Chapter Text
“Will, come on.”
“God, El. Relax,” Will groans. He fixes the swoop of his hair in the mirror and frowns. Despite how unfortunate his bowl cut was for all those years, at least it was low maintenance.
“We will be late,” El shouts from downstairs. “Max is driving first and you know she will leave without us.”
“Not without you,” Will mutters under his breath. A smirk threatens to appear on his face.
His sister and best girl friend have gotten awfully close over the last few months since Max and Lucas’ amicable split. Will has his thoughts on the matter, but he knows better than to articulate the more sensitive ones. If someone did that to him before he was ready, he’d spin out of orbit.
Dryly, Will thinks, Been there.
The door opens, and El stares at him for a moment. She scoffs.
“You spend more time in front of the mirror than me.”
“And I don’t look half as good. How’s that fair?” Will drawls.
“Bullshit,” El laughs. She goes to grab his bag from where it rests at the foot of his bed. “Let’s go. Now.”
Will follows after her with a chuckle as a car honks from outside. El picks up her pace and skips the last three steps. Will follows more carefully and thinks – not for the first time – that Jonathan is truly a bad influence on her.
“Hi!” El shouts, running out of the house to greet the others.
Will sees that Max is driving. The guys loiter around the car – Dustin, Lucas, and Mike.
Mike.
In spite of himself, Will thinks, God, he looks good.
It should not surprise him. Mike has always appeared more gangly than most, but he has also filled out in the past few months as senior year came to a close. Will is not sure whether it was some sort of growth spurt or just him working out when no one was looking, but he’s physically strong. He looks as though he could lift Will up and –
“Are you ready to go, baby?”
Will schools his face into a neutral expression and turns to face his mother. Mercy of all mercies, he has tremendously improved his Poker face.
“Yeah. Though I’m pretty sure El would throw me over her shoulder either way,” Will laughs.
“She could do it, too,” Hopper grunts. He pats Will on the shoulder as he passes. After, he calls out, “Hey, Mayfield! Let me see that driver’s license!”
“You be careful now, you hear?” Joyce insists. Will nods with a reassuring smile. “I mean it, Will. No wandering off on your own. Promise me.”
“I promise,” Will says, and he means it.
He has no desire to have El poking and prodding around the Void for him. Again.
“Call when you get settled, alright?” Will nods again. “And Will?”
Will gives her another patient smile.
“Yeah?”
“Have some fun, okay? It’s your last summer before college. You all deserve it.”
It feels good to hear that they deserve something nice just because. Not because they saved the world too many times to count.
“Hug,” Joyce orders, outstretching her arms.
Will laughs and walks easily into them. He now has to bend forward slightly to accommodate her thanks to his own growth spurt. Perhaps the only person who was more dumbstruck than Will by that development was Mike.
“I’m supposed to be the tall one!” Mike splutters.
Never mind the fact that Lucas is the tallest of them. Will merely grins at Mike.
“I’m making moves, Wheeler. Come join me up here.”
Will remembers staring in fascination at the way Mike’s cheeks developed a pink dusting. It was only the two of them, so Will convinced himself that it was the trick of the light. Still, it took some time to get used to Mike not needing to cast his eyes downward to make eye contact with Will.
“Get your ass in gear, Baby Byers!” Max snaps.
Will separates from Joyce. He glowers in Max’s direction.
“Bite me, Mayfield.”
Joyce laughs in surprise and whacks his arm. Will blinks and looks slightly abashed, but Joyce just smiles fondly at her youngest.
“Go on,” Joyce says. “I love you.”
Will presses a kiss to her cheek.
“Love you, too!” he says, taking off toward the van.