Chapter Text
Will breathes in the salty air. His first trip out every summer is always a little special, before the boat and lobsters become mundane and exhausting. Despite everything, that big inhale seems to lift a weight off his shoulders. He's still crushed about Bitty, but he feels the impending calm that will eventually replace the hurt. His uncle yells for him to get back to the bait, and Will smiles.
After two weeks of going out on the boat at first light and staying out until dinner time, Will is officially reaching the point of disillusionment with working that has been happening since he became a teenager. As a kid, it was all so novel and fun that it never got old. But once he realized that sitting around and doing nothing was fun sometimes, there was always a waning of enjoyment. He still loves the sea and being on the water, but the smell of bait is getting to him and his hands hurt from lifting wire cages.
Not to mention, he has no cell service out here. He shouldn't even bring his phone, honestly, but he always has a little hope these days because he wants to be in the loop of the Frog group chat. He doesn't participate as much as Chowder, and not nearly as much as Nursey, but he enjoys seeing the memes and hearing what the guys are doing with their days. He has sent some pictures he took on the boat, and described the process of baiting and catching lobsters, and how to sort them, and Nursey sent back a meme that was a picture of a woman who looked like she was summoning the lobster straight to her hand from the water. As oddly specific as Nursey's endless supply of memes could be, Will appreciated it anyway.
Will tries to use his time productively. He does a lot of thinking, which works well, since he doesn't have to talk too much while on the boat. His uncle is a quiet and solemn kind of guy. He has one daughter who is about to be a freshman in college, and he never married. Carol never works on the boat, probably because her dad started out a tad sexist, but even after he learned better, Carol just wasn't as interested. She'd rather work the summer shift at the frozen lemonade shop in town. She claims seasickness, but Will knows she just doesn't want to admit that she doesn't like touching lobsters. She's still one of Will's favorite cousins. And Uncle Bill is his favorite uncle, even if they don't say much to each other. Will doesn't think they need to, and they still manage to have a sense of solidarity and trust.
Still, all Will's thinking does result in him being a little more absent-minded than usual. He tries various methods to get over Bitty. Rationalizing sounds something like, I just want him to be happy even if it isn't with me, we're still good friends and that's all I need, I will find someone some day, and so on. Bargaining sounds more like, okay, if I can go ten whole minutes without thinking of him, I'll get myself a milkshake on the way home. It's definitely a little pathetic, he thinks, but sometimes it works. He's had two milkshakes in two weeks.
One of the other things Will does, much to his shame, is get a dating app. He has no plans to ever meet anyone from it, and he doesn't have any pictures with his face (or hair) in them, but he figures maybe if he just swipes through some people, maybe that will inspire him away from his pining for Bitty.
Sometimes, in his lowest moments, he thinks that there's still a chance. After all, Bitty didn't necessarily reject him, he just admitted to his own crush on Jack and lack thereof on Will. There's still the chance that something could develop between the two of them now that Jack won't be at school. But every time Will's thoughts drift down that path, he feels terrible and he can't really name why.
That may be his most consistent contribution to the group chat: updates on how he's feeling. Chowder or Nursey always ask, What's today? And Will responds with a number 1-10 of how pathetic he's feeling about the whole Bitty-crush. It feels like something middle school girls would do, but he doesn't complain as much as he did at first, because when Chowder and Nursey encourage him it actually makes him feel better. So being on the boat away from the group chat is tough sometimes.
Apparently his distraction is noticeable enough that his uncle feels the need to toss a lobster at his chest. Will barely manages to catch it, and then barely manages not to get pinched, glaring at Bill before tossing this lobster back. It's too small, so they can't keep it.
"You never been a daydreamer 'till this summer, but boy, you look like you're watching a movie in that head of yours." Bill has a very clipped way of speaking. He doesn't have a southern accent, but he looks like he could and a lot of his dialect is from that way of speech.
"Got a bit on my mind," Will admits. Bill wouldn't actually be mad at him for getting distracted.
Bill hums and continues sorting for a minute. After throwing a few more lobsters back, he pauses and looks at Will's feet. "I know we aren't usually a chatty pair," he starts, taking a breath before continuing, "But if you need a listening ear, I gotcha."
Will is shocked, but pleased to hear that. It means a lot, even if it's a tad weird and unexpected. "You going soft on me, Bill?" he chirps.
Bill huffs a laugh, and shakes his head. "Maybe a bit. With Carol getting ready to leave for school, I wonder if I did enough on the emotional side of parenting. Figure I might as well offer," he mumbles, and Will is even more floored by this confession.
"Carol knows how much you love her," he reassures his uncle. "You don't have to worry about that. But I really do appreciate the offer. Maybe one of these days I'll take you up on it." Bill laughs again, and Will feels at peace with the moment.
The waves are gentler today, and it helps him feel calmer.