Chapter Text
Henry had been dead and gone for a couple years now.
Mike and Will both had decided they needed a year off. Mike was grieving El and Will convinced his mom that he ‘needed time to simply be’ before getting right back into school. Both their parents agreed. Even Nancy had come home to be with her family as well. She had been worried sick over her mother and father that even now she wanted to be with them. After finally learning what they had been through, Ted and Karen were a little more understanding of their kids.
Joyce was still struggling to find a place to live for her and the boys, so they mostly stayed at either the Wheeler’s or Hopper’s. Will decided he liked spending most of his time at the Wheeler’s. Being in the same room where El stayed made him feel inescapable grief. Karen and Ted were okay with it. Feeling they actually liked the company after what had happened in their home a couple years ago. They welcomed the idea of Will and even Jonathan occasionally staying in the basement.
He should have been enjoying his time off, but Will still had the occasional nightmare. His sleep was affected negatively by it and it stressed him out. Why couldn’t he just relax? There was no longer a threat to the lives of himself and the ones he loves. Even with a full house of people, he felt very alone.
Mike had been doing a bit better lately, but Will still wanted to give him space, offering a listening ear whenever he needed it.
At least Jonathan was still around too. He couldn’t get a scholarship for college so he was stuck in Hawkins for a bit longer. So he worked, saving up with Joyce so they could finally put their money toward a home. Jonathan stayed at the Wheeler’s some nights, but after Will learned that he and Nancy had broken up at some point, he was spending less and less time there.
That left him mostly spending his time chatting with Holly. Holly was imaginative like Will. But also very sure of herself. He sometimes thought she seemed a lot like both himself and Mike. Spending time with her helped his stress a lot. Made him feel like a kid again since most of his childhood memories were incredibly traumatizing. So it was nice to be around her. She had seemed to handle being attacked by Henry much better than he had.
But lately, Holly started hanging out with some friends her own age, which Will was happy about. Will thought about his own friends, but but the rest of the party was moving on with their futures. So this is why Will felt alone most days.
With not much else to do to put himself at ease aside from paint, Will found comfort in food.
He was more and more gravitating toward the kitchen when he got bored. Snacking away on Karen’s leftovers or cookies she baked in her spare time. With the added company to the Wheeler’s household, the cabinets had to be full at all times. So Will didn’t think anyone would notice when a bag of chips, the leftover lasagna from a couple days ago or a pint of ice cream went missing. It could’ve been anyone who splurged on it.
Spending his time heavily snacking between meals while sketching in the basement was not ideal for Will’s waistline. He found it becoming more and more difficult to button up his pants. His undershirts were starting to cling to his belly a little bit and his button up shirts were starting to strain around his middle. But if anyone noticed, they hadn’t said anything.
One morning, Will was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror of the basement, pant flaps wide open with too much of his belly in between. It was his last pair of pants that he could button up, what was it? two? three? days ago? But Karen had made that casserole Friday night that had way too much left over. Will gladly helped himself to it, even took the entire casserole dish down into the basement to pick at once everyone was off in their own corners of the house.
He had put on the Poltergeist, plopped down on the mattress and accidentally polished off the entirety of the food, which was about halfway full when he started. His spoon hit the bottom with a clink when he finally looked down at the dish in his lap.
His belly had significantly rounded out more than he had ever seen it before, completely stuffed and slightly pushing out of his shirt. He quickly unbuttoned his pants to make room for the swell of his gut.
This was decidedly when he became too big for his last pair of pants.
At the time, he didn’t really seem to mind. Was even kind of amused how puffed up his stomach got. Patting it and releasing a small burp. But now, reality had hit. It looked like he gained the freshman 15 without actually being a freshman. Great, another thing to be stressed about.
With all his might he sucked in his gut and heaved his pants closed, quickly buttoning them up before his stomach had a chance to come tumbling forward out of them again.
Careful not to breathe out too hard, he pulled on his shirt and looked himself up and down in the mirror. He ran his hand down his stomach, deciding that he looked almost a little pregnant. He also had a slight double chin taking form. He really needed to watch his weight.
He made a mental note to himself to try and control himself and not pig out so much.
~
The day went by pretty uneventfully.
He ran out of the house without grabbing breakfast and biked to the store. He could have asked Mike for a ride since he finally had a car, but he could use the exercise.
He got to the store and bought some more paint supplies with the little money he had. He should have given what money he had to his mom, but other than painting and drawing, his one other hobby was eating. Which he needed to be doing far less of.
He considered stopping at the clothes store for a few new wardrobe items, but he was determined to try and slim down a little, so he decided to put it off until it was absolutely necessary. Besides, he was running low on funds.
With the few dollars he had left, he stopped for a sandwich on the way home and ate about half of it until he heard his pants button creak. He tossed the rest of it in the trash, terrified to pop out of his pants in public. The “zombie boy” nickname had finally died down, he didn’t need another, more embarrassing nickname about him going around.
He biked home and walked back down to the basement with his new supplies in his backpack, setting it down carefully next to the couch. He reached down and popped his button open before his stomach could do it for him.
“Ugh finally.” he sighed. Being stuck like the all day was wildly uncomfortable.
He put on his sweatpants and lied down on the couch. He was already getting hungry again, but he knew he couldn’t fall into this dangerous routine of frequently snacking.
~
He closed his eyes to try and pass the time. He might have gotten a good 45 minute nap until he heard awkward, uneven thumps rushing down the stairs. He raised his head slightly, squinting to see Mike striding down into the basement.
“Oh shit, sorry, man. I didn’t know you were napping. I wanted to see if you wanted to hangout before dinner, but I won’t bother you?”
Will yawned, “Nah, it’s okay we can hang.” He stretched his arms and felt his shirt shift up, exposing his belly a bit. He quickly shoved it back down, hoping Mike didn’t notice. He was happy to see that Mike was more willing to hang out how they used to again.
“We can watch a movie? Or we can go get a milkshake before dinner? I heard mom’s making casserole again, I’m really not in the mood for it.”
Will started salivating at both the mention of milkshake and casserole, but shoved that as far back in his mind as he could.
“Sure, let’s just watch a movie, not feeling that hungry.” He lied. Honestly, he felt a little light headed from only eating half a sandwich today, so lazing around on the couch was just about as much as he could handle.
They decided on watching Alien and chatted to each other about their day until dinner time, when Holly flung the door open and yelled down to them.
Dinner was usually Will’s favorite time of the day. Everyone was there so he felt less alone. Sometimes his mom would join, but she was still at Hopper’s. Tonight he was a little less enthused. He loved Karen’s cooking, but knew he had to take it easy. Will hoped no one would notice the much lighter plate he set for himself. He usually was no stranger to seconds and sometimes thirds of Karen’s cooking.
Back and forth banter erupted from the Wheelers while everyone dug in. Jonathan and Will kept quiet, only chiming in when appropriate. Will was more quiet than usual. Trying to ignore the rumbling of his stomach, rubbing it slightly.
Mike noticed Will was acting a little off. Tired maybe from his nap? After dinner when everyone cleared out, Mike caught him before he went back downstairs. “You okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, why?”
“You just seemed quiet at dinner and didn’t eat much. Are you sick?”
“Oh, no I’m good, just tired I think? Biking all over town took a lot out of me,” he laughed. “I think I’m just going to go to bed early.”
“Okay, sorry I’m not trying to pull a Joyce Byers or anything just wanted to check on you. I miss hanging with you, we should do another movie tomorrow?”
Will smiled. “Yeah that’d be cool, and don’t worry Mike, I’m okay. Promise.” They exchanged smiles and nods and headed off into their own spaces.
Will lied down on his mattress. He looked over at Jonathan who was busy looking at photos for work and listening to music. Clearly not ready for bed.
But Will really was exhausted. His stomach was rumbling uncontrollably. He was thankful Jonathan’s music was so loud that he couldn’t hear it. He fell asleep pretty quickly.