He snickered at the yelpy laughter that came from the action. 

Mike turned his face into his arm and avoided looking at his sister and best friend. This was gonna be a long night.

~~~

That sleepover had become a foundation for a certain aspect of their relationship. It created a safety blanket of sorts, and it definitely made their friendship stronger. Their codeword followed them for the years to come, and it saved Will from major embarrassment (and punches) when it came to their other friends. Especially when Max came around.

However, when the Byers + El moved to California, it created a kind of rift between Will and Mike. Mike never wrote letters or called Will. El was a different story. She got bombarded with letters. It was unfair. Yeah, El and Mike were dating, but Will was his best friend for just about ten years. But he couldn’t even spare the time to call him once in the months they were gone. Whatever. People grow up and drift apart, WIll guessed. 

What made it more unbearable, Will lost that safety blanket. He had no one to ask for a distraction when his thoughts got too loud or he just wanted to laugh for a minute. El barely understood the concept of tickling, and he didn’t really wanna explain it to her. Jonathan was high all the time with Argyle, and he wouldn’t dare to ask his mom, although she’d be more than willing. 

So whenever he was in that mood, or overthinking, or just generally wanted that affection, he simply had to suffer. His friends at school didn’t help either. Small pokes to the side every now and then were common, which really didn’t help his moods – it made them so much worse. On those types of days, all he yearned for was Mike. Even if he was pissed at his lack of reaching out, he missed him. For more than just that reason, of course, but you get the point. 

When Mike came down for spring break, Will was ecstatic. Pissed still, but very excited. Then they went rollerskating and they fought. And El hit Angela with a rollerskate. It was generally just a disaster. But then they talked to each other. Actually talked, not arguing. It was nice. It also made him spiral.

Of course, he didn’t have time to linger on the various ways Mike made him feel, because El got kidnapped by that crazy doctor guy. And they had to save her. The usual team bonding activities, of course. Then everything ended up okay and Mike and El broke up on good terms. And everything was great.

Obviously you can imagine how happy Will was when they moved back to Hawkins. And to genuinely make everything better, they were with Mike until they could move properly. Things didn’t immediately go back to normal, but they got better. Mike and Will were slowly going back to being, well, Mike and Will. 

~~~

Will zoned out while sitting in the basement. He was in one of his moods again, so the only thing he could focus on while Mike was talking were his hands and how they were moving. He eventually clocked out and just started daydreaming.

“Hello? Earth to Will?” Mike teased, poking his side. 

Will jumped much more violently than he normally would. Truthfully, it was on purpose. Maybe a more dramatic reaction would spark the playfulness Will knew that Mike had, somewhere in him. “H-huh? Sorry.”

Mike laughed at him. “You good, dude?”

“Yeah. Just a little spacey I guess.” Will answered, blushing slightly.

“Right.” He eyed him. “So, as I was saying-”

And just like that, Will was gone again. 

Mike noticed almost immediately that he’d zoned out again. If we’re being honest, Mike knew exactly what was going on with Will. He’d known the entire time. He may be dense, but he wasn’t stupid. He was just deciding to be mean until Will realized that he could literally just ask. They had the codeword for a reason. 

“Will,” Mike said firmly, squeezing just above his knee. 

Will yelped, grabbing Mike’s hand, but not moving it. “Mike!”

“I’m talking to you, Will. I can’t believe you’d just ignore me,” he frowned. “What is up with you right now?”

“I- Nothing. Why are you touching me?” He said with faux anger, realizing he was still holding his hand before shoving it away.

“Not my fault that the only way I can get your attention is to tickle you,” he teased, wiggling fingers into WIll’s neck. 

Will fought with a smile and giggled, holding his hand away from his neck. “Miiiiiike!” He whined.

“Wiiiill!” Mike dropped his hand from Will’s neck to his own lap. He wouldn’t give him what he wanted if he didn’t ask. “Are you gonna pay attention now?”

“No. Not after that!”

“Oh, like you mind! Be honest with yourself Will.”

Will flushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mike leaned closer to Will’s face – he ended up about three inches from his face. “But you do. You know how this works, Byers.” He enunciated by poking Will’s stomach, eliciting a squeak from the younger.

“Hehey!” He brought his knees up to cover his stomach and shoved Mike’s face away gently, but rough enough to get the point across. “Fine, okay! You win.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Go on, then.”

“Mike, I want watermelon. Please.” He gave him puppy dog eyes.

“See! Was it really that hard?” Mike said, shoving Will down onto the couch and straddling his waist immediately. He hovered his hands over Will’s side tauntingly.

Will hid his face in his hands and blushed profusely. “Miiike!” He groaned.

“Actually, wait,” Mike said, more to himself than Will. He held Will’s wrists and pulled them away from his face to pin them under his knees. Will didn’t fight back. “I wanna see your face.”

Will gaped at him. “What- no that’s not fair!” He yelped, turning his face away shyly. Mike grabbed his face and gingerly forced him to look at him.

“It’s plenty fair! Plus, I wanna see your smile, it’s been too long. I’ve missed it.”

His face turned bright red and he looked anywhere but Mike. Why was he acting like this? Usually he at least let him face away, so this was different. “This is so mehean!”

“No it’s not. Mean would be not tickling you at all, silly.”

Will groaned again and shut his eyes tight. Mike took the opportunity to pounce, going straight for the kill and drilling into his underarms, letting go of Will’s face in the process. He yelled and fell into cackles immediately. His head was tossed back and he kicked his legs out behind Mike. His cackles were definitely less screechy than they used to be, but still loud and coupled with yelps.

“Wow. You really haven’t changed, Byers,” Mike observed. It wasn’t meant to be teasy, but Mike’s ‘Will Voice™’ paired with the circumstances didn’t help that case.

“SHUHUT UHUP!”

Mike gasped. “How rude! You’d think someone in your position would be nicer,” He said. “Unless this isn’t enough? I can up the ante if you want.”

Will didn’t say anything to protest, so Mike took it as a go-ahead. He took in a dramatic breath and leaned forward to plant a raspberry on Will’s neck. This elicited a snort, which only encouraged Mike to keep going.

Well, at least for about thirty more seconds. After that Will called out, “Moho-MOHOHOHOVE SPOHOTS!” And Mike listened immediately.

Suddenly, Mike was tracing gentle shapes on Will’s sides to let him catch his breath.

“You alright?”

Will glared at him lightheartedly while taking in very giggly breaths. “Noho! Yohou’re tryihihing to kihill mehe!”

“I am not!” Mike yelped, poking Will’s collarbone. “You’re so dramatic!”

Will scrunched his shoulders at the poke. “Screhehew yohohuhu!”

Mike shook his head at the younger. “You know, I think I like it better when you’re laughing.”

With that, he circled his thumbs into the other’s hip bones, causing him to yelp and kick his legs out with renewed violence. 

“Nahahoho! Buhuhully!”

“Bully?” Mike repeated in mock offense. “You literally asked for this!”

Will chose to ignore that fact and shake his head. All he could focus on was how he was finally getting what he wanted after months of not. It was exactly how he remembered it being three years ago when this all started. Well, not exactly, but they were fifteen now, not twelve. 

It seemed that they both had come to more realizations lately, too. Will had figured out that the butterflies every time Mike teased him had less to do with the teasing than it did Mike. It was definitely… different – doing this while being aware of how he feels. Mike’s face being three inches from his definitely caused more blushing than the imminent threat of tickles. His lips on his neck made the room feel warmer than a basement should ever be. Him saying that he wants to see Will’s face and his smile on it – that he missed seeing his smile – caused his stomach to come up with its own acrobatic routine. When he was younger it was easier to blame it on the teasing and tickling, but not anymore. He didn’t know which was better.

But, even with this knowledge of his emotions, he couldn’t fully let himself enjoy it. If Mike was doing this on purpose – which was doubtful – why did he not reach out at all? Why act like everything was normal after that? Why did Mike avoid answering why he didn’t reach out? Was he trying to lose contact? Mike was such a hard creature to understand.

“Y’know, I’ve really missed that laugh. I’ve missed you,” Mike casually said, placing a clawed hand on Will’s stomach and vibrating. He knew how bad that always got him.

Will didn’t have time to process what Mike said before being forced into a never ending stream of giggles and snorts. He squeezed his eyes shut and tossed his head back.

Mike smiled down at Will and admired his face. He looked like an angel. His hair was perfectly tousled and fell gorgeously over his face. His smile was perfect and goofy and was just so Will. He never wanted to go this long without it again. He never wanted to go this long without Will again. The last couple months had been hell without his best friend, and he couldn’t even call him. His mom had to constantly hog the phone, and he could only do so much writing and reading and mailing letters.

Maybe it was possible that Mike wanted to be a little more than best friends. Maybe El was his way of coping with that want. Maybe all he wanted right now was to kiss that perfect smile and make that perfect boy his. But there was no way Will wanted that. There was no way that’s acceptable. It was a stupid and impossible hypothetical maybe, but there was some truth. He could stand to ignore that for right now.

“MIHIHI-” Will interrupted himself with a snort. “MIHIHIKE MEHERCY! STOHOHOP!”

Mike listened, panicked. He took his hands off of him entirely, worry taking over his face. “Will, I’m so sorry! I zoned out- I didn’t mean to-!”

“Cahalm dohown. It’s fihine Mihike,” Will assured, taking deep breaths. 

Oh, hearing Will say his name all giggly like that was encouraging butterflies to set up camp in his stomach. 

“Are you sure? Do you need water – or anything?” He asked, freeing his arms from under his knees. 

Instead of answering his question, Will repeatedly squeezed Mike’s sides. Mike collapsed on top of Will as a result, squirming into the crevice between Will and the back of the couch. Will just kept squeezing while turning on his side to reach Mike easier.

“You need to relax, Mihike.”

“WihiIHIhill! Pleheahase!” Mike cried out, not even trying to fight Will. 

Will crept up to Mike’s ribs, scribbling into his lowest ribs gently. He didn’t tease, just looked at him with a fond smile that he couldn’t even see due to his eyes being closed. 

“WihihiHIHill!” He yelped, opening his eyes to see Will staring at him with those beautiful hazel eyes and a smile that made his stomach do flips. His laughter hiked up and he put his head down, leaving it resting on Will’s chest. Will’s heart rate sped up at the action, but Mike was too busy laughing to notice it.

“Am I, uh, interrupting something?” Jonathan asked, setting his camera down on the table.

Will jumped, but didn’t stop tickling. “No. Just payback!”

Mike scoffed through his laughter, slowly getting more red. Will drilled into the spot where his sides met his ribs and Mike squealed indignantly. “HeheHEHEY!”

“Oookay well, have fun with that. Nance and I are going out for dinner. Just wanted to let you know.” Jonathan said, making his way up the stairs.

“Okay! Have fun!” Will called out just before the door shut. He then let up on Mike, who’s loud laughter tapered off into childish giggles that Will had to stop himself from audibly aweing at. He waited a second before speaking again. “Are you okay?”

Mike nodded, snuggling further into Will and wrapping an arm around his waist. “‘M sorry.”

Will’s heart tightened. He hesitantly put an arm around Mike as well. “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“For not reaching out,” Mike whispered, squeezing him slightly then letting up. “I know it’s been bothering you.”

“It’s… It’s okay. It’s better now.”

“I tried to call. Everyday.”

Will stayed quiet. What?

“Mom and Nance hog the phone a lot. And mailing letters is a hassle,” Mike said. ‘I know it’s still shitty, but you deserve to know. I’m sorry for avoiding telling you, too.”

“Mike-”

“I know I’ve been a dick. I’m sorry.” A tear rolled off his face and onto Will’s shirt.

Will gasped quietly. “No. Don’t be sorry, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Mike sobbed out. “I hurt you. And yelled at you for being hurt. How could that be okay?”

“Mike. I get it. I could’ve reached out, too, and I didn’t. It’s not all your fault,” he assured, putting a hand in Mike’s hair and softly playing with it. “We can share the blame, okay? Now stop crying, you’re gonna make me cry.”

Mike snickered. “Okahay.”

“Are you still crying? Ugh I guess I have to fix it myself!” Will teased, latching onto Mike’s ribs again.

Mike yelped and started laughing. “Noho! I’m nohohot! Wihihill!” He whined.

“I’m not so sure, it sounds like you’re still sad…” Will continued, reaching down to pinch Mike’s hip. Mike screamed and shoved his face into the couch and cackled. “Oh wow, really sad huh? How ever will I fix this?”

“WIHIHILL!”

“Mihike!”

Mike squirmed but didn’t make an attempt to stop Will. “IHIT’S SOHO BAHAHAD!”

“You’re such a baby, oh my god.”

Mike blindly squeezed Will’s side, causing him to jump and fall off the couch. He gripped Mike’s shoulders and brought him to the floor as well. Mike fell on top of Will. They stared at each other, shocked, for a second before Mike dropped his head and laughed into Will’s shoulder. Will started laughing too and they stayed like that for a couple minutes.

“Ihi missed you so much, Byers,” Mike said, hugging Will again. 

“I missed you too, Wheeler,” Will hugged him back, but rolled over and swapped their position. Will was now sitting on Mike’s thighs. “But I’m not done with you yet.”

“Waitwaitwait!” Mike rushed, sitting up with a struggle. So now (in the least weird way to ever exist – entirely SFW) Will was basically sitting on Mike’s lap, their faces like an inch apart.

Will blushed and stammered out, “What-?”

Mike also stuttered, completely forgetting what he was originally gonna say. “I-I don’t- Can I do something stupid?”

Will nodded and Mike put a hand on his cheek before kissing him. Will jumped but then immediately leaned into Mike, putting his arms around Mike’s neck. 

Mike then freaked out and pulled back putting a hand over his mouth staring at Will with wide eyes. “I’m so so sorry- I don’t know- That was stupid, I-!”

Will moved Mike’s hand and quickly kissed him again before pulling back. “I don’t mind. I mean - if you don’t mind either-!”

Mike stopped him mid-sentence with another kiss, and he reciprocated immediately. When they finally separated, Will pushed Mike back down and smiled at him for a second before speaking.

“Great distraction, but you are not getting out of payback, Micheal.”

Mike frowned. “But- NOHO!”