thinking about mike meeting will's college friends when he comes to visit him for a long weekend or something and everyone gets along great and it goes off without a hitch. and then when mike leaves one of will's friends is like "hey mike is super cool man. you never mentioned he was gay though?" and after spluttering incoherently for a minute he's like "mike? no no he's straight he dated my- well. he's straight." and the friend gives him a side eye that rivals lucas's and is like ummm okay well you'd probably know better than me. it's just that he seemed really psyched to be hanging out with a bunch of gays all night and, you know, straight guys aren't usually like that. and will's like "oh i mean i think that's just mike, he's easily excitable" but he doesn't sound as confident this time. his friend decides this is probably not a good moment to bring up that he'd also noticed mike sneaking glances at will all night, so they let it go and it doesn't get brought up again. will tries to brush it off, he really does. he's been trying really hard to move on from mike, and getting his hopes up again is the last thing he needs. but god help him, there he goes again, replaying all the things mike has ever done that have made him think, maybe. so after a few weeks of thinking and pondering and, yeah, maybe hoping a little, he mentions it to mike. he tries to be casual: "hey, my friends really liked you, by the way." he immediately wishes he hadn't said it over the phone, because mike doesn't respond right away and it's nerve-wracking as hell, but after a minute mike goes "i liked them too" in a soft, contemplative voice. and that, unfortunately, does nothing to squash the hope that is rearing its all-too-familiar head in will's chest, so he asks, "it wasn't too much? hanging out with a bunch of artsy gay people?" and mike laughs and says "no, of course not. my best friend happens to be an artsy gay person, so." and his voice is absolutely dripping with affection and yeah. yeah. will can see why his friends might have gotten a certain idea about mike.
they don't talk about it more, not that day at least. they're too far apart, and will doesn't want to push mike too hard on something that could so easily strike a nerve. he asks robin what she thinks, and she tells him again about the snowball, about how maybe it's worth keeping an eye out, so will does. he starts flirting again, just a little. he drops hints, mostly in the way of talking about his friends who didn't realize they were gay until college. he promises himself that when they see each other again during the summer, he'll figure this out once and for all, and in the meantime, he collects evidence.
