Smilin' Will

Disclaimer: A fun little idea I came up with that also ignores the storyline for season 4 and Hopper is dead.

The day Will Byers showed up to school at Lenora Hills High with a smile of all things on his lips, was a day that ultimately the vast majority of the students had no idea how to handle. As Will Byers? Long time member of the Goths and the Outcasts? Smiling? It just wasn't natural! For as long as anyone had known the guy since he and his siblings had entered into the Lenora Hills School System, he'd never been one for smiling and was generally a sullen and moody individual that wore dark clothing, had wild hair, and wrote and drew some dark shit. There was a legend of sorts among the student body that one of the kids from the Goths had walked up to him shortly after Spring Break had ended at Lenora Hills and told him she recognized that Life had been dark for him and thanks to that, Will had ended up finding a place amongst them and the rest of the Outcasts of the school. Will, Jane, or El as she's sometimes referred too as for whatever reason, and their older Brother Jonathan hadn't been too enthused with having to move from all they knew back in Indiana. And in Will and Jane's cases, had somewhat resented Joyce for making them move and having to deal with a bunch of unknowns in a new place.

And while Jonathan had it somewhat easier for himself in the new environment, those two didn't. Will was a sullen and moody mess that sometimes wondered if he was ever going to get a growth spurt of some kind or be stuck as he currently was and blamed the experiences he had with the Upside Down for still being so damned small for his age. Leading to him just never smiling in public or in private and even amongst the Goths and Outcasts none had ever seen him smile. Though some could swear they saw his lips twitch but those occasions had all been rather very brief and some girls even liked the whole dark and mysterious vibe he had about himself. It hadn't helped that Mike tended to spend his time talking with Jane and sending her letters more than what he did Will and eventually leading to a fight between the two long time friends after Mike had come to visit for Spring Break. His mother hadn't been quite sure what to make of her son's change since coming to Lenora Hills but was at least grateful he wasn't doing anything that would get him in a lot of trouble.

Granted, what she or anyone else didn't know until sometime later was that Will had occasionally taken to sending letters to Lonnie without a return address included on the envelope and each letter having none too kind things to say towards the man. Something that pissed him off good and the fact no one would tell him how to get in contact with Joyce really hadn't helped any either. Now as for Jane, she herself had trouble fitting in due to it all being so new and while she would end up becoming a part of the group Will had, it wouldn't be quite to the extent that he himself was. Dealing with bullies like Angela and her Posse hadn't really helped for Jane either and because she hadn't been telling Mike about that, this would also lead to a fight between her and him after he showed up for Spring Break as he hadn't been happy she'd been keeping a secret like that from him. It didn't help that a boy a year older than her was showing to be rather friendly towards her and Mike had felt some jealousy rise up in him over it.

Eventually culminating in those two breaking up and for Jane to end up going off on Angela and her Posse, something that would get them to finally leave her the Hell alone. It helped that she had managed to get in contact with Kali and asked for help in dealing with her bullies. The fact that Max would end up moving to the area during Sophomore year had made Jane pretty damned happy. As Max's biological father had ended up moving to the area and seeing an opportunity, the Redhead had convinced her mom to let her move in with her dad. The ghost of Billy, his father leaving her and her mother, and the drift from Lucas and the others while dealing with everything had all been factors in her deciding to convince her mom to allow her to leave. "Hey Hopscotch!" Called out a familiar voice as Jane and Max sat together at their usual spot during Lunch.

Same familiar voice being from the boy that Mike had gotten rather jealous of sometime ago and belonging to an African American young man. "Yeah, Thatcher?" Asked Jane while having a feeling she knew what he was approaching her about.

And it wasn't to try and finally get a date from her either as he'd crashed and burned the few attempts he'd tried so far. "What's up with your brother? He's been smiling all mornin' and its just… Weird." Shuddered the teenager.

Causing the two girls to roll their eyes at him. "He had an eye opening experience thanks to a dream that got him to see the error of his ways for not smiling." Max told him before Jane could say anything.

Thatcher raised his eyebrows at that. "Seriously?"

Max scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. "Of course not, dumbass!"

That got her a look from the boy but she merely smiled back at him as Jane watched the whole thing with a look of exasperation on her face. "You also notice he's a lot taller now too?" Asked Jane.

"Uhh… Yeah, yeah, now that I think about it, I have."

"That happened over the weekend and now, he's just really happy. 'The Toxic Nature of the Upside Down has finally chosen to do right by me and granted me all that I've sought.' to quote my brother."

Thatcher just stared at her, unable to figure out if he was being messed with by the girl he'd been trying to get a date with for awhile. The very same girl who had a mild obsession with her hair for some reason no one had ever figured out and the Byers boys and Max weren't about to reveal any details there. "I… Are you serious, girl? 'Cause I honestly have no idea if you're pulling my leg or not." He finally told her.

Max snorted in amusement as her best friend spoke up. "I'm actually serious, Thatch, even I'm having a hard time dealing with it and mom's just been over the moon about it."

Oh yes, Joyce Byers truly was over the moon about it after getting over the shock of her life that her son was not only taller than her now, but smiling to boot! "Huh… Well ain't that somethin'." Muttered Thatcher with a shake of the head.

Even if part of him did still feel like Hopper was messing with him! It was then that the very subject of their conversation showed up with a wide smile on his lips. "Hello everyone! Wonderful afternoon isn't it?" Will asked the trio cheerfully and to their surprise, hugged Thatcher.

"I… Am so weirded out right now." Muttered the boy.

"Now Thatcher, its perfectly fine for two boys to hug one another." Pointed out Max reasonably and a grinning Jane nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what she said." Added Will cheerfully and pouted when Thatcher got out of the hug.

"It, it ain't that! Its you all smiley and huggy and shit. Its, its weird, man! Upsets the natural balance of the world!"

That got him eyerolls from the girls as Will himself snorted in amusement. "Happy to be of help!"

And while he himself may have been a little jarred by how happy he'd become since he'd gotten his long coveted growth spurt, he wasn't gonna let it stop him from embracing it to the fullest!

Author's Notes: Heh, this was fun to do! Had meant to get this out sooner but work kept me occupied and tired the last 6 days. Some of what's seen in here like Thatcher is actually from parts of an idea I've had circulating in my head for a re-write of season 4.