𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝚂 𝙼𝚈 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙳? ⇢ ʙʏʟᴇʀ

upside down

Except the cruiser that had turned the corner in that moment, lights flashing brightly atop it's roof.

Will hadn't even noticed it at first, until the officer inside had flicked the lights into their on position and the dim stretch of road that had barely been visible under the scarce amount of streetlights lining it lit up with circling hues of blue and red. Will hadn't even noticed it at first, eyes pinned on the constellations above him until he had heard the gentle yelps of the siren that he assumed had been played to get his attention. As he had dropped his head from it's stargazing position and peered down the road, Will was sure then that he had made a mistake.

Yet in some way, he wasn't afraid. He wasn't nervous, or scared. He didn't even feel little against the police as they approached. He didn't feel anything. For a moment, he'd thought that maybe he had cried all of his emotions out onto the gravel below him. In his aching tiredness, he wondered if kids could get arrested. He didn't know, and in a stupid, saddened laugh, he wondered if that was something he had known before.

By the time Will had drawn himself out of his thoughts, the cruiser had parked behind him and the lights, which had been sending rays of coloured light through the trees like sun through stained glass windows, had been shut off.

Only the headlights remained, just enough light slipping away from the street and into the pathway, even if they were faced away, to hardly illuminate the form of the bike in front of Will. He half expected the police officer to get tired of waiting for him to do something and leave, but as he ran a thumb over one of the tiny shards of red plastic in his palm, a voice from behind Will nearly made him jump out of his skin, accompanied by the soft hiss of a car window being rolled down.

"Will Byers?" a gruff, patient voice spoke up from up on the road. The voice was kind, but Will imagined it held the air of someone who could be just as temperamental. He sounded older, as old as Will imagined a dad would be, and he almost held a patience that a dad's voice would, Will thought. Though his back was turned to the car, Will could imagine that the man was craning out of his window, trying to get a solid look at him. To make his observation a bit easier, Will thought, he turned his head towards the car, squinting slightly from the sudden brightness reflected on the road.

"What?" Will spoke slowly, unsure of whether sir was something he needed to say.

From inside the car, Will could see a faint red glow, fluctuating in the chilly night air like a light controlled by a dimmer. It took Will only a moment to realize that this was the hot end of a cigarette, and as the smoldering dot grew bright briefly, a plume of smoke could be seen escaping the open car window.

"Are you gonna let me take you home to your mom, or are you gonna make me wait?" the man asked once more, shrouded in the darkness of the car. Though the voice held a slight impatience, it wasn't hostile, and as Will strained to make out some sort of face beneath the blackness inside the car, it was like the officer had read his mind. Suddenly, the inside of the car was illuminated by a faint overhead light, and Will could finally get a somewhat good look at the officer inside of it.

Though the light highlighted most of the front seats quite well, the man's face was still slightly shaded on account of the large brimmed Sherriff's hat that sat atop his head. From the features that Will could make out, the man was likely just as old as Will imagined his dad was, if not slightly older. His face was strong and his jaw was squared, faint stubble crisscrossing along his jawline like he hadn't shaved for several days. He was adorned in what seemed to be a typical work uniform exempt the hat; a beige button up work shirt and pants, and atop his shirt pocket, though Will couldn't make out the letters printed on it, there was a name badge.

"Well?" the man repeated, and though Will wanted to obey the officer in front of him, he found that he couldn't make himself budge.

"... What if I don't want to?" Will spoke up slowly, hesitance staining his words as he looked up into the open window of the cruiser. The cigarette situated between the cop's lips twitched slightly, as if he was squaring his jaw in frustration. He sat like that for a moment however, before he gave Will a tiny nod. With the subtle ker-chink sound of a door handle being opened, Will realized with sudden worry that the man was getting out of the car.