Will Byers had little to no interest in celebrating his birthdays in 1984 and 1985. He had kept things that upset him to himself for months. Some of the actions of his friends upset him, but he never said anything because he didn't think it was a big deal (though as things piled up, they became a big deal) and he didn't think he had the right to be upset. 'Your friends risked everything to save you,' Will kept reminding himself.

He was mostly bothered that they always wanted him to talk to them about things that were bothering him, even if he didn't feel like talking; but (with the exception of Mike) they wouldn't talk to him because they didn't think he could handle it. In February of 1984, Dustin found out that his father had to go on a two year overseas assignment and was naturally upset about it. Lucas found out that his favorite uncle had cancer.

"If you need to talk, I'm here for you," Will offered

"You have enough going on, don't worry about it," they each replied.

Will would just shrug and smile in response, but the fact that his friends didn't want his help or thought he couldn't handle it stung. Only Mike, who was upset over not knowing where Eleven was, confided in Will.

1984

1984 was the year that Will and all of his friends turned 13. It was a huge deal, right? First Lucas, then Dustin, and finally Mike all had huge birthday parties and received lots of presents. Will didn't mind going to those parties because it was easy to simply fade into the background. He had never particularly liked attention, especially being the center of attention.

It was March 3, 1984, day 111 that Mike was trying to contact Eleven. After the big party in the afternoon, Mike's three best friends stayed the night. They played on Mike's Atari late into the night. Mike excused himself around 11:11 pm to go outside and get some fresh air. He took his supercom with him, but only Will noticed. A couple of minutes later, Will began to feel queasy and his excused himself.

Will hadn't coughed up any slug like creatures in months. He had no desire to start again.

He heard Mike's voice from outside of the basement door before he enter the bathroom.

"Hey, it's me again. It's day 111. It's my 13th birthday. It's supposed to be a big deal, I guess. It doesn't feel like a big deal though. I really wish you could have been here. If you're there...if you're listening… just give me a sign...Please? Today of all days, please!"

Will felt terrible for Mike, but a part of him genuinely believed that she was still out there. He hoped that they would find her safe and sound soon... for Mike's sake and for the fact that Will felt like he owed Eleven his life.

Nothing more than dry heaving happened as Will stood over the toilet. He felt sharp pains in his stomach and head. He leaned against the wall for a moment and closed his eyes, then went to the sink and washed his hands. That was when it happened, something that hadn't happened since shortly after New Years. The walls were covered in slime and vines and particles floated in the cold air.

"Will?" Mike called softly as he lightly knocked on the door. Will was back in his own dimension. He unlocked the bathroom door and opened it. Mike's eyes were filled with concern as he looked at his friend. "Are you okay, you look really pale?"

"I'm fine," said Will. "I just felt like I was going to puke and nothing came up."

"What's going on over there, is everything alright?" Dustin called from the couch where he and Lucas were focused on their game.

"Everything's fine," said Will. "My stomach's just bothering me a little."

"It's almost your turn," said Lucas. "Do you feel up do it?"

"We'll be over," said Mike. "Just give us a minute."

Mike stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door. Will noticed that his eyes were a little red and there were tear tracks. "What's going on, Will? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Will stared at the ground and shuffled his feet. "You should be more careful when you're trying to contact Eleven. I could hear you through the door. I don't think Dustin and Lucas heard though."

"Nice dodge," said Mike. "But thanks for the tip. Seriously, what's going on with you?"

"I-I," Will stammered. He took a deep breath. If anyone would understand, it was Mike. "I was in the Upside Down... Only for a few seconds, but it felt so real. It's crazy, I know."

Mike looked at him carefully for a moment. "This isn't the first time it's happened, is it?"

Will shook his head. His eyes filled with tears. "It's happened twice before. It's probably some weird flashback or something,"

Mike pulled Will into a hug. They sat on the floor. Mike kept one arm around Will. As usual, he found himself wishing that Eleven was there. She'd know how to help Will.

"I'm sorry Mike," said Will.

"Sorry? For what?"

"It's your birthday, you shouldn't have to deal with my...issues."

"Hey," said Mike as he brushed some tears from his friend's face with his thumb. "You're here for me to deal with your issues. That's the best birthday present in the world. I just wish Eleven was here too."

"She knows you're trying to find her, Mike and it's helping, I know it."

Mike smiled sadly and pulled Will back into a hug. He knew Will believed what he was saying.

"What's going on?" asked Lucas as he and Dustin opened the bathroom door.

"Are you still trying to find Eleven, Mike?" asked Dustin. They both looked concerned. Mike froze. He didn't want to tell Lucas and Dustin about his nightly calls to Eleven as they would pester him to move on and talk about how they all saw her disappear. Will looked up and Mike and saw the petrified look on his face.

"It's me," said Will. "I-I've been having episodes... flashes to the upside down. Mike was just saying that Eleven would know what to do, that's all."

Mike looked down and Will and felt a rush of gratitude and guilt. Will didn't like people worrying and fussing over him. Telling Dustin and Lucas about his visions of the Upside Down was going to make things worse. They constantly worried about him. Mike knew that his friends only wanted to help, but sometimes pushing Will made him shut down even more.

"How long has this been going one?" asked Lucas.

"I had one at Christmas and one at New Years... and one just now," said Will. "They only last a few seconds, so it's probably just in my head."

"Jesus!" said Dustin. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"There was nothing to tell," said Will. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" said Lucas incredulously? "You're seeing the Upside Down!"

"I know that," said Will as he fidgeted with the hem of his over sized tee shirt.

"You're not acting like you know it," said Lucas.

"Will knows his own head," said Mike. "Besides, it's our turns on the Atari. C'mon, Will, let's show these losers how it's done." Mike helped Will to his feet and they headed toward the Atari.

Over the next few weeks, Dustin and Lucas continued to worry about Will and tried to get him to talk. That didn't help his mood.

1985

Another event got the ball rolling for Will not wanting to celebrate his birthday in the most conventional way in 1985. The group found out that Eleven was alive and living at Hopper's cabin in November of 1984 when the shadow monster tried to take over Hawkins and possessed Will. Eleven often felt restless and isolated in the cabin, so a couple times a month, she was allowed to go to the Byers home if Joyce or Jonathan was home.

Eleven found herself being every bit as protective of Will as Mike was. She could see him without trying as hard as she had to with everyone else. It was a few months before Will knew this, but Mike became aware of the fact the night Eleven returned.

Eleven and Will quickly bonded over their shared trauma and unwanted psychic connection to the upside down. Eleven would often talk to Will about her time in the lab and Will would tell her about what it was like being trapped in the Upside Down, then possessed by the Mind Flayer. It felt good for Will to have someone that truly understood. It also felt good to have a friend that trusted him to understand. Will began giving Eleven his old homework so she could study and be caught up when she enrolled in school when the time came.

The party members were all starting to find things to do that didn't include the other party members. Lucas and Max were dating, so naturally, they wanted to spend time alone. Dustin had formed an unlikely friendship with Steve Harrington and was helping him with science and math so Steve could get into a good college. In turn, Steve was teaching Dustin baseball. Dustin and Lucas has decided to start playing.

This caused Mike, Will, and Eleven to form a bit of a trio. The fact that Mike and Eleven were dating and could only hang out together at Will's house started to cause tension, even though none of them wanted that to happen.

One Saturday in early January, Will took Chester out to do his business while Jonathan went into town to pick up some groceries. When Will came back inside, he overhear Mike and Eleven talking in his room.

"You don't have to be jealous of Will, Mike. He's my friend, but I don't think about him the way I think about you," said Eleven. Will froze. Mike was jealous?

"I know, El, it's just that you talk to him about things that you won't talk about to me. You two have a bond that I can't have. I don't know, it just feels unfair somehow."

Will felt a surge of anger, but hated himself for feeling it. He felt scared every time he got angry ever since the Mind Flayer had possessed him. Mike was jealous of the bond he had with Eleven? Did Mike want to get locked in a lab for years or be trapped in a dark dimension for a week. Unfair?

"Maybe we could do something, just the two of us?" said Eleven.

"How are we going to manage that?" asked Mike. " We can only see each other here. And Will's always here. Besides, he needs us, he's been through a lot. We can't just leave him alone."

Will felt hot tears sting his eyes and he furiously wiped them away. Maybe he was being unreasonable, but he felt angry and upset at the words. It was as though his friends didn't want him around. He couldn't blame them for wanting to spend time alone together, but he suddenly felt like a third wheel that they were only keeping around out of pity. That was a horrible feeling.

Will heard the front door open and he quickly stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. He splashed water on his face as he didn't want anyone to know he'd been crying. He didn't feel like dealing with their questions and concerned looks. Will sat on the floor, leaned back his head and closed his eyes. He made a decision: his friends were moving on to other things in their lives, that was fine. Stuff like that was normal. Will just had to find something that was his own thing so his friends were't just hanging around him out of pity. He could do that. He needed to prove to them that they didn't have to spend all their time worrying about him.

"Will? are you in there?" Mike asked as he knocked on the door.

"Yeah," Will answered casually.

"Are you okay? What are you doing in there?"

"I'm fine, and you don't want to know," Will replied dryly. He stood up quietly and looked in the mirror. His face looked fairly normal. There was a little redness around his eyes, but that could easily be explained by the cold from walking Chester. Will reached over and flushed the unused toilet, then washed his hands. He splashed a little more water on his face and dried it with the towel.

As everyone helped Jonathan put away the groceries, Mike asked about teaching Eleven one of their favorite board games. "Ready to show El how to play Battleship?" he asked Will.

"Do you guys mind playing out in in the living room, I think I'm going to lay down for a bit," said Will as he put the dog food in the pantry. "I have a headache."

"Do you want some aspirin, bud?" asked Jonathan.

"Maybe I'll take some later if it doesn't go away," said Will.

"Is everything alright?" asked Mike. "What's going on?"

Will clenched his jaw, but tried to keep his tone light. "Nothing, it's just a headache."

"Will," said Eleven. "Friends don't lie."

Will silently reminded himself that Eleven had spent most of her life in a lab that he himself hated being in even for a few hours. He tried to keep his tone even. "You're right, El, friends don't lie, but they don't accuse each other of lying either."

"I-I'm sorry," said Eleven.

"No, I'm sorry," said Will. "Look, sometimes I get headaches or just don't feel well. It doesn't mean that I'm dying. I just wish that everyone would stop freaking out over little things. I'm not going to break."

"No, of course you won't," said Mike as he squeezed Will's shoulder. Will successfully fought the urge to slap Mike's hand away and reminded himself that it wasn't worth being angry. Mike and Eleven wanted time alone and Will was perfectly happy to give it to them. He went to his room, closed the door, crawled under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

XSXXXXXXXXX

As it happened, the opportunity for Will to find his own thing presented itself a few days later. Mr. Clarke announced that Hawkins Middle School was starting a decathlon team to feed into the high school team the following fall. He passed around the sign up sheet. Most of Will's classmates ignored it. Will watched as Dustin and Lucas both passed it along without adding their signatures. When it crossed Mike's desk, he absently passed it to Will. He appeared to be thinking about Eleven and not really paying attention to his physical surroundings. Will glanced at each of his friends to make sure they weren't paying attention to him, then wrote his name on the paper below Tim Wilson's name.

Will felt a sense of relief as he saw Max pass the paper along without looking at it. This was the perfect opportunity to do something that was his own thing... with out his friends that he had depended on for so many years. Jennifer Hayes seemed to be one of the few students who read the signatures. She glanced over at Tim then to Will and smiled warmly before writing her own name on the paper. Her best friend Julie Mason was sitting next to her and appeared to be day dreaming when Jennifer tapped her on the shoulder, pointed to the list and handed it to her to signed. Will quickly turned around to face the blackboard as he felt a blush crawl up his face.

The girls approached Will at his locker after class.

"Hey Will," said Jennifer as Julie stood beside her.

"Hey, Jennifer, hey Julie, how's it going?"

"Good," said Jennifer. "We just wanted to tell you that we're really glad you're joining the team."

"Yeah, it should be fun," said Will. "And it's never too early to start doing things we can put on our college applications."

1984

Since finding out that Will was having occasional flashes of the Upside Down, Lucas and Dustin felt more determined that ever to get Will out of his rut. They figured that his birthday was a good a time as any. A few days after Mike's birthday, everyone was hanging out at Will's house playing his Atari.

"You ready for your big birthday party, Will?" asked Dustin. "I bet Jennifer Hayes would come if you invited her. A lot of girls would probably come."

"I'm not having a party," said Will as he picked up the controller.

"What?! Why! Is it the m-" Dustin started to say, but Lucas elbowed him.

"I just don't feel like having a party," said Will.

"How could you not feel like having a party?" asked Lucas. "You're becoming a teenager."

"Maybe it's because everyone in town is always staring at me wherever I go since I got back from the Upside Down!" said Will irritably.

"What if we went somewhere out of town?" Dustin suggested. "Just the party members. There's a great arcade pizza place over in New Albany.

"I dunno, maybe," said Will as he shrugged.

"Could we do that, Mrs. Byers?" Lucas called over the the kitchen.

"If that's what Will wants," said Joyce.

"I guess," said Will unenthusiastically. He mostly wanted them to shut up about the subject. "Just promise not to sing Happy Birthday."

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"Lucas and I think it would be a good idea to throw Will a surprise party," Dustin told Mike as the three of them rode their bikes home.

"He said he doesn't want a party," said Mike.

"He's having a crappy year," said Lucas. "A party is just what he needs. He's going to regret it later if he lets this go by. We can throw in your basement on the 24th so he doesn't expect it."

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"Hey, everyone, it's my friend Will's birthday," said Dustin as he stood on the table at the Pizza place. "Can you help us sing to him?"

Mike noticed the petrified look on Will's face. He thought he should stop the whole thing, but couldn't find the words.

Will felt anger and the desire to vanish into thin air as a restaurant full of strangers sang to him, but he just smiled politely and excused himself to play wack-a-mole.

Twenty minutes later, Will went into the bathroom and heard Mike crying in one of the stalls. He was about to go and talk to him when he heard Dustin and Lucas coming in and he turned on the sink to wash hands.

"Hey there, birthday boy, we've been looking all over for you!" said Lucas.

"Ready for some Dig Dug?" asked Dustin.

"Yeah, let's go right now," said Will as he dried his hands.

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"It's me again, day 130. It's Will's birthday today. I just couldn't get into it, but I don't think he could either. If you're out there, please, please say something… give me a sign, please?"

Mike threw down the supercome and started crying in frustration into the pillow. Eleven was watching the whole time inside the void. She checked in on Will and say that he was trying to contact Mike on his supercom, but not having much luck as the signal didn't reach. Eleven focused hard to boost the signal.

"Mike?" came a faint voice through Mike's supercom.

"El? Is that you?" asked Mike eagerly.

"N-no, it's Will," Will stammered through the supercom.

"Oh, hey," said Mike. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just heard you in the bathroom," said Will cautiously.

"Yeah, thanks for distracting Dustin and Lucas."

"Mike, I want to help."

"I'm fine!" said Mike angrily.

"Mike, I'm your friend. You always help me, let me help you."

"Let you help me? How are you going to help me, Will? You're a mess, you can't even help yourself!" Mike's eyes widened in horror at his words. He couldn't believe he'd said them. He wanted to apologize immediately, but was dumbstruck.

"You're right, Mike. Sorry to bother you." there was a click.

"Will, wait! Will? Will! Do you copy? Shit!" Mike angrily threw down his supercom. He thought about calling on the phone or taking his bike over to the Byers home, but merely started sobbing into his pillow. Will was doing the same in his bedroom.

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Will woke up the next morning feeling angry. He also had a headache. He thought about telling his mother he was sick and skipping school, but it wasn't worth it. Feeling anger was a rare thing for Will that had become increasingly common in the past four months and he didn't like it. He felt angry that his friends had sang happy birthday the night before even though he'd asked them not to, but he decided to let it go and move on. He really just wanted his friends to stop pushing him to be happy on their terms.

Will got out of bed deciding to go to school, get through the day and forget about the night before. He asked his mother to drop him off early so he could study for any possible pop quizzes. Once there, he went to the library and did some reading until the first bell rang and he skipped his locker (as he caught a glimpse of Mike waiting there, which only rekindle his anger and sadness from the night before) and he went directly to Mr. Clarke's room.

As his friends entered the room, Will smiled stiffly at them. "Worried about another pop quiz?" Dustin.

"Something like that," said Will. Mike sat next to him and looked like he wanted to say something. Will didn't feel like hearing it and opted to stare at Mr. Clarke's periodical table instead.

Throughout the day, Mike looked like he wanted to say something to Will, but waited until after school when Will was at his locker. "Will, what I said last night, I didn't mean it."

Will merely concentrated on his books as he shoved them into his bag. "Forget about it. It doesn't matter." he answered hoarsely.

"It does matter and I'm really sorry."

"Fine, you're forgiven," said Will shortly as he stood up and pulled his back pack over his shoulder. He started to walk toward the door, but Mike grabbed his arm.

"Can we talk about this, please?" asked Mike. Will pulled his arm out of Mike's grasp and glared at him.

"Look, Mike, I get it. You didn't feel like talking last night. Right now, I don't feel like talking."

"What's going on with you two?" asked Lucas.

"Nothing," said Will hastily as he offered another stiff smile.

"We're heading to the arcade tonight. You guys in?" asked Dustin.

"I have homework," said Will.

"It's Friday and you have all weekend," said Dustin. "C'mon, it'll be fun."

"We have a campaign on Sunday," said Will. "And I just want to relax tomorrow."

"You're already ahead on everything," said Lucas. "Give yourself a break, Will."

"Maybe you guys can afford to fall behind, but I can't!" said Will angrily and he stormed out of the building.

"Maybe the surprise party isn't the best idea," said Mike sadly as he watched Will leave.

"He needs this," said Lucas. "He'll thank us later."

Mike felt like he should have put a stop to everything as Will clearly wasn't in the mood for a party, but he didn't have the energy to protest. He felt like Will's bad mood was his fault and maybe Dustin and Lucas were right.

1985

Will found himself really enjoying the decathlon team. They had meetings after school to practice and study, It was the first time Will had really gotten to know anyone outside of the Party and he liked his teammates a lot. He didn't tell the other party members that he had joined the team and they didn't notice as they were all busy with their own new activities. Occasionally, Will was over at the Wheeler's house after school until his mother got off of work, but he and Mike were mostly busy with homework and Mike's favorite topic of conversation was making plans for the next time Eleven was allowed to visit the Byers home.

Being on the decathlon team and getting to know Julie, Jennifer and Tim was putting Will in a good mood, so he really wasn't even feeling angry at Mike for his comments in January and Mike had no idea that Will had heard them. Will did still miss his time with Mike and wanted to work on their friendship. Occasionally, he'd ask Mike if he wanted to hang out at the arcade or see a movie, but Mike would always say 'another time.' Will didn't let this upset him, at least he wasn't visibly upset until he was alone in his room at night with little else to occupy his mind.

Will did stop confiding in Eleven after he overheard the conversation with Mike. He was never short with her, he just stopped talking to her about personal things. When she came over and started displays of affection with Mike, Will would excuse himself and work on homework or drawings.

Around the middle of March, Mike really began to take notice of the fact that Will was regularly leaving the room when the three of them were at the Byers home. Eleven noticed that Will didn't seem interested in confiding in her like he had the first several weeks after her return. He'd simply say that he was fine and didn't need to talk about anything. She'd seen him alone in his room late at night crying from time to time, so she knew that he wasn't fine.

"Mike," said Eleven one afternoon as she sat with him on the couch in the Byers living room watching a movie and holding his hand. Will had gone to his room to study and was listening to a mix tape on his headphones. "I-I think Will's sad, but he won't tell me. He just says he's fine."

"He has been pretty quiet lately," said Mike as he glanced in the direction of Will's room. "Let's go talk to him, but don't ask if anything's wrong, okay?"

"Ok," said Eleven.

"Will?" Mike called tentatively as he knocked on the door with the "Keep Out" sign hanging from it. No answer. Mike pushed the door open and saw Will sitting on his bed listening to his walkman and working on some geometry homework. They approached him and Mike tapped him on the shoulder. Will looked up and pulled his headphones off as he looked from Mike to Eleven with a confused expression on his face.

"Hey guys, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine," said Mike. "It's just..."

"Can I see your homework?" asked Eleven. "I want to learn this before I start school."

"Sure, of course," said Will with a warm smile. They spent time working on Will's homework and everything seemed alright for the rest of the afternoon. Mike still felt like he missed Will, even though they were often in the same room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mom?" Will asked as he sat down for dinner with his mother and Jonathan on St. Patrick's Day.

"Yes, sweetheart?" asked Joyce.

"Do you think we could go to Charleston State Park for my birthday on Friday, just the three of us?"

"Is that what you really want?" asked Joyce. Will had told her that he didn't want a party a few weeks earlier.

"It really is," said Will with a smile. "I could draw and Jonathan could take pictures. It would be a really nice day. And if I talk to my teachers, they can give me my homework assignments early so I can get them done before the weekend. Besides, I've got the decathlon meet on Saturday and this could really clear my head so I can do well."

"I should be able to take the time off work," said Joyce.

"It's a great idea," said Jonathan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On Thursday afternoon, Mike met Will at his locker after school. He had an idea.

"Hey, Will, I was thinking we could hang out, just the two of us. We haven't done that in a while."

"Yeah, sure. That'd be great," said Will.

"How about Saturday?" asked Mike.

"I can't, I'm busy," said Will.

"What? C'mon, Will," said Mike with a chuckle.

"I really have plans, Mike!"

"Will, you've been asking to hang out for a while and suddenly you don't want to?"

"I never said I don't want to, Mike," said Will through gritted teeth. "I just said I can't this Saturday because I already have plans."

"What plans could you possibly have? C'mon, it's been a while since it was just us, I feel bad."

Will slammed his locker shut and glared at Mike. "I've asked you at least half a dozen times if you want to hang out in the last couple of months and you've always been busy. That's fine, Mike. I get it. But don't expect me to suddenly drop everything just because the great Mike Wheeler suddenly wants to hang out with pathetic little old me." Will started running down the hallway and turned a corner. Mike stood there dumbfounded for a moment then took off after him.

"Will!" Mike called through the crowd. Will ducked into the nearest bathroom it was empty. He heard Mike opening the door. Will focused and his reflection disappeared before Mike entered. "Will?" Mike began checking in the stalls and hit the last one in frustration before leaving. Will became visible again. He walked to the sink and saw that his nose was bleeding. He grabbed a paper towel, ran some cold water over it and wiped his nose.

Tim Wilson entered the room and startled Will. "Hey, are you alright? How'd you end up with a bloody nose."

"I'm fine," said Will. "I just ran into a door."

"Oh, that sucks. Jennifer's mom is here. You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," said Will. The decathlon team was meeting at Jennifer's house for one last practice before the meet in Fort Wayne that Saturday.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Mike got home, he tried to call the Byers house a few time, but no one answered.

The next day, Will didn't show up at school. He hadn't told any of the party members about his day trip. Mike stared at Will's empty desk. A certain memory popped into his head. He hear Mrs. Byers voice.

Do you know what March 22 is? That's your birthday. *Your birthday.*

Mike nearly dropped his notebook. He had never forgotten Will's birthday. None of them had. When Mike told Dustin and Lucas after class, they both looked dumbfounded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the Byers family members got home that evening, Joyce got a call from Hopper asking if Eleven could spend the day at their place the next day. Will went to bed because he had to be up really early the next morning. Jonathan had planned on working on a school project with Nancy at the Wheeler's house the next day, but offered to work on it at his own house because Joyce had taken a double shift at Melvalds. He called Nancy and suggested that she bring Mike since Eleven would be there all day.

1984

Will woke up the Saturday after his birthday in the middle of the morning. It was a nice and sunny day. He was confused as he heard his friends in the kitchen talking to his mother.

"We can let him sleep a little longer," said Dustin. "The Party isn't for another three hours."

"Are you guys sure about this?" asked Jonathan. "He said he didn't want a party."

"He'll be glad we did this when it's all said and done," said Lucas.

Will clenched his fists. Why couldn't his friends just respect his wishes? He grabbed some clothes and got dressed. There was no way he was going to some stupid surprise party. He grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a note: went for a walk, don't freak out. He threw the note on his bed, grabbed his sketchbook and crawled out of his window. He walked into the forest, found a nice tree, climbed it and sat on one of the branches.

After nearly 90 minutes, Will heard his mother and friends frantically calling his name. He covered his ears. To his astonishment, they walked right past him without seeing him sitting in the tree. When they were out of sight, Will climbed out of the tree and headed back to the house. He threw himself on the couch and began flipping through his sketchbook. It was another hour before his mother, brother and friends returned.

When Joyce saw him, she ran to the couch and pulled him into a tight hug. "We've been looking all over for you, where have you been?"

"I just went for a walk. It's a nice morning," said Will.

"Will, you can't just sneak off like that, we were worried sick," said Joyce.

"It was just a walk, mom. I've done it a million times without getting kidnapped by a demogorgan. I'm not a baby," said Will.

"Hey, Will, why don't you come with us," said Dustin as he tried to change the subject. "We have something we want to show you."

"I don't feel like it," said Will. "You guys go ahead."

"You really don't want to miss this," said Lucas.

"Whatever it is, I can see it some other time," said Will. "Right now I don't feel like going."

"Look, Will, it's a surprise birthday party for you, people are waiting," said Lucas.

"A birthday party? You mean the thing I explicitly said I didn't want? I'm not going!"

"Not going?" asked Dustin. "Will, we're trying to help you. You don't understand what it was like for us when you went missing?"

"I don't understand? Really? You were here together," Will felt himself growing angrier as he spoke. "I don't understand? Well, while you guys were getting your kicks out of Jennifer Hayes crying at my funeral I WAS STILL TRAPPED IN THE UPSIDE DOWN, ALONE!" Will stood up and started heading down the hall.

"I'm sorry, Will, I didn't mean it like that," said Dustin desperately. "Just come to the party, please!"

Will turned around and glared. "No!"

Mike, Lucas and Dustin all gaped at him and exchanged nervous glances. They were eerily reminded of Eleven and the look on her face the first time they saw her use her powers. Will noticed the odd looks on their faces.

"What is it now?" he ask irritably. "What?" His three friends tried to come up with the words to explain it to him but were simply dumbfounded. "Forget it," said Will as tears started to stream down his face. "I don't care!" He spun around, ran down the hall and slammed his bedroom door shut.

"Jonathan, why don't you give the boys a ride home," said Joyce. She headed down the hall and opened Will's door. He was laying on his bed facing the wall. She sat down next to him and started rubbing circles on his back, deciding not to say anything. After a couple of minutes, Will finally looked over at his mother. She pulled him into a hug that he didn't resist and just allowed him to sob into her shoulder. She had a feeling he'd been holding it in for a long time.

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I thought this was going to just be a one shot, but it's just too long. Should be done in two. This was briefly touched on the the MKUltra Ripple prologue, but it begged to be longer. I just decided to jump back and forth between 1984 and 1985.