Chapter Text
Some people could confidently say that Will Byers is a great responsible person. That he’s mature for his age, and that he has the ability to take control over pretty much any aspect of his life with the flying grace of a butterfly.
For the most part, they weren’t wrong. Except for the fact that Will couldn’t take control over any aspect of his life, and he could do everything a normal eighteen year old could do, except for staying in a house by himself for a month—completely alone.
That was the only thing he couldn’t do. Just the thought of being by himself in the home of two people he barely knew made him shiver, and the possibilities of everything that could go wrong were endless.
He could get robbed, kidnapped, or worse, murdered and brutally left hanging on a chandelier like one of those dramatic horror films L*nnie forced him to watch when he was a kid.
So no, if being considered a responsible and mature teenage boy included being able to stay home alone, they might as well cross him off that list with permanent marker.
“Will? Are you there?” He focused on his sister’s voice again, shaking his head at himself. “Right sorry- I was just thinking. I mean, I should be able to stay there for a month without having a panic attack right? And it’s a really safe town.” He worried his lower lip, hip against the counter.
“You shouldn’t have to if you don’t feel comfortable.” She said gently. “If they said it’s okay for you to invite some friends then you totally should! It’s a great opportunity for a summer hangout anyway.” She was right. What could go wrong? Lucas, Dustin and Max were great company, and probably much more experienced in house sitting than him.
“Okay, fine. Isn’t Max busy with her pool job though? I don’t want to be a bother-“ El laughed, and he could picture his sister shaking her head at him, her brown curls swinging from side to side.
“Will. Stop worrying. I’m sure she’ll say yes in a flash you know how desperate she is for an away trip.”
“Okay well just in case she says no, you can convince her. Girlfriend advantages and all.”
“Yes. Dustin already read my text and he said he’d love to go. Have you asked Lucas and Mike?”
Will stiffened, his hand tightening around the brown coffee mug he had in hand. “Nope.” He popped the p. “Will.”
“What?”
“You’re inviting Mike right? It would look really bad if you invited everyone except Mike.” She said plainly, as if Will wasn’t aware of the fact.
“Doesn’t he have a life?” He found himself murmuring into the phone, shoulders sagging dramatically despite El not being present to witness his act of misery.
“That’s….” He interrupted. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant like… doesn’t he have this community thing going on in the city? Like the thing he helps his mom with?”
“Yeah. That was over a week ago Will. Just invite him. I know you’re just being dramatic.” She sighed, like she truly meant it. Will found it himself to feel offended at that. The mention of Mike Wheeler on its own made his stomach tighten into a knot.
“I’m not being dramatic. I’m simply thinking responsibly about the things he has going on, which might not allow him to come.”
Yes, he was aware of how childish he sounded.
“Seriously? You mean thinking of excuses for him not to come?” Will scoffed at the accusation. “I don’t care if he comes or not. I’m simply being responsible and mature about how I approach the situation.”
“What situation?” She asked mockingly, obviously trying to get on Will’s nerve. “I’ll text Lucas about it.” He grunted, not wanting to get deeper into the hole that his own sister was digging for him. “Good. I’ll see you at home then, love you!”
“Love you too.” The line went dead, he hung the phone back and took his own out of his jean pocket with careful movements, as if it would explode in the palm of his hand.
Carefully, he typed the name into the search bar of his messages.
**Michael**
Last message June, 2024.
Michael: Dustin says hi
You: Ok…?
Michael: Rude
You: How is that rude?
Michael: forget it?
You: Rude
Michael: …
He made noise in the back of his throat, tempted to scroll up and see the messages before that, just so he could cringe and wish he could take anything and everything back.
All of their conversations over text ended the same anyway, so the temptation was quickly gone. With a shaky hand he typed out the first message.
You: Hi.
He deleted it.
You: hello
That didn’t feel right either, he thought frustratedly, shaking his head and glowering at the screen as if it was the phone’s fault.
You: Hi. I’m house sitting at Everblue for my mom’s friends. Dustin and the rest are coming. Just letting you know.
He hit send before he could regret it and delete it, cursing silently. What if Mike thought he wanted him there? What if it seemed as though he was desperate for Mike to keep him company? He wanted to throw up at the thought of Mike thinking Will wanted to spend actual quality time with him.
He set the phone down slowly on the counter, bringing the coffee cup to his lips and taking a big sip.
!ding!
He flinched like someone had fired a gunshot just a couple feet away from him.
Jesus Christ, he thought. Stop being pathetic.
When he turned the phone over, the message in his notification box read:
Michael: Are you letting me know or inviting me?
He gulped, putting the cup down and holding the phone with both hands as he stared at the message. He wasn’t so sure what he was expecting Mike to say. They hadn’t spoken in roughly a year, so it wasn’t like he knew what Mike was going to say.
You: Do you want to attend?
What a stupid thing to say, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment to drown in the stupidity of his question.
The small bubbles that indicated Mike was typing popped up when Will opened his eyes again.
They disappeared, then reappeared.
After a few seconds of waiting, the message popped up.
Michael: sure
Sure? Is that all that he had to say? Will scoffed, lips thinning. Sure. As if Will was begging on his knees and he nonchalantly replied with ‘sure’. Great. He couldn’t physically look at the text anymore, so he just gave it a thumbs up and turned it off.
When his mom finally arrived home along side his sister, Will relaxed, sliding over to the kitchen. El was seated on one of the counter stools, helping mom take out food from the grocery bags. She lit up once Will walked in, grinning like an idiot who knew exactly what kind of torture she’d put him through earlier that day.
“Baby you’re home!” Joyce Byers gave her son a big peck on the cheek, hand smoothing his hair down by habit. He smiled, hugging her side. “Mhm. I didn’t really have much to do today, I just got some laundry done and I cleaned the basement.” He shrugged, making his way over to his grinning sister and plopping down onto the stool next to her.
“How was work?” He asked.
“Great actually. We didn’t really have that many costumers, so it was definitely less hot.”
She worked at a local coffee shop, one that was well known around their town, and according to all adults the perfect started job for a seventeen year old. He smiled with a nod. “Great. So uhm about the texts.” He started, to which she raised a brow.
“I texted Lucas about it, and he did confirm he wasn’t busy at all. All month.” She grinned, peeling the sticker off a green apple from one of the bags and taking a bite. Will grimaced, making a face. “Gross. You have to wash those first.”
“Honey you’re going to get sick.” Their mom piped in from the sink, where she was washing the vegetables with gentle care, as she did with most things. Her ability to hear from far distances was concerning, although Will supposed the sink wasn’t that far from where they sat.
El continued to chew happily on the apple, shrugging. “It’s worth it.” He munched, swallowing before saying. “Max told me she’s coming over tonight. Since she’s staying over you can just add her to the list of people going with you in your car!” She looked way too happy about that, Will thought.
“There’s a list?” He asked.
“I mean, I’m sure Dustin won’t wanna drive, so he’s probably going with you, and Lucas—“
Will stopped her, clearly confused by her logic. “Why doesn’t Max go with you, and I’ll have Dustin and Lucas?” In his opinion, the idea was absolutely genius.
El raised a brow, the corners of her mouth lifting as she took another bite of her apple with a satisfying crunch. “What about Mike?” She spoke around the mouthful. Will physically had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes, because he knew that would be an entirely different category of pain. “He’ll just go with you and Max!” It was as simple as that in Will’s brain. She waited a second before replying.
“Will—you can’t avoid him for the rest of your life.”
He cringed, running a hand through his hair, a mannerism of his whenever stress found it’s way into his body.
“I’m not avoiding him, El.”
“Clearly. You can’t even stand the thought of being in the same car with him for a few hours!” She argued, pointing a purple nail at him.
“I don’t want to be stuck with him for four hours when he can just ride with you!” He argued back, using his hands for punctuation.
It all seemed like a silly joke to his sister apparently, because she wouldn’t stop making faces as he spoke, like he was genuinely being the stupidest person on earth. “He doesn’t even like me. What’s the point if I don’t want to be around him either?” He asked pointedly, tone rising to prove his point. His mom turned around, eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn’t say anything.
“You’re saying he hates you.”
“He despises me.”
“What proof do you have that he despises you?” She asked, quoting the word dramatically apple still in hand. Will thought for a moment, trying not to hesitate long enough for El to make up her mind and tell him he had no proof.
“For one,” he started, sure he had multiple reasons and endless passive aggresive comments from him that made him sure he secretly hated Will, but his brain went blank.
El waited, her face pure mockery of Will’s blank expression. Their mom passed by them with the empty grocery bags in hand, probably going to put them in the recycling bin, with a quiet chuckle that Will could tell had everything to do with their conversation.
He didn’t find anything amusing about it.
“I hate you.” He complained, both hands gripping his hair. “You know I have a point!” The girl exclaimed. “A stupid one! I just can’t remember, but I know there’s a lot of proof, believe me.”
She stood and threw the seeds away in the trash, giving Will a shrug and a look of nonchalance. “Do you think you can have this case solved over night Chief?” She asked in her deep voice, which she usually used to imitate their dad. He threw her a middle finger, which had her laughing all the way down the hallway to the living room.
He grunted, letting his head fall onto his folded arms in defeat.