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Will gently places his hand on his mom’s shoulder and she turns around to face him with a hint of confusion on her face. “Hey, Mom? I uhh…I have something I want to tell you before we…you know, before we go on this crazy mission into the abyss and face Vecna. I feel like I need to tell you this before we leave.”
The slight confusion in Joyce’s face turns into a mixture of concern and curiosity. “Yes of course, Will. You know you can tell me anything. No matter what it is, I will always be on your side, okay? You’re my son and there is nothing in this world that could make me love you less.” Joyce says as she gently grabs Will’s hand and holds it between hers as she gives a reassuring squeeze. Will takes a shaky breath before he says “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for years…but I was afraid that you would see me differently if you knew the truth abou-“ Will whips his whole body around when someone interrupts him. “Hey guys, we’re leaving in about 15 min-“ Mike stops in his tracks. “Oh. Sorry. Did I interrupt something? You guys are looking a bit tense” he says as he looks at both Will and Joyce to figure out what might be going on. The two Byers share a glance and Will wants to say something, but hesitates. Mike senses the tense atmosphere and awkwardly starts towards the way he entered. Finally Will blurts out: “Wait, Mike. I have something to tell you too…”
Will, Mike and Joyce all move towards the set of furniture that sits empty on the wooden floors. Will sits on the big couch while Joyce went to sit on the chair next to him. Will looks increasingly nervous as Mike moves closer to the couch Will is sitting on. Mike goes to sit on the seat next to him and Will starts to fidget with his fingers, hoping it could ease his restless mind slightly. It doesn’t work, especially not with the looming secret that has to be revealed with Mike sitting so close that Will could almost feel the heat of Mike’s arm radiate onto his.
Joyce places her hand on Will’s arm. “Hey, you can tell us whenever you’re ready, okay? We will be here for you no matter what it is you have to say.” She gives a supportive nod and quickly glances over to Mike, who sits unusually still, anticipating Will’s next words.
“I know that whatever I’m going to say next, might be surprising, or might be shocking, but I’ve been keeping this secret for so long and it has taken me almost a decade to finally come to terms with my feelings, even though some people might say my feelings are…wrong, or unnatural. I am different…I am different from you guys and sometimes it felt like I was a mistake for being different. But over the past few days, I’ve been having really interesting conversations with Robin, which have helped me more than I could’ve ever imagined.” Will takes a deep breath and Mike seems to try and figure out how Robin fits into all of this.
“I….I am-“ Will starts to tear up, his words catching in his throat. Joyce starts to sqeeze Will’s arm to show support as she senses where this might be going. Will quickly wipes his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m different. I am different from you because I don’t like girls the way normal guys like girls” Will makes eye contact with Mike, who currently has an unreadable expression on his face. Will quickly looks away from Mike, his head now hanging low, close to his chest. “I’m gay. I like boys…and there’s a specific boy that I’ve liked for so long that I can’t even remember exactly when I started liking him.” Will tried to catch the tears rolling down his face with his sleeve once more. Joyce pulls Will into a hug and hugs him tightly, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort her boy.
Mike is confused. He had his suspicions that Will might like boys, but he still has no idea who Will likes. El said a few months ago that Will was painting something for a girl he likes…so who was the painting actually for, if Will didn’t paint it for a girl? Was El talking about someone he met in Lenora? Mike’s head is spinning from all the questions he has, but he cannot formulate a coherent sentence right now. Mike feels a pit in his stomach when he remembers what he said to Will when they were fighting in the rain…”It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”. A wave of guilt washes over him and he has absolutely no idea what to say. All he can think of doing, is to comfort Will.
Joyce breaks the hug and Mike finally speaks. “Hey, Will…” he scootches a few inches closer to Will and embraces him. They hug for quite a while, with warmth and uncertainty trapped between their chests. Mike doesn’t know what to say or ask yet, but Will is vulnerable and he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing to mess up the moment between him and Will. This moment is too wonderful to ruin.
After a while, Mike slowly lets go of Will, putting his hands back into his lap. He gives Will a reassuring smile. Joyce stands up and before she leaves, she says, “You’re no different from us after all. Yes, you might face more hardships throughout your life just because your love is incomprehensible to our society and its ignorance, but you’re still the same Will that danced with me in the living room. The same Will that would go hide out in Castle Byers and listen to The Clash. And you’re still the same Will that cares more about others’ well-being than your own. If someone cannot accept the truth about who you are, then that’s their loss.” She squeezes Will’s hand and gives him a kiss on his head before she leaves.