Two months into classes, things were looking good for the entire party. Eleven was settling into classes. The entire party was leading the High School AV club with vigor, welcoming Elliott into their ranks and working on new projects weekly. Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan were working on college applications and Steve made manager at the video store, something Dustin celebrated over for an entire week, much to the group's loving annoyance. Will slowly felt calmer and calmer as the days went on, his nightmares reducing little by little as he recognized that the Mind Flayer really was gone now.
Most importantly, Will and Elliott were growing closer every day.
The thing was, Elliott was brilliant. He was a huge addition to the AV club, bringing in new ideas from his school back in Michigan. In class, he was an excellent student, and the whole party loved studying together. El and Elliott grew a special friendship as well, as he tutored her in mathematics and science to help her catch up to the high school level curriculum. This meant that he was over often to work with El, and Will got to spend even more time by his side. Will worried a bit that his perceptive Mom would notice him blatantly pining for this boy, but she was always too preoccupied in growing her relationship with Hopper that she didn't notice Will's infatuation. He was grateful – he was nowhere near ready to broach that topic with her.
One side of Elliott that brought something new to the party was Elliott being on the cross-country team. No one in their group had ever really been "sporty", so they had never had a reason to go to any school athletics games or meets. Elliott being a varsity runner, however, changed things, and when he invited them to his Sectional meet where the team would see if they qualify for State's, the entire party was excited to go and support their new friend. Will especially was looking forward to seeing Elliott in his element. His heart thumped a bit harder at the thought of Elliott's athletic, toned frame.
They all arrived right on time to the meet, emerging clumsily after being packed into Steve and Jonathan's cars, stiff from the tight 20-minute drive to the meet location.
"Jesus, I am never sitting between you two fuckers again," Max huffed, pushing out from between Lucas and Dustin.
"Come on, HE started it!" Lucas threw his hands up and ran after his girlfriend.
"I started it my ass!" Dustin called after his friend, Lucas responding with a swift middle finger. The rest of the party rolled their eyes and laughed, following Lucas and Max to the friends and family area at the start line of the meet. Eleven hopped on Mike's back and laughed as he gave her a piggyback ride to catch up to Dustin.
Will smiled from the back of the group. He had grown happier and happier for Mike and Eleven as the months went by, as he was no longer that jealous due to his feeling shifting over to focus solely on Elliott.
"Come on Will! They're about to start!" Jonathan called. Will smiled softly and ran forward to the edge of the course.
He caught eyes with Elliott right away. Elliott was one of the top varsity runners on the Hawkins Cross Country Team and therefore was right near the edge of the starting area. Elliott gave his signature wink and a big thumbs up to everyone. Will was filled with warmth.
"WHOOOOOOO! RUN ELLIOTT!" Eleven yelled very loudly.
Mike covered his ears and cackled. "Fuck, El, I shouldn't have told you how to cheer."
The runners took position to start, and with the shot of the gun, they were off. And WOW. Elliott was not kidding when he said he was fast. He took off with long, easy, and swift strides, easily earning a top ten place in the beginning line up of the run. Will felt a surge of pride for his friend.
The party whooped and cheered him on as he disappeared along the racecourse. Since the cross-country course here looped around to end back near the starting area, the party moved over to get a good view of the finish line. It only took about 17 minutes for the leading runners to come back into view down the trail. The party watched as Elliott charged up behind the 5th and 4th place runners, determinedly slipping past them and into fourth place.
"Come on, Elliott," Will whispered under his breath. Elliott surged up behind third place near the end of the course, the two runners' feet pounding and arms swinging wildly as they sprinted it out to the finish line. It was then that Will's ears tuned into someone yelling "Come ON Elliott, go get him! Go get him! Push harder!" Will's eyes snapped to the voice and saw what could only be Elliott's father. They held a striking resemblance, their hair and sharp features similar. The biggest difference was that Elliott's face was always warm and soft. This man's eyes and jaw were hard and set. Will shuddered, without really knowing why.
Elliott surged forward lurching to gain a lead on the boy in front of him. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite make up the speed and the two finished neck and neck, with the other boy just ahead of Elliot. Will yelled in joy and support as Elliott finished, stumbling and slowing, raising his hands to clasp behind the back of his head, breathing heavily and walking to cool down. The boy who had just beat Elliott clapped him on the shoulder, and they smiled and shook hands respectfully. Will's heart soared at his friend's continued kindness.
As the party ran over to congratulate Elliott, the man Will assumed to be Elliott's father beat them to it. Elliott seemed to tense as he arrived and grabbed his shoulder tightly, speaking lowly to him. They neared the pair just in time to hear the tail end of what seemed to be a tense conversation. Elliott's father's slight Irish accent would have excited the party more had it not been for what he was huffing out under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again."
"You better fucking not, I don't come here to see you lose Elliott. And I definitely don't come here to see you lose and then act all faggy with the kid that beat you."
"Dad, we just shook hands-"
"I never know what's what with you."
The party slowed their approach awkwardly, unsure if they should get closer or not. Elliott locked eyes with Will and smiled weakly, gesturing him over with a stiff wave. "Hey everyone. Father, these are my friends from school. Everyone, this is my dad." Elliott looked expectantly at his father as the group approached. The man hardly responded, merely straightening and casting a cold gaze toward the group. There was an awkward silence in which the party didn't know exactly what to say.
Finally, Dustin broke the tense moment, squeaking out, "Elliott, you were incredible!" His praise opened the floor for everyone else to chime in.
"Yeah, I mean we knew you were good, but not like, that good!"
"I could never run that far in my life."
"I can't believe you didn't have like a heart attack in the middle of that."
"Good run, kid."
"FOURTH PLACE? You are incredible!"
The crowd converged on Elliott, and Dustin ran up for a quick hug. Elliott stiffened unnaturally, and Dustin pulled away quickly, worried he had done something wrong. It was almost frightening seeing how unnaturally stiff and unaffectionate the typically warm and bubbly boy was acting. Will realized that Elliott's father had grown stiffer when Dustin ran up for the hug and winced at how terrified Elliott seemed. His mind flashed back to the conversation they had run in on, and back to Elliott's father's words, "I never know what's what with you." Will was unsure what all of that meant, but it had obviously struck a chord with Elliott.
"Thank you everyone," Elliott smiled at them, but his eyes were sad. "I have to go be with my team, but you have no idea how thankful I am that you all came."
"Of course! It was so fun, I can't wait to come see you at States!" Mike said, trying to lighten the mood. "Now go get your medal, Elliott!"
Elliott smiled a bit more brightly at his friends before steeling over a bit and looking at his father. "I am going to go watch the girls' varsity race. Will you be home tonight?"
Elliott's dad grunted in return, muttering as he walked away toward the parking lot, "No, Victoria and I are going out. Food is in the fridge."
Elliott winced visibly but replaced his expression with a bubblier one as he turned back to his friends. "Thanks for coming again. I really care about you guys." He took off towards his team, who cheered as he neared them. He had earned first place in Hawkins' varsity lineup after all. Will watched him go, saddened by the obviously defunct relationship Elliott had with his father. It reminded Will of his own Dad, and it made him even sadder that Elliott had to deal with that kind of shit in his life.
"Wow… that was…" Max trailed off.
"Awkward." Lucas agreed. The group began walking towards the cars, simmering in the feelings the encounter had ignited. Will's eyes were locked on Elliott, however, and he noticed the boy exit the round of congratulations from his teammates and jog off towards the bathrooms. Something compelled Will to stop.
"Hey guys? I'll be right back, I have to use the bathroom." Will didn't even wait for a response and instead took off running after Elliott.
Will spied him walking past the bathrooms and towards a cluster of large trees, where he slipped behind one and out of view. Will jogged the rest of the way and called out, "Elliott?"
He only heard sniffling in response. Will followed the sound to the largest oak tree and rounded its corner. Elliott was pressed against the tree sobbing quietly, face pressed to his arms and folded knees. He looked so small, so sad. Will's heart broke.
"Elliott?" Will repeated, much more quietly. The boy didn't look up, but his sniffling quieted a bit. Will stood, unsure what to do, for about fifteen seconds. Finally, as he was contemplating leaving and letting Elliott sit on his own, the boy's muffled voice rang out.
"I don't know how to be enough for him."
Will stood still for a moment, and then boldly stepped closer to Elliott, crouching beside him and settling against the tree as well. "Elliott… you are… MORE than enough. And he should see that."
Elliott bit his lip ruefully. "He used to. He used to think I was perfect. Because he pushed me to be. I could never make a mistake without upsetting him, so I never made a mistake. It drove my mother crazy, I think, because even when she was perfect, she was never enough for him. She used to cry like this every night, before…" He trailed off. Will wasn't sure whether to stay silent or say something. It was obvious a lot was going unsaid. They stayed there in the thick quiet for a few moments.
"Whatever. Since we were forced to move here, it hasn't been the same. He'll never see me the same." Elliott choked back a sob. "I'll never be enough, no matter how hard I work, no matter how fast I run, no matter how smart I am. Always just a little…" he trailed off again. Will's mind was reeling. There were too many holes for him to know exactly what to say or how to help.
Finally, his curiosity got the better of him. "You HAD to move here?" Will gazed into Elliott's eyes, who seemed foggy and closed off.
"Yeah. There was… an incident back home." He went silent again. Will decided not to press it.
"Well you don't deserve this, Elliott. You are… you are the greatest person I know." Will went out on a limb, letting himself tell a small truth of his feelings towards his friend.
Elliott's breath hitched. "Byers, you are such a special person. Sometimes I can't even tell why, but you're just different. You are the best friend I could have ever asked for coming here." Now it was Will's turn to hitch a breath. He was flooded with joy and love over Elliott's display of friendship, but even more convinced now that he could never risk their friendship with his budding feelings, no matter what the strange pieces of conversation today hinted because if he assumed wrong and lost Elliott, Will would be devastated. So, no matter how badly Will wanted to shout how much he loved this boy, how he wanted to save him from this cruel world, how he wanted to hold and kiss his tears away, he knew he never could.
So, he settled for, "Thank you Elliott. I am really glad we're friends too." Elliott smiled down into his knees. They sat in comforting silence for a beat before Elliott slowly stood. Will followed suit.
Elliott wiped his blotchy red face and chuckled, seemingly a bit embarrassed by his emotions. "Wow, I hope you don't think I am crazy now."
Will choked back a laugh. If only Elliott knew the crazy stories Will could tell him. "Never."
The pair strolled back toward the meet area. "Thank you again," Elliott said sheepishly. "I'm going to head back to my team. I'll see you tomorrow, Byers?" He smiled when he said Will's last name, and Will returned it. With that, Elliott was sprinting off again, and Will was left to watch his retreating form, battling the feelings and broken details crashing inside his mind.