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The cool breeze of the autumn had always been one of his favorite signals that the end of the year was approaching, of an upcoming new start that had brought joy to the Byers household ever since his father had finally left for good.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve. They were all times to show the love, the affection that the remaining members of the family still had.
Will had always enjoyed helping his mother with the cooking duties. The mild pain on his feet after standing up for hours, and even the occasional burns were all signs of a well-done job.
That was, of course, whenever Lonnie Byers wasn’t around.
This year, it felt different.
It was different from the comfort the past two years had brought, with nobody to yell at them or even dare touch them should any step to the recipes was to go wrong.
Jonathan could take as long as he wanted injecting the turkey with Joyce’s special juice concoction, especially designed to keep their meal from drying up in the oven. He could spill a few drops of orange juice, exist with sticky hands, and Joyce would laugh along, as long as he helped clean up.
Will could spend as much time as he desired stirring the pots, not only attaining to the boring duty of mashing potatoes with his “man strength” despite Joyce being much stronger than him or even Jonathan. He could make the pots clink as much as the wooden spoons needed to make noise without fearing Lonnie Byers being already drunk by noon, turning intolerant to any type of sound.
Joyce could experiment with as many creative liberties as she needed, not needing to save up half the weekly income for Lonnie’s beer throughout the celebration.
Halloween hadn’t been fun. At all.
Will could only hope it would get better for even a couple days.
Even though the Mind Flayer had been finally released from him, he had had more nights than he remembered when he woke up, drenched in sweat and fighting his sheets, only to find himself in even more distress remembering the sensation. His skin burning, the air in his lungs making him ache with every breath.
The feeling of sweat on his skin made him feel disgusting, trapped in his own body as if a gooey chrysalis covered him, preventing him from escaping.
The only thing he could do on those nights, was to try and feel as cold as possible, trying to eliminate the flames that licked his dermis in his mind.
Dinner hadn't even been that bad. Joyce was having as much fun as she could with the cooking. Jonathan even tried to lift his mood by playing doctor with the turkey, laughing as the bird inflated with the juice being injected.
In the meanwhile, Will stirred the pots slowly, trying to put as much of a genuine smile as he could.
The same smile that faltered every time he turned towards the table, and remembered every family dinner gone wrong that had happened there. As much as Joyce, Jonathan, and even Mike tried to convince him it had not been his fault, he still knew deep inside it had been. For everything, actually.
If only he had been a tad faster with his bike, maybe he wouldn't have been sucked into the Upside Down. He wouldn't have been possessed by the stupid Mind Flayer.
If only he hadn't been so weird, maybe Lonnie would have liked him more. Maybe even loved him.
If he wasn't such a queer, maybe his father would have stayed.
He hadn't even realized the teardrops already rolling down his cheeks into the food, and the concerned look on Jonathan's face as he wiped his eyes.
He decided to not make them feel worse than they surely already did.
It went well for the most part. For the first time in a while, he wasn't back in the Upside Down at any sound that resembled anything he had heard during his sleepless nights there, even in the slightest. He was actually laughing from the inside at the dumb jokes Jonathan cracked. He knew, and actually believed, he was safe.
The night would have been perfect. He even went to sleep earlier, trying to finish his day with a touch of bliss, before anything could take over.
If it weren't for the short period of time that came after clear skies and happy minds.
As soon as the darkness filled his room and he laid down, decided to make the day end before anything could ruin his joy, it struck.
The sheets felt cold against his skin. The soft wind that came in through the window, making the almost naked tree outside shake.
He was back in Castle Byers, or the decaying version of it that laid as a forgotten refuge against the horrors of the Upside Down. Curling up on himself and a rotting blanket was barely enough to keep Will from trembling so much his entire body would ache the next morning. That, if he managed to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time.
Another guest of wind made its way inside, making Will"s skin freeze. He was trembling so much the only way he could find to keep his teeth from clattering loudly enough to potentially have him be found was to spare a few centimeters of the precious warmth the blanket gave him, biting it.
Why am I even so afraid? The demogorgon would only eat me. It's not as if I could do anything against it.
Why didn't he find it upsetting anymore? Even his mom had been completely terrified when she saw nothing more than glimpses of the creature.
What was that sound of muffled crying, of heavy breathing and helpless whines?
Oh.
It's me.
Barely seconds had passed when he heard footsteps on the hallway.
Someone knocking on his door.
His crying doubled up.
More knocking, more intense this time. All Will could think of was he's gonna come in. He's gonna come in and you have nowhere to go. The feeling made his insides ache, his body physically pained as his muscles contracted in fear.
Outside, Joyce tried calling for him. The second she heard him from across the hall, she rushed to his room.
"Will?"
He had heard his mother. His loving mother who was willing to cross an interdimensional gate, to fight horrifying monsters just to ensure he would be alright.
Instead, his mind repeated it in Lonnie's voice.
He's coming in again.
Even in the Upside Down, he had been able to hide from the monsters, but it was so much more difficult to do so when they were in his thoughts, modifying every single action to remind him of everything that had gone wrong throughout his short life.
Still curled up in a ball, he could only mutter.
Can't. Can't go anywhere.