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5 times Will Byers had a first and 1 time he had a last
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1
Will was 6 when he was first left alone. His mom was working and Jonathan was still at school. His dad was supposed to be taking care of him, but he was still in the bedroom, sleeping.
Will didn't mind. He was a big boy now, at least, that was what his dad always said. Will could already change his own shoes and climb down his bed by himself. He was already allowed to help his mom make sandwiches and he could peel his own fruit now.
That's what he was doing now, peeling a banana on the couch, waiting for his dad to wake up, or for Jonathan to come home, whichever came first.
It was a bit lonely without anyone there and the TV wasn't plugged in, so he couldn't turn it on. Mom freaked out the last time he plugged in the TV on his own. Jonathan's room was closed, so he couldn't get in to get Jonathan's cassettes.
"Cas-settes," he said out loud and giggled. He always found the word so silly. He was going to say it again, but the bedroom door opened and his dad walked out. He quieted down. His dad didn't like it when he made unnecessary sounds. At least, that was what his dad said.
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2
Will had his first kiss at 7 years old.
He had it behind a tree in the playground. He had it with his classmate. He had just started school that year and the girl had just declared him her boyfriend a few days after they met.
When he asked Jonathan about it, his brother had just laughed and ruffled his hair.
"My brother's only seven and already getting more bitches than me," he had said.
"What's bitches?" Will had asked again. Jonathan promptly shushed him and said to never repeat that word again. He listened, of course. He found out what 'bitches' meant the day later, anyway.
His girlfriend's name was Macy. She was a really nice girl and she always shared her lunch with Will. Macy took ballet lessons on weekends, so she could dance very well and moved very gracefully.
They had kissed because Macy was going to move away. She said her dad was going to work in one of the big cities.
The kiss didn't feel like anything in the story books. Macy's lips were a bit dry because she didn't like to drink a lot of water. But it wasn't her lips that felt wrong, it was just the whole situation.
Will knew it was wrong . Which was ridiculous because there was nothing wrong with it anyway. At least, nothing that his mom told him. So, he never told anyone about it and made Macy promise not to as well.
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3
He made his first actual friend when he was 9.
Mike Wheeler was a boy in his class. He had black hair, black eyes, and fair skin. Will thinks there are freckles dotted on his face, but he wasn't too sure.
The boy had approached him during lunch, asking why he was sitting alone. Will had answered something, but he couldn't remember it now. However, he could clearly remember how Mike sat next to him and offered him some chips. He did that every day onward. Sitting next to him and sharing his lunch.
Just like Macy.
Will briefly wondered if this means Mike would be his boyfriend.
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4
The first time he played DnD, he was in the Wheelers' basement, sitting around a table with his friends.
It was fun. Really, really fun.
Mrs. Wheeler would bring them snacks from time to time and check on them. Nancy, Mike's older sister who he learned was in the same grade as Jonathan, would also come down and hang out for a while. She would help him make decisions sometimes.
Mike would narrate their campaign dramatically and Will found himself getting lost in his friend's voice.
It was one of the best days he ever had
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5
Will was cold, hungry, and frightened. He didn't know where he was and he didn't know how long he had been there. He was staying at Castle Byers, but no one had come to save him. He had thought that if he hid here, his mom would find him faster.
She didn't.
Neither did Jonathan, or Mike, or Dustin, or Lucas.
No one came to find him.
That was the first time he found himself hating them. He cursed their names and cried in guilt. He took his words back immediately.
He didn't hate them. He didn't hate them. He didn't hate them. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't. He did. He did. He did. He did. He did.
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+1
It was raining.
Not the kind of rain that made it hard to see, nor was it the kind of rain that had you crying with it. It was soft rain. Rain that didn't make too much sound on your windows.
As the clouds cried softly with the sky, Will smiled with the man by his side.
The both of them lay on the ground, basking in each other's presence, not at all minding their soaked clothes and damp surroundings. Although they were soaked to the bone, Will didn't feel cold at all. Or, maybe, for the first time since the incident, he didn't mind the cold anymore. Why would he mind it? Why, when he now had his best friend, the man he loved , laying beside him.
It had taken a long time to come to terms with it. He hadn't realized what he felt for years, always just assuming it was because he had never had a friend as good as Mike. It took so many arguments and heart breaks before they realized what they felt for each other.
Will laughed.
"What's so funny?" Mike asked, turning his beautiful, dark eyes on Will.
"Just thinking," he answered.
"About what?"
"How cruel the dungeon master of our story is,"
Our story. Yes, this was their story now. Will wasn't alone anymore. He was never alone since he was taken to the Upside Down, and he wasn't alone when he went there for the second time.
Mike huffed out a laugh.
"Whoever they are, I'd like to meet them and punch their teeth out,"
"Don't let Dustin hear you,"
The two boys laughed. It was a beautiful sound. So beautiful, in fact, that even the sky seemed to be appeased, as the rain slowly stopped.
Now that the sky had stopped weeping, Will found himself holding back tears. Mike sat up and hovered over Will, wiping the boy's tears away. With the rain gone, he could now see the crimson red tainting the grass. He could see the labored breaths that racked Will's small frame.
Mike refused to cry. He wanted Will's last memory to be of smiles and happiness. So, Mike leaned down and pressed his lips on Will's.
Mike Wheeler had his first kiss, on the same day Will Byers had his last.