Archive of Our Own

Mike has spent most of his life believing he would be an Alpha.

That’s what everyone expects of him. He knows this. He‘s been hearing it since he was small. His teachers praised him for helping other children, his leading skills, his height. “A natural leader,” they said, “he’ll be an Alpha, I can tell.”

He knows what’s expected of him. He expects the same. His father is an Alpha who comes from a long line of Alphas. If anyone were to get the genes, it should have been Mike.

When Mike is 11 years old, Nancy presents as an Alpha. He asks his parents what he will be and his Mom smiles and says they’ll love him no matter what. His father snorts and says there’s no way his son would be anything but an Alpha, a strong leader, a proper man. He jokes that Mike better not be a boring Beta.

They never talk about Omegas. It’s never an option, and even at his age, he knows what that means.

So Mike doesn’t think about it – he will be an Alpha, or maybe a Beta, but male Omegas are so rare anyway, and they all know how shameful that is. Women should be Omegas. Men aren’t supposed to be weak and whiny. His father says men bearing children is against nature.

It doesn’t matter that hearing him say so makes bile rise in Mike’s mouth. It doesn’t matter that a clawing sense of wrongness hooks itself into his stomach anytime someone pats his back and calls him an “Alpha in the making”. It doesn’t matter that he sees ads for nesting materials and soft pillows and blankets and yearns.

He’s not supposed to want that. He should not want that. It doesn’t matter anyhow – he will find an Omega and bond with her and be happy ever after.

But that’s not what happens, because things in his life rarely go the way he envisions them.

They defeat Vecna and spend a year in the bliss of boring normalcy. After the fight, after they get Holly back and Max wakes up and they destroy the Upside Down, things finally calm down.

They’re lucky not to lose anyone from the core party. They’re extremely lucky most of them get out unscathed. But they don’t save everyone. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, one funeral is a small price to pay. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

Jim Hopper dies destroying the Upside Down after he throws El out through the gate and detonates the bombs do destroy that unholy dimension for good. El breaks down in Mike’s arms and it takes his whole strength to hold her back.

It takes them a long time to move on.

El spends the first month barely talking. Mrs Byers walks around like a ghost, a machine on autopilot. She spends most of her time with Mike’s Mom. He finds her down in their kitchen more often than not.

But with time they find ways to heal. Slowly, the nightmares lessen. Things get better.

The military leaves and showers them in hush money. The large rift across the city closes itself. They get to, for the first time in years, actually be teenagers.

It takes until graduation year for their bodies to adapt – but it’s as if their biology decided they’re finally safe now to do so. So once they all celebrate their 18^th birthdays and settle into adulthood, their presentations start popping up like mushrooms after rain.

Dustin is the first, a Beta. Presenting for Betas is the easiest, similar to a common cold. Their noses become more sensitive, so they start discerning pheromones and scents better.

When he comes back to school, Dustin looks pleased.

“I always expected it. And I don’t have to care about all of that drama!” he says contently, “I think it’s neat.”

Lucas is next, an Alpha to no one’s surprise. He meets them after a week of absence with a new sense of confidence in the line of his shoulders. He hugs them and calls them his Pack and Max starts play-fighting with him and shouting about how she doesn’t belong to anyone and Will is smiling and Mike feels warm and happy.

Max shocks absolutely no one when she goes to a rut just a week after. Mike thinks it’s unfair she gets to be an Alpha, because it makes her even more insufferable than she already was, but it makes sense. He can’t really imagine her as anything else.

He worries about her and Lucas, but the moment she comes back to school, and he sees her snuggle close to Lucas, he feels foolish for ever thinking so. Two Alphas or two Omegas aren’t unheard of, but society doesn’t view them well.

Troy tries saying something mean once, and Max turns around and swings at him with her cane, hitting him right on the head. “I’m blind, not deaf you asshole!”

The only reason why she doesn’t get send to the principal’s office is because the entire school staff lives under the very false impression that as a blind girl, Max is unable to be mean. Mike and his bruised legs would tell you otherwise.

Her eyesight is yet another thing they lost to Vecna. Max puts on a strong face, but he knows the beginnings were harsh. The two of them insult each other on a regular basis, but he knows to never say a word about her eyes. He does care about her, deep down.

El presents as a Beta and all of them breathe a sigh of relief. They love her, but she doesn’t deserve for her life to be harder than it’s already been.

It’s a good fit for her too, he thinks. She’s a calming force, a steady rock in their little Pack now. She fits between Max and Lucas like a puzzle piece. They love each other, yes, but two newly presented Alphas mean hormones and irritation which means the tension runs high. And El is somehow always there, a hand on Max’s shoulder and squeezing Lucas’s hand and they both deflate like water balloons.

He’s glad. He knows how Max looks at her. He knows how Lucas does, too, while blushing like crazy. He’s happy for her. She deserves better than the terrible mess of a boyfriend Mike has been. And by the way El preens anytime Lucas holds the door for her and Max threatens someone with her cane, he can tell she’s happy too.

And then Will presents and everything goes askew.

Suffice to say, no one expected him to be an Alpha and certainly not Mike.

In hindsight, it makes sense. Will had been the one with superpowers. He had been the one to face Vecna at the end. He had grown over the years, his chest broadening, his arms and shoulders becoming more muscular.

Not that Mike thinks about that. Too often. Maybe a bit.

Despite this, when he does present, it completely blindsides him.

Will’s been on edge for days, when it all comes to a head. He’s snappy, tense, quiet. It’s so unlike him they ask if Vecna hasn’t come back from the dead. He always says no. And yet he spends days visibly irritated. He snaps at Dustin when the Beta points out a flaw in his homework. El tries to tell him he left his bag in the class and he almost growls at her.

It’s a surprise none of them realize what’s happening, but then again, no one’s truly considered Will for an Alpha.

In the end, it happens where most things do – in Mike’s basement.

They’re hanging out together, just the two of them, as they often do these days. Will has been tense, but also close, almost clingy. Mike lets him sit right next to him on the couch and pretends he doesn’t feel his heart flutter. He thinks quiet cuddly Will is better than the snappy, annoyed Will he sees in school. He wishes Will would tell him what’s up, but he lets it go.

A part of him likes that Will’s never annoyed with him. He snaps at most of their friends and answers their teachers’ questions in a downright passive aggressive tone. But he’s not like that with Mike. No, with Mike he’s quiet. Closer. Almost like they’re glued to the side, like they used to be, back when they were little and it was just the two of them.

They’re watching Star Trek, Spock and Kirk currently on the screen when Will shifts. Mike notices it immediately, too hyper-aware of anything he does. The boy shifts closer to him, until he’s pressed against his side. He pushes his face to Mike’s neck.

“Um… Will?” Mike asks, nervous.

Will lets out a happy noise. “You smell so nice, Mike.”

He noses along his throat and Mike shivers. This is… highly unusual. He stays still, while his heart beats so hard he fears it might break out of his ribcage. “Um, thanks? Are you feeling okay?”

Will hums. Seconds later, there’s a wet swipe of tongue on his neck, a tiny little lick. Mike squeaks in shock, face flaming up. “Will!”

He tries to move away, but there are arms around him, holding him in an iron grip. He tries to move, but he can’t and suddenly Will’s growling. It’s a deep, rumbling noise and Mike freezes on the spot, terrified. “No. Don’t go. Mine.”

He continues nuzzling into Mike’s neck, letting out little grumbles and happy sighs. He runs a hand up into Mike’s hair and tilts his face to have better access to his throat. Mike sits there, Will licking his scent gland, and he’s unable to move as he realizes what’s going on.

It’s only thanks to Jonathan barging into the basement, that it stops. He’s not sure what Will would have done. He doesn’t let himself think about how much he’d enjoy it.

Jonathan freezes on the stairs when he sees them. Will pulls his face out and snarls at him. His eyes glow red. Jonathan very quickly backs off, calling for Nancy.

They have to pry Mike out of Will’s arms, and he continues growling and shouting at everyone. It takes Nancy and Jonathan both to pull Mike away, and then Will’s crying in his older brother’s arms, shouting Mike’s name.

Nancy ushers him out and shuts the doors behind him, breathing with her mouth. She pulls him away, eyes wide. “Are you okay?”

“I-um-I-he,” he says intelligently.

Nancy pulls him into a hug. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. You were just close and you’re one of his oldest friends. It happens.”

He pulls away, skin hot and uncomfortable. “What do you mean. Did he…is he in a…”

“In a rut. Yeah. Will’s an Alpha.”

And, oh. Oh.

It rings in his head, like an echo. Will’s an Alpha. Will is an Alpha. Will went into a rut.

“But-I…”

“Come on, let’s get you to your room. We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“But Will?” he asks, lost, feeling helpless as she leads him up the stairs, “Jonathan?”

Wouldn’t that be a problem? Jonathan is family, sure, but he’s an Omega…

Nancy leads him to his room. “He’ll be fine. Jonathan’s family – his inner Alpha will know. It’ll be okay.”

And she leaves him alone and shuts the door and he spirals.

He thinks at first he’s just in shock. He thinks it’s because Will was scenting him, aggressively pawing at him and calling him his – good Lord, this feels like one of his wet dreams – but he feels… odd.

He climbs up on his bed in shock, feeling achy and weird and hot. He curls up, shaking. He doesn’t know what’s happening and he doesn’t know what to do.

Will’s an Alpha. He went into a rut. Right with Mike there. And Mike… Mike puts a hand on his scent gland, and he’s shocked by how hot it is. He sits up. His stomach cramps and he clutches it in pain, letting out a shocked yelp.

It hurts. He wants it to end. He wants Will back.

When he shifts, he finds something wet between his legs, and the realization runs him over like a truck.

Will Byers isn’t the only one who presents that night.

***

It’s only thanks to Will, paradoxically, that Mike gets away with his impromptu presentation unscathed.

The night is hell, deep blazing pain and emptiness and most of all loneliness. He wants to call out to Will, or Nancy, or his Mom, but he knows he can’t.

He’s an Omega. Will went into a rut, and it triggered his presentation. And he’s not an Alpha, or a Beta, or even a Gamma, a fluke with nothing – he’s the lowest of all.

He knows immediately he can’t tell anyone.

He thinks of that, as he’s biting down on a pillow, so he doesn’t scream from pain. He remembers coming down the stairs one night at 12, hearing his parents talk.

If my son ends up being an Omega whore, he can find another place to live. I won’t have a freak of nature living in my house. It’s bad enough Nancy’s an Alpha – but Alphas are good at something, even if they’re women. If Mike ends up an Omega I’ll tie him to a post outside and let someone take him off our hands.

He remembers his Mom telling Ted Wheeler to calm down, that he was going too far – but she didn’t protest too much. Mike had run up to his room right after, forgetting the glass of water he had originally meant to get.

I won’t have a freak of nature living in my house, he curls up and sobs as another stab of pain flows through him, I’ll tie him to a post outside and let someone take him.

It’s a miracle everyone’s too busy with Will to not notice. It’s a blessing that presentations don’t last long. Omega’s first heat is the most painful, but it’s not truly a proper heat. Female Omegas have it easier, most of their organs already in place, but male anatomy changes. It only takes a day as the organs change and reposition themselves to accommodate the womb. The usual waves of horniness don’t come until the first proper heat.

Mike spends the night feeling like absolute shit.

But he knows he can’t call for help. They can’t know. They can’t. And if they knew that he not only presented as an Omega, but did so after Will came into a rut?

He doesn’t sleep that night.

***

The next day, he fakes a sickness. His mother leaves him alone, doesn’t come into his room, but tells him Will is doing okay, and that they moved him into Hopper’s cabin, just until this is all over. It’s empty now and Will needs his space to get through his rut.

Once he’s sure everyone’s out of the house and he can stand on his own two feet, he heads into a pharmacy. He stacks up on scent blockers and suppressants. He wonders why they’re so readily available, but he doesn’t complain. He barely glances at the long list of side-effects before he pops the first pill into his mouth.

So maybe they’re not meant for long use. Maybe using them for a long time will have consequences. He doesn’t have the luxury of thinking about those.

The next day, he applies see-through scent patches on his neck and wrists, comes down to the kitchen and tells everyone he’s a Beta.

His father grunts, displeased, but goes back to his newspaper. His Mom tells him she’s proud of him. Nancy smiles, and Holly thinks about it and then shrugs and goes back to her breakfast. The Byers aren’t there for that conversation.

And then Mike learns to pretend. He makes sure to hide the scent blocker patches and to take his suppressants every single day. He doesn’t let anyone close to him, because he’s terrified they might smell it on him, or figure something out.

He’s a Beta. He’ll just be a Beta. It doesn’t matter, anyway – why would it? With the suppressants, his scent is almost non-existent. No one will know. They won’t. They won’t.

***

Will comes to school a week after and Mike’s legs nearly give out.

The crowd parts around him like they’re in some stupid movie. He walks to them, back straight, head high and eyes screaming Alpha.

People stop and stare.

Zombie boy is an Alpha when everyone and their mother expected an Omega. Mike can see girls from their year whispering to each other and staring at Will as if he’s a price. Mike wants to bite their heads off.

He stares at Will like a deer in headlights and curses himself. His body’s jumping with joy. Will! it screams, like a little kid on Christmas, Will, Will, Will!

And Will stops right in front of him.

Lucas is the first to speak, throwing him a wide grin. “Damn, Byers, look at you!”

Will smiles sheepishly. “I’m as surprised as you guys, frankly,”

Dustin laughs and pats his shoulder. “I’m not! I always knew you had it in you.”

Will grins and it’s beautiful. Something green and ugly in Mike whispers that he’s not smiling at him. Mike hates it.

Max nods at him with a small smile. “I won’t hug you because you stink, but good for you, Byers, good for you.”

“I think I’d accidently bite your head off,” he agrees sheepishly. They’re all friends, of course, but newly presented Alphas don’t mix too well. They all smile at each other like it’s nothing.

Mike wants to crawl his eyes out.

And then Will finally looks at him. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since the rut, since Will held him in his arms and called him his. Mike gets hot just thinking about it.

“Um. Mike. Hi.”

He shifts the bag on his shoulder, “Hi. Are you… feeling okay?”

Will winces, steps closer. Mike freaks out and takes a step back. It’s the wrong decision and he regrets it immediately when he sees Will’s face fall.

He stops in place and shuffles nervously. “Yeah, of course. Are you? I um… I wanted to apologize…”

Mike blushes. “Yeah, no, of course! That could happen to anyone, really. It’s okay.”

Will doesn’t look like he fully believes him. He looks down, cheeks red. “I’m still really sorry, Mike. I know you didn’t feel comfortable with it.”

Lucas and Dustin are staring at them with wide eyes. El looks between them, Max’s books in her arms. She probably knows everything. He doubts Will would keep something from his sister.

“No. Really, it’s okay!” he says hastily, trying to defuse the situation. “You didn’t even do anything, don’t worry about it.”

Will bites his lips and looks up into Mike’s eyes. His scent reaches him then. Soft. Warm. The scent of freshly ground coffee beans. He knows, with utter certainty, that he’ll never find a better scent.

“It’s pretty embarrassing, though,” Will jokes, mouth twitching up.

And Mike can’t help himself. He grins, steps a bit closer. “It absolutely is.”

Will smiles, and it’s stronger than the one he shot Dustin and something inside Mike preens.

Will, will, will! It chants, Alpha! Ours! Alpha!

“Wait, were you there while Will presented?” Lucas asks, stepping closer to them, and Will jerks his head towards him and snarls.

All of them freeze. Will’s eyes go wide and his hand immediately flies to his mouth in horror. “Lucas! Oh God, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

Lucas blinks at him. There’s a tense second, a moment where Mike and Dustin’s eyes meet. El takes a small step behind Max in shock. Max raises her eyebrows but stays silent.

They’re friends. They wouldn’t fight just because of this, but instincts aren’t easy to ignore. Mike’s heard of best-friends beating the shit out of each other. He hopes it won’t end up like this.

Fortunately, in the end, Lucas shakes his head and smiles, and the tension breaks. “Okay, okay, I won’t come close. Will you bite my hand off if I touch your Mike?”

Mike’s cheeks heat up. Will starts stuttering.

Dustin joins in, poking at Will’s side. “Will you? What even happened, huh? Did you smell Mike’s old socks and go wild?”

“Guys!” “Hey!” they both yell at the same time.

Max makes a face. “Will if it was Mike’s old socks I really don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

They’re laughing. Will shakes his head but doesn’t look at Mike. Mike… Mike feels like running away crying.

“Oh, Mike presented when you were gone!” Dustin suddenly says.

Big pretty hazel eyes turn to him. Great, Dustin, thank you. The rest knows, of course, he told them the day afterwards, but he’d have preferred to let Will know on his own terms.

He shrugs, uncomfortably. “Um, yeah, a few days after you. I’m a Beta.”

Something passes through Will’s eyes. He’s not sure if he’s imagining it, but it looks almost like… disappointment? But then it’s gone, and Will is smiling and congratulating him.

And that somehow hurts more. He’s a disappointment no matter what he does, it seems.

What did Will want him to be? An Alpha like him? Is a Beta so boring? Would Omega be worse?

He makes up an excuse then, and leaves. He spends most of his classes not paying attention, just trying to stop his heart from hurting so much.

It, unfortunately, doesn’t really work.

***

Mike itches for a nest but knows he can’t have one.

He’s jealous of Holly who can still curl up in their mother’s nest. Holly’s nine now, a bit old to still sleep with her Mom, but after her kidnapping, Karen Wheeler doesn’t let her leave her sight. Seeing her in the mornings, soft and sleepy still, smelling like Mom, and safety, often leaves him so upset he barely eats.

He feels a pang of hurt anytime he walks into Nancy’s room and sees Jonathan’s nest in there, filled with all of her clothes.

He sees a soft blanket in a store window and almost bursts into tears.

He wants a nest. But he can’t. He can’t have it, not a proper one, not one anyone would see.

It’s the same with scenting, really. Pack members scent each other. Alphas like to drown all of their friends in their scent to keep them protected and safe and show that they belong to them. Sometimes with multiple alphas, this can cause conflict.

Will scents Jonathan and his brother comes back smelling like Nancy, and then Will gets protective and scents him again, and they pass him back and forth, until it’s kind of comical.

Mike sort of wishes his sister and his best friend would fight over him like that.

The thing is that’s family. That makes sense. Scenting among friends, though… Mike hopes they’d never bring it up, but sadly they do.

During lunch, about three days after Will’s return, Lucas asks if Will’s okay with him scenting the others. They haven’t really settled the positions yet, but they’re clearly on their way to form a Pack and that can be precarious with multiple Alphas. Max doesn’t seem to care too much. She clearly struggles with her hormones a bit less than the boys. Mike can see and smell how much they both hate being put into the position. They both care about each other a lot. He knows Will especially hates having to deal with any of this. So it’s not a surprise, when he agrees to Lucas’ request.

They all agree, but Dustin pipes up and says he doesn’t see why all three of them shouldn’t just scent the rest. “Why only have one person do that when I know all three of you want to?”

The rest think about it for a bit and then agree. El beams at them and offers her wrists to Max. Lucas and Will both visibly relax, very badly hiding their relief.

They look at Mike. Mike who imagines Will’s nose near his scent glands and thinks back to that night when he presented. He imagines other people getting that close to his scent blockers and spreading their scent on him and panics.

He gives them a sheepish smile and comes up with a lie on the spot. “Sorry, guys, you might have to do this without me.”

The others stare at him in shock. Will’s eyes flash with hurt. “I’m sorry – I really won’t lose control like I did last time! I promise!”

And, god, Will, you pure soul. He’s shaking his head before the other boy even finishes speaking. “No. It’s not that. I just… eh… I’m not used to all the smells yet? And you guys stink?”

They absolutely do not. Lucas smells pleasant, like tea and old books. Will smells heavenly, coffee and spices. Dustin and El’s Beta smells are softer, but they’re calming, nice. El smells like grass after rain. Dustin is the air in the summer evenings.

Max is the closest he’d ever come to describing as “stinking”, but that’s because it’s intense. It’s something he can’t place, citrusy and sharp, and it puts him on the edge.

He hates that she’s an Alpha. He hates that she could do it while he can’t. That even she can stand here, strong and fierce and what Mike should have been without trying when Mike does nothing but fails and fails and fails.

He doesn’t know what he smells like. He’s sure it sickeningly sweet.

He wants their scent on him so much it aches. He even wants Max close wants to know that despite her jabs she’d accept him. But he can’t. He can’t. He’s fairly certain he’ll fall into pieces the second one of them touches him.

Will looks upset. It’s clear Mike keeps fucking things up, but it’s safer this way. Better.

Lucas shakes his head at him and sighs. “Your bad, then.” And then proceeds to aggressively rub his wrists all over Dustin, who starts laughing and smacking at him, and Mike feels like throwing up.

He wants Will on him, yes, but he wants his friends too. He just wants someone to touch him.

He watches them scent each other. Dustin and El end up with a pleasant combination of all three of the Alphas, El smelling a bit more like Max and Lucas. She looks happy. She looks like a pack Omega should, carrying their scents around, protected by everyone. If Mike had been honest, he’d be in her position now, showered in all of their scents for everyone to see.

He keeps a fake smile on his face and pretends it doesn’t hurt.

The scent patch on his neck burns.

In the end, it takes him a week to cave in. Not to the scenting, no, but to a nest.

He hates himself for it, but his bed makes him feel ill. It’s too big, too open, too bare.

He finds himself rearranging his pillows and blanket out of frustration, needing to make it right and nothing fitting into place. He ends up giving up, finally, and dragging every soft thing he owns to the closet.

He can’t have it out in the open, not anywhere anyone could see, but his closet is perfect. It’s big enough for him to fit in if he curls up, and small enough to feel safe. He drags the blanket in, and his pillow, and some of his sweaters. It doesn’t feel perfect, but it’s better.

The next day the frustration comes back. His nest, if he could even call it that, needs more.

He doesn’t know what more of, until he finds Nancy’s big pink sweater in the living room. He sees it laying over the sofa, thrown away and forgotten and he acts before he thinks. He grabs it and makes for his room before anyone sees him and then hides in his nest.

It smells like Nancy. It smells like gunpowder and fire. It’s his sister. He gently arranges it in his little space and things finally start to feel right.

There, the little voice whispers, just like that. Find more.

This is how he officially becomes a thief.

Nancy loses a hoodie. His Mom cannot find her favourite shawl. Holly’s shirt goes missing. He arranges each and every piece with great detail and as he lays down, surrounded by his family, a little purr starts forming in his chest.

It shocks him enough for the shame to come back, rising up his throat, until he can’t breathe.

Unnatural, disgusting –

He pushes his face into Nancy’s hoodie and cries. It only helps a little bit.

His friends are a little bit harder to steal from, but he manages it. Mrs Byers always says El’s too in her head, so is it too shocking that she loses her flannel one day? Dustin barely notices his jacket missing. Lucas’s gloves are harder to grab, but when he nuzzles his face into them, he remembers playing on the playground together when they first met and it’s worth it.

He thinks stealing from Max is a suicide mission, and that she stinks anyway, but then he sees she forgets her hat in class one day, and he stuffs it into his bag before anyone else sees. He tells himself he will give it to her the next time he sees her. It ends up in his nest.

It’s with Will where things get troublesome again.

Due to monetary issues and none of them really being okay after Hopper’s death, Will stays in the Wheeler’s basement. Karen is only happy to help Joyce. Ted grumbles about it, but doesn’t do anything, like usual. El and Mrs Byers stay in Hopper’s cabin and Jonathan already half-lives in Nancy’s room.

Will’s presentation complicates things a bit, but after the first week or so, Will proves himself as a sweet Alpha with perfect control. He’s always been gentle and quiet, but his presentation has transformed him into something steadier now, firmer.

It’s like Will found inner peace. He’s a solid rock, gentle and still putting everyone in front of him, but the anxiousness is gone. Will has always been so scared, so worried, so jumpy, and now it’s gone.

He’s confident. He looks like he finally feels okay in his skin. But he’s not aggressive. The thing is, Mike is sure he doesn’t have to be.

Troy tries something once, mutters about Zombie Boy being an Alpha, and Will simply looks at him and the Beta runs off.

It’s a single glare, and that’s enough. He doesn’t need more, just a glance. It makes Mike wet.

He’s down so bad it’s nearly pathetic. Sometimes he thinks back to his past self and wants to grab him and shake him until he sees sense. He’s been such a dick in Lenora. The problem is, Mike has always felt things for Will, he’s simply never allowed himself to feel them. He still tries to squash them, but if his presentation showed him something, it’s that it’s futile to lie to himself.

His Omega has already claimed Will as his Alpha. The fact that they can never be together only makes thinking about it hurt more. He’s glad he and El broke up after Lenora. He’s not sure how he could deal with that on top of all of this.

So now, Will lives in the basement. All of his stuff is in the basement. Which means all of his hoodies and flannels and clothes and blankets are in Mike’s reach.

Will goes to see El often, and Mike knows he’s there now. Jonathan and Nancy are working, and the house is almost completely empty except for Holly and his Mom. It’s a perfect opportunity.

He walks down to the basement, slides in and closes the door behind himself and realizes this might not have been his brightest idea.

The basement is Will’s space now. He lives here and sleeps here, and it doesn’t matter how many people come in and out, or how many of Mike’s things are laying around.

This is Will’s space now. It smells like him.

Fresh ground coffee. Dark and rich and warm.

Mike can’t stop himself. He knows he shouldn’t enter an Alpha’s space, his territory – but it smells so good.

He walks over to Will’s bed before he can stop himself. It smells so good. He looks at the mattress and the neatly made pillows and blanket and gets hit with an unexplainable urge to climb in.

He shouldn’t. Will wouldn’t appreciate anyone laying in his bed. The basement is a shared space – Will’s, but shared, but his bed?

Alphas don’t nest, but they get territorial. Entering an Alpha’s place uninvited… an Omega laying down in an Alpha’s bed… that’s not just crossing boundaries. That’s an open invitation.

An open invitation to…

Would it really matter? Mike doesn’t have a smell. He’d make the bed after, and Will would never know. Would it really be that bad?

Why can’t he? Will went into a rut with him. Surely, even if he found out he wouldn’t mind? Maybe he’d like it.

Maybe he’d like seeing Mike in his bed. Maybe…

Mike shifts. He realizes, then, that his pants are soaked.

Fuck.

It snaps him out of it, faster than lighting.

He stumbles away, face heating up. He was really about to do that?! God! The wave of shame is so strong in brings tears to his eyes.

He’s acting like a disgusting, needy, pathetic whore.

He turns away, intent on getting out as quickly as he can, when his eyes lend on his sweater laying on the couch.

Specifically, the blue sweater he lent Will a few months back, and that Will still hasn’t returned.

He freezes. He shouldn’t. He really, really shouldn’t, not after all of it, but he came here to get something for his nest.

His small, pathetic, tiny nest he can’t properly lay down in, but his nest, nonetheless.

And that’s his sweater, actually. Does he not have the right to take it back? He’s taking it into his hands before he can think. He brings it to his nose and breathes in and the world stops.

It smells like Will. It smells like a warm hug. It smells like Will saying yes on the swings.

He nuzzles into his, broad smile stretching his cheeks. It’s perfect. It’s his and it smells like Will. He’ll put it near his pillow and sleep with his face pressed into it. He hugs it close, and thinks about how he’ll rearrange his little nest, when the door opens.

“Oh, hey, Mike, didn’t know you’d be… here.”

He turns around as fast as lighting, stuffing the sweater behind his back. Will stands on top of the stairs, frozen.

They stare at each other in shock. Mike gives him a nervous smile. Will blinks.

Then he slowly descends the stairs. He stops in front of Mike, expression carefully blank. “What are you doing here, Mike?”

It’s then that he’s once again reminded that this is Will’s territory.

He gulps. “Um. I was just looking for my sweater…” he trails off.

Will’s eyes burn through him. They slowly run up and down his body, looking at Mike’s hands behind his back.

Mike blushes and sheepishly pulls the sweater in front of him. “Mom’s doing laundry, so she sent me to get all of my stuff…” he lies.

Will says nothing. He’s staring at Mike with dark eyes.

Mike shifts on his leg. Will’s scent is so strong now. And his gaze… it feels like it’s burning a hole right through him. “Um, but I found it, so, I’m gonna take it to the washroom, so, um, yeah…”

“No.” Will says.

Mike freezes, his fingers tightening around his prize in panic. “No?”

Will puts his hand out. Mike realizes what he wants and his heart twinges in pain. That’s his sweater! He just found it! He can’t… he can’t just take it from him. It’s for his nest. It’s…

But Will continues looking at him, silent. Mike slowly hands him the sweater, nausea churning in his stomach.

Will takes the piece of fabric and gives him a small smile. “It’s okay, I’ll take it to the washing machine myself. I know your nose is still too sensitive to our smells.”

… oh!

Oh fuck no.

He grabs the sweater and yanks it back. “No!” he yelps, trying to act normal, “that’s okay. I can do it.”

Will stares at him. “You don’t have to, I…”

“No really, it’s okay! I’ll do it! No worries!” he gives him a large smile.

Will doesn’t look convinced. Worse, he’s starting to look worried. “Mike, is everything okay?”

Mike holds the sweater closer and edges towards the staircase, the fake smile still on his face. “Yes. Yep. Uh-uh.”

He puts his foot on the first step, tension easing as he finally starts to walk out of this room, when a hand catches his sleeve.

He freezes. Will’s right next to him, holding him back. There’s a crease between his brows, his hazel eyes flicking back and forth between Mike’s. “Are you sure? Mike, whatever it is, I’m here, okay? You can talk to me. You know that, right?”

Mike thinks about opening his big stupid mouth and telling him everything. He pushes the urge as far as it can go.

He looks at Will’s fingers on his sleeve, only millimetres away from his skin and he wishes Will caught his wrist instead. He’s too scared to reach out on his own, however. The barely-there brush of Will’s hand has to suffice.

He gives him his best encouraging smile. “I know. Thank you. I’m okay, though, don’t worry.”

With a breaking heart, Mike extracts his sleeve from Will’s hand and hurries out of the basement, the sweater stuck to his chest. He doesn’t see Will looking after him, or his dark, worried eyes.

When he quickly walks around the kitchen to his room, he notices his Mom and Mrs Byers sitting in the kitchen together. They look at him confused. He notices their hands held together on the table, but he barely gives it a thought and quickly rushes to his room.

The sweater takes prime placement in his nest. He lays it reverently, makes sure to treat it as well as possible. When he lays down, he nuzzles his face into the fabric and throws the arms around his shoulders, and it feels like a hug.

Mike has the best sleep in a while.

***

Mike spends his nights cuddling with Will’s sweater.

He watches his friends hug and scent each other and playfight and the hole in his chest grows.

He stops eating. Every free second he gets, he huddles with Will’s scent, rubbing it all over himself, and making himself sadder in the process.

They ask him once if his nose is any better. He smiles politely and says no and pretends he doesn’t see their dejected looks.

Will tries talking to him about it. He gets good at making up excuses.

He manages to steal two more articles of clothing from Will, a soft yellow sweater and his grey-yellow flannel. He’s more successful this time, as he makes sure Will is truly gone from the house. He stops himself from ogling Will’s mattress, so that’s a win too.

In his nest, he puts the flannel on and cuddles with the sweater, breathes in the new, fresh smell and beams.

Will sticks close, but not close enough. There are moments where he tries to touch him but pulls his hand away at the last minute. They hurt so badly, Mike cries thinking about them in the night.

He wants contact, but when he gets it, in small, barely there moments, his skin burns. Nancy ruffles his hair one day and it hurts. Dustin bumps their shoulders together, and he almost trips over his own feet. His fingers brush Will’s as they reach for the same pencil on the ground, and it sends a shockwave up his arms so intense he drops the pencil.

But things can’t go on this way, and Fate definitely knows it too, because two months after his presentation, the Party decides to have a movie night in the basement. Seeing as it’s in Mike’s house, it’s non-negotiable that he attends.

It’s not as if he doesn’t want to attend, mind you, but… well.

His gut tells him he shouldn’t. He goes anyway.

“We should watch Empire Strikes Back.”

“No. Dude, we’ve seen that so many times by now.”

“Yeah, dumbass, because it’s good!”

“It’s great, but there are other movies!”

“Yeah? Name a better one!”

“I don’t know, but we’ve all seen it before!”

“El hasn’t!”

“She hasn’t even seen New Hope yet!”

Mike sits on the couch, his left side pressed against the armrest, and his right… his right very close to Will. He watches Dustin and Lucas fight with a small smile.

El climbs between the two boys, eyes confused. “What hope?”

Her hair falls below shoulders now, soft and wavy, a fringe framing her face. It’s very similar to the hairstyle she wore in California. Mike thinks it suits her.

Max sighs from the couch. “Pick something where they fucking talk, at least.”

Lucas starts looking guilty. Max senses it even without seeing his face, “Jesus I said we can watch a movie, so pick something. But if it’s three hours of shooting noises I’m strangling you in your sleep.”

They both go back to arguing.

Next to him, Will lets out a soft laugh, and Mike stills. He looks at his best friend, trying to act natural. But being so close… He can smell the coffee without having to try.

Will is grinning at him. Mike smiles back, hesitant. Will looks back at their friends, who have now launched into explaining Star Wars lore to El, and then back at Mike, eyes full of mirth.

“Do you think we’ll watch anything tonight?”

Mike scoffs. “No.”

Will giggles. It’s so sweet it makes Mike’s heart flutter. Will bumps their shoulders together and turns to watch their friends.

Mike’s shoulder burns. He wants more. Mostly, though, he knows his cheeks are on fire. Will is just so cute.

He’s smaller than Mike and has always been and despite the broad shoulders and confident stance, he can still fit under Mike’s arm. His eyes are the softest shade of hazel, neither brown, nor green, and he has the cutest bunny teeth.

Mike wants to cuddle him to death.

“Mike?”

Oh. He snaps out of it, blinking hastily. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Lost in thought. I should go break them up.”

He moves to stand up, trying to focus, when a hand on his wrists stops him, and his whole frame freezes.

Will’s touching his hand. Will’s holding his hand. Will’s –

It’s gone as fast as it came, and Will’s apologizing. “Sorry, I just mean, don’t go.”

Mike feels the absence like a wound.

He looks at Will. Will sits on the couch, eyes wide, hand uselessly on his lap. He’s looking at Mike as if he made a grave mistake.

He notices Max’s head turned towards them. She heard. Fuck.

Mike bolts it.

“Sorry, bathroom!” he yells and rushes out of the basement, past his confused friends and Will’s hurt expression, and then he’s in the hallway. He shuts himself in the nearest bathroom, heart pounding.

Mike’s boxers are drenched.

Fuck.

He pulls his pants down and winces. Why was that even happening? Was he really that pathetic?

He feels so weird. He thinks about Will’s smile and the shoulder bump and how warm he’d felt before it all went to shit and pushes his face in his hands.

If he wants to have any sense of dignity left, he needs to pull himself back together. He can’t cry now.

Maybe he’s been feeling odd all day, but that’s no excuse.

He quickly tries to dry himself off to lessen the damage. He’s so grateful for his suppressants eliminating any smell that could potentially let others now this has happened. He’s certain they’d know before Mike if it wasn’t the case. He has to wear the scent blockers to block out anything from his glands, but those don’t do shit with his slick.

When he gets back, his friends are ready for the movie, spread around the basement. There’s an empty space right where Mike sat, next to Will.

But the space is smaller now. Lucas sits next to Max now, an arm around her shoulders. Mike can still fit but it’s a narrower fit.

Max tilts her head to the side. “Are we ready?”

Ah. He forces himself to sit down. He presses himself as much as he can to the armrest to make sure there’s space between him and Will. “Yeah. Yeah. So you guys picked a movie?”

El waves a copy of Back to the Future at him.

She sits on the ground with Dustin, the two Betas sharing a blanket.

Dustin turns around to smile at him. “Everything good?”

“Hm? Oh. Yeah. Sure.”

He faces forward. Will’s eyes burn through his face like a brand.

They put the movie on. Lucas shuts down the lights. Finally, Will looks away and Mike melts into the darkness and tries to calm down.

Will stays next to him, close but not as close as Mike wants him. They stay like that, barely looking at one another, until about an hour into the movie.

Mike tries to focus on it, but he’s just so… restless. And hot. He doesn’t know how Dustin and El can handle the blanket, because Mike feels like he’s baking.

He shifts, annoyed. It makes his side press into Will’s. Ah.

He’s warm. But… not as hot. Nice.

He sneaks a glance. Will’s not looking at him, but he doesn’t move away. Mike breathes out.

Somewhere along the line, he stops paying attention to the movie. He knows it. Has seen it already. Why should he care?

Will shifts, closer, and then their sides are pressed against one another, from the knees to the hips. Just like back then. He breathes in. Coffee. Fresh grounds. Warmth.

He wants more.

He looks at Will. The Alpha’s looking back.

“Hey,” he whispers.

Mike gulps. He feels like he’s in a dream. He looks down on Will’s lips, and they’re beautiful, and soft, and lightly chapped.

“Hey,” he lets out.

He shifts his leg. His pants are so wet. It’s so hot. He doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s starting to feel dizzy. The next whiff brings the smell closer. It overwhelms him.

“Will,” he mumbles, all rationality lost, “Will you scent me?”

The Alpha goes still. “Are you sure?”

He doesn’t get it. Why doesn’t he want to? Of course, Mike’s sure.

“Yeah,” he leans closer. He wants more of it. Like when he’s back in his nest with his sweater. Yeah. Like that. He wants to cuddle Will close and breathe it in.

No, God, he wants Will to hold him. Surround him. Envelop him in his soft warm scent.

“Mike.”

“Hm?”

“Mike, are you okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Put the lights on!”

“Mike!”

“What’s wrong with him?”

He whines. Everything feels hazy. The voices around him sound far away.

The light’s suddenly on and he squints, flinching away. A whimper leaves his mouth. It’s too much, too sudden.

The voices grow panicked.

“Holy shit, dude,”

“Is that –“

“Wheeler –“

“Is he going into heat?!”

And then there are hands on his cheeks, grounding. Will’s voice cuts through the haze. “Mike. Sweetheart. Look at me.”

He opens his eyes. Will sits in front of him. He looks worried. His mouth is set in a firm line. Mike is… so confused.

He blinks, the light still too sharp. He tries to look around. The others stand far away, all looking at him with wide, panicked eyes. Someone turned the Tv off.

Something’s wrong, but he doesn’t know what.

“Mike, are you with me?” Will asks again.

Mike looks back at him, nods, sluggishly.

“He’s completely out of it…”

“But why can’t we smell him? If he’s –”

“Yeah, but he clearly is.”

Mike whines. He doesn’t like this. He looks around before his eyes settle on his lap. And oh.

Oh.

There’s a large wet spot on his crotch, staringly visible on his light grey shorts.

Slick. Why is there so much? He paws at his trousers, confused.

“Mike,” Will speaks again, gently tilting his head up, so Mike’s looking at him, “Mike, focus.”

And Mike freezes. The word rings through his ears like an echo.

There’s an intensity in Will’s voice. Focus. Focus. Focus.

He’s sitting in his basement with all of his friends seeing him gush slick and feeling so fucking hot he wants to crawl out of his skin and his Alpha just gave him a command.

“Will,” he lets out, as awareness starts crawling up his spine, “Will, what –

“Mike.” Will says his name, eyes urgent, “Mike, you’re going into heat.”

He looks down at the wet spot on his pants. Oh.

Oh, fuck.

“We can’t smell him. Why can’t we smell him, if he’s presenting?”

It’s Max, or El, he’s not sure. The shame starts to feel too big. He doesn’t know how this happened, he’s been so careful, so fucking careful to take his pills and…

He turns his head away, a pained whine slipping out without his consent. It brings his nose right into Will’s wrist. Right into his scent gland.

He takes one breath in and slips right back under water.

“Hey, no, no, Mike,”

He nuzzles in. He likes this more. The hand is cruelly pulled away from him. He lets out an affronted noise, trying to get it back.

Hands on his shoulders stop him, and then he’s looking right back into Will’s eyes. “Mike. Focus. Why can’t we scent you? Why did you tell us you were a Beta?”

He shrugs. “S’embarrasing. Take suppressants.”

“Fuck!”

“Suppressants? Has he been – this whole time?”

There’s a soft hand on his wrist, and then his sleeve is pulled back and he pouts. He doesn’t want them to see his scent patch, but the cats out of the bag.

Will looks at the translucent piece of plastic and curses.

“Mike, fuck, this is so wrong. It’s not embarrassing. You’re not.”

Even through his haze he knows this is wrong. He shakes his head. “No. Been bad. S’wrong. Unnatural.”

More cursing, and then his face is cradled again, and he’s looking Will straight in the eyes. They’re so pretty. They look so sad.

“Mike. Listen. Listen to me. You’re wrong. You’re not bad. You’re not unnatural. Who made you think that?”

His tongue feels laden. But it’s Will. His Will wants him to answer – no, his Alpha wants it.

He slurs his answer out. “Dad. Said if – said if he had an Omega whore for a son he’d tie me to a pole outside for taking.”

And then, finally, quiet. Silence settles over the basement. Mike nuzzles right back into Will’s wrist. He breathes the scent in and smiles. There. Better.

But the scent isn’t alright. It feels – wrong. Bitter. His Alpha’s angry.

“I’m going to murder him with my bare hands,” Will says, quiet and calm.

Mike thinks about that. Then he purrs. His Alpha’s protecting him. He’s floating.

“Fucking hell man,”

“God, this is so fucked,”

“What do you mean, tie him to a pole –”

“I can trap him inside his worst memories forever until he goes insane.”

“Holy, shit, El, what –”

It’s noise. He doesn’t know who’s speaking and barely registers the words. There’s just the uncomfortable heat, and Will’s hands on his face and the slow, spreading pain in his stomach, and his Alpha right next to him.

He wants him.

“Mike. Fuck, no, don’t slip again, Mike. Mike. Focus.”

He’s dimly aware Will is using his Alpha voice now. His Omega is helpless against it. He likes it.

It helps clear the fog a bit. “I’m sorry,” he whines, when the shame threatens to swallow him whole, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why it didn’t work. I… I… my pills, I…”

… didn’t take them this morning.

Oh.

“I forgot my suppressants,” he says dully, and now everything’s clear.

He missed one day – out of stupid idiocy – and it triggered his body into a heat. Right in front of all of his friends. He…

“Hey, no. Mike, no, shh,” Will’s right there. His pupils are so large Mike can barely see his retinas, “No. You did nothing wrong. It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of you, yeah?”

Mike nods. He wants that.

“Hey, Will,” Lucas steps forward suddenly, “we should probably go get Nancy, so you don’t snap –”

And suddenly Will’s not there. No, the hands are gone, gone from his face, leaving only an imprint in the empty space. Mike blinks. When his brain finally catches up to what he’s seeing, his heart almost jumps out of his chest.

Will crouches down in front of Mike, fingers of his outstretched hands clawed, as if ready to fight. He’s standing right between the rest of the Party and Mike, a protective wall.

There’s a deep, loud growl emitting from his chest.

“You take one more step to my Omega,” he snarls, “and I’m ripping your head off.”

Lucas, wisely, takes a step back. Max snarls a bit, but stays near the wall. Will watches them, silent. He looks one move away from jumping.

Lucas slowly puts his hands up. “Okay, I won’t. Will, it’s okay. No one’s going to take him away from you, okay?”

Will says nothing.

He doesn’t have to. His scent does the work for him.

Mike sees Dustin and El pressed against the wall, white like ghosts. Max has a hand in front of her nose.

But it doesn’t stink to Mike. It smells good.

Lucas slowly puts his hands back down. “We just need to make sure Mike wants it too, okay?”

Will growls.

They turn to Mike. He’s confused. He wants them to leave. He feels so hot. He’s so wet. His tummy hurts. He wants that scent on him, everywhere.

Can’t they leave?

And suddenly, a new voice speaks his name.

He looks away from Will’s back. El stands next to Lucas now, looking right at him. She takes a hesitant step closer. Will doesn’t growl, but he’s glaring a hole right through her, sister or not.

El doesn’t come too close. She crouches down a bit, so she’s on Mike’s eye level. “Mike. Do you want to spend your heat with Will?”

She sounds gentle. He cocks his head, and he can smell her too. The grass. It’s nice. She screams safety, love, kindness. Pack.

He feels eyes burning straight into him. He looks to his right. Will’s looking at him now, still in front of him, still mostly turned to the others.

He doesn’t have to think about the question, really. In the back of his mind, he understands the gravity of the question. But it’s not just the hormones. He’s wanted this for as long as he could remember.

“Yes,” he says, not taking his eyes from Wills, “Wanna be with Alpha.”

And then Will’s on him, his arms bringing him close and hugging him tight. He cradles Mike to his chest, hiding him from the rest of them.

He hears, more than he sees their friends quickly leave the room. He thinks Dustin tells them they’ll deal with it. He’s half-sure it’s Lucas who tells Will to take care of Mike.

And then the door snaps shut and it’s just him and Will. Alone. Together.

He paws at Will until his nose finally finds Will’s neck. He pushes his face in and finally, finally gets a proper huff of Will’s scent. He moans.

Home, warmth, heat. Will smells nervous and frenzied and horny.

Mike starts rubbing himself on him, hands running over anything he can. “Will, Will, Will,” he chants his name.

“Fuck, Mike…” his Alpha groans, hands tightening on Mike’s shoulders, “Baby, fuck, slow down.”

He decides to ignore it and instead licks a small stripe up Will’s scent gland. Will’s answering moan makes his Omega preen. He latches his lips onto it and sucks the skin in, moaning happily.

They’re all gone. It’s just him and Alpha now, and Alpha’s going to take care of him. Will’s going to hold him down with his strong hands and make him feel good.

He’s so hard. His pants are completely drenched. His dick and his stomach hurt, both demanding something. He presses his body into Will’s and is very happy to find something sharp poking into his hip.

But then the other is pulling away. Mike whines at the lost, hands desperately clutching at his sweater.  Will kneels in front of him, holding him at a distance with firm hands on his shoulders.

“Mike. Mike, sweetheart, God, just wait a minute, okay?”

He tries to pull him back.

His wrist itch. His neck burns. He wants to go back to scenting Will, and he wants to do it properly. His hand goes to his wrist to pull those offending patches off. Once he notices how uncomfortable they are, it becomes impossible to ignore.

But there are hands on his stopping him, before he can pull them off. “Shit, no, Mike, not yet.”

He whines. “It hurts. Alpha, it hurts. I want them gone.”

“Fuck, sweetheart,” Will’s face twists, like he’s in pain, “I know. I want them gone too. But Mike, the moment you pull those off, I won’t be able to control myself, okay?”

Mike doesn’t see a problem with that. He tries to take them off again, whining loudly when Will stops him again.

Will doesn’t budge. In fact, his voice turns stern. “I said no, Mike, okay? We’ll take them off, but not now. You need a nest. You can’t spend your heat just on this couch. You won’t feel safe unless you make a nest. We could go upstairs to your nest in your room, but I don’t think we’re leaving this basement until your heat is over.”

The mention of a nest makes Mike’s brain clear up a bit. He bites his lips. “I don’t need it. Don’t… don’t really have a proper one upstairs, anyway.” The shame curls in him like an old friend.

Will is right, however. Under normal circumstances, Omegas nest during their heats. But this is not a normal circumstance. And…

“It doesn’t matter,” he looks away from Will, “don’t deserve one anyway.”

The hands on his shoulders squeeze him so hard it hurts. Will’s hand roughly grabs his chin and brings it up.

“You deserve a fucking nest,” he snarls, eyes full of blazing anger, “and you deserve to be an Omega which means acting like one. I will hunt your father down and tear him apart with my fucking hands, do you understand?”

His scent is strong – too strong. It’s bitter and upset. It feels oppressive.

Mike gulps. “Um. Y-yeah. Yes, Alpha.”

Will’s eyes soften. He cringes for a moment, the scent turning sheepish. He leans forward, gently kissing his forehead. “Sorry. I’m sorry. It just makes me so upset. You never should have had to hide yourself to begin with, Mike.”

He pushes himself into Will’s arms and curls up in his lap. Will’s arms immediately wrap around him, bringing him close.

“I have a shitty little nest in my closet,” he mumbles into the safety of Will’s neck. “S’embarrasing, though. Don’t want you to see that.”

A soft exhale. Will nuzzles his face into Mike’s hair. “Okay. That’s okay. We’ll make you a nice, soft one here, okay?”

Mike pulls away, looks around the room. He likes the sound of that, and his Omega clearly likes it too, based on the way he starts searching what he could use for the nest.

It’s strange. His head feels less floaty now, less hazy. He looks back at Will. He’s not sure how either of them is keeping their composure still, but he knows it must be incredibly hard for Will. He’s an Alpha. His instincts must be screaming at him. And he’s probably right – those scent blockers are the only reason they’re not already fucking like bunnies.

He doesn’t want to make his Alpha wait like that. Not a moment longer. The fact that he has been respectful and pulled himself away just so Mike could make himself a nest…

He feels so grateful. He feels so loved. He leans forward and presses a short, sweet kiss into his lips before he can think of it. He kisses those soft, wonderful lips for just a moment, and then quickly pulls away, hopping down from the couch.

Will sits there, frozen and bright red.

Mike lets out a little giddy chirp, a noise he’d never even let himself make in any other mindset and then goes about building his nest.

He looks around the room. The ground could work, but it would require way too many blankets and cushions to make it comfortable. The couch… perhaps, but no.

No, there’s a much better place here. It’s been calling to him before, and truly, there’s no other place he’d rather spend his heat in.

He crosses the room and climbs right into Will’s bed. It’s perfect. Soft. Smells nice. Has nice pillows and a blanket.

He starts rearranging it without a thought. It’s like someone else takes over for a bit. He shifts the pillows, makes sure they’re nice and fluffy. He pulls his sweater off without a thought, putting it into one end.

He finds another blanket and Dustin’s jacket and El’s sweater and puts them in there too.

Will watches him putter around and build the nest from the couch, eyes soft. Mike uses up everything he finds in the basement; all the soft things now arranged properly and neatly into his nest.

His nest. His proper nest.

He gets so involved in his process, making sure everything is in its right place and not an inch off, that he doesn’t notice the knock on the door, or Will silently walking up the stairs, or speaking with Jonathan over the doors.

He pushes the blankets and pieces of clothing around, until they make a soft, inviting space, but he’s still not happy. There’s something missing.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Will speaks softly behind him.

He turns around. His best friend stands behind him, a soft pink sweater and a red flannel and a brown shawl in his hands. Mike’s nose twitches. Nancy and Lucas’ and… Max’? But…

“How?” he lets out, confused.

Will smiles at him, amused. “I just spoke to Jonathan through the door. You didn’t even notice, did you?”

Mike pouts. “I don’t want Jonathan in here.”

Will chuckles. “I know. I didn’t let him come in. But they left stuff for your nest and some water and snacks, yeah?”

Mike follows his gaze to the table where several water bottles and granola bars lie now. And the clothes.

He reaches for them. Will hands it over. He looks like he’s happy to be rid of them. Thinking about it…

He takes Nancy’s sweater and sniffs it. It doesn’t smell bad. It’s his sister. But… it’s an Alpha scent. Same with Lucas’ flannel and Max’s shawl. He can’t put either of them into his nest. He puts them away, out of his nest, and to the side.

There. But still… he looks back at Will. There’s his little missing puzzle piece.

He makes grabby hands for him. Will giggles, walking over to the nest, but stopping right next to it. Mike whines in frustration, and tugs at his hoodie. He wonders if Will is being wilfully obtuse.

“Do you want my hoodie, baby?”

He hands out his hands, impatient. Soon, the hoodie is in his arms, Will grinning wide. Mike makes a face at him and then happily cuddles the hoodie close. Yes. Yes. This. He just needs this.

He gently places it on the top, right on the pillow.

His Omega finally settles. There. Done. He has his nest now. He turns around.

Now he just needs his Alpha.

He needs… he looks at him. Will stands right at the edge, face slightly hesitant.

“Alpha,” he croons out, hands reaching out to him, “come here.”

Will gulps. “Mike, I… are you really sure?”

Mike lays down in his nest and spreads his legs. “Come here.”

Will curses under his breath. And then he climbs right into the nest, until he’s crouching over Mike.

Mike grins. He wraps his arms around his shoulders and pulls him down. It presses their bodies together. He can feel Will’s hard-on pressing into his hip. He knows Will must feel his own pressing back.

His Alpha groans, half a moan and half a growl. Mike nuzzles their faces together, giddy.

“Do you think it’s time I pull away my patches, Alpha?”

Will curses again. “Get those stupid things off.”

Mike grins. Then he brings a hand to his wrist and pulls off the see-through sticky tape. One wrist, the other, then he goes to work on the one on his neck.

Will watches him, silent. He tracks his movement with his eyes, gaze intent. And then Mike’s scent finally reaches them, free from its constraints. Mike can see the exact moment it hits Will’s nose and watches as his nostrils flare up.

And then Will snaps.

Mike barely has the chance to react, before Will’s grabbing his hair, tilting his face away so his neck’s exposed, and then Will pushes his face into his neck and bites.

Mike yelps at the sensation. It’s not – fuck, it’s not a mating bite. It’s not deep enough. Mike wishes it was.

Will licks over the bite, a soft apology, before he’s sucking a deep mark right into it and Mike trashes in his hold and moans.

He desperately holds onto Will, trying to get him closer. Will pushes one of his legs up between Mike’s and he whines as sharp spike of pleasure runs up his body.

“You smell so good, Mike. Do you know how good you smell, baby?” Will presses his mouth to his ear, “like sugar and cinnamon. You smell so sweet, honey. I can’t wait to taste you.”

Mike whines. “Please, please, Alpha, please,”

“Shh,” Will shushes him, pressing a soft kiss to his nose, “there’s time. It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll take care of you, yeah?”

“Please,”

“I know, sweetheart. I know.” Will says and then kisses him.

It’s a proper, deep kiss, this time. Will quickly forces his way into Mike’s open mouth, taking over him. Mike kisses back, hungrily, all of his thoughts turned into nothing but a steady stream of Will, Alpha, Will, Alpha…

His legs wrap around Will’s waist and he ruts up, grinding himself on Will. The other boy growls into his mouth and kisses him with new fervour, kissing and biting and licking.

When he pulls away, Mike can barely breathe. Will sits up and tugs his shirt off. He starts tugging at Mike’s.

“Come on, off.”

Mike complies. He pulls his shirt off but can’t stop himself from staring. Will’s broad chest and pecs and abs… He’s pulling him into a kiss before he knows it. Will responds with as much fervour, hands hungrily running over Mike’s chest. They manage to take each other’s clothes off between the kisses, until they’re both just in their underwear.

Will pushes him right back into the bed and climbs over him again, sucking bruises and hickeys into his chest. He gasps at the attention, moans when Will playfully bites him. When Will puts his mouth on one of his nipples and sucks it in, his hands fly to Wills hair and he wails.

A wave of shocks rans through his body. His nipples were always sensitive, but today, with the heat blazing through his body, they’re on another level. Will’s hand comes up to twist and tug at the other nipple and Mike trashes.

“Will, Alpha, please, more,” He moans as Will continues playing with his chest.

He grinds his hips up, desperate for contact. His hole clenches around nothing.

The brunet pulls away, only to give him a teasing smile. “Aw, baby, more of what?” He flicks on of the nipples and Mike’s whole body jerks, “You’ll have to use your words, sweetie.”

Unfair. He thinks, gasping as Will goes right back to it, sucking at the other nipple and laving it with attention. “Fu- fuck, Will, please! Touch me!”

He tries to press their crotches together, but a firm hand on his hip stops him. Will pulls away from Mike’s chest and holds his hips firmly on the mattress. “Impatient little thing. Be good, Mike.”

A sharp spike of pleasure erupts in his lower abdomen. Mike pants, staring up at Will with big eyes. “Please. I will! I will, just touch me, please Alpha, I need you so bad.”

Will grins. “I know baby. But I’m touching you now, aren’t I?”

Mike is about to die. “No. Not like this. Will, please just fuck me.”

Will’s grin turns dark. “Oh, I will, sweetheart. I will.”

He leans down and kisses him, brutal and hungry. Their teeth clash. Mike kisses back like his life depends on it.

Will sits back then and hooks his fingers into Mike’s boxers. “Let’s get those off, okay? I want to see you.”

Mike quickly raises his hips to help him, and they push the fabric down. It’s soaking wet, drenched through with Mike’s slick. Mike balls it in his hands and throws it away, his nose wrinkling.

But Will doesn’t pay him any attention. He sits on his haunches and stares right between Mike’s legs. His eyes are intent, dark, burning a hole right through him. Mike feels slightly embarrassed, but when he tries to pull his legs closed, strong hands grab his thigh and spread them apart.

“Keep them like this,” Will says quietly.

Mike gulps and does so, cheeks burning. His stomach. He feels so empty.

“Alpha…” he whimpers, trying to get him to do something, “please.”

He needs him. He needs Will to take his stupid boxers off and fuck him. He needs to get pounded so hard he feels it for the next week.

He squirms, in Will’s hold, desperate. “Will, please, please just – aah!”

And then Will suddenly leans forward and licks a broad stripe right across Mike’s hole. Mike lets out an absolutely humiliating squeak.

“Fuck!” his hands shoot to Will’s hair, “Fuck, Will!”

Will hums right into his hole and the sound runs through his body like a shock wave. Mike couldn’t stop the sounds leaving his mouth even if he tried.

Will pulls away for just one moment. “Just lay back and let me eat you out, baby. Let your Alpha take care of you, yeah?”

Mike nods, panting.

Will grins. Then he grips Mike’s thighs and pushes his face right between his open legs and Mike’s gone. He sucks and licks at his hole, eating him out like a man starved.

Mike can do nothing but hold on, the sensation too strong. He feels likes he’s going crazy. He’s in heaven. He died and went into heaven.

Will keeps him close as he laps up Mike’s slick, and Mike can do nothing but trash and moan and hold onto Will’s head. He’s reduced to a babbling mess, unsure of what he’s even saying.

“Will, Alpha, fuck-ah, Alpha-ah,” he whines, bucking into Will’s face.

The hands on his thigh dig into his skin, so tight it hurts. Mike knows he’s going to have bruises. It turns him on even more, realizing Will is leaving marks on him.

Will’s tongue breaches his hole and pushes in, and he nearly whites out. Will starts to fuck his tongue in, the intrusion making Mike’s head spin.

His hole clenches around Will, and he moans so loud he’s certain the others in the house must hear him. Let them, his muddled mind thinks, let them hear how good my Alpha’s making me feel.

“Alpha, fuck, I’m – I’m gonna, come, please, hah,” he tugs Will closer. His legs are shaking.

Will hums, pleased, and Mike moans, feeling his stomach tighten. And then, suddenly, there’s a hand on his dick, Will’s nimble long fingers wrapping around his forgotten length. It takes one stroke and one particular suck of Will’s mouth and Mike arches his back and howls.

His orgasm tears through him with force. He blacks out for a second, the wave of pleasure so strong he feels it in his toes. He’s moaning and whining and making sounds he’s never heard himself make before. It’s the best orgasm he ever had in his life.

When he comes back to himself, he’s lying on his nest, legs spread around Will lap. Will kneels between his legs, gently caressing his thigh. His face and neck are glistening from slick. There’s cum splattered on Mike’s stomach and a bit of it on Will’s cheeks too.

He watches as Will sticks out his tongue and licks it up with a happy smile. Mike growls and shoots forward, all of his fatigue gone. Normally, he’d be done after one orgasm – but his heat makes things harder.

The orgasm he just had made the dam break.

He grabs Will’s face and kisses him, barely registering the sweet taste of his own slick on his lips. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me,” he chants against him, pulling him close.

Will growls, deep from his chest and throws him back into the bed. He slots their hips together and finally, finally, their crotches press against one another. The hard, big length presses right against Mike’s cock, and he whines rubbing himself up against the fabric. He pushes his face into Will’s neck and starts to suck hickeys and marks into his scent gland, happy when it makes more of his Alpha’s delicious scent come out.

“Fuck, Mike, you taste so good. You were so good for me, fuck.”

“Alpha,” he whines, grinding his hips up until they’re both moaning, “please, fuck me, I need you inside me,”

Will whines. Whines. He pulls away, to look him in the eyes. His pupils are so wide. His hair is a mess. Mike can see his own cum splattered on Will’s chest, now that their bodies connected. It makes him so, so pleased.

“I will,” Will says, one hand squeezing his hip, “I will, but I need to prep you first.”

Mike thinks that’s incredibly unfair. He reaches down and tries to tug his stupid boxers off, boxers, that are somehow still on. “No! I’m ready, now.”

Will groans. Mike manages to pull the fabric down a bit, before Will’s hands join him and they pull it away.

And finally, Mike gets a glance of his Alpha’s cock and freezes in awe. He’s so… he’s so big. Will’s beautiful, and thick and long.

That’s all going inside you, a voice whispers in his head. Oh God, he thinks.

He barely thinks about what he does next. He flips around on his knees, pushes his chest and face into the nest and sticks his ass out. He’s presenting without a thought, his mind only filled with Will’s cock, his beautiful, big, cock and how much he needs it right in him, right fucking now.

He rubs his cheek into Will’s sweater and looks at his mate. “Alpha,” he croons, wiggling his ass, “make me yours. Don’t you want to fuck me?”

“You fucking minx” Will growls – and that’s the only warning Mike gets, before he presses his body over Mike’s, chest pressed to his back, his dick sliding right between Mike’s cheeks.

They both moan at the contact. The head of Will’s cock rubs against his hole and he pushes back, trying to get him inside, but before he can, a strong hand grabs his neck and pushes him down into the mattress.

Will presses his mouth to his ear, hand firm on the back of neck. “Be a good fucking Omega for once and behave.”

Mike lets out a truly humiliating sound. He goes limp, staying where Will wants him. He wants to be good. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Will bites at his neck. “There. Good boy. Now I’m going to fuck you on my fingers and stretch you out, and you’re going to be still and take it like a good boy, because I will be spending the following three days fucking you with my knot and I will not hurt you. Do you understand?”

Mike pants into the pillow, heart hammering. “Ye-yes, fuck, yes, Alpha!”

Will squeezes his neck. His other hand finds Mike’s hole, and he gasps when he feels the tips of his fingers pet around it. Shocks run through him and he shivers with it, wanting them in so bad. His dick throbs between his legs, hard and leaking again. His hole clenches around nothing and he bites into the pillow to stop himself from whining out loud.

“Good,” Will murmurs and releases his neck.

He pulls away then and Mike makes a confused sound. Before he can try rising up, Will shifts his position and then he lays himself over him again, their bodies connected. Mike feels safe. Cuddled. Held.

He can’t get up even if he wanted to. He presses his ass back into Will’s hands.

“Good boy,” Will nuzzles his face into Mike’s hair and gives him a little kiss.

Mike sniffs. “I’ll be good.”

“I know you will,” he says sweetly and without any warning pushes two fingers right into Mike.

“F-Fuck!” Mike jerks at the motion, mouth dropping open from shock. The fingers enter him, deep, and before Mike can take a moment to adjust, or get used to them, Will’s fucking him, quick and ruthless.

He moans, hands desperately clutching at the bedsheets. The fingers reach deep inside him, hard and fast and his body sings as he’s finally full.

“Al-alph-apha,” he yells out, trying to get used to it, but Will keeps him pressed down.

And then suddenly he shifts his hand, the angle changing, and Will’s fingers hit a spot inside him that makes Mike scream. Pleasure erupts through his body and he goes completely limp. Will hits the spot over and over again, until Mike’s an overwhelmed drooling mess.

He clutches at the sheets, “Right there! Fuck! Right there! Please, Will, Will, more, fuck!”

Will starts to kiss his neck, shushing him, “That’s it, Mike, take it.”

“Will,” he whines, “Fuck, more, please, give me more,”

“You greedy little thing,” Will huffs, “look at you.”

He pulls his fingers out to the tip and then pushes in three at once. They stretch is noticeable now, his hole slick and wet, but needing to get used to the intrusion. He whimpers in discomfort, eyes squeezing shut.

Will coos. “Shh, baby, it’s okay, just take it, just like that. You’re doing so well,”

He slows down, rubs against Mike’s walls, fingers soft. Mike whines at the words, shaking. Will sounds so tender it makes something in his chest tighten. He nuzzles his face back into Will’s and gets a small kiss on his cheek as a reward. He settles into the nest and slowly gets used to the stretch as the burn slowly lessens. Will rubs against his prostrate and Mike groans into the sheets.

Will does it again and again, until Mike starts rocking back on his fingers, desperate for more. He arches his back and pushes his ass into Will’s hand.

A soft groan leaves the other boys’ lips, “Sweetie, fuck, you’re so good. Look at you…”

The fingers start fucking into him, hitting the same spot with precision. Mike whines, pleasure cursing through his body. He clenches around Will’s fingers and shivers when Will growls right into his ear.

“Fuck, Mike, you’re so tight. You’ll feel so good against my cock, won’t you? I can already feel how good you’ll feel against my knot, fuck,” he groans.

The voice is low, a murmur, but rumbling deep. Mike can feel the breath on his ear. And the words themselves… he imagines Will’s cock inside him instead of his fingers, filling him up, stretching him, fucking him, and he shudders, overwhelmed.

Will sucks a hickey into his neck, his fingers getting faster inside Mike. Mike squirms. “Oh, you like that, huh? Fuck, your scent, you smell so good and so horny. You’re so greedy for it, huh? You want my cock in you, baby?”

He does. He really does. He’s going insane. He needs Will to never stop touching him, ever. He moans, breathing in Will’s scent from the sweater and his nest and Will above him and inside him, everywhere.

“Will, Will, please, please, I’m ready, I need you, please,” he sobs.

“God, you’re such a slut,” the Alpha groans, “Not even letting me prep you properly. Begging for my cock like a bitch in heat…” he chuckles softly, the sound dark, “Which you are, huh, sweetie?”

A shock runs through his body, a strangled moan leaving his mouth. “W-will!” he yelps, wanting to be offended, except the words make him so aroused he can barely think.

Will nuzzles his hair, shushing him, “Shh, I know, sweetie, I know how much you want it. You’re so desperate now, all pretty and going wild underneath me,” he stretches his fingers, scissoring them inside him and a loud, long keen leaves Mike’s mouth.

He pants into his nest, overwhelmed. He wants to beg or plead, or get up and make Will fuck him, but before he can, Will’s fingers are gone.

His eyes snap open, ready to start demanding he get back, when two strong hands grab his hips. Will climbs behind him, his dick pressing into Mike’s wet slick crease. He freezes. There. There.

“Ok,” Will gently caresses his hip, “just relax, okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Mike could care less about any of that. “Will, I swear to god, if you don’t get it in me, right now –”

“Greedy little thing,” Will lightly smacks his ass. Mike pushes himself back into him. He needs him. He needs him, he needs him.

Then, finally, after what feels like years since his heat began, the tip presses into his entrance and then slowly, Will pushes forward. His cock slowly fills him out, big and long and hot and stretches him beyond his limits.

Mike clutches at the bedsheets for dear life. It’s too much. It’s too big. It’s filling up every single bit of space inside of him and Will’s still not done.

There’s a high, keening noise somewhere in the room. It takes him a bit too long to realize it’s coming from him. The cock stretches him so good he doesn’t think anything will ever come close to it.

Finally, finally Will’s hips hit his ass, and he bottoms out, both of them panting, as they try to adjust.

“Will,” he moans helplessly, his legs shaking, “Will,”

“Fuck, Mike, fuck, you feel so good,”

Mike shifts, just a bit and whines as the tip brushes right against his prostate. He’s so full he can barely move. The horrible, annoying, deep emptiness is finally gone.

He rocks back. They both groan. Mike grins, just a bit, high on finally having his Alpha inside him, and does it again.

The hands on his hips get bruising tight. Will forces him to stop, stilling him and he whines in protest. Soon Will presses himself over his back again. He pants into his ear, “I’m going to wreck you.”

Mike pushes back into Will, “Then fucking do it already,”

Will snarls. And then he pulls his hips back, all the way to the tip, and slams back in. He sets the pace then, quick and brutal.

Mike does his best to hold on. Soon enough he’s reduced to a babbling moaning mess, whines and whimpers leaving his mouth. Will holds him down and fucks him like he means it and Mike is absolutely helpless against him.

“Will, Will, Alpha, Al-pha!” he yells, as a wave after wave of pleasure runs through his body.

“You feel so good, fuck, fuck,” Will pants.

Mike feels his eyes roll back into his head. It’s so good he can barely think, all of his thoughts centred around Will and his cock inside him.

Little “ah-ah-ah” sounds fly out of him, drool dripping down into the nest. Will grunts into his ears, his hips never faltering for one second.

He’s sobs. “Will, Will, Will, fu-uck, fuck, fu-ahh,”

“Shhh, baby, fuck, Mike you’re so tight, fuck,”

Will brings an arm around his chest and shoulders and then pushes him up until Mike’s practically kneeling on his lap. His back hits Will’s chest, and the new angle forces his cock deeper inside him. Mike yells in shock, scrambling for something to hold onto. His hands clutch at Will’s strong forearms and he holds onto him, desperately.

“Will, Jesus!”

Will hugs him tight, one arm around his waist, the other across his chest. He fucks up into Mike, hitting his prostate with each and every trust, until Mike sees stars.

He feels so exposed, his chest and cock open to the air of the basement. His legs shake so bad he can’t even properly kneel, letting himself be manhandled by Will, as the Alpha pleases.

Will could do anything to him now, and he wouldn’t be able to resist him. The thought makes a new spurt of slick gush out of him.

Mike sobs, hands clutching tight at his forearms. The pressure against his rim starts to feel bigger, Will’s gasps louder. He fucks up into him a few more times, and Mike realizes with a jolt of hot white pleasure that Will’s starting to form a knot.

It overwhelms him. He sinks into Will, into his arms, body shaking with pleasure. Will sucks into his neck, bites down at his shoulders with a soft gasps and grunts. Mike answers with his own sounds, high and desperate.

“You’re taking me so well,” Will moans into his ear, his hips snapping up into him, “it’s like you were made for me, fuck, I could stay in you forever.”

“Will,” he sobs and the words spill out without his control, “I love you, I love you so much,”

Will immediately hugs him tighter, holding him close, the pace of his hips getting desperate, “Fuck, Mike, love you too, love you, you’re everything to me.”

They find each other, desperate, both crying. Their mouth press together in a sloppy kiss, a smash of mouths, both still whining into each other. Mike kisses as well as he knows how, Will responding with enthusiasm.

“I love you,” he gasps into his mouth, “don’t leave me, please, don’t ever leave me.”

Will kisses him again, hard. “I won’t,” he promises when he pulls away, his eyes wet, “I won’t, I’m here.”

Mike sobs. Will reaches around him then and wraps his hand around his length, gently stroking him up and down. Mike throws his head back and moans helplessly, Will’s cock inside him and his knot rubbing at his rim and the fingers on his tip all combining to make him completely incoherent.

Pleasure starts to build up in his stomach, and he trashes in Will’s hold. The Alpha shushes him, jacking him off faster, his cock relentless against his prostrate.

“I’m close, Will-ah, I’m so c-close,” he whines, bucking up into his hand.

“Fuck, that’s it, Mike, take it. Let go. Come for me.”

Will’s hand twists at the head of his cock, and that’s all it takes.

“Will! Will, ah, Alpha-ah!” His throws his head back, and his back arches, as his orgasm overtakes him with white, burning bliss. His dick spurts cum, hot white stripes that paint his chest. Wave after wave crash into him and he’s helpless against it.

Will fucks him through it, quick as he hurries to find his own pleasure. Mike’s eyes roll back into his skull, limp in his hold. It doesn’t take long for Will to reach his own high – and when he does, his knot finally grows into its proper size and locks them in place. It sends Mike into his third orgasm of the night, and he sobs all the way through it, shaking with pleasure.

When Mike comes down, Will’s arms are around him. He feels the other boy gently guiding them down to the nest and lets himself be manhandled until he’s lying on his side, Will spooning him from behind.

His alpha brings the covers around them and wraps him into a hug, until Mike’s safe and warm and held. Will’s cock stays inside him, the knot keeping them locked for at least another twenty minutes.

Mike shuffles back into Will and makes a happy sound. Will nuzzles into his neck in response.

Mike smiles, big and giddy. “I like that,”

Will kisses his neck and cheek and does it again and again until Mike’s a giggling mess. The brunet cuddles him close. “I like that too.”

He sighs happily, “We should do that again.”

“Mike…” Will says fondly, sounding a bit exasperated, “I don’t think we’ll be doing much else for the next three days.”

Ah yes. He’s in heat. He’ll have Will just for himself for the following days. His Alpha will take care of him and fuck him again and kiss him and cuddle him. He grins like a fool and before he knows it, a soft, rumbling noise rises up in his chest. He’s purring.

Will stills for a second. And then he’s hugging Mike close, peppering his face with kisses. “Sweetie, god, you’re adorable, please never stop that,”

Mike grins and purrs some more, happy and content.

Will leans forward and presses a sweet, soft kiss on his lips. “Try to get some sleep, okay, baby? You need your strength before the next wave hits.”

Mike grabs Will’s hand and intervenes their fingers together. “You’ll be here, right?”

Will chuckles and demonstratively rocks his hips forward, making both of them softly groan. “Can’t exactly leave now, can I?”

Well, yeah, but that’s not what he meant. He pouts, “Yeah, but… after. If I wake up after we’re disconnected… will you be here?”

He looks back at Will, his best friend, his Alpha, his mate. Will caresses his cheek, unbearably soft. “I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”

Will’s hazel eyes look at him with tenderness and care and love. Mike’s eyes start to tear up. “Okay,” he whispers.

Will smiles, soft, a little bit teary-eyed as well. “Okay.”

Mike turns around then and lays down. He nuzzles into the pillow, safe in his nest and Will’s arms. The words slip out of him almost without his permission. “I love you.”

The last thing he hears before he falls asleep, is Will’s very soft “I love you too,”. Mike falls asleep with a smile.

***

The heat passes in a haze of fucking, sleeping and cuddling.

They get about two hours of sleep before Mike wakes up again with cramps in his stomach and a desperate need for a knot. He pushes Will down and rides him like a feral beast. Will looks up at him with teary eyes and calls him pretty and Mike comes sobbing.

They sleep whenever they can. Will holds him on his lap and feeds him pieces of protein granola bars, specifically made for Omegas in heat. He helps him drink and nuzzles his cheek with his nose and calls him good. They cuddle and scent each other and fuck.

By the morning of the fourth day, Mike’s heat finally passes.

He wakes up snuggled under the covers, content and comfortable, surrounded by his and Will’s scent. For a second he lies there, just enjoying it. He likes this. He wants to stay here, forever, preferably. It takes him until he shifts back to get closer to Will, that he realizes he’s alone in his nest.

For a second, he panics. Will’s not there with him and he can’t see him anywhere. He sits up and winces at the soreness between his legs. The muscles of his thighs and arms and core and back all hurt. He must have pulled about every single muscle he has. He feels sticky and kind of gross.

And his hole… ugh. He finally stopped leaking slick like a faucet, it seems, but now it all dried up on his thighs, along with the cum… and God, he still has Will’s cum leaking out of him.

It should be disgusting. Somehow, even after three whole days of orgasms his dick twitches.

He needs a shower. And fresh air. And something to eat.

And cuddles. And kisses. He needs Will.

Will who’s not here right now. Fuck. Will who probably realized the heat was over and left.

It’s over now, he thinks to himself, he did that to help you because he’s a good friend. He brings his knees to his chest. And you just pushed yourself onto him like a stupid whore.

He feels sick. The events of the past few days flash through his mind, hazy memories and sex and kisses that felt genuinely then but feel anything but now. He remembers how often he told Will he loved him and cringes.

You stupid fucking idiot, he buries his face into his knees, you pathetic silly loser. Will may have said it back, but he was probably doing it to calm Mike down. And he’s an Alpha – he was obviously affected by Mike’s heat scent. Who wouldn’t fuck a willing Omega in heat?

“Mike?” a voice cuts through the room, too familiar and sounding too worried for his liking, “Are you okay?”

Mike slowly looks up. Will stands at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes wide. He’s wearing new clothes, clean ones. His hair is wet, a few strands sticking to his forehead.

A shower, his brain supplies, he went to wash your scent off as soon as he could.

He lets out a low, utterly pathetic whine. He doesn’t know where it comes from and he immediately pushes his face right into his knees, but it’s unmistakable. He sounds like a sad dog chained in front of his owners’ house in the winter, howling to be let back in.

But before he can spiral out further, before the tears start falling from his eyes and he embarrasses himself further, there are hands on his shoulders.

“Mike, Mike, hey, I’m here, it’s okay, what’s going on?” Will crouches in front of him. His voice cracks, unsure and worried.

He doesn’t say anything. Just tips forward, leaning into his arms. He can’t stop himself. He needs Will. He’s always needed him, but he’s been good at hiding it before. Before… all those years… he spent so long bottling it up. Now? Now he let the dam burst, once, and he can’t push it back in.

Will gathers him in his arms and holds him close, until Mike’s tucked beneath his chin. He smells clean, like soap and shampoo. Mike can smell his scent, but it’s softer than it was during his heat, and there’s barely a trace of Mike’s own smell on him.

“Mike, hey, it’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

He forces the words out. “You were gone. I thought – thought you left.”

“Fuck, no, no,” Will pulls away and grabs his chin until he’s looking in his eyes. They’re firm. Mike can’t look away even if he wants to, “I’m sorry. I’m not leaving. I shouldn’t have gone before you woke up.”

He gulps. “Okay,”

Will’s expression crumples. The hand goes to Mike’s hair, softly petting the curls. “I’m really sorry. Jonathan said your hormones might go complete haywire after your heat before you settle back down. I wanted to wake up with you, but I was really sticky. I wanted to come back before you woke up. I’m sorry.”

Right. Right. Omega hormones. Because that’s all he is, a stupid –

But – no. He shuts that trail of thought before it goes further. Mike knows he loves to mope. His brain turns on him more times than it doesn’t. And Will is here now. Will said he wanted to wake up with him. Maybe… maybe it’s not as bad.

He looks at the ground. “I thought you could tell my heat was over, so you left. Nothing else to do here, is there?”

Will is quiet for a while. Then he snorts.

Mike tries to not let it hurt him. “What?”

Will laughs again, but his eyes are mirthless. “Nothing to do here? Really, Mike?”

He opens his mouth. Will cuts him off before he can speak. “I’m not an asshole who’d just use you and leave. You need to shower and I don’t think you can even walk right now. Your hormones need to settle down so you need an Alpha here to help regulate them. And if I don’t scent you and leave you alone now, your Omega will start feeling rejected and you’ll get depressed and probably do something silly, like starting those fucking suppressants again. No, Mike, there’s clearly much more to do here. And,” uncertainty flickers in his eyes, “and I feel like I shouldn’t need a reason to be here now, when I care about you. And you should know that, seeing as I’ve been quite vocal about my feelings for you for the past few days.”

Oh.

Oh!

His heart thumps loudly in his chest. The words connect in his brain along with Will’s unsure, hesitant expression and his cheeks start burning. Feelings. Feelings.

“I thought you just said that because of the heat,” he says stupidly.

Will huffs out a soft laugh. He looks nervous. His hands are in his lap now, playing with one another. He’s tearing at a cuticle with one of his thumbs. He’s always done this, always, ever since they were little.

Anytime things got bad with Lonnie, Will would come to school with bloody fingers and dinosaur band-aids. Mike has long since learnt to watch him closely anytime his fingers got all fucked up.

He’s freaking out now, but Will is freaking out too, and he can’t stand that. Not once.

He grabs his hand and stops him from hurting himself further.  “I um… I kind of just started freaking out about you not meaning those words, so… I’m glad you did.”

Will’s breath hitches. “I… oh. Yeah?”

He looks at him now, with hesitant, hopeful eyes. Mike feels like he could drown in them. He loves him so much it hurts.

“Yeah,” he squeezes the hand, feeling like he did back then, all those years ago on the couch in this room, when he held Will’s hand that Halloween night, “I meant them too.”

And Will melts. His eyelashes flutter, shock and then happiness in his gaze and then a beautiful smile stretches across his cheeks. His front little bunny teeth are on display, and he looks so beautiful Mike can’t help but smile too, until they’re both grinning at each other like fools.

“Okay,” Will says.

“Okay,” Mike agrees.

And then he leans forward and kisses him. His Alpha kisses right back.

It’s softer now. Sweeter. Calm and gentle and much slower. When they pull back, Will leans his forehead on his and they stay like that for a bit, just breathing.

“I’m sorry for not being here when you woke up,” Will whispers.

“It’s okay. I freaked out over nothing.”

“No. No, you didn’t. Let me take care of you, you idiot.”

Mike huffs. He’s too happy to care for the insult, “Your idiot.”

It gains him a kiss one the cheek, “Yes. My idiot. I… Fuck, I was worried. I wasn’t sure if you really wanted it – this, the heat – with me. I… you did, right? I should have checked better, I –”

Mike pulls away and lifts his eyebrows and then just stares.

He says nothing. Will shifts under his gaze. “What?”

“Have I thrown myself at Lucas?” he asks.

“Um… no?”

“Even though he was an Alpha in my vicinity and I was in heat.”

Will looks away. “I… okay, yeah. But the fact that your Omega wanted me doesn’t change anything.”

And Mike sighs. Because he knows. Because there are too many stories of Omegas bonded unwillingly, of those whose biology betrayed them, of Alphas who took advantage of them. He knows. The fact that Will worries just shows how good he is. Mike hates to think he doesn’t see that.

He leans back and gently takes his face into his hands. Will looks back. “I love you. I wish… I wish our first time wasn’t like this. But I’ve never wanted to spend my heat with anyone else. Okay, Will? I wanted you. I never said anything before, because… because I was scared shitless that you’d reject me. But you have nothing to worry about. I’m the one who threw myself all over you, so… um…”

“Mike,” Will looks pained, “I spent most of my life thinking you’d reject me. I loved you for years and I thought it was so hopeless I tried all I could to get you with Jane.”

California flashes through his mind like an unwanted visitor. He remembers it, the hot air, the days in the van, seeing Will at the airport suddenly tall and broad and freaking out and then him and El, and Rink-O-Mania…

No, those weren’t his proudest moments. “I feel like we have a lot to talk about.”

Will smiles. “Yeah. I feel like we do. But later, yeah? Do you want a shower? Do you want me to scent you? Breakfast? Water?”

And really, whoever said Omegas were the mother-hens was lying.

He kisses Will right on the tip of his pretty nose and smiles. “I need a proper kiss and then shower. I’m sticky.”

Will gives him the sweetest smile and then kisses Mike for a very long time.

When he pulls back, his face grows hesitant again.

“What?” Mike asks.

Will sighs. “Just… was everything okay during your heat? I kind of called you a few pretty mean names. I’m so sorry, I was really horny.”

Mike blinks. Will looks as red as a tomato. He knows what Will’s talking about. And maybe it was a bit degrading, but… “It was hot.”

“It was hot?”

“Yes.”

“I called you a bitch in heat and you’re not even mad?”

Mike bites his lips. “I was really horny too, okay?”

They stare at each other. They’re on each other the next second, making out as if they haven’t spent the last three days fucking.

Too soon, as far Mike is concerned, the kiss ends. Will nips his lips with his teeth and pulls away. “Come on. Shower.”

Mike sighs. He really, really does need one, though.

It turns out he in fact cannot walk on his own. Will frets over him, helps him into his clothes and murmurs apologies the whole time. They’re old and kind of gross but Will promises he’ll get him clean ones soon. Mike calls him silly. Will sticks his tongue at him. They end up making out again.

He walks the stairs with Will’s help and stops before the door. He’s not sure he can face anyone now. He looks at Will. The other boy reads his thoughts without him having to say a word.

“No one’s here. I checked. Your Mom left a note in the kitchen. They all expected it’d be over today, so they decided to give us a little bit of space.”

“Ah,” he says intelligently.

They all know. And, of course they do, there’s no way they don’t, but… his parents know. His sisters know. All of his friends know. He’s certain everyone in their group all the way to Steve Harrington has heard he’s an Omega now.

“Hey,” Will pulls him closer, “It’s okay, yeah? Your Mom was worried sick about you. Holly drew you pictures so you’d get better. Nancy threatened your father with a gun. They all love you.”

“A gun?” he felt overwhelmed.

Will’s scent turned bitter, “I only heard bits from Jane and Jonathan when they came to give us food.”

“That happened?” he frowns. He has no recollection of this.

Will smiles, “You were asleep. You wouldn’t let me out of your grasp otherwise. Like an octopus,” he grins.

Mike groans. “Fine, fine, sure. Are we going to stand here forever, or…?”

They open the door. The walk to the bathroom is slow, first, because Mike’s legs still feel like Jello and second, because he keeps expecting someone to jump from around the corner.

But the house is empty, just like Will said. The fresh air hits him and he takes it in, suddenly realising just how stale the air in the basement has gotten. He’s glad it didn’t bother him until now. The entire basement must smell like them now, like sex and heat and WillandMike.

He thinks about the nest – a proper nest in Will’s bed and has to bite down a smile.

Will loves him. Will spent his heat with him. Will is, in fact, a really hot and capable Alpha. Will loves him.

When they get to the bathroom, Will sits him down on the closed toilet seat and goes about helping him out of his clothes.

Mike protests a little bit but lets him, failing to contain the little happy purrs his Omega lets out. Will just smiles at him like he’s something precious and Mike melts even further.

Despite this, his mind goes back to what he heard in the basement. He finally speaks when Will starts fiddling with the water settings. “Could you elaborate on the gun and my dad bit?”

Will helps him stand up and holds his hand as Mike gets into the shower. He feels a bit stupid at first, but then the other boy starts to undress and his mind goes blank. The shirt goes first, revealing a broad chest and strong arms and Mike forgets all about being embarrassed. He watches him fold the shirt with quick precise motions, the fabric quickly straightening out under his nimble, long fingers.

He thinks of those fingers… and what they’ve done to him, long and clever, how deep they’ve reached… He’s sure he would be hard by now, if he hasn’t just finished his heat. Now his dick doesn’t even twitch.

Will, oblivious to Mike’s horniness, answers Mike’s question. “Once the Party rushed out of the basement, they told everyone what happened and apparently… well, apparently your father started yelling some really gross things.”

All traces of arousal quickly leave. He can imagine pretty well what Ted Wheeler had to say. He says nothing.

“And Jonathan said he threatened to kick you out of the house, and Nancy, just, well, just blew up. She got into a huge screaming match with him. And then he started to pull some Alpha bullshit, about being Pack Alpha and started growling at her, to make her submit, and Nancy – well, you know your sister.”

Mike huffs. “She never responded well to that.”

“Decidedly not,” Will smiles and gets in. Soon, the shower’s on. Mike feels the warm water hit his skin and relaxes.

“What did she do? I mean… Dad is the Pack Alpha.” He knows his sister is strong, but biology is biology. And standing up to your parents is not easy even for Betas.

“Well, I don’t really know. Jonathan said she looked so angry she was near possessed. He said he’s never seen her uses her pheromones or try to outpower anyone as an Alpha – but she made your father step down.”

Mike picks up the shower gel but doesn’t do anything with it. His minds reels. “I… how?”

“She apparently hides a gun behind the sofa in the living room. She told him he was threatening her Pack and that he wasn’t welcome anymore. And when he tried to argue, she aimed it straight at him and told him to get out. After that, he stormed the whole house, grabbed his things and just left.”

He feels numb. Will gently pulls the bottle away from his hands and he barely notices. “Mike?”

“Um. Right. He’s gone then. Because of me.”

“Mike. You don’t want a person like that in your life.”

He thinks of Lonnie. He thinks of the bruises on Will’s skin, age seven, stick-thin pale arms coloured blue and purple. He thinks of hugging Will in Castle Byers after Lonnie left, saying with full conviction Will was better off without him. He remembers Will smiling more after his father left.

He looks at the Will of now and knows it’s true. It doesn’t mean he has to like it. It doesn’t mean his eyes aren’t burning.

Will brings his fingers to his cheek, gently caressing the skin under his eye. “Hey. Don’t cry. It’ll be okay. He’s an asshole.”

He sniffs. “Okay,”

“Besides,” Will gives him a small smile, trying to lighten up the mood, “the new head of your family would murder me if she found out you’re crying.”

Mike laughs. “Please. Nancy adores you.”

“Oh, really? She’s kind of terrifying.”

“Absolutely. But she thinks you’re nice and you remind her of Jonathan, so…” he grins. Will grins back.

They both know how deeply his sister cares about Jonathan Byers.

Will opens the shower gel. “Come on, let’s get you clean.”

Mike has spent most of his life believing showering with someone would be hot and sexy. It turns out to be a bit awkward. He feels silly, standing here buck-naked, despite Will having seen all of him already. But with Will here, naked too, it’s… kind of nice. Intimate. He finds out Will has a mole under his arm, that he somehow hasn’t noticed before. He kisses it, just because and Will calls him silly.

They wash off and he leans down and lets his best friend lather shampoo into his hair. It feels really nice.

“You don’t mind getting wet again?” he asks, knowing Will has already done this once.

“No. I think it settles my Alpha a bit, to take care of you, you know?”

He knows. His Omega’s happy. And that’s yet another thing he’s barely had a chance to progress.

They know about his second gender now. And they… don’t care? Nancy kicked their father out because of him? Every single one of his friends found out something he was so ashamed of, and they accepted it?

Will accepts it?

The hands disappear from his head. “Mike?”

He leans their foreheads together, barely caring about the suds he’s getting onto Will. “I wish I was a Beta.”

“Oh.”

They’re silent for a long while.

Will looks at him with a look that feels incredibly heavy. Mike closes his eyes.

“I mean,” he says again, trying to explain it, somehow, perhaps even to himself, “I like what we have now. I… God, I pined over you before, but I always thought our genders would mess things up, and now we’re an Alpha and Omega pair? And you spent your first heat with me? That’s amazing. More than I could dream of. But I…” He trails off, lost.

“Is it…” Will starts, then bites his lips. When he speaks again, his voice is careful, “You’re not happy as an Omega. But is it because you don’t feel like you are one?”

Mike frowns in confusion. He’s not sure he follows.

Will continues. “I mean, if I got it right, you didn’t let yourself be an Omega at all. You presented and immediately went onto suppressants. I… I mean, did you do it because you were scared of how the others and your dad would react, or because you want to be a Beta? I… I’ve heard about people who changed their secondary genders before. If you really don’t feel like an Omega, we could look into it.”

And… oh. He knows what Will’s hinting at and now that he thinks about it, he really does sound like that from the outside. He’s heard about people who’ve shifted their secondary or primary genders before. His father has of course said plenty vile things about them. Mike always thought people should be who they want to be. But…

“No. I… I don’t want to be a Beta. Actually, I don’t think I want to be an Alpha either. But… It’s just hard. You know how they treat male Omegas. You know what they all say. And… I know, logically, that I’m not weak for being one, but… It would have just been easier. You know?”

And the fact that he knows something, doesn’t really mean he feels it.

Will pulls away. He says nothing for a long while and Mike slowly despairs as he watches him fiddle with the shower head. When he hands it to him so Mike can wash the suds out of his hair, he does so in silence.

Maybe he said something wrong. Maybe Will would have preferred if Mike just had gender issues and not… whatever this was.

When he gets the suds out and hands him the shower head back, Will is picking at his thumb. Mike tries to make it better, somehow.

“I mean, I mostly just hid because I was scared of how you would react, so now that it’s out, it’s good, so –”

“I hated being and Alpha when I presented.”

Mike shuts up. He stares.

“What?”

Will looks down on the ground. He lifts one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “You know how Lonnie was. And with everyone always saying I’d be an Omega… I mean I was surprised. And then… then I just got scared. Because my father’s been a terrible Alpha. And because when I presented I…” he closes his eyes.

“What?”

“It was right there with you. And I pushed myself all over you. Like some stupid, disgusting, horrible person. I was horrified that it’d happen again. And that… That I wouldn’t stop. Even if you wanted me to.”

Mike has never heard anything more stupid. “Will, you wouldn’t. You’re not like him. You didn’t hurt me back then. I mean, it was mostly the opposite, seeing as I presented right after, but um… You really have nothing to worry about.”

He thinks of his words from earlier, how worried he sounded about spending the heat with Mike and his chest hurts. “Oh, Will,” he whispers.

It takes one teary look from Will to bring him into his arms and hug him as tight as he can. Will breaks down. “I just – I don’t want to be like him.”

“You’re not. You’re not.”

“I keep growling at people,” he sniffs, “like some fucking beast. Lucas took one step towards you when I came back from my rut and I almost bit his head off.”

“But you didn’t. You never hurt anyone. You never would.”

“But I wanted to.”

Mike shakes his head. It makes his nose bury further into Will’s hair. “But you didn’t. You’re not like him. You’re not violent. You’ve been nothing but good.”

Will sighs. His voice sounds resigned. “I know. I know. I’ve had at least ten conversations like this already. But I still don’t like it. I know Alphas are protective and caretaking and good as well – but I know I could easily not be those things. So I… I get it. But it’s stupid. It’s so stupid that you’re saying you don’t want to be weak when you’re our leader and I never saw you as anything but strong. And… And I guess you probably think I’m being stupid about myself too, right now.”

And that’s… the best way Mike could have put it. He leans back to look him in the eye. Will’s not crying, fortunately, but he looks sad. Mike smiles at him as best as he can. “We’re both total messes, huh?”

And Will laughs. His eyes sparkle again. Mike kisses him because he can’t stop himself and because he can.

When they pull away, he cups Will’s face. “You’re a good person. You’re kind. You’re nothing like your father. You’re better. And I love you. I love that the world can see how strong you are.”

“Mike –”

“And you were the best Alpha I could ask for, for my heat. You were perfect. You are perfect.”

There. He said it. Mike from a weak ago would die before admitting to any of this. But the Mike of today has kissed Will several times. The Mike of today knows Will loves him back. The Mike of today can’t really stand Will being sad.

Will presses a kiss into the palm on his cheek. When he smiles, those cute bunny teeth appear again. “I love you. You don’t know how happy I am right now.”

Mike doesn’t know what else to do, so he kisses him again.

They finish their shower. They towel off. Mike wraps his boyfriend in a big towel and calls him adorable until Will’s blushing and rolling his eyes.

They put their clothes on – clean ones, that Mike doesn’t even know were there. When he asks, Will blushes a bit. “I put them here before because I kind of thought you’d want to shower.”

Mike’s heart does an Olympic-medal worthy flip. In an ideal world, he’d say something nice, but in the end he just squeaks.

Will giggles at him, though, so he supposes it’s okay.

When they’re both clothed and ready to go, however, he sniffs the air and realizes the only scent on him is his own. He looks at Will. “Scent me?”

The Alpha grins and very quickly complies. They end up standing there, nuzzling their faces into each other’s necks until they’re both laughing. Mike never wants to leave. Combined they smell like each other – coffee and sugar and cinnamon. They smell like a bakery. They smell happy.

Mike has spent a long time being scared of who he was – but he can’t imagine going back to the way things were ever again. Not when he has this.

***

His mother cries when she comes home from her yoga class with Holly. She hugs him tight and apologizes, sobbing into his hair.

“I’m so sorry you ever felt like you had to hide. I failed you. I’m so sorry. I love you so much.”

He feels very, very awkward and does his best to pat her back and tell her it’s fine. But inside, something cracks. He loves his Mom. He doesn’t know what he would do if he had lost her too.

Holly’s still a bit small to really understand what happened, but she hugs him and talks his ear off. “I missed you! You smell nice now! Mom said you took bad pills before – don’t do that.”

She smells like a puppy, a worried, anxious puppy and he crouches down and scents her, just the way his Mom always did to them and just how his Omega itches to. He loves her. He used to be so annoyed by her when he was younger, a whiny stupid boy annoyed by his little sister, but he loves her. He feels stupid for this now.

Holly turns away all giggly. “You smell like cinnamon rolls! Mom, I want a cinnamon roll!”

They call the Byers household. One, because Joyce has probably been fretting about Will, and two, because Nancy has been staying with Jonathan over at their house this whole time.

He listens to Will talk to his mother and feels his stomach clench. Nancy.

He doesn’t know if he can face her. He knows she loves him. But maybe that’s worse.

The Byers come over. Joyce comes in with her soft flowery scent and hugs her son close. When she turns to Mike, he has one moment to briefly panic before she hugs him as well, and he thinks he might start crying again.

“You worried us all, Mike,” she tells him, “Karen has been worried sick. You could have severely hurt yourself with those pills, do you understand?”

He looks away. “Um. Yeah, I –”

“We all care about you. And I’m glad Will has you now. You’re a good kid. Just let us help you next time, okay?”

For a moment he wonders why his Mom couldn’t have dated Joyce Byers, so he’d never have to deal with Ted Wheeler as the second parent. Come to think of it, his Mom always lights up whenever she’s around. He’s caught them talking and laughing about something quite a lot of times.

He’s glad his Mom has a good friend like that.

He nods quickly, feeling like a little kid, but also blinking very fast to not cry. His Mom is there soon, a hand on his shoulder. “You will be seeing a doctor, soon.”

He doesn’t argue with that, because he knows it’s futile.

And then he looks away from his Mom and his almost-Mom (Mom-in law soon, maybe?) and sees Nancy in the doorway. It takes one look between them, one second for their eyes to lock, and then she marches over and hugs him.

She starts very aggressively scenting him, cursing the whole time. “You absolute idiot,” she buries her nose in his hair while he bends down to accommodate his upset, but very short sister, “you’re so fucking stupid.”

“Thanks,” he tries.

She smells like the hearth. Like wood and fire. It’s an Alpha scent, but it doesn’t feel fun like Will’s, or threatening like his father’s used to. It feels like home.

Some people would tell you Mike started crying at this point. Those sources would be lying and should not be trusted.

After that, it’s a blur. Jonathan looks at him with sad big eyes the whole time, but offers help if Mike ever needs it. His Mom starts going on about getting him to a doctor, and how this heat was an emergency situation and they’re both lucky Joyce put Will on the pill right after he presented, so Mike didn’t end up with pups, and at this point Mike just wants to die.

He’s really glad he’s not pregnant. He’d also rather not talk to his Mom about this, though.

He asks about his father. Mom says he took his things and drove off to his brother in Chicago. She looks a bit sad, but when he tries to apologize, she very firmly shakes her head and tells him she should have kicked him out herself ages ago.

She looks distraught. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. You never should have felt unsafe here. I truly am sorry.”

Joyce squeezes her hand. Mike shakes his head, voice coming out in strangled bits. “I – I was scared. But I. I never thought I wouldn’t be safe with you. I just. I just didn’t want you to be disappointed.”

His mother’s expression breaks. She looks at him with teary eyes filled with sadness, but also pure, overwhelming love. “You could never disappoint me. I love you so, so much.”

He lets her hug him again. He loves her a lot too. He doesn’t think he can blame her for his father. It’s enough for him to know he has her on his side.

The doctor he ends up seeing two days later tells him if he took his suppressants for much longer, he’d be at a great risk of becoming infertile. His blood work comes out slightly worse than it should be and it’s when Mike sees the numbers saying his liver has taken damage – fixable, but noticeable – that he considers the full reality of his actions.

He can’t say he’s happy his gender got out the way it did. But looking at the numbers, he thanks God he forgot his pills that day.

Facing the rest of the Party is maybe just as hard as facing his family. They meet up at the WSQK, the six of them, while Robin and Steve do their radio job upstairs.

When he and Will walk in, Robin gives him a big smile and starts rambling about how it’s nice to have another Omega around and that they can go look for nesting blankets together. Steve facepalms next to her. Mike scurries away down to the basement and tries to not let the ground swallow him whole.

He likes Robin. Somewhat. Not a lot when she keeps dragging Will around, though.

But Robin and Steve haven’t seen him plaster himself all around Will like a whore. His friends, have in fact been in the basement right when he went into heat. He doesn’t know how he’s going to live this down without dying of embarrassment.

He hopes they’d be the first to come, but when he enters the basement, he finds them all there. Just. Sitting. And staring. At him. And he almost walks right out, except Will squeezes his shoulder so he can’t.

Alright. Well. He fought Demogorgons, how hard can this be?

He scratches the back of his neck. “Um. Hi.”

Four pair of eyes blink at him.

It’s Lucas who breaks the silence. “Are you okay?”

Dustin gives him a wave. “You sort of gave us all a heart attack dude!”

And then El is leaning forward in her seat. “Will was nice to you, yes?”

And Max shakes her head and waves her cane in his direction. “Of course, Will was nice to him, the question should be if Wheeler was nice to Will.”

That gets him. “Hey!”

She’s such a bitch sometimes, except they’re all laughing at him now. He tries to not feel hurt, but then he sees that even Will is smiling. “You know what, I’m never talking to any of you again. Ever.”

He starts walking away, but Will’s there, throwing his arms around him. “Noo, don’t leave. We love you.”

“I don’t think Mayfield does.”

She grins at him. “You bet your ass I don’t.”

“Wow. Okay. I liked you better when you were in a coma.”

It’s mean, and it would be too much, maybe, if it was someone else. Max just blows a raspberry at him. “I liked it too, ‘cause you weren’t there.”

He throws his arms in the air. Trust Max to be a jerk any situation they’re in. He might be smiling. It’s good she can’t see it.

“Will, do we have to be friends with her?” He whines.

Max stands up from the couch and makes her way towards him. “Yes, Wheeler, you do. Sucks to be you, I know.”

It’s telling by how she doesn’t smack him with her cane like she usually does. She stops in front of him, her voice serious. “Can I hug you?”

And Mike might call her names every single time he sees her but he actually likes her a lot. “Yeah.”

She hugs him. It’s the first time smelling her scent up-close, most of it mixing with Lucas’ and El’s. But he can smell her, the sharp scent of lemons and lime and other citruses he can’t place.

She pulls away but keeps her hands on his shoulder. “You scared the fuck out of us. You should have told us.”

He gulps. “I… I didn’t want you to see me differently.”

She scrunches her nose. “I can’t see you anyway, dumbass.”

“Not what I meant, and you know it,” he grouses. Max smiles a bit. The rest of his friends watch them with mixed reactions, some smiling, some looking quite sad.

El comes over and hugs him as well.  “We love you. You should have told us.”

“Yeah,” he tries, weakly, “I sort of just panicked, though?”

“About? Do you think we’d just, like, kick you out, or something?” Dustin scoffs.

Will frowns. “Hey. You know it’s not easy.”

“I don’t see why. We’re his friends. It shouldn’t have been hard to be honest with us.”

And this… this is not going as well as he had hoped. His mouth goes dry. Will takes a step forward, his scent turning bitter. Mike can see him opening his mouth, and he steps in before the two of them can start fighting and Mike fucks up something else.

“I know. I shouldn’t have lied. I’m sorry. I didn’t hide this to keep secrets from you on purpose.”

And Dustin deflates like a balloon. He sits there, brown curls framing his face and he looks really, really sad. “I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant – you should know we’re not like that. That we wouldn’t think anything bad about you for this. There is in fact nothing wrong with you being an Omega. You should know that we would stand by you even if you decided to murder someone. Hell, Max would help you hide the body.”

Max shrugs but doesn’t deny it.

He looks away. He can’t. He can’t hear this. He loves them. He loves them so much. He knows, somewhere in his mind, that they love him too. But he often doesn’t feel like he deserves it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers.

Dustin’s there, hugging him before he can do much else. And then Will and then El and Lucas and Max grumbles at them and joins in too, until they’re all standing there in a big hug pile that’s really not as comfortable as the movie make it seem, but that makes the horrible, terrible feeling in Mike’s chest finally go away.

Afterwards, they pile into the couch. Will sits next to him and wraps an arm around his waist. Mike does his best to not wiggle in happiness.

“You know, we were kind of worried you didn’t want to be part of our Pack,” Lucas says.

Mike blinks at him. He has not once thought that way and he’s shocked when he sees the others nodding. El explains from where she sits almost sprawled on Max’s lap. “You never let us scent you. And you never joined in our Pack activities.”

“Oh,” he mumbles, the months coming back to his mind. There were invites he turned down because he felt sick from the pills and letting any of them hug and scent him had been out of the question, “I can see how it would seem that way.”

“Will was worried,” Lucas grins.

“Hey,” the aforementioned Will grumbles, “don’t spill my secrets like that.”

“Oh, what secrets? That you kept calling us?” he puts on a high voice, very badly imitating Will: “Lucas, Lucas, what if Mike wants to leave us, Lucas, what if he hates us!? Wait- ouch!” He yells as Will throws a pillow at him. He goes to throw his own, but Will catches it before it can hit him and sticks his tongue out.

Mike steps in before it can go further. He leans forward and gives his boyfriend a shit-eating grin. “You were worried about me?”

Will pushes his face into the pillow. Mike thinks it’s absolutely endearing. He looks at his friends, however, and the smile falls of his face. He owes them an explanation. He does.

“I wanted you to scent me,” he says, “I really did. And I really want to be part of the Pack. But I was worried if you guys got close, you’d notice I was wearing scent blockers and find out. So I ran off any chance I got.” He rubs the back of his neck. It sounds quite stupid when he says it out loud.

“It makes sense now,” Dustin sighs, “but don’t do it again, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

Hours later after they all go their own ways, Mike stands in front of the WSQK with Will by his side and feels a little ball of light in his chest. He loves them so, so much.

They wave at their friends as they walk away. El grins at them over her shoulder, holding hands with each of her Alphas. Dustin catches a ride home with Steve.

The sun is low and the air feels warm and fresh. Mike looks up at the yellow and blue shades in the sky and smiles.

Will squeezes his hand and shuffles closer.

Mike smiles at him. Will shuffles closer again.

Mike grins. “Hello,”

Will smiles. It’s then Mike notices the smile feels slightly desperate. He can see one of his eyes twitching.

“Will?”

“Come here, before I explode,” the brunet grunts and then Mike’s getting very thoroughly scent-marked. He stands there while his boyfriend rubs his wrists over his head and face and neck and then brings his face to do the same until Mike’s laughing.

“Aww,” he grins, but leans down obediently when Will pulls at the lapel of his jacket, “did you not like me hugging our friends?”

“Shut up,” Will grumbles.

Mike lets him do whatever he pleases. But when Will deems him properly scented and pulls away, he can’t help but tease. “You were getting possessive of me.”

Will puts on an annoyed face. “You know, I don’t think you’d like it very much if I had other Omegas hugging me. Actually,” a dangerous gleam enters his eyes, “I should go see Robin. She’s still closing up at the radio. She gives great hugs, I’m sure she’d be happy to see me-”

Mike’s on him before he can finish. He clutches him tight and furiously shakes his head as he does his best to scent him back. “No. You’re not going to her. No.”

Robin can stay far away from his Alpha.

Will is laughing. His beast of a boyfriend grins up at him. “And who’s possessive now, hm?”

And okay. Fine. Mike can admit defeat. He looks down to say something witty back but stops when he looks into his eyes.

In the light of the setting sun, Will shines. His eyes reflect the last rays of sunlight and his brown hair glow with gold. He’s smiling and blushing and looks at Mike as if he’s the only one who matters, and Mike finds out he doesn’t have anything witty to say.

Will’s smile softens. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” he smiles, “I’m just really happy.”

Will leans forward and presses their lips together. And Mike thinks, that out of all of their kisses, this one might just be the best.