Chapter 2

"We're actually kind of alike, you and me," said Steve.

"*We're* alike?" asked Will.

"I mean, not in a super obvious way, but we're alike."

"How?" asked Will.

"We're in love with people that don't love us back. Wheelers to boot. We still want them to be happy. It won't work out with Nance and I because... we just want different things. I want the whole nuclear family thing and she..well.. doesn't. You know what? That's okay. Even if two people love each other, there's no point to being together if they aren't both happy.

"Then there's Robin."

"Robin?" asked Will.

"Yeah, Henderson wouldn't quit nagging me about her when we were investigating the Russians at the mall. He was right though, Robin is awesome. We laughed and had a good time. Then of course I told her how I felt and found out that one of the things we have in common is that we both like boobies."

"But you want her to be happy," said Will.

"Just like you want Mike to be happy. Or any other guy you might develop feelings for... if it didn't work out, I'm sure you'd want him to be happy as well."

"I hope so," said Will.

"I know you would, Byers." said Steve. "Like I said, we're alike; just not in a super obvious way. But listen, high school is a shit time because shit people have all the power. But when the ponds get bigger, the fish get smaller and we get to know people, really awesome people we never would have spoken to in high school. And I know my situation isn't the same as yours, but if you need to talk to someone, I know that a former douche bag asshole isn't the most ideal, but I'm here."

"The operative word is 'former' but thanks, Steve."

"Holy shit! that was so much better than the talk I would have given," said Robin as she burst into the room. "I mean, I wanted to talk, I really really did. I'm just so bad at it. But we're us, Will. We aren't alone."

The conversation with Steve and Robin had happened a few months after the group started living in Bloomington. Had anyone told Will Byers a few years earlier that Steve Harrington would be a confidante, He never would have believed them. As of late spring 1988, Will had outright told very few people. His friends seemed to always suspect, but never say anything. Although Steve had assured both Will and Robin that Dustin wouldn't care if he knew, both were too scared to tell him or anyone else.

Will sat on a bench behind some tents sketching clouds. He liked the way the early summer sunlight reflected off of them. It was the complete opposite of the upside down. Various music played from different vendors in the different tents. Records, cassettes, and CDs. All had different sound qualities. Some people played live music on various instruments. It was all very soothing for Will.

Will had decided to sit on his own for a while while Mike, El and the others looked around. He reached into his pocket and gripped the letter Max had written him when she realized that Vecna had marked her. Will remembered how close close El and Max became one they started talking to each other and how Lucas was devoted to Max. Will wanted to save Max and free everyone that Henry had consumed.

"Wow, you really captured those cloud formations," said a voice from behind Will startling him from his thoughts. He looked up to see a boy his age with light brown hair. "And those are some awesome formations. I'm glad someone's capturing them. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," said Will. The boy was dressed in a REM tee short and jeans. Will suddenly felt very self conscious about his khakis and flannel shirt that was tucked in. Will himself actually like REM. He regretted not wearing the tee shirt that Jonathan had bought him at their concert "I was just thinking about ... stuff."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't mean to be nosy or anything. I'm just in a band and we're always looking for art for albums and posters and I really liked what I saw of your drawings."

"Oh, thanks," said Will. "You're in a band? That's cool. Are you playing here?"

"Well in order to play here, your band has to not suck. And my band... we don't exactly qualify, but we have fun. Mind if I join you?" the boy indicated the bench where Will sat.

"It's a public place," said Will. He glanced around at the backs of all the tents. "Sort of."

The boy chuckled and sat down. He held out his hand. "Thanks. I'm Eric, by the way. Eric Lauder."

Will shook Eric's hand. "Will Byers."

"Do you have any drawings I can look at while you're working on those clouds?"

"Yeah, sure," said Will. He pulled a folder out of his backpack, (why did he still wear a back pack?) and handed it to Eric.

"How'd you end up on this bench?" asked Eric as he thoughtfully examined Will's drawings.

"I'm just here with my sister El- uh Jane- and my best friend Mike who is dating my sister. Sometimes they want to be alone. So I gave them a little time. People stared at me a lot in middle school, I still can't shake the feeling of people staring, and I looked for a place where people wouldn't stare."

"Hmmm," said Eric. "I'm actually here with my best friend Devon and his girlfriend Joanna-who is not my sister. They're awesome and all, but sometimes they want to be alone... at a super crowded festival."

Will chuckled. "Well, crowds are obviously the best places for couples to be alone."

Eric came across a couple of Will's pictures of his friends as their D&D characters. "Dungeons and Dragons or something?" Eric asked as he held up a drawing. Will felt a blush creep up his face.

"Yeah, um, my friends and I play sometimes. You?"

"No way! My parents are super religious. My dad's a pastor. They think it's Satanic, which is ridiculous. It's just a game and I've never seen anyone who plays it get remotely violent. But my dad's an asshole, so.."

"My dad's an asshole too," said Will. "But he and my mom got divorced almost ten years ago and he doesn't exactly want anything to do with me so I don't have to see him. My step dad's cool though."

"Why doesn't your dad want anything to do with you?"

"Let's just say he doesn't think I'm man enough to be his son," said Will.

"My dad probably feels the same about me," said Eric. "Alright, let's change the subject. Our dads suck."

"Yeah," said Will.

A few minutes later, Robin and Vickie stumbled behind the tents hoping for a little privacy, but they saw Will and Eric talking about Eric's band and seeming to enjoy each other's company.

"Holy shit!" said Vickie. "That's the kid from before that was showing no interest whatsoever in those super hot girls hitting on him, And here he is talking to Will. This is like fate or something. We should totally help them get together. Will is like super shy and he's not going to do it on his own,"

"Yeah, but what if we're wrong about that kid? I mean sure those chicks were super hot, but maybe they just weren't his type. I mean, they weren't your type, they weren't my type, maybe they weren't his type either and if we're wrong, we've embarrassed Will and it'll be a disaster!"

"So we dip out toes in the water, so to speak and see if we're right. And when we know we're right- and we are so right, we give them a little nudge. Follow my lead." She walked over to where Will and Eric sat. Robin followed. "There you are, Will. We've been looking all over for you. There's this booth you have to see. It's incredible!"

"Vickie? Robin?" said Will. "Hey, this is Eric. I just came back here do do a little drawing."

Vickie took Robin's hand and gave her a kiss right on the lips. Will nearly dropped his sketch pad. He'd never seen Robin and Vickie show romantic affection whenever anyone other than himself or Steve was present. He saw Eric give a small smile. "What a coincidence," said Vickie. "We came back here to make out, but you beat us to this spot."

"But that's totally cool," said Robin. "If anyone's going to beat us to a make-out spot for any reason, let it be Will to do his drawings. He's seriously like the best artist in Indiana, maybe the world. His stuff is like super duper amazing."

"I agree," said Eric as he pointed at the picture Will had been drawing. Will felt his whole body tingle as Eric's arm brushed his. He could see Vickie and Robin give each other knowing looks.

"Anyway, why don't you come with us, Eric," said Vickie. "I'm sure you'll like the booth as well."

"Sure,why not," said Eric with a grin.

"Great," said Vickie. She walked over to Eric. "Here, let me take your arm and Robin can take Will's arm. give us a little cover and we can head that way." Vickie pointed the long way down the row of tents rather than the much shorter path options that were the gaps between the tents. Robin walked over to Will and took his arm. She started to lead him when Vickie and Eric were about ten feet ahead of them.

"Listen," said Robin barely above a whisper. "Vickie and I are like 99% sure that Eric is one of us and that he totally likes you."

"What?" said Will. "C'mon we were just talking."

"He was looking at you with puppy dog eyes, you're just too scared to notice. I know, I've been there... like a lot."

Vickie said something that Will and Robin couldn't hear, but Eric glanced back at them. His expression was vaguely hopeful. Robin gave Will an encouraging nudge with her elbow. "We could but wrong and if we are, we can all run and hide or something, but he was super cool with me and Vickie and it's worth a shot. I want to see you have a little happiness.

A few hours later Will, Eric, Robin, and Vickie were leaving an area of a stage where the last band had played for the evening.

"Eric, there you are!" a boy his age ran to the group. "I've been looking for you for hours!"

"Sorry, Devon. I just found some new friends and started hanging out. This is Will, Robin, and Vickie."

"Nice to meet all of you," said Devon. He turned back to Eric. "We're driving back to the hotel. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just a second," said Eric. He gently tapped Will's upper arm and jerked his head toward and empty space between two small buildings. Will followed him until they were out of sight of everyone else. "So, you know the Gibson tent... the green one."

"Yeah."

"Can you meet me there tomorrow morning at 9?"

"But that's three hours before the festival opens-Oh...Yeah, yes, I can meet you there... tomorrow at 9."

An elated smile spread across Eric's face. He gently grabbed Will's wrist. He leaned close to Will's ear and whispered "See you then."

"Do you want me to stop?" asked Eric. He pulled back as he felt Will tense up, but kept his hand gently on the latter's neck.

"No-I-no, I don't," said Will.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just nervous."

"This feels like more than nerves. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'm not!" said Will earnestly. "It's just.." He considered Eric very carefully. All his life, feeling different, the tiniest looks or reactions from others made Will feel terrified that they were disgusted with him. Perhaps he should be just the right amount of honest with Eric. "I feel happy right not, but guilty about feeling."

Eric smiled warmly. "You're happy? Good, me too." Eric gently caressed Will's neck and collar bone. His smile faltered. "But why on earth do you feel guilty?"

Will signed. "Have you heard of Hawkins?"

"That town that became uninhabitable after all that crazy shit and the earthquake?"

"Yeah," said Will. "That's where I'm from. I knew some of the people that died and I have a friend that's been in a coma since the earthquake."

"Oh. That sucks!"

"Yeah."

Eric wrapped his arms around Will and pulled him close. "All the more reason to grab whatever happiness we can, right?"

"Mmmmm."

"I'm really glad I felt like being nosy about those cloud drawings of yours yesterday."

"Me too."

"I'm even more glad your cooky lesbian buddies are persistent matchmakers. I was terrified to say anything, but there they were pushing us together."

Will laughed. Eric kissed his forehead, then his lips.

"There you are!" a middle aged man's voice startled Will and Eric out of their moment. Will noticed two other men standing beside him.

"Dad!" said Eric as he jumped up and stood protectively between Will and the Men that had just entered the tent.

"So, my son really is some faggot! These gentlemen are going to take you somewhere to fix you."

Eric turned back to Will. "Run."

"Only if you come with me," said Will.

"Don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Eric," said Mr. Lauder.

Will made a snap decision. He'd spent a week in the Upside Down evading the demogorgan. He could spend a few minutes evading men trying to take Eric... somewhere. Will jumped up and flipped the empty table over.

"C'mon!" He grabbed Eric's arm and pulled him to the ground. They rolled under the tent flap and as fast as they could.

Devon came sprinting toward. "Shit! Eric, are you alright? You dad and a couple of men were looking for you."

"He wants to put me in one of those places to fix me," said Eric as he stopped to catch his breath.

"Let's get you somewhere safe," said Devon. The three boys tried to stay out of sight as much as possible on their way to the parking lot. "Shit! They're waiting near my car."

"We can try one of the back stage areas," said Will. "Maybe we can figure out a way to sneak off the grounds."

"That's probably the best we can do at the moment," said Eric.

"Where's Will?" asked Mike as everyone sat in the hotel lounge having an early lunch. "I haven't seen him all morning."

"Oh, he went to meet up with a friend we met yesterday," said Robin.

"A new friend?" asked Mike.

"Yeah, yeah. This kid that's like part of a band saw some of Will's drawings and wanted him to design an album cover," said Robin. "They hit it off. And I mean really really hit it off." Mike thought he saw Vickie elbow Robin. "Anyway, they're just hanging out."

"So you're say that Will was actually able to talk to someone he just met?" asked Dustin. "That's a first."

"Sometimes people just need good icebreakers," said Steve.

"Are we sure this new person's alright?" asked Mike. "I mean what if he works for... someone who isn't on our side?"

"He's cool."

"How can we be sure?" asked Mike. "We should find him and make sure he's okay."

Vickie and Robin looked like they wanted to object for some reason.

"I can check on him," said El. "C'mon." She lead Mike back to her room, turned on the sink and sat down and closed her eyes.

"What if, what if you came back with me?" Will asked Eric as they hid under one of the stages with Devon. "My mom and my step dad could protect you."

"Do they know about you?" asked Eric. Will shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure they at least suspect and I'm mostly sure my brother figured it out, but I'm never actually said 'yes, I'm gay' to anyone except Robin, Vickie and their friend Steve. They really had to push me to say it."

"So your sister and your best friend Mike who's dating her don't know."

"They might suspect it. I mean, my own father constantly called me 'queer' and 'faggot' for as long as I can remember. And lots of kids at school called me 'fairy.' My friends knew that. Maybe they knew it was true... or maybe they just thought it was other people being assholes. When I figured it out myself, I was just too scared to find out if they actually knew, I guess."

"Why would you be scared? They're your friends," said Devon.

"I don't know. Just little things," said Will.

"Little things? Like what?"

"Well things have been different since-things just aren't the same as they were when we were younger."

"Yeah, but that's normal," said Devon is a reassuring voice. "Things change when people get older."

"I know," said Will. "It's just, we had a fight a few years ago and at one point he said 'it's not my fault you don't like girls!' the look on his face when he said it... I've just been really scared since that day that if he knew, like really knew... he'd hate me and I'd lose him."

"Sometimes, people say stupid things," said Devon. "If he really is your friend, he won't care. If he would care, he's not worth having as a friend."

"I wish it was that simple," said Will.

"It is that simple," said Devon.

"It's not," said Eric he reached over and started rubbing circles on Will's back with his index finger. "I had the same fears about telling you. I was terrified you'd hate me."

"What? Listen, if I ever said or did anything to make you feel that way, I am so sorry."

"You didn't, note remotely," said Eric. "But people don't have to do or say anything to make us scared we'll lose them." Eric looked at Will. "Do you really think I could come with you? That your step father could help me?"

"Yeah, there's just something you should know first."

"What's that?"

"That stuff that happened in Hawkins... Well the people blaming Satanic stuff... they think it was my friends, and we're all sort of living somewhere secret?"

"Why would they thing your friends did it?" asked Devon.

"They were in this D&D club called Hellfire and the leader got blamed for some of the murders. He didn't commit the murders, but he got blamed for them. And there's plenty of other weird stuff that's happened to us."

"Okay, fine, whatever, I'm in," said Eric.

"Really?" asked Will. "We just met. It's been amazing and all, but we just met yesterday."

"Exactly, Will. It's been amazing. And my dad is here looking for me and wanting to throw me in some prison to fix me because he thinks something's wrong with me. Hell, I was starting to wonder if something's wrong with me. But spending time with you made me feel happier than I've felt me entire life, more *right* than I've felt. Maybe we're right for each other and maybe we aren't, but I want to find out. So even though I just met you and even though you and your friends are in danger, I'll take it over being with parents that think something's wrong with me."

Will thought he felt a hand on his arm that wasn't Eric's. He heard El's faint voice "Hang on, Will. I'm on my way."

El opened her eyes to see Mike standing there. "I have to find Jonathan."

"What? Why? is Will okay?"

"He's okay," said El. "I just need to find Jonathan... and Robin, Vickie, and Steve to go get him."

"Okay," said Mike. "Well, let's find them and go get Will."

"No, Mike. Wait here."

"Wait here? Why?"

"I'll explain later... If Will wants me to explain. But you can't come with us now."

"If Will wants you to explain? What does that even mean? El, he's my best friend."

"And he's my brother," said El. "I need you to trust me, Mike. Please just wait here."

"There you are! Eric, I'm trying to get you some help," said Mr. Lauder as he looked under the stage and saw the three boys. They all quickly crawled through the nearest space they could find. One of the men that had been with Eric's father was waiting for him and grabbed Eric.

"Let him go!" Will yelled angrily. He felt a surge of adrenaline and slammed himself into Eric's captor as hard as he could. The three of them fell to the ground. It freed Eric from the larger man's grasp. Devon helped Will and Eric to their feet and kicked the larger man in the face when he grabbed Eric's ankle.

The three boys took off at another sprint. They ducked behind another stage not realizing that there wasn't an exit and trapped themselves. A furious Mr. Lauder and the two men with him cornered them.

"You need to learn some respect at the hospital, Eric."

"I'm not going, dad," said Eric. "I'm not the sick one, it's you."

"You're going and you're getting cured. I'm not going to have a faggot for a son."

WACK! The three older men were hit with some stage equipment and knocked unconscious. Will looked up to see El wiping blood from her nose. She rushed over and hugged him.

"I heard," she whispered. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard. "You won't lose me." Will returned her hug and started crying in relief.

"You're mom will totally help him," said Robin after El contacted the others on her supercom and they met in the van.. "She'll be happy for you, Will. I mean, she made that Colonel Sullivan guy practically shit himself when she found out that his people shot at you." Robin's eyes widened. "Metaphorically."

"You did say some messed up stuff happened to you and your friends," said Eric to Will.

"Robin's right though," said Jonathan. "Mom is going to be okay with this. She'll want to help Eric."

"I shouldn't hear anymore of this," said Devon. I've gotta have plausible deniability. You know where to reach me, though Eric. After high school, we'll hang out again as much as we want."

Later that afternoon, the group was heading back to Hawkins in the van.

"I guess I finally understand why you've been refusing to date Robin all this time even though she's super awesome," said Dustin. "She was actually the one refusing to date you." He let out a small snort.

"Shut up!" said Steve and he playfully smacked Dustin.

"You know? How did you know?" asked Robin.

"I may have seen you and Vickie kissing in the supply room this morning," said Dustin. "Then of course, El specifically wanted both of you to help get Will and Eric from the fairgrounds. Anyway, I'm straight, but I don't hate."

"What?" said Steve.

"I saw it on a sign in a picture," said Dustin. "But it's how I feel." He reached over an patted Will on the should. "It's how I feel."

Eric smiled and took Will's hand. Will glanced over at Mike. He had a terrified look in his eyes. Mike tried to think of something comforting to say, but his mind was blank. Why couldn't he be more like Dustin in that moment. Will looked away from Mike as he gently squeezed Eric's hand.