FUNERAL BALLAD
stranger things
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ALISON BYERS NEVER USED to deliberate the small things. She was all about the journey, never looking back to question anything about anything and only reflecting on the good times and happy memories, and she loved not needing to examine every tiny detail of life.
That was until her littlest brother disappeared on a night she wasn't home when she should have been, and then, Alison's world tipped on its axis.
What if she hadn't bribed Jonathan and Will into not telling their mother about the last-minute Sunday night study group? What if it hadn't turned into a small party that had her home later than anticipated? What if she stayed home? Because she knew that when her mother was working late, she or Jonathan needed to be home and waiting for Will to return. What if Steve Harrington hadn't become a total douchebag just before eighth grade, resulting in Alison saying something so stupid to him? What if it hadn't resulted in an explosive fight that ended their friendship? What if she'd taken the job at the grocery store instead of the comic book and tech stores?
And the longer Will was missing, and the longer life stretched on without her silly but wonderful little brother. It became this dark place filled with monsters that shouldn't exist and only contributed to the many more ways Alison was left to wonder if every choice she had ever made was the right one. It left her with more and more guilt.
What if Nancy hadn't forced her to that party? More so, what if she hadn't left early? What if it was her who confronted Steve before Jonathan could? What if she never went to that garage? What if she made a decision and someone died? What if she went with her stupid father? What if she wasn't too late? What if, what if, what if. . .
The guilt would consume Alison, if she wasn't careful, but at least she'd be free from its vicious, never-ending cycle of wrong choices.
Maude Apatow as
Alison Byers
"Missing you already, darlings!"
Lili Reinhart as
Thea Thornton
"Holy fuck, we're going to die."
Ross Lynch as
Ferris Alderidge
"I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."
i do not own any part of the stranger things universe. all rights in that aspect go to the duffer brothers. however i do own alison byers and any plots that surround her within the stranger things universe, as well as any characters, that i place into her storyline.
welcome to my very first ever stranger things fic! i've been wanting to write one for ages, but i hadn't seen the entire series in full, just episodes here and there and finally i sat down maybe a month or so ago (just before volume one aired) and watched it straight through, until i caught up with volume two the day after it aired and bawled my damn eyes out. alison j. byers is an absolute angel who must be protected at all costs and, who i utterly adore with my whole being. her story is going to be one of family and friendship and making all the wrong choices or all the right choices and still never ending up content, learning and change and growth and love, and i am so so excited to share this story with you! this book will contain strong language, abuse, mentions of death and torture, supernatural elements, underage drinking, internalised homophobia (partially), bullying, and the horror that is martin brenner's entire character. please read on with caution and enjoy!
i was planning on pre-writing at least half of this before posting this but when i saw bee (-windwillows) last friday, she told me to publish it so here we are lmao. of course, this is dedicated to her, and also to kaz (sectumsirius) and kathleen (pillowzzzzzzzzz) thanks for constantly listening to me vent about alison (and all of my other upcoming stranger things books and oc's) for the last two months, i love y'all so much!
STARTED: 03.07.2022
PUBLISHED: 19.09.2022
FINISHED: 00.00.0000