Everything had changed the night of July 4th 1985.
Max Mayfield lost her douchebag stepbrother Billy Hargrove. Eleven had lost her adoptive father aka Chief Hopper. The Byers family and Eleven had to move away to California.
And Ian lost his sister, just as they were starting fresh and on good-ish terms. Even if deep down he had hated Alexandra, he couldn't help but feel empty. He wanted a big sister in his life, it was what he had always dreamed of, to live like a somewhat normal family. Just as they began to rekindle, it ended with ill fate.
That chance, that hope of a normal relationship with his sister stolen away from him that night.
He slowly detached from everyone like Max had. First it was the Wheelers, then his own friends. The only person left was Mike, but the most words he even heard from Ian in a day was small responses to questions.
Ian Forbes within the span of eight months had become reserved, and quiet unlike his normal fun, and sort of loud self. He was just.. there. He spent his days with his Walkman at his hip, listening to The Cranberries. Most of the time it was Dissapointment or Zombie that would be replayed over and over again as he roamed the halls and didn't pay attention in class.
Like Max, Ian was forced to talk to the school counselor, Ms. Kelley. It was hard to open up about trauma when he couldn't actually talk about what happened, it was stuff about monsters and superheroes. People would think he was insane. He normally stayed quiet, he'd answer a few questions but start to zone out from thinking about watching his sister die in front of him.
As of March 21st, 1986, he decided he would open up a bit about his health recently to Ms. Kelley.
"I've been having.. nightmares, and nosebleeds, and like.. headaches" Ian quietly speaks, fidgeting with his fingers.
He wore a long sleeved black shirt under a Metallica t-shirt, paired with baggy, light blue jeans and black Converse. His headphones rested around his neck, his Walkman paused while he talked to the kind student counselor sitting across from him.
Ms.Kelley writes some notes on a piece of lined paper that she kept in a tabbed folder for Ian in her drawer, noting off the symtoms.
"What are these nightmares about, Ian?" Ms. Kelley asks
"Alex." Ian pauses as he exhales, "The night of the fire, her.. dying"
Ms. Kelley frowns, writing it down with her red pen.
"Do you want to go into detail about these nightmares?"
"Uhm.. not really"
Ms. Kelley nods, moving forward with the conversation. "What about the nosebleeds and headaches?"
"I don't know. They just kinda.. happen randomly, I guess." Ian shrugs
"Have you been talking to any of your friends?"
Ian just shrugs, still looking down near the floor. Ms. Kelley sighs, scratching coming from the pen to the paper as she wrote quickly. Ms. Kelley slides the yellow folder back in the drawer, dismissing Ian as their twenty minutes was up and she was next seeing Max.
Leaving the counselors office, he's greeted by Mike, smiling and giving him a small wave.
"Hey, uhm. You wanna join Hellfire tonight? Lucas has that basketball game and we need a sub" Mike asks, glancing down at the floor.
Ian just shrugs, looking down at the floor as he pulls his headphones over his ears, clicking the play button on his casette player. The intro to Ridiculous Thoughts rings in his ears. He walks away from the raven haired boy, leaving him to sigh and watch as he walks away.
<•>
Later that night, after Hellfire and after dinner, Mike returned home, seeing Ian laying on the top bunk of his bed, his sheets now a dark blue in comparison to the yellow they were last summer. Ian sat with his back to Mike, staring at the wall as his headphones were on his ears, playing music. Mike could clearly tell he was crying from his breathing, but stayed quiet, knowing the curly haired brunette would just ignore him.
Mike sighs, stripping from his Hellfire Club t-shirt and jeans, throwing the attire in the laundry basket. He turns to the dresser, opening one of the drawers and grabs a blue pajama set, clothing himself. The tan carpet makes a small sound under his feet as he walks around the room, making sure his luggage was packed for the morning and his backpack was hung on the wall.
Mike walks back to the ladder attached the the bunk bed, grabbing the black backpack that sat next to it, hanging it along the wall next to his. The raven haired boy kneels down next to his bags, making sure he packed enough clothes and hygiene products like his hairbrush and toothpaste.
Mike, now looking back up at the bunk bed that heald Ian two feet from the ceiling, sees Ian wasn't awake anymore, he'd fallen asleep crying. He was still in his school attire, shoes and all as he was to tired to take them off in the first place. Mike walks into Nancy's bedroom as she closes up a binder, stuffing it into her bag.
"How long has Ian been in bed?" Mike asks
"I dunno. He never came down for dinner" Nancy shrugs, responding to her younger brother, she didn't show much thought for Ian as this was his new normal.
Mike shrugs, walking back across the hall to his room, closing the door. He climbs up the first few steps of the ladder, making sure Ian was okay and wasn't actually dead. The raven haired boy turns his orange lava lamp on, letting it illuminate the room after he turned the light off. The boy digs through his backpack for a moment, grabbing a sticky note and a pencil, knowing Ian wouldn't be up to say goodbye in the morning and not wanting to leave him worried.
'Hey Ian :)
Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay? Dustin was talking about hanging out with Steve and Robin so maybe you can join them over break? Just please stay safe, and I'll call when I can.
Mike'
Mike stuck the note onto the bedroom door, leaving it so Ian would find it in the morning.
Mike lays down in bed, covering himself with his blankets as he drifts off to sleep, excited to see Eleven and Will again. Meanwhile, he also felt bad he'd be leaving Ian all break, but knew the boy would understand.
The worst that could've happened would've been Ian just starving himself to death, but Mike knew Ian didn't have the balls to actually hurt himself or starve himself long enough to get any sort of sick. He knew that his sad little boyfriend would end up hanging out with Lucas, Dustin or Max, considering he didn't like being alone all that much, it made his anxiety go wild. He liked hanging out with his friends, truly, he just didn't have the motivation to talk at all anymore, or function. Their presence was enough to make him the slightest bit happy.
"Night, Ian"
AN - I know the cranberries released most of their music post 1986, but just for the story were gonna pretend up to no need yo argue, they were released prior to s4 bc I really want Ian to love the cranberries like how Max loves Kate Bush. I feel like a lot of their songs kinda relate to him in a way and stuff so yeah lmao. ALSO HELLO YALL, I GUESS IM POSTING THIS BOOK AGAIN ACTUALLY LMAO. hope ur all doing well, have a great day/night!!
YOU ARE READING
𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐔𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 ; ᴹᶦᵏᵉ ᵂʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ
Fanfiction"ⁿᵒ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵏⁿᵉʷ ᴵ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ᶦᵗ, ⁿᵒ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵉᵛᵉʳ..." 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐈𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐬 Mike Wheeler x Male OC Stranger Things...
