Worlds Turned Upside Down: Will Byers x Reader

Chapter One: Pilot

It's November 6th, 1983 in Hawkins, Indiana. The air is cool and the night is quiet. The lawn of a suburban house is being watered. The clicking of the sprinkler can barely be heard from the inside of the house. There are five children downstairs. Their minds are engulfed in Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy role playing game. The basement of the Wheeler's house is warm and comforting. The dangers of the world are locked out, nowhere in sight.
"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood," Mike Wheeler, a young boy with pale skin, a bowl cut, and dark hair says to his friends who are sitting around an old, wooden table with a board game spread out on the smooth surface. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness," Mike dramatically directs the game, "It is almost here."
"What is it?" Will Byers, a smaller boy with brown hair and a bowl cut, and (Y/N) (L/N) both ask simultaneously. "Jinx!" The two shout interlocking their pinkies. (Y/N) giggles and looks down sheepishly pulling her finger hesitantly away from Will's. Will looks away from (Y/N) and puts his hand on his face as if he's thinking which is an attempt to look casual while hiding the light blush on his cheeks.
"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin Henderson, a boy with brown, curly hair and Cleidocranial Dysplasia, asks the group. Hearing this, Will groans and leans back in his chair. "Oh Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon," Dustin says panicked and puts his hand to his forehead in dismay.
"It's not the Demogorgon!" Lucas Sinclair, a dark-skinned boy with short, black hair, responds with annoyance.
"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike slams down a game piece and Lucas throws up his arms then places them on his hips.
"Troglodytes?" Dustin sounds unimpressed.
"Told ya," Lucas arrogantly states grinning at his friend. The two boys laugh at Dustin's overreaction. Will and (Y/N) join in smiling, but Mike still has a serious expression on his face.
"Wait a minute," Mike softly whispers causing his friends to fall silent. Turning his head over his shoulder he asks, "Did you hear that?" He turns his head back to the table and looks at the group, "That...that sound?" Concern is now plastered over each one of the children's faces. "Boom..." Mike makes dramatic sound effects quietly, "Boom..." Everyone is captivated by his every word, "Boom!" Mike shouts slamming the table with his hands. Everyone jumps at the sudden motion. Will grabs (Y/N)'s hand instinctively. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that..." (Y/N) and Will look down at their connected hands and their cheeks glow red with embarrassment. The two jerk their hands away from one another and look down at their feet trying to collect their thoughts. "That came from something else," Will and (Y/N) bring their attention back to Mike while Dustin and Lucas exchange fearful looks. "The Demogorgan!" Mike slams down another game piece and everyone lets out a loud groan. There are muffled complaints, the children are in disbelief.
"We're in deep sh*t!" Dustin curses as Will slams his head against the table.
"Will, your action!" Mike yells across the table.
"I don't know!" Will whines. Panic is written across his face.
"Fireball him!" Lucas is losing his patience.
Will weighs his options, "I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!" Trying to roll a thirteen would be risky.
"Too risky," Dustin states, reading Will's mind, "Cast a protection spell."
"Don't be a p*ssy!" Lucas shouts impatiently at Will, "Fireball him!"
"Cast protection," Dustin demands. Will is looking back and forth between his bickering friends, he isn't sure which move to pick. If he casts protection he'll be safe from the Demogorgan, but his friends would be in danger. If he chooses fireball they'd all be saved but the chances of rolling a thirteen are slim and his time in the game could be put to an end. He turns and looks at (Y/N) wanting to know her input on the situation. (Y/N)'s eyebrows are furrowed and her mouth is slightly open. She looks like she's going to speak but closes her mouth and shrugs her shoulders.
(Y/N) thinks that Will should cast a protection spell to save himself. That would be the smart choice, but she doesn't want The Party in danger. So she decided to not say anything. She's too indecisive and is afraid that she'd pick the wrong option and mess everything up.
Mike slams the table again which silences everyone, "The Demogorgan is tired of your silly human bickering!" The four others exchange worried glances. Did they act too slowly? Is the Demogorgan going to destroy them and end their campaign? "It stomps toward you," Mike looks at his friends' frightened expressions, "Boom!"
"Fireball him, Will!" Lucas turns to Will and demands.
"Another stomp, boom!" Mike is shouting every word for dramatic effect.
"Cast protection!" Dustin commands to a frantic Will. (Y/N) is watching Will's expression intently waiting for his choice. The suspense making her slightly nervous.
"He roars in anger!" Mike raises his voice above the commotion. (Y/N) flinches, the volume of Mike's voice is hurting her ears. Lucas and Dustin are looking at each other and screaming the action they want. Their faces are turning red with frustration as they bring their fists down to the table which shakes it, the game pieces and papers shift slightly. There is tension in the air. The boys' voices clash with one another's.
"Fireball!" Will finally chooses an action under pressure and rolls the dice, maybe a bit too hard. They both roll of the edge of the table and scatter across the floor. The children curse and rush up from their chairs frantically looking around for the dice.
"Where'd they go?" Lucas panics, "Where are they?"
"I don't know!" Will responds while rushing to look behind the stairs with Mike and Lucas. (Y/N) gets onto her hands and knees and goes in the opposite direction of the boys, hoping to find the dice under the table.
Dustin stays in place and stands behind his chair, "Is it a thirteen?"
"I don't know!" Will repeats lifting up and looking around objects to see if the dice rolled underneath or around them.
Lucas does the same and bumps into his friends while doing so, "Where are they?"
(Y/N) crawls around some more, the shaggy rug underneath her hands is itchy. She stops to take a break. Then, she sees the shadow of a small, sphere-like shape behind a bookcase. Excitedly, she grabs the die to see that the number facing upwards is a four.
"Four!" (Y/N) shouts to the boys, "This one's a four!" (Y/N) lifts herself off the ground and holds the die victoriously. The boys bring their attention to (Y/N) and make sounds of both relief and enthusiasm. Then, they go back to searching, the suspense is even higher now.
"Please be a nine!" pleads Will.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Dustin paces back and forth, his hands placed on his temples. The children can't hear Mrs. Wheeler calling for Mike over all of the clamoring.
"Can you find it yet?" Lucas asks over the panicking boys' aimless shouts.
"No, I can't find it!" Will responds frustrated.
(Y/N) stands, watching the boys from behind the table. She nibbles at her thumbnail and jumps when Mrs. Wheeler opens the squeaky basement door and shouts, "Mike!" Mike and (Y/N) are the only ones that look up at Mrs. Wheeler, she seems annoyed, her hand placed on her hip. The rest of the children continue to search and in Dustin's case, pace.
"Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" Mike shouts up at her while throwing his arms into the air.
"You mean the end?" Mrs. Wheeler replies, raising her eyebrows. Then she points to an imaginary watch on her wrist, "Fifteen after," Mrs. Wheeler walks away from the door back to the kitchen and Mike starts up the stairs after her.
Lucas is insulting someone, "Oh, my God! Freaking idiot!" (Y/N) isn't sure who he's angry at anymore.
Will complains, "Why do we have to go?"
"Mom, wait!" Is all the children in the basement hear before Mike is all the way up the stairs trying to convince his mother for more time to play their game.
The boys are about to give up searching and pack their things, knowing Mike's pleading will be unsuccessful, when Will jumps up, filled with glee, "Oh, I got it!" There is a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes, earned from his triumph. (Y/N) studies this expression and grins, her eyes curiously meeting Will's, waiting for him to reveal the number on the die. Will adds up the two numbers and his smile falls. (Y/N) looks at the floor and her lips form into a pout. "Does a seven count?" Will asks hoping for a miracle that somehow it does.
"It was a seven?" Lucas looks at Will and raises his eyebrows in surprise. Dustin is having a difficult time putting on his coat. "Did Mike see it?" Lucas asks mischievously. Will shakes his head side to side, his eyes widen, he knows what Lucas is going to suggest next. "Then it doesn't count," Lucas states.
The boys run back to the table to put on their jackets and backpacks. (Y/N), who already has her jacket on, hoists her backpack strap farther up her shoulder as she waits by the stairs. Lucas runs ahead of her up the stairs and Will stops before he reaches the first step. He looks at (Y/N) politely and smiles, letting her go ahead of him. She returns his smile and begins her incline up the stairs. Just as Will is about to take a step up, Dustin lifts a pizza box and opens the lid, the scent of sausage and pepperoni making its way to his nose.
He looks up and calls to his friends, "Yo, hey, guys," The children on the stairs stop and look down at Dustin. "Does anyone want this?" He offers his friends the pizza by holding the box up a little higher.
"No," The group responds, each in their own way: Lucas bluntly, Will politely, and (Y/N) quietly.
The three kids finish climbing the stairs, their legs numb after sitting down for ten hours. Dustin runs after them, pizza box in hand.
He goes further upstairs and offers Mike's sister, Nancy, the piece of pizza. He's harshly rejected.

                                         ♥︎

Dustin heads to the garage joining his friends who are talking about the campaign they had spent hours on. Everyone but Mike and Dustin are seated on their bikes ready to head home.
Dustin, Mike, and Lucas talk about how uptight Nancy has become, arguing while doing so. As they typically do. There's a mention of her new boyfriend, Steve...something. (Y/N) isn't really listening. She's focused on her feet planted on the hard cement, the smell of gasoline lingering in the garage, and the feeling of fear lingering in her stomach. She does not want to go home.
Lucas, Dustin, and Will turn the lights on the fronts of their bicycles on to make sure that they can see through the dark streets of Hawkins. Will notices (Y/N) spacing out and lightly places his hand onto her shoulder to get her attention. Her head jerks upwards and her widened eyes meet Will's eyes. His calm, trusting, warm, ahem! (Y/N) raises her eyebrows at her own thoughts and tucks her hair behind her ear. Will slowly removes his hand from her shoulder, he didn't want to, but he did anyway. "What are you thinking about?" Will curiously asks his friend.
"Just D&D," (Y/N) says in a tone slightly higher than her normal voice. She awkwardly laughs, trying to hide the fact that she was fibbing, not well, but trying. Will raises an eyebrow at first but then gives (Y/N) a small smile. He knows she isn't telling the truth, it's painfully obvious, but he doesn't mind.
(Y/N) turns her bicycle's light on and gets ready to catch up to Will, Lucas, and Dustin. Suddenly, Will stops next to Mike.
"It was a seven," Will confesses.
"Huh?" Mike turns to face Will, not sure of what he means.
"The roll, it was a seven," Will explains, "The Demogorgon, it got me." (Y/N) stays back, a smile tugging at her lips. Her heart becomes warm. "See you tomorrow," Will says as he puts his foot on the pedal of his bike. Mike stares at him, the gears in his brain turning. Will rides off and (Y/N) rushes to get her bike moving, slipping off the pedals a few times before getting a hold of them and pushing off.
"Bye Mike!" (Y/N) calls back and pedals her hardest to catch up to the boys. And the children ride off into the darkness of nighttime in Hawkins, Indiana.

__________________________________
Heyo! Thank you so much for reading my story! This is going to be a long term project and I'm going to try and post every other weekend but I sometimes lack motivation :/ I promise I will make each chapter worth it! If your pronouns aren't female then feel free to mentally change them while reading! Alrighty then... I hope you stick around for the rest of the story♥︎ ~ WoodCeiling

*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*