Chapter 1: The break in the routine
Chapter Text
It’s a cold winter day in Hawkins when Will Byers is once again overwhelmed with numerous questions asking if he’s okay or if he needs anything, he appreciates the party, his mom, and hopper’s concerns but sometimes he just wants to be treated as if the whole Vecna thing didn’t happen.
He wakes up looking dishevelled, hair sticking up in all the wrong places and just on cue Mrs Byers walks in already bombarding Will with questions to which Will groans about being fine and just needing to get ready for school.
Mrs Byers reluctantly leaves, finally leaving Will alone with his thoughts, he stared at the scars on his arm; something he had done to himself when the visions of Vecna went too far…too dark.
“Whatever” he mumbles to himself before getting up and taking a shower, he still remembers when showering would make the blood run down, he used to watch it go down the drain as if the thoughts of doing it again would follow suit.
Once he finally emerged from the bathroom he immediately put on his clothes: a choker, high black converse, a loose shirt with lace sleeves underneath, and black flared pants.
Along with his makeup, adding smooth lining with his eyeshadow and a deep red lipstick complimenting his pale foundation.
Once he was ready he hugged his mom goodbye along with el/Jane
“Bye I might come home late so you don’t need to wait up for me” Will said, firm with no room for argument as he left, taking the bus to school; he felt the odd stares and heard his name within whispers but this time he didn’t care. This was the first time he finally gained control in his life.
This eventually became routine at home: wake up, get pestered(whether by his mom, Hopper, or the party), make them leave and then get ready for school. Sometimes Will wouldn’t put makeup on but for the most part he would.
He also has a routine at school, it’s always the same:
Talk with Jason for a bit, get to class, be pestered by Mike, eat lunch, gossip with Max and Chrissy, repeat.
Recently though he’d stay behind in the art room, occasionally with Max and Chrissy, just painting until Jason is done with practice since he’d promised to drive him home after practice.
This routine broke when a certain basketball player caught his eye; tanned skin, sharp jawline, perfect hair, and confidence louder than his personality: Chance Lawson.
God Jason would kill Chance if he knew that Will liked him, he’s been pretty protective ever since he found out what happened with Mike and his whole “I’m not gay” persona, Jason despised Mike for that, he once shoved Mike in a locker earning 2 days of silence from Will, he never apologized though, to him Mike had it coming from the day he hurt Will.
Will is now in the art room when the door opens
“Will get your bag I’ll drop you off before we go to a party” - Jason
“If Chrissy doesn’t kill you then I definitely Will” he laughs, still looking at the canvas, still painting and most likely testing Jason’s patience
Suddenly a stifled chuckle makes Will come to a halt, freezing every limb in his body…it was Chance, Will suddenly packed up quickly and got his bag
“Let’s go?”
Will walked quietly beside Jason as he and Chance talked about whatever, Will kept trying to hide the redness of his ears. Even Chance’s voice was beautiful, it made Will want to crawl in a hole and hide there forever.
Once they dropped Will off he immediately ran to his room and jumped onto his bed and kept thinking about the way Chance smiled at him at he got off the car
“I need help” Will groans
He gets up, takes a shower, and goes to bed.
Chapter Text
Ch.2
Will wakes up disoriented as he looks around…this isn’t his room, could this perhaps be a dream? He starts walking around trying to find someone in what looks to be an abandoned house with the atmosphere being too similar to the upside-down
“Mom? Hopper? Max?” He calls out only to hear his words echo back, chills run up his spine as the air suddenly turns concerningly cold. Will starts hearing voices around him repeating “he likes it cold”
“St- stop it…” he mutters, now shivering
He keeps walking until his legs gave up ending up in a dim room only lit with a flickering light above
“Will” he keeps hearing his name, he feels like he’s going crazy until something wraps around his neck
“Don’t struggle” a deep ominous voice says to him as whatever was wrapped around his neck starts to tighten further
He starts clawing at it in the hopes of escaping yet to no avail, it eventually tightens enough to the point where he can’t speak anymore
“P- ple…” he starts clawing at his own skin, trying to wake up from whatever nightmare he’s in
“You can’t escape me Will” the voice grew closer until finally a voice jolts him awake
“Will are you okay?!”
“Jesus just— I don’t know fuck breathe okay?”
Max was panicking, trying to get Will to calm down
“Max…” Will starts sobbing as he pulled her into a tight hug, tears fell onto Max’s shoulder soaking her shirt
After a while of Max trying to calm Will down she manages to get him to shower.
The moment the cold water hits him the thoughts come back, he stares at a nearby razor blade as he fought every urge to use it
“Please…please” he covers his face, trying to get through one shower without cutting himself
Unfortunately, he failed, whimpering as he dragged the blade across his thigh, tears fell once again
“Pathetic” his mind repeated as he made the second cut
“Will hurry up please?” Max said softly, pulling Will out of whatever trance he was in and stopped him from making the third cut.
Will stepped out after bandaging his wounds, Max noticed the leftover blood pooling around the shower drain but she ignored it for now, she carefully helped Will put on his clothes and put some light makeup on him
“You ready to go?” Max’s voice tried to remain calm for Will but it broke into something softer than she wanted it
Will nodded and Max held his hand all the way until school, she didn’t care what it looked like to the other students, she only cared about Will in that moment. They arrived to school and Chrissy immediately sensed that something was wrong
“It’ll be alright” she whispered as she hugged Will.
The rest of the day they acted like nothing happened, exactly what Will needed right now. He hated being treated as if he were some fragile doll, he knew he wasn’t, he didn’t fight through everything just to be treated as if he were weak. Only a handful of people understood that and he was most grateful for Max and Chrissy.
On schedule he hung around in the art room with the two waiting for Jason, they simply scrolled on their phones; too exhausted to speak of whatever gossip they’d learned that day.
And right on cue Jason walked in with Chance
“Mayfield, Sinclair is waiting for you in the parking lot” - Jason
Chance caught Will’s gaze
“Oh uh we’re going to a party if you guys wanna come with” Chance smiled at Will
Will felt his nape heat up as he looked at Max
“I’d like to see how the Will Byers likes to party” Chance teased eliciting a glare from Jason
“There are way too many creeps for Will to be in that party” Jason argued but was met with complaints from the three, all wanting to go to the party
Jason smacked the back of Chance’s head before setting down rules for Will: Don’t get too drunk, don’t fuck someone you don’t know, have someone u know beside you at all times, etc.
“Hey uh Will’s riding with me” Chance said to Jason as he took Will’s bag intending to carry it for him
Jason’s brow shot up now looking at Will for confirmation
“What? Sure I guess? Yeah” Will said, confused as Chance suddenly made the decision without talking to him about it.
The first few minutes of the ride was pretty awkward until Will finally spoke
“Making decisions without my opinion?” Will joked
“Well you agreed either way that’s a win” Chance’s chuckle alone could make and destroy Will’s world and it definitely lifted his mood today.
They spent the rest of the ride asking each other about things and surprisingly enough Will learned that Chance was an insane movie nerd though he wasn’t too fond of horror movies unlike Will. They even exchanged numbers and social media handles which made Will’s mood lighten up further.
They arrive to the party with Chance having his arm around Will’s shoulder and Will hoping that Chance wouldn’t notice the blush growing on his face or his heartbeat racing.
Somehow Chrissy convinced Jason to leave the two alone so they could have some fun separately.
“Ever tried shots?” Chance said as he handed Will one
“Not really? I’ve tried beer though,” he took the shot and practically gagged after
“Burns don’t it?” Chance handed him a coke to use as a chaser
Will looked at the bottle of whatever alcohol he had been drinking and took it along with 2 shot glasses
“Follow me” he demanded
They ended up in the garden where they had a little picnic table and set down the alcohol
“Care to play a game?” Will asked and Chance nodded
The games mechanics basically work like for example Will asks Chance a question and Chance has an option to either answer truthfully or take a shot.
Will asked first
“Uhm…do you fancy anyone at the moment?”
“Fancy? How proper” Chance teased
They looked at each other for just a beat before Chance answered
“Yeah…yeah i do”
A flash of disappointment crossed Will’s face, quickly composing himself after
Chance’s turn to ask
“And you?”
“Yeah I guess? It’s pretty recent”
They continued, asking each other questions that changed topic every few shots, by the time they had reached the 5th topic Will was already drunk
“Shit Jason’s gonna kill me” Chance chuckled
Will stuttered for a second
“I’ll ta-…take care of you” before collapsing on the table
Notes:
Comments and reviews are much appreciated!!
Chapter Text
Chance took Will to his car and called Chrissy
“Hello?” Chrissy answered after the third ring
“Jason might kill me tonight” Chance said nervously
“Don’t tell me Will got drunk?! Why would you let that ha-“ Chrissy was cut off
“How the hell did you manage to ignore one of the few rules i gave you!” Jason was furious
“You’re not letting him go home in that state either let him sleep at yours or sober him up within 5 minutes”
Chance ended the call deciding to just let Will sleep at his house for now.
He looked at Will who was lightly snoring
“You just got me into big trouble” Chance groaned, luckily he wasn’t as drunk as Will so he was able to drive them to his house.
He picked Will up princess style and brought him to his room, laying him down on the bed before disappearing into the bathroom to take a shower
Once he came back he saw that Will was now laying on stomach taking up the entire bed in a starfish position. He took some makeup remover from his mom’s room and used it to take off whatever makeup Will hadn’t smudged on the pillow before finally going to bed.
The following morning Will woke up with his head pounding and nausea — the classic hangover.
“Fuck” Will groans suddenly realizing he’s not in his own bed
He looks over to the clock on the bedside table “7 a.m.”
“Shouldn’t have partied on a school night” he regrettably thinks. He hears a groan beside him
“Sleep more goth boy” Chance said as he tries shielding his eyes from the sunlight filling the room.
Will’s eyes widen at the sight of a shirtless Chance beside him “what kind of dream is this” he mumbles
“Not a dream, Jason wants to kill me” Chance’s voice is deep due to just waking up
Will heats up, suddenly forgetting about his hangover
“Oh my god, I- I’m so sorry did you have to carry me up? Im sorry how- what even happened was I blackout drunk” Will kept rambling before Chance put his hand up to Will’s mouth
“Shut up let me sleep more before school” - Chance
“You need to bring me home right now I dont have clothes for school!” Will urges Chance and even shakes him
“Just borrow some of my clothes you’ll be fine” Chance gives up on sleep and goes downstairs with Will following behind
“Goodmorning mama, papa” he greets
“Uhm hi Mrs Lawson, Mr. Lawson” Will shyly said, immediately using Chance to cover himself
Chance’s parents merely spared Will a glance before asking
“Your boyfriend?”
The two blushed instantly before Chance accidentally let what seemed to be a tagalog swear word slip out, earning dish duty for the whole week.
After showering Chance lets Will borrow a metallica shirt and a pair loose black denim pants
“That’s the closest you’ll get to your style using my clothes” Chance says before putting his letterman jacket on Will
“I think the jacket brought the accuracy down, Chance”
“it’s cold so just bear with it for one day.”
The moment they walk into school they already feel about a hundred pair of eyes staring at them accompanied by whispers
“I told you this brought the accuracy down” Will joked
Before Chance could laugh Jason suddenly appeared in front of them
“did the bastard do anything to you?” Jason moved Will’s face searching for hickeys Chance may have made
“N-no he just let me sleep in his house, don’t worry” Will flashed a soft smile, assuring Jason that nothing happened
“The jacket?” Jason’s brow shot up, now glaring at Chance
Chance audibly gulped before explaining that he only let Will borrow his jacket because it was cold outside which didn’t soften Jason’s glare but it made him back off for now
“I’m watching you Lawson.”
They dispersed into their own classes but at lunch practically all hell broke loose.
“A JOCKS JACKET?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME WILL?!” Dustin exclaimed
“You realize they’re just messing with you right? Especially that mouth breather” Mike said as his voice was laced with disgust and judgement
Lucas stayed quiet as to not enrage his friends and not to put disrespect on the team as well
Whereas the girls were the exact opposite — they were supportive and even asking for details especially Jane.
“Is he your boyfriend? I won’t tell anyone please?” she pleaded with Will
Will dismissed every accusation and question, simply stating that Chance only let him borrow the jacket because it was cold out. The group still argued over each other, with Mike even trying to tear the jacket off of Will unfortunately for him though Will slapped his hand away
“Mike stop it, he was being nice!” He glared at Mike — the same glare that he learned from Jason except his was less threatening than Jasons
Mike grimaced at the mention of a jock being “nice” and sat opposite of Dustin, complaining about Will rather loudly, practically expressing his disgust to the entire cafeteria.
Max held Will’s hand under the table, whispering that it’ll be alright and to just ignore Mike and Dustin for now earning a genuine smile from Will — a smile she hadn’t seen in weeks
“Oh! Me and Lucas are going to the arcade later, wanna come with?”
“Sure but I have to tell Jason first” Will leaned his head on Max’s shoulder
“No makeup today, I like it” Max joked
“Don’t even” Will rolled his eyes.
The rest of the day went on with Will avoiding Mike and Dustin, “just until they calm down” he repeated to himself.
This time instead of staying behind in the art room he sat at the bleachers watching the team practice along with Max and Chrissy since El went home with Dustin
Will was drawing the team playing basketball in his sketchbook while Max and Chrissy talked about whatever plans they had for the weekend which so happened to be valentines day.
Chrissy excitedly talked about Jasons plans to take her on a romantic date while Max talked about probably just watching a movie with Lucas, something simple — something she likes.
“And you? You can tag along if you want, Will” Chrissy said
“I’ll probably go somewhere or just stay home, no need to worry about me” he replied before finishing his drawing.
Just then Chance sat beside Will, hiding behind the reason of “taking a quick break”
“You should’ve drawn me instead of the whole team” Chance joked
Chance asked if he had any plans before going home and Will explained that he’d be at the arcade with Max and Lucas, Will could practically feel the knowing smiles that Max and Chrissy were giving each other
“Oh cool can i come?” Will looked at Max and both agreed to Chance tagging along, this time it was Chance who felt a particular glare coming from the court but ignored it despite his leg shaking from nervousness.
Once practice was finished Will immediately told Jason about their plans, conveniently leaving out the part where Chance was gonna come with. One that was finished Chance immediately took Will’s bag and told him to just ride in his car to “give Max and Lucas some alone time”
During the car ride Will apologized for the other night and for making Chance carry him into the house saying that he should’ve just answered the questions instead of drinking half the game away
“No need to apologize, i should’ve stopped you” Chance chuckled
Will took off the jacket he’d been wearing the entire day and tried handing it to Chance
“Just give it back tomorrow” Chance insisted
“Tomorrow is Saturday, Chance, Valentines day to be more specific. You probably want to wear it for whatever date you have planned” Will hid the disappointment in his voice rather well
“Nope, no dates planned but I was wondering if you’d maybe wanna go somewhere tomorrow? It’s boring being alone at home with my sister” Chance’s voice cracked for a split second before it returned neutral
Will agreed saying that it’s better than being at home, pestered by overly worried parents.
It seemed almost natural the way they talked about going somewhere alone on valentines day but Will is already wanting to be with Chance despite being with him right now.
They arrive at the arcade and Will immediately spots a huge tiger plushie, his eyes lit up and immediately asked an employee what he had to do for the tiger.
All he had to do was shoot three baskets in a row.
He failed immediately and after the 2nd set of balls he had failed to shoot Chance stepped up
“I think I should take over, yeah?” He patted Will on the back before perfectly shooting the balls into the small hoops, immediately winning the prize on the first try.
“Here take it” he handed Will the Tiger that was the size of his entire upper body
“Thanks” he flashed a wide smile, clearly happy about having the Tiger
He hugged the tiger as they looked for games to play, making Lucas or Chance hold the plush when he and Max wanted to play a game together.
When it was finally time to go home Will and Max held multiple prizes in their arms, faces full of joy and amusement.
Chance held the prizes for Will as they walked to the car, leaving said prizes in the back seat so that Will wasn’t crowded in the passenger seat.
Once they arrived at the Byers house Will thanked him once again for the tiger.
Safe to say perhaps both of them went to bed happy — perhaps with a similar reason.
Notes:
Comments and reviews are much appreciated!!