Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the mistakes as this is un-beta'd.

Author's note: Just a warning there's some period-typical homophobia in this one but also a happy ending so…

Patchwork Family

Chapter Two: Hopper and Will – Coming Out

By the time Hopper had managed to get away from the station and to the school it was about forty minutes after the end of the day. The parking lot was nearly empty bar a few teacher's vehicles and a very worried looking Jane and Mike.

This day had been a weird one. A load of annoying, strange incidents at work, not Upside Down/Mind Flayer kind of strange but still irritating enough and then he had got a phone call from the school to say he had to come and meet the principle about Will. Now if it was about Jane he may not have been so surprised – she wasn't exactly a rebel but she had a bit of a temper on her and that got her into trouble sometimes. But Will. He couldn't remember Will ever being in trouble in school about anything.

Jane and Mike didn't know what had happened. They had waited for Will after school only to be told he was in the principal's office with Peter a boy from their science class. Apparently Peter had left about twenty minutes ago with his parents and as Jane had put it 'it did not look good'. So Hopper had sent Jane and Mike home and headed inside still none the wiser.

When he entered the principal's office he saw the principal sitting behind his desk looking serious and grey-faced even. Will was sitting the other side of the table, sunk low into his chair as if he was hoping it might swallow him up, with his eyes cast resolutely down. He could tell the kid had been crying and felt instantly protective.

"Sorry I took so long." Hopper said addressing the principal.

"Of course not Chief Hopper. You do important work." The principal replied with genuine feeling. Hopper didn't know why but he instantly disliked the guy. He didn't think he'd ever met him before, Jane's troublemaking had never been serious enough to get him pulled in in front of the head, but first impressions the guy seemed like a self-important dick to him.

"I thought you said you were going to call my mom." Will suddenly exclaimed. He sounded anxious and he refused to look in Hopper's direction even though Hopper was staring at him trying to work out what the heck was going on.

"I did call your mother Mr. Byers but I was unable to get hold of her so I called your father instead and he said he'd come in."

"He's not my father, he's just my mom's husband." Will retorted, clearly pissed off though when Hopper looked closer he realised the pissed off was more of a cover for Will being visibly upset again.

Hopper would be lying if he said that didn't hurt a little bit. It wasn't like he had gone in all guns blazing trying to be the father figure Will had never had. But he had thought that he and Will had built a meaningful relationship over the last couple of years. He thought they had grown close, close enough for Will not to be freaking out that he was here instead of Joyce.

"Can't we just wait for my mom to get here?" Will asked, or more accurately pleaded with the principal.

"If you didn't want people to know Mr. Byers then you shouldn't have done it in the first place." Was the cold reply. He was looking at Will as if he were sickened by him in some way and that was not helping to warm him to Hopper.

"What the hell is going on?" Hopper demanded suddenly.

He wanted to know what was making Will so upset and why that douchebag on the other side of the desk was regarding his kid as if he had come from another planet. Will had had enough of that after he had disappeared. He didn't need more of it now and from an adult that should have known better.

The principal gestured for Hopper to take a seat, which he did, seating himself next to Will who in turn physically flinched away from the close proximity to him and sunk even further into his seat. Hopper was beginning to get a sense of dread building in his stomach. Whatever this was it was serious.

"Will was caught fornicating with another student today after the lunch period." The principal informed Hopper gravely as if he had just passed on the news that someone had died. There was a beat of silence before Hopper burst out laughing. The principal's eyes widen in surprise at Hopper's response.

"Is that it?!" Hopper asked still chuckling before turning to face Will. "God I thought you had killed someone or something…"

"No Chief Hopper I'm afraid that is not it." The principal interrupted, he had raised his voice slightly to be heard over Hopper's laughter and Hopper fell silent again. "The other student in question was another male student."

The silence hung heavy in the air around them. Out of the corner of his eye Hopper saw Will tensing his hands on the chair beside him, his fists clenched together so hard he must have been digging his own nails into his skin. Will's leg was bouncing nervously and Hopper was fairly sure his entire body was trembling. A complete stranger could have realised that Will's anxiety levels were off of the chart at the moment and it killed Hopper to see him so distressed. He needed to get him out of this office as soon as he could.

Hopper took a deep breath to try and keep himself as calm as possible.

"And?" He asked, surprising himself even with how nonchalant he sounded. He was aware of Will whipping his head round to gape at him in shock but he didn't dare turn to look at him.

"And?!" The principal repeated. He, in contrast, was the very opposite of nonchalant. He sounded utterly outraged. "Look I don't know what type of thing you were used to when you lived in the big city but here in Hawkins we will not accept this kind of perversion…"

"Perversion?!" Hopper yelled as he leant forward and slammed his fist on the desk. The principal jumped back in surprise, looking more than a bit scared. Good thought Hopper. Let the bastard be scared. "Are you calling my kid perverted?"

The principal took several moments to calm himself before he answered but Hopper remained hunched forward over the desk the entire time. It wasn't a subtle intimidation tactic but it pleased him no end that it appeared to be working.

"Look all I need from you is… is a reassurance that you and his mother will… ad… address the issue so this does not happen again." The principal explained, nervously tripping over his words on several occasions.

Hopper leant back from the desk, reclining in his chair as a slow, sarcastic smile spread its way across his face.

"Well then consider yourself reassured – we'll definitely address the issue." Hopper stood and turned towards Will. He was looking up at him with a mixture of fear and surprise painted across his features. "Come on Will, we're leaving." He told him softly, his voice in complete contrast to what it had been only seconds before.

As they exited the building Will all but sprinted his way across the abandoned school grounds towards the car. Hopper broke into a slow jog to try and catch him up but was struggling to do so – he was a little out of shape and the only one not sixteen in this situation so he knew he wouldn't be able to catch Will if he really put his mind to out running him.

"Will wait up!" He called after him but to no avail. "Will seriously will you stop for a second please." Hopper tried again. He was clearly panting now and beginning to worry about just how unfit he appeared to be. Still Will continued his quick march away from the building. Hopper couldn't blame him for wanting to be as far away from what had just happened as possible but they needed to talk about this.

"Will stop!" Hopper yelled a third time and to his surprise he did.

Will remained facing away from him as he closed the distance between them. As he got closer he saw that Will was crying again, more so than before, almost sobbing with his eyes squeezed shut and his whole body tensed. Hopper wanted to turn back and go and pound the asshole principal into the ground for making Will feel that way. But there was something he wanted to do even more than that and in the end that's what he went for – he pulled Will into him, wrapping his arms around him in what Joyce had come to coin as his 'signature bear hug'. It was a strong embrace, full of love and comfort but still Will was completely rigid in his arms. He was crying so much he was struggling to breathe and Hopper could feel his shirt getting wetter and wetter through the tears. He felt himself tear up a little at seeing how utterly tormented Will was by this.

"Don't you hate me now?" Will suddenly chocked against his shoulder.

Hopper was pretty sure he felt his own heart break at that moment. That's what Will was worried about? That he was going to hate him for this?

"No I don't hate you, you idiot." Hopper told him gently. He leant down further to ensure that Will would be able to hear his next words clearly: "I love you. You're my kid."

Will became instantly still against him, his crying ceasing at once. He pulled back to look up at him as if couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Really?" Will sniffed. Hopper nodded and offered him a small but genuine smile.

That did it – Will began crying again and almost threw himself back into Hopper's arms. Will was definitely hugging him back this time, clinging to him fiercely to which Hopper gladly reciprocated. They stayed like that for several moments. Hopper held him and allowed him to cry, not saying anything until the tears had begun to slow a little. Hopper took a deep breath, trying to figure out how best to word what he wanted to say.

"This is a small town Will," he began, still talking gently. Will raised his head to look up at him though still very much in his embrace. "It's full of small minded people like that asshole in there. So if you're not ready for people to know then you've just got to be a little more careful okay?" Will furrowed his brow in confusion. "I mean you've got a perfectly good bedroom at home don't you?"

"No." Will denied instantly, shaking his head for good measure. "No, mom can't find out. You can't tell her. Please! She worries about me enough already." The edge of panic was back in Will's voice just as it had been when Hopper had first arrived in the office.

"I'm not going to tell her but hate to break it to you bud she already knows. And I'm willing to bet quite a lot that Jonathan does too." Will's eyes widened until they resembled saucers and in any other situation Hopper may have laughed at that. He could tell Will didn't quite believe him though so he continued: "They've known you your whole life. Lived with you, known you better than anyone. They probably figured it out before you did."

"But they never said anything."

"That's because they were waiting for you to be ready to tell them. It's what people that love you do."

"And they don't mind?" Will asked still sounding so unsure as if Hopper was playing some big joke on him and was about to start looking at him like the principal had and would throw him out of the house, never let him see his family again. It may have been irrational but it had been his fear for months ever since he had come to truly understand who he was.

"Of course they don't mind. Neither will anyone that truly cares about you and trust me kid everything that's happened in the last few years has proven you aren't short of those."

At last Will's body language seemed to relax a little. He took a big, shuddering breath that stopped his tears altogether and wiped at eyes and nose with the back of his hand. As he brought his arms down his shoulders didn't stay raised up around his shoulders anymore. He puffed out another breath of air and suddenly appeared exhausted. Exhausted and emotional still but not distraught which Hopper would take any day.

"I've been so worried." Will confessed quietly.

"I know kid." Hopper replied. He didn't know of course, couldn't possibly understand what Will was feeling and going through but he could see how much of a big deal it was to him. "There is another option… if you're not ready to bring this guy back to the house…" Will looked up at him. "I still have my cabin in the woods. It's empty now since me and Jane moved in with you guys and you won't bump into anyone you don't want to out there. I could loan you keys?"

"You'd do that for me? Seriously?" Will asked in astonishment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. What Hopper was offering was heaven to him – privacy, real privacy to figure things out and to get know Peter properly where they didn't have to pretend to be anything else.

"Yeah, sure. As long as you promise me you're being safe?" Will looked at him in confusion once again and Hopper swallowed hard. Looks like he was going to have to have this conversation again. "Look I know no one can accidentally get anyone else pregnant in your situation but you still need to take precautions to make sure you both stay safe and healthy."

Will's cheeks reddened instantly as he caught Hopper's meaning. He looked down, unable to meet his eye. No one had ever had this kind of talk with him, not even Jonathan but then if Hopper was right and he had known about this for a while perhaps he thought it wasn't necessary. Will had assumed that might be one of the only advantages of coming out as a teenage boy – that any father figure types in his life would not feel the need to have this particular conversation with him. Clearly he had been wrong. And trust Hopper to break the mould on that one and go right ahead to defy his expectations in every way.

After a couple of moments of awkward silence Hopper began to laugh gently. Will looked up at him sheepishly.

"Sorry kid it's just you look exactly like Jonathan did when I had this conversation with him." Will smiled in response – perhaps he really wasn't that different from everyone else.

"What? The conversation about taking another boy back to the cabin?" Will teased to which Hopper only continued to laugh.

"Not exactly that no."

"Thanks Dad." Will said suddenly once their laughter had come to a natural end.

Hopper's eyes widened in surprise at the use of the name. Will had never used it before. He didn't mind one bit, in fact he was thrilled, he was just surprised. It seemed inadequate to Will – a simple thanks to express how completely grateful he felt to Hopper for everything that had just transpired between them. He hadn't meant to call him that, it had just slipped out, but he didn't regret it and he figured it might make up for his earlier comment about Hopper being 'just his mom's husband'. He hadn't mean it and he hoped Hopper knew that. Though considering the tears that Hopper was currently trying to blink away he realised he probably did know it.

"What do you say to some ice cream on the way home?" Hopper offered, trying to deflect from how emotional he had suddenly become. These kids would be the death of him he was sure.

"Sure." Will agreed.

They walked back towards the car, side by side this time and with Hopper's arm linked over Will's shoulder. Father and son.