Chapter Text
Things in Hawkins were...chaotic, to say the least.
After everything that went down around a year and a half ago, the Byers family had decided to move back to Hawkins once and for all.
Thing is, they didn't have a house anymore.
The Wheeler family gladly took them in, giving them a roof to cover their heads and mattress to sleep in, that was more than enough.
The house was absolutely packed, seeing as not only had their old friends moved in with them, Mike's siblings also came to Indiana, living now with their biological family.
It was incredibly confusing at first, but they've grown used to it, or at least most of them have.
Will and Jonathan slept in the basement, Joyce slept in the guest room, and Mike had to share his room with his twin brothers, as much as he complained.
Hopper and El lived in Hopper's cabin, which was rebuilt, so Jane could hide and train as much as she wanted.
Will was woken up by Holly opening the basement door and screaming.
"Breakfast!"
Him and Jonathan were startled as they immediately lifted their heads, Jonathan grabbing the alarm that stood on the table.
"Shit dude, we overslept."
"I thought you were setting an alarm." Will questioned, still adjusting his eyes to the lighting.
"I thought you were!"
Both brothers immediately got up, getting dressed as they went upstairs to the dining table, Jonathan sitting next to Nancy, as Will sat in between Miles and Richie.
Everything at the table was a mess and everyone talked over each other, putting food into their plates.
Will happily talked with the two boys he sat on the side of. He was at first very skeptical about Mike's unknown siblings, but after spending a year with them, Will might even like them more than Mike.
As breakfast was done, each of them grabbed their stuff, heading out. Will, Mike and Richie grabbed their own bikes, heading to school.
Holly was able to catch up to them, getting on Mike's side.
"The Morning Squawk Mike! We're gonna miss it!"
Mike sighed as the pressed a button on the radio connected to his bike, Robin's voice was heard as soon and it turned on.
"Good morning Hawkins! This is WSQK The Squawk!" The sound of a rubber chicken being pressed was heard.
Richie laughed, Will chuckling while Mike had a serious look on his face, he sure didn't find that funny.
The rest of the ride to school was normal, Will and Richie talked, but Mike and Holly mostly stood quiet, Holly playing with the decorations in her bike, as her older brother kept stealing glances at his best friend and his 'showed up outta nowhere' brother.
Once they reached school, Richie immediately had to unglue himself from Will, as he, very unfortunately, had gym class first thing in the morning.
Mike and Will walked together through the school until they reached a very usual sight, Dustin against his locker as Andy stood face to face with Lucas, Chance behind him.
"If you touch Dustin again, I'll kick them so hard they'll pop like water balloons." They heard Lucas threaten the curly haired boy.
"I say kick away." Mike interrupted, getting ahead of Will and closer to the 'fight'. "Stop this meathead from reproducing and infecting the world with his unique brand of idiocy."
Andy only smirked for a second, sparring a glance at his teammate, before looking back at Dustin, whom had his Hellfire shirt ripped in the collar.
"Hope you brought a change of clothes Henderson, no one wants to see that shit." He looked back at Lucas and Mike once more, before locking eyes with Will for a little more than usual.
He purposefully bumped shoulders with Lucas as he left, Chance doing the same, following the man.
"You've gotta stop provoking them, man."
"Oh, so this is my fault? For wearing a T-shirt?"
"You know it's more than just a T-shirt."
Mike, Lucas and Dustin kept this conflict going on. Will tried to keep up but he couldn't help but feel left out in a way. So much happened with them while he wasn't here. They had joined a DND club, while when he was there they never wanted to play DND with him? Then the guy who was the Master of it was apparently accused of murdering a cheerleader, when it was actually Vecna who did, then the same guy went with them to the upside down, helped fight Vecna, got seriously injured and stayed at the hospital for 6 months. He wanted to go back to school, but he was advised not to, almost everyone in that goddamn school still thought he was a murderer.
Will had seen him a few times, once in a while when Dustin would visit him and his uncle, he'd come along. Eddie wasn't a bad person, he was funny, he was always able to make Will laugh.
He knew it wasn't their fault he felt like this, he wasn't like their world revolved around Will, he knew they'd move on with their lives whether he was there or not.
He then decided to share his opinion, not standing hearing Mike and Lucas berate Dustin anymore.
"In a way, they're right, Dustin, what if you get hurt? Like, really hurt?" He shared his concerns. He didn't care about the guys bothering him, but he did care about his friend's well being.
Dustin looked at him, his eyes softening, which didn't last long as Lucas spoke again.
"You're drawing attention. Remember what Hop said, we have to keep our heads down."
Another heated argument started in between the friends, Will mostly just standing quiet, listening, until Dustin left angrily.
"Dustin!" Will called out for him, but no response, no look back, nothing.
Will sighed, still staring at the direction to which his friend stormed off to.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Lucas tried to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know." Will gave him his best smile.
Classes went as normal as they possibly could, except for the fact that Will felt observed. He always did. Ever since he came back to Hawkins, it was like eyes were constantly on him, even in the privacy of his room.
He was on his last class before lunch, Science, one of his favorites. He looked behind to see one of the guys from before.
Andy.
He stared intently at Will, not glaring at him, studying him.
From what he remembers Lucas saying, he was one of the people who went after Eddie after the whole Chrissy thing went down, along with Patrick, who was dead, and Jason, who had miraculously survived, but wasn't so close to those guys anymore, after he saw the truth. He wasn't best friends with the freaks, of course, but, in a way, he respected them. He was still friends with some of the basketball guys, sport which he stopped doing altogether, he just didn't hang with them anymore. Will sees him once in a while, mostly alone, him preferring it that way, he wishes he could talk to him, but being too shy to do so.
Will didn't even realize how intently he'd been staring at Andy too, before the other guy looked away, acting like he'd just lost a fight.
It was lunchtime, Will sat alone in one side of the table, Mike and Lucas sitting opposite of him, next to each other.
Lucas started talking about how Dustin had lost his mind, to which Mike agreed, until Dustin showed up, slamming himself in the chair and throwing his tray on the table.
"Who's lost his goddamn mind?"
They looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
"Andy!" Mike pointed.
"Yeah, that shit that happened this morning." Lucas agreed.
Dustin only nodded at them, lifting his eyebrows.
Then the radio turned on once again.
'Upside Down' started playing.
A crawl.
The group went outside, surrounding a table in the middle of the woods as they planned out the crawl.
Once everything was settled, Lucas threw himself at Mike and Dustin.
"I wanted to see if you got my back man!"
Will smiled at the sight of his friends laughing together, some things never do change.
But his happiness was abruptly ended as a weird sensation started crawling through his body. His breathing got heavy. He heard something, children laughing. He looked up to the sky, as it started spinning, as all the trees disappeared. He then dizzily fell, grabbing into a tree before he could hit the ground, movement which alerted his friends.
"Will!" They all screamed in unison, running towards their friend.
Mike grabbed onto his arm, as Dustin placed a hand on his shoulder, and Lucas' found their way to his waist.
"Will! Are you okay?" Mike was the first to share his concerns.
"Yeah, yes, it's okay. I'm fine." Will tried reassuring them.
"Was it him? Was it Vecna?"
"I- I don't know. I just had this- crazy feeling, and then the sky was spinning and- I don't know...maybe it's nothing right?"
No one said a word as Will propped up against the tree, Dustin still keeping his hand in the boy's shoulder. They all stared at him with worry. He was their friend, after all, right? Friendship.
"I don't know." Dustin replied.
"Maybe I just got nervous, I always get nervous before crawls." Will persistently tried to pass it off as nothing.
"I get nervous too. But the sky never spins for me." Lucas crossed his arms, then looking at Mike. "Does it spin for you?"
Mike didn't reply to his question. "Maybe he's close." It's all he said.
Will felt anxious. It felt different, this crawl. But maybe he was just going crazy.
"Okay, Squawk at six o'clock tonight." Mike interrupted his train of thoughts. "You sure you're okay?" He asked once again.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
A lie. Everyone could tell. But they didn't insist much on it, they had to get ready for the crawl.
"I'll walk you." Lucas affirmed, not an offer, he wanted to make sure Will got there safely.
Will simply nodded, as they walked through the woods together, Dustin heading in front, wanting to hurry, and Mike staying behind to get the things from the table.
They stayed silent for a while, enjoying each other's company.
"So uhm- you coming to visit Max with me tonight?" Lucas asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"Oh! Yeah definitely, yes."
"Cool, cool."
Lucas looked at his friend, still worrying about what had happened just moments ago.
"Hey man," he called out, getting Will's attention. "If something like that, something crazy, happens ever again, don't be afraid to say something, you know?"
Will quietly stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.
"I will, promise."
Lucas couldn't help the grin on his face that formed to the sight of Will smiling.
"Okay."
They only had a few more classes, which went pretty quickly, fortunately for them.
Mike went to wait for Holly to leave school, Dustin decided to visit Eddie that day, which he asked Will for company, but was rejected due to the boy already having plans with Lucas.
They all bid their farewells to one another, as Will and Lucas biked together to the hospital.
Lucas couldn't help but steal glances at his friend.
Things have been feeling different with Will, he was one of his best friends, but for some reason, he felt different than Mike or Dustin. He just thought it was because Will was without a doubt the most emotional of them all, also the one who had been through the most shit, and this whole thing with Vecna, the crawls, made Lucas worry about his friend, that's all.
Once inside Max's room, not much had changed. Her eyes were still closed, but there wasn't as much machinery wrapped around her as before.
Billy was with them. He didn't speak much, only stood by Max's side and listened to them. He knew about everything that went on, but he chose not to participate. Lucas and Will sometimes would catch him up on their visits to Max, that was all. Will wished he could speak more to him, he looked extremely different, but not in appearance. After being possessed, you change, Will would know that.
"Maybe we'll find him tonight, maybe what I felt really was him getting closer."
"You really think?"
"I don't know, but Mike could be right."
"How unusual." They laughed.
"I'm gonna go grab a coke, or something caffeinated, you want anything? It's gonna be a long night."
"I'm good, thanks."
Will looked towards Billy, who simply shock his head, he then stood up and left the room.
He bought a coke from the vending machine, and as he was about to head back to the room, he spotted a familiar face, Robin.
"Hey! Rockin' Robin!"
The girl didn't bother to even look his way, probably not having heard him, Will followed her steps.
He thought he'd lost her, getting ready to give up, until he heard laughter coming from one of the rooms, to which the door was slightly opened.
He looked inside, finding Robin, and..a girl.
Her friend, maybe?
Oh no, he was terribly wrong.
The way Robin touched her arms, the way their faces were so close, the way they desperately grabbed onto each other. That looked — weird.
But then Robin leaned in. Kissing her in the lips.
Will's eyes widened. He dropped the soda in his hand out of shock, as he ran as fast as he possibly could.
He wasn't sure where exactly he was going, until he bumped into someone's chest.
Lucas.
"Hey, hey, Will." He grabbed his arms, making him stay still on the spot. "You look scared, did that weird shit happen again?"
"Uh- no, no, it's- it's nothing."
But the way Lucas grabbed his arms immediately brought his head back to Robin and her — girlfriend?
He felt his ears warm up as he shrugged to get out of Lucas' hold, confusing his friend.
"You sure man? You promised you'd tell if something like that happened again."
"I'm sure, it was- something else, but nothing to do with Vecna, or- me."
Lucas thought for a little while, before placing his right hand on Will's arm once again.
"Alright. We have to go to the Squawk, it's almost time."
Will nodded.
Once at the Squawk, Steve and Mike were the only ones there yet, missing Robin and Dustin.
"Henderson isn't with you guys?" Steve asked.
"He went to visit Eddie, hasn't said anything since then." Lucas replied, dropping his bag on the floor.
"Hey, Will." Mike called out, getting closer to him. "You okay? Nothing else happened?"
"I'm okay."
Robin then showed up from inside, she was there after all. Will could barely look at her, thinking about what he and seen.
He wasn't disgusted by it, God no.
He just — he was surprised, to see someone like him, someone so close to him.
He desperately wanted to talk to her, but at the same time he was scared, scared he'd misunderstood, scared he'd look like a creep.
He pushed all those things aside for now, he was sure he'd get a chance to speak to her.
"Hey! Where's little Dustin?" Robin joked.
"They say they don't know." Steve answered her.
"Well he better pick up his pace, we need his little genius mind in here."
One hour.
One hour had passed and no sign of Dustin.
Lucas kept trying to call him on the Walkie-talkie, but nothing.
Robin tried calling his mom, also nothing.
"God this is nerve-wracking." Harrington complained, placing a hand on his temples, while the other was placed on his hip, he almost looked like a distressed parent.
That's when Joyce, Hopper and Jane arrived, the girl running to hug Mike.
"We need to talk." Is all she said.
Mike and Jane talked for a while, no one worried much, Hopper complained a little, but he was always going to.
Will was inside the Squawk, sitting on the sofa, drawing. He never did anything in the crawls really, he mostly observed and stayed behind, his mom too worried.
That's when Mike appeared, he didn't look one bit happy, sitting next to Will.
"Hey...you okay?" It was Will's turn to ask.
"Surprisingly, yes."
Will tilted his head slightly, confused by what he meant.
"Surprisingly?"
"El broke up with me."
"Oh."
"Oh."
The silence was a tad bit awkward, Will not being sure how to comfort his friend, or if he actually needed comfort.
"I'm- sorry?" He tried.
Mike snorted at his friend's attempt.
"Don't worry, it was best for both of us. Neither of us were getting what we actually wanted, El made me realize that."
"What is it?" Will questioned, curiously.
"What is what?"
"What you actually want."
Mike looked to his side, finding his friend already looking at him, he was about to say something, before Steve came into the room
"Hey! Chief's almost ready, let's do this, c'mon."
They spared one last glance at each other, before they both got up.
"Tag's active."
"Copy. Harrington you getting any signal? The tag's active."
"Yeah just give me a second." Pause. "Hey, anybody know how this Henderson's wheelie thing works?"
Robin looked up at everyone "Any ideas?"
"There's a safety lock, look for a small switch under the wheel." Will informed.
—
"Okay, signal's holding a nice, steady 90 DB, but how exactly am I supposed to monitor and drive without Henderson?"
"Uh, hear anything from Inspector Gadget?" Hopper queried.
"Nothing."
"I- I can do it." All eyes were on Will. "I can monitor."
"No, you're staying here." His mom refuted.
"No- mom, I helped Dustin set up the antena, I know how to work it."
"Out of the question, it's just a wheel."
"It's not just a wheel."
"Jonathan, you can work it, right?"
Will looked at his older brother, practically begging with his eyes. Jonathan sighed.
"Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so."
Will looked to the floor in disappointment.
He loved his mom, more than anything in the world. But he hated it, absolutely hated it, when she treated him like a baby, like he was a fragile piece of glass being transported around. He was constantly wrapped in bubble wrap, he just wished for once, to free himself from it, maybe he'd get a small crack, or a big one, but that'd mean he tried, that he was useful, for once.
With everything according to plan, they all went their specified ways. Will, obviously, staying with his mom, at the Squawk.
Everything was going well, until they almost lost Hopper once, Steve and Jonathan being able to find him again before they lost him for good.
"There are too many." Jane spoke up. "He can't take them."
That moment, Will started feeling — weird, once again. Tingling all over his body, especially his neck. His breathing got heavy. His pupils dilated and his vision deformed into something else. Someone else's.
Heavy footsteps could be heard.
Will's eyes rolled to the back of his head. The blurred vision continued.
He was being attacked, shoot at. He was attacking. Guards, guns.
Hopper.
He was running towards Hopper.
He could see lights flickering, his head hurt.
He started running towards a house, but that's when the vision flickered, he saw his mom, then the house again, then his mom. Until he was back.
He breathed heavily, his eyes filled with tears as he was quick to engulf his mother into a hug. He was scared. Extremely scared.
"Will, sweetie, it's okay, it's okay, what happened?"
He wheezed, doing his best to breathe normally.
"I saw it."
"Saw what?"
"The Demogorgon." The room tensed. "He's coming. He's coming for them."
"Coming- coming for who?" Joyce questioned anxiously, holding her son.
Will didn't say a word. He looked to his side, up at Nancy.
That's all they needed to know.
Back to an hour ago.
Mike and El sat at the rooftop.
"What- what did you need to talk about?" Mike asked his girlfriend.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore."
Straight to the point.
"Oh." Mike looked at her "Why?"
"I can tell Mike, I'm not stupid." She held his hand. "You don't love me."
"But- I do- I do love you."
"You do, just not like a boyfriend and a girlfriend should love each other."
Mike stood silent, taking her words in.
"I also feel the same." El added. "I love you, but I don't love you any different from how I love the others."
Mike looked at their hands interlinked. He didn't feel anything, maybe comfort, but he didn't feel his hands becoming sweaty, or his heart almost jumping out of his chest, he felt almost — relieved.
"I think I may have someone who I love like I should've loved you. That's how I realized it."
"Someone?" Mike finally spoke. "It is one of the guys? Lucas, Dustin?" He was sure it couldn't be Will, they saw each other as siblings, so it felt stupid to add him to the list.
"No, not one of them."
"Then who else? The only other person would maybe be Max, but she's a girl."
El smiled at him.
"Mike."
"Oh."
They were quiet, it had maybe been a few seconds but it felt like hours.
"Okay." Mike said.
"Okay?"
"Okay."
He wanted to say more. So much more. He wanted her to know he was completely fine with it, that she would still be one of his best friends no matter what, but he couldn't.
"I can see how you look at him."
Mike looked at her confused.
"What?"
"Will."
What was she getting at?
"Will's my friend."
"But are you satisfied with that? A friend?"
Silence, once again.
"El- I don't know what you're implying, but Will is my best friend, and that's all there it to it."
"Mike. I already said, I'm not stupid. I notice how your eyes shine whenever they're on him, how you always look for him first when we're all together, how you care for him, always worried something might happen to him."
Mike took a deep breath.
No, El was wrong. He didn't like Will like that, it was —
Wrong?
But, then he'd be saying that El loving Max was wrong too.
Which it totally wasn't.
So why.
Why did it feel so wrong for him to think about liking Will?
Why did his heart skip a beat the moment he thought about it? Being with Will, loving Will.
"No, no, no. I can't. I don't." Mike let go of El's hand.
"Mike."
"No! Will is my best friend, friend. I can't ruin things like that."
"But, you like him?"
Silence.
"Will's my friend."
"I didn't ask that, Mike."
Anxiety bubbled inside of him.
Did he? Did he like Will?
He's always thought he was pretty yes, the way his hazel eyes shined in the sun, his soft, pale skin, his freaking bowl cut that was way out of fashion but still fit him so, so well, his beautiful smile, his bunny teeth-
Oh fuck.
He was in love with his best friend.