Just the Two of Us- Byler

029

     Will woke up around 11:30 am with Mike's arms still wrapped around his waist. Will turned to look at Mike, who was already awake.

     "Hey." Mike said, in a raspy morning voice. "How are you feeling? Any better?" Mike asked.

     "No." Will replied.

     "I swear, next time I see that Joey guy, i'm gonna fucking murder him." Mike mumbled.

     "It's not just that. You're leaving today." Will said, looking at Mike with sad eyes.

     "Oh. Right. I forgot about that." Mike replied. "Let's make the most of the time we have left, alright?"

The boys got up out of bed and got themselves ready for the day, brushing their teeth etc. After they were done, they went downstairs where the rest of them were. Once again, Eleven and Joyce were sat at the dining table but this time with Jonathan and Nancy. The boys stood in the doorway of the dining room about to walk in but stopped when they heard what they were conversing about.

"He came in here yesterday with bloody red knuckles— I don't know what's wrong, he just seems so off." Joyce said to them not knowing he was standing right there. Will knew it was about him. Who else would it be about?

"Mom, I think you should just drop it. He clearly doesn't want to talk about it." Jonathan replied.

"I know, Jonathan, but he's Will and he's been through a lot and he's just— he's just my little boy, and I don't know what's wrong and I just want to help him but he won't talk to me anymore." Joyce said.

"He's a teenager now. He's gonna do that, mom." Jonathan informed.

"I know but, Jonathan, you don't understand. Will usually tells me everything. He never keeps anything from me. I think there's something very wrong." Joyce said, worriedly.

     Mike glanced over at Will to see how he was taking it. His face showed pure annoyance.

      "I was thinking that—" Joyce started but her sentence was cut short. Will coughed obnoxiously to get their attention and to get them to stop talking.

     "Hi." Will said, annoyance clearly heard in his voice. Everyone turned to him abruptly, staring at him awkwardly.

"Hi, sweetie. We were just—" Joyce started.

"Yeah, I know." Will cut her off, walking into the dining room, where his plate was already sitting.

"Are you o—" Joyce tried. Will could see where this was going.

"Yes, mom. I'm fine. Same as I've always been." Will said, rather annoyed and sitting down in his seat, Mike sitting next to him. Jonathan gave Joyce a look as a sign to stop. She didn't listen.

"Will, I know you don't want to talk about it but can you just please tell me why you're acting this way?" Joyce asked desperately.

"You're still on that? Mom. I told you. I'm fine." Will responded.

"I know you're not. Talk to me." Joyce begged. Will stayed silent.

"Please, Will." Joyce said. Jonathan mouthed the words "Stop it" to his mother. She waved him off.

"Will, talk to me. I'm your mother! I'm supposed to help you!" Joyce said again.

Will kept quiet, because if he tried to say anything, he would never end up sobbing. He anxiously bounced his leg, up and down trying to calm himself down.

"Mom, stop it." Jonathan said to his mother, knowing Will doesn't like to be put on the spot.

"I want to help you, Will. Talk to me—!" Joyce started.

"Okay! Let's start!" Will snapped, tears threatening to spill. "First, we move to this place far away from all of my friends! My only friends i've ever had! And all of the same bullying shit goes on here just like at Hawkins! Everyone at this school knows me as 'the faggot' or 'stupid queer' or 'fairy' and I hate it! I'd rather be known as zombie boy in Hawkins!" Will exclaimed. Everyone was staring at him now with shocked and concerned looks on their faces.

"Will—" Joyce started.

"I'm not finished. Thanksgiving break comes up and for the first time since we moved here I was happy! That was, of course, until they got here, because Mike and Eleven were busy trying to fix their already broken relationship, leaving me by myself, again!" Will yelled, showing a bitter smile. Mike and Eleven looked down, feeling bad about how they distanced themselves from him at the start of their visit.

     "Honey—"

     "I'm not done yet. We fix that issue and me and Mike become close again. Like really close, and everything is perfect again! As soon as everything gets better, you decide to invite my piece of shit of a father here for whatever reason, after knowing damn well what he did to me—" Will yelled.

     "Will, you can stop. I get it—!" Joyce tried.

     "No, Mom! You don't! You told me to talk to you and now I'm talking! The day my dad got here, he beat the shit out of me and sent me to the hospital. I almost fucking died! Two times, just because of whatever dumb reason he came here for. I still have marks from him. And they are just as bad as before." Will sobbed.

"When I finally got out of the hospital, Troy started messing with me again and kept making my life a living hell but I stood up to him yesterday, so that's a plus, right? No. It was supposed to be but it wasn't. Me and Mike were sitting on the swings just talking and then this asshole from school shows up out of no where and starts messing with us." Will exclaimed.

"Who was it?" Joyce asked.

"Does it matter?" Will replied. "He started making me really uncomfortable, and he didn't care. He made kissy faces at me and— he— he wouldn't stop, he just.." Will trailed off. He couldn't finish the sentence. Tears fell heavily from his eyes as he tried to speak. He opened his mouth slightly to continue, but nothing came out.

      "He kissed me without fucking consent and he— he wouldn't let go! I was trying to get away but I couldn't!" Will sobbed, his voice breaking. Joyce was at the verge of tears. No wonder he's been acting this way. "I didn't want it! I didn't want it!" He sobbed, putting his face in his hands. Everyone looked at Will with shock and pity.

"I'm so sorry, mom. I didn't mean to." He whispered between cries.

"No, Will, don't you dare blame this on yourself." Joyce demanded, walking to his seat and hugging him tightly. The room was filled with silence besides Will's quiet sobs. Mike and Jonathan were talking with their eyes.

"Was it Jake?" Eleven asked, breaking the silence.

"Why?" Will asked, pulling away from the hug and looking at Eleven.

"Was it?" She asked again. Will nodded.

"Why?" Will repeated.

"He says things about you." Eleven said. Will raised an eyebrow at her.

     "What things?" Will asked.

     "I heard him talk to his friends. He said you were a fag-got." She said.

     "Oh. I know that—" Will started.

      "He also said you were gul-i-ble. And that you would be easy." Eleven added, earning a look from Jonathan, Mike, Will and Joyce. Nancy sat there not knowing what the hell was going on.

     "What?" Will said. Mike and Jonathan stood up abruptly, as if they were ready to take action, and they would've, if it weren't for Joyce.

     "How about we deal with him some other time and not let him ruin our thanksgiving, okay?" Joyce said, trying to release some tension. It was awkwardly silent for a few moments after that.

     "On a happy note, Will beat the shit out of him." Mike said, immediately covering his mouth afterwards.

     "Mike!" Will whisper shouted.

A/N: This is shit and just a filler chapter ig. This book is almost overr :(( ANYGAYS, THANK YOU ALL FOR 1.42K READS OMFG. Word Count: 1332

- Mar 6th, 2022, 8:33 pm