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“You don’t think they’re gonna release a bunch of bears while we're sleeping right?” Dustin shuddered as he stepped onto the bus.
Mike shook his head, “It's a survival camp, not a slaughter house.”
“You know what they say, the best way to learn is under pressure.” Lucas said, poking Dustin in the side
Dustin slapped Lucas on the shoulder as they slid into their seats.
“You take the window.” Mike offered.
Will smiled, “Thanks.”
Once he settled down on the warm vinyl his eyes closed instantly, the warmth making him suddenly very tired. He would have drifted off if it weren’t for Mike knocking their knees together.
“Roll call,” he whispered.
“Is William Byers here?” he could finally hear Mrs. Click say.
“Here!”
“Good. Everyone, make sure to respond the first time and we can leave much faster.”
Will rolled his eyes and let his head fall on the window, welcoming sleep.
~
Will's eyes shot open at a sudden bump in the road and he was met with… a book? He wasn’t reading anything earlier, he’s pretty sure he didn’t even pack anything to read. As the gears in his head kept turning, the rest of his surroundings clicked into place.
“Sorry.” Will said, rising from Mike's shoulder.
“It’s fine. We’re here anyway.”
Will wiped the side of his mouth as Mike folded the corner of his page and stuffed it into his bag.
The bus parked and students started flooding out the doors. Once everyone was back on solid ground the bus driver opened the storage below their seats.
“Ok everyone, after you grab your things, put them over there” Mr. Mundy shouted, pointing vaguely at a patch of dead grass. “And then make your way to the fire pit.”
~
It was still mid day so everyone sat around an unlit teepee of sticks and leaves. The majority were able to find a spot on the logs that circled the pit but some stragglers were left to sit on the ground as the counselors walked into the center.
A brunette guy brought a mega phone to his mouth. “Can everyone hear me ok?”
Everyone winced at the sharp feedback that came from the speaker.
“I’ll take that as a yes. My name is Peter, and I’m the head counselor here. If you have any serious questions you can come to me. If you have any other questions feel free to talk to Donna or Kevin over there, got it?”
Donna, a tall girl with black hair, and Kevin, a guy with a camp hat and a mustache, both waved from Peter's left.
“You will be here for three nights and leave at lunch on the last day. After your teacher reads out your sleeping arrangements you can go to that table where Kevin will be handing out your tent equipment. Let's have fun!”
Peter handed the megaphone to Mrs. Beechman who unfolded a piece of paper.
Will watched as the girls' names were called first, choruses of excited yelps after each pairing. Mrs Beechman cleared her throat as she turned the page.
“James Adams and Steven Hewitt, Charles Baker and Lucas Sinclair,”
“Yeah Sinclair!” came a shout from across the pit.
Lucas laughed “He’s on the baseball team. We met at conditioning.”
Will nodded but quickly brought his attention back to the teacher. Will always came after Charles.
“Will Byers and Chance Perez,”
He felt a chill run down his spine. Out of all the boys that had bullied the crew, Chance was the only one left to graduate. Just his luck.
“What?” Mike exclaimed, the sound drowned out by the instant chatter from the students around them.
Dustin placed his palm over Will’s knee “Just go up to Ms. Beechman when she's done and tell her you need a new tent mate.”
Will nodded and zoned out for the rest of the tent assignments.
~
Instead of collecting his tent equipment like everyone else, Will walked right up to Ms. Beechman.
“Excuse me, Ms. Beechman.” He said as he approached.
She turned to him with no shock at all, clearly expecting him. Her eyes flashed with sympathy.
“Yes?”
“I’m here to request a new tent mate.”
Her mouth briefly set into a hard line. “Sorry Will, no switching.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I don’t make the rules.” She cut him off. “Plus, it’s good to make new friends outside of your group.”
“I don’t need to be with my friends, I'd be happy with anyone!”
“Good, then you're happy with Chance.” She said as she turned and started walking away.
“But-” Will tried but gave up with a sigh.
He stood there, biting at his nails, and tried to see the bright side of things. The bullying had stopped after Andy graduated, so maybe he was nicer now? And it's not like Chance did much but stand there and watch.
Will knew he was just making excuses to distract himself from the fear of what could happen in that tent, but he had to make it through camp somehow.
~
Kevin sat in front of a pile of duffel bags holding a clip board with all of the pairings, some of them already crossed off.
“Um, Will Byers.”
“Byers Byers Byers…” Kevin's gaze scrolled the entire paper before he raised a brow.
“I should be at the top.”
“Ah.” his end of his pen clicked on the page. “Sorry, skipped it cause you were crossed off. Your tent mate already grabbed your things.”
Will paused. “Do you know where he went?”
“Nope. We let you guys pick!”
“Great.” he replied, trying to hide his sarcasm.
~
After looking for what felt like forever, he finally found Chance a ways away from the edge of the forest, surrounded by trees. He was struggling to build, well, anything.
Chance turned as he heard Will approach “Finally. Could you help me with this?”
“It wouldn’t have taken me so long if it were easier to find you.” Will nagged as he went over to help anyway.
“They said to spread out in the woods. It’s included in the survival part apparently.”
Will laughed under his breath. Right. He looked around at the materials spread out on the dirt and sighed.
“Did it have instructions?” Will asked, feeling through the duffel bag
“No, Why do you think this is taking me so long?”
In the bag was ground padding, the inner tent (the lack of progress made much more sense), and tucked in a side pocket - the instructions. Will pulled it out and watched as Chance's face processed.
“Whatever. Just read it outloud, I’ll do all the building.”
~
The tent went up surprisingly fast after that and Will was able to get his food and sit with his friends only a little later than them.
“Ant’s actually really chill.” Dustin said, lifting his hotdog to his mouth.
Will stepped into the space next to Max, “Ant?”
“Anthony. He brought a deck of cards and showed me some crazy tricks.”
Max grimaced at the sight of Dustin talking with a mouth full of food and instead turned to Will.
“My tent-mate brought henna.” She placed her forearm on the table, She had a tiny flower drawn on the base of her wrist. “You should come over to my tent and let her do some for you.”
“Maybe some other time.” Will smiled, tilting his head in the direction of Chance's table next to them. Her eyes softened with understanding.
Once they had all finished eating they got up and followed the crowd to pick up the luggage that they left earlier. Will sifted through all the bags that people had loosely thrown in a pile, pulling out his duffel bag and his pillow but for some reason he just couldn't find his sleeping bag.
“Are you ready to go?” Lucas asked
“When you were looking, did you see my sleeping bag?”
“Uh… What does it look like?”
“It’s blue. My name should have been on it.”
Lucas put his own bag on the floor and joined Will in searching. “Are you sure you brought it?”
“Yes. My mom made me triple check.”
“I’m sorry man. I’m not seeing any blue.”
Will's patience was wearing thin. Someone must have grabbed it, either intentionally or by accident. Will practically stormed away from the pile and walked over to the counselors office. All the doors in the hall were open and Will found Peter sitting at a desk looking through a stack of papers. Will knocked on the door frame and Peter spun around instantly. A kind, yet tired, expression rested on the man's face.
“What's up?”
“Hi, um, I can’t find my sleeping bag.”
“Oof, okay.” He chewed his bottom lip for a moment. “A few other kids forgot theirs too so we’re fresh out.”
“But I didn't forget it. I think someone too-” Will was interrupted by a phone ringing at the desk.
“Hold on.” Peter turned back to his desk and picked up the phone. “Hello! Please hold on for just one second.” Peter stood and walked over to the door, covering the receiver with his hand. “The best I can do is make an announcement at breakfast tomorrow.”
Will looked between Peter, the phone, and the stack of papers on the desk. “Don’t worry about it. I probably missed it.”
Peter nodded and turned back to his phone call.
~
He hardly felt lucky in his current situation but the closest he’d gotten was when he first laid down on the padding. Not only did it mask the feeling of the ground but it was actually comfortable. He was curled up on his side when the tent zipped open and Chance crawled in, toothbrush in hand.
Chance stared for a moment, “What are you doing?”
“Trying to sleep.”
“...Without a sleeping bag?”
“Yup.” He said through clenched teeth
“Whatever floats your boat, I guess.”
Will just curled in tighter on himself and waited to fall asleep.
~
He didn’t know how much time had passed, all he knew was that it had started raining and he was freezing. No matter how he turned or curled he couldn't warm up at all, and for some god forsaken reason, Chance just turned on the light.
“I can’t sleep with you doing all that.” Chance said, sitting up.
Will groaned as he sat up as well “Just deal with it.”
Shock flashed across Chance’s face but his expression quickly settled and he scanned Will's face. Suddenly, he pulled out of his sleeping bag and unzipped it fully, so that it looked more like a puffy blanket, and handed half of it to Will.
“You look like you're dying.” He said, lying back down and clicking off the lantern.
Will sat there, stunned and unmoving.
“Just go to sleep before I take it back.”
No matter how out of character that interaction just felt, Will couldn't deny how terrible it was without any cover. He laid back down, still facing away from Chance but now much closer due to the makeshift blanket.
~
The first thing Will thought when he woke up was how warm he was. Not the uncomfortable sticky kind that usually accompanies Indiana summers, but the kind that also warms you inside.
With his eyes still shut he could almost picture it - waking up in his bed, sunlight filtering through the curtains, snuggling into that pillow that almost always ends up in his arms-
“Mmh”
Will's eyes shot open.
His fantasy of home quickly vanished as he remembered he was still in that damn tent, but not only that. He was curled into Chance's side, his head on his shoulder, and Chance's nose pressed into tousled brown hair.
Will startled at the bugle that sounded in the distance and sat up, accidentally knocking Chance’s nose in the process. He heard the boy grumble a soft “Oww” but he grabbed his clothes and left before Chance could question the pain.
~
Humans were creatures of habit. It's why breakfast at survival camp looked practically identical to lunch at high school. Cliques stuck to each other and tables started to wordlessly “belong”. It's natural. It only becomes uncomfortable when the guy you apparently hugged all night in one table away.
Mike practically slammed his spoon on the table. “What is his issue?”
The orange juice Will was drinking threatened to go down the wrong pipe, sending him into a coughing fit he was trying to conceal.
“Did something happen last night? Chance won’t stop looking over here.”
“He can barely respond right now Mike.” Max said, patting his back.
While the two glared at each other, Donna walked up with the megaphone in hand.
“Good morning everyone! I hope you slept well because your first activity is going to last all day.”
A chorus of tired groans filled the air.
“Your first challenge is orienteering. Throughout the woods we have placed different cards. Each card is an ingredient, and your goal is to get one of each card for a full meal. You will be paired up with your tentmate and given one map.”
The word tentmate hung in the air like a curse. Will just couldn’t catch a break.
~
“Hey,” Chance said, approaching Will in line
“Hey.”
Any conversation they might have had was cut short by Kevin handing Chance the map and two PBJs.
“Alright. I’ve handed every team a map. Go ahead and open it up.”
Chance handed Will the sandwiches and unfolded the map. Will’s eyes widened at the sight of it, the surrounding woods were much bigger than he thought and each check point was largely spread out.
“We’ve given you guys plenty of time to get each ingredient. You’ll hear the bugle when it's time to head back. Ready?”
Will swallowed.
“Go!”
Max and her tent mate ran off immediately, whereas others started walking. Chance cleared his throat to get Will's attention.
“Oh, yeah, let's get going.”
Once they were further into the woods, Chance broke the silence.
“You left pretty quickly this morning.”
“Did I?” Will said with a failed casualness
Chance looked at him suspiciously. “Yup. The bugle went off and you were gone immediately.”
“I was just… excited to start activities.”
Chance nodded, though Will doubted he believed him.
“So how did you sleep?”
Will almost jumped out of his skin at the question. “What? Why?”
Chance raised a brow. “You looked really cold last night is all. Geez, sorry I asked.”
“Right. Thank you. I brought a sleeping bag but I think someone took it.” He cleared his throat, “What about you? How did you sleep?”
“Surprisingly well.”
Will’s shoulders slacked, it didn’t sound like he knew anything about how they slept.
“Ok, I think the first one is close.” Chance said, looking around “found it.”
He walked over and grabbed a single card out of the box.
Chance laughed “That wasn’t so bad. This is supposed to take all day?”
Will couldn’t help but stare for a moment. This was the guy he was all panicked over? A guy who shares a blanket and asks him how he slept? It couldn't have felt more polar.
“I’m sorry.” Will blurted, the action shocking himself
“What for?”
“I don’t know. You haven’t said anything mean since we got here, and I’ve just been on guard.”
Chance glanced at Will, but instead looked at the card in his hand. “I understand why you would be like that though. I mean, I literally tormented you and your friends. I really should be the one apologizing to you. I’m sorry.”
Will didn’t know what to say. He knew he couldn’t just forgive Chance, but ignoring his apology was just pointless.
“Thanks. I don’t speak for my friends or anything, but we can be… cool.”
The words felt awkward as he spoke, but Chance didn’t seem to mind. Will watched as his eyes flooded with relief.
~
Chance was a good partner for this kinda thing, and shockingly good company.
There was one last ingredient they didn’t have yet when they stopped in front of a stream. The water seemed relatively deep, maybe about mid thigh? And for Chance, right above the knee.
The current wasn’t fast but it would definitely be a bitch to walk through.
Chance handed Will his shoes, when did he take those off?, and stepped into the shallow water at the edge.
“Get on.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a piggy back ride. It’s quicker that way.”
“But-”
“Come on Byers, it's cold in here.”
“Ok, ok.”
Chance placed the cards and map between his teeth as Will approached.
“Would you like, lean forward a bit?” Will asked, the whole situation still slightly bizarre.
Chance complied quickly and Will slung his arms over the other boy's neck and hopped on. As Chance started walking the water quickly got deeper and Will instinctively wrapped his legs around Chance's torso to keep his own feet dry. Chance shuddered as he adjusted to the chill, and Will could feel his shoulder blades tightening and releasing against his own stomach.
Will moved both shoes to one hand and grabbed the papers from Chance’s mouth.
“At least breathe properly.”
“Thanks” Chance laughed; or tried to.
When they finally got to the other side Chance placed Will back on land and sat down on a nearby rock.
“Looks like there's only one left.” Chance said as he grabbed his shoes.
When Will looked to the box he spotted another team about a similar distance away notice the same thing. Without much thinking he bolted in the direction of the card. He swerved a few trees and plucked the card out right as the other team arrived.
“Got it!”
The other team sighed and turned back the way they came and Will watched them go, selfishly feeling accomplished. Suddenly, he felt his feet lift from the ground as Chance wrapped around him.
“Where have you been hiding that Byers? Thank god you got it, I’m starving.”
Before Will could hug him back, Chance let go, and unknowingly left Will’s mind racing.
~
When Will crawled into the tent for the night he found Chance spread out on the padding.
“I’m so full.”
Will couldn’t help but laugh as he pushed Chance to his side. “Move over.”
Chance hummed as he turned on his side and reached for the light “Night.”
“Night.”
~
Will woke up to the sound of thunder booming in the distance. He realized almost immediately that something was wrong. He hadn’t moved from when he fell asleep, still on his side and still facing the edge of the tent. Chance was the one who was pressed up against Will, his arm resting over the smaller one's waist.
Another clap of thunder echoed and Chance pulled Will tighter. Will’s breath hitched, not only from the situation but the fact that the boy behind him was hard.
Will tried to remind himself that it’s only natural – that Chance is an athlete who also spent the entire day hiking – but as that thought passed, Chance's lips grazed the nape of Will's neck. It was feather light, and Will couldn't stop himself from squirming, the motion only pushing him further into Chance.
Chance groaned a deep, rumbling noise that sent butterflies to Will's stomach.
Waking Chance would be much too embarrassing, for both parties, so Will just carefully removed himself from Chance's front and begged for sleep to take him back.
~
When Will woke up to the bugle he could feel some lingering warmth on his back but when he looked around, the tent was empty.
“Shit.”
~
Four things were true:
- Chance was… you know
- He was holding Will
- When Will woke up the tent was empty
- When Will woke up he was still warm
“Look at them dude. They both look possessed.” Lucas said to Dustin, pulling Will from his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You and Perez. Did you see a ghost last night?” He laughed.
Will ignored him and looked over to Chance’s table. He was mindlessly circling his spoon around an untouched bowl of Cocoa Puffs.
A sudden high pitched noise shocked Chance into looking up and Will whipped his head back to his friends before he could notice.
“Oops. Sorry Guys.” Donna said into the megaphone. “Goodmorning! We know yesterday was a little harsh for the first activity so today it’s just gonna be really chill. After breakfast we’ll have you guys pair up with your tentmate again and practice bandage wrapping. You will hear about your evening activity at lunch.”
Will quickly scarfed down his eggs and yogurt before getting up and bringing his dishes to the sink. Will had just become “cool” with Chance and for that to regress in a single night honestly bummed him out.
He walked up to Donna and grabbed two of the gauze rolls that she was passing out and made his way over to Chance. The others at his table had all left to find their own tentmate so he let himself walk right up.
“Hey”
Chance startled a bit before speaking “Oh, hi.”
“Mind if I sit down?”
“Go ahead.”
Will took note of the fact that Chance inched away as he sat down.
Donna began to demonstrate how to wrap a sprained wrist on Kevin. Will tapped a finger on the table and Chance placed his wrist in the space between them.
“You weren't in the tent this morning.” Will said, slowly starting to circle the gauze at the pulse point.
“Yeah.”
“I’m kinda getting deja vu.” Will laughed “I guess we’re both early birds”
Chance just nodded and Will frowned. He just needed Chance to think he knew nothing about last night, even if it took a little finagling.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Finally Chance looked up. “What? No.”
“Well, we said we were “cool” yesterday but your barely even talking to me right now so-”
“No it was… my own thing.” Chance said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We’re still cool.”
“Good because I think we made a pretty good team yesterday.”
“Yeah. me too.”
Will Finished wrapping Chance's wrist and passed him the second roll of gauze.
~
Will was back with his group following behind Kevin as he led everyone to the water. Kevin went out first while Peter and Donna set each kid up with their own paddle board and oar.
Mike had chosen to stay back at his tent, likely reading, and the other three started to race as soon as they were in deep enough waters, leaving Will to float calmly.
“Cozy?” A voice came from his side.
Will tried to open his eyes from where he lay but the sun was too bright. He sat up and let his eyes adjust. Chance was on his left, standing upright on the paddle board.
“You’re such a show off.”
Chance’s smile twisted as he planted his oar in the water and pushed out in an attempt to splash Will, which only ended in a loss of balance and a giant splash.
Laugher erupted out of Will at the sight. As he wiped the tears from his eyes he looked around to see where Chance had resurfaced, but he hadn’t come back up.
“...Chance?”
Suddenly, Will felt one side of his board tilting rapidly into the water. He barely had time to think before he was slipping in.
“Fuck, it’s freezing.” Will said, trying to catch his breath.
Chance’s laughter surrounded the space between them. The warm sound caught Will off guard, but not long enough. He splashed the water in front of himself right at Chance's face, his laughter dying immediately.
“You're gonna pay for that.” Chance said, wiping the hair from his eyes.
Will giggled as he spoke, “Yeah right.”
He splashed Chance once more to give himself a head start and swiftly started to swim away. Barely 10 seconds passed before Will felt a hand at his ankle that yanked him backwards. He was quickly placed in shoulder lock against Chance’s front and was made victim to being splashed repeatedly.
No matter how much he struggled, Chance kept him in place and threw more water at him.
“Ok, Ok! I’m done.” Will attempted to say.
Chance stopped splashing “What's that? You tapping out Byers?”
“Yes. Let me out of your death grip.”
Chance laughed again, releasing Will.
“Boys! Get back on your board!” Kevin shouted from a few feet away.
They both swam back to their paddleboards, and while Chance was struggling to get back on Will splashed him as hard as he could and paddled off to find his friends.
~
Will couldn’t fight the smile that was still on his face by dinner.
“So…” Dustin started. “You and Chance seemed pretty buddy-buddy back there.”
Will looked up, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, he’s actually really nice.”
Dustin raised a brow and glanced around the table. Will could feel his friends' eyes on him. Warmth rose to the back of his neck.
~
Will was laid down on the padding, fiddling with a loose string on his shirt when Chance crawled in, shirtless and hair dripping.
“You didn’t dry your hair after washing it?” Will asked
“Nope. I’m gonna dry it right now.”
Will nodded and turned back to the string. Out of the corner of his eye, Will could see the other boy approaching him. Suddenly Chance had a knee on either side of Will with his hands placed next to his head.
“The fu- What are you doing?”
Chance only grinned “Drying my hair.”
He leaned his head down and started shaking like a dog, effectively sending droplets everywhere, specifically on Will.
“Oh my god, you’re such a sore loser!” Will said, shielding his face.
As Chance slowly stopped shaking his hair, Will simultaneously let his arms fall from where they covered him. Chance was breathless — smiling and panting like a puppy.
A whisper escaped Will's lips. “Jerk.”
For a while neither of them moved, completely unaware of how much time was passing. Chance's smile gradually faded as he looked over Will with a serious gaze. Before Will could ask if he was alright he felt lips pressed to his own.
Will let out a shocked noise and lightly pushed the other away. He could see the boy's eyes fill with fear.
“I- I’m so sorry. I don't kn-”
Chance's stammering was cut off when Will cupped the sides of his face. They said nothing to each other, just stared at each other knowingly before Will pulled Chance down again.
This time, the contact was subtle, but that didn't last. That first peck turned into open mouthed kisses. It turned hungry, Chance kissing Will harder, like teeth clashing wasn’t close enough. And it wasn’t. Chance's tongue slipped into Will’s mouth and a groan escaped from both of them. Will couldn’t help but note the minty taste as his tongue grazed the others.
The kiss was fast and frantic and Will was coming short on breath. He slowed the kiss down, allowing himself to breathe through his nose a little easier now. Will's line of focus had become so narrow that he didn't even notice Chance's hand leaving the space next to his head until that hand was sneaking under the small of his back. The sudden contact had Will arching and grinding into the feeling. He broke the kiss off immediately, panting and wide eyed.
“You okay?” Chance asked
“Yeah, yes. Very okay.”
Chance smirked “good.”
He bent down and started sucking kisses into the space behind Will's ear, slowly making his way down. He pulled down the collar of Will’s shirt, low enough so no one would see, and sucked hard enough to leave a mark, simultaneously grinding down on Will.
Will let out a quick and sharp noise before clapping his palms over his mouth. A giggle left Chance’s lips before he spoke.
“You have to be quiet.”
“We can’t do this. We have to stop.”
Chance playfully ground down again and Will shuddered.
“Chance.” He said through gritted teeth.
“Okay, okay.”
Chance sat up and moved back to his side of the bed, lifting his towel to properly dry his hair. Will just turned with his back facing Chance, attempting to hide how hard he was even though he knew Chance felt it earlier.
While Chance was rubbing the towel over his head there was a sequence of taps on the top of their tent.
“Lights out!”
This had Will turning back to glare at Chance. A silent I told you so hovering in the air.
“Okay, you were right.” Chance admitted, laying down and shutting off the light.
The taller boy shifted restlessly, unable to sit still for even a moment.
“Will.”
“Hm?”
“You’ve totally blue balled me and it won’t go away.”
Will was at a loss for words. What do you even say to that? He just turned over to face Chance directly.
“I gotta do something, Byers.” He squirmed, palming himself a little. “Please.”
Will’s stomach flipped. All of the progress his own hard-on had made was gone instantly.
His response was just a meek “...okay.”
Chance swallowed and continued to palm himself harder, not breaking eye contact and Jesus was that insane.
After a bit, Chance had lowered his shorts and Will gasped. The sight had him thinking back to how that had been pressed upon him not 30 minutes earlier. He watched as Chance wrapped around himself, fingers gliding back and forth. Will’s thighs clenched.
“You too.”
“What?”
“Touch yourself.”
“What?” Will repeated, this time more shock.
“Come on Byers, look at yourself.”
Will didn't have to. He could tell just how hard he was. He was probably even trembling a little. So he complied.
Unlike Chance, he kept his pants on entirely and just snuck his hand past the waistband.
He synced his movements with Chance until he could feel the heat start to pool in his stomach, almost uncomfortably. Across from him, Chance had turned his face into his pillow and his breath had sped up.
With Chance’s eyes shut and turned away Will allowed himself to stare at the others dick as the boy got closer to the edge. He should have felt guilty, and he almost did, but then he watched as Chance came and the shame rolled off of him.
As Chance worked himself through it he pulled his head up and looked right at Will again. His cheeks burned at this, as if the whole situation itself wasn’t incredibly insane, but it nonetheless pushed him closer to his own ending. Will’s fist sped up and his teeth bit harshly on his bottom lip as he finished — ruining his underwear.
After steadying his breath, Will sat up and changed both his underwear and pajama bottoms. Chance on the other hand had a bit more cleaning up to do. Luckily his spend only landed on his already bare torso.
They both just lay there, staring at the roof of the tent. Will was tired and yet sleeping seemed so impossible.
What had just happened? Did that count as his first time? No, probably not. Was Will the only one panicking like this?
Will slowly turned his head to see if Chance had fallen asleep. He hadn’t. Will's head snapped back and he hoped Chance's peripheral vision was bad. But hoping was never enough.
“Your thoughts are pretty loud. Do you want to, um… talk about it?”
Will was quiet for a moment. “No.”
“Okay.”
Will tried to shut his eyes but he couldn’t shake all the questions racking his brain.
“Why did you kiss me?”
There was a pause long enough for Will to question if Chance had fallen asleep.
“The moment felt right and I wanted to.” His voice quieted at those last words. “I don’t really understand it all that much but, yeah, I wanted to.”
Will turned on his side.
“Do you…” he started. ‘Still want to?’ he didn’t say.
And he didn’t have to. Chance just nodded slowly from his space on the pillow and Will sat up. He carefully bent down and kissed Chance, whose hand came up to cup Will's cheek.
The kiss was soft and starkly different from earlier. Chance’s thumb had started making soothing movements and Will could finally feel the adrenaline wearing off. Will tried to back away but Chance just kept following his movements, keeping them locked on each other.
“Chance wa-” Will’s voice was silenced by another kiss. “Cha-” and another. “We should sleep.”
After finally getting the words out Chance slowed. He let his head rest fully on the pillow again and looked up at Will. Will felt one final peck to his lips.
“Sorry I just… sorry.” Chance’s smile was soft and his voice was languid.
Will forced himself to ignore just how much that made him want to kiss him again. If they started again they would probably never stop.
He swallowed before grabbing Chance's wrist that was closest to him and made eye contact with a confused boy. He splayed Chance’s arm across their pillows and let himself find the space on Chance's shoulder.
Chance's breath hitched and Will could feel the boy's heart rate pick up. Back in Chance’s warmth, he was quick to fall asleep.
~
When the bugle went off, neither boy budged. Will felt long fingers start to knead idly in his hair. The kneading turned to soft scratching and Will almost found himself drifting off again.
“I really don’t want to move.” Will said, rubbing at his eyes
“Then don’t.”
“Tempting.” He smiled.
He forced himself to sit up and couldn’t help the stretch that came after. He grabbed his clothes for the day and unzipped the tent only to find it raining again. It hadn’t rained in the day yet so Will had to dig around in his duffel to find his umbrella before stepping out.
~
The counselors had put up a quick canopy that everyone stood under in a clump to eat their breakfast. Peter clapped his hands a few times, now without a megaphone due to the confined space.
“Ok guys. As you probably know, today is your last day. Your bus will get here at lunch time. We did have an activity for you but the weather clearly had other plans, so we decided to give you all free time in your tents until you have to leave. Please make sure you are packed!”
Free time
Will spared a quick glance to Chance, who was already looking at him and smiled.
~
They both fell into the tent without much grace, laughing as they did. Chance quickly threw his shoes off and sat by his pillow while Will took his time with the laces.
“You left this morning without doing anything.”
Will left his shoes under the outer tent to not track any mud. “Like what.”
It was quiet for a moment before Chance spoke, barely above a whisper.
“Like kiss me.”
Will turned, wide eyed.
“Forget it.”
Will crawled in Chance’s direction. “Say it again.”
“Huh?”
“Tell me to kiss you.”
Chance swallowed as Will approached. “Kiss m-”
Will doesn’t think he has ever moved faster. Their teeth clashed at first but then they softened, mirroring that second kiss they had shared. Chance hooked an arm under Will's leg and moved him to straddle his waist.
Will opened his mouth and let Chance in. He was fast to take up space, swiping his tongue over the roof of Will's mouth.
As the kiss grew more needy, Chance slid a hand down Will's back. Will shivered and broke the kiss. He opened his eyes to see Chance with dark eyes and saliva slicked lips. He was looking up at Will expectantly.
“It's the middle of the day.” Will said as Chance moved to kiss down his throat.
“I know.”
“So… what if we just talked?”
Chance pulled away from Will's neck to look him in the eyes again. He lifted Will from where he sat to laying down and slid down to face him.
“What do you want to talk about?”
Now that they were here, Will realized he didn’t have any questions in mind and shrugged.
Chance hummed a laugh. “You paint, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What does it feel like?”
Will paused. He had never been asked that before.
“Like breathing. Not that it’s natural, but more like… I need it.” The other seemed to really think about that answer. “What about you? What does basketball feel like?”
“Definitely not breathing.” Chance looked at Will for a moment and grabbed his hand. “I like space. As in planets, stars, that stuff.”
Will nodded, urging him to keep talking.
“My parents don’t really get it. Especially not my dad, so I just stick to sports at school. My grades are really good though.” He laughed with that last sentence.
Will inched closer to the other boy and laid his head down. “Tell me about it.”
Chance smiled and ran his fingers through Will's hair.
“My window has good access to the roof. I like to go up there most nights and just look at the stars. I could show it to you sometime.”
As Chance kept speaking, Will could feel himself start to doze off.
“I swear I’m not bored.”
“I know, I know. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.”
~
Will blinked awake to the press of lips against his own.
“It’s almost time to go.” Chance said, just above a whisper. “I finished packing your bag for you so you could sleep longer.”
Will just stared at Chance, not awake enough to speak.
Overall, it was not a bad way to wake up. Not in the slightest.
~
“Come on.” Mike grunted as he tried to force his bag into the packed space under the bus.
Will stood there, waiting for Mike, when he felt someone step into the space behind him.
“See you at school Byers.” Whispered a now familiar voice.
Butterflies shot to his stomach as Chance passed by and boarded the bus, as if nothing had happened.
Will’s attention was pulled back as Mike gave his bag one final shove.
“Okay.” Mike huffed “You ready?”
He smiled at what could be awaiting him back in Hawkins.
“…yeah.”