Sing Me Your Sweet Lullaby
If there was one thing Will Byers had never known in his entire short life, it was love. Not the kind of love he had for his mom or Jonathan or his friends, he was happy to say that he had all of that. No. It was the sort of love that makes your heart beat faster against your chest, when you feel like all the air has been sucked out of the room, when invisible fireworks suddenly start exploding all around you and you just forget everything except that face that was currently in your line of vision.
The face that you know will be imprinted on your mind every day for the rest of your life, the face that will haunt your dreams every night and finally replace the horrible nightmares that were a result of your PTSD. When Will Byers saw that face, his world came to a stop. Time stood still and for a moment he was enraptured by the sheer beauty he saw before him. His mind went completely blank as he stood there frozen to the ground, mouth slightly open, his eyes widening with awe as he took in what must be an angel before him. Because what else could it be.
"Hello Will."
Her voice was soft and quiet, with an air of tepidness around her. When she spoke, he started slightly, too caught up in his lovestruck thoughts that he forgot she was actually standing there, that she was real. He forgot why he was here in the first place.
"Mike?" Will stood there blearily in the hallway of his house, half-dressed and feeling slightly confused as to why his best friend was here on an early Saturday morning. He didn't recall Mike saying he would call over that morning. He hadn't even finished breakfast yet.
"C'mon Will, get dressed. It's time you officially meet her." Mike said, grinning giddily and eyes sparkling with excitement as he jumped on the balls of his feet. Will stared at him, bewildered at first, but then it slowly dawned on him what he meant. Feeling slightly unsure, he hesitated, biting his lip. Does she even want to meet him? Will opened his mouth to say something, anything, an excuse maybe. But Mike didn't even wait for an answer.
"Great, I'll wait outside. And please hurry up, we don't have all day."
He left Will there blinking at his back.
Which was why fifteen minutes later (after promising an anxious Joyce that they would be back in time for lunch), they were cycling down the mud track that led into the forest, Will huffing as Mike pedalled with astonishing speed, swearing under his breath as he checked his watch. "Jesus, we're late!", he exclaimed.
They wheeled their bikes the rest of the way, with Will doing his best to keep up with Mike, who has now definitely lost his moody demeanour, that had mercilessly consumed him over the past year. They reached the tiny cabin, which really was tiny, and Will stopped to wonder how two people could have lived there for an entire year without anyone noticing and how they managed at all. Especially as one of the occupants was a telekinetic teenage girl.
Mike bounded up the porch steps, abandoning his bicycle on the ground and gave a strange combination of knocks on the door. Morse code, Will realised. Mike had barely finished knocking before the door flew open and he was nearly knocked to the ground by an overenthusiastic figure with a mop of curly brown hair, who gasped out 'Mike!', in a delighted squeal.
Mike embraced her, burying his head in her shoulder, clasping her to him tightly as if he hadn't seen her in months. Well they hadn't, Will reminded himself. He stood there, watching the couple as they held each other as if each one was afraid the other would disappear. After what seemed like forever, the two finally separated, their hands wounded tightly together and the girl looked away from Mike, over at him, finally realising that he wasn't alone. Their eyes met.
And just like that, his world came crashing down. His jaw dropped as he came face to face with the girl his friends had told him so much about. Her doe-like eyes stared solemnly into his in a way that made him catch his breath.
"Will Byers." She didn't look surprised, he noted. She took a deep breath, and her face lit up. She looked – happy. Happy to see him. She smiled at him, catching him off guard yet again. Wow, she is really pretty, he thought in wonder, as he pretty much lost all feeling in his body. He didn't know how to explain it, but this feeling was new to him.
"Will?" Will jumped, snapping out of his trance, and blinked abruptly at Mike who was frowning at him, concern filling his face. "You okay?"
Will nodded despite himself, inwardly kicking himself for being so obvious. Strangely the two didn't seem to notice. He swallowed trying not to shake as Eleven, the girl he had heard so much about, who helped save him from the Upside Down, whom everyone thought was dead, only for her to arrive out of the blue and kill the group of demodogs that had them surrounded, came down the porch steps and walked towards him, smiling shyly.
"Hello, Will." She said hi to you, oh my god SAY SOMETHING, you doofus!
He managed to get his voice out, wincing as it came out shaky and squeaky sounding. "H-hello- um, uh- El. Uh, I mean Eleven. I mean- um, what should I call you? "God Will Byers, can't you say something right for once!
"It's okay." She looked at him kindly, and Will couldn't help but see that there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. She pauses.
"You can call me El." She smiled as she said this, looking at him earnestly. Will found himself smiling back at her, relaxing slightly. Then without warning she pulls him in for a hug, holding him tightly.
And he swears he nearly melts.
It's a Friday night during the Easter holidays and the whole Party is crashing at the cabin. Their parents all think that they're at Will's, with Joyce covering for them. El still has another year to go before it's safe enough for her to go out into the open world as Jim Hopper's official daughter, Jane Hopper. So, for now it's secret sleepovers at either Will's or the cabin. Hopper is on a late-night shift, or so he claims. More likely he decided to stay away from the rowdy teenagers until they've crashed out.
Will couldn't help but overhear Hopper talking to Mike in a low tone, warning him not to do any funny business while he was gone. Mike simply glared, still holding a grudge over Hopper hiding El from him for a year (353 days to be exact), but a blush had risen to his cheeks. He reluctantly agreed with Hopper's conditions. The moment he left however, he zoomed over to where El was sitting and pulled her to him, which was exactly their same position half an hour later. El giggled as she rested her head on his shoulder, and Will couldn't help but feel a pang as he looked at them. Sure, he knew by now that they were infatuated with one another, but it still hurt like crazy to see her being held like that by his best friend. He stared at them, and couldn't help wondering what it would be like if he was in Mike's place instead, his arm around her shoulders, softly stroking her brown curls as she leaned against him, playing with his fingers on his other hand.
Mike whispered something to El, and she snorted with laughter, her giggle echoing like a bell around the cabin. It was a beautiful sound. He swallowed and looked away.
"Okay, losers, so what's it going to be?" Max stood in front of the TV holding up her selection of movies. "It has to be something we all agree on. And I'm not talking about one of your nerdy little boy movies, they don't count!", she snapped at Dustin, who was holding up his choice of movies. He blinked at her.
"Oh, come on, Ghostbusters is going to blow your mind trust me!", Dustin exclaimed.
"An all-boys team up movie where they have to fight ghosts with goo?" Max snorted. "No thanks."
"What about Star Wars?" Will suggested. "We all like it, and El hasn't seen it yet so…
"What about Gremlins", Lucas cut in. Then he frowned. "Um, on second thoughts, maybe I'll go with Dustin on this one."
Max smirked at him. "Scared of the Gremlins, stalker?" She sat back on the bean bag and folded her arms triumphantly. "I should have known."
"What!" Lucas squeaked. "NO, no, no, of course not. I just-meant-that – El might be scared! She's never seen a scary movie before and – and- "
"Oh please." Max scoffed. "Don't think Erica didn't tell me that you had nightmares for weeks after watching it."
"Wha- wait, WHAT!"
Max grinned. "She keeps me well informed, your little sister."
Lucas was fuming as well cringing, muttering something about throwing away Erica's Barbie's.
"Anyway guys, what's it going to be?" Will asked awkwardly, wishing his voice didn't sound so out of place.
"Star Wars?" A little voice piped up. Everyone turned to look at El. She blushed when everyone looked at her.
"I – have never seen it." She hesitated. "I'd like to see it. I'll go with Will." Will couldn't stop a huge smile from stretching across his face. She grinned back, tucking a piece of hair absentmindedly behind her ear. God, he loves her hair.
"Ok, Star Wars it is guys." Mike spoke up. "It's what El wants. We all okay on that?"
Max sighed. "Well okay, if El wants to I guess. Princess Leia is pretty awesome in it." She shrugged and El shot her a grateful smile. The two had gotten closer over the past few months.
Dustin grins. "If it's what the lady wants." He takes off his cap and does mock bow towards El, who giggles delightedly at his dorkiness.
Will gets the popcorn on and the lights are turned off, so the only source of light is the TV screen. As the opening crawl of Star Wars begins, Will can't help but glance at El who is looking at the screen, completely entranced. Mike is also directing most of his attention to her, rather than at his favourite movie of all time, and presses a kiss to her forehead lovingly. Will looks away quickly, jealousy bubbling up inside him like poison. He forces his attention to the movie, deliberately avoiding looking at Mike and El for the entirety of the movie.
"Jesus, where are they? I swear I am going to melt out here", Lukas complained. It was sweltering hot outside, with sweat already dampening his t-shirt. He leaned on his bike, ringing the bell impatiently. He was waiting outside the Wheeler house with Will, Max and Dustin. The Party had planned on going to the quarry that afternoon, all of them feeling the need to cool off in the lake. They were currently waiting on two certain Party members who were now ten minutes late coming out.
"Probably sucking face", Dustin smirked. Will felt his insides tighten.
"God can't they give it a rest for once!", Lucas said exasperatedly.
"Like we haven't", Max said cheekily.
"Gah! We're not that bad."
"Well he did wait a year for her."
"353 days, actually!" Dustin cut in. Max rolled her eyes at him.
"So who's getting them guys? And it's not gonna be me", she grimaced. She looked pointedly at the three boys.
"Don't look at me!" Dustin exclaimed in annoyance, holding his hands up.
In the end, they sent Will into the house, no matter how hard he protested (Max can be really scary sometimes), so he reluctantly let himself in the back door. Mike and El weren't in the basement, surprisingly, as they spent most of their time there. In the end he tracked them down in Mike's room. As he approached the door, he heard a loud shriek that was unmistakeably El's voice come from the room. Will heart beat quickened, and he rushed to the door, which was ajar. What he saw inside made him stop in his tracks.
Mike was lying on top of El in his bed and he was tickling her senseless, with her squealing hysterically. They hadn't noticed him yet.
"Mike, stop! Oh God, NO!" Tears of laughter were rolling down her face. Mike refused to obey, grinning cheekily as he continued tickling her mercilessly. As Will watched, El suddenly flipped them, perhaps with a little help with her powers, and suddenly she was the one tickling Mike. He was now completely at her mercy, and got a taste of his own medicine as she tickled his sides.
"Ah please, EL! Stop! Please, I'm sorry!", he yelled hysterically. El giggled, continuing to tickle him. Then before Will could look away, she yelped as Mike suddenly pulled El's face down to his for a deep kiss. Will felt his insides bubble with fury and jealousy as he clenched his fists to keep himself from running over and dragging Mike away from her.
He stood there frozen as their mouths moved together, Mike's hands holding onto El's waist, while her hands were tangled in his ebony hair. The kiss grew more passionate and Mike nipped at El's lip, eliciting a gasp from her.
Right. That's it.
Will flung the door open, making sure it slammed against the shelf behind it. His two friends gasped, jumping apart from each other.
"Will, uh- hey!" Mike was blushing crimson. "We were just - on our down."
"We were?" El frowned at him. "I thought you said we were going to skip the beach, that you'd much rather spend time with m- ".
"Umm, no! I mean I meant later, when I said that I mean! I was just lost in the moment- "
"The others are waiting," Will interrupted. He saw El's flushed cheeks, her chocolate brown hair sticking up everywhere, and forced himself to look away, knowing exactly why her hair was like that.
Will didn't join in the others teasing later, especially not, when Dustin noticed a certain something on El's neck.
"El?" El looked up from her maths worksheet at him. Nancy was currently tutoring her, and had set several worksheets for her to do, while she was out with Jonathan. Hopper was working, so El had come over to spend the day at the Byers house.
Will was drawing a comic book, but couldn't help but get distracted watching El do her work. He was enraptured by the way she sat there quietly, not making any sound, her brows knitted together in concentration. She kept tucking a stray curl that was falling over face behind her ear, which he found incredibly cute.
"Yes?" She said softly, her beautiful brown eyes looking at him curiously.
Will swallowed.
"Um- nothing." He went back to his drawing, knowing he was going to regret this later.
Will woke with a start. There was a soft sobbing coming from the fort in Mike's basement. His heart leapt to his throat. He scrambled over to find El, curled up beside a sleeping Mike in a foetal position, tears streaming down her face.
"El! El, what's wrong?", Will whispered anxiously, wanting to help. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as more tears came.
"Bad dream", she whispered. She shivered slightly. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" He asked softly. She nodded silently. Will felt saddened, his heart going out to this amazing girl with a traumatising past. Will bit his lip, opening his mouth to say something.
"El?" Mike had also woken up beside her and was looking at her with his wide concerned eyes. Will couldn't help glaring at the back of his head.
"Mike." She collapsed into sobs and he pulled her against him, holding her close and rubbing her back, shushing her soothingly. He looked up at Will.
"It's okay Will, I'll take it from here."
Will crept away, hiding his bitter expression and tucked himself up in his sleeping bag next to a snoring Dustin. He tried his best not to listen to their conversation, but couldn't help overhearing them.
"He was there, M-Mike."
"Who was, El?"
"Papa."
Will felt the anger build up inside him again. He never had the misfortune of meeting Brenner, the man responsible for his abduction by the Demogorgon, but El had told him some bits about her time in the lab. He knew enough about him to make him feel glad he was dead.
"H-he wanted me to k-kill you and Hop," she sobbed. "B-but I couldn't, I just couldn't! And then he took a g-gun and did it himself." She collapsed, weeping uncontrollably. Will looked over at the corner of his eye to see Mike holding her protectively against his chest.
"It was just a dream El. It wasn't real. I'm still here see." He cupped her face with both hands, making her look him in the eyes. "You're never going back there El, I swear on my life." His voice took on a more determined tone. "I will never let anyone tear us apart again, do you hear me?"
El sniffed, nodding slightly.
"You are the most important person in my life. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me", Mike continued, his voice thick with emotion. "I love you so much, El." His voice shook as he choked it out, his lips trembling and his eyes shining with tears. "So, so much."
El stared at him for a few moments, and for a second, Will dared to hope.
"I love you too, Mike Wheeler." Her voice was emotional and full of love when she said the words, and all of Will's hopes came crashing down.
Will Byers has known love.
And it has shattered his heart.