If there's one good thing Will can say that came out of finally giving into his urges fully, he feels sort of… light. It's no longer a struggle to push El off him when she gets in the mood. Rather, he lets her do what she wants, they finish, and they both go about their days. Life continues on as normal otherwise, school happens, the sun still rises and sets, the world keeps turning.
Of course, there is that constant nagging at the back of his mind that whispers to him in hateful tones phrases such as 'You know you're taking advantage of her.'
He tries to ignore them as best he can. He's not taking advantage of her. The one, one time he initiated anything was at the very beginning, everything else that followed was started by El, he just… didn't resist it anymore.
It's more of a resignation than anything else.
But, Will can breathe easy at least. Cutting loose and just giving in right when it starts is much more fun too.
Like, for instance, this one time El ambushed Will in the bath. She doesn't like baths, always preferred showers.
And yet, she stripped down and climbed right in next to him like it was the most comfortable thing in the world for her to do.
By the end of it, there was more water out of the tub than there was in it.
El let out a content sigh, flopping against Will, the boy still sheathed inside of her despite the relief. "I love you, Will."
He tries not to think about how much of a bad thing that statement is. She loves Mike, she lusts Will.
And he can't bring himself to try and correct her anymore.
Then, just when things were starting to look up for Will, only a week after he let himself fall fully into his dark urges, it all went awry.
The two were at the table, eating dinner. Joyce was sitting at the table with them (Jonathan was working late), and the conversation was proceeding as usual fare. Talking about the day, if anything interesting had happened, small talk.
El had finished first. Despite her petite frame, she was always a ravenous eater. Came from being locked in the lab and deprived of food, Will supposed.
As the other three went through their dinner, El strode over to the freezer and grabbed a popsicle out of it, sitting back down, listening intently as Joyce was talking about the upcoming plans for Christmas.
Will was trying to listen to his mother speaking when a motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
She was trying to deepthroat a god damn popsicle.
Will coughed, dropping his fork on the plate, as Joyce looked up from the Sears catalog, gasping.
"El!" The woman's eyes widened. "You can't eat it like that!"
El pulled the popsicle from her mouth, innocently tilting her head. "Why not?"
"Because…" Joyce stuttered. "It's going to block your airways."
"It's ice." El blinked. "It'll melt."
"W-" Joyce spluttered. "Well, yeah, but… just… don't do it, okay?" She smiled kindly, phrasing it more like a question even though it was a command.
El shrugged. "Fine." She went back to licking the outside.
Will let out a relieved sigh, smacking his forehead on the table. No awkward conversations tonight, thank you.
"So, El…" Joyce tried to change the subject. "I've got a bit of a surprise for you."
El looked intrigued. "Surprise?"
The woman nodded, smiling knowingly. "Guess who's coming this weekend?"
Will felt his blood turn to ice, as El gasped. His mother only used that tone of voice when talking to El about one person…
The dreaded. The feared. The one who's name was whispered in hushed tones andThat' was probably soon to be Will's mortal enemy…
Michael Wheeler.
El's face lit up like a bonfire, or one of those laser-display things that they held concerts at during the middle of the night. "Mike!? Mike's coming to visit!?"
It had been months since she'd seen Mike. Weeks since this whole mess started…
It figures that the moment Will started feeling at least semi-alright about the whole thing, someone came along to ruin it.
Then, that was par for the course with Mike. Why, this one time, the party was exploring an abandoned mineshaft when Mike threw a bunch of-
"I thought it was only for big stuff!" El peppily stated. "Like thanksgiving."
Joyce chuckled slightly, shaking her head. "Well, Nancy was coming to visit Jonathan, and when he heard, he apparently begged her into bringing him along."
"That's…" Will swallowed. "Great. When's he coming down?"
Joyce smiled. "Friday. You excited to see him too?"
Friday. That left two days.
Two days to fix the mess he got himself into and do it in a way that left El intact as a person and in a way that left Will's bones intact.
Goddammit, two days was not enough time.
He should've just quit while he was ahead.
Will anxiously paced around, shaking like he was caught out in the cold. He'd been resilient to low temperatures ever since… well, you know what.
But no, the shivering was more out of fear than anything else.
He wondered, ruminating on what to do. He had to tell El. Not to save his own bacon or anything, but because if it came down to it, he couldn't destroy hers and Mike's relationship. He'd shoulder all the blame if it meant something, anything could be salvaged out of this, even if it wasn't on Will's end.
That always was one of his best, and worst, traits. Self-sacrifice like that… best case scenario, he'd end up in the hospital in a body cast, worst-case…
He couldn't fathom it at the moment. Mike might never want to talk to him again, in either scenario, and El…
Everything Will did before, to help her move on from Hopper's death, it'd all be tainted. It'd ruin her.
"Will?" His mother asked quietly and confused, bedraggled.
Will jumped, whipping around.
"What're you doing up?" Joyce wondered. "Is everything okay?"
Will contemplated answering that he'd just had a rough dream, or was thirsty, or something along those lines…
But it was all too much. He was at his wits end.
Better tell her now, before she found out from someone else.
"Mom…" Will anxiously swallowed. "I think… I've done something horrible."
It was disconcerting, just how calm his mother was as he explained the situation.
Calm, however, didn't necessarily mean lenient. The entire time, he could see her eyes get steely as he outlined what went down.
On some level, he wished she'd raise her voice, because that would be an expected reaction, but no. She never raised her voice, never slammed her hands against anything, never did… anything.
She was just calm, in the worst sort of way.
By the end of it, Will was staring at the floor, as Joyce clenched her jaw, looking on.
"…How long has this been going on?" Joyce quietly demanded.
"…two, three weeks?" Will answered, unsure of the number himself. "Maybe a month."
"And in that time, not once, once did you think it was a good idea to stop?" Joyce seethed.
"I did…" Will insisted. "I just… wasn't strong enough. I knew it had to stop, I just…"
In a way, quiet anger was much, much worse. Loud anger meant someone was trying to get you to listen, quiet anger meant they were truly furious.
"You kept doing it anyway." Joyce frustratedly rubbed her face, "Will… disappointment doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now. No language on the planet would be able to articulate the level of unhappiness."
"I-" Will anxiously stuttered. "I know I messed up-"
"It goes beyond 'messing up!'" Joyce angrily retorted. "The first time, I can get, but every time afterward!? It's a conscious decision at that point! It doesn't matter if she started it, by choosing to let it happen, you might as well have been-"
"I know, I know…" Will held his head in his hands.
"No, you don't know!" Joyce threw back. "I took that girl in because she needed help, no one else was willing to help her out… and you took advantage of her! Once this all this is said and done, she's going to have trust issues, and that's the least of our worries. You had every chance to explain to her why what she wanted wasn't a good idea, and you stayed quiet so you could keep doing it..." She shook her head in disappointment.
Will couldn't think of anything to say for a few moments. "…so, what's going to happen now?"
"You're going to fix this mess." Joyce poked him in the sternum for emphasis. "You're going to go and apologize to her, tell her exactly what you've done and why it was wrong, and let her make her own decision if she wants to forgive you or not. Not right now, but before Mike gets here… and you're going to tell him too."
Will paled. "Mom, I can't-"
"You can, and you're going to." Joyce commanded, turning on her heel to go back to her bedroom. "Else, you're going to have more than him to worry about."
Will clutched his face in terror.
When did his life become so fucked?