Chapter Text

Chapter 12: James

6/16/1986

James didn’t enjoy being back home. He missed the twins, as rowdy and mischievous as they could be. He missed Dinah, who knew she didn’t have the right to mother him and mostly gave him space. The opposite could be said of his own mother, who breathed down his deck from the second he got home. She had no interest in how her son had been in the two months he’d been away, only that he was constantly studying for his finals. James knew it was unnecessary, he passed all of them easily, and he could have done so without the extra hours he was forced to put in. He missed Will. He desperately wanted to hold his boyfriend in his arms and taste his lips again. 

James didn’t really have friends at school. He had teammates, but soccer season was in the fall, and he didn’t really interact with them the rest of the year.

James also couldn’t stop thinking about what Will had told him. The horrors that he had faced. He felt bad about it, but he couldn’t get his mind off of how messed Hawkins was. There was something seriously wrong with that town, and what Will told him only proved his suspicions. He felt there was more to the story that Will hadn’t told him, and he was okay with that. It had been hard enough just to say that much, James had no interest in paining Will by squeezing more information out of him. Still, he got the feeling there was more to the story, and although he didn’t know what it was, it unsettled him.

= = =

His mother insisted that the first thing he did when he got back to Hawkins was visit his father. He wasn’t sure why; she hated his father just as much as he did. Nevertheless, he obliged, knowing he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t. As he entered the hospital, he passed the vending machine where he had previously had the awkward encounter with the guy from the video store. Suddenly, he was on alert for him, not wanting to face another ambush. James entered his father’s hospital room and was greeted by an unwelcoming expression on his dad’s face.

“Well, well. You certainly took your sweet time coming back to visit me. What kind of son goes two weeks without visiting his poor, sickly dad in the hospital?” His father crossed his arms, putting down the newspaper he had been reading.

“I wasn’t avoiding you.” James shot back, trying to get too aggravated. “I had to go back home to finish school, remember?”

His father’s expression faltered for a second before returning. “Yes, I know.” He huffed in a tone that suggested he forgot. “And the week before?”

“That week I was avoiding you.”

“You are so disrespectful. I don’t know how you turned out like this.”

“I’m disrespectful?” James scoffed. “Every time I visit you, you do nothing but insult me. I didn’t have to uproot my life for you, but I did. You never show me any appreciation.”

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me! I am your father!” His father seethed.

James had enough of it. “Oh yeah? And what about the twins?” He shot back. “You’re their father too. You and I both know that you are well enough to be back home right now, and yet you’re still here! I don’t know if you’re ashamed to be seen in a wheelchair, or you just don’t want to spend time with your family, but whatever it is, it’s selfish!”

“You’re lucky my legs are broken or I’d get up and smack your ass into next Tuesday!” His father growled. “It’s your mother’s fault you turned out like this. If I had my way, I would have beaten some sense into you a long time ago!”

“Well thank god you didn’t! Why would I want to be anything like you?”

There was a knock at the door and a nurse walked in. “Excuse me, if you can’t keep it down in here, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.” She said to the teen.

“Sorry. I was on my way out.” The nurse nodded and left the room. James turned back to his father. “I did what I was asked to do, so I’m done here.”

“Good.” His father barked, “Go home. And do it fast. I don’t want anyone seeing you in that fairy boy outfit!”

James froze. He looked down at his shirt. It was a pink and white soccer jersey. He still remembered the day he got it. His father had taken him to a college soccer game in the city when he was younger. He had already been playing soccer for a while by that point, but that game was what really got him into the sport. He remembered begging his father to get a jersey after the game. He agreed, but accidentally bought James an adult size instead of a kids size. James remembered his dad ruffling his hair and telling him that he’d just have to grow into it. Back then his father didn’t care about the colors. James’ father was a different man until the few years leading up to the divorce.

He wanted to storm out and slam the door on his father, to cuss him out and run, but he didn’t. Slowly, while maintaining contact with his father, he backed out of the room. “What happened to you?” He asked, full of disappointment as he slowly closed the door.

James collapsed behind him against the wall, trying to wrap his head around the situation.

“Wow. That was intense.” James looked up to see a boy with dark skin and a flat top haircut sitting in the room next to dad’s.

“Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t disturb you.” James replied, caught off guard by the sudden conversation.

“Don’t worry about it. You want to sit down?” The boy offered for him to enter.

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t even know you.” James answered, stammering. “That’s nothing new for me, I’m used to it.”

The boy stood up. “I can tell. You really let him have it. But I’m serious. Any friend of Will’s is a friend of mine.” Any friend of Will’s? Now that James thought about it, he did remember seeing a picture in Will’s room that had a group of boys, and one of them looked like a younger version of the boy in front of him.

James took a step into the room. “Oh, are you Mike? Or Lucas? I’ve met Dustin.”

“I’m Lucas,” he laughed. “Mike’s gonna get a kick out of you confusing us.”

“Why?”

“Because one halloween we– well nevermind, it’s a long story.”

As James stepped further into the room, he noticed the red-haired lying in the hospital bed. “Then…this must be Max.” He said, taking a shaky breath.

Lucas looked back to the bed. “Yeah.”

James sat down on the other side of the bed as Lucas, facing away from the door. “To think Will’s friends have been a wall away this whole time.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Yeah but what I’ve heard is that you don’t visit your father that often.”

James chuckled. “Yeah, well…you’ve also heard why.”

The other boy smiled and shook his head. “You know, sometimes I think your old man might be the thing to wake Max up, if only to beat some sense into him.”

James laughed. “I’d appreciate it if she did.”

Lucas’ smile faltered and he looked back at the girl on the bed. “Yeah…so would I.”

“She’s your girlfriend?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. We were broken up when she, you know, but we had been talking again and she had agreed to go to the movies with me…so I don’t really know where we were exactly when it happened.” Lucas rubbed his temples with one hand. “Sorry if that’s TMI for someone you just met.”

James shrugged. “Consider us even for everything you’ve had to hear about me.”

Lucas couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Yeah, that’s true.” He looked back at James. “What about you? You got a girlfriend?”

“You think my dad would talk about me like that if I did?” James bemused. It wasn’t like he could tell Lucas about Will, not with his father so close by. Plus, this felt like a natural response. It was the truth, after all.

“Yeah I guess you got a point there.” Lucas said, smirking. “Well, what about–Will?”

James coughed and went red. “What about Will?”

“No, I mean, Will.” Lucas stood up and pointed towards the door.

James stood up and turned around, and sure enough, there was his boyfriend. But something was different about him. “You cut your hair…” 

Will’s cheeks flushed. The hair on the sides of his head was now shorter, and the hair on top had more dimension and texture. “Yeah. I did.”

“It’s about damn time.” Lucas said, coming up to greet the newcomer. “Your hair’s been the same since elementary school.”

James frowned. “I liked the bowl cut.” He wondered if he could still run his fingers through Will’s hair how he’d done before.

“You and no one else.” Lucas chortled.

Will scratched at his sideburn, awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I like this too.”

“It’s good to see you,” Will said, “but what are you doing here?”

“I was here to visit my dad, but we ended up having another fight instead.” James admitted. “I guess Lucas overheard the whole thing and invited me in here instead.” Repeating the situation, he felt a bit of shame in telling his boyfriend about the situation. It made James sound weak and violent.

Will flustered. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The boy’s face changed to that of disgust. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“With any luck, you never will.”

Lucas cut into their banter. “Now you know why he’s here, but what about you Will?”

“I’m here to visit Max.” Will frowned.

“You never visit, Will.” Lucas said, almost accusingly.

“Yeah, I know,” Will murmured. “It’s hard for me, you know. I really don’t like hospitals.” James’ breath caught as he thought of the story Will shared with him through tears.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” Lucas apologized, taking a deep breath. “I’m glad you came, it’s just a surprise.”

Will glanced back and forth between James and Lucas as if deciding whether or not to share something. “I had another dream.” He gulped, making eye contact with Lucas. “Like the one from last time.”

Lucas eyed James cautiously. “Ok. You could have walkied,” he responded.

Will shook his head. “No. I had to be in person. To check.”

“What’s going on?” James asked, confused by the conversation.

The two friends came to a silent agreement. “Um…I’m sorry about this James, but can you…step out for a second?” Will asked apologetically. “I have something I need to talk to Lucas about.”

James’ grew worried. This sounded serious, and he could only think of one serious thing that Will was somewhat uncomfortable talking to him about. “Is this about that thi–”

“It’s related to it, yeah.” Will cut him off, pleading with his eyes.

“Okay,” James nodded slowly. “Do you want me to just wait outside or go home?”

“Wait outside. I’ll come get you.” He and Will shared a look that bordered on intimate, and James walked out the door.

James went the opposite direction of his father’s door, which he thought would bring him to another waiting room, but instead just brought him to a bathroom and a water fountain. He went in and splashed some water on his face. He needed a second to breathe. Between his father’s torment, meeting Lucas, and seeing Will again, James’ social battery felt drained. Will looking nervous about something he wasn’t willing to tell him about didn’t help either. Too many things had already happened today.

- - -

“Oh, there you are.” Will said, finding James by the water fountain. “I’m sorry about that. I…well it’s personal stuff.”

“You said something about a dream?” James didn’t want to pry, but his curiosity was eating at him.

“Yeah. The thing is…” Will looked around for other people before continuing. “I still get nightmares. About what happened. And sometimes…sometimes I dream about my friends dying.” James put his hand on Will’s shoulder for comfort as he watched the boy start to tear up. “And sometimes, when that happens, I can’t calm down until I see them in person.”  He wanted to comfort Will, but he wasn’t sure what to say. So, without much thought, he lightly pulled Will by the arm into the bathroom. “What are you–” 

James closed the door behind them and wrapped Will tightly in a hug. “I’m here for you. I don’t really know what else I can do, but I’m here.”

Will reached around and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Right now, that’s enough.” He relaxed his arms around James before pulling back and planting a kiss on his lips. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” James brought a hand to Will’s head and ran his fingers through the boy’s hair. “Still soft, not too short.” He smiled.

Yeah well…” Will blushed, “I kinda accounted for that when I got the haircut.” Will was breaking James’ cuteness scale.

James grinned. “So you like it that much, huh?” He continued to comb through the boy’s locks.

Will blushed harder. “You’re embarrassing me, Jamie.” This made James freeze. He told Will he could call him that, but actually hearing that was something else. He leaned in and kissed the shorter boy again. Will melted into it but pulled back after a minute. “We should probably go back. Lucas will be wondering what’s taking so long.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Unfortunately.” James released his grip on his boyfriend and the couple exited the bathroom, trying to be as covert as possible.

“You’re back.” Lucas announced as they re-entered Max’s hospital room. “You definitely took your time.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh, had to pee.” Will replied, his face reddening slightly.

“Ok.” He shrugged. “Oh, hey, I didn’t notice,” Lucas gestured toward James’ jersey. “You play?”

“Yeah. Only JV though.”

Lucas’ eyes widened. “Holy shit! I can’t believe I didn’t put it together before. You’re that James Atlas!”

Will looked over at Lucas, confused. “You know him?”

“Dude.” Lucas said, punctuating the word. “Every athlete in the state knows who he is. He set the state record for the hundred meter dash, and he did it in soccer cleats.”

James blushed at the unexpected admiration. “It wasn’t official or anything… It just happened at a tournament.” He scratched his cheek awkwardly. “The cleats thing isn’t a real big deal, track runners wear cleats too.”

Will looked at him in awe. “Wow. You told me you were the fastest left wing in the state but I thought you were just exaggerating.”

“You know,” Lucas looked down at the hospital bed where his girlfriend lay. “I bet Max wouldn’t mind if he was our party’s substitute zoomer.”

“Zoomer?” James repeated. He saw Will give Lucas a nervous look.

“Yeah, it's…” Lucas chuckled. “It’s what Max calls her ‘character class’. She never actually played D&D with us, but when we told her our classes, she dubbed herself our zoomer. She used to skateboard.” Lucas looked down to Max’s legs, which were in larger casts than James’ father’s were. “She’s gonna be mad that she can’t when she wakes up.” Lucas joked with a bittersweet tone.

“I’m sure she’ll find a way.” Will said softly. “She’s always found a way.” He and Lucas shared a small smile.

“I appreciate the offer,” James cut in, “But I wouldn’t feel right about taking her place. I barely know you. Hell, I still haven’t met half your friend group.” James looked to Will, who visibly shared his hesitation. “Besides, I actually do play D&D.” He finished quietly.

“You’re Will’s friend and he’s the best judge of character I know. If he trusts you, so do I.” That answer surprised both of the other boys. 

James swallowed. “Still, I wouldn’t feel about taking her place. I don’t want to start things off on the wrong foot.” This felt weird. He wasn’t used to being around people who actively wanted to include him in things.

“James is his own person.” Will agreed. “If he ends up joining the party–” Will cut himself off, as if realizing what he was saying. “Well I mean, if he takes Max’s place, then he won't have a role when she wakes up.”

Lucas and Will communicated something with their eyes that unnerved him. “I don’t want to impose myself into your friend group or anything.”

“Let’s talk about this some other time,” Lucas finally spoke. “With the whole party.”

“Okay.” Will nodded. He seemed content with this conclusion. Will glanced around the room, from Lucas, to Max, to James, back to Lucas. “I um, I’m sorry. I can’t stay here any longer.” Without another word, Will bolted out the door.

James watched as Lucas reacted, attempting to follow him. “It’s okay.” He said, putting a hand up to stop Lucas from running out. “I’ll go check on him. I was technically asked to leave a while ago.” 

“But–”

“I know I haven’t known Will as long as you, but he’s my friend.” James paused, deciding his next words. “He told me a little bit about what happened to him. I can’t even imagine…” James looked down. “I know I wasn’t there when it happened, but I’ll be there for him now if he needs me.”

Lucas smiled. “Good. Will’s been through a lot, and admittedly, we weren’t there for him when we should have been, especially when he moved away last year. I’m glad he’s got another person in his life that cares for him.” James blushed. “But you should probably get going if you want to catch up with him.”

“Don’t worry,” James smirked, “I’m pretty fast.”