A/N: Well, here with a collection of good old hurt/comfort/angst/ family/friendship variety. The idea for this collection came from one realization involving seasons one and two: Will didn't really truly get much of a chance to process anything between returning from the upside down coughing up slugs and the mind flayer other than that one tiny scene with Mike. Maybe in the bit between the one month later and the end scene of season 1 but it's not something we saw so we can only speculate about what went on. Anyway I am letting the feels loose with this collection. Spoilers across the board, just putting that out there, because there will most definitely be spoilers, some more than others but they are there nonetheless. Anyway per usual, I own nothing, nada. Stranger Things belongs to the Duffer Brothers and Netflix. Just showing some fan love.


Attire

His mother gives him an odd look when he walks out of his bedroom in a sweatshirt, a winter coat, gloves, a scarf and boots as the three Byers prepare to visit the chief and his daughter. Considering the first snowfall hasn't happened yet, Will isn't surprised by this fact, but he can't bring himself to care...much. Normally he's very in tune with his mother's feelings. He'd do anything to not concern her, even if it leaves him with a paralysis he can't quite identify. It's not physical. He can feel himself remove the boots in favor of his ratty sneakers. He sees the stripes of the scarf fall to the floor,the fingers of the gloves detach themselves from his skin which is clammy, a clear sign that his attire is the wrong choice, but it is there in the way he trembles.

"He likes it cold."

"You shouldn't have upset him."

"LET ME GO!"

"Will,"

He remembers everything. He remembers their fear, the Demodogs, the heat and how desperate he was to break through. He'd seen everything. He'd seen Bob's attack. The Mind Flayer made him watch all of it, watch as it wearing Will's skin had savored the pain on his mother's face as Will himself was locked further and further out of reach. After it made him lie to his mom, Dr. Owens, Mike, Hopper, Will had tried to come up with a plan, but Mind Flayer lived up to its name.

It was only through strength of hearing those old reminiscences, and the fact that he knew the Chief knew morse code that let Will send the message at all, but what had been truly terrifying, what left Will paralyzed and barely breathing in the middle of his living room, what caused his chest to tighten was the fire. The most excruciating and horrible and absolutely terrifying dangerous deathly pain, but he had been glad for it. He'd been glad, because he knew it would break the connection. Get him out of the void...again.

"Will, Will, Baby…" Will doesn't react, can't react as he feels his mom's arms around him. His attention is focused on his breathing, on freezing breath that probably isn't even there as his balance is lost. "Jonathan!"

What is probably only moments but feels like hours or days later, Will is on the couch, his brother beside him. His mother is not in the room, and Will feels his breathing go shallow again.

"Mom's making hot chocolate." Jonathan says.

Will nods, closing his eyes against the strange feeling in his brain, the spinning.

"So why were you dressed for going to war with the abominable anyway?"

Will shrugs, but still feels himself shivering as his voice is barely there. "It likes the cold."

It takes his brother a minute to catch up, but when he finally does, he frowns. "Oh…"

Will didn't expect his brother to understand, how could he? He wasn't the one stuck in the void, the upside-down, stuck in the hive mind of a shadow monster who was trying to kill his friends and family. But the single syllable was enough to ignite his fear and shame anew. "Sorry…I...I'll go finish getting ready." Will tries to stand only to be pulled gently back down.

"What are you apologizing for?" Jonathan asks. "Huh?"

"It's over." Will shifts under his brother's inquiring gaze. "I shouldn't still be scared."

At his brother's words, Jonathan closes his eyes as he remembers watching as Nancy shoved the poker into Will, his mother turning up the heat mercilessly as they aimed to get the monster out of him. "You have every right to be scared." He says. "We all were."

The scent of chocolate enters Will's nostrils at the same moment he hears his mother humming a Christmas song under her breath. She sets a tray with three mugs down on the coffee table as she takes a seat next to Will. Instinctively, he finds himself leaning back into her holding his mug in a white knuckled grasp.

"Feeling better?"

Will nods finally feeling comfortable to release the breath he'd been holding. He didn't feel better. He isn't sure if he'll feel better for a while, but he knows he is safe, safe to have the feelings he is having and right now that's enough.


A/N: So, okay, if anyone has anything in particular, they want me to write for this collection, leave it below. It can take place between seasons 1 and 2, post 2, in the month between getting Will back and the final scene, AU'ed a bit, anything as long it is of the hurt/comfort variety, based on a lyric a quote from the show, a bit of dialogue anything involving any characters. I've got some more ideas, but I always love more.