Thought about this for a while, Anon & I think it'd be a lot more nuanced actually.
New York was definitely a liberal heaven compared to Hawkins, but homophobia was still rampant everywhere. I agree that Will gets used to not having to hide as much in the future, but he definitely learnswhen to hide well. Subconsciously, heād probably dread ever going back to hawkinsābecause of the upside down trauma, but also because he secretly fears he'll fall right back into that old closeted-boy mindset, in a town that just completely sucks the joy out of him.
So if Will ever did go back for a reunion, I don't think he'd actually be too open. His survival instincts would kick in: heād make sure to take off his earrings & rings, tone down his accent, and swap his clothes for something super bland and oversized just to fit in. And heād utterly hate doing it.
It reminds him of watching his queer friends in NYC scrubbing off their rainbow makeup on the subway after coming home from a pride parade, just so they could make it home safely. Except in the city, dimming yourself down is just a quick safety measure for the train ride, but in hawkins, it feels like reverting right back to the suffocating life he barely survived.
Hawkins still knows how to make him shrink, but the silver lining is that the town doesn't own him anymore, so he does not owe that town anything either. He might have to keep his hands in his pockets, soften his voice, and keep a bit of distance from his boyfriend for a couple of days, but as soon as the weekend is over, he gets in the car and drives right back to the real, happy and comfortable life he has built for himself.
