Chapter Text
Will has frankly started to give up.
His new home is way too different, all the things he used to know all work differently. Hopper is alot nicer then Lonnie and mom is great, Will feels like Jane hates him though. She keeps looking at him when he's talking to her dad or anyone else in the family with this look of dissatisfaction or even a touch of disgust. Will knows he sometimes acts stuck up or ‘rude’ he just doesn’t know what to do, especially with Hopper.
Like yesterday when Hopper tried to talk to him and he kept taking everything as an attack, he didn’t mean to, it just happened. In his mind everything Jim Hopper said was provocative or to make fun of him, to which he replied as such only to be met with a look from Jane and a disappointed Joyce.
Jonathan had asked why acted like that with Hopper while they were listening to music but Will couldn't give an answer. Will after that resorted to not saying much to Hopper, as anything he did say usually was the wrong thing.
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Will sits at his desk on the second floor of the house. He still hasn’t packed everything up. But it’s not like he has anything important in the boxes, it is mostly just old clothes and stuff. After he got told that Lonnie wouldn't be his guardian anymore social services packed everything up. He didn't get to choose so in turn even stuff he would love to throw away followed him to Hawkins.
He would try to leave his room for as little as possible, it wasn’t even with purpose he just didn’t want to be a bother. He did really need a smoke though. Putting on a blazer to act as a jacket over his yellow button up. WIll was really fond of the blazer, it has multiple pins stuck to it as well as some big pockets. He put on his usual long cross necklace and messed up his hair. Finally taking his walkman and putting in the Bauhaus, Burning from the inside album. After lacing his boots he went down the stairs.
Nobody was down in the common areas of the house, which Will liked since he could get by simply walking out without having to talk to anyone. He walked for a while around the town. Getting out of the suburbs he found a playground that was hidden a bit from some tall trees.
‘Perfect’ He thought while sitting on a bench. The sky was grey with loads of dark clouds. Will guessed that it would rain sooner than later. He pulled out his cigarette and lighted it.
Since his head was turned back leaning on the bench watching the sky he didn’t notice when a red-headed girl spotted him and walked towards him. Sitting down next to him she began to talk, “Hey, you new here? I haven’t seen you around.” Will turned his head to look at her taking his walkman off. She had patchy clothes with a cool looking jeans jacket that had its sleeves torn off. “Um yeah I’m new.” She just nodded while making gestures toward the cigarette. He gave it to her and she took a drag, “Thanks.”
“I’m Max.”
“I’m Will.”
“Welcome to Hawkins. Are you gonna start at Hawkins high-school, what grade are you in?”
“Yeah, don't really have a choice,” He gave her a smile and took a drag of the cigarette to then continue with, “And I’m a junior.”
“Sweet! Me too!” She patted his shoulder and seemed to remember his walkman. She looked at it then to his eyes asking, “What music do you listen to?”
“Well um mostly Bauhaus, The cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees a bit of everything honestly.”
“Oh that's cool, I mostly listen to the clash, dead kennedys you know? The Cure is amazing though, Robert Smith is so hot.” Will was surprised, most people thought The Cure was at least decent but most people also thought Robert Smith was a weirdo.
“You like the clash?! That's sick I love them,” She smiled big and said,
“We are gonna be good friends, I can tell.”
They sat there talking for several hours more. When it started to rain they decided to call it a day but they would see each other on Monday. Before leaving Max asked him why he moved to Hawkins of all places.
“I moved in with my mom, I used to live with my dad in Colorado but. um– something happened” he said looking down at his feet. Looking up to Max to say, “And here I am.” With a wonky smile. She seemed to understand and just nodded.
“Well, I’ll see you Monday Byers!” While walking away.
“Bye Mayfield!”
The sky had turned even darker, it was probably dinner. He might even have missed it. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, it would actually be pretty nice to have a quiet dinner for once. Walking back took longer than he anticipated, he didn’t know the way back as much as he thought. It didn’t help that everything looked different when it was dark.
After getting back to the house Will was drenched. He opened the front door carefully and went inside. Before he even took off his shoes he heard his mom screaming.
“Jonathan, is that you? Did you find Will?” She walked closer to the main entrance and saw Will.
“Will! Where have you been we have been so worried,” she was frowning while hugging him tight. Will was wondering what he did wrong. She didn’t seem angry, well she did but not the same anger Lonnie had when he did someone wrong. This was more of a concerned anger than a drunk anger.
“Will, where were you?” her voice was more stable and calm when she had pulled away from him to look at him. “I was just at a walk.”
She looked at him and then noticed something. “Wait- do you smoke?” Now she really looked angry. Hopper came out of the kitchen and stood behind Joyce and Will. “I- I mean yeah..” I wasn’t that big of a deal. He had done it for about a year now, it wasn’t anything new.
“Will, you aren’t allowed to smoke.” Hopper said, looking serious. Will's mouth was slightly open and not knowing what to say he just looked between his mom and Hopper and then just nodded, not wanting to make a scene.
He zoomed out looking just under his moms nose while she gave him a lecture. How he ‘needed to tell someone before going out’ and that ‘you could get lost very easily.’ Will thought it was a load of bullshit. Somewhere in the middle Jonathan came home and hugged him, he was also drenched. Even if Will had just made him be out looking for him for god knows how long he still smiled at him and gave a sympathetic smile when Joyce was lecturing him.
Dinner was kinda tense, nobody knowing what to say. Joyce had made a meatloaf which was a little burned and the sauce had almost no taste, but nobody complained.
It wasn’t until Hopper decided to speak up that the conversation started to get going. “So what were you doing for 4 hours in Hawkins?” El and Joyce nodded in agreement. Joyce had completely stopped eating and was looking at Will curiously while Jane played with her food.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Will didn't mean it to come out so grumpy but it was too late. Hopper's light smile shifted to a tight , lipped frown. While Joyce gasped, “Will!”
Hopper cleared his throat, “I just mean, Hawkins doesn't have much to offer, especially in the suburbs.” And that's when WIll start to feel like an idiot. Hopper didn’t want to start anything, he just wondered what Will spent his time doing. Will's eyes were stuck to the plate as opened his mouth to respond.
“I was just walking around and stuff.”
“There has to be more of it,” Jane stated.
“I went to a playground and sorta found a friend?”
The whole table was pleasantly surprised. “Really? Who? I probably know them.” Jane said pretty excited, she wondered who would become friends with Will considering his very out there clothing style. Most people in Hawkins would probably just see it as strange.
She liked these cool bands, like the clash” He looked at Jonathan and smiled. To Jane it looked like they shared some sort of secret when Jonthan nodded while smiling back. “Anyway, her names Max, Max mayfield I believe?” He looked happy but to Jane this was the worst news ever. She stood up for her chair and put her hands on the table.
“Max? Max Mayfield with ginger hair tied in two braids!?” She was shouting and her voice had a bit of desperation in it. “Ah! Yeah.” Will replied.
“Is that bad?” He looked disappointed. El sat back down and looked at the face of her new brother. “Well… not really, we used to be friends.”
“Used to?” Jonathan said, it made Jane remember she and Will weren't the only ones at the table.
“Yes, she was my best friend. Key word ‘was’,” Jonathan nodded with wide eyes.
“She was a sweet girl.” Joyce said, trying to lighten the situation.
After that everyone except for Will and Jane partook in the rest of the dinner conversation. Both of them leave after finishing their meals.
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The door to Jane's room stood ajar. She was in her bed reading a comic Dustin had lent her saying she reminded him of the main character. It was pretty good, better than she expected.
“Hey, why aren’t you friends with Max?”
Jane jumped in her bed. Turing to face Will. She looked surprised. “Oh. Um, she and my friend used to be together but when they broke up she just started ignoring all of us.” She said dismissingly, not really looking at him.
“Oh.” He replies back, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Nobody moves, the air is tense. WIll take a deep breath, “I still want to be her friend.” He says watching the wall.
Jane doesn't know what to make of this. She doesn't not want them to be friends but imagining them hanging out or laughing feels.. bad. They used to be best friends, her and Max. She told Max everything. Now Max went and replaced her with her step-brother? It sucked.
“Hey, have I done something to make you not like me?” Will said now looking at her.
‘What had he not done?’ She thought.
Jane had watched her new brother closely since he came to Hawkins, the way he acts doesn’t make sense. He’s rude to her dad, often avoiding looking or talking with him, only replying with short mumbling sentences. He doesn’t even act good to his own mom? Isn’t that crazy. She went all the way across the country to pick him up and he can’t even hug her back. Jonathan is the only one he doesn’t act like a shit toward.
The thing that makes Jane the most confused of it all is the fact that despite being rude, non compromising and all over really shitty, everyone still loves him. All Joyce has talked about the last few days has been about Will. About how he just has to get used to the new environment and all that. ‘Maybe instead of acting out he might just suck.’ Jane thought after hearing from her foster mom after Will was caught smoking again.
“Maybe you shouldn’t steal people's friends.” She mumbled with a certainty in her voice.
“What.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t even be here actually! Cause all you have done is be a douche to my dad and make Joyce worry!” She said looking Will in the eyes.
Will was left frozen, his mouth open. Jane had her arms crossed and was looking away from him. Will stood up and went out of the door, at the last moment turning, "I've been here for 3 days and Max already likes me, you have been here since forever and she hates you so.” He looked into her eyes and walked away. Jane was now alone, the regret started to bubble up. Jane felt like a hole had been dug up in her stomach that was swallowing her whole.
“She said that?”
—-
Will on the other side of the wall, in his room was also feeling regret. Wondering why he keeps making the people around him despite him. What he said wasn’t even true, he had exaggerated a lot, he and Max had not even talked about Jane or her friends. Only mentioning that she used to have a close friend group that she fell apart from.
He went to sleep early that evening.