𝟏𝟑 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 ; byler !

tape three - side b (eleven).

"just shut up!"

"you're not supposed to like boys the way girls do!"

everyone froze. a buzzing noise filled will's head as everything around him played in slow motion.

the sound of keys hitting the ground broke the silence. "what?" joyce spoke, almost inaudible.

"i..." eleven tried to think of something to say, without making the situation worse.

"el" the brown haired boy gave the girl a disheartened look, his voice breaking "why would you say that?"

joyce stood by the kitchen table, her legs paralysed and her eyes glued to the two kids standing before her.

tears rapidly formed in the boy's eyes and began to spill down the sides of his face. "this was supposed to be my thing that i told people when i was ready. you had no right-"

eleven interrupted him "oh what do you care? you know she knows." she pushed past will, hitting him on the shoulder and storming out of the house, slamming the door closed behind her.

will was now left alone in the room with his mother, both of them staring at each other. he stared at the woman with a scared look on his face. his mouth slightly open and his green eyes filled to the brim with salty tears. joyce's face beamed with compassion, her features softening as she took a step towards her son. the small boy turned around and bolted down the hallway and into his room, closing and locking the door as fast as his shaky hands would allow. the older woman ran after him, knocking lightly on the brown wooden door.

"will, sweetie?"

"go away mom!" a muffled scream came from the room.

she tried again "will, please." her soft voice was filled with concern for her youngest son. she didn't want him to have to deal with this by himself.

"i said go away!"this time, she listened. leaving the boy alone and heading for the kitchen.

inside his room, will sat on his bed, his head buried in his pillow, letting the soft material absorb his warm salty tears. a faint knock could be heard coming from the outside of the small boy's bedroom window. will sat up and looked in the direction of the noise. none other than michael wheeler was standing on the other side. will swiftly wiped his tears and proceeded to let the taller boy in.

the smile that was on mike's face instantly fades when he notices the smaller boy's read puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"have you been crying?"

a tinge of embarrassment ran through will's body as he realised how terrible he must have looked, nevertheless, he pushed aside the thought and turned his focus to the company of his best friend.

"uh, yeah. el and i had a fight."

"a fight? are you okay, are you hurt?"

"no, no, it wasn't physical, i'm fine."

"i care about you a lot, will. you know that, right?"

the green eyed boy felt his cheeks flush and he did his best to hide it. the two simultaneously sat on the end of will's bed.

"so what was the fight about?"

"oh, uh" will stammered, not sure if it would upset his best friend "nothing important."

"nothing important? you and el never fight, it must have been something."

"it really doesn't matter, mike." will avoided eye contact with the raven haired boy, fiddling with his hands as they sat in his lap.

"don't you trust me?"

"no! i-i mean yes.." the small boy fumbled with his words "of course i trust you, it's just that.." he closed his eyes and let out a sigh "it was about you."

"me?"

"uh, yeah.."

"oh."

there was a silent pause for a moment.

"i just don't think she's treating you right. you des-"

"i know she's cheating on me."

will's head turned in shock "you know? why don't you say something"

"because i'm scared. i mean, what if i end things with eleven and then i never find anyone? what if she's the only person that ever wants to be with me - screw that, she doesn't want to be with me anyway, she's cheating for christ's sake!" he exhaled, running a hand through his mop of hair. "i don't want to be alone forever, will." his voice softened, he turned to will with pain filled eyes.

the smaller boy took the larger boy's hand in his "i promise you, there's someone else out there that's going to fall in love with you, for real, and want to be with you every second. they're going to treat you right, and they won't want to change anything about you. i promise they're gonna love you more than you could ever imagine."

"how can you be so sure?"

will's eyes flickered down to mike's lips for a split second before returning to meet his eyes. "i just know." he gave a small reassuring smile and the older boy returned it, their hands still intertwined, each boy pretended not to notice so they wouldn't have to let go.

WOW HI ITS BEEN LIKE YEARS HOW ARE U HOWS LIFE DO U STILL CARE ABOUT THIS STORY

and the million dollar question: who's tape do u think is next?

heres a lil disclaimer bc i don't think i was very clear about it in the introduction

1. the upside down doesn't exist in this au and will never
went missing

2. el was adopted by hopper, she didn't come from hawkins
lab

3. el doesn't have powers, when it says she was different
it means physically different (short hair, didn't talk etc)

4. some of the events from season 3 don't apply to this
book (eg. the byers moving)

5. the events in the tapes are NOT chronological. the
events in this tape happened before max's party,
stan's tape, etc. (sorry if that makes it confusing)