One and Only (Byler)

The Grandfather Clock

Robin Buckley was pacing in Will's room, a disapproving look on her face. "You've gotten yourself into some deep shit, Byers. What did I tell you was the most important gay rule?" Will watched her stride from corner to corner, feeling quite miserable. "Don't fall for a straight boy," he murmured, and Robin nodded, looking stern.

The moment Will had gotten home from Mike's house, he had dialled another number, the number of the only person he knew could help him in the situation he was in, the number of the only person who he knew had been in the same position as him before. At first, he wasn't really expecting her to pick up, since it was already getting pretty late when he had gotten back, but she had answered the phone almost immediately.

After a short conversation - that consisted of Robin forcing out every detail of Will's infatuation with Mike - Robin vowed that he would hear back from her, and hung up. She showed up at the Byers residence at 4am, hyper and completely ready for the lecture she was about to carry out, while a half-awake, dimly confused Joyce let her enter the house. So here she was, getting stressed with Will.

She wasn't giving the best advice in the world, but at least she was trying to be helpful. Robin turned to Will, shaking her head at him.  "And what did you with your knowledge of this extremely important rule?"  Will crossed his arms indignantly.  "What about Eddie and Steve?"  he interrupted, attempting to make a point. Robin tapped her chin wisely, considering it.  "They were an unexpected case. Turns out not every golden boy is straight,"  she added, shrugging.

"The real point is," she continued, drawing to an end with her pacing, "is that I don't want you to end up like me, Byers. Falling for some straight person who couldn't care less about you," she mumbled, suddenly not as lively as she was before. Will's face fell, but he wasn't looking at Robin, he was looking behind her, behind his open bedroom door, and into the deserted hallway, where a large grandfather clock sat, ticking loudly.

Will didn't remember his family ever owning a grandfather clock. Ever.

♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎

Mike tilted his head towards the car window, faintly listening to the conversation going on next to him. On days like this, when the weather was too bad to walk to school in, Steve Harrington would reluctantly drop Mike, Lucas, and Max off in his new car - claiming that this was only because he already did the same for Dustin every day, and that he might as well not play favourites. Surprisingly enough, Eddie did end up graduating from Senior year, just like he said he would - but not before four long years.

I guess 86 really was his year.

Steve stopped his car in front of the high school, slamming his hand against the steering wheel to signify that he wanted everyone out. Mike hitched his bag onto his shoulder, exiting the vehicle, and watching as Dustin waved Steve goodbye, and everyone else pooled out onto the parking lot. He did a quick mental search for Will, watching out for Jonathan's car, but it wasn't there.

'Strange' was the first word that came to Mike's head, but he waved it off as Will waking up late. He was confident that he would show up, but in most of the lessons that day, Mike couldn't take his mind off Will's absence. At around lunchtime though, Will showed up, looking disheveled and paranoid, and he could've fainted with the relief of seeing him.

Will sat at the same table as the rest of the party, almost stumbling over his untied shoelaces - before Mike caught him. "Are you ok, Will? You look a bit-" Will scowled at him, getting to his feet. Lucas attempted to help him up, but he waved his hand away dismissively, wiping the blood away that had started to drip from his nose. "I'm fine, really, it's just a headache," he mumbled, and then staggered to out of the hall.

Mike stood up to go after Will, but El stopped him, shaking her head. "He'll be fine, Mike, he can take care of himself," she said, and he nodded, sitting next to her. El put her hand on his, smiling, but Dustin frowned. "Are you sure? He's been acting weird for this past couple of days, I think he might be-"
"-cursed? Don't make me laugh, Dustin, he probably is just sick," Lucas said, looking disbelieving, but Max appeared serious.

"But it looks like he's experiencing all the main symptoms, this isn't a joke, Lucas," she retorted, and Dustin gave a proud nod. Mike stayed in deep thought with El's head on his shoulder, his brain buzzing with theories. If Will really was under Vecna's curse - which was highly unlikely - how long had he been experiencing the 'symptoms?'

And how much time did he have left?

♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎

A/N: I just thought that everyone needed to see this masterpiece-