This one is a little bit different. I looove Byler and Mileven separately, and then I read a few fics of them together, and I really liked that as well, so I thought I'd do my take. I hope you guys enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.
The whole thing was a little bit confusing.
At least, it was for other people.
It wasn't for the three of them.
They knew exactly what was going.
They knew exactly how they felt.
Will Byers had been in love with Mike Wheeler for a really long time.
Maybe right back to when they had first met.
Mike had loved Will just as long, although not quite like that, it had taken him a bit longer to realize exactly just what kind of love he felt, and how deep that went.
Jane Hopper, nicknamed 'El' had come along when they were twelve, and Mike had really liked her.
Will hadn't liked her to begin with, or at least, he had tried not to like her.
Because he had seen how much Mike liked her.
But he couldn't not like her.
Because she was funny and sweet and she made the best waffles from scratch—so much better than the store bought Eggo ones—and she liked playing with Mike's hair, and it made Mike happy, and so it made Will happy.
Even if it made him a little sad to begin with.
It's just...He really wanted to play with Mike's hair as well.
Then Mike went away for a whole summer holiday, when they were fourteen, and when he came back, he was so much taller and his hair had gotten even longer, it had big curls in it, and his eyelashes looked even longer, and his lips looked even fuller, and it wasn't fair how pretty he was.
And then Mike kissed him.
He biked over the day before school went back, when Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler were making out on the couch and ignoring any babysitting duties they might have, and he had kissed Will right on the mouth.
Will was glad it was a surprise, or else he might have thrown up beforehand with nerves.
Because he had been dreaming about kissing Mike for a long time now.
He just never thought it would happen.
Especially with El around.
El.
They had gotten closer over the summer that Mike had been away.
Mike was always going to be his best friend, and Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair were tied for close second, but El...El was different.
He didn't have a crush on her or anything, Will knew for a fact he would never have a crush on a girl.
But he really liked her.
Really.
And they had watched movies and held hands and fallen asleep on the Byers couch a few times.
It was comfortable.
And she had started playing with his hair, like she did with Mike.
Will hadn't known what to say to Mike, but Mike didn't seem to be waiting for a reply, because he had just grinned and started backing away, walking backwards to his bike, eyes still on Will as he picked the bike up from where he had dropped it. When Will lifted his fingers to touch his mouth, where Mike's had been pressed not so long ago, Mike's grin widened, then he got on his bike, and rode away.
The next day at school, the rest of the party teased Mike about his hair.
Except El.
She just smiled and nudged Will in the side, as though to tease him.
Will wasn't sure if it was because she knew what had happened last night, or if it was because she knew about Will's crush.
They hadn't really spoken about it.
Either things.
El liked Mike's hair, especially now that it was longer.
She settled between the two of them when they were on the field, Dustin and Lucas both on their phones, Mike and Will laying on their backs underneath a tree which was sheltering their faces from the hot sun, and she played with both of their hair.
Will was so comfortable he nearly fell asleep.
They started walking each other home, taking turns.
One day, Mike and Will would walk El home.
And then the next, Will and El would walk Mike home.
And the day after that, Mike and El would walk Will home.
It just kept happening.
Mike and Will both still rode their bikes, and they took turns, letting El ride with them.
El's hair was getting longer, it had been cropped short when she had first moved here, and now it was past her shoulders.
Will starting playing with the ends.
He could understand her attraction to doing it with himself and Mike.
It felt nice, smooth and silky.
They were all at Mike's on a Friday night—it was Nancy's eighteenth birthday and there was a big party being thrown because Mike's parents and little sister were out of town. Nancy and Mike had made an agreement that he wouldn't rat on her for having a party, if she let all his friends come over and gave them some beers. Not like he would tell, anyway. Just like he hadn't told his parents when she had walked in on Nancy in bed with both Jonathan and Steve Harrington.
They were having a Star Wars marathon.
There were two big couches, old with the stuffing overflowing, and a few beanbags.
El was in the middle of one couch, Will on one side and Mike on the other.
Dustin was sprawled out on a whole other couch, taking up the whole thing.
Lucas was on the beanbag with Maxine Mayfield sitting on a beanbag beside him, she was new in town, and her and El seemed to get on well.
They were partway through the second movie when Will started playing with El's hair.
She wiggled a little, pressing her head backward, into his touch, and shot him a smile.
They were partway through the third movie when Mike tossed away his second of beer of the evening and reached out a hand, pressing it gently to the middle of El's back, just under where her hair ended.
Will tensed up for a moment, and stopped playing with El's hair.
She could obviously feel the two hands on her, Mike's larger one splayed out on her back, Will's fingers closer to the nape of her neck, tangled in her hair.
She wiggled around a bit, tipping her head from side to side, encouraging Will to keep going.
So he did.
Every time his fingers trailed downward, his hand brushed against Mike's.
Over and over again.
Until Mike finally shifted and covered Will's hand with his own, pressing their fingers together.
Will froze for the second time that evening.
The three of them stayed how they were for about ten minutes, and then El leaned back, pressing both of their hands firmly into the back of the couch, trapped there by her back, still tangled together, and she rested one hand on each on their legs. For Will, it was closer to his knee, which he appreciated, because any higher and he would feel a bit awkward. But for Mike, it was higher up, partially up his thigh, and Mike was totally comfortable with that.
Will was comfortable with that as well?
They stayed like that through the rest of the third movie, and then through the fourth.
Max wanted to go upstairs to see if they could get more drinks, and Lucas would follow her anywhere, so he went with her.
Dustin had already had three and had eaten almost the whole bowl of popcorn, so he had passed out in a food coma a while ago.
El fell asleep while they were waiting for Max and Lucas to get back.
Her head was on Mike's shoulder.
Her legs were pulled up and pressed against Will.
It kind of just made sense from there.
They falteringly talked about it a week later, when they were at El's house, when Cheif Hopper was at work.
Mike really, really liked El.
El really, really liked Mike.
Mike thought he might be in love with Will.
Will knew he was in love with Mike.
El and Will liked each other a lot—as more than friends, but not like they felt about Mike.
And that was okay.
Because when El sat on Mike's lap while they were waiting for Lucas to finish his track practice, Will wasn't jealous.
And when Will had his arms wrapped around Mike, curled up against him like an octopus while watching a movie, El just smiled widely at them.
El showered him with the affection that she knew he was comfortable with, lots of cuddles and hand holding and kisses on the cheek and forehead and when they all slept together, she would rest a hand on his shoulder or arm, just touching him gently.
Mike adored seeing them together, it was all over his face.
And Will loved him.
He was pretty sure he loved them.
They got some weird looks from people at school, when they all held hands, or when Mike would kiss both of them goodbye before class, but Will didn't care.
Their friends didn't care.
Nancy, Jonathan and Steve didn't care, and they made it clear that they would help them if they ever had any questions.
Their parents had different reactions to each other—Mike's parents sort of just ignored it, like they did with a lot of things related to their children. Joyce Byers would clap her hands together and make smushy faces at them when she saw them all together. Hopper would fix the boys with gruff looks, but it was obvious he didn't mind what was happening, because he never stopped them from coming over.
It wasn't conventional, but it worked.
They were still together in their Senior year, and they were at the Byers household, with piles and piles of pamphlets and booklets of colleges they were looking at.
Will wanted to study photography, like Jonathan.
El wanted to study journalism.
Mike wanted to study engineering.
And they refused to be separated.
El's course could be studied at most colleges, so now they were just finding somewhere both Will and Mike's courses were.
Mike had a short attention span, and he was done with looking through the magazines.
He started with kissing Will's neck, just under his ear.
Will was still so focused on the booklets that he just patted Mike away with a roll of his eyes.
So Mike started kissing El, starting with her bare shoulder, then over the strap of her singlet, and then up her neck.
El was more than happy to engage, and she pushed back against him, so that they flopped down on Will's bed.
It was nothing too heated, because Joyce and Hopper were in the kitchen, but they carried on long enough that Will ended up looking up.
El smirked at him and grabbed his arm, pulling them into their pile of limbs.
Will looped an easy arm around El's waist as he reached forward to kiss Mike.
Mike grinned from where he was lying underneath them, head on Wills pillow, curls splayed out.
El wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders, and she leaned forward to nuzzle her face against his neck before passing by him to kiss Mike. She kissed his cheeks and the side of his face as Will licked and bit at his mouth.
They all broke apart at Joyce's yell that dinner was ready in five minutes, and Will huffed against Mike's cheek.
Mike just laughed.
El giggled as she tumbled off where she was straddling Mike's legs and fell down on the bed beside him.
Will stayed where he was, stretched out over Mike, and he reached out to rest one hand on El's stomach.
She covered his hand with hers, giving him a gentle smile.
Will didn't care if this was something other people didn't understand.
He was happy.
He loved them.
So much.
He barely even knew who he would be without them.
They were all still curled together when Joyce came to collect them for dinner.
Let me know what you think x