Chapter Text
December 19th, 1987
"Gare, did you hold a copy of Nightfall for me?"
"You asked me that like seven times. Yes. Its right here, dude."
Eddie Munson leaned against the record store's counter. Gareth was stood on the opposite side, fishing for the cassette he had been holding onto at Eddie's request for weeks. It was a brisk winter day in Hawkins. It also happened to be one of the last weekends before the holidays. Gareth had never seen the store so busy before despite having worked there for nearly eight months. It had turned into a full time job after he had graduated. And although he still had no idea what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, the job was fun and gave him enough pay to build up a decent savings.
Of course, most of it had recently gone towards the shiny, new (well, maybe it was a year old or so) blue Cavalier that was sat out in the parking lot. Gareth had only just picked it up that morning and was itching with excitement for his boyfriend to come by the store so that he could show it off.
Where there was an Eddie, there was usually a Steve Harrington not far behind. He slid behind the guitarist at the counter and sat what looked the entire discography of ABBA beside the register.
"I'll let you know now, that's never being played in my van," Eddie warned as Gareth started running up the tapes.
Steve rolled his eyes.
"Fine. We'll listen to it in my car. At least then I won't have a headache after five minutes-,"
"How come it only gives you a headache when it's anyone other than me, Stevie? I feel like maybe you might be lying just so we have to keep playing Springsteen on a damn loop,"
Steve’s cheeks turned a light pink.
"You're different...better. I actually like your voice,"
Eddie leaned a little too close into Steve and winked before sliding a second cassette towards Gareth to ring up as well.
"This too,"
"Oh, am I paying for that?"
"Yeah. Consider it restitution for making me headbang to Dancing Queen on the way home,"
Gareth held up the Candlemass tape towards Steve who shook his head, smiling to himself.
"Guess I'm getting that too."
"Oh, you're a sucker Harrington. You need to learn to tell him no. Smack him with a rolled up newspaper or something."
Steve chuckled as he took the paper bag that was handed to him by the drummer. "I haven't had to do that since I had him house trained-,"
"Hey!" Eddie mumbled indignantly from where he was stood nearby, browsing band posters. "I'm right here. Assholes."
But Gareth had finished ringing them up just in time. The bell chimed over the door of the packed store as Will entered. He squeezed through the crowd and as he approached Gareth, he found that his smile naturally widened. Even after a year, seeing Will simply drew all the air out of his lungs. Especially when he seemed so happy just looking at Gareth. Like there was nobody else but them in the tiny record store.
"Hey,"
Will drummed his fingers off the counter. Both of them clearly wished for less bodies around. It certainly would be a lot easier to greet in each other the way that they wanted. Even just standing behind the register, Gareth itched to embrace Will.
"Hey yourself. I get out of here in like, five minutes. You have to see what I got this morning,"
The corners of Will’s mouth twitched.
"I bet I know exactly what it is,"
"Shh, don't ruin it for me."
"Okay, okay," Will held up his hands in surrender. "I'll put on my best surprised face,"
Gareth shooed Will away from the register so that he could finish closing out his shift. A little after four, they were both stood in front of his new ride.
"It's actually a lot cooler than I imagined."
Will slid his hand gently over the hood, checking out the car while Gareth stood proudly over his first big adult purchase. He looked alot like a parent watching over his sleeping newborn. He unlocked the car and pulled open the passenger side door, offering the seat to his boyfriend.
"Come for a drive with me?"
Will agreed and slid inside. Every thing still had a new car feel to it. An air freshener had even been mounted to the mirror, its pine tree scent punctuating every breath they took.
"Where are we going?"
Gareth leaned over the gear shift to gently peck the side of Will’s cheek.
"You'll see, Byers. It's a surprise."
The drive itself was more quiet than usual. Will had a lot of work left to do for school over the break. The two of them hadn't had much alone time together in weeks. But being in Gareth’s new ride more than made up for it. Will held his boyfriend’s hand in his lap for most of the drive. Every so often, the drummer would feel his heart flutter as gentle fingers caressed the inside of his wrist, dancing up his forearm to nestle beneath his jacket.
Gareth would sneak looks at Will, almost as if he wasn't supposed to watch him as he drove. Most of time he was rewarded with a half asleep Will Byers, nodding off in his seat as the setting sun beamed over his pale face through the window. They had put a tape on, but the volume was so low that Gareth could still hear a faint, soft snoring over the music.
Will didn't even notice that they had gotten off at the Marion exit. In fact, he didn't come to until Gareth stopped the car outside of a very familiar graveyard. His eyes fluttered open, taking in the strange change in scenery. He looked slightly confused before cracking a smile.
"I wonder if the stained glass window is still there?"
Gareth offered him one gloved hand.
"Let's go find out,"
Together they walked hand in hand across the crunchy, frost covered grass. Everything about the graveyard, and the little church, looked exactly the same. It was comforting. So much was different, especially between him and Will. But returning back to this place felt like stepping right into the memory Gareth had of the first time they'd visited. The dilapidated church was still crumbling and damp. And the window Will had loved so much that he had painted several different variations of similar stained glass structures, was still immaculate and whole- if a little dusty.
The two of them sat down against the same spare bit of floor they had over a year ago. It was a little colder, a little closer to night time. Will glued himself to Gareth's side and sighed in relief as an arm came down over his shoulders, pinning him to the drummer’s much warmer body.
"I'm glad you brought me here. I love this place."
"I know," Gareth chuckled, resting his own head back against the wall. "Anything creepy, old, and kind of broken."
"Makes for good art."
Gareth happened to completely agree. The painting Will had given him last Christmas was probably his most prized possession besides his drums.
"I might be the one to fall asleep on you today, Byers. Eddie and Jeff kept me up all night working on something,"
"Any word on a new show yet?"
He shrugged. Eddie was always pitching them to dive bars and local venues. Not that Gareth minded things being slow; playing with the band was how he relaxed. He wasn't in a hurry to turn it into a job.
"I'd kill to see you guys live again. It's been so long."
"I made sure Eddie knew I had to get some vocals in...just for your benefit,"
Even in the dimly lit church Will’s blush was visible. Gareth could almost feel the heat of it pressed into his own cheek. He searched blindly with his lips, kissing down the shape of Will’s face towards his jaw. More proof that things were always changing, -facial hair had gently scratched the skin of Gareth’s lower lip. The one constant between them though had to be the unlimited amount of happiness they each provided. Their relationship was the perfect balancing act. Gareth tended to be in his head a lot. Anxiety was definitely a bitch. He had always been quick to anger, quick to jump to conclusions. Will tamed all of that inside him. He reminded Gareth to slow down and enjoy small things before they were gone. Like sunsets. Like holding hands where no one could see them. Like how pretty dying sunlight looked streaming through a window pane, especially a stained glass one.
Will was often too sensitive. He felt every single emotion that struck him so deeply that it occasionally lead to hurt feelings and misunderstandings. Gareth tried his best to reassure him, and when talking about something important he always chose his words very carefully. While Will definitely was pretty silly and liked joking around, sometimes Gareth could take it too far and he had to consistently remember to reign that in.
It became easy to keep the witty abuse stored up so that he could unleash it on Eddie instead.
"I wish you guys could record. I'd probably wear it out more than Mommy's Little Monster."
"And we broke that,"
"Exactly!" Will chuckled, but it tapered into a sigh.
"My mom... you know, she's really pushing me to take the SATS."
"You should."
"You didn't."
Will leaned away from Gareth a little, chewing on his lower lip as he watched the sun slowly lower itself until it was completely out of view from the church window.
"I didn't need to. College isn't for someone like me,"
"I'm not sure it's for me either."
"You're insanely smart. Take it. Just to see? And if after that, you decide to become...I don't know. A doctor. A lawyer. I'd think you'd be great at it. And if you rather never set foot in any college, maybe become the next Picasso or some shit. Well, that's sick too," Gareth pulled Will back towards him. More than anything he craved the other’s presence near him. It was the most reassuring feeling he could imagine.
Will didn't move away again.
"What about you?"
"What about me, goofball?"
Will put a hand on Gareth’s knee and fussed with the rip in his jeans.
"What if I did go to college? NYU...or somewhere farther? Or closer. Or what if I didn't go anywhere at all? What if I-,"
"Stop," Gareth had started to laugh as Will nearly ran out of breath while talking so fast. "That's easy. You go to New York, or Cali, or wherever, and I'll tag along. If you wanted me there. And if you wanted me to stay behind, I would do that."
"Gareth, you can't just do what I ask you to. You have to make your own-,"
"No, shh. " He placed a finger over Will’s lips to shush him. "That's not what I'm saying, not exactly. I can't predict the future. I can only promise you right now and what I am promising right now is that I'll be here for you. Whether that's as your boyfriend or just someone who really cares about you, Will. I'd follow you, I'd stay away, I'd be what you needed. I'm already really good at chasing away your bad dreams. And giving you better shit to dream about," Gareth felt like he was getting too poetic, too sappy, maybe. But he needed Will desperately to understand. "I'm going to care about you- be whatever you need. Forever."
Will’s dark eyes were wide with something Gareth could only describe as wonder.
"Fine. But I'm going to make you promise me that you'll keep writing your stories. That you keep playing drums. That you keep caring about stuff so much it explodes out of you. Like you already do."
Gareth kissed Will's lips, a soft touch that never felt like enough. "I'd promise you pretty much anything, William Byers. But I can't see anyone ever publishing my shit. It's weird and messy and complicated for no reason."
"I bet they would. How else would any other fantasy book get published?"
The drummer chuckled. Darkness had truly fallen around them. It was calm in their little chunk of the world. A quiet section of the earth that remained consistent, that remained the same. An axis to ground them as their lives propelled them ever forward at what felt like a faster velocity each time the sun rose again.
"Well...I wouldn't bet on it."
Long fingers gently threaded their way through Gareth’s soft curls before picking a familiar spot to burrow into. Will had a way of holding onto him that both kept him still and engulfed his belly with fire.
"...I would,"
Will pulled Gareth close, their lips meeting in the silent darkness. As always, the latter could feel his heart fluttering like a hummingbird trapped in a cage.
Who would he be to place a bet against Will Byers?