Chapter Text
Blood oozed from his side as he swung from rooftop to rooftop. The gash under his rib cage didn't quite hurt anymore but the blood loss was making his vision blur and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't using his "spidey-senses" (as Dustin so gracefully called them) to not slam into any brick walls.
As he made the final swing to the roof of a random apartment building and laid on the concrete with a grunt, he was beginning to think (for the 20th time) that maybe he wasn't cut out to be a superhero after all. You would think that after three years of being the "elusive" and "mysterious" Spiderman, he would start getting the hang out not getting his ass handed to him. He would only get away without a scrape or a scar when his opponents were merely petty criminals. You know, the ones without unique enhancements or the ones that got by using knives and the occasional glock.
Except, since about a year and a half ago, it hasn't been just petty, low-threat criminals. Now, it was scientists and engineers who craved some sort of power, developing their own suits and weapons and octopus arms for fuck sake. Now more than ever, the city of New York had begun to get dangerous, and Will is now feeling the constant fear of being found out somehow.
Will had adopted the notion that, even out of his Spiderman suit, he was at risk 24/7, and by extension, so were his friends and family.
None of them knew he was Spiderman with the exception of Dustin. After crawling through his bedroom window after a productive night of fighting car robbers and muggers, he had taken off his mask to see a gape-mouthed Dustin. Because of course, he had to come back to get his X-Men Origin comic book.
"It's signed by Wolverine! That isn't the type of shit you just leave at someone's house!."
On the flip side, if it had to be somebody that knew his secret superhero identity, he was glad it was Dustin. Dustin can make suits and tracking devices and little watches that turned into holograms. If it was Lucas or Max, there wouldn't be much that they could do other than offer their silence. If his family had found out, his mother, Jonathon, Jane, Jim- it would've been incredibly hard to get them to accept the responsibility that had been thrust onto his shoulders. And if it was Mike...
If it was Mike this would be an entirely different story. Will imagines being handcuffed to a radiator while Mike yells and rants to him about how stupid and dangerous Will was being. If Mike found out Will was Spiderman, it would probably be next to impossible to convince him that this is what Will needed to do.
So, Will made it clear to Dustin that no one, absolutely no one was allowed to know he was Spiderman, especially Mike.
Dustin, at least after hours of Will explaining himself and convincing him that he and Spiderman were completely different entities, could let it go, on the condition that he makes suits and other gadgets to make it at least a little safer for Will. Dustin could see that even though this was incredibly dangerous and probably a bad idea, Spiderman was somebody the city needed, even if it was Will taking the punches behind the mask.
Mike wouldn't see it that way. Because even after hours of convincing and explaining, Mike would look at Spiderman right in his bug eyes and just see Will. Mike had always seen Will behind whatever mask he put on to survive, to survive Will's bio-dad, to survive the bullies at school; the Spiderman mask would be no match for Mike Wheeler. He would see his best friend jumping off skyscrapers only to catch himself right before hitting the ground, Mike would see Will swinging from rooftop to rooftop, Will fighting off evil scientists with octopus tentacles seemingly coming out of their back, Will holing an entire ferry together by just his webs and his strength.
Mike would get in the way. He would get hurt, killed even. Will knows despite Mike being the one without superpowers would jump at the opportunity to keep Will safe and away from harm. Even if it meant standing between Will and something ten times stronger than him.
Instead of running away in fear or cheering him on from the sidelines like other civilians, Mike would furrow his brows, bring his fists up and say "Come at me."
Will would not let that happen. Keeping his family, his friends and the man he loves safe was his top priority, above anything else, above his own life.
What kind of man would be if he couldn't keep the man he loves safe?
The idea of loving Mike was never a new concept, he's known for sure he was in love with Mike since he was a junior in high school and now that they're entering their second year at university, the love Will had for Mike only strengthened with each day that passed.
But then he got bit.
And then everything suddenly got more and more complicated. Everyone and everything was now on his shoulders.
So he shut Mike out. He gradually stopped picking up his calls on the walkie, stopped meeting Mike for coffee every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to "catch up" (Mike would talk and Will would stare at his lips moving for an hour and a half) and stopped answering the door to his apartment when it was clearly Mike knocking timidly on the other side.
When he was young, the simple idea of Mike Wheeler fading from his life made Will want to cry and vomit and throw stuff at the wall. Now that it was his reality, Will felt nothing but cold agony.
But he knew. For Mike? He would do just about anything (you would think that for a superhero, he'd have a little bit more resolve). He knew that all it would take was Mike asking him nicely to stop being Spiderman and there was a high possibility that Will would listen.
For a while, anyway. Eventually, the restlessness would get to him. The idea that someone could need his help and he's sitting on the couch worrying about his finals would get him jumping to his feet and leaping out the nearest window.
Mike wouldn't understand that. It would cause tension, fights, and things being said that neither of them could or would take back and Will didn't want that.
It was better to cut things off clean. Just rip off the bandaid. Even if ripping off the bandaid meant that a Mike-shaped piece of Will would go with it.
And maybe if he worked hard enough, in a couple of years all the crime and evil would dial down and he could crawl back to Mike begging for forgiveness, to show him the peaceful city Will created just for him and maybe there would be a sliver of a chance that Mike would take him back and be his friend again (even if Will would eternally desire something more).
But as the days went on and crime slowly but noticeably began to rise, his chance at normalcy with Mike slipped away through his fingers like sand.
Even so, Will was determined to keep Mike safe and if he had to never speak to him again for as long as he wore this suit then he would.
He would.
He. would.
So imagine Will's surprise when he realized that the roof of the "random apartment building" he was (quite contently, might he add) bleeding out on was on the corner of 4th and 13th.
An apartment building that not long ago, he had been to more times than he'd been to his own apartment.
Because of course, the random apartment building he landed on had to be Mike Wheeler's apartment. Because Will had always been so, extremely lucky, right?
"Fuck." He whispered.
For a moment, he considered swinging to a different rooftop and bleeding out somewhere else. But Mike lived on the top floor and it would be so easy to-
No.
But he hasn't seen Mike in almost a year and a half and the ache in his stomach was starting to feel less like blood loss and more like desire, longing. And if he was really dying, he at least wants to see Mike's face before he goes.
Will had been selfless literally all his life. Maybe now, on the brink of death, was Will's time to be just a little bit selfish.
As he said before, when it came to Mike, his resolve was weak.
So, with a rattled breath, he began slowly staggering his way to where he remembered Mike's kitchen window to be. Peering past the windowpane, Will could see that the light was on, and he had a straight shot through the kitchen into the living room.
It looked exactly how Will remembered from the last time he had been inside. He's watched this window for many many nights, watching as the light would flick on and off signalling Mike's circadian rhythm. The first month after Will had left Mike, he staked outside his window from another apartment building across the street. Just to be sure, New York was the city of break-ins after all. Now it was every once and a while, Mike should be grateful for the free security service honestly, not that Will would ever tell him.
A strained smile graced his face from behind the mask. He dropped not-so-gracefully onto Mike's fire escape balcony and prayed that Mike's window was unlocked.
He remembered his first year into being Spiderman when he and Mike would drink coffee in his kitchen, sitting on the counter as they waited for their toast to pop up from the toaster. Their gaze would linger on one another's, and Will's eyes would drop to his lips before he would glance back up and completely miss that Mike's eyes had done the same thing. Will would then break the silence and tension by nagging about how Mike shouldn't leave his windows unlocked and Mike would reply with a shrug, a soft smile and the phrase "I like living on the edge." rolling off his tongue.
Thank god Mike never fucking listens.
Will wrenched the kitchen window open and toppled in, his mind a blood-loss-induced blur. He immediately disregarded the sound of a potted plant falling and shattering on the floor. Will waddled through the kitchen, clutching his side and leaning against the counters. No doubt he's gotten blood on the stark white countertops and tiled floors. He crossed into the living room.
Everything was exactly like it was before and Will felt like he was thrust back in time, almost crying in relief.
He limped over to the large bookshelf, which covered almost a quarter of Mike's living room wall. He remembered how much of a pain it was hauling that up 6 flights of stairs, even with his "spidey powers". Will glanced at all the objects that occupied the shelves, little DND figures and dice, certificates and awards from high school and Mike's first year of University. Seemingly recent group pictures of Jane, Lucas and Max. Dustin had gone to California for University and Will had mysteriously disappeared from their lives.
Then he noticed it.
And by "it" he means the entire shelf that was dedicated to just him and Mike.
Even after all this time, Mike kept all the photos, letters, paintings and drawings that Will had given to him.
He kept them all as if Mike was hoping for the chance that Will would come back to him someday. Will felt tears well up in his eyes before he quickly swallowed them down. Coming here was such a bad fucking idea but now the ache in Will's stomach grew larger and hotter and now he wanted nothing more than to see Mike's face,
In the depths of what was left of his consciousness as his blood continued its slow trickle out of his body, he felt a tingle. There was a buzz in his ears and goosebumps rising on the back of his neck and before he could even be aware of it, his hand flew up to catch the ceramic mug that had been thrown at the back of his head.
Thanks, spidey-senses.
Will turned around and it was like all his injuries and scars had suddenly healed. It was like, all of a sudden, all the fights, near-death experiences and tears as he stitched himself up in his kitchen were worth it, welcomed even. Because there Mike was, all shaggy-haired, wearing a white t-shirt that was too big for him and sweatpants that were definitely not his size. His eyebrows shot up, and despite holding three more mugs in his hands, he didn't throw anymore.
Because Spiderman was standing in his living room.
"What...what the fuck?" Mike said, his voice was shaky and confused but to Will, it sounded like home, like music to his blood-rushed ears. It sounded like that sliver of a chance that things would go back to the way it was.
Will took a step forward and clutched his side harder before he groaned and fell to his knees. All the blood loss had caught up to him and he suddenly felt sleepy.
Still, Mike didn't move, still frozen in place with one mug-clad hand in the air, he asked. "What the fuck is Spiderman doing in my living room?"
And if he wasn't on the brink of passing out, he would've laughed. Because Will knew that if he gathered up the strength to stand up and leave right now, Mike would have no idea that his best friend since before they could breathe was bleeding out in his living room. Mike would go to school the next day and tell all his new university friends about the crazy night he had where Spiderman had broken in and bled in his apartment.
Because Will knew that the moment he opened his mouth to speak, it would all be over. Mike would know it was him and all the lies and facades he wore would come crumbling down. The mask would no longer matter because Mike would know that it was Will behind it. He wanted to scream at himself to get out of there, that this was a mistake and he really should've just left to bleed somewhere else. But as he looked up at Mike, who had set down the mugs and made his way over to Will. He wanted nothing more than to feel Mike's hands on him, even if it was to just clean his wounds.
So, selfishly, Will spoke.
"I didn't know where else to go."
Mike stopped. Will could tell Mike knew it was him with how his eyes widened in realization and what looked like horror.
He looked down at Will before he slid down to his knees. Mike's hands shook as he held Will's shoulders and squeezed before he lifted a hand to grasp at the mask.
Will didn't stop him.
Mike's breath shook, his eyes darted across the mask as if he was trying to look for a way to see through it. The mask slid off slowly, Will's brown hair gradually appeared and Will could hear Mike's heartbeat begin to stagger and increase in speed. Mike's heart sounded like he was terrified.
As the mask slipped away, he and Mike's eyes met and Will could swear that for a moment, beneath all the shock and surprise, Will could see the realization and understanding in Mike's eyes.
Will felt like he was watching Mike piece together all the unexplained disappearances during high school, all the times Will skipped class or party gatherings with an odd excuse, all the times Mike wandered into Will's apartment only to feel like he walked in on something he wasn't supposed to, all the times Will's watch would beep and Dustin would send Will a tense glance, all the times during sleepovers where Mike would wake in the middle of the night to find the spot next to him empty before going back to sleep and waking up next to Will again in the morning.
Mike blinked, once, then twice. He looked at Will's face, his bloody nose and the cut just over his eyebrow that bled into Will's right eye.
"N-no...
It was you? This whole time?" Mike's voice broke, his hand grazed up against Will's cheek and Will suddenly felt like sobbing. He missed Mike more than words could describe and the feeling of Mike's skin on his was enough to release all the tension his muscles had ever held. Will sunk a little further onto the floor as Mike moved to hold him up.
"All the fights I saw on the news, all the explosions and the rubble-" Mike's breath sped up and he gripped Will's shoulders desperately as he spoke, "Doc Ock, the fucking ferry! That was you?!'
Will stayed silent, his eyes looking down toward the floor as he blinked slowly. He let out a shaky sigh as he nodded.
Mike's wide eyes began to well with tears as he stared at Will in absolute disbelief.
"Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me?!"
Will brought a hand up to Mike's cheek his thumb and wiped the tear that had fallen down Mike's skin.
"I'm sorry."
Mike's breath halted as Will's hand touched his face. He gripped Will's wrist and held it in front of him. He stared at the blood that coated Will's hand. He moved back slightly, looked down at Will's body, took in the suit, the shake in Will's chest with each breath and he barely swallowed a sob as he saw the gash that ran across Will's flesh and blood that slowly pooled onto the floor. Mike finally felt the blood that had coated their knees and he brought a hand down to put pressure on Will's wound. Will let out a pained groan in response.
Deep down, Mike was angry, hurt and confused. But Will was hurt, physically, and it looked as if he was one move away from his body completely giving out and slumping to the floor. Mike decided that he would be hurt, angry and confused later, but right now, Will's well-being, and keeping him alive was the only thing on Mike's mind.
"Will," Mike spoke softly and lifted Will's face to look up at him. "Will... We have to get you to the hospital, you need help."
"No. I can't." Will's voice was weak and Mike felt sick at the sound of it. "Not safe. They'll know who I am."
"Who cares?!" Mike argued, "You're literally bleeding on my floor! We have to get you some help."
"Fuck, we can't. Aren't you studying to be a doctor or something?"
Mike raised his eyebrows and scoffed, even on the brink of death Will still had time to be a sarcastic asshole. "A psychiatric doctor. I'm not a fucking surgeon!"
"Shit." Will cussed before he staggered up to his feet and fell into Mike's arms again.
Mike wrapped his arms around him, being careful not to aggravate Will's wounds. Mike lugged him over to the couch and laid him down gently.
"I'm gonna get blood on your couch," Will whispered, a small smirk gracing his lips.
"You already got it everywhere else, asshole," Mike replied and brushed Will's hair from his forehead with a shaky hand. "Tell me what to do, please."
Will's eyes fluttered closed as he sunk into the couch. He's taken so many naps on this couch that he was surprised that there wasn't a Will-shaped dent in it. It's quite fitting that he was now settling down to take his forever nap on the couch he loved so much a year and a half later.
How dramatic.
"Will, come on," Mike said before he turned Will's face towards him. "Stay awake for me, please."
"Um- Do you have a first aid kit?" Will asked, even though he knew the answer. If Mike was anything, he was prepared. He kept a first aid kit under the kitchen sink for all the times Max scraped her knees and elbows skateboarding, she refused to treat them so often that Mike would just end up doing it for her. He used to grumble that Max was too lazy to do it herself but they all knew that Mike did it for her because he loves to feel like he's taking care of people.
Mike nodded before he stumbled towards the kitchen and almost slipped on the blood Will had left on the floor before he grabbed the first aid kit and scurried back to the living room. He sat on his knees in front of the couch, opened up the first aid kit, and stared at its contents.
Mike suddenly felt loss, treating a giant gash on someone's torso was a lot harder than treating small scrapes from skateboarding mishaps.
Will seemed to notice his hesitation, he slowly sat up and stripped off the top of his costume, revealing his broad chest in its entirety. Mike swallowed at the sight of Will's muscles tightening as he slowly leaned back onto the couch, at how Will seemed to throw his head back slightly at the pain that it caused him, revealing the sinewy muscles of his neck and the tops of his shoulders. Mike clutched his eyes shut and shook his head slightly.
"We have to clean it, give me the hydrogen peroxide and some gauze," Will ordered and reached his hand out in expectation.
Mike was silently glad that Will had sobered up enough to gain control of the situation because if it was entirely up to Mike there was a big chance that Will would just bleed out on his couch. He grabbed the peroxide and gauze and handed them to Will with quivering hands. Will took a deep breath before he opened the cap to the peroxide, the smell of it and the blood mixing in the air.
Will adjusted his hips on the couch, and popped a leg up before he tilted his head to look down at the gash. It was his first time seeing it and it was enough to make him woozy. This was by far the worst injury he's had, and that was saying a lot.
He steadied the bottle of peroxide over his gash and closed his eyes, his breathing picked up at the realization that this was probably gonna hurt a lot.
"Okay," Will whispered, mostly to himself. But Mike responded by sliding a hand into Will's hair and rubbing his thumb on his hairline. Will suddenly remembered the faint feeling of Mike's fingers in his hair as he napped on the couch long ago, he had always thought he was dreaming. But now, he was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't.
He poured the peroxide on his wound at the thought. The pain was punishing, blinding even and Will's chest stuttered as he let out the most pained groan he's ever heard in his life. Mike's other hand flew up to grip his thigh and Will hadn't even realized that his leg had shot up at the pain.
"It's okay. You're okay." Mike said softly, his eyes welled with tears at the sight of Will in pain and that hurt Will more than the peroxide and the wound combined.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Will said shakily in response. He felt terrible making Mike see him like this, he imagined for a moment that it was him seeing Mike in pain like this and just the thought of it killed him. He couldn't imagine how Mike could be feeling.
Mike ignored his apology, soothed him with the hand in his hair and grabbed the gauze that Will clutched in his hand. "Just add a little bit more, it's almost clean."
Will took heaving breaths before he poured more onto his wound. It felt like acid, cold, cold acid and Will let out another pained grunt as Mike wiped at the edges of the wound, clearing away all the blood that surrounded it.
"Okay, it's done. You did it." Mike whispered, he swallowed at the sight of the gash now that the blood had been cleared away. It was deep. Mike didn't know how far Will had gone with such an injury, but any normal person wouldn't be able to take ten steps before falling to the floor.
But Will wasn't a normal person anymore, was he? Mike ignored the thought.
Will sighed and looked toward Mike with a strained smile. "Alright, Doctor Wheeler. You're up."
"What?" Mike replied. His gaze bounced between Will's wound, his eyes and his lips.
"I can't do the next part, my hands are too shaky. You'll have to stitch it up."
Mike felt like throwing up. He looked down at the needle and suture sitting in the kit. It's like they were looking at him, mocking him. "I-"
"Please, Mike."
"I don't want to hurt you, Will."
Will thought that was quite generous of him, considering how much Will had hurt Mike within the last 20 or so minutes. Within the last year and a half, actually.
Will was sure he was looking at an angel, not Mike Wheeler. Or maybe Mike Wheeler was the angel he was looking at. Who would've thought that Mike also had a secret identity this whole time? An angel in disguise.
"You won't hurt me. You can't." Will said softly, his hand moved to grip the one on his thigh and slowly moved it up. Mike swallowed a gasp as his fingers grazed Will's upper thigh and hip as Will guided his hand to the wound. "Once you stitch it up, it'll heal a lot faster. But we have to do it soon."
"Okay- Yeah," Mike replied, his shacky hands picked up the needle and sutures. he was lucky it was prepared for him already. Mike doesn't know if he'd be able to put the thread through the needle if that's how it even worked.
Mike held the needle in his right hand, his left sat on Will's stomach right next to his wound. He looked up at Will, waiting on him.
"You want me to guide you? Tell you what to do?" Will said in a hushed tone and my god if Will had said that to him in any other setting Mike would've screamed-
"Yes."
"Okay," Will spoke. He lifted his arms towards the armrest of the couch and titled his hip a little off the edge and closer to Mike to get his wound closer to him. And wow, what a fucking sight. "Take your left thumb and index finger and place them on each side of the cut."
"Well, I wouldn't call it a cut-"
"Mike-"
"Sorry." He placed his fingers where Will told him, the skin around the wound was red hot Mike could hiss at the burn of it.
"Kind of squish the sides of it together, bring them together."
Mike pinched his fingers and the two sides of the gash slowly came together as Will hissed quietly. "I'm sorry."
Will ignored his apology, shaking his head with a quirked brow and closed eyes. "Now take the needle. Poke it from one side to the other and then tighten it."
"Okay," Mike said. As he held the needle against Will's skin, he took a deep breath, and then two, and then a third.
Will snorted, "Take your time, Doc."
"Shut up." He responded. "I literally have to stitch up your gaping wound, you're not allowed to laugh."
The small smile on Will's face faded as he turned toward the ceiling. "Alright."
Mike ignored the pang in his chest and focused his gaze back on Will's torso. He pinched the two sides together again and brought the needle up to it.
Mike took a breath.
And pushed the needle through.
"Shit." Will cried, his hands gripped the armrest and his head flew back into the cushion.
Blood began to trickle back out of his wound, bubbling as it emerged.
"Will." Mike panicked.
"Keep going."
Mike shut up, continued and tried to ignore the blood that came back up and coated his fingertips. He got through a couple of stitches before he reached the centre of the wound. It was the hottest to touch there, and the skin was more ragged and torn. Mike peered up at Will's face, his eyes were squeezed shut and his eyebrows were so furrowed they might as well have merged into one. Will bit at his lip so hard the skin had turned white.
Will took heaving breaths, his hands still had a tight grip on the armrest and upon further inspection, Mike could see the rips Will's nails had caused in the leather.
He looked back down at the wound. He cursed whatever, whoever had done this to Will as he pushed the needle through the centre of the gash.
"Mhm!" Will cried again, Mike could feel his muscles tensing under his hands. The sounds that came out of Will's mouth were absolutely feral and painful. Will's eyes shot open at the pain and blood gushed from the wound again. "Mike-"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Mike repeated with each poke and tug and poke of the needle, trying to finish the centre of the wound as fast and efficiently as possible. Tears streamed down his face and he wiped his eye with the fabric on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I know."
Mike swore he could feel the pain Will felt in his chest as he tried to ignore the pained cries and whimpers Will made. His heart pounded in his chest and each breath he took felt like his lungs were pushing against barbed wire.
Will heaved and with a hoarse voice, he spoke. "It's okay."
Will took one of his hands off the armrest and gripped the back of Mike's neck, stroking it with a shaky thumb. "You're doing so good, Mike."
Mike cried as he pushed the needle through Will's skin again, the point of it scraping against the inside of the wound and Will let out a long groan in response. "We're almost done. Just a little more."
"Keep going."
"Okay."
The end was finally in sight, he held Will's skin together as he pulled on the needle to tighten the sutures. After three or so more stitches, Mike tied the suture at the end of the gash and cut the excess off.
In a sort of trance, he grabbed the peroxide again before pouring some on Will's now closed wound, cleaning all the new blood that had bubbled up in the struggle. Will let out a shaky sigh and Mike wiped away the evidence.
He reached for more gauze and some bandages before looking up at Will again, his eyes were closed and it looked as if he had fallen asleep, but it was more likely that he had passed out instead. He put the fresh gauze on top of the wound and covered it in the bandage and medical tape. As he smoothed the tape onto Will's skin, making sure it stick, he let out a soft sob before swallowing it and clearing his throat.
"The worst of it's over." Mike tried to keep his voice steady but it cracked against his wishes. Alerting Will to his slow descent into weeps.
Will sat up, it was sluggish and it looked agonizing but he did it anyway, his knees on either side of Mike as he sat on the edge of the couch. "Mike, are you okay?"
Mike looked down as he felt his lip begin to wobble. He heard thuds on either side of him and felt warmth crawl closer toward him, he looked up to see Will sitting at his level, on his knees in front of him.
"I'm sorry that you had to see me like this," Will whispered.
Mike broke.
He threw his arms around Will's shoulders, dug his nose into his neck and shamelessly took a whiff of Will's scent as he felt Will's arms wrap tightly around his waist.
Mike hasn't felt this shitty in an entire year.
He also hasn't felt this good.
He hasn't seen or felt or smelled Will in a year and a half. And the first time he does, Will is bleeding out on his floor and crying in pain as Mike is the one stitching him up.
And don't even get him started on the whole Will has been Spiderman this entire time because Mike feels like he's gonna scream and throw shit at the wall at the thought of it.
So instead of doing that, Mike decided he was gonna cry. He was gonna cry and grip onto Will for dear life because, fuck man, he deserved it. He just performed his first, best and only procedure of his whole medical career and fuck if he wasn't gonna cry for a little bit as a reward.
Because Will is alive. He's alive and breathing and gripping Mike just as hard, he's running his hands up and down Mike's back and whispering in his ear, oh my god if this isn't the best and worst day of Mike's entire life. The duality of it makes his head spin but the scent buried deep in Will's neck beneath all the blood, sweat and tears grounds him.
He lets himself sit there in Will's arms no matter how bad his knees hurt and he lets Will hide in his arms in return.
"I'm so, so sorry, Mike."
Mike ignores his apology.
"I missed you so much."
"I missed you too," Will replied. "More than anything."
"I'm so fucking mad at you."
"Of course, you have every right to be." Will agreed.
Mike brings his face out of Will's neck to face him. Neither of them let go to make room for the other. As if they were both scared that Will would run away again.
Their noses are barely an inch away as Mike searches Will's green eyes. His eyes are filled with pain that he had never seen before. Probably the pain of keeping such a big secret for almost three years. Mike could see the countless apologies swirling in Will's eyes and in the wobble of his bitten-red lip.
"You ignored me for a year and a half." Mike hissed, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his tear-stricken face. Will nodded, his head down as he let Mike lay into him.
"How could you do that? Do you know how long I spent getting you to talk to me? All the times I walked to your college to look for you after class? The times I waited for you to knock on my door for coffee? All the times I spent knocking on your door waiting for you to answer, even though your lights were on and I knew you could hear me? Do you know how long I spent crying to Jane on the phone and having to hear that you were barely even speaking to her, your own sister? Or all the times I looked at that shelf with all your things and wanted to tear it down before getting the thought that maybe you would knock on my door one day?" Mike heaved, taking a breath before continuing, the contents of his heart exposed and vulnerable. "Do you know how many times I cried in bed, begging a god I don't even believe in that you would talk to me again? And this whole time you were just playing hero without even bothering to tell me about it?"
Will sobbed, his shoulders shaking as he shook his head. He gripped Mike's waist, taking a rippling breath that resembled that of a panic attack. Will tried to swallow them down before they clawed back up his throat again.
Mike watched him, pain reflected in his own eyes as he wiped the tears from Will's face, bringing their foreheads together. "Please, please Will. Just tell me why."
Will felt like dying, the pain in his chest was worse than the wound and stitches combined as he heard the distress in Mike's voice. All Will could think of was that despite Mike being so angry with him, and despite how traumatized he might feel seeing Will like this, Mike was still holding it strong enough to try and understand where Will was coming from.
Will felt a surge of gratitude, love, and devotion to the man in front of him. He couldn't even comprehend how lucky he was to have land someone like Mike in his life for so long. And the thought of having put this man, this angel of his in so much pain for so long made Will want to rip his stitches out and just bleed his heart out onto the floor. But he couldn't, he wouldn't because Mike was right there in front of him begging to be allowed to understand. And Will wasn't stupid enough to not recognize a second chance, a sliver of a chance kneeling right in front of him.
"I-." Will took a moment to pull himself together. "Before, it was all so simple. As simple as it could be at least. All I had to do was fight carjackers and burglars and the occasional bank robber. It was easy. I could balance all that with school and the party and you, I was 100% sure that if it came down to it, I could keep you all safe against them. That they wouldn't stand a chance. But now, it's people like Doc Ock, it's people with alien technology and superpowers and the means to find out everything about my life if they looked hard enough. Every day, in and out of this fucking costume, I'm afraid. I feel like I'm just waiting for the day that they find me. That they find out who I am, where I live, and who I'm related to. I'm afraid of the lengths that they would go to get to me. Mike, these people wouldn't think twice about holding you hostage, or torturing you until you tell them everything you know about me. They're as desperate about defeating me as I them. And the thought of you getting hurt because of me made me sick, it made me lose so much sleep I almost went fucking crazy. I was afraid that there would be a day that I couldn't protect you from them. I was afraid that being close to you any longer would kill you. I thought that the best way to keep you safe was to keep you entirely out of harm's way, even if that meant that "harm's way" was being around me."
Mike shook his head, gripping Will's face a little harder. "You don't get to just decide that without me, Will. It's not fair."
"I know but I had to. I knew you wouldn't understand it at the time and I couldn't risk you finding out what I am. Because I knew the minute you asked me to put down the damn mask I would. But I wouldn't be able to do it forever. Mike, this mask, this stupid fucking superpower. It's bigger than just me, being Spiderman, it's something I had to do. Something that I still have to do." Will breathed, sliding his hand up Mike's back, "Keeping people safe, keeping you safe is the most important thing to me. And if I have to take a couple of punches and bruises to keep the man that I lo-."
Will stopped, his eyes wide as his gaze bounced around Mike's face, trying to see if he caught his mistake. Mike's lips parted as he took a breath, his eyebrows quirked in confusion before he peered into Will's eyes, ducking his face to catch his gaze.
"What were you gonna say?"
"Mike, I-"
"Will." Mike said. The way he said it sounded incredibly final, and Will felt he had no other choice but to comply. He could hear Mike's heartbeat picking up again as Will uttered his next words.
"I said: And if I have to take a couple of punches and bruises to keep the man I love safe, then I'm going to-"
If you asked Will what transpired in that next moment, he would reply with gleeful giggles, hands clasped and feet kicking.
Words could not describe how Will felt at this very moment. He doesn't think there are even enough words in the dictionary to depict anything close to how he was feeling. None of the words in the world, in any language, whether extinct or still in use could describe how fucking in love Will felt.
Well, actually, that explains it quite well. Will felt in fucking love and for the first time ever, he let himself feel it.
Because he knew for a fact that Mike felt it too.
Because Mike was fucking kissing him.
Their lips slid together with ease, lubricated by saliva and the leftover blood on both of their faces. Their lips were pressed so hard together that they felt like if they pressed a little bit harder, the atoms that made up the skin of their lips and bodies would align at the exact, most perfect moment and they would fuse together and live inside one another forever.
Mike raised his hands from Will's cheeks and into his hair, gripping the brown strands between his long fingers and tugging to pull him impossibly closer. Mike inhaled the groan he pulled from Will's throat as he held him even tighter. The reunion felt electrifying and if Will wasn't holding him so tight right now Mike swears he would take flight. Mike felt like an idiot for not banging through Will's apartment door and kissing him on the spot. If he had known, if he had known that Will had done this not because he hated him and never wanted to see him again, but because he loved him and wanted to keep him safe he would've-
Well, he wouldn't have let Will do it; Will was right about that. He would've called Will an idiot for even insinuating it.
But, god, if the thought of Will holding him tight like this because he loved him and wanted to keep him safe wasn't enough to make Mike swoon he doesn't fucking know what is.
Because holy shit! Will loved him like loved him, loved him.
And it may be a little embarrassing to admit that Will's absence was the catalyst for Mike realizing his love for Will went beyond just "best bros for lifeos" (as Argyle so gracefully put it) but luckily he was too busy making out with Will to tell him that.
Absence does "make the heart grow fonder", or however that stupid fucking saying goes.
It was more like "Absence makes you realize you want to engage in a homosexual relationship with your best friend."
That was definitely more accurate.
Mike released Will's lips and began to pepper kisses onto his face, completely disregarding the dried blood crusted on the boy's skin. He would take care of that later.
"I-" kiss. "missed-" kiss. "you-" kiss. "so fucking much."
He held Will's face in his hands, revelling in the tight grip Will had on his waist moving down towards his hips.
"And I love you too." Mike smiled and Will felt his entire world light up so bright you could mistake it for the sun.
Will's eyes fluttered shut in relief, everything he had done to get to this point was so fucking worth it.
"But I'm still mad at you."
Will's eyes flew open. Mike gave him a long peck on the lips to soothe his worries.
"And you are not allowed to leave me like that again," Mike said, tugging at Will's hair again. "Any decision regarding my safety will be made together, you're not allowed to decide that on your own anymore."
Will nodded.
"You still have a lot of explaining to do. And you have to tell me absolutely everything."
"I will." Will promised, "Anything you want to know, I'll tell you."
"Good, but that'll all wait until tomorrow," Mike said softly, stroking Will's face gently with his thumbs. Will hadn't felt such a soft touch in so long, he left like he could collapse in Mike's arms and hide from the entire world there. And the best part about that is that Mike would let him."For now, we're going to shower and then go to bed."
"That sounds good," Will whispered, smiling tenderly.
Mike stood up and guided Will to his feet, letting him wrap an arm around Mike's shoulder to stay standing as they walked down the hallway to Mike's bathroom.
"And if I wake up in the middle of the night to find you gone out fighting crime again, I'm gonna lock all the windows so you can't get back in."
"And here I thought you liked living on the edge."
Mike hummed, a smirk gracing his lips. "I think I'm ready for something a little safer."
Will looked at Mike as he leaned him against the bathroom sink. "I'll keep you safe, Mike."
Mike smiled at him, brushing a hair out of his face and kissing him just above the cut on his eyebrow. "I don't doubt that for a second. But for now,
let me take care of you."