Chapter Text
Will Byers had accepted long ago that he was a complete failure.
It was his fault that the whole thing started. His friend’s life got ruined because he just had to bike back at that exact time at that exact hour. Hawkins got almost destroyed and so many innocent people died because of him. Because he was weak. His mother worked as much as she humanly could because their father had left them, because Will was a failure. Because he couldn’t throw a ball or talk to girls. Because he liked to draw, because he liked to dance to Jonathan’s tapes and because he liked guys. And then his mother spent all her money and sanity trying to get him back. Because he was stupid enough to vanish. To die and come back. Sometimes he would lay awake and wish that his death was permanent. He wondered if there was ever a time he could have been just a kid, unburdened by guilt and fear, before monsters and secrets had become his constant companions. Sometimes he clung to the distant memory of laughter echoing through his house, the feeling of warm sunlight streaming through his window, hoping that one day, he would feel safe enough to let go of the guilt and remember that version of himself.
But life wasn’t so bad. That’s what he always tried to remember. He doesn’t allow himself to think his life sucks, because even if everyone else thinks so, he might fall apart if he does.
Will had friends. A lot of them. Even know, when Vecna was on their tails, they hadn’t abandoned him. He had Dustin and Lucas, who had been there for him since he was a little kid, so tiny even the DnD dice seemed large in comparison to his hands. He had Eleven, who was for the worse or for the best practically his sister now, given that Hopper had made his way into their lives. He had Jonathan, who no matter how tough things got or how stoned he was he had always been there for Will, even in both their hardest times. His mother, who was so overprotective he could barely breathe but in a good way. Steve and Max were both good people, and he had a deep respect for them. Robin was there for him in something that no one else was. In accepting himself and realizing that maybe, just maybe he wasn’t the problem. Robin had friends, she had a radio station and a lover, and every time Will saw her, he thought that he could be like that too. That he wasn’t damned to die alone in some veiny forest. And Mike. Oh, Mike. Will had always been cool with Mike until lately. Mike was always the support he needed since he was in primary school. So why, why did it have to be him? As much as he loved him, seeing him with Eleven sent a fit of rage in him. Not at him nor at Eleven, but at himself. He was useless enough to ruin everyone’s life and useless enough to fall in love with his best friend and sister’s boyfriend. The Dungeon Master of their campaigns, the leader or the little group they had before everything happened. Before Hopper, Steve, Max, Eleven… Vecna. Even after everything that happened, just a look at Mike would make his entire day. A gaze into his eyes and for a moment he would forget everything that happened. For a moment he was just a normal boy in Hawkins, and not Vecna’s spy.
He was lucky he survived. That’s what he tried to tell himself every night and day after that nightmare ended. The other ones never stopped though. His dreams were vivid, lucid, like he was being transported to a movie, or another universe. When he closed his eyes to sleep, hell pulled him down.
Every time, for just a second, he’d think he was actually there, stuck with no way out and no one to talk to other than himself and the whispers of the forest. The upside down was wet, slimy and dirty. Everything Will’s house wasn’t. In his nightmares he’d wander around the endless forest as voices would remind him of every single thing he’s ever done wrong. And they never run out of things to say. He would walk until his feet ached, more exhausted than scared after a while.
Other times he was in Hawkins and believe it or not this was worse. The town was painted red, corpses everywhere, ones he recognized to be friends and family. He would run around screaming until his lungs ached, having no control over his body to stop. After a while he could only stay still, watching Demogorgons eat the remaining flesh that was staining the roads. He would then wake up to Hopper, Jonathan and his mother over the bed, asking him why he screaming.
In another nightmare, he would be at the Wheeler’s basement, playing DnD with the rest, and he knows that its not going to last, because the tingling sensation in his neck wont go away. He knows that after a while everyone except him and Mike will start coughing blood, fall to the floor and die as something starts to approach them, waiting for them to pass the closed door. Then Mike will turn at him and yell, that its his fault, always his fault. He’ll look at him with disgust, the same way those bullies do, the same way Lonnie did. And Will would wake up. He hated that dream.
It went hand it hand with the one where it was just him and Mike. They were on the swings once more, and Will, stupid as he was, would turn to Mike and tell him he loved him. That ever since they were kids, he was the one keeping him afloat, and that he was sorry. And after dream Will did what actual Will couldn’t, dream Mike would reply that he was disgusting. He would storm off and the next morning everyone hated him. His friends, his mother, Jonathan, and even Robin and Steve. They called him names and hit him, and when Will would wake up and Mike would greet him with a smile so bright it made Will want to grab his paints, and draw him all day, he would instead feel dread.
Sometimes he would be in places he didn't even know. A lab was the most common one. He had never been there before, he was sure of it. It gave him an eerie, almost uncanny vibe, so he was never eager to go further in than a few rooms. It was empty, even though everything seemed to be working properly. The deserted hallways were even more creepy, stretching out as far as his eyes could see, the smell of metal evident in the air. Each step echoed until he decided to give up exploring and sit in a corner somewhere, aware of everything in his surroundings.
Waking up would be gentler after visiting those unknown places.
It was a day before the next crawling when Will dreamt of the hospital again.
He had no desire to explore around. His day was long and hard, the hours blending with each other as Eleven and Hopper argued all day, his mother trying to calm things down, Jonathan locked up in his room blasting music. He tried to initiate a hangout with the rest, but a fight with Dustin had broken out, Lucas wanted to go see Max at the hospital and Mike said he would go home, visibly irritated the whole day for some reason.
Will sighed as he went and sat on the floor, his back facing the door, next to a wall with one of those old-fashioned games, if one could even call it that. He grabbed one of the red chips, reaching his hand up to push it in. It was clear that it was created for smaller children, meant for them to sit up and push the chips in.
His first chip landed at number 3. He put one in again and for unexplained reason it landed at 5. He frowned; how hard could it be to get one thing right? He reached his hand up again and watched the chip fall to number 3 once again. How could his aim be that bad? Was it some mysterious dream power mocking him. He sighed as he put one more in and it landed at 2. This was ridiculous. Maybe he should really go and find something useful here instead of sitting around. He groaned in frustration when he tried one more and it landed on 2 again.
“Which number are you trying for?”
A voice behind him said and Will swears his heart jumped out of his chest. The one time he feels comfortable enough not to sit facing the door, this happens. He jerked back, turning his head violently, as he pressed his back against the wall, expecting a monster to attack him, or one of his friends bloody and ready to die.
Instead, a man was standing there. Will could say that he was a perfectly normal man, but he would be lying. The person in front of him couldn’t be considered human, Will thought, because he looked as though he had stepped out of heaven’s gate.
His beauty was quiet, ethereal. Something that made you pause without knowing why. Pale blond hair fell softly around his face, catching the light, and his blue eyes were clear, the kind of blue that felt more like sky than color. There was a calm in his gaze, gentle and knowing, as if he carried peace with him wherever he stood.
He was dressed in white, only deepening the impression that he was otherworldly, less bound to the earth than everyone else. His presence felt angelic, as though he existed to remind the world of beauty, softness, and grace.
For a fleeting moment, all uneasiness and fear Will had receded, replaced by a calm so profound it felt like standing on the edge of the dream within the dream. He found himself unable to look away, inexplicably drawn to the gentle presence, as though this stranger’s appearance had quieted the monsters lurking at the corners of his mind, if only for an instant.
He did not know how much time had passed before the man spoke again with a slight tilt of his head. “Which number are you trying for?”
An impressive number of questions were swirling through Will’s mind as he blinked dumbfounded at the other man. ‘Who are you?’ ‘Do you understand where we’re at?’ ‘Are you part of my dream?’ ‘How are you so beautiful?’ ‘Why are you dressed in hospital clothes and how do you make them look so classy?’ “How does your hair stay so still?’ ‘Sorry for asking, but this is the part where the monsters usually eat someone, so where is the blood?’
“One.” He said instead.
The blond smiled fondly, and Will felt his heart clench, the same way it did with Mike. Mike was everything for him yes, but this man, even and if he didn’t know him, he could understand that he was the embodiment of beauty.
“Hm.” The man hummed before continuing. “It is the hardest to get. The first and last are blocked by the end on one side, and the chip usually goes right.” He said in a calm tone. “Would you mind me helping?”
“Uh…” Will mumbled, stuttering like the idiot he was. “Sure.” He settled in saying after a few embarrassing seconds of opening and closing his mouth.
To both his delight and fright, the man walked towards him, and Will moved away with his hands -oh god, why was he practically crawling- so that the blond could kneel and place a chip in. He followed it with his eyes as it settled in the number one. The blond smiled as he turned to look at Will. “It takes a steady hand.”
He got up slowly and finally Will realized that he looked stupid like that on the floor and followed suit, getting up.
“Um… Thank you.” He said and mentally slapped himself. He should find out what the hell is going on in his subconscious and get the hell out of this dream. “Who are you, exactly?” Will thought of strangling himself and enjoyed the thought a lot. Why was he being so awkward?
“My name is Henry.” The man replied kindly, and Will thought that this name wasn’t fitting at all. Henry was a name that a farmer would have, or a teacher. He should have a name like Castiel or Apollo or Alexander, or-
“What’s yours?” the man -Henry- asked, pulling Will out of his stupid internal rambling that he definitely shouldn’t have at a time like this.
“Will.” He replied, surprisingly without sounding like a complete idiot. He wasn’t good with people like Lucas or Steve, nor could he rock the i-don’t-care personality like Max or Hopper, and unlike Dustin he cared about what others thought of him.
“Beautiful name. It is very pleasant to meet you.” The man replied oh so kindly again, his hands folded.
Will knew that the man was simply a part of his dream, but for some reason he did not want to ask. Maybe if he did, the man would leave, and it had been a very, very long time since Will felt safe in his dreams, the tingling sensation from his neck completely gone. But that’s not how dreams worked, even ones as unstable and weird as his. If you see someone in a dream, it means you have seen them before in real life. And Will was sure he’d remember if he had ever seen someone like Henry before. He blinked a few times before speaking. “Have I met you before?”
Henry hummed again, looking around, seemingly in thought. “Like that? No. But I do know you. Asking for your name was simply a silly pleasantry.” His voice was like someone was stepping on clouds, soft and airy, but at the same time calm.
“Like that? We’re in a dream, right?”
“Yes.” he replied said with a honey coated smile, pacing softly around.
“Are you… Are you also dreaming? Do we share the same dream, or…” Will let himself trail off, waiting for Henry to reply to him.
“How about we go for a walk, Will?” Henry replied instead and Will nodded, partially because he wanted answers, and partially because the thought of saying no to Henry seemed unreachable, not with how prettily he was looking at him. “I am not dreaming exactly” The older man started saying as he held the door open for Will to pass through and then walked beside him down the hallways. “Although you could call it that. I will be there when you want me to be, serving let’s say, as a companion. Would you like that, Will?”
Said Will was looking at the man dumbfounded. The blond was walking slowly, like he was in a forest or a museum, his eyes locked on Will. “A companion? In my dreams?”
“Not all of them. As long as I am in this hospital, I will help you to my best abilities to do whatever you want to.”
“Whatever I want to?”
“Yes.” The man said with an even warmer smile, something that Will thought was not possible. “Have you noticed, Will, that the hallway in front of us has no end?” he said and Will ripped his eyes away from the man to look in front of him. The hallway did seem to be dragging on infinitely, the patterns on the walls repeating themselves over and over. “Now think that you want to stop walking. That you want to go back to the room we were before.”
The image of that thought passed his mind, and as he visualized it in front of him, the next time he blinked it happened. He was sitting on the floor of the main room he was in before, sitting cross legged at the floor, with Henry facing him, their knees almost touching.
“See?” Henry asked as Will gawked, looking around him. “All humans can control their dreams, one way or another. I’m here to give you a little push.” He said with an almost giddy smile. Will hesitated, trying to comprehend what having such freedom meant. He glanced at Henry, searching his face for any hint of insincerity, but found none.
“So now I can… Do that? Go wherever I want? Control what I see?”
“Yes.” he mumbled with a nod. “You could even split the room in half. As long as I stay in this part, I can help you do whatever you want. Maybe we’ll get to know each other better too.”
Will felt his heart flatter at the last words but he paid it no mind. “You can’t leave the facility?” he asked.
“I can,” Henry replied. “I would just wish not to”
Will nodded simply before asking. “What happens when I leave? When I wake up.”
Henry let out a soft laugh, like Will had said a joke, one worth laughing so beautifully for. “But of course I will wait for you. I do all this for you anyway.” Henry’s words hung in the air, gentle, as Will tried to process the sincerity behind them. It was a strange kind of comfort, knowing someone was anchored to this peculiar place just for him. That someone was waiting for him. That someone chose to do something for him. Will found himself grateful, an unfamiliar emotion blooming in his chest amid the uncertainty. The silence between them settled softly, before Will finally spoke again, his voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you. I think I’d like to ask some things, if that’s all right.”
“Everything you choose to do is alright for me, Will” Henry replied, soft-spoken as always. Will studied his face, searching for the faintest flicker of judgment or impatience, but all he saw was unwavering kindness and patience. “But unfortunately for us, your friends have snuck inside your house and are planning to wake you in a few seconds. I really wish we could have more time together, but lets just consider this a first meeting, shall we?”
Even as Will opened his mouth to respond, the world around him began to fade, the edges of the room dissolved like mist. He caught one last look at Henry’s gentle expression before he became aware of distant voices and hurried footsteps echoing from beyond his dream. Someone was shaking him awake.
“Will, man. Lucas and Dustin are here!”
He recognized Mike’s voice as he whispered and Dustin hands as he woke up and rubbed his eyes with a yawn.
For the first time in years, Will was disappointed to have woken up in the middle of a dream.