Chapter Text
Christmas for Will Byers was a strange but frightening experience.
After coming home from the place he now knew as "the Upside Down", he had seen how it tore a part his mother and how she put lights all over the house in a crazed attempt to contact him.
The lights were taken down a day or two after he had come home, but the image of it still stuck in his head of how frantic and desperate it all looked. He wasn't going to lie, when Joyce brought out the large box of lights and Christmas decorations he felt a knot in his throat. She even joked about how "they'd never have to worry about getting new lights for the tree again". He tried to smile at that, but it was obvious that it didn't seem like a very amused smile as he caught Jonathan and his mom sharing worried glances.
Jonathan took Will out in his car to pick a Christmas tree like every year. Will would usually get excited, run from tree to tree. But this year his heart wasn't in it. Jonathan walked next to him slowly, darting his concerned eyes over him now and then. He had asked him if there was any ones he liked. Will had shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes to the floor as he walked. He could practically feel Jonathan's dissapointment, clearly he only wanted his little brother back. He felt guilty then. He felt guilty when his brother insisted on buying the most beautiful tree, although he knew they couldn't afford to.
Ever since Will had come home, he felt guilty about a lot of things. He felt guilty when his mom struggled to pay for his therapy sessions or his hospital bills after he returned home. He felt guilty when Mike spoke so fondly of this girl called Eleven, and then suddenly he would remember that she was gone and his happy face would drop into the most heart shattering look and he would go silent. He felt guilty when he heard Jonathan complain about his gas bill for his car when Joyce would insist that he was to be picked up from the Wheelers' and that he wasn't allowed to cycle home. Or he felt guilty about those nights that Jonathan couldn't drive him home and Dustin would have to walk the whole way home with him, saying as riding his bike gave him awful anxiety. Dustin would come into school the next day saying how his mom had shouted at him for getting home so late.
Will constantly felt guilty over these things that everyone was doing for him so he made a silent vow to himself that he would need to return the favour on Christmas day. Being a kid, he didn't exactly have any money. And it wasn't as if he felt okay about asking for money off his mom for Christmas presents after everything she had done for him.
He originally thought of drawing pictures for everyone, but anytime he tried to draw something his heart wasn't in it. It didn't exactly help that whenever he did draw, his calm and loving drawing somehow turned into something terrifying from that...place. He couldn't escape it no matter how hard he tried.
Defeated, he collapsed onto his bed. It was Saturday night and he was supposed to be at the Wheelers' for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Mike had been planning for "three weeks this time. Not two. So it would be even better."
Will hated playing now. He only did it to keep his friends happy. God, he felt guilty because he wasn't there with them. Christmas was in two days, or as Dustin called it, "Christmas Eve's Eve." He still hadn't gotten any presents for his friends. He knew that they would all get him a present and he wouldn't be able to give back. Then he would feel guilty all over again, like a gross cycle.
He wasn't looking forward to seeing Mike's face again. He would look so dissapointed and let down. He would say something like, "Why didn't you come over on Saturday? I missed not having you there." God, Will felt guilty even thinking about it.
He turned over onto his belly and buried his head into the pillow. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. He felt so lost. There was so much emotion he was holding in but he couldn't let it out no matter how hard he tried.
Erupting Will from his thoughts, he heard a knock at the door. He muttered a "come in." It was Jonathan.
Jonathan sat down on the bed as Will moved next to him, taking his head off the pillow and sitting upright. "You're not at the Wheelers' old place tonight, huh?"
Will noticed that Jonathan had pine needles all over him from bringing in the tree. "No." Will said in a quiet voice, a hushed whisper.
"I thought you would of been excited to go out. You know, socializing will be good for you." Jonathan gestured to his younger brother. He was really worried about him. Everyone was.
Will knew that Jonathan was only trying to help, but he also knew that socializing didn't help one bit. Talking to people made him feel like a burden because of how they would dance around sensitive topics and constantly look worried like they were going to say something that would upset him. "I'm alright. Just a bit tired today, that's all."
Jonathan sighed, rubbing his hands together slowly. "Look. I know that you haven't really been leaving the house so you can't exactly be expected to buy the boys presents but.." he glanced at his brother, "I have some old empty mixtapes that you can use. I'm working tonight so if you want time to yourself to make them, you can do it now. Just please talk to someone Will, if you can't talk to me."
Will looked up to his older brother, expecting to see worry or dissapoinment. But he only saw a motivating face, a silent "You've got this, kid."
He reached over and pulled Jonathan into a hug. "Thank you." he said gratefully.
"Don't mention it." Jonathan hugged him back for a second before standing up. "I've got to go. But the tapes are on my bed for you."
Will nodded as Jonathan left, closing the door carefully behind him. He felt a bit better now, leaving his room and crossing the hall to his brothers' room, opening the door slowly. Just as Jonathan had said, there were three mixtapes sitting on the bed.
Will sat in his big brothers room for a good two hours, picking out special tracks for each of his friends.
When he got to Mike's tape, he couldn't help but feel a lurch in his chest. Mike came from a well off family, and he always bought the best presents. Would he even care for Will's tape? Would he think it was stupid? He shook the thought from his head. He wasn't allowed to think like that now. This tape was the only option he had, two days before christmas. He always wanted to impress Mike, so he picked some of the most important songs to him. Including "Should I Stay or Should I Go." He hadn't listened to that song in such a long time but he felt that it would say a lot more if he was the only one out of the three kids that had that song on their tape.
Will breathed out after finishing all three tapes. He looked at them in his hands, he was sitting cross legged on Jonathan's bed.
They looked really boring and dull. Jonathan was always good with a felt tip pen, and he would always draw cool designs on his to make them look cool. Will's looked extremely dull and undermining of how much they meant.
He left Jonathan's room quietly, three mixtapes in his hand. Wandering into the living room, he noticed that his mom was on the sofa. She was asleep, clearly from working all night long. Her hair had fallen over her face and she was still in her clothes. He reached over and pulled the old blanket that sat upon the couch on her. She sighed contently in her sleep.
Will tiptoed into the kitchen, grabbing a cereal bar as dinner and ran back into his room. This isn't the first time he had went without dinner. Joyce always assuned that Will was at the Wheelers' on Saturdays and collapsed onto the sofa to catch up on a whole week of lost sleep. Will didn't mind. He was grateful to even have food, after all he had spent a full week in a place with none.
He opened the packet, taking a bite as he took out his old paints and a fine brush. He painted green designs on Lucas' tape. Red on Dustin's and blue on Mike's.
After he had finished, he sat them on an old piece of newspaper and let them dry. Just as he was sitting down the third tape he heard a knock behind him. Whirling around in terror, expecting to see a disgusting monster, instead he seen the kind face of Mike Wheeler who was knocking on his bedroom window.
Breathing out shakily, he rushed over to the window and with shaking hands he opened it slowly.
"How come you didn't come to mine earlier?" He whispered as a greeting. He didn't seem upset or angry like Will had expected. If Mike had cycled over, how late was it? Will turned around and peered at the clock on the wall. 11pm? Mike obviously sneeked out as everyone left his house at 10 usually.
Realising he hadn't answered, Will shook his head. "Oh. Sorry." scrambling his head for an answer but not wanting to lie, he said "I was working on everyone's Christmas presents. But they're done now."
Mike's eyes lit up. "You're making them? I can't wait." And with that all of Will's previous worries about it not being enough vanished.
Will smiled. "Y-yeah. It's not much though."
Mike shook his head. "Give yourself more credit." he said fondly, which caused Will to blush away. "Do you want to sneak out? I want to show you something I found the other day and it's not as nice looking in the daylight."
Will looked around his room. "I.. I don't know. If my mum sees that I'm not home she could get very stressed out."
Mike nodded. "Just leave a note on your bed. Say something like, 'I'm okay, just going outside for a breather. Will be home soon.' "
Will nodded, clearly satisfied with Mike's idea. He wrote out the note and left the house through the window, jumping out. He landed on his feet and staggered slightly, which caused Mike to instinctively put his arm around him.
Will felt guilty again then, that his friend was so protective of him. But when he looked up at the taller boy he noticed he was blushing, at least he thought he was in the cold blue moonlight.
"Hey I know you don't like riding your bike, but if you want you can ride on the back of mine. It'll be quicker." Will nodded hesitantly at this, wrapping his flannel around himself tighter. He clearly forgot to bring a coat.
Noticing this, Mike pulled off a hoodie from his handle bars. "I was wearing his earlier as well as my coat but I got too hot when I was cycling. You can borrow it for now."
Will gratefully took the hoodie and put it over his head. It was much too big for him. "I look ridiculous." he said, half laughing. The hoodie was nice and warm and fluffy on the inside. It smelled of Mike as well, which was a mixture of musk and pure vanilla.
"You look cute." Mike blurted out, before realising what he said and pretending to laugh, like it was a joke. Will chuckled with him, his stomach giving off weird butterflies.
Mike got onto his bike, Will getting on after him. He wasn't exactly sure where to put his hands so he carefully rested them on Mike's shoulders.
Mike started cycling off the grass that was the Byer's old yard and going downhill, avoiding Mirkwood as a silent acknowledgment. Will sighed gratefully.
Both boys said nothing. Will had no idea where they were going and began to worry. What if Mike really was mad at him for not turning up for the campaign that took three weeks and not two weeks to plan? What if he was going to take him somewhere and shout at him?
Mike turned a corner into a small clearing with two trees guarding the entrance. Getting off his bike, Will followed. If Mike was mad at him, there was no way of him getting out of it now.
Mike stopped, pulling back some brush and vines and letting Will step through. He couldn't help but gasp. There was a small grassy clearing with a tiny river flowing through it. Trees shielded them, but moonlight peered in through the branches and onto the river. It glistened a great shade of icy blue. Will watched as it sparkled and danced in the light.
He almost forgot that Mike was there until he heard him from behind him. "Do you like it?"
Will nodded, whirling around and smiling. Little did he know, Mike was a lot closer than he thought and he took a startled step backwards, almost landing into the small river. The taller boy caught him by the hand, pulling him back onto dry land, laughing. He didn't let go of Will's hand and Will didn't let go of Mike's.
The smaller boy looked down at their intertwined hands before looking up at Mike who wasn't looking away. Blushing slightly, Will leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Mike smiled, squeezing the other's hand, a shade of pink boiling in his face.
"So you like it?" Mike whispered.
"I love it." Will smiled, genuinely for the first time in weeks.