Chapter Text
After a complicated week, Will was looking forward to just hanging out with his best friend Mike - something simple. Unfortunately, hanging out with Mike continued to not be as simple as it used to be.
“Will, phone for you!” Joyce called as Will was finishing getting ready to go out.
“Coming!” Will called back, and he went downstairs to accept the phone from her. Joyce’s face told him nothing. So Will accepted the phone and put it up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Hey Will, it’s Mike,” said his friend.
“Oh hi Mike,” said Will, his voice unconsciously warming. “I was just about to head over there-”
“-Actually, I don’t think we should hang out today,” Mike interrupted him.
Will blinked. “Why not? This was supposed to make up for the hangout we missed-”
“And we can reschedule it again,” said Mike. “But after what happened yesterday, I don’t really feel like hanging out anymore.”
Frowning, Will asked, “Are you mad at me?”
“Everything will be back to normal on Monday, I just need some space,” said Mike, which didn’t really answer Will’s question.
“You’ve never asked me to give you space before - are you sure you’re okay-” Will began asking.
“Well I’m asking for space now! We’re fine, just need time, you’re not my girlfriend, Will!” Mike snapped frustratedly.
“Fine.” Will said after a short silence. “Goodbye, Mike,” he added before hanging up a little harder than necessary.
“Everything okay?” Joyce asked concernedly.
Will took a deep breath.
Was anything okay anymore?
No, not really, if he was honest.
But maybe Will shouldn’t let his joy and his opportunities for fun be solely reliant on his friends.
“I’m not going to Mike’s, but I’m going out anyway, probably to the arcade,” Will told her, trying to be casual about it.
Joyce still looked sympathetic as she said,” Alright, then, just remember to be back before curfew, okay? And call if you need a ride or anything?”
“Of course, Mom, I promise,” Will reassured her, and went off to gather the rest of what he’d need.
🖌🥁
Will’s (repaired) bike did take him over to Palace Arcade without issue, but he didn’t go into the arcade right away. Instead, he stopped outside, because there was Family Video, and inside, there were Steve and Robin. He should go in and say hello to them. Who knows, maybe there would be an interesting new release out.
The bell over the door tinkled as Will walked through the front door.
“Welcome to Family Video-oh, hey Little Byers, what’s up?” Steve greeted at first automatically and then more personally as he recognized Will.
“Hi Steve, hi Robin,” said Will, making sure to greet them both. “How are you?”
“Oh, you know, as good as you can be slaving away under the capitalist overlords,” said Robin with a shrug. It wasn’t completely weird coming from Robin, but Will couldn’t help but think it sounded exactly like something that would come out of Eddie’s mouth.
“It could be worse,” said Steve, as if he were reminding both himself and Robin. “How are you, Will? What brings you here? Looking for anything in particular?”
“Uh, I think I already found what I was looking for,” said Will, gesturing at them. “I thought I’d come in and say hi on my way to the arcade.”
“By yourself?” said Robin in surprise. “Aren’t you all like pack animals?”
“Well, I was supposed to hang out with Mike, but there was kind of, well, a thing yesterday, and Mike canceled on me today, so I’m on my own,” Will explained.
“Yeah, Lucas told me about it on the way home,” said Steve with an unreadable expression and tone. “He appreciated what you said last night, but I think Lucas will need more support and time with his friends than ever.”
Will had thought only moms could do that sort of both positive and negative ‘you did good but I bet you could do even better’ talk, but apparently Steve could mom with the best of them. And now here Will was, simultaneously proud and guilty. “Alright.”
“Oh, ease off on Will,” said Robin, before she grinned and added, “Or don’t, and ask him about what the guys have said about Eddie Munson having a soft spot for Will - ooh, or ask him about Gareth Yancy!”
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Steve, grinning.
“Wait, what?” said Will in surprise. “What have they been saying?”
“Well, you see, Lucas and Mike have been saying that you and Dustin seem to be in competition for being Eddie Munson’s favorite freshman, and he’s got a soft spot for the both of you… of course, Dustin says he’s the favorite, and all of the ‘freebies’ you’ve gotten have been due to Gareth Yancy’s influence,” Steve began slowly, toyingly.
“I’m not competing with Dustin, I don’t care about being a favorite, Eddie’s just my friend,” said Will. “I’ve probably gotten less special treatment than the guys said. Eddie just felt bad for me when I was out sick for the anniversary, and yeah Gareth spoke up for us both yesterday because of the detention, but we both had it so he wasn’t going to save his own skin and leave me hanging, it was nothing special.”
“Hm, maybe that’s true,” Steve allowed.
“But then there’s Gareth Yancy,” said Robin with a grin.
Something about the way she said it made Will a little more nervous.
“They have talked about the two of them too,” Steve agreed with a laugh.
“And they were probably exaggerating about that too,” said Will with a shrug.
“Is that so?” said Steve, quirking an eyebrow. “Because according to the rest of the boys, you’re the only freshman Gareth’s put in effort to befriend. They say he can be a bit of an asshole to everyone but you. Apparently it’s not just Eddie with a soft spot for you, but Gareth too. And then, arguably the biggest deal, Gareth apparently insisted on taking notes for you when you were out, despite Dustin being willing to do it.”
“We’re friends with all the older Hellfire Club members,” said Will. “Sounds like they’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Are they?” said Robin. “I mean, it’s hard making friends in school for needs like us. And even if they’re also nerds, you have an open invitation to an upperclassmen table. That’s a big deal for freshmen.”
“Plus, a fourteen-year-old getting invited into a bar gig, even if you did need your mom with you? That’s huge. You could get popular off of being able to get into a bar at fourteen, at least as long as people continued to think you were cool or continued to think you could also get them into a bar. You might not be interested in popularity, but there’s also the fact that there were risks involved in inviting you, so the fact that they did says a hell of a lot, Little Byers,” said Steve.
“I guess,” said Will. “None of it probably means anything though.”
“I think if you want it to mean nothing, then you won’t care, but if you want it to mean something, it could,” said Robin. “If you wanted it to, it could mean that you should talk to the Party and reconnect, or that you should spend more time with Gareth, or become better friends with all those guys.”
“Or maybe it just goes to show that people like you, maybe more than you think,” said Steve.
Steve reached out and ruffled Will’s hair playfully like Jonathan would do to Will.
“Oh come on, Steve, not the hair! You of all people should respect hair!” said Will, trying to hide how he was grinning as he tried to duck out of it.
It was just bad luck that it was then that the door opened and set the bell jingling, and Will and Steve both completely missed it because they were caught up in their interaction.
So they were both completely surprised when Gareth stormed in and practically all but put himself in between them.
“Hey Will! Is this guy bothering you?” Gareth asked in a tone Will rarely heard from him - the last time had been when Will crashed his bike.
“No - so you can calm down,” said Will, placing himself between Gareth and Steve. “Gareth, he works here.”
“You can still be harassed by a store employee,” said Gareth, still wary. “Happens to girls ‘cause of creeps all the time.”
“Gareth, Steve is my friend,” said Will firmly. “And he’s also like Dustin’s big brother basically. You’ve heard Dustin go on and on about Steve.”
“Well yeah, but like - a guy can be an asshole and love his brother,” said Gareth awkwardly. “Listen, I don’t know how much you know about what was going on when - but Steve picked a fight with your brother, supposedly over Nancy, but there’s rumors of what he said, and-”
“I know,” said Will gently. “I heard about it. There were mistakes made on both sides, things said that shouldn’t have been said, but Jonathan and Steve worked it out, and they’re friends now. Steve’s actually saved mine and my friends’ asses before. He’s put in the work to get his redemption arc. He’s a good guy now, we’re friends.”
Gareth looked - well, stupefied. “You guys are friends ?”
“Yeah,” said Will. “We have mutual friends, hang out a lot, Mom gets him over for dinner when she can, he’s funny, and we have the same favorite Star Wars movie, though we like it for different reasons: he likes Return of the Jedi for the Ewoks and the romance, though he won’t say that second part out loud, and I like it because of the way Luke saves and outdoes his father without stooping to his level or continuing the cycle of violence. I get it, you’ve heard and maybe seen a lot of shit in school and from the rest of the band, but he’s my friend and I’m not going to drop him. You weren’t gonna try and dictate who I can and can’t be friends with, right?”
Deflating, Gareth said, “No, no way. I just-”
“Good, glad we understand each other,” said Will, with a nod and a smile.
Gareth looked at him for a moment. “You’re something else, Will Byers.”
Unbeknownst to either boy, Steve and Robin shared a look.
Will cleared his throat. “So, uh, didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Yeah, just returns,” said Gareth, holding up a couple tapes.
“I’ll get out of your way then,” said Will, pulling away from the counter.
“Hey, what are you doing today?” said Gareth, twisting around to face him.
“Oh, he’s just shooting the shit with us right now, plans got canceled last minute,” said Steve.
“That sucks,” said Gareth.
“Yeah, he’s just hanging out with us until Keith comes in and probably complains about Steve’s children loitering again,” said Robin.
“I was thinking of going to the arcade after I said hi to my friends,” said Will a bit defensively.
“If you don’t mind waiting for me, we could hang out,” Gareth offered.
“You don’t have to, I get it if you have shit to do today,” said Will.
“Language,” said Steve reflexively.
Rolling his eyes, Will said, “Yes, Ma,” at once a Dustin impression and calling Steve ‘mom’ without using the word ‘mom’, because Will’s mom was actually really cool.
Steve sighed and rolled his own eyes, but Will knew he wasn’t really upset, and actually suspected that deep down he liked it.
Snorting at the interaction, Gareth said, “I want to. Give me a minute and we’ll go.”
“Okay,” said Will, trying not to seem too excited.
Thankfully Will only did have to wait a few moments, because the rental check-in interaction between Gareth, Robin, and Steve was awkward to say the least.
Once he was done, Gareth walked over to Will and nudged him forward toward the door with his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”
As Will moved to the door, he called over his shoulder with a wave, “Bye Steve, bye Robin, thanks for letting me hang out!”
Both Steve and Robin returned his wave with matching grins.
“See you later, Little Byers!” said Steve.
“Have fun on your playdate, Will!” said Robin cheekily.
Will shot her a look for that. They may have had the idea, but he wasn’t a toddler.
Then, Will asked, “Where are we going now?” as he picked up his bike.
Gareth hummed. “I was just going to go home, but I haven’t been to the arcade in a while, the others don’t like being surrounded by kids. Still wanna go?”
“Sure,” said Will. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
“That’s why I like you,” said Gareth, before he blinked and urged them both onward. Which was good, because then he didn’t see Will’s reaction to that.
Spending the rest of the morning in the arcade was actually fun. Gareth seemed content to follow Will from game to game, but gave it his all at whatever game Will chose next. Will won a lot of the games, but Gareth just made the excuse that he was ‘out of practice’. But they ended up playing through everything quicker than Will expected, so they had a quick lunch and turned in their tickets (Gareth gave his to Will so he could get something decent - Will used the excuse of slim pickings to get another plushie).
“Follow me!” said Gareth as they jumped on their bikes after they left.
🖌🥁
Will hadn’t really entered Gareth’s house the first and last time he was there. He had mostly been in the garage, and only went further in to make the call to his mom, so he hadn’t been paying much attention to the house itself.
The garage was right next to the front door, but they went through the front door anyway. That front entrance brought them straight into the living room. There were three open doors along the back of the living room. The one on the left went into the kitchen, the one in the middle was a hall entrance, and the one on the right wasn’t actually on the back wall, it was toward the end of the wall that was shared with the garage, and it looked to be another hallway.
The living room itself was painted a warm olive green. There was a tan couch and a black leather recliner positioned to see the TV. The coffee table and other furnishings were made of a dark brown wood that matched both the sofa and the recliner. Hanging in front of the windows in the living room were cream-colored drapes with a masculine green leaf and vine pattern that went well with the walls. Aside from the paint, the only decor on the walls were several framed photographs.
Will’s attention was caught on two particular framed photographs, the largest ones in the room. On the left was obviously a wedding photo: a tall man with black hair and pale blue eyes in a black suit with his arms around a short and stout woman with the curvy figure that was the epitome of beauty in the 50s and 60s, with curly brown hair in a bun-like updo, warm brown eyes, and a tea-length white wedding dress. The second photo, on the right, had the same man and woman but a few years older, and the woman was lying in the bed holding a swaddled infant to her chest with one hand, while her other hand was in the grip of the man, who was sitting on the foot of the bed. The man’s face was full of joy, and the woman’s was joyous too, but it was clear exhaustion pulled at her, and Will could swear there was something in her eyes in that moment.
“Those are my parents, Norman and Patricia,” said Gareth quietly.
“You look a lot like her,” said Will, not exactly sure what to say.
“Yeah, people’ve always said that,” said Gareth. “Come on, we’ll go back to my room.”
“Alright,” said Will. Gareth walked toward the right side hall, and Will followed after him.
They passed a door that presumably led to the garage at the front of that hallway and headed down a hall which contained four more doors. Gareth pushed open the farthest door on the right.
Gareth’s bedroom was painted a deep dark red. It didn’t quite have the purplish tones of maroon or burgundy, but it certainly wasn’t as bright as scarlet. There were two windows, both with black curtains: one had a view of the backyard, while the other looked out just to the house next door. At the wall closest to the door, the front of the room if you will, seemed to have a closet door and a dresser. His desk (and chair) was shoved up against the side window, while his bookshelf was against the same wall the bedroom door was on. The bed was along the back wall. After fully entering the room, Will noticed the bookshelf and the bed created a little corner nook that must be somewhat difficult to reach but was clearly used, considering the bean bag, extra pillows, and discarded hoodie tucked into it. Will could use a hiding corner like that.
“Make yourself comfortable,” said Gareth, who flopped on the floor and leaned back against his bed.
Will hesitated a bit, because as much as he wanted to be somewhere comfortable, he also didn’t just want to take the best spot even though Gareth hadn’t claimed it. So instead he decided to just make it even and plopped down on the floor.
“Cards?” Gareth suggested.
“Sure,” Will shrugged.
As Gareth reached around Will for a pack of cards in his desk, he asked, “You know how to play War?”
“Yup,” said Will, watching Gareth’s hands as he shuffled the Cards expertly.
Will and Gareth played several rounds of War before they eventually got bored of it. After grabbing sodas and snacks from the kitchen and going back to Gareth’s room, Gareth asked, “Do you know how to play Poker?”
Will shook his head, hoping that didn’t make him uncool.
“Okay, I can teach you Poker then, and maybe Blackjack after that,” said Gareth.
“Sure,” said Will, relieved.
Others may not have expected it, but Will wasn’t all that surprised that Gareth was a patient teacher, at least with Will. If asked, Will might not be able to confidently say Gareth would be the same with his other friends, but he and Will had a rapport.
“Hope this isn’t too lame in comparison to whatever you missed out on,” said Gareth after a while.
“Nah, I’m having a good time,” said Will, trying to reassure him. “I was going to hang out with Mike, but he apparently wasn’t in the mood after yesterday.”
Frowning, Gareth said, “What happened between him and Lucas shouldn’t bleed over to things between him and you.”
Shrugging, Will said, “You'd think so, and he denied it, but I think Mike was upset that I tried to support Lucas.”
Gareth grunted thoughtfully. “I can see why he’d be mad at Lucas, but you didn’t really do anything that wasn’t just trying to diffuse the tension. You weren’t even mean. Yeah, you snapped when your dad got brought up, but obviously, that’s a sore spot.”
“Yeah, I don’t get what’s up with him lately - and actually, he shouldn’t be mad at Lucas either. He didn’t deserve to get ganged up on last night,” said Will.
“He’s making a mistake,” said Gareth.
“Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t. Nothing is certain, and he needs to find out for - and decide for - himself whether or not it’s a mistake,” said Will.
There was a small silence, and then Gareth took a deep breath. “You’re right, of course, Will the Wise.”
“Happens more often than you’d think,” said Will, shrugging, not wanting to be too cocky by saying he knew he was right, but figuring Gareth would appreciate a clever retort.
But Gareth shook his head. “Nah, you’re kinda brilliant, so about as much as I’d think.”
Will’s face warmed immediately and he knew he was blushing.
In an attempt to save face, even with a red face, Will teased, “Like I’m right about punk being better than metal?”
For a second, Gareth stared at him uncomprehendingly.
Then he said, “Oh fuck you,” and tackled Will to the floor.
Neither of them may be athletes, but most if not all teenage boys roughhoused, so Will refused to give in immediately, and it meant they pushed each other around and rolled for several seconds.
But between Gareth’s height on Will and his muscley drummer’s arms, this was never going to be a scuffle Will was going to win, at least fair and square. So Will wasn’t really surprised to soon find himself pinned on his back, facing the ceiling. His wrists were held together above his head by a single firm grip by Gareth, and Gareth’s other hand was pressed into the carpet, holding himself up as he leaned over Will.
With everything Will had been through, after all the times he fought for his life, he should feel panicked. Honestly, it was a surprise that he didn’t feel unsafe.
“What was that you were saying about punk and metal?” Gareth asked as he worked on catching his breath.
“You heard me,” said Will, also a little breathless.
“Are you sure I heard you right? Because we can stay here for a while for you to reconsider your position,” said Gareth teasingly.
Will tried to free his wrists, but though Gareth’s grip wasn’t so tight that it actually hurt, it was strong enough that Will couldn’t quite break free.
Gareth raised a single eyebrow at Will.
“I know you like Glock, but you don’t have to be a barbarian outside of the game too,” Will huffed.
“You know what to say to end this,” Gareth teased again.
But before Will could say anything, they both heard the front door open, and a man’s voice call out, “Gareth? I’m home!”
Gareth pulled himself off Will faster than Will had ever seen him move before. Will, spurred on by Gareth’s panic, quickly pulled himself into a sitting position.
“I’m in my room! Will’s over too!” Gareth yelled back.
Will hoped that would have been enough to satisfy Mr. Yancy, but no, they both heard footsteps turn and come down the hall. And then he knocked before opening the door. Just like in his wedding picture, Norman Yancy was a tall man. His face had aged in comparison to the photo, but much of the rest of his appearance was largely the same. He wore a blue short-sleeved polo tucked into belted khaki pants and navy blue Converse sneakers. Luckily, he didn’t seem unhappy, per se, but he did look curious and surprised. “Hello Gareth - and you must be Will. Gare, you didn’t mention bringing someone over.”
“It was, uh, a spontaneous thing,” said Gareth. “Ran into him at the video store.”
“I see,” said Norman Yancy. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Will, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Norman Yancy, but Mr. Yancy or Mr. Norm is fine,” he said, holding out his hand.
Will reached out to shake it. “I’m Will Byers, it’s nice to meet you too, sir.”
Norman Yancy’s eyebrows jumped in surprise, and in a way that was immediately familiar. “Oh, you’re that Will.”
“Yes sir,” said Will uncomfortably.
But Mr. Yancy didn’t ask about his disappearance. Instead, he said, “Patricia and I went to school with your mother - and your father, I suppose. Joyce was closer to Trice and me, though. Still, your mother was sweet when she wanted to be.”
“I’m, uh, glad you remember her well,” said Will, awkward but genuine. The way he had heard it, Joyce wasn’t treated well by Hawkins at large when Will went missing.
“Help yourselves to snacks and drinks,” said Norman Yancy, pulling away. “Do you know if he was staying for dinner or needed a ride home?”
“We didn’t talk about it,” said Gareth, answering for the both of them.
“Make sure you boys use the phone to figure that out, preferably soon,” said Norman as he left them behind in the room.
“Will do!” Gareth called after him.
But it wasn’t quite until moments later when they heard the TV turn on that they both relaxed.
“He was nice,” said Will tentatively.
“Yeah, he’s alright as far as dads go,” said Gareth. “Come on, we better get you to make that phone call.”
So Will got up and followed Gareth out to the hall to go make the phone call home. After the call went through and he and Joyce exchanged greetings, Will said, “So I ended up at Gareth’s, and I’m checking to see if I can stay for dinner?”
Humming sympathetically, Joyce said, “Sorry hun, I know you’re probably having fun but we’re going to have a family dinner so I’ll have to come pick you up around five.”
“At five?” Will repeated, a bit disappointed.
“Yeah, but you can stay until then, okay?” said Joyce.
“Sure, thanks Mom,” said Will, and he hung up before turning to Gareth.
“Damn,” said Gareth.
“Still got a few hours though,” said Will.
“Better than nothing,” said Gareth, and he pulled Will back toward his room.
They whiled away the rest of the afternoon pouring over Gareth’s comic book collection and stack of music magazines. Gareth also put in tapes into his boombox, so Will was subjected to metal music, since that was all Gareth had. Some of the music actually wasn’t that bad. Will couldn’t let Gareth know that though, so of course Will made some jokes, mostly about particularly dumb lyrics. Gareth defended his bands and made some shots back, but he didn’t start another fight. There was a different aura to the afternoon once Gareth’s dad was only separated from them by a couple of walls. But it wasn’t unenjoyable, and Will didn’t regret taking Gareth up on his invitation.
Close to five, Will and Gareth reluctantly emerged from Gareth’s room, putting drink glasses away and getting Will ready to leave. From the living room, Mr. Norman Yancy asked the two of them about their day and Will about school. Will felt a little awkward making small talk with Gareth’s dad, and Will had never been super comfortable around dads in general, but Mr. Yancy wasn’t the worst of his friends’ dads to deal with (that was Mr. Ted Wheeler for sure, who could be a little snide when he wanted to).
Right at five on the dot, Joyce’s car pulled up outside, and Will’s mom came right up to the house. Norman got up to answer the door with a polite hello.
“Oh, hi Norm! Should’ve known Gareth was yours, you’ve got the same nose,” said Joyce as she stepped into the house.
“Got what seems like everything else from Trice,” said Norman with a laugh. “Good to see you, Joyce. You’ve got a good boy there.”
“Both of my boys are blessings,” said Joyce. “You’ve got a good one on your hands too.”
Joyce Byers and Norman Yancy descended into Parent Talk then, which did include some catch-up on their lives but most of which was about their kids. Parents were all the same: they wanted you ready to leave as soon as they got there, but they could spend anywhere from five minutes to another hour socializing with the host parent once they arrived.
After exchanging a look, Gareth tilted his head to summon Will, and Will followed Gareth back into his room.
Turns out, they got to talk for almost half an hour before Joyce called out for Will again.