𝗙𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 ❦ | 𝗕𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗿

♥︎♥︎

THE BYERS were currently trying to make their house livable again in the meantime as they waited to establish a better, and more efficient plan of killing Vecna. Some small part of Will was glad he was back home, he didn't have to deal with the assholes back in California. Instead, he had to deal with assholes he was more familiar with, which he only slightly preferred. Also, though, being back home reminded him of how much immediate danger him of all people is put into because of his connection to the Upside Down.

The moment he arrived in Hawkins, he felt Vecna. He had a conversation with Mike about it, but he knew the burnt up demon wasn't dead, but just injured. He wasn't exactly sure about much else, besides the fact that he wasn't going to just give up and move on. That fact worried him, especially since he knew he would be a target of Vecna when they all least expected it. Will had too many secrets, tons of trauma, and a connection to the Upside Down; he was the obvious candidate.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he tried to distract himself from his thoughts and went out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. There at the table sat his brother, Jonathan, who looked deep in thought. Will was curious as to what had his brother so distracted that he didn't even notice him walking into the kitchen, but also didn't want to disturb him. After thinking for a moment, he ultimately decided to ask what was bothering him because if it was something he needed help with, Will wanted to be there for him.

"Hey," Will started, breaking Jonathan out of his thoughts. His brother widened his eyes before looking at him. "What are you thinking about?" He asked as he made his way over to the table, taking a seat next to Jonathan.

"Nothing in particular..." His eyes moved away from Will, looking at the wall. Will sighed, tapping his thigh before responding.

"Didn't we talk about being here for each other? You can tell me what's wrong, and I'll try my best to help." This brought Jonathan's attention back onto him. He put his head in his hands, and stayed silent for a moment.

"Well, it's just that," He started, making eye contact with his younger brother again. "I feel like things with me and Nancy haven't been too great, lately."

"How so?" Will asked, hoping to show that he was listening and wanted to help. Jonathan looked like he was contemplating what to say next, and Will let him have this moment to think.

"I think the whole move to California kind of strained things, you know? Us being so far apart for such a long time..." Jonathan began his explanation. Will nodded his head in understanding. He knew that feeling all too well because his friendship with Mike had already not been the best when he left, but all that time apart didn't help it whatsoever. Silence once again washed over the room before Jonathan spoke again, blurting out, "I've been lying to her about college." Will was taken aback, stunned for a moment.

"Wait, what? You lied to her?" He questioned, confusion very evident on his face. Jonathan sighed, the look on his face showing that he knows he's in deep shit.

"I keep telling her I haven't gotten my college letter yet, but I did. Like weeks ago..." Jonathan trailed off, his face filled with guilt. "It's just that... I want Nancy to follow her dreams, but I also want to follow mine. Instead of actually spending time thinking about this, I just pushed all of my problems away, and ignored them. Now, I can just see how tense things are between us."

Will sat, reflecting for a moment. "I don't know how much help I can be, but I think you need to talk to her about this. First, you need to admit that you've been lying and explain how you're feeling. Yeah, she might get upset, but that's better than continuing to lie to her." He advised. Jonathan silently nodded.

"Yeah, you're right," He exhaled before pursing his lips. "Thanks for listening. It's just been rough, keeping all of that to myself. Doing drugs certainly didn't help that either." He laughed slightly, making Will smile. He's glad his brother had calmed down a bit.

"Don't worry, I totally get it. Minus the drugs part, of course." Both of them shared a lighthearted laugh for a few minutes, just glad they could both have this conversation.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow, about everything." Jonathan said as he stood up from his chair, stretching a bit. He ruffled Will's hair before walking out of the kitchen and into his room, shutting the door behind him. Will groaned a bit as he attempted to fix his messed up hair, but it was to no avail since he didn't have a mirror.

      "Did he really have to do that to my hair...?" He mumbled to himself as he got out of his chair, heading to the bathroom, his feet moving against the floor slightly harsh, despite his steady pace not faltering. Once he got into the bathroom, he looked into the mirror in order to fix his hair. The thing that alarmed him, though, wasn't his messy bowl cut; instead, it was a small trail of blood coming from his nose.

      At first, he wasn't all too worried since nosebleeds aren't the most uncommon thing in the world. Once he thought about it though, he remembered that was one of the symptoms for Vecna's victims. He let out a shaky exhale, his heart rate picking up. Quickly, he cleaned himself up and exited the bathroom, panic washing over his whole body. He wasn't exactly sure of what to do. Did he tell everyone? He didn't want to alarm everyone if it really was nothing and was just a normal nosebleed. Did he keep it a secret? If it actually was Vecna, he didn't want to keep it to himself.

      "Why does this shit always have to happen to me?" Will said out loud once he had shut his door and sat down on his bed. Biting the skin off of his lips and running his fingers through his hair worriedly, he still hadn't come to a conclusion. This was definitely going to be a long night.