✓ | 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 (BYLER)

𝒊. FRIENDS DON'T LIE

━━━━  𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 !
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

For as long as he could recall, art had been one of Will Byers' greatest passions. Whether that meant illustrating a picture depicting his emotions or covering a blank canvas in splashes of color, it was exceptionally therapeutic to him.

And that was precisely what he discovered himself doing that morning.

The California sun glistened brightly in the blue sky, its light creeping through the windows and illuminating Will's bedroom. Despite him being indoors, he could feel the sun's warmth pricking at his skin.

It was March 21st, 1986 — the final day of school before spring break as well as the day before Will's fifteenth birthday. He had already gotten himself dressed and ready for school, so he decided to continue working on his latest painting while he waited for his step-sister, Eleven.

Eleven spent the first twelve years of her life living at Hawkins National Laboratory, where she was poked and prodded at as if she were an object. She finally managed to escape the lab in November of 1983 — around the same time Will went missing.

El quickly became a member of the party and protected them with her telekinetic powers. She fought all kinds of evil, from the Demogorgon to the Mind Flayer.

Unfortunately, she lost her powers after the Battle of Starcourt. But her powers weren't the only thing she lost. Her adoptive father, Jim Hopper, had died that same night. After all that had occurred in their cursed town, Joyce Byers decided to take El in as a daughter of her own and move her family away from Hawkins.

Will reminisced on the past events as he added another brush stroke to his painting. This particular piece was vastly different from his other paintings — it was special. He planned on giving it to his best friend, Mike Wheeler, as a gift.

Will hadn't seen Mike in nearly nine months due to a distance of over two thousand miles keeping them apart, so he was elated when he found out that he would be flying to California to spend his spring break with the Byers family.

Will had been best friends with Mike for nearly a decade, yet he was still able to remember the day they met in vivid detail. It all started on September 6th, 1976 — the first day of kindergarten.

Five-year-old Will was sitting on the swings by himself, slowly swinging his petite body back and forth as he observed the other children from afar. Most of the boys were engulfed in an intense game of freeze tag while the girls played hopscotch and jump rope.

Will was notably shy and had zero interest in playing with the other students on the playground. That is, until he was approached by a boy with large, brown eyes and a constellation of freckles scattered across his rosy cheeks.

"Hi," The freckled boy shyly smiled as he walked up to Will, who avoided eye contact at all costs. "Do you want to be friends?"

Will felt his lips tugging into a small smile. He slowly nodded, finally looking his new friend in the eyes.

"My name is Mike . . . short for Michael," The boy stated as he lowered himself onto the swing next to Will's. "What's your name?"

"Will . . . short for William," Will responded.

And from that point on, the two were practically connected by the hip. They had play-dates every weekend, which turned into sleepovers once they grew older.

They told each other absolutely everything, from what they ate for breakfast that morning to their deepest, darkest secrets. For instance, Will was the first to hear about Mike's relationship with Eleven, and Mike was the first person Will informed about his terrifying encounter with the Shadow Monster on Halloween.