16 and in love ; w. byers

16 and in love ; 1 - 5

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sixteen is the age you're meant to start knowing yourself by, when you're supposed to be confident in yourself and your style, but the only thing will byers was confident in was the fact that he was gay. everything else about him felt like an amalgamation of what his mom wanted and what his friends wanted. he had to learn to like things because he liked them and not because he was meant to.

so, on december 22, 1987, will byers decided that he liked nathan burns. he liked smoking and drinking, he liked rock music, he wanted long hair, he wanted to learn an instrument, and he definitely wanted a boyfriend.

he let out a content sigh as he stared at his bedroom ceiling, before a craving for the buzz hit him. he wanted a cigarette, but this was the first time he had been home since he started smoking.

he weighed his options, but it was late, and his mom was definitely asleep, so he climbed out of his bed and crept his way into her room. next to her in the bed laid chief jim hopper. it took all of his willpower not to gag, but he managed as he quickly stole a cigarette from her pack on the nightstand and quickly lit it while standing in the room, before putting the lighter back in the pack.

he quickly made his way to his room, opening his window and leaning out of it as he smoked. "will, are you awake?" crackled from his walkie talkie on his bedside table. he grabbed it and held the button. "yeah i am." he responded before letting go of the button. "i know you just left today but i kinda miss having my smoking buddy." nathan told him softly.

truthfully, nathan had tossed and turned in his bed for two hours, before smoking half of his pack of cigarettes trying to calm down. he hadn't managed to get rid of his shaking hands and the thoughts of will. "hey could you get me a pack at some point? i don't wanna keep stealing from my mom." will asked softly, letting out the smoke into the cold december air. "yeah, it'll be an early christmas present. want me to drop by yours?" nathan asked, hearing a soft "mhm." from will.

"would your mom mind if i came around for christmas eve? my mom's got a shift." he asked, his head leaned against the wall of his house as he let out a cloud of smoke. "of course, you're practically family at this point." will quietly laughed, shaking his head. he could hardly believe this was a question, due to how many christmases nathan had spent with the byers.

"thanks, i'll see you in the morning, yeah?" nathan asked, his staticky voice still warming will's heart. "absolutely, yeah. goodnight, nate." will responded, hearing a quiet "over and out." before slamming the antenna down.

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"nathan! what a pleasant surprise! come on in." joyce greeted as she let him in. "morning joyce, is will up yet?" he asked as he stood in the entryway. "no, but feel free to help yourself to some breakfast or watch tv until he is." she told him, giving him a soft smile. she knew he was awkward around adults, especially women after everything his mom put him through.

"thanks ms b." he moved to sit on the sofa, his eyes trained on the television, which displayed the news. "rumors have it this satanic cult is still practicing-" he scowled as the man on the news began talking bad about hellfire. they were just a bunch of kids who played dungeons and dragons. he shook his head, trying to understand why people hated this roleplay game.

"we're famous, we're on tv." will laughed as he sat next to nathan. "yeah we are, aren't we?" he asked, slowly reaching into his pocket and sliding the pack of cigarettes to will, who quickly stuffed them into his own jacket pocket.

"hey mom! are you making peanut butter balls?" he asked as he stood up and started walking to the kitchen. "yeah, why?" nathan heard faintly as he finally wrapped his head around the hatred for the fantasy game. people hated what they didn't understand, feared it. so instead of trying to understand it, they instead demonized it.

"nate, are you listening?" he turned his head to see joyce not too far from him. "sorry, what's up?" he asked, blinking slowly. "did those tests come back?" she asked, and he was a little confused. "oh, my allergy one?" he asked for clarification, earning a nod. "yeah i'm allergic to nuts." he shrugged, looking away.

"so instead of peanut butter balls would you like me to just make chocolate balls for you?" she asked softly, a warm smile on her face. "that would be nice, thank you, ms b." he returned the smile before focusing on the television once more.

"i hate his mother." she whispered as she entered the kitchen, beginning to roll peanut butter into balls. "me too." will nodded, helping her with making the balls. "how can a mother treat her son so badly he's afraid to even look at me when i talk to him?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "mom he's always had trouble looking at people when he talks, he's autistic." he reminded her, not looking up from the task at hand. "yeah but he at least used to make a bit of eye contact, after that bitch did whatever she did he can't."

joyce had never been quiet about her want to adopt nathan, but will told her she couldn't because his mom was still in the picture. he had to out himself to her for her to finally understand why he was so against nathan becoming his brother.

they hadn't talked much about the whole gay thing since that conversation.

"i just think she deserves to go to hell." she declared softly, her shoulders slumped. "can i help ms b?" nathan asked as he entered the kitchen, starting to wash his hands. "of course, can you stuff the turkey? it's on the counter." she requested, earning a quick nod as he grabbed the garlic butter.

will couldn't help but feel so much joy as he, his mom, and his crush worked together to make the christmas meal, such a domestic activity but it made his heart warm.

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