𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

xviii. LET ME GO

   

     Will looks at Mike and Charles standing together, then at Joyce standing with Sarah and Jonathan before finally looking at Hopper who was unfolding a paper. He soon realizes he's tied up as he looks down, grunting as he moves. "What? What? What is this? What? What is this?" He kept asking as he looked all around the shack and after hearing him, Charles wanted nothing more than to just untie him and hug him tightly, but he knows he couldn't, not yet. Not until Will was better.

     "Why am I tied up?" He says, looking at his mom. "Will, we just wanna talk to you. We're not gonna hurt you." Joyce said as she crouched down in front of him. "Where am I?" He says, looking up at Sarah and Jonathan then looked at Hopper who crouched beside him, holding up the drawing.

     "You recognize this?" He asked and Will looks at the drawing. "Do you recognize this?" Hopper repeated and Will shakes his head. "Hey. We wanna help you. But to do that, we have to understand how to kill it." Joyce said to him.

     "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up?" He starts screaming it as Hopper grabbed his shoulders. "Hey," he said. "Why am I tied up? Why am I tied up? Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Will started screaming and it scared Charles, he was shaking as he stepped back, the lights were flickering.

      "Hey, you okay?" Mike whispered to him and he just nods, trying to not focus too much on Will screaming as it died down slowly. He stopped yelling and so the flickering stopped too.

     "Do you know what March 22nd is?" Joyce asked and Will just stared at her, his chest rising up and down. "It's your birthday. Your birthday. When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons. Do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all of your friends, they got you Star Wars toys, well, except for Charles, he got you construction papers.." She said, glancing back at Charles.

    Will looks at Charles who smiled slightly, "and all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors and papers. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was your spaceship. A rainbow ship is what you called it. And you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's and I put it up and I told everyone who came in, my son drew this. And you were so embarrassed." She said then chuckles as Charles smiled slightly at the memory.

     "But I was so proud. I was so, so proud." She says to him and then Jonathan spoke up, "do you remember the day Dad left?" Will looks over at him. "We stayed up all night building Castle Byers.. just the way you drew it. And it took so long because you were so bad at hammering." He said causing both Joyce and him to chuckle at that.

     Charles smiled more, "you'd miss the nail every time. And then it started raining, but we stayed out there anyway. We were both sick for like a week after that. But we just had to finish it, didn't we? We just had to." Jonathan said.

    Charles steps closer, "do you remember when you came over to my place when we were eleven? I was crying when you got there, my mom had told me my dad died while I was a baby.." He says, glancing to his mom who looked down. "I was so sad, I had wished I had a dad, like everyone else did at school, and you came, you told me so many nice things that day, you told me that... you had a strong feeling in your gut, that my dad was looking down at me and he was proud.." Charles said, a tear rolling down his cheek. "All of these things anyone could've said to me, but it came from you." He said.

    He looks at Will, "and that's what mattered the most. You hugged me, for a long time that day, let me cry as much as I wanted to.. Then we drew for hours and hours. That day was when I knew I loved you, that I'd never find anyone as extraordinary as you, I knew I didn't need a Tammy, a Joe or anyone else.. I only needed you. I knew that." He said as he nodded his head, sniffling softly.

     "I still know that."

     He looks at Will in the eyes, and saw the boy had glossy eyes while staring at him. "You're the best person in my life, William Byers, and I know we might be too young but I know that you're just it for me..." He softly smiled at Will.

     Joyce leans closer, "Will.. Baby.. If you're in there, just please.. please talk to us." She says and Charles raised his hand, wiping away his tears as Mike reached out, putting a hand to his back.

"Please, honey, please, can you do that for me?" Joyce then asked as Charles then kneeled beside Joyce, staring at Will who looked like he was close to crying. "Please, I love you so much." She whispered to him as he breathed out shakily.

Then he slowly stopped, like as if something suddenly took over him and Charles knew that right away as he leaned away, frowning slightly when he noticed it right away. "Let me go." Will repeated what he had been screaming before. Joyce sighs softly as Charles looked down, disappointed. He sniffled softly, raising his hand to wipe a tear that had slipped out and ran down his cheek.

As the others head inside, Charles stayed in the shack, sitting on the other chair in front of Will. "Charles.. Charles.." Will said but Charles stayed staring at the ground. "Come on, Charles! Let me go! Come on, untie me while they're inside." Will said as he squirmed in the seat he was tied to.

"No.. That's not what you would actually want me to do." He said as he looks up, staring straight at Will who's face scrunched up in a mean and angry look. "Untie me! Please!" He yells at him.

"No!"

authors note idk if that last scene makes sense but aw 11 y/o charles & will UwU