Chapter Three

Will looked over at his alarm clock. It was only 3:30. He tried to find a different position to make himself fall asleep, but it was no use. He looked to the one side and Chester's nose was in his face.

"Do you need to go out, boy?" Will asked. Chester wagged his tail. "We may as well, I'm not going to fall asleep any time soon." Will hopped of out of bed, grabbed a sweatshirt, and headed downstairs with Chester and his cat Luke at his heels. He pulled a flashlight out of one of the drawers in the kitchen, went out the back door and shined the flashlight around the yard.

Will was unaware that his step father had also been unable to sleep and was sitting quietly in the living room. "Alright, Chester, it's all clear, come on out and do your business. Stay, Luke!"

Will watches as Chester sniffed around the yard for just the right place to relieve himself. It was a nice night. Hawkins was experiencing an Indian summer. Will shut his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the breeze as he leaned on the porch railing.

"You couldn't sleep either, huh kid?" asked Hopper, slightly startling Will. Will shrugged. "It's okay to be nervous about the surgery you know."

"This is probably more about Kaminski's stupid test," said Will. "El and I are going to school early to do some last minute studying with Mike."

"So you aren't even a little nervous about the surgery?"

"Of course, I'm a little nervous about the surgery," Will snapped. "I don't want to die, but what good does freaking out do?"

"Sorry, buddy, I shouldn't have pushed. You're probably sick of everyone asking you if you're alight. Worrying comes natural when people care that much."

"No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap," said Will. "If it were any of you guys, I'd probably be doing the same, but..."

"It always seems to be you going through this crap," said Hopper.

"Yeah," said Will in a barely audible voice. He leaned back on the porch rail and Hopper leaned next to him. They watched as Chest continued to sniff around the yard. Will pondered the situation for a moment, but figured that was as good a time as any to bring the subject up. He took a deep breath. "How's Sara doing?"

Hopper flinched at the question. "How do you know about that?"

"You do know who my twin sister is, right?"

"She really needs to stop trying to find people in the void all the time, she could make herself sick," said Hopper.

"El was worried about you," said Will. "She wants to help, you know. She could help. She's actually been through it."

"That's why she should be allowed to just be a kid and not have to worry about this stuff," said Hopper.

"Sara should be allowed to just be a kid too," Will insisted. "Seriously, talk to El, she can help Sara. She will help Sara. Just think about it, okay?"

"Okay, I'll think about it. Back on topic: it's good to know that you don't want to die."

"Of course I don't want to die," said Will. "Why does everyone think I have a death wish?"

"You do have a tendency to put yourself in danger," said Hopper.

"Aren't you the same guy who broke into Hawkins lab to find me and a year later go stuck in the tunnels under the town for a whole day. Do you have a death wish, Hopper?"

"Good point, kid," said Hopper. "I don't have a death wish either, by the way. It's just that your mother and brother overheard Mike asking if you knew closing the gate could kill you and you telling him that you had thought it was possible."

Will groaned and rested his forehead on the railing. "That was two years ago. And yes, I thought it was a possibility, but the alternative was letting the Mind Flayer kill everyone and everything. And before you ask about last year and opening two portals, my reasoning is the same, I didn't want everyone else to die. Mom and Jonathan could have always talked to me about it if they were so freaking concerned instead of worrying and making assumptions behind my back."

"They have tried to talk to you about things, but you have a tendency to shut down and pretend that everything's ok."

"Maybe that's because everyone always thinks I'm going to break if the tiniest thing goes wrong," said Will as he threw his arms up in frustration.

So you're saying that you'd open up more if the people who care about you didn't overreact so much?" asked Hopper.

Yeah, I would. Sometimes I just want to talk, get things out in the open and move on. Mike and El let me do that and guess what? I let them do that too. It works out pretty well."

"You're mother's well aware that you've always been a little more open with Mike than you have with everyone else."

"That's because he doesn't treat me like a helpless baby! El borrowed my supercom tonight to talk to Mike. It turns out that Lucas and Dustin were listening in and know about my surgery. Everyone thought I'd be made, but guess what Mike did? He told me what happened right away."

"That sounds like a good way of doing thing," said Hopper.

"Yeah, it is," said Will.

"So why don't we try it?"

"Try what?"

"Unload all that stuff that's on your mind, right here and now. I promise I won't overreact," said Hopper.

Will looked at him skeptically. "I'm not even sure what's even on my mind. Mom and everyone else have been trying to get me to talk since we found out and I've just been saying that I'm fine..."

"I know that your mother can be a little overprotective, but try not to be too mad at her about it."

"I'm not mad at her. After everything she's been through-ever- she's entitled to overreact a little sometimes. It is a little frustrating though. I don't want to be frustrated because she's probably the best mom on the planet, but I just am," said Will.

"Of course you are, you like your independence and it's hard for her to give that to you. You have gone through a lot of difficult times in your life though. You could barely leave the house after what those kids did to you at that party last year."

"I know," said Will the memories of those months when he couldn't make it through the day without breaking down at least one flooded into his mind. He tried to push them out. "And I don't ever want to feel like that again. I don't want to be afraid to go out and do things. I want to enjoy life. I know I'm supposed to take it easy in my condition and all, but I don't want to just stop doing everything that makes me happy just because I'm a little sick."

"A little sick?"

"I know, it's potentially really serious, but they found it early and it's treatable. I shouldn't have to stop riding my bike or being in clubs."

"No, kid, you shouldn't have to stop everything, but you do need to slow down a bit," said Hopper.

Will looked like he was about to retort, but seemed to decide against it. He looked away and stared at Chester who had started chasing his own tail. Hopper searched his mind for something to say or a way to break the awkward silence.

"You know, Will," said Hopper as he put his hand on Will's shoulder as Will continued to stare at his dog. "Everything you've been through in the past couple of years...you've really shown who you are as a person."

Will remained silent for a few seconds before responding. "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

"Someone with quite a bite of courage."

"Yeah, so much courage that I've spent most of my life relying on my brother and my friends to protect me. Oh, and since my sister came back into our lives, I've probably relied on her a lot more than she needs after everything she's been through."

Hopper tightened his grip on Will's shoulder and spun his step son around to face him. He clamped his other hand down on Will's other shoulder. Will looked slightly taken aback for a moment then started at the floor of the porch nervously. Hopper felt a little guilty as he certainly hadn't meant to scare the boy, but he needed to get through to Will.

"Look at me, Will." Will looked up and met Hopper gaze. "I've got something import to say and I need you to listen!"

Will nodded silently. His eyes started to drop, but he thought better of it and looked back at his step-father. Will lifted both of his hands to push Hopper's hands off of his shoulder and the older man loosened his grip, but didn't completely let go. "Alight, I'm listening," said Will.

"Good," said Hopper. "You seem to think that your this huge burden on the people who care about you. They'd all go to hell and back to protect you."

"Yeah," said Will in a barely audible voice that was tinged with guilt. Hopper gave a frustrated sigh.

"The thing is, you'd do the same for them. You've done the same for them. You went with Lonnie last year to keep your mother from getting arrested."

"I should have known that was a trap," said Will glumly.

"We all should have. I should have been there to stop those bastards."

"You were sick."

"And you were- you still are- a kid," said Hopper. He lifted one of his hands off of one of Will's shoulders and started counting on his fingers. "You saved my life when I got stuck in the tunnels two years ago. You stood up to Troy when he played that practical joke on your friend Randy."

"Yeah, and Mike had to come to my rescue yet again when I got punched in the face and we both ended up in the hospital!"

"Hey, kid, I'm working on making a point here," said Hopper. "I'm going to need to to stop interrupting me, alight?"

"Fine," said Will. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just let me finish," said Hopper. Will decided to just give a quick nod.

"We've already discussed you telling us to close the gate to stop that shadow monster, despite knowing it could possibly kill you and doing that trick with the portals last year, despite the fact that it was dangerous for you.

"Shoot, I remember the day we first met, you were trying to get help for your brother when he was sick and Lonnie was just sitting on his sorry ass watching a baseball game."

Will gave a slight scowl at the memory of Jonathan almost dying because their father just thought that Will was overreacting. It had soured him on baseball until Dustin and Lucas started playing.

"And you've done little things everyday that means a lot to people. Like giving Julie your toy truck when you couldn't afford to get another one. Not many kids the age you were when you did that would be so generous.

"The point, Will, is that you've give as much, if not more than you've gotten from others. Real friendship is a two way street. Sometimes you do things for your friends sometimes they do things for you. We all worry about you when bad things happen, but don't think for a second that you're a burden to any of us."

Will looked at Hopper carefully for a few seconds to make sure he was finished talking. "Ok, Hopper. I hear what you're saying, I understand."

"Good," said Hopper. "And I have to say something else: I know that Lonnie spent a lot of years putting you and your friends down because you didn't fit into his idea of what men should be; but when I was serving in Nam, I would have taken you and your friends in my platoon over Lonnie and guys like him any day. You know why?"

Will shrugged.

"Because you put others before yourself. This world would be a lot better off if there were more people like you and fewer people like your father."

"Lonnie's not my father!," said Will hotly. "You are."

Hopper was momentarily stunned. He released his grip on Will. Sure, he has married Joyce and legally adopted Will. Sure, Will's long lost twin had been calling Hopper 'Dad' for quite some time, but he couldn't recall Will actually saying it. Hopper was taken aback, but in a good way.

"I-well-thanks, kid. I feel the same way." Hopper found himself smiling warmly at that tiny thing. Will stuffed his hands into the pockets of the and gave his own awkward smile. "I wasn't sure. You've never actually called me dad, so…"

"It doesn't mean I haven't thought it. I don't know, I was just used to calling you Hopper. Habit, I guess. Do you want me to call you 'dad?"

"I don't want you to force it. It's just a word. Actions are more important than words."

Will nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they are," he exhaled slowly. Tears pricked his eyes and he hastily wiped them away.

"What is it, Will?" Will shrugged and shook his head. "C'mon, kid, get it out."

"T-the truth is, I'm terrified of the surgery. Being unconscious for several hours while they cut me open freaks me out. It shouldn't, but it does. Oh, god, it really does." Will clenched his fist and held it near his mouth. It trembled violently as tears started pouring down his face. Hopper reached out and pulled Will into a tight hug. Will tensed up at first. It was the first time Hopper had ever hugged him. Sure, there had been reassuring shoulder squeezes and the occasional hair ruffling, but never a hug. Will let himself relax into it after a few seconds. Hopper guided Will over the the bench and they sat down. Will wiped his face with both his hands as Hopper put his arm around Will's shoulders.

"I really wish that I could snap my fingers and make this all go away, or that I could guarantee that nothing will go wrong with the surgery. I really do, kid."

"I know," said Will.

"Here's what we're going to do though. You can keep doing everything you've been doing, but you're going to pay close attention to your health, understand?"

"Yes," said Will.

"If you feel winded or dizzy, you take it easy. You can ride your bike around with your friends, go to work, make those homecoming decorations, be on the decathlon team, all that. But if you ever need to rest, you take the time to rest. Got it?"

"Yes, I got it," said Will as he nodded.

"And if something's bothering you, promise me you'll talk to someone, even if it isn't me or your mom. Mike, El, Julie and any of your other friends are all good options. They'll want to help you, just like you'd want to help any of them if the situation was reversed."

"Alright, I promise."

"Let's just take this one day at a time. First thing's first. You gotta ace that chemistry test in the morning, so get some sleep."

Will let out a long yawn. "I think I can manage that now." He whistled to Chester who eagerly ran up to the porch. They headed inside and barely managed to keep Luke the cat from slipping outside as they was both exhausted. Will scooped up the cat and walked up to his room.

"Sleep tight, kid," said Hopper as he was about to enter the master bedroom.

"You too," Will answered. He went into his room and set Luke down. Chest rested on the doggie bed as Will threw himself onto his own bed. He was asleep in a matter of moments.

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AN: I actually originally intended for this to be a one shot and this scene to be almost the entire story, but the idea of Hopper finding out that Sara is alive is very complicated and there's not enough of it in my brain to make it it's own story, so I'm combining it with this one.