𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘆 ➳ 𝗯𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗿

chapter one

"shit. shit. shit. shit," a rushed and flustered will byers repeatedly mutters under his breath. running around his room like a headless chicken, the teenager slept through his alarm for the first day of freshman year.

usually he's not one to be in this type of circumstance, but he was in such a deep sleep he didn't even hear the vigorous ringing coming from the yellow alarm clock on his nightstand. the dream was one that he's dreamt countless times. he was in the middle of a tremendous field of sunflowers, hand in hand with his prince charming on their wedding day.

but like that would ever happen, right? it's not like will didn't want to fall in love, surely he did. it's just that he never thought it was possible for someone to love him, as stupid as it sounds. well, no guy in hawkins, anyway. maybe in a city like san francisco, but in a town like hawkins, no boy would even turn their head his way, other than pushing him down to the ground, yelling, "faggot", "nancy's boy", "fairy", "freak", like they always do.

stopping to calm down and catch his breath, the brunette sticks his tongue out rather childishly at the alarm clock, angered at the inanimate object for sending him into this frantic state.

grabbing his clothes to get dressed, he silently thanks his mother for making him pick out the outfit the night before, making his morning just a little less stressful.

removing each article of clothing he was previously wearing, will makes sure to avoid the mirror by his bedside table while undressing. will wishes he can leave his past behind, but his exposed reflection staring back at him in the mirror is a constant reminder of the trauma he's been through. the reason for avoiding mirrors while his bare skin is showing is rather unsettling, the cause being the scars that scatter his body like an abstract painting.

these scars came from none other than his own father, lonnie byers. throughout the excruciating long years his father lived with them, his mother, joyce, was rarely ever home. she worked from dusk till dawn at melvald's general store, trying to make enough money for her family to survive. it was difficult though, her husband using up a great deal of their money on cases and cases of alcohol.

it was almost an everyday occurrence for the man to drink numerous bottles of beer, everything becoming hazy after about five bottles. after becoming heavily intoxicated, the man would either hit his son or beat him with a belt, or sometimes both.

the house would be deserted with only the man and son home, giving lonnie all the time he wanted to torment the child. will's brother, jonathan, was away at college up in new york, unaware all of this went down at his very house. by the time joyce would get home, the damage would already be done, opening the front door to a scene of her husband passed out on the couch and her son sprawled out on the floor, bruises and blood covering his scrawny body.

will still has the scars that will always remind him of his father, and the years in which he thought nothing would get better. looking at each scar in the mirror would just bring back the memories of each time his dad hit him with the belt, all the screaming, all the bruises, all the blood, all the alcohol, all the lies of "oh, this? i fell off my bike yesterday. yeah, hurt pretty bad." which is why over the years, will has just learned to avoid looking at his exposed body, and those late nights with his father have now became just hazy memories.

now, fully clothed, will looks at himself in the mirror. he dressed in a light yellow tee with a blue, white, and green stripe across the middle. he tucked it into light wash vintage jeans, a black belt cinching it right at the waist. lastly, he wore his yellow converse, which are still relatively clean despite wearing them every single day.