Chapter Text
Mike’s gaze wandered around the stage, searching for his best friend’s familiar amber brown hair. People scrambled around behind him, and a moment later, someone nudged him to go help with someone’s costume zipper, or something like that.
To be honest, Mike didn’t know much, if anything, about theater. Sure, he enjoyed watching shows. He even listened to soundtracks sometimes, the repetitive chorus from Hamilton looping in his head. But when it came to backstage terms, he was as lost as a baby bunny.
Mike lingered for a second before scattering to help with the zipper. As he jammed the dress even worse, his mind began to wander again, wishing he could go back to watching Will. The entire point of him joining theater was to admire Will. Not in a weird way, of course. But he figured if Will had convinced him to join, it’s probably because he wanted Mike to be there for him, to always be first to help adjust his microphone, to attend every vocal lesson, to watch him change from across the room, even if he was supposed to be attending to his own job. But it was normal. That’s just what best friends do.
Once his hand jerked up, he realized he’d finally fixed the zipper, smiling in victory and patting the, now impatient and upset, performer on the shoulder. Mike quickly made his way back to the curtain, searching closely for Will.
Once he spotted him, his eyes locked, never letting Will leave his sight. He danced on stage, his legs elegant and arms perfectly synchronized with his body; they moved like stars shooting across the sky. Right above was Will’s face, a carefully crafted canvas, full of art. His bright brown eyes perfectly complimented his full, pink lips, and his freckles perfectly accented his beautiful, slightly prominent nose. His hair gently blew in front of his face as he danced, but he paid no mind, only focused on his body and the rhythm. His feet were perfectly on beat, and Mike thought he was better than everyone else there.
He didn’t think that it was weird to think these things about Will; it’s just always been like that. Mike thinks Will is pretty, he’s funny, he’s kind. But that’s because they’re such good friends, so of course Mike thinks that. It’s always been normal for Mike to admire Will’s lips, because he’s caught Will doing it, too. That means it must be normal.
Mike suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when the stage got dark, and Will rushed offstage and right into Mike.
“Oops, sorry, Mike!” He rushed to apologize. Mike giggled silently at his clumsiness, ushering Will to come back. The boy quickly ran over.
“What’s the matter?” Will’s voice was soft, and even when he was panting from the exhaustion, there was a sweet undertone to the question.
“Let me fix your mic..” Mike’s voice trailed off as he reached his hands out to Will’s collarbone, the low-cut shirt revealing the upper half of his chest. The top fit him nicely; it was shiny and iridescent, and full of bright colors. The amount of pink and red suited Will amazingly, as they made his eyes stand out. Plus, it fit around the abdomen and right into his waist perfectly. The distance between Mike and Will grew closer as he fidgeted with the mic, but eventually he backed away when he was done.
“There! All fixed.” Mike spoke with arrogance, as if he’d done more than just clip and unclip the microphone.
“Thanks, Mike…” Will seemed a little weary, but slowly walked away, Mike trailing closely behind. Mike’s only job was to make sure the costumes were okay, and to his knowledge, everybody’s costumes were ready and fine, so he decided it was acceptable to follow around his best friend.
Will lowered himself to the ground, taking a seat and gulping down water from his bottle. Mike stared, unaware, until Will looked back up at him.
“So..” Will started, awkwardly.
“You did amazing out there!!” Mike practically shouted as he sat down in front if him, beaming with light. Will was shy, his face now tinted red and his smile barely peeking through his lips. You’d think, for how confident he is on stage, that he’d be the same way around the rest of the cast. But surprisingly, he was still reluctant to make many new friends, and so, he was still fairly quiet around the others.
“Thanks. Did my hair look okay? I don’t think I added enough spray, because it kind of fell in my face.” His voice was soothing, even with the nervous undertones, it made Mike sleepy.
“Yeah! I mean, I think it looked great. Yeah, it was, um.. Great.” Will glanced around awkwardly at Mike’s nervous state.
“Um… okay. Cool.” Mike nodded, internally biting his tongue at his stupidity. Why was he getting so anxious?
“You okay, Mike? You seem nervous, and your face is a little flushed… Do you need water?” Will said softly, offering Mike his water bottle.
“Oh, me? Yep- I’m all good! Just great..” Mike frantically laughed as he accepted the offer, quickly sipping down half the bottle. Will took it back and shook it around, and Mike could’ve sworn he was surprised at the amount gone, but if he was, he didn’t say anything.
“I go back on in 30…” Will mumbles quietly to himself, staring up at the clock. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers, clearly anxious to go back on.
“I could help you rehearse, maybe? I mean- only if you want me to, that is.” The words practically flew out of Mike’s mouth, but Will had a grin on his face, so at least he knew it made sense.
“Okay! Just let me..” Will scrambled around in his bag. He pulled out a packet of papers, and it was thick. He handed it over to Mike.
“Let’s practice my next part.” Mike nodded, and they quickly ran to an empty part of the backstage, clearing their throats and standing across from each other. Will grabbed the papers from Mike, their fingers touching for only a moment. Mike’s face unknowingly grew a bit hot as Will flipped to the correct page.
“So, you start… right here.” Will’s finger guided Mike’s eyes to the starting line. Mike nods and takes the paper, ready to reenact the scene.
“So, my dear Jack… Have you received my letter?” Mike’s voice shook slightly, pausing between each word, like he was unsure if he was saying them right. Will slightly cringed at this, but Mike didn’t notice, and he looked up after his line ended.
“Well, yes, my love. I read it over and over, ten times again just to imagine your voice instead of the ink on paper!” Will’s voice was full of composure, and he spoke as if Mike was really ‘my love,’ and if he actually did read the letter ten times over. Mike idled before reading his part.
“I’m so glad! So…have you decided?” Mike spoke with a bit more confidence.
“In fact, I have. Although, my parents would never approve… I mean, moving all the way to France? On such short notice? Surely they’d detest the idea…” Will spoke with emotion, he seemed genuinely upset about their parents disapproving.
“Please, Jack. It doesn’t matter. All I want is you, so please, don’t let your parents get in the way of our destiny!” Mike spoke with a slight mock in his voice, which Will giggled at. But he quickly gained his composure as he continued.
“…Okay, Mellisa, dear. I will move to France with you.” A tear ran down Will’s face, which surprised Mike. Below the quote was the act of a passionate kiss. Will quickly spoke, though, shattering Mike’s slowly formulating thought.
“Okay, that’s all I needed. I just feel like I won’t get the tear right…” Mike quickly went to gently wipe the tear off of Will’s cheek as he said, “Will, I’m sure you’ll do perfect. You did it here, so of course you’ll be able to do it out there!” Will’s face turned a bright shade of pink at Mike’s gesture, but the boy was oblivious, simply removing his hand and giving Will a grin.
“Okay, I need to get my makeup retouched.. Want to come?” Will asked eagerly, already knowing the answer as he guided Mike to a nearby mirror.
Mike admired Will’s ability to do makeup, and even if it looked like he had no makeup on, you could see the difference when you saw his face before. Thirty minutes managed to pass fairly quickly, and Will set out to go on stage. Mike stared as he received his queue and made his way on, dramatically running up to the so called “Mellisa.”
They hugged and frantically spoke, and “Melissa” spoke with much more emotion than Mike did. Will’s eyes glistened at the girl, and Mike felt a twist in his stomach. He didn’t understand why, because it was just his best friend, and he was only acting.
The couple shortly kissed, their lips dancing around one another’s. Mike stared at the way Will’s lips moved around hers, the way his head slightly tilted back when he kissed her, the way that his eyes fluttered shut and his hands moved to her hips.
Then, the kiss was over. The rest of the show moved rather quickly, and soon enough, Will was running off stage and into Mike’s arms.
“You did awesome, Will!” Mike’s eyes glimmered at the boy, holding him close.
“Thank you!” Will quickly lead Mike away, needing to change out of his current stage clothes. Will stepped aside, out of Mike’s view, and had swiftly changed. Mike was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t admire his friend, but got over it quickly as he followed Will around as he packed up.
As night fell, they rode home together, Will ranting to his mom about the play the entire car ride to Mike’s house. As he was dropped off, he waved goodbye to Will, walking through the lawn and up the porch to his dimly-lit house. Before Mike went to turn the handle, he thought about the performance, how much he enjoyed watching Will, and found himself unable to wait for the next one.