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"What if dad was right about me?" Will suddenly said. Jonathan was out of the house, going on a road trip with Argyle and Eleven was in Hawkins staying with Mike, so him and Joyce were the only two people in the house. Joyce, who was cutting vegetables, looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was little" Will elaborated, afraid to look up at her. "And he called me a fag... What if he was right?"
Joyce frowned and stopped what she was doing. She went over to the table and sat next to him. "What do you mean?"
"What if I am?" Will asked, frustrated that she didn't seem to be getting it. "After I came back from the Upside Down, I kept waiting to fall in love with a girl or at least be attracted to a girl, but I'm not" he explained, his voice shaking. Joyce patiently listened to him, which he was grateful for. She was always so loving with him, which was honestly the only reason he was risking talking about this with her. "The only person..."
"Will, can you look at me?" Joyce asked, gentleness in her voice. Will hesitantly looked up at her, anxiety growing in his stomach at a quick rate. "Do you think you might be gay?"
"I don't know" Will replied. "I mean I really like Mike, but I don't know if that's... I don't know"
"Okay" Joyce replied with a small smile. "That's okay. You don't have to have it all figured out" she assured him. "Thank you for trusting me with this"
"You're not mad?"
"No" Joyce told him, sincere. "I could never be mad at you, especially not for something like this. You're my kid. I love you no matter what"
"...Thanks, mom"