(a/n) the song in this chapter was requested by some readers! it's called always by bon jovi, enjoy!

——

bill watched mike as he read over his horror story draft. he kept finding himself glancing at his lips and feeling a blush creep up on his cheeks. bill wanted to kiss him. he just wanted to be able to kiss him and it not be weird or end with them hooking up. maybe eddie was right. maybe he liked him more than a friend. he wasn't sure and part of him didn't want to be sure.

"this is really good," mike told him, "like really fucking good!"
"you r-really think so?"
"yes! you're so talented! i honestly don't know how you do it."
"thanks," he smiled, "is th-there anything y-you'd change?"
"um," mike quickly scanned over the draft again, "nope."
"that's h-helpful."
"you wanted my honest opinion, i gave you my honest opinion."

bill rolled his eyes and took the laptop from mike. he saved the document and closed the laptop. he stood up and put it on his table.

"whataya w-wanna do?" bill asked, "we could go out to the café, see a movie maybe. we h-have the whole d-day."
"oh, i have this assignment thing for my art class where i have to paint a landscape. we could go to the beach and catch the sunset."
"sounds good."

——

bill and mike sat in the back of his truck looking at the sunset. mike had a small canvass in front of him, paint brushes, a glass of water and some water colour paints. bill had with him a bluetooth speaker and a packet of original doritos. mike had told him that they were gross and he should've got supreme cheese, but bill didn't listen. bill played his bon jovi playlist on repeat, knowing mike was a huge fan.

this romeo is bleeding, but you can't see his blood

mike dipped his brush in the water and scanned over the colours of paint. he chose the dark orange and began painting.

it's nothing, but some feelings that this old dog kicked up

mike furrowed his brows and glanced up at the sunset. he chewed on the inside of his lip and furrowed his brows.

it's been raining since you left me, now i'm drowning in the flood. you see i've always been a fighter, but without you i give up

bill tapped his finger on his knee in time with the music. he looked over at mike who had doing the same with his spare hand. he smiled and turned back it the sunset.

now i can't sing a love song like the way it's meant to be

bill started singing along. mike grinned and joined in.

well, i guess i'm not that good anymore, but baby that's just me

mike used his brush as a microphone and bill giggled.

yeah i, will love you, baby, always and i'll be there forever and a day, always

mike laughed too, but continued singing.

i'll be there til the stars don't shine, til the heavens burst and the words don't rhyme. i know that when i die, you'll be on my mind and i'll love you always

bill rolled his eyes lovingly at his energy and mike just laughed in response. he went back to painting, still softly singing to the song.

now your pictures that you left behind are just memories of a different life. some made us laugh, some made us cry, one that made you have to say goodbye

mike dipped his paintbrush in the water again and chose to use a yellow to finish off the sky. he filled in the top of the canvas with soft strokes, blending the orange and yellow together.

what i'd give to run your fingers through your hair, touch your lips to hold you near, when you say your prayers try to understand, i've made mistakes, i'm just a man

bill watched mike as he glanced up at the sunset and continued painting.

when he holds you close, when he pulls you near, when he says the words you've been needing to hear, i'll wish i was him 'cause these words are mine to say to you til the end of time

and i, will love you, baby, always and i'll be there forever and a day, always

he hadn't noticed it before, but everything about mike was absolutely gorgeous. his brown eyes looked like pools of honey in the sunset. his skin and lips looked so soft, bill wanted to just grab him and kiss him. his black hair and neatly shaven facial hair framed his face perfectly. and his hands. his hands. bill wanted to hold them. he wanted to feel them hold the bottom of his jawline as mike kissed him softly. fuck, eddie was right.

mike looked at bill as he slowly stopped singing.

"everything alright?"
"yeah, jus' th-thinking about my project," he lied.

if  you told me to cry for you, i could. if you told me to die for you, i would. take a look at my face, there's no price i won't pay to say these words to you.

mike knew it was a lie, but if bill wanted to talk, he would. there were some things that bill kept bottled up, like his emotions about the disappearance of his brother, so mike just assumed it might've been something to do with that.

"you sure?"
"mhm."
"okay, you know you can tell me anything, right?"
"yeah...i kn-know."

well, there ain't no luck in these loaded dice, but baby, if you give me just one more try, we can pack our old dreams and our old lives, we'll find a place where the sun still shines.

mike nodded and looked over at the horizon. he cleaned his brush then dipped it in a soft blue for the ocean. he began painting. bill watched him with a soft smile spreading across his face.

yeah, i will love you, baby, always and i'll be there forever and a day, always

he'd seemed to have been watching mike a lot. he just couldn't pry his eyes away from him. bill's mind wandered back to the last time he'd felt mike's touch. all he'd been thinking about mike. mike, mike, mike. he seemed to be the only thing on his mind.

i'll be there til the stars don't shine, til heavens burst and the words don't rhyme, i know when i die you'll be on my mind

"thank you," bill said softly.
"hm?"
"thank you, for b-being my fr-friend."
"you know i love you, big bill. thank you for being my friend."

and i'll love you, always.

bill smiled. he knew mike only meant it platonically, but that didn't stop butterflies from swarming bill's stomach.

"i love you too, mikey."

always