So, the tests weren't something to be worried about, after all.
Will felt for sure they would find something, anything to at least explain what was happening to him, and why the connection with the Upside Down felt strangely stronger now.
But there was nothing. And it made no sense.
Maybe Will was making it all up, not quite believing their fight was over when it really was?
But he remembers it talking to him, trying to make actual conversation with him.
The Mind Flayer had transformed, and Vecna absolutely had an influence in that.
Because what happened in that dream last night, it was reminiscent of what Vecna would say, and do.
But what did the Mind Flayer want?
"They are so unkind to you, Will."
The words continue to bug him for that day.
Not long after Dr. Owens said his mom would pick him up to go back to their old house, he was sitting in the backseat, staring through the window and watching things move by in a daze as darkness sets, and the rain begins to drizzle. With his eyes, he traces one droplet making its path along the glass, but his mind is elsewhere.
He remembers how his mom had taken one glance at the bags under his eyes as she'd come to collect him, and the nit-picking at his skin that he couldn't seem to abate. He had seen the worry spark in her face, and Will very nearly wanted to shout at her for it in that moment. He hated feeling like all he was good for anymore was causing problems. Making people fret over him.
But what was putting him more in a bad mood was that the concern… It was for good reason. Not that anyone would know anything about that.
Will couldn't bring himself to say anything, not right now. Maybe that was selfish. But what more could anyone do? Run more tests that wouldn't suggest that there's anything wrong, then have them start to wonder if it was all in Will's head again (and after very nearly dying twice in the same twenty-four hours, he couldn't exactly argue his case – especially when he finds it difficult to comprehend in his head what was happening to him to explain it coherently enough). Though, he does feel they should have learned by now…
That Will wasn't making anything up. And what he was seeing, what he was feeling, it was all real.
But when had anything in his life made sense?
He had to admit, everything was a bit of a clusterfuck and if he took even a second to agonise over it all, his head would be circling round and round, again and again. He just feels so tired.
A broken and messed up arm, falling out with Mike (one out of too many times to count, and isn't that startling because Will could never have pictured it years ago, before El, and the thought makes guilt twinge deep in his gut because he sounds just plainly jealous). Oh, and one could not forget the forged connection to the Upside Down, growing stronger by the minute…
So yeah, he was one hundred percent of the way in deep and utter shit.
But he represses the thoughts deep down and tries his very best not to fall asleep again, though his head certainly drops two or three times as he fights it.
The third time, in fact, when he startles and throws his head back up, is exactly the moment when his mom pulls up in their driveway.
He sees lights are switched on and knows Jonathan must have been waiting for them. He's probably with Nancy still. He thinks they're making up for lost time, especially as things have shifted back to normal, or as normal as it can be in the small town of Hawkins.
But Will feels desensitised, wants to curl up in bed under his covers and stay quiet, so as not to invite any prying.
But Will also doesn't want to drift off, fall back into Mike's basement, nothing for defence against words that rattle him in response to their harsh honesty, and ruin any and all hope Will has.
Hope that his friends still care about him and want to include him, that Mike wasn't trying to salvage anything out of a sense of duty because Will had almost died, but when Will's back was turned, he was disgusted by trying.
He wished Mike didn't lie to him, even by omission (Will thinks to learning about how they'd been playing D&D without him, and how it hurts, deep in his chest still, like a physical wound). It just feels cruel.
All he can think about is the good times, and how those times have been completely spoiled by the present. How Mike had said so fervently that they'd go crazy together, giving Will the idea that he'd forever be on his side, that he'd always have Mike as a shoulder to lean on. And how wrong he had been in believing that.
It was all bullshit. Maybe always had been, and they'd all taken their chance to slip away when they could.
He wipes at his eyes when his mind imagines Mike meanly thinking good riddance as Will moved to California. He'd probably only been sad that El was leaving.
As he clambers out of the car with his mom by his side, he tries his best to act normal. He thinks even the slightest mention of his wellbeing will send him even further over the edge, and so he hopes his mom finds the act convincing enough that she doesn't mention how closed-off he was in the car.
To his surprise, she seems to have gleaned for herself his reserved attitude, because she just says, "are you hungry? Before I left Jonathan said he'd make you your favourite?" Her tone was beseeching and encouraging all at once, and Will would feel lousy declining.
He didn't feel hungry though, so he compromises, "not really, but maybe a few bites wouldn't hurt?"
Her smile is enough for him to know he did the right thing.
So, they enter the house with a jingle of the keys, Will feeling a faint few drops of water on his hair and right under his eye before they close the door.
"Mom? Will?" Jonathan says when he hears them, and Will can already smell the delightful smells emanating from the kitchen. Still, Will felt his stomach plummet, and he grimaces at the idea of eating.
"We're home, honey. That smells wonderful!" His mom says as they go to the kitchen, Jonathan replying with a gratified smile.
"I didn't do all the work, limited mobility can attest to that," he gestures to his arm, wrapped up in white, and Nancy greets Joyce charmingly with a hug.
"He basically did, he's just being awfully humble for no reason. We know how good of a cook he makes, really, even with being down a spare hand. I just helped with cutting." Nancy teases, and Jonathan turns a little red in his cheeks.
"Oh, my boy would make such a handsome chef, wouldn't you?" Joyce joins in, crowding around the oven and flicking Jonathan's ear, smirking.
He rubs his ear and groans, "quit it, you two."
Will watches the conversation quietly, whilst feeling a bit like a ghost.
Jonathan chooses there to change topic, and looks to Will before saying, "so, the tests? How'd they go?"
"Yeah, fine." Will mutters under his breath, and then more steadily, "they didn't find anything, so. Nothing to worry about." Jonathan finds Will doesn't seem particularly interested in expanding any more than that as his eyes trail off from Jonathan's, instead landing on the laces of his shoes, one untied and looking brown and wet from where it's been dragged.
He goes off to the side to slip them off, whilst not being properly able to bend due to the cast being in the way of such a feat, which Will realises with a disgruntled frown. He manages anyway.
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Jonathan says quizzically as he watches Will.
And then a beep goes off for the oven, and conversation moves on once again.
Will picked at his food, forced a few shovels down. Distantly, he could tell it was good, it looked appetising and fresh, and it was his favourite. But it turned to ash in his mouth and pooled in his stomach like he'd vomit it up later.
He wondered if they could tell, hoped that they'd say nothing anyway.
Before they could, Will tried his best to engage, as if to say, look, nothing's wrong. Totally and completely fine over here.
Joyce and Jonathan exchange a few looks, and then Joyce poses a question, "so, tomorrow. In the morning Jonathan's offered to take you by the cabin. Your friends are eager to see you, but with all the commotion going on with Hopper and I, and the military, they didn't get much chance."
"Yeah," Jonathan says, "Mike called before asking if he could see you," at mentioning Mike, Jonathan looks almost vexed but forces himself to let Will know, "I told him that you weren't feeling up to speaking just yet. Mom said you were pretty beat."
Will nods, the information squared away. Mike called? Will honestly thought he'd have to prepare to be ignored again and given a cold shoulder, that Mike would find what Will said to be over-the-top and too emotional and be at least a little angry at him.
"Ha, yeah, you're telling me," Will starts, yawning over-exaggeratedly, and figures this is the best opening he'll get to slide away off to his bedroom, "I'm still really tired. I should probably go to bed now, if I'm being honest." Will pushes his plate away, food mushed up and messy after it had been pushed around and little had been put away.
Jonathan looks surprised, "really? I was thinking maybe we could play a boardgame," and Joyce and Nancy both give Will imploring looks, "I mean, it's not going to be even close to the standard of dungeons and dragons, obviously," he says playfully, "but a little fun never hurt, right? And it's only, what," he glances at the time, "7 o'clock now. What d' you say? You know you deserve it, a little fun, after everything."
Will feels agitation swell up, though it does make him feel a little guilty (Jonathan was only trying to help, right?). But it reminds him of how Jonathan had reminded him to remember to have fun at the roller rink, so long ago now.
It kind of cuts him, knowing what his brother thought of him. A sad, lonely and self-pitying thing. Because even Jonathan had noticed the distance that had been building up between Will and his friends. And Jonathan probably felt a responsibility to spend time with him now, with how little they'd spent time together once his new buddies became Argyle, and well. A particular green plant.
But Will acquiesces anyway, because he can't find it in him to say no and feel their disappointment.
So, they set up an easy game, rolled their dice, and Will even started to enjoy himself a tiny bit as time went on without him noticing. It was simple, and it did take his mind off other things, and watching his family make funny little quips throughout, Jonathan mock-slapping Will's shoulder as he pulled ahead of him, Nancy's dismay at rolling a poor number three times in a row, and Will reacting with a surprisingly wide grin as he won the second round…
Yet good things never lasted, not for Will.
And it was precisely on the third game that Will felt a prickle of unease dampen his mood.
It suddenly felt like he was somewhere else, climbing its way through until it breaches the other…
Will shakes his head, as a headache spouts.
"You okay, hon?" His mom asks, and Jonathan and Nancy are staring at him.
"Um, y-yeah, yeah. I think I've gotta head up, now. Sorry." And he moves to stand up quickly, wavering a little in conflict before he leaves, a hand on the frame of the door, "thanks, I guess I did need 'a little fun'. I think I'll nod off if I stay sat here any longer, though." He smiles wanly at them, trying not to let it show on his face that he's bald-faced lying, because he feels more awake than ever with what he'd just felt, but he's given very warm smiles in return, with them none-the-wiser.
"It's okay, go get your beauty sleep," Jonathan smirks in jest, and whispers conspiringly, "I'll win for you, don't worry," and Nancy elbows him with an expression as if to say, the hell you will. Nancy, Will's learned, was very competitive.
Once Will is safely in his room, however, he lets his face fall.
He heads over to his window, to look outside as if he's going to see something that will help Will understand what the hell just happened.
Deep-down, Will thinks he does understand.
He knows realistically he's more connected to the Upside Down than ever before, and therefore connected to all its monsters in a hive mind with a well of information about everything's present move. But he's not been tapped into it, has just felt emotions so far – of anger, mostly. Now, though? He knows he just felt something slither its way out into the real world, their world, even comes to the realisation dauntingly quick.
And he fears whatever did crawl its way out of the Upside Down, because he doesn't know exactly what it's here to do.
But he remembers its mind, as if following obediently to an order, scenting the new environment inquisitively before scarpering under a car on a surface that had to be a road.
Will steeled himself on the idea of not telling anyone, because even the idea of ruining everyone's cheer made Will sick to his stomach, and if anyone had the best chance at finding this thing, it was Will, who could sense its presence like a phantom limb.
And Will then remembers where exactly a gate could be that opened on a road, as Nancy had taken a painstaking amount of time to recount events in Eddie's trailer.
So, Will now felt a sense of duty to find it and kill it before this thing put someone in jeopardy, or God forbid, grew (just like Dustin's pet demo-dog Dart, which has Will grimacing at the thought of the slug that he'd coughed up in the sink).
He makes a lump in his bed to resemble a body just in case his mom checked in on him as she was wont to do, and with his nerves jumbling, he opens the window, the breeze wafting gently against his face, and he sighs before giving one final look over his shoulder to his bedroom door.
He hops out and carefully shuts it before walking in a direction that he could sense to be the right way.
He feels a little crazy, especially doing this in his old, worn clothes and socks that were already dampening through to the soles of his feet, but it was better than letting the guilt and racing emotions fester beneath the surface, with the knowledge that he could be doing something, anything about this, at least without lumping everyone else into his mess.
If he was lucky, this could end well. With him finding out what the Mind Flayer wanted and ruining its chances in one fell swoop.
He wouldn't think about what would happen if he was unlucky.