Stars | Stranger Things x The Goldfinch

Chapter 13 - The First Sleepover

Will's POV

*At Boris' House*

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Uh, yeah. Water, please."

"You don't have to use the manners with me William. I won't be offended."

"Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize William. You did nothing wrong."

I smile.

"Ok."

Boris grabs a water and a beer from the fridge and leads me to his bedroom.

"We should hang out here. Incase my father comes home."

He sets my bag down on his chair and sits on his bed, gesturing me to sit next to him, which I do.

Boris' bedroom is dark and simple, but not in a bad way. It's small, but comfortable.

His full-sized bed is pushed into the corner under the one window in the room. In front of the bed is a table with a small television on it. The rest of the room is relatively empty, except a shelf by the door, piled with books. On top of the books rests a record player and leaning on the shelf is an electric guitar. Above the shelf are many photographs.

"You play guitar?"

"Да, so does Iva."

"That's really cool!"

We sit in silence for a moment before Boris turns to me.

"So, who are you, William?"

"What?"

"Tell me about yourself."

"Um... My name is William Byers. I lived in Hawkins, Indiana my whole life until we moved here. I had a group of friends there, we called ourselves a 'party' because we used to play DnD together. We stopped last summer though, grew out of it I guess. I had a best friend named Mike, but we grew apart once I moved. He's dating my sister, El. You actually kind of look like Mike. Max is the only one of my friends I still keep in contact with. My parents divorced when I was young. It was for the best though, Lonnie's an asshole. My older brother Jonathan helped my mom raise me. Jonathan's dating a girl named Nancy. She's Mike's older sister. She's nice, and really smart. I was bullied a lot, but, it hasn't really happened since we moved. El's gotten a lot of it though. She was um... home schooled before this, so she isn't really used to social interaction or classroom learning. I want to help her, but I don't know how..."

I pause, taking a breath, I draw my eyes up from Boris' charcoal sheets to look at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to rant like that..."

Boris just smiled.

"Do not worry about it, William. I like to hear you talk." 

We share a smile before Boris continues.

"What is this 'DnD' you talk about?"

"It's a type of fantasy game you play with dice and a board."

"Tell me more."

I can't help the smile that spreads across my face at his request.

"You get a group of people and you all create your own character. There are different species you can pick for your character, there's a ton of different options for them. It's about storytelling. The group of players tell a story; guiding heroes through dangerous quests to search for treasure, battle deadly foes, and carrying out rescues. The game is only limited by your imagination."

Boris' smile only grew as I continue to explain the game to him. He asks questions, each one growing in complexity as his understanding of the game grows.

"Sounds like a very fun game."

I pause, the memories of playing DnD with the party flood my mind. I'm too caught up in the present to feel the pain those memories have brought in the last two years.

"It is."

We talked for hours. It was nice. I don't think I've had this long of a conversation with anyone before. The questions and answers felt natural. There was always an easy path to keep the conversation going; if the question was uncomfortable, a different one was asked.

It was effortless. It was natural. It was peaceful.

Eventually, we went to sleep way too late.

But it was nice to not regret it. It was nice to not regret anything.

I didn't even feel a little guilt about lying to my mom. I love my mom, but she's too scared, too overbearing. 

It's not her fault, and I don't blame her, but I needed this. I enjoyed myself. For multiple hours in a row, I was happy. No ulterior motives, no fake smiles, no thoughts of everything that's turned my life into a for of hell. Instead, an escape from the hell.

'I enjoyed myself.' 

'I was happy.' 

'An escape.'

'Myself.'

'Happy.'

'Escape.'

'Escape.'

Escape.

768 Words

A/N

First off, I want to apologize for the long break in posting. To be completely honest, I have no good excuse, I simply haven't sat down and forced myself to write.

Next thing, which is kind of related, I have a problem.

I love a good slow-burn book. While this book will have an eventual romantic relationship plotline, I'm trying to make the friendship growth realistic. I want Will's friendship with Boris and Ivanna to grow at a natural rate, but I'm struggling to write filler chapters.

I don't want to do constant time skips, so, I'm asking for help. If you have any ideas on chapter-plots for filler chapters, please comment them! Anything you want to see in this book, let me know! Beyond just needing help, I want to know what you guys want to see happen in this story.

As for Mike's sexuality: I think Mike could definitely be a closeted gay, however, it's my personal belief/headcanon that he has too much internalized homophobia to admit, realize, or acknowledge it anytime soon. So while I'm writing the story with the presumption Mike is straight, you can imagine him however you would like.

Thank you to @Whereismymind353 for commenting on Chapter 9 - Skipping with your headcanon! It really helped me make this decision, so thanks again!

Thank you all for reading this story and bearing with me though my terrible posting.

I will be starting school again in September, so posting might be just as unstable as always, but I hope not!

A huge thank you to everyone who has voted for this story, as well as everyone who has added to your reading lists!  

Thank you again for reading this chapter! Remember to vote and add Stars to your library!

I hope you're doing well! Feel free to vent in the comments! Make sure to take care of yourself! Go drink some water! You're so strong and I am so proud of you.

I love you!

Madi <333