Heartbreak Story - Byler

V - A Heartbreak Story

Will wasn't even looking at me anymore, his gaze was clouded over with grief as he told his story. I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't even know I was still in the room with him, right by his side so I took both of his hands and held them tightly in my own. He needed to know he was safe and I would always be there for him. I wanted nothing more than to scoop him up into my arms and hold him against my chest where no one could ever hurt him again but his body was too frail for such things and, anyway, I wasn't his boyfriend so it would have been inappropriate.

My heart was aching for him, the pain he'd experienced and every inch of my body throbbed as though I'd been the one who was attacked and not my sweet Will. I would have done anything for that to be true, he didn't deserve this.

Whatever it was...

What Will had told me so far was devastating, he was pressured into something huge he hadn't wanted to do and though I doubted Will would ever admit it, he didn't give his consent and that was rape. Yet none of this explained why his body was so broken. I wanted to scream, how could this story possibly get any worse?

"When He'd - sorry, we'd - finished, He told me He loved me and I thought that was all I'd ever need in my whole life. Then He surprised me and told me our night wasn't over, He had one last place to show me." Agony was laced in Will's last words as a look of horror darkened his face. His tears began to wash down his face much thicker and faster, a dreadful waterfall of hopelessness. In that one soul-destroying moment, I was almost certain I heard my own heart break.

"He drove me to the school. It was so dark so I grabbed His hand as I walked with Him to the football pitch. I didn't know why we were there but I trusted Him and knew I'd follow Him anywhere. 

As soon as we got there, He dropped my hand so suddenly you'd have thought he'd been electrocuted. Then someone I couldn't see started laughing loudly and I felt goosebumps stand on my neck. I tried to get closer to Him and hide behind His back but He pushed me away. The person who'd laughed came out of the stands where he'd clearly been waiting for us and he was one of His friends from the football team: the big one, Blake I think. "Don't tell me you've actually done it already, Rodgers. My bet was six and a half months." I heard the big guy say and He replied, "It wasn't even that hard. All I had to do was say I'd break up with him and he was mine. Stupid queer is a bigger whore than we thought.""

I could feel my own heart beating at a million miles per hour as I listened to Will tell me the rest of a story I couldn't have dreamt in my darkest nightmare. Between the sobs which were shaking his broken body and at times overpowered him to the point of being unable to go on, Will informed me that Alex and his friends on the team had created a bet for how long it would take for Alex to "fuck the school faggot". Earlier tonight, Alex had told the love of my life who was so desperately in love with him that he had never cared for him and everything that they had had been a lie - how could a guy like him ever truly care about a "disgusting little slut" like Will? My Will.

Not only were Alex and Blake there, but the rest of the team were too and they beat the crap out of him just for being gay. Will said Alex didn't engage in the beating himself, he just observed the scene and occasionally threw in some encouragement for his team mates. The team forced him to go through the biggest heartbreak of his life and didn't stop hurting him until a late-night school janitor chased them all away and drove Will to the hospital himself.

The two of us found ourselves crying in each other's arms, his face buried deeply into my neck. "I deserved it. He was right and so was my dad all along. I am disgusting, I'm filthy. Boys shouldn't love boys and I always knew that but I told myself it was okay. I was wrong." Will whimpered, his voice muffled by my shoulder.

"William Byers," I sternly began, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're without a doubt my very favourite person on this whole goddamn planet and I couldn't survive without you. I don't know who I'd be if I hadn't met you all those years ago but I sure as hell don't want to know. You make me want to be a better person every fucking day; you are my strength to carry on. Please don't ever forget that."

Taking Will's face in my hands, I decided it was time to tell him at least part of my own story. He'd been through too much tonight and it wouldn't have been fair of me to put another burden on his back so I wasn't going to tell him everything but it was a start. "You know what, Will? Loving boys is just the same as loving girls and the people who can't see that are bastards and we don't need them in our lives. Loving boys isn't a bad thing, it can be a great thing."

"How do you know?" Will whispered disbelieving, yet I saw a glimmer of hope sparkle in his eyes as they shone ever so slightly more than usual. Like emeralds.

"Because I love boys too, Will."

"R-r-really?" He asked me and I suddenly felt empowered by him.

"I'm bisexual and I like guys just as much as girls, sometimes even more. I've never told anyone before but I'm not ashamed of it. It's a huge part of me and I'm proud to say finally say it. I told you, you're my strength and you've given me the courage to be who I am so don't you go letting people tear you down now."

Not long after that, Nancy came into the room and told me we had to leave because our mom would be worrying about us. I complained and told her I wanted to stay with Will but she wouldn't let me and I was forced to leave him all alone in that cold hospital room. My head was swarming with all the things the love of my life had told me that night and I knew no matter how hard I tried, I'd never be able to fall asleep.

It was only in the lonesome hours of the early morning, lying in my bed, that I realised that during Will's entire heartbreak story, he never once said Alex's name. It was too painful for him. It hit me like a wrecking ball crashing into stone as it destroys a building, a home, that even after everything Alexander Rodgers had done, Will was still deeply in love with him.

*

Alright, who's gonna help me kill a bitch? Alex Rodgers, I motherfucking hate you.
MY POOR SON DESERVES THE WORLD (Mike) AND ALEX IS NOTHING SO HE CAN GET THE HELL ON OUTTA HERE!!!
This was so hard for me to write but it was always my plan as my storyline focuses on an entirely broken Will and Mike is the one who takes it upon himself to fix him. For those of you who did listen to the song I posted with this story on the intro page, you'd have seen something along these lines coming because the song is about someone who is scared to love because they've been destroyed before. My original plan actually was to start the story after this had happened to Will because my plot is the aftermath but I didn't think it would make sense so I added in these first few chapters.
So, technically, this was all one huge prologue (do I get some kind of award for the stupidestly long prologue in existence?) and only now will my story really begin.
So, I've made a decision, I shall be posting the intro chapter and prologue tonight right about now! So if you're reading this, I wrote this the night I posted the story for the first time.
I'm sorry this is such a painful chapter but I will warn you now, the book itself will not be the most cheery so if you can't continue on, I understand.
Stay happy.
- Niamh.