𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂² || Will Byers x Male!Reader

━━ 𝐃𝐈𝐆 𝐃𝐔𝐆 - 𝐏𝟐 ━━

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

El opens her eyes, finding herself in the familiar dark and damp setting. In the distance, she sees a bed. The covers are hanging off the mattress and grazing the water only she can see. She walks forward towards the bed cautiously, unsure if the figure lying in it is awake. As she approaches the bed she can make out more details.

The comforter is dotted with leaves and vines, intricate and faded flora in various hues sprinkle the vines, and there at the head of the bed are a few embroidered pillows that look older and handed down. The figure on the mattress is lost in sleep, his limbs splayed out in many different directions. The figure is still dressed, clothes El has seen at least once before. The boy wearing them is hugging his pillow, a small frown etched on his face as he is troubled and tired.

El is in front of him now, just at his bedside and she can't help but take note of the drying circles on his pillow where the boy had been crying.

What could have happened? And would she be making it worse if she were to wake him and share with him what she had to share? El couldn't help but wonder.

But she also knew he would want to know. And she did miss her friend terribly. After all, they were from the same place and Y/n had every right to know about his own past as much as El did.

Not waiting any longer, she reached out and laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. Nothing happened and so she gently shook him. Much to her delight, Y/n moved slightly, which meant it was working. She shook again and only then did she allow herself to speak.

"Y/n? Y/n!"

His eyes fluttered open and he caught sight of El. He peered up at her through his lashes, a groggy and confused look on his face.

"El?"

She nodded, a weak smile flickering across her lips.

"What are you doing here? Am I dreaming?"

She shook her head no.

"No. But I am real."

"I-I don't understand."

"I found my Mama."

There was a significant beat of silence as Y/n fought the losing battle with his heavy eyelids and the disbelief attempting to coax him back to sleep. "Wait... what? Y-you're saying... you found your mom? That's great," Y/n mumbled. He could feel himself slipping back under, more and more convinced his dreaming mind had conjured his friend.

Yet something within him told him to keep fighting. To tread desperately against the waves of sleep and maintain conversation with the El he was somehow seeing before him. But something about the devastating events of the previous night had left him so tired and Y/n couldn't be sure what he was seeing or hearing was real.

"There's something else." said El.

Y/n applied all the strength he could muster to keep his eyes open, they felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. He hummed a 'what' in response, unprepared for the glint it summoned in his best friend's eye.