Just the Two of Us- Byler

018

Mike and Jonathan were still in the cabin waiting for Will to come back. Jonathan was upstairs and Mike was downstairs on the couch. It was taking him a little to get than it should've been but Mike just thought it was because he was packing for two. Jonathan came down the stairs and said,

"Where's Will?" He spoke.

"He's still packing." Mike replied.

"No, he's been gone for over an hour." Jonathan remarked. "He should've been back by now." He added. They were starting to get worried, giving the fact Lonnie was back. Ambulance sirens sounded from a distance. Mike and Jonathan glanced at each other hoping it wasn't Will. Jonathan looked out the window and what he saw horrified him. He saw  a cluster of police cars and ambulances outside of the Byers' house. Joyce and El were there bawling their eyes out whilst Joyce was lashing out Lonnie. Jonathan saw someone being put on a stretcher, and that's when he knew he needed to move, fast.

     "Jonathan. What is it?" Mike asked with a concerned expression on his face. Jonathan's eyes were watering and focused on the situation outside. He ignored him and bolted out the door, Mike trailing after him. They ran as fast as they could to the scene and as they got closer they saw the thing that horrified them them most. Will was on a stretcher being put in an ambulance. His face and body was badly bruised, as blood covered his face. Jonathan walked up to Will and checked his pulse. Nothing.

     "Will. Will, come on buddy. I-It's Jonathan. Can you hear me? Please." Jonathan whispered, through tears. Mike stood there, frozen. He couldn't move. He could only stare at the once happy and living Will Byers that laid before him.

"Will." Jonathan whispered again as he stroked his brothers hair. He checked his pulse one last time. Nothing. Jonathan started bawling. He lost his brother once already and he lost him again. Mike stood there crying, unable to move, blaming himself. He should've just went with Will. Maybe none of this would've happened.

Lonnie stood there feeling sorry. Not for what he had done, but that he had been caught.

It was silent for a moment besides the trees rustling around them.

"You killed my brother." Jonathan whispered, a pained whisper, as if he couldn't talk any louder without losing it. "You killed my fucking brother! My only brother- my only sibling!" Jonathan screamed, kicking a cop car next to him causing everyone to jump.

     "Hey! Calm down!" A cop said from behind him.

     "No!" Jonathan yelled back and walked up to Lonnie. "You killed my fucking little brother! And you don't care!" He continued, with his voice breaking.

     "Jonathan, just leave it." Joyce said trying to calm him down. She was still bawling holding Eleven tightly, allowing her to cry in her arms.

      "NO! Why are you letting him get away with this?! He killed Will! He fucking killed Will!" Jonathan said directing his attention to Joyce then back to Lonnie.

     "I fucking hate you! I wish you were dead!" Jonathan yelled. He always hated him but never said it. This time he did. This time he did, because Will was dead.

Will was dead.

"I hate you." He said aloud once again. He was hurting so much right now, he didn't know what to feel.
    Jonathan thought back to all of the memories with Will. The day they built Castle Byers. It was a cold, rainy day. The two Byers' kids were determined to build the drawing Will had created and named 'Castle Byers'. A safe space for him to go to when stuff became too much to handle. It took them all night to build it, because Will was so bad at hammering. He missed the nail and hit his finger countless times. He and Jonathan laughed and joked about it all the time. Jonathan's heart ached thinking about it. Will was gone and he may never get to do anything like that with him ever again.

He felt sad and angry and scared and really numb. Joyce engulfed her son in a hug and rubbed his back. Jonathan stood there and cried in his mothers shoulders. She was the only comfort he had now.

     "He killed my brother. He killed him. He killed my little brother. My fucking little brother." Jonathan sobbed in his mothers embrace.

He pulled away from the hug and walked over to Lonnie.

     "I will fucking kill you." Jonathan whispered, a very intimidating whisper.

     "Do it." Lonnie challenged. Without thinking, Jonathan's fist rose up and met with Lonnie's face causing commotion from the officers and them restraining Jonathan. Joyce was watching this all happen, while trying to get in the ambulance with Will, Mike and Eleven.

"Let him go!" Joyce demanded, and the officers obeyed. "Come on, Jonathan." She ordered causing her older son to follow her in the ambulance.

They sat down and the car started moving. It was silent. Joyce was holding Will's hand watching as the nurse was putting the oxygen mask on her son, regretting everything and praying that the hospital would bring her son back. Jonathan sat there, looking at his red and swollen knuckles and silently sobbing. Eleven was leaning on Joyce's shoulder, tears falling from her eyes like waterfalls. She had gotten so close to Will with the time of them living together. And Mike? Mike was a crying mess but he was silent and didn't talk at all. He felt like he couldn't. His breaths were short and shallow. He felt like any moment he was going to break. A few years back, when Mike saw Will's dead body in the quarry, he instantly broke. He left the party alone, without their leader, their paladin. His heart was completely shattered into a million tiny pieces, but now, looking at Will's condition now, broke it into a million more.
Mike always knew that Will was different from the rest of the party. He was Will. He was sensitive, sweet and nice to everyone. He had the sweetest smile and the biggest eyes anyone has ever seen. He had a smile so genuine, so pure it could make anyone's heart melt. Lonnie ruined it and took that away from. God, Mike hated Lonnie with a passion. He hated him before, just by hearing the stories, and he definitely did now, seeing the outcome of his actions. If Mike had just went with Will, maybe, just maybe, he'd be alive right now. Just maybe, none of this would have happened. He wished he could hug Will, one last time. He wished he could've told him how much he loved him.

     "Stupid." Mike mumbled. He felt like this was all his fault. "So stupid!" He mumbled, as he buried his face in his hands.

A/N: This was gonna be longer but i'll save all of that for next chapter. Thank you guys for 400 almost 500 reads!! Word Count: 1179

-Feb 4th, 2022, 9:00 pm