Will Byers x OFC

Chapter 5: Trash Talk

I woke up to a sharp yelp from the other side of the room. Curious, I rubbed my eyes and stretched out, back clicking, making me wince. I glanced over, not surprisingly seeing Will sat up in his bed, knees to his chest and head in his arms. Poor thing. He must have had a nightmare about the Upside Down. Breathing out, I watched him silently weep in his arms, shuddering every now and then as he let out soft, choked sobs. He was restraining himself from waking anyone else up.

He probably had no idea I was awake, and so I waited for him to stop and lie down again, so I could go lie with him. It took me a moment to build up the courage, and when he slowly shuffled back into the covers, the occasional sniffle making my heart wrench, I sat up and stretched out my arms, then stood up, my knees clicking and feet stiff. It was probably around 2 in the morning, and I stifled a yawn before stepping over my friend's sleeping bodies to reach Will. I stopped for a moment and took in the sight of Mike and Eleven, cuddled up together, arms around each other and her face buried in his shoulder. I thought that was so sweet, and I just stood there for a moment, completely lost in thought. I wished Will was like that with me. Oh, psh, we're not even dating! Stop thinking about stupid stuff like that. I scolded myself and swallowed thickly, moving over to Will again.

He was breathing raggedly, and when I stepped over Mike and Eleven, I sat down beside his blanket and stared at his face. He didn't know I was there, and I reached forward slowly so as to not make any noise and ran my fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. His breath hitched and he looked up at me, a small smile appearing on his face as he let me stroke his hair for a little while longer.

I stopped abruptly, peeled back the blanket and pushed him over. He blushed but I didn't see due to the darkness as he opened his arms for me to nuzzle myself in. When I moved the blanket over ourselves again, he wrapped his longer arms around my torso, pulling me close as his face nuzzled into the front of my neck, head under my chin. I lifted my arms up to play with his hair, whispering sweet nothings to calm him down, just as he did earlier this evening.

And that's how we stayed, embracing each other as we both drifted into a dreamless sleep, only thinking about each other.

~~~~~

"Guys, shush! Don't wake them up!" A voice whisper-shouted, making me groan and bury my face into the pillow. Something was lying in front of me, it's arms tightly wound around my waist and a chin placed precariously on top of my head. Something wet pooled in my hair and instantly I knew what it was.

I quickly shoved the boy away from me and swiped my still bandaged hands over my head, wiping away at the drool there.

"Ewww..." I whined, scrubbing my hair in the blanket as the boys laughed, Will finally waking up. He saw me, cringing at my hands which were now covered in drool.

"Sorry, June." He apologised groggily, and I pouted at him to let him know that he was hardly forgiven. He merely shrugged and grinned mischievously at me. Mike, Dustin and Lucas were giggling irritably and I shot them glares.

"You were sleeping with Will. What went on last night, huh?" Dustin teased, helping me up. I loved my friends dearly, I really did. And in situations like these where they would make fun of each other (including me), they were still kind. I brushed myself off and went to help Will up. He took my hand and stood, thanking me as he wiped the corner of his mouth. I smiled and turned away in fear of blushing again and headed upstairs with the boys.

I was met with Karen and Eleven in the kitchen. She was feeding Eleven Eggos, and the girl seemed to love them with a passion as she scarfed them down, going back for more each time. Eyes wide and brows furrowed, Karen turned to me and checked my injuries, in case of infections. Flinching at her insistent prodding, I didn't notice Nancy coming in and making some coffee for both me and her. She placed it on the counter beside me. I thanked her, letting Karen replace the bandages and pat my head affectionately.

Karen had removed the bandages and replaced them with larger Band-Aids. My stomach rumbled, and suddenly I realised how absolutely starving I was. I rushed to the table and dug in to everything available, hogging most of the food. The boys sat in shock at my hunger. Will, surprisingly, didn't touch the food. He sat in his chair, looking down at his fingers twiddling in his lap.

A moment later, he stood up and pushed the chair back, rushing out of the dining room.

"What's up with him?" I asked, wiping my mouth with my napkin and taking a sip of my coffee. A door slammed at the other end of the hallway and Mike hummed, deciding to investigate.

"Stay here, El." He told the girl beside him, who only seemed to look confused. Poor Eleven, always in a constant state of uncertainty. Mike knocked on the bathroom door, waiting for Will to come out. I wondered what was wrong with him. He'd been like this for a while now, always leaving or coming late to the table at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Furrowing my brows, I wanted to find out what was making this boy so skittish. After all, I did have a huge crush on him, I wanted to be there for him, even if he didn't like me back or want help. I hoped he wasn't sick...

"Hey, Eleven?" I called the girl, whose head immediately rose from the table to look at me. "Why don't I take you for a bike ride today after school? Just us two girls." I suggested, a small smile coming on her face. She nodded enthusiastically, grinning at Mike when he suddenly appeared behind me,

"Absolutely not." Eyes narrowed, I turned to face him. Will came behind him, fiddling with his fingers again.

"What? Why not?" He exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I want to get to know her. After all, I never met her when all the shit was going down." I sassed, Mike's eyes widening at my outburst. I never got angry, and he thought that perhaps I was nearing my period again.
Understandable.

"W-well... El? Do you wanna go with Juniper?" She nodded again, standing and running over to me, as if I was her sister of some sorts. She smiled at me, and I found myself smiling back.

"You don't mind, do you Mike?" I asked nervously, understanding that she was basically his true love and had just come back from freaking nowhere. His face contorted with different emotions and in the end, he saw how excited El was and chuckled,

"Sure. Have fun." Eleven let out a girlish squeal and leaped at Mike, hugging him. I smiled warmly, marvelling at their relationship. I suddenly felt a pang of loss in my heart. The only people to ever hug me were Karen and Nancy. Nancy was like a sister to me, always so kind and sometimes I hung around with her at school when Steve was busy in his game. But most of the time, I was with the boys. Which reminded me, I needed to get ready. I stood up from my seat, making eye contact with Will. He looked upset.

"Are you OK, Will?" I asked, laying a hand on his arm. He was so warm. I felt myself breathing in his smell, and he blushed, nodding slowly.

"Y-yeah... I'm OK. I'll meet you outside." I pursed my lips, looking at his face for a little while longer before turning away, staring after him suspiciously as I walked down to the basement to grab my clothes.