Chapter Text
Will went back to the cabin, and everything was a blur. Once he entered his bedroom, it felt like the entire world was weighing on his shoulders. He sighed before sitting on his bed. His room was filled with art everywhere, and his paint was scattered throughout. His bed had a cosy green cover and a few pillows of different colours and intricate designs. It felt good to be in a place that he had decorated fully.
Then he glanced at the oil paints on his desk. Heartache returned.
The boy knew that this time he could not avoid what happened, he had to make a final decision and stick with it. He was calmer now, still angry, still sad, but conscious.
For the longest time, Will had forgiven Mike for everything he did, he had latched onto their long-term friendship to hang on. Throughout the years, he had accumulated so much hurt that he had no idea of what to do with all of those emotions.
The first time Mike had hurt him was in 1984 during Halloween, for some reason, he was to blame for the fact that Max came. The next time was in 1985, Mike had said to his face, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” The humiliation Will had felt that day could not even be put into words. Crying was the only thing he knew to do. That summer, he had been ignored and mocked multiple times by his friends.
In 1986, he had been ignored to the point that he had stopped trying, he was lost and aware of his feelings. The world was crumbling in front of him, and he had no way of fixing it. He had sacrificed his feelings…
Recalling this memory made Will tear up, he had done it. That was the first time he had hurt himself at the expense of Mike. The time he had sealed his future.
Later that day, Mike had said, “My life started the day we found you in the woods.” It felt like a knife had entered his chest. Mike had taken his heart and crushed it unknowingly.
In 1987, he had found hope. Mike’s behaviour was weird, different. The signals were there, Robin’s signals… But then for a thousand times, his heart got broken. He had come out in front of everyone out of fear and on top of this made Mike understand his love. Realizing that it was just the replica of Tammy had hurt so much. Mike had said sorry, sorry for his idiocy.
Once again, Will had forgiven. That was the second time Will had hurt himself for Mike.
It was his biggest mistake. To forgive.
Retracing everything. He realized. He should have let Mike go.
The boy let out a shaky breath, tears running down his face. He could taste the bittersweetness of it all.
It was that day all over again, the day he broke castle Byers. Stupid, he felt stupid.
He had convinced his brain that he was over it.
He was not.
…
Now in 1989, Will Byers got hurt once again by Mike Wheeler.
A gut-wrenching sob went out of his mouth. Everything, everything was a mistake. He could barely breathe, snot ran down his nose, and tears flooded his neck. Head in hands, he knew what to do.
His throat was hurting, his mouth was dry, and yet… His face was wet. Wet from despair, wet from sorrow, wet from rage.
His chest felt constricted, he felt like someone had taken his lungs and compressed them. Like his heart got ripped out of his chest. His heart.
The heart got ripped away from him.
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Jonathan could hear faint noises from Will’s bedroom, the closer he got, the clearer it was. Will was sobbing. Violently sobbing. Jonathan contemplated what to do for a few seconds before he decided to enter the room after knocking.
In front of him was Will sobbing his heart out, the boy was a wreck.
“Will, Will, what’s going on?” Jonathan rushed to his brother’s side and took him in his arms.
His brother was not answering, Jonathan grew even more concerned. What had happened for him to react like this? His little brother was seemingly completely broken, and the only thing he could provide for now was comfort.
“You know you can tell me anything, right? I would never judge you. You’re my little brother and I love you, so please open up to me, what is going on ?” Jonathan asked whilst rubbing his brother's back.
“I-I…” Will stuttered, Jonathan heard that Will could not breathe, he stayed silent, let the boy take his time.
After a few minutes, Will calmed down. “I think I need to stop talking to Mike.” Will sniffled.
“Why…? Not that I don’t support your decisions but…You guys have been friends for forever. You went through everything together, and you always found a way to solidify your friendship.”
“That’s the problem, Jon, I spend my time getting hurt and then forgiving. I can’t do this any more.” Will got up from the bed and started pacing.
“I went to Mike’s room today, it had been a while since I went there, you know we always hang out in the basement. Ehrm anyway, I went in his room because I had a question, so I just entered you know we never cared about knocking-”
“So what, you caught him doing something compromising? You guys have been best friends for years, it’s not the end of the world.”
“Gosh Jonathan no.” The boy stopped pacing, instead sighed and crossed his arms. “I saw the painting, he had hung it up on the wall…” Will looked down.
“The painting…You mean THE painting?” Jonathan was finally piecing everything together and could only feel sympathy for his little brother.
“YEAH.” Will threw his hands in the air out of exasperation. “I was so mad, Jon, so, so mad, enraged and so… heartbroken. I thought I was over it, but not at all. When I saw the painting I saw red, I burned it.”
“You BURNED it?” Jonathan was speechless.
“Yeah, I ripped the painting, searched the house for a lighter, took it and burned it at the quarry. I was totally not rational at the moment, I know.”
Jonathan could only laugh, that was one of the first times that Will really defended himself, he was proud.
“No, no, okay yeah kind of crazy, but I’m proud, you did this for yourself.”
“He is supposed to know, Jon, about the painting. I don’t understand why he would just hang it like this. To be honest, I do not want to know, I forgave him so much, so many times. It’s too much.”
The two of them stayed silent for a moment. Jonathan was reflecting on this situation. Will protecting himself is good, but maybe he should have listened to Mike first… However, Will was right, he forgave Mike so much that it did seem that Mike did not care.
“What do you think, should I stop talking to him altogether?”
“I’m gonna be honest here Will” The boy nodded. “When you were a kid, Mike has always been there for you, understanding you… however, the last few years, he’s hurt you a lot, I mean a LOT. You forgave him, but you also came home crying so many times, in California it was the same. I was there that day… I was there BOTH days, and I think that you would make the right choice as your big brother.”
Will chuckled, “But, maybe you should listen to him, perhaps it’s all a misunderstanding?”
Will nodded. “I am tired of trying to understand.” the boy whispered.
“I get that, Will, I really do, this is your choice to make, not anyone else’s.” Jonathan could only give some advice, those situations with Mike have been taking over Will’s life for too long.
Will appeared to be deep in thought for a second before making his final choice. “I won’t let him walk all over me again, and I won’t talk to him for now. I think I need a small break from all of this, now that I am aware of…”
“You know I will always support you, alright?” Jonathan was glad that his brother was finally doing what was good for him.
“You’ll come tonight, right? This party is for you too.” They planned to make a little celebration for their graduation, reuniting all together at the Squawk.
“Yeah, yeah, of course, I’m mature enough for that. I could eat something, though, so let’s go.” Will and Jonathan made their way into their small kitchen, both of them feeling lighter than before.
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Dustin, Lucas, Max, Steve, Robin, and Nancy, were all at the Squawk, waiting for the time of the party. They were all sitting by the couches, sharing cans of soda, Max was pacing around the room.
“I don’t understand how he can be this STUPID ? EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THIS, FOR GOD’S SAKE.” Max screamed out of frustration, throwing pillows around.
“Mike is dense, I’m pretty sure that he is not really aware of anything.” Nancy responded, defending her little brother was hard, she knew that he often created the mistakes out of thin air.
“I think that Mike is not aware… He seemed super shocked at the idea that this was not from El guys.” Dustin added.
“I know that this situation is hard for him, the grief that he feels overtakes him, but also, he is stupid.” Lucas deadpanned.
“I think he genuinely does not know. That’s super insensitive otherwise.” Steve mumbled.
“Yep.” Lucas agrees.
“Mike was very close to El, of course most of us were too but… If he really thought that El had commissioned the painting for real, then Will just burned El’s painting. I know what it feels like to grieve, you’re sad, nothing feels good any more. It’s hard, and it’s long, especially if, like me, he refuses to move on.” Everyone was silent after Dustin’s words. El’s death was something traumatic for all of them and still sensitive.
“He had built the bomb, I think that he also feels very guilty. Blaming himself for her death. He told me about it that day.” Robin admits.
“You guys are right…” Max says as she sits next to Lucas.
“I know that Mike is sad, but Will also is entitled to get angry… I was there a few years ago, we were bad friends, we mocked him… I’m not proud of it, but that day Mike went up to follow Will. Next time I saw Mike, he came back alone, frantic, telling me that he had made a mistake, a terrible one.” Lucas empathised with Will the most, he had always been paying attention to Will after all of this happened that summer, he had made a big mistake and hurt his best friend, he would rather not do it again.
“Later Will opened up to me, told me what Mike had said, he was right, it was terrible. Will spent years forgiving Mike after he got with El, he treated Will like shit. I did too, but Mike did not stop there, you guys all know how Mike did not really talk to Will when he moved to Cali right? Everything was so tense. After everything, Will lived… I think he had a normal response to all of this. Especially if once again he feels that Mike did not care enough.”
“Wow, you talk more than Vickie.” Robin chuckled. “But I understand what you mean, I think I understand Will the most…”
“You said he said something terrible, what was that?” Steve asked.
“I-I- can’t say it, out of respect for Will.”
“Something homophobic then.” Robin made sense, and by the look in Lucas' eyes, they knew she was right.
“He is a little shit.” Nancy said.
“I don’t think he meant it like that, or for it to be perceived like that…” Lucas tried to defend Mike.
“Maybe, but his habit of running his mouth hurt Will and us more than once, he is an IDIOT.” Max said.
“You said that he did not really talk to Will. What do you mean by that?” Steve asked.
“From what I know, he barely called, well, we know he tried, he kept complaining about it, but he barely responded to Will’s letter, in Cali they had this big argument about it, he told Will that he ruined the day for mopping around.”
“Well to me what ruined the day was Jane getting humiliated, but whatever.” Dustin snarled.
“From what I know Mike apologised, later on, Will lied about the painting before reaching El, Mike needed to know something that Will apparently gave him with that painting, in the name of El.” Lucas finishes.
“Will told me once that Mike could not even hug him at that time.” Robin laughed. “That screams homophobia to me, but what can I say?”
“My little brother is NOT homophobic, Robin.” Nancy threw her hands in the air.
“How long has he known Will?”
“They met when they were like seven, I think.” Nancy responded to Steve. “What is this, an interrogation?”
“I am trying to understand Nance, okay. Has he shown any other interest in girls apart from El?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Dustin laughed. “Remember that time when we were talking about Jessica, he was like making faces.”
“Oh my god, you’re right, that was hilarious, man.” Lucas laughed, tilting his head back, until he heard “Jessica?” And went on a tangent explaining that it was a long time ago to Max. Until Steve talked.
“He is not homophobic, he is in love with Will.” Steve confidently said, tilting his head in a pretentious way.
Silence filled the room, so heavy that it seemed to echo from miles away.
“Steve Harrington, you’re a genius.” Dustin praised. “However, this theory lacks proof.”
“I knew Vickie liked girls before Robin did. I think I have enough proof.” After the event that occurred that night, Robin came out too, well, more kissed Vickie in front of everyone being relieved to see her.
“I think he is right, as his big sister, I can definitely say that there is something there.”
“I honestly thought that he liked Will when I arrived back in middle school… He was so overprotective, you know in Cali things were different. I never said anything because it’s a small-town and then Jane entered the picture.” Max admits.
“So we are all agreeing, that’s great, so this situation should be resolved quickly if we make Mike talk about it to Will.” Dustin suggests, but is quickly interrupted by Jonathan.
“Not so easy, Will decided not to talk to Mike for now and not let himself be walked over.” Jonathan threw himself on one of the couches, looking exhausted.
“Oh fuck…” Dustin swore.
“He is right, though. Will always forgive easily. We should let him do this, maybe it will shock Mike a bit out of his headspace.” Nancy proposed.
“Where’s Will by the way?” Robin asked.
“He said he needed a bit more time alone, he’ll join us later.” Jonathan answered.
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It was finally the evening and everyone was at the Squawk, soft music was playing. They were eating dinner, they had moved the furniture to create one long table. The atmosphere was light, everyone was joking, laughing, talking. However, one person was sulking at the end of the table, isolated from his other friends, and sat next to Steve and Robin.
Mike Wheeler was still angry, he still could not understand Will’s behaviour but his other friends too, he would rather not talk to them right now. They had said that El had not commissioned the painting, this was bullshit for him.
Mike was looking at Will from the corner of his eyes, he thought, “how could Will be so happy right now? How could he act so differently?” He was laughing so hard he was throwing his head back, tears glistening in his eyes from laughter.
Mike frowned, why is he acting like nothing happened? Like, he did not burn a piece of El’s history in front of his eyes? He was so frustrated.
“Can you give me the potatoes please?” Steve asked Mike.
Mike looked at Will again, the boy was smiling softly at Joyce, who was talking about her engagement with Hopper. He could not even feel happy, everyone was acting like everything is fine but nothing is…
“Mike, the potatoes.” Steve repeated.
“What?” Mike responded harshly.
“The potatoes.”
“Alright geez.” Mike passed Steve the potatoes, harshly throwing the pot, receiving a hard glare from the man.
“You better get your shit together, man, you’re not a kid any more.” Steve threw at Mike, before going back to his plate.
“What the fuck dude.” Mike shouted. He did not understand what that meant.
“Michael.” Karen stopped him before anyone else could react or anything else could be said.
From that point Mike kept to himself, barely ate, did not talk. Escaping reality. Everyone has been against him today and that was starting to be too much for him. Especially this situation with Will.
Dessert came, and Mike was more miserable than ever. Will was talking to Steve about some random subject, and the boy was slightly blushing. He could see the red on the boy’s cheek, and that made him even more angry. Why was Will all fine now?
“So you like to just imagine things and draw them?” Steve asked Will.
Will chuckled. “Yeah Steve, that's what I like, but it’s more complicated than that, art is more complicated, i-it’s everything, the thought, the process, the ending, even what comes after! It’s a lot of things!” Mike could see that Will was excited, talking about art to an open ear always made him smile. How long has it been since Will had talked to him about his art?
“How do you choose what you want to create, then?” Steve appeared to be quite interested, listening to Will on the other side of the table with a lot of intention.
“Well, it depends on what I want to do first, what is my first thought. Do I want to tell a story? A feeling? Is this a silly drawing or a serious painting to express my feelings? See i-it depends.” Mike began frowning at the last part, what did that mean? Will’s voice had saddened.
“Cool… could you, like, make those Pin Up’s posters?”
“…” Will's eyes seemed to scream, “Someone, please help me.” and honestly, Mike's face probably showed the same distress.
“Uh, no, I don’t think I can. It’s not in my… Uh line… I’m more into you know DND and painting feelings.” Will responded.
“Steve, are you seriously trying to make Will draw a Pin Up? Your High-school years are over, dingus.” Robin interjected.
Thankfully, this discussion was over and Mike did not have to look at Will blush because of Steve, Steve the hair Harrington what a bunch of bullshit. Mike could not believe that Will was taking his time to blush when THAT happened earlier.
Naturally, once dinner was finished, everyone took the dishes away and started the “official” party, the music was louder and the only thing really distracting Mike from all of this was his can of soda.
Not everyone was on the “dance floor” Mike noticed that Steve was the first to go dance with Dustin and Robin. Hopper had taken Joyce’s hand and was slowly dancing to “Take on Me” , an odd choice for a slow dance, but Mike thought, “whatever.” Karen was dancing with Nancy and Holly. The others were on the side, some on the couches, some on chairs.
Will is with Jonathan, Lucas, and Max, seemingly having a hilarious conversation. Once again, Mike was on the side, sitting by himself, miserable. He was not in the mood to dance, to chat, to laugh. He wanted to go back to his house and sleep for days.
On the radio, “La Isla Bonita” started playing. Robin rushed to Will, forcing him into dancing with her, which he did without even batting an eye. Mike could see that Will was happy, laughing at Robin being silly, as if he had no cares in the entire world. If he had been upset earlier, well, there is no sign of it now.
Mike tried hard to understand what had happened to his best friend that day. Will did not even try to speak, he just took the painting and burned it. He did not even let Mike touch him or stop him, he looked like he was somewhere else entirely. Mike had seen the look in Will’s eyes at this moment, it was terrifying. At the end of the day, Will had burned one of his last memories of El, and that made him angry.
The music ended and “I Want to Break Free” started to play. Karen and Nancy stopped dancing to rest for a moment, but the other three, who were priorly just talking, joined the others on the dance floor. Everyone was having fun, even Hopper was laughing. Will’s voice bought him out of his head. Will was singing the song with their party, Mike could hear Will more than the other’s, Will was just a better singer.
His thoughts got interrupted by Nancy, who sat next to him.
“Why are you brooding like that Mike, come dance, this is your graduation party.” Mike knew that she wanted him to enjoy this night, like she could not have back then, however, he was just not in the mood.
“I don’t want to, Nance, I’m good here, and I’m not brooding.” His frustration gave everything away but whatever.
“You are Mike, you keep looking at Will too and not kindly, don’t ruin this night and come dance alright.” She did not even bother to try to hear him out, she knew Mike well enough to know that he would have just sent her off.
Mike’s eyes did not move away from Will, Mike was trying to piece everything together, but he could not. Will’s behaviour did not make any sense for him. Mike thought that he was the victim of this situation after all, regardless of what anyone said.
The music changed again to “Self Control” from Laura Branigan, Will kept dancing, kept singing. Will was more into Rock music, Mike knew that, but since he became closer friends to Max than before, he also started to enjoy disco music more.
Mike's eyes did not drift away from Will, Will, who was dancing hand in hand with Max at the moment. Will, whose body he could not be looking away from. This has been happening for a while now, Will has always been beautiful, anyone would and should look at Will. Will whose body was lean but muscular, Will whose smile made the room shine, Will who was right now moving his body in an uncoordinated way but somehow still perfect to Mike.
The music changed once again, making Mike realise that he had not looked away from Will once through the whole course of the song, his eyes felt dry, and he felt short of breath. The boy guessed that it was just because of his argument with the hazled-eyed boy.
Mike lost it when Flashdance started playing, and for some reason Dustin decided to make a show out of it. With the help of Will and Lucas, the climax was the moment where the two boys threw water at Dustin. Everyone was laughing so hard some fell on the floor, but Mike could not take the idea that he was on the side like this.
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Mike sat on the front steps, sighing before putting his hands in his hair. He heard footsteps, when he looked up, he saw Hopper standing there.
“We talked last time, kid.”
“Yeah, I know.” Mike responded
“You’re not moving on. You’re not happy.”
“Stating the obvious, old man, you’re losing your head.” Mike joked, which was reciprocated by Hopper.
“This is more complicated than just grief, am I wrong?”
Mike did not answer.
“Does it have anything to do with Will?”
“What?”
“We all left you alone for that reason kid, we all know that when you have trouble with Will you have to do this on your own. Joyce told me numerous things…” Hopper truthfully explained.
Mike wondered for a few seconds if he should talk about this or not. He could still hear the music from the party, he could hear the faint drops of water falling from a pipe, creating a little puddle by his feet. He got hypnotised by the sound of the water droplets before taking a breath and starting.
“Will burned the painting that El commissioned me, did not give a reason, just did it. I- have been told that this painting was never from El but from Will, which is a bunch of bullshit. He did that, and did not even bother explaining, he was weird, he looked at me like I was some kind of monster he had to fight against. He pushed me away like I had, I don’t know, killed his whole family. I don’t know, he just BLEW up. I did nothing wrong here, but SOMEHOW everyone seems to believe that it is my fault.” Mike finished his rant, almost painting.
“Will’s been practically my son for a little while, but before that, I was also there in his life when it was needed. I know a lot more than you think I do, Mike, the story with the painting is not bullshit. You are refusing the truth. Will is a part of my family now, and I know him as a child that I have to take care of. I know he did not do this out of nowhere.”
“NO THAT’S BULLSHIT? El, El is gone, t-that’s one of the last things I have of her. What happened with Will is Will's fault, he acted crazy and that’s it. How could you say that when it’s El, your daughter.”
“Jane. Jane is my daughter, yes. I will not take you using this against me, Mike. You hurt Jane a lot in the past because you could not take accountability when it came to her, you’re doing the same” Hopper sternly responded. “Is it really Will’s fault, or are you once again trying to push the problem in someone else’s hands?”
“How do you even know so much?” Mike frowned.
“They are my kids, they talked to me. Will will one day leave and never come back, don’t let him leave so easily. Don’t hurt him like you hurt Jane.” With that, Hopper went back inside.
After this discussion, Mike is even more confused, he has to make it better? After what Will did, was that his fault? Why is everyone so sure, El did not commission this painting? Mike felt like no one was listening to him at all. However, if even Hopper was convinced that he had something to do with this, then maybe he needed to act.
Mike focused one last time, on those water drops, before going back in.
The moment he entered, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” was playing on the radio, he looked around a bit and found Will, still dancing, this time with Jonathan. Mike considered backing off, but his relationship with Will was still dear to him so he had to do this.
Mike reached Will in a few strides before taking his hand and pulling him towards him. He started to dance around with an incredibly confused Will, he saw that Will was eyeing the exit, to prevent this from happening he took Will’s second hand, making them sway from left to right.
“What do you want, Mike?” Will angrily asked.
“Why did you burn El’s painting?” Mike tried to stay calm while asking, Will's face shifted from angry, to confused, to enraged again. The boy ripped his hands away, he looked Mike straight in the eyes and shook his head before rushing out.
Mike rushed after him, not letting him go away this time.
“I don’t understand, Will.” Mike said as he reached Will outside, it had started to drizzle a bit, the sky starting to get dark.
“You DON’T UNDERSTAND? No, I DON’T UNDERSTAND. Why are you acting like I didn’t tell you? Like you don’t know? When we had that talk on the tower.” Will looked frantic, even desperate to be understood.
“What?” Mike had asked softly.
“What? Are you kidding me, Mike?” Will’s eyes filled with tears quickly, he tried to rub them away before giving up and running away.
“WILL, YOU CAN’T GO NOW, IT’S RAINING.” Will did not care to turn away, it felt like their old argument all over again. He felt powerless and angry.
His concern for Will still made him move, he went back inside to warn someone to find Will and bring him home. Everyone looked at him disappointed, some with a lot of empathy in their eyes. Hopper shook his head before moving to find Will.
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Hopper quickly went to his car, Will should not be too far, and thankfully it was not raining too hard.
Like he had thought Will was just a little down on the road, he honked once, startling the boy. He slid down his window and got Will to enter the car.
Surprisingly, Will was not crying, he was rather emotionless.
“You good Will?” Hopper asked.
“I mean, no, but better than I expected to be.” Will answered truthfully.
“Mike said some shit again, didn’t he?” Hopper joked before starting the car again and driving to their home.
“Yeah, crazy things, he said the painting was Jane’s. I don’t understand Hop, he knows it’s from me, I openly talked about it, and-” He cut himself off before turning towards Hopper. “That day, the day I said that you know-”
“You didn’t like girls?” Hopper finished.
“Yeah, uhm, I on purpose made a reference to what I said when I gave him the painting. I saw it in his eyes that he had understood, so why is he acting like this now?”
“Will, I think he is struggling to say goodbye, you know?” Will nodded, Hopper only glanced at Will, but the man could see Will’s sadness. “But he is also stupid and selfish.” Will wetly laughed.
“Oh, that I know.” The both of them laughed.“Jane will forever live in our memories, Hop, she’ll always be there. I’m concerned for Mike, but I feel like he would rather not be helped.”
“I tried too Will, we are all concerned for him, one day he’ll move on. Okay, kid ?” Hopper put his hand on Will's shoulder as a way to show support.
“Yeah…”
“What happened today?”
“I-I do not know if I should say that to the sheriff…” Will joked, relaxing on his seat.
“Mike, tell me Will, I mean, what happened to you? I know that maybe I’m not the best person for you to talk to. I’m not exactly your dad… But I’m here if you need it, alright?” Hopper tried to be as sincere as he could with a difficult subject like this, he never handled the stress well.
“You’re more of a dad than Lonnie ever was Hop, I promise. I-it’s just, today was like the last drop of water before everything overflowed. I think I’m just tired for now, tired of being taken as a fool. Maybe it’s mean, and I’m wrong for being affected by all of this when he is grieving, and she is… dead.” Will gulps, “But it’s been a year already, and we are all trying to move on, and this situation with Jane has been following me for years, and now she is gone, and it’s still hurting me.” Will gulps again, Hopper does not interrupt. “I don’t want Jane to keep being remembered as Mike’s girlfriend who’s died, and I am tired of him making it everyone’s problems. I might be too harsh, I’m on edge, everything just hit me today that I spent my childhood being hurt on every side of life, and I’m exhausted.” The boy let out a laugh before continuing. “I already talked to Jon today, I feel like I keep repeating myself. It’s annoying.”
“It’s not annoying, you barely talk about yourself ya know?” Hopper sent Will quick looks. “It’s uh, great that you know open up. I understand why you feel a little selfish. But I think that you need to be selfish sometimes. To be honest, I think Jane would like you to be selfish, she is the one who dumped his ass after all, right? She learned to fight for herself and to not let anyone walk all over her, including Mike, she would like you to do the same thing.”
Hopper felt his eyes tingle from the tears that were coming, he too could never forget his daughter, she will always be in his memories guiding him in the right path.
“I remember that day, she was bitchin’, you know she went to the bus laughing with Max ? In Cali, she lied a lot, but then she remembered what she was worth. She never needed Mike, and she let him know that.” Will laughed at his memories. “She was strong like that…” Will shed a tear before taking a deep breath.
“You’re strong too, Will. You went through horrors, kid. You deserve to be treated with kindness and understanding, too. If Mike the stupid can’t give you this after years, maybe it’s good to do like her. Dump him.” Hopper’s tone was light and melancholic, but dead serious. They soon arrived to the cabin, Will quickly washed up and went to bed, head filled with an understanding
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The next day Will felt a bit weird. It was the first time in his life that he woke up with the knowledge that he would not be talking to Mike at all, and that for probably all of his life. He had to get up anyway, and he had to go to school.
Will has joined an art program, it continues one month after graduation, and it leads to an ultimate presentation of all of their works. Today would be the first day for this presentation to be worked on.
Hopper took him to school on his way to work, Will made a beeline to his art class, he had not made any new friends yet, but he sometimes talked to his classmates. No one in this class was a bully or anything so he was glad.
When he entered the classroom, it was a battlefield of tables being moved, creating a lot of space for every student to have their environment. Will did not waste any seconds before helping. Once everything was in place, the teacher started to give the regular instructions.
The final presentation will be done as an open day, everyone will be able to watch. The students need to explain their works on a cartel next to their works. Starting at 9 am to prepare everything and the open doors starts at 11 am. They will be having a buffet at noon.
“Our theme for this presentation will be “body studies”, you have total freedom on how you treat it, but the body will need to be studied and treated as such in the final piece or pieces. You also have freedom on the format, the placement of all the pieces will be in classrooms that will be emptied. Your project can be a great addition to your portfolios and your college admissions. I will let you half an hour to come up with your main idea. I’ll come see you then.” Mr Barhi explained before smiling at them and sitting at his desk.
This teacher was not a bad one, he was just extremely straightforward, it helped Will a lot to have honest opinions on his work. He has improved a lot since this professor arrived.
Will thought about his discussion with Steve, painting his feelings… The boy suddenly had an idea, something that would ask for a lot of work but would be the best project he would have ever created…
The boy was frantically writing his ideas, alongside making drawings to illustrate the final idea. He was proud of himself, he felt the need in his body, in his veins, the excitement of what he knew would be an incredible experience.