beloved

[i] unus;

the beginning of june, 1988. it's a calm morning in hawkins. the sun shines across the small town and wakes the birds, whose sweet song drifts into the room of a sleeping william byers through his open window. the harmonious sounds cause him to wake from his slumber and flutter his eyes open, revealing his ocean eyes.

he groggily sits up in his bed, trying to shake his lethargy before he can get up.

it's the last day of school, he suddenly remembers.

this thought causes will great excitement. he practically throws himself out of bed after that.
he quickly gathers his things from around the room and rushes off to the bathroom. there, he brushes his teeth and washes his face, gets dressed into his cleaned and ironed school uniform, does his hair, and leaves.

it would usually take will longer to get ready but the adrenaline caused his actions to be quite rushed, therefore, it only took him half the amount of time it would usually take him to get ready this morning.

"morning, will!" his brother, jonathan, calls when he sees his younger brother walk into the kitchen.

"good morning!" will replies with a smile as he goes to sit down at the table.

"morning, hun," his mother, joyce, says as she kisses the top of will's head then goes to sit next to him, "you ready for your last day of seventh grade?"

"yep!" will replies cheerfully.

"oh, i can't believe my baby's going to be an eighth grader soon," joyce coos as she lovingly strokes will's head, messing up his hair a bit in the process.

"mom!" will groans and begins fixing his hair.

jonathan silently laughs in the background and continues watching the amusing scene while finishing up breakfast.

"i'm sorry it's just that you're growing up so fast, both of you!" joyce exclaims while gazing at her boys lovingly, although they both just look at her amusingly. she is snapped out of her emotional state when she looks at her watch. "well, i have to get to work," she gets up and goes to kiss both her boys on the cheek, "make sure you both get to school on time!" she reminds jonathan.

"don't worry, we will," jonathan reassures his mom while she rushes around the room, grabbing her things before she leaves.

"okay, i'll see you boys later. i love you!" she calls as she opens the front door.

"love you too!" the brothers reply before their mother closes the door and leaves.

____

jonathan and will are now in the car on their way to school. a catchy rock song plays on the radio while will nods his head to the beat and his older brother taps his fingers on the steering wheel to follow the guitar riff. they both stay quiet for the few minutes of the car ride that's left before they pull into the parking lot of will's school.

"well, we're here," jonathan says as he pulls up to the front of the school where all the kids get dropped off, "have a good day. i'll come get you later."

"okay," will replies bluntly as he exits the car. before he closes the car door he looks at his brother one last time, "bye jonathan!"