Despite waiting for Will to wake up, Mike was actually not the first person who was told when he woke up.
It had been five days since Will got shot and passed out. Mike had started to worry, wondering if Will was slowly dying, or maybe already dead.
Of course, he wasn't upset that he wasn't the first person to hear the news about Will waking up (he was actually very upset) because he knew that Jonathan deserved to be told first. Will is his brother. Obviously, they were gonna tell him before they told Mike.
Mike waited outside of the tent while Jonathan talked to Will. He had no idea what they were talking about, but he knew that they deserved to have a nice, private conversation.
Nancy watches him before sitting down next to him. "Are you okay? I can tell you care a lot about Will." She says. Mike shrugs and turns away from her. She sighs, "I'm sorry for not telling you that he woke up. I was gonna tell you but I was so distracted by the crying and the emotions that I totally forgot."
"It's fine, Nancy. I'm not mad."
She sighs again as Steve walks over to them. "I would have never expected two runaway princes to find this place. I mean, I am honored that I have more royalty in my presents, but wow."
Robin elbows him. "Stop acting like you're high and mighty. You're not a king, Steve."
Eddie laughs as Steve and Robin start to argue, but Mike doesn't pay attention to them. He doesn't pay attention most of the time, but he can feel his sister's hand on top of his. "Hey, you'll see him in a couple of seconds. Jonathan has been in there for a while so I'm sure he'll be out soon." Nancy smiles softly, getting Mike to smile too.
Sometimes he forgets how much he truly missed her.
After a couple of more minutes, Jonathan is walking out of the tent. Mike jumps up, looking at Jonathan, waiting for him to say something.
Jonathan smiles, "Mike, he wants to see you." He tells Mike. Mike wastes no time going inside.
Once he's inside, Will waves at him. He's sitting up and holding onto his shoulder that he had gotten shot in. Mike can see the dried tears on his face but decides to say nothing about it. Instead, he sits in front of Will.
Will frowns, "Hey."
"Hey." Mike replies.
"I'm sorry Mike, I don't really know what to say to you."
"I don't either."
They both stare at each other, unsure of what to say. Mike wants to apologize, but he doesn't wanna start another fight.
Will clears his throat and smiles nervously. "I wanted to say sorry." He starts, "I was in the wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you for us running away when I had the option to object to your offer. I also shouldn't have made a comment about your family. I was upset, tired and so frustrated. Of course, that's not an excuse to be rude to my lover." He smiles.
Mike is speechless as Will continues, "I didn't want to be rude, but I felt like I couldn't control what I said. It just spilled out, and that's a really bad excuse. It's an excuse my father would use.." Will trails off.
Mike knows exactly what Will is gonna say, but he can't debunk it because Will cuts him off.
"I'm just like my father."
Mike shakes his head, grabbing Will's free hand. "That's not true Will, you're nothing like him. You're sweet, kind, friendly, open-minded and so many other things that your father is not. You were frustrated and said something you shouldn't have, we all have those mistakes. When your father says something he shouldn't, he doesn't apologize, he thinks he's entitled to say whatever he can, which is not true." He squeezes Will's hand softly. "You're nothing like him. Please, don't ever say that again." Mike says, frowning.
Tears roll down Will's cheeks as he nods, "Of course Mike. I will never say it again." He says.
Mike doesn't know how true that statement is, but he is glad that he got Will to stop saying it for now.
He leans closer to Will, giving his lips a small kiss. Will smiles happily into the kiss.
Mike pulls away quickly, looking down at Will's shoulder. As much as he would love to keep kissing, he doesn't want to hurt Will's shoulder even more and possibly break it. That would literally break him.
They stay silent for a couple of minutes, just taking in each other. It's not an uncomfortable silence, no, it's a nice one. A welcoming silence. A warm silence, just for the both of them.
Until Mike ruins it.
"Actually Will, I wanted to know if we could stay here instead of going back to the castle?" He asks, looking down at the ground. "I like it here. My sister is here, your brother is here, and everyone is nice. Maybe besides Jason, but that doesn't matter." He smiles, "I really like it here. I think you would too if you gave them a chance." He looks up at Will, his smile dropping almost immediately.
Will is frowning, and he looks so unsure. Upset even. "Mike, we can't stay here. From what Jonathan told me, there are people coming here almost every day. We should let people in need live here. What if someone with kids comes here and they have no space because we are here? I'm not saying your idea is bad but think about the people who need this place. To live, eat, survive."
Mike rolls his eyes. "Why can't you think about yourself for once? We could be happy here! Everything we need is here!"
"Mike, you said that last time. We weren't happy in that cave, what makes you think we'll be happy here?"
"Do you just like disagreeing with me? Does it make you feel better?"
"Mike, just stop! I want to see my family! I wanna go back home!"
Mike scoffs, "Your brother is here. He's family, right? If we go back, we're gonna be hated! People think I kidnapped you! We can't go back. If your family cared about you, they would have come looking for you already. We'll be better here."
Will shakes his head. "Why are you arguing with me right now? I don't want to stay here, Mike. We can visit if you want, but I am not living here when other people need this place more than us. Truly, if you want somewhere nice to live, just live with me in the castle."
"No! You don't understand anything!"
Mike gets up from the floor, still holding Will's free hand. "I don't have any family besides Nancy! My parents probably hate me, my sister is dead, so why should I go back? To be hated? To be executed? Is that what you want?"
"Mike, please―"
"You're not thinking about me!" Mike pulls his hand away from Will's, momentarily forgetting that's the hand that his bad shoulder is on.
Will falls forward a bit, screaming in pain. He clutches his shoulder and starts to cry again. Mike watches the tears fall from Will's eyes as Jonathan, Vickie, and Nancy run inside the tent. Vickie bends down, trying to talk to Will, but he keeps sobbing loudly.
Mike watches in horror as he realizes what he just did to Will, but before he can apologize, Nancy is pushing him outside of the tent.
Mike tries to go back inside, but Nancy holds him back, claiming that it's too dangerous to go back inside.
Mike knows that Will is not gonna forgive him this time.
