Chapter Text
It’s been a little over 3 months since Will and his friends had graduated highschool. August had passed leaving nothing but slight warmth and shorter days behind. Summer was almost over and Dustin, Lucas and Will all had settled for different colleges. Though Max and Lucas left for the same one.
Three nights ago the group had met up for one last game night before going separate ways, unsure about when they would see each other again.
Except for Mike.
Ever since El had sacrificed herself to save Hawkins and its people, Mike kept to himself at all times.
He didn’t leave the house unless he had to. Barely ate, wouldn’t talk.
It pained Will. Mike and him spent their entire childhood together and just before El did what she did, they started getting closer again.
After Will and his family left for Lenora, their friendship had withered, rotted even so that moment on the tower on the other side had meant the world to Will.
It felt like he won Mike over.
Now it’s back to the same cold interactions as before. Worse even because when Mike did talk to him he mostly snapped or tried to shut him out.
He was supposed to leave for New York in the morning. Chasing a city so big no one would even care about him being different, being a freak. No one would know that he was the boy who survived being kidnapped and possessed by an interdimensional creature.
He would leave all this behind. Hawkins, the suffering, the horrible memories. Maybe even the nightmares.
Perhaps he could find someone who was like him.
Above all, he wanted to leave behind his undying love for Mike Wheeler. Run away from the lingering feeling. Run away from the reality of never getting what he wanted for so, so long.
He was sitting on the edge of his bed. Holding the stuffed animal his brother had gifted him when he was born.
A tear rolled down his cheek.
Leaving felt so wrong for all the wrong reasons.
It wasn’t about leaving the town he had grown up in. The town that had gifted him so many precious memories
.
It wasn’t about leaving his mom. She was happily engaged to Hopper, which filled Will with a feeling of joy. He hadn’t seen his mother this happy ever. Hopper was great, he cared for them, let them move in even.
It wasn’t about knowing he eventually wouldn’t feel the familiarity of this town again.
It was about leaving Mike behind. After graduating Mike didn’t apply for any colleges, wouldn’t even mind finding a part time job. Anything to keep him occupied really.
Will didn’t want to leave his suffering best friend behind. The boy whom he loved so deeply. Cared for so deeply.
Another tear rolled down his cheek.
It was there and then he had decided he wouldn’t be leaving for New York the next day. His mom had to understand.
It was 9 pm already. The last beams of sunlight had hidden behind the horizon long ago.
He stood up, clenching his fists before leaving for the living room of Hopper's cabin.
Hopper and his mom sat on the couch cuddled up under a blanket. Two cups of already cold tea standing on the coffee table.
Will took a deep breath.
“Mom can we talk?” Cold sweat formed on his forehead. It felt like his intestines were forming a knot.
“Sure.” She turned down the volume of the TV. “What’s wrong sweetie?”
He sat on the stool by the coffee table. Shifting uncomfortably.
Another deep breath before it came out shaky.
“I, um.” He squinted his eyes before spitting it out. “Iamnotgonnaleaveforcollege.” He held his breath studying his mom’s face for any kind of reaction.
Joyce untangled herself from Hopper's arms who was just as perplexed as her.
“That’s.. unexpected.” She shook her head in confusion as if she had woken up from a weird dream, uncertain if it was reality or not. “How- I mean, why? Do you want to go to another college?”
Will looked down, fixating on his own lap while fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve.
“No mom, I, I don’t want to leave at all. I don’t want to leave Hawkins. I don’t want to leave-“.
No, he wouldn’t say it. After he came out to everyone nothing had shifted in their behavior, however putting it out there that he still held this deep feeling for Mike felt raw. Intimate. As if it were an ancient book that would fall to dust the second someone held it in his hands.
“I just can’t leave. Being alone out there after everything that happened feels scary. Uneasy.”
His mom nodding slowly. The air Will almost choked on by now left his lungs. The knot in his belly disappeared and the dizziness in his head finally stopped.
“It’s okay Will.” She finally said. “I understand. Should we help you unpack?”
Will shook his head.
“No thank you, I think I’ll just lie down and try to sleep.”
He stood up awkwardly knowing he wouldn’t fall asleep for a long time.
Back in his room he closed the door behind him. He pulled a sketchbook from the drawer of his desk skipping the pages until he found the one he was looking for.
His favourite sketch of Mike.
It shows him sitting in a field when they all had a picnic the day of their graduation. Mike and the others had been busy talking to each other, so no one had noticed him drawing Mike.
It was never the same after. Matter of fact it was the last time Mike had joined them.
He kept looking at the sketch, his vision getting blurry. A weird collision of sadness and hope forming in his heart. Sadness about never getting to hold him the way he wants to hold him. To hold him as more than a friend. Hope about getting Mike to open up again. To get him out of his shell.
He put away the sketchbook. Hiding it below other papers and more sketchbooks. It was so sacred to him. Something of Mike that only belonged to him.
He changed for the night before sliding under the covers and turning off the light.
He couldn’t wait for the morning to come so he could bike to the Wheelers house and let Mike know he stayed. For him. Even though he would never admit it.
He kept shifting from side to side, his thoughts too loud to let him rest until his body eventually gave in and he drifted off to sleep.