Silent Secrets ||A Byler Story||

Chapter nineteen

TRIGGER WARNING: SA/RAPE WILL BE MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER.

***

A few hours later there was a knock on the door.

Joyce sighed and opened it quietly. Jonathan was washing the dishes, trying to calm himself down. Mike was watching tv and Will was asleep on mikes shoulder.

"Uh hi." Joyce greets Hopper, he gives her a smile and greets her as well.

"You can come in, he's sleeping right now but I can wake him up." Joyce says as they walk back into the living room. Hopper takes his hat off his head as they approached Will. Mike looks at Will and shakes him lightly.

"Will wake up." He whispers.

"I don't want to." Will mutters. Mike smiles at him.

"I'll give you one of my comics." Mike offers. Will gets up immediately with a smile.

Until he sees Hopper. He grabs Mikes hand quickly and the smile was replaced with a frown.

"You better give me two comic books." Will mutters to him. Mike laughs with a nod.

"Kid I just have a couple of questions." Hopper says, kneeling in front of him. Will nods.

"Am i going to jail?" Will asks him. He shakes his head and Will let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"No. It was self defense." He says shortly.

"Oh." Was all Will could respond with.

"So why'd you do it?" Hopper asks him gently. Will holds back his tears, ignoring the burning pain in his eyes.

"He was going to rape me again." He says quietly. "I told him to stay away from me. I told him. He wouldn't listen." Will started crying again and Mike pulled him into a hug.

Hopper let's out a sigh and looks at Joyce, who was close to crying again. Jonathan had been listening from the kitchen.

Jonathan didn't know how to deal with any of this. He was mad, and upset and sad. He was also scared. He was mostly mad at himself. How could you let this happen? He thought to himself. You were supposed to protect him! He's been going through this the whole time and you haven't even noticed!

"Kid, Lonnie is dead. You don't have to worry about it anymore; alright?" Hopper comforts him. Will nods against Mike's chest.

"No one will know about it. It'll just be us." Hopper stands up and Joyce walks him back over to the door.

"I'll come back and talk to him in a few days. He doesn't seem stable enough for that right now." He explains. Joyce nods and the man leaves without another word.

It was now eight o'clock at night. Mike knew he had to go home but he didn't want to leave Will alone right now.

"Will, I have to go home." He says gently. Will pulls away from him and nods.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, alright? I can come here in the morning and we can go in together." Mike says, Will nods with a small smile.

"Just try and sleep tonight okay?" Mike stands up and runs his hand through Wills hair before leaving. Will was blushing as the door closed.

"I'm going to get ready for bed, I have work in the morning." Joyce says with a soft smile. She kissed the top of Wills head and walks off to her bedroom.

Jonathan took a deep breath as he finished the dishes. He walks out into the living room and sits down next to Will.

"Are you alright?" He asks, unsure of what to say. Will looks at him and nods quickly.

"Are you?" He asks quietly. Jonathan smiles with a nod.

"Sooo...you like Mike?" Jonathan asks with a smirk. Will looks away from him with a red face.

"I mean, yeah I like him. He's my friend!" Will defends himself.

"You know what I mean!" Jonathan laughs, "you guys would be so cute together!" He says supportively. Will looks back at him, half confused, half glad.

"Really? Even if he is a guy?" Will asks quietly. Jonathan smiled softly at him.

"As long as you're happy, I don't mind who your with." He says.

"I do like him." Will admits, "and he likes me. The only reason we aren't together was because of Lonnie I think."

"Well I hope you guys get together. Then you have to tell me everything." His older brother grins. Will nods quickly with a big smile.

It was the first conversation that the two brothers had that was actually fun. It wasn't about abuse or staying safe. It wasn't venting about how much they both wanted to die. It was just a fun conversation.

"Alright, you should probably get to bed." Jonathan says. Will nods and gets off the couch and walks into his bedroom.

Jonathan smiles after him and walks into his own room.

Will walks into his own room cautiously. It was still a mess from earlier. Will shivered and closed his window before crawling into bed. He didn't bother changing, he didn't see the point sense he was just wearing Mikes clothes.

He quickly fell asleep, the events of the past day swirling around in his head.

***

Word Count: 872
Date Published: 12/7/22