#umm help

Mike thought that now would be the perfect time to scare his boyfriend, not scare per se, but surprise him. Will was in the kitchen, it was dark, probably due to the early hour of one am. The only source of light came from a candle that flickered back and forth, as if some spell was being cast on it by Will. It would’ve made sense, Will did have powers. He was a literal sorcerer, and Mike had encouraged that, at least he hoped he did. Even if he didn’t, it was amazing and he was so proud of Will for accepting himself, even though Mike still had quite the way to go. Anyway, Mike crept slowly, socked feet padding against the cool tile of the kitchen. Will looked a little stressed, given his hunched over position on the island counter and the hands the held his head up by gripping his forehead. He seemed to be exausted. Mike rethought his decision and chose not to clasp his hands over Will’s eyes in a “guess who” game. He walked normally now, and spoke.

“Hey, Will, are you okay? What’re you doing up so late?”

Will flinched, aggressively so, almost slipping from his position and falling on the floor. his breathing started deepen, getting heavier and heavier as if you were to hold the weight of every emotion you’d ever felt. That seemed to be true for Will. He broke down sobbing before he could get the words out, crumbling down to press his back into the wall holding the counter.

“Oh, shit, Will— I— I am so sorry, please don’t cry—“ Mike spoke frantically, kneeling down next to him and pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of his head. Will’s body shook with the weight of his sobs, sound coming, obviously, as well as the movement. Mike really meant no harm, of course he didn’t, he’d never intentionally hurt Will. He was his sunshine, his darling boy, and he love him with his whole heart.

“I—“ Will tried to focus on speaking, but all that came out was a heap of tears and fear.

“Nonono, don’t try to talk right now, okay, Will? It’s— it’s okay, really, I’m so sorry for scaring you.” Mike pleaded.

He held Will close to him, cradling him in his arms, as if he were the most fragile and delicate thing to have the privilege of holding. Of course that was ironic, Will was the strongest person Mike knew, he’d endured some of life’s worst and most horrific moments ever and somehow managed to be the same sweet boy that he was when they first met. Will brought his head to rest closer to Mike’s collarbone, eyes wide open with tears streaming.

Mike’s eyes remained tightly shut as he begged, whoever, maybe himself, that Will would feel okay enough to be in a more comfortable spot. The kitchen floor wasn’t the best place to be comforting Will.

“Can I pick you up?” Mike’s gentle voice carried to Will’s ears, obviously, since it was dead silent.

Will nodded, still gasping for breath as he tried to regain his composure upon the shock he’d not expected. His arms looped around Mike’s neck to secure himself as Mike kept kneeling. Mike’s left arm went toward the middle of Will’s back, his right sneaking under the crooks of his knees. At an unhurried pace, Mike rose up with a trembling Will, wishing for nothing more than to see him comfortable and safe again. Mike felt like such an idiot. He caused Will to cry. He was the reason why Will couldn’t just be alone at night. But at the same time, it was best that he showed when he did, Will desperately needed sleep, especially with everything that was going on. They both did. Everyone did.

“I’ll take you to my room, okay? It’s gonna be okay, Will, I promise.” Mike whispered as his feet padded, now, on the wooden floor near the stairs. His arms shook with the weight of Will, but he could do it, he’d held Will before, longer than this, too.

Will mumbled something, but it was mostly incoherent due to the short shakes in his speech. Mike’s ears tried to pick up on the sound, but he was working on getting up the stairs. He really needed to work out more. Soon enough, Mike’s foot nudged at his door and he entered through the threshold. Will was then placed on top of the mattress and he rested in a near fetal position. Mike went to silently close the door, and he turned the lamp on his desk off.

“I— I’m sorr…sorry.” Will mumbled as he buried his face in his hands.

“Oh, Will, no— you did nothing wrong, you just got scared, I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.”

A small whimper fell from Will’s, now, chapped lips.

Mike’s hand went to rest on Will’s slightly damp hair, thumb swiping back on forth to provide some more comfort to him.

“Let’s just try to go to sleep? Or you can talk to me if you need, I’m right here. Always right here.”

“Let me ask you this: what is soccer?”

“Is it about 11 players working together?”

“The bonds that you form?”

“Self-sacrifice?”