Flowers and Paintbrushes

Chapter 3

When Mike arrived at the campus his eyes widened. Will had told him it was a fancy school but he hadn't told him just how fancy it was. Mike had always assumed it was a much larger accomplishment to be accepted than Will had but it still shocked him. The only uni Mike had ever seen was the one that Lucas and Max were attending, and although it was beautiful, it failed to compare to the large school he stood in front of now. Stunning, just like Will.

Mike didn't admire for too long, knowing WIll would want to show him around and also desperately craving to see his best friends smile once again. He soon found himself in front of Will's dorm room. If he had jogged the whole way there, well, nobody needed to know.

Almost instantly after Mike's knuckles hit the door it was flying open and Mike was met with a facefull of Will Byers.

"Mike!" Will practically leaped at him, wrapping his arms around Mike's chest. If it weren't for Will's light weight Mike definitely would have been toppled over by the sheer force behind Will's enthusiastic hug. Mike hugged back just as tightly, his face dusted a light pink with happiness, trying his best to be careful of the flowers that were still in his hand.

When they pulled apart both boys wore wide smiles. Mike was transfixed by the beautiful face he had missed so much these past few weeks. Calling and writing letters just wasn't the same as seeing Will face to face.

"Come in, come in, my roommate said he'd stay with a friend this weekend! Wasn't that nice of him?"

"Yeah..." Mike said with a nervous smile. He looked down at the flowers in his hand and then back up at Will, who was facing away from him, tidying something up on his desk. "H-Here."

Will turned around and Mike held out the flowers to him. Will's eyes lighting up as he saw them.

"They're Iris'... The uh- The lady at the flower shop said they're supposed to- to offer creative inspiration or something."

Will gently took them from Mike's shaking hands.

"I thought they'd be good. Y;know, considering where you are right now..." Mike said, trying his best to seem casual.

Will laughed and gave Mike a fond smile. "Thanks Mike, I love them."

Mike grinned, "I'm glad."

"I really love flowers, they're so pretty don't you think? These ones have a nice colour."

"They're alright."

Will smiled and rolled his eyes. "Let me find something to put these in and then I'll show you around campus!"

~~~~

"How do you not get lost?"

Will chuckled, "Well, sometimes I did, but my roommate offered to walk with me to my classes. Of course he's not always on time... Usually if you ask someone for help they're pretty nice about it."

Mike couldn't seem to take his eyes off Will, completely entranced.

Will was comfortable here. His shoulders weren't so tense and he didn't fold into himself.He was still a little jittery, something Mike had come to associate the boy with. Even back in elementary school he was a jittery kid and Mike assumed that it would probably always be apart of him.

But he wasn't afraid to smile when he walked down the hall and now he didn't walk close by Mike's side because he was anxious and afraid, it was simply because he wanted to. Will would always be quiet, soft spoken, a little shy, but that's who he was. Innocent in a way Mike couldn't quite explain. Maybe his view was slightly jaded because a part of him would always hold onto the young five year old he'd met on the swings. He was still curious and found wonder in simple things like a few stupid flowers or the softness of the clouds during a sunset. Still sweet enough to rot your teeth with a mischievous streak that only his closest of friends got to see. Mike could tell a giant weight had been lifted off of Will's shoulder once he'd gotten out of Hawkins, left behind his bullies, the intensified homophobia, the upside down.