Chapter Text
“Good morning, babe.”
Will Byers woke up to a gentle voice at 8:27am. He wasn’t used to a quiet awakening - most of the time, he was woken up by his own nightmares. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, but it was nice to wake up to something different for a change.
“Hmm?” He hummed drowsily. As the sleep slowly left his brain, he remembered why he wasn’t having a nightmare in the first place - Mike. Mike had caught him mid-anxiety attack in the dead of night, and somehow, knew just what to say to stop him from falling into one of those spirals, where he wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. Mike always knew just what to say. (Well, most of the time.)
Will’s eyes fluttered open to return Mike’s wake-up call except -
It wasn’t Mike.
It was Carlton.
His boyfriend, Carlton.
Of course.
“…oh,” Will blinked himself awake, propping himself up on his elbows and shaking Mike Wheeler out of his head. “Good morning.”
Carlton smiled warmly, sitting himself down at the edge of their bed. “I brought you breakfast.” He held out a muffin, which looked amazing as Will realized he was starving. He gladly took it.
“Aww, blueberry,” Will grinned as he realized. “How’d you know?”
“Mike gave me a hint.” Carlton chuckled.
Oh. Of course. It wasn’t because he’d noticed which muffin Will grabbed at the dining hall every morning. Will didn’t expect him to - he just got excited at the prospect. But just because Will had noticed his affinity for cinnamon coffee cake muffins didn’t mean Carlton had to notice that sort of thing too. Will was an artist - he just naturally paid attention to details.
“Oh,” Will hoped the change in his smile wasn’t noticeable. “That’s nice. Thank you.”
“Of course.” Carlton pressed a kiss to Will’s cheek before getting up.
“So, you guys made up?” Will looked at Carlton hopefully. “Well, I mean, Mike apologized?”
Carlton nodded. “Yeah, we’re all good now.”
“I’m so glad.” Will relaxed without realizing he did so.
“Me too,” Carlton grinned. “What time is the cake ready again?”
“9:00,” Will replied through a mouthful of pastry. “What time is it now?”
Carlton suddenly looked sheepish. “About 8:30.”
Will’s eyebrows shot up. “8:30? I thought I set my alarm for 7:30!”
“You did,” Carlton assured him. “But you slept through it, and I figured you needed the rest, so I let you be for a little longer.”
“Babe,” Will coughed, nearly launching a blueberry across the room. “That’s-that’s really sweet, but it takes longer to get to the bakery than 15 minutes.”
“We have 30 minutes.” Carlton smiled simply.
Will stared at him. “…And I am not dressed. Or showered. God, I should’ve showered last night.” He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. “Shit.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Carlton sat back down beside him, taking Will’s hand. Will tensed at the unexpected contact. “It’s not like they won’t give it to us if we’re late.”
“But if they need to fix anything…” Will trailed off, praying that Carlton would fill in the blanks that Will was too tired to fill in himself.
“There’s time!” Carlton reassured him. “The wedding isn’t until tomorrow!”
“Yes, hon, but the wedding is tomorrow,” Will sighed. “They’re the only fancy bakery in town; they probably have a gazillion other orders. They’ve got other weddings, bar mitzvahs, graduations, bat mitzvahs, quinceñeras - we’ll have to pay a fortune to get them to fast-track fixing ours.”
“Oh.” It would seem the gears finally clicked in his boyfriend’s head. “I’m sorry.”
Will looked over at Carlton and felt a pang of guilt at how deflated he looked. “Carl, I-I appreciate you letting me sleep in, don’t get me wrong. I’m just kinda freaking out now.” He half-smiled.
“Hey, hey, don’t freak out,” Carlton squeezed his hand. “Look, I’ll grab some clothes for you while you shower, and we’ll get there as soon as possible. It’ll all work out, it always does.”
Will let out a deep breath. Most of the time, he loved that Carlton was so laid-back - it really helped to have someone so level-headed when he was in the throes of anxiety. But then, there were times like these, when Will wanted nothing more than to shake him by the shoulders and beg him for a sense of urgency. Instead, he responded, “…okay. Let’s get moving then.”
As Will stood, Carlton stood with him, following him to the door. “Will, I’m really sorry about last night.”
Will cringed. Really? Right now?
“Babe, I already said it’s fine,” Will turned, flashing him a tense smile. “Seriously. It’s a boundary I genuinely didn’t know I had, but now we know, so it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Carlton insisted. “And I’m really sorry. I-I just want to know how much this boundary extends. Is it just your neck? Can I kiss your jaw? Or your shoulders? I don’t wanna-”
“Just the neck,” Will cut in. “I just can’t deal with-with goosebumps on my neck specifically. It’s not you, it has literally nothing to do with you, I just- I can’t do it.”
“No, yeah, of course,” Carlton nodded vehemently. He was quiet for a moment, and Will took this as a sign to go, but just as he turned back towards the door, Carlton asked, “…Is it because of-?”
“Yes, yes,” Will pinched the bridge of his nose. “The mindf- the kidnapping, yes. But I do not want to get into it right now, because right now, I have to shower.”
“You don’t smell-“
“Carl.”
Carlton finally backed off. “Alright, sorry. I’ll set some clothes in the bathroom while you’re in the shower.”
A weight lifted off of Will’s shoulders. “Thank you, babe.” He wrapped an arm around Carlton’s hip and stood on his toes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be right out.”
Carlton smiled as Will pulled away, his cheeks pink. “I love you.”
Will smiled back. “You’re bluuushing.” He teased as he backed out of the room.
“So are you!” Carlton laughed as Will closed the door.
Will rolled his eyes fondly and called back, “Oh, hush!”
The water temperature at his parents’ cabin was semi-consistent, at best. Will had waited a healthy 10 minutes to ensure that the water was warm and staying warm before getting in. If the water was too cold - he didn’t even want to entertain the idea of having a repeat of the night before.
As Will scrubbed shampoo through his hair, his mind wandered back to the prior night. Everything had been fine. More than fine, honestly - it was great, until the sharp goosebumps spread across the nape of his neck.
That familiar dread hit him. The edges of his vision went black, his ears rang, and he felt the sharp pain of vines wrapping around each of his limbs. When it really happened, the sensation would only last a few seconds before he returned to reality, but not in flashbacks. The vines kept suffocating him, kept twisting their way around him, pressing into his skin. He couldn’t breathe, just barely choking on enough air to keep him awake. White eyes pierced into his soul. “You. Are. Weak.”
Will stumbled, catching himself on the tile wall. The water had gone cold. Of course.
With a groan of frustration, he yanked the shower handle up, cranking the heat once more. He rinsed his hair as quickly as he could, steam clouding up around him. He sighed, catching his breath before finishing his shower at a remarkable pace.
Will dried off and stepped out, unable to see his reflection behind the fog on the mirror. He looked down at his hands, which were burning red. He may have overcorrected slightly, but it wasn’t enough to send him into another spiral, so no harm, no foul.
Will shook his head as he pulled on the red t-shirt (Will hated that shirt - why did he even bring that shirt?) that Carlton had grabbed for him. Mike’s words echoed in his mind as he finished getting dressed.
“Right now, you are safe.”
Will breathed slowly, finally catching a glimpse of himself in the slowly-clearing reflection in the mirror. He looked exhausted. But he was safe. As his heart rate steadied, he whispered, “I’m safe.”
“Good morning! Happy Wedding Eve!”
Will was the picture of cheer as he hugged his parents tightly.
“Oh, thank you, sweetie.” Joyce kissed the top of his head.
Hopper ruffled his hair when she was done. “Thank you, kid. How are you?”
“Excited for you,” Will replied honestly. “You?”
“Very excited,” Hopper smiled. “Your mom’s excited too, but she could use a Xanax.”
Joyce swatted him gently. “I’m fine, thank you very much,” She scoffed. “I just want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row.” She turned to Will. “Do you know where the bakery is?”
Will nodded. “I’ve got it circled on the map.”
“And I will be the map reader.” Carlton chimed in.
“Thank you, Carlton,” Joyce replied warmly. “Did you two have fun last night?”
Will and Carlton glanced at one another. “Um, yeah!” Will shrugged at Carlton, who nodded in agreement. “It was really great seeing the guys and Max.”
“That’s good!” Joyce had an ounce of skepticism in her eyes, but Will supposed she decided to put a pin in any questions she had. “Well, thank you guys very much.” She gave Will another hug, followed by a hug for Carlton, before letting them head to the door. Carlton took Will’s hand.
“Mrs. Byers?”
Will turned his head at the sound of Mike’s voice.
“Oh, Mike!” Joyce smiled. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Mike nodded, returning the smile. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You can come with us,” Will blurted. “…Since you’re up.”
It didn’t take three people to pick up a wedding cake, and Will knew that. Truthfully, he wanted Mike there as a buffer. If it was just him and Carlton, he knew Carlton would try and continue their previous conversation, and Will simply could not deal with that right now.
“Um…” Mike looked at Carlton, as if asking for permission. Carlton shrugged. “Well, if I wouldn’t be more helpful somewhere else…”
“You can go ahead and join them,” Joyce nodded. “I’m sure we’ll have jobs for all three of you when we all get to the venue.”
“Alright,” Mike nodded back, locking eyes with Will and hitting him with his sideways smile. “Let’s go.”