Worlds Turned Upside Down: Will Byers x Reader

Chapter Eleven: A Marriage Explained

Joyce and Mrs. (L/N) went and pulled a cardboard box labeled "X-Mas" out of the Byers' storage. Joyce rummaged through the box until she felt plastic wires littered with colorful bulbs. She also retrieved a hammer and multiple nails.
With these, Joyce scatters the nails around her wall while (Y/N)'s mother follows behind her and strings up the Christmas lights. Chester, the Byers' dog, sits observing disapprovingly on a floral armchair, his head resting against the arm whilst he whimpers slightly.
The mothers now know how to contact their children, so they concocted an idea. They need as many lights as possible. The more lights they have, the more chance that they'll be able to communicate with the two lost children.
Mrs. (L/N) hangs the lights halfway around the Byers' living room when suddenly, as she goes to cross the room, she comes to a rough stop. She turns around to see that there is no more wire for her to hang. Joyce turns to see Mrs. (L/N) looking, frustrated, back at the short string of lights. Joyce sighs and rolls her head on her shoulders as she thinks of a way to solve their current obstacle.
The answer comes easily, "I'll go down to the store to pick up more lights," Joyce's eyes land on the wall where her phone had been. Now it's just a charred mound of useless plastic, "And another phone," Joyce also realizes that Mrs. (L/N) probably has much more Christmas lights than she does, (Y/N)'s mother's house is bigger after all, "You can go over to your place, pick up some more lights."
Mrs. (L/N) feels a pang of dread. She doesn't want to go back into her house. Not after what had happened with her husband. But, she knows that she has to. For (Y/N). "Yeah, sure."

♥︎

Mrs. (L/N) slams the door of her car shut. She tries to swallow the lump in her throat, but it doesn't budge. A stone of terror sinks into her stomach. Her husband isn't home. His truck usually sits opposite to hers in the driveway. At the moment, it is not present. However, this fact doesn't settle her nerves. She still prepares for a bitter confrontation.
Mrs. (L/N) takes long strides to her front door, expecting her husband to come out from behind her at any second. He didn't hurt her on occasion. He barely even hurt her at all, but there has always been a lingering fear that he would. There were times when he'd grab her or push her while intoxicated and angry, but he'd never actually left any visible marks on her skin. One summer night, after a few too many drinks, Mr. (L/N) had even put his hands around her neck in a blind rage, but he had let go after he realized what he was doing.
She knows he doesn't want to be a mean, angry person but alcohol is a dangerous poison.
In high school, he'd been a stable, football player who most of the girls fawned over. Mrs. (L/N) had been one of those girls, however, she was actually lucky enough to score a date with him. She even now wonders to this day what had made him attracted to her. Maybe it was the shorts she wore during volleyball practice, the lipstick she wore to spring fling, or neither. It would forever remain a mystery to (Y/N)'s mother. But he'd chosen her nonetheless.
It was late winter, still a little chilly in Hawkins. Mrs. (L/N) been with a group of friends, who went their separate ways from her, she never really liked them that much anyways. Mr. (L/N) had approached them with his friends. Mrs. (L/N)'s friend, Jamie Lowell, was dating Rickie Stevens, another football player. While Jamie blushed over her newest boy-toy. Mr. (L/N) had simply gone up to (Y/N)'s mother and asked her out. Nothing fancy. She'd accepted because why not? He was nice enough and good-looking enough. That date turned into many because he was okay enough. They weren't prom king or queen, and they weren't "Cutest Couple" in the yearbook, that title went to Jamie and Ricky. However, the mediocre two stayed together because why not? They had no reason to break up.
So, onto college they went and Mr. (L/N) had his first beer of many.
He'd only drink at parties. The couple went to separate colleges. They would visit almost every weekend, they didn't stray far from Hawkins.
The two had conjoined graduation parties, Mrs. (L/N) didn't understand why that was until her boyfriend proposed. Everyone was in on it except for her. And when he proposed she said "yes" because why not? She wanted a family. Besides in front of all those people how could she say "no"? And it's not like they were totally loveless. They had their moments.
So, they got married and they moved in together. Mr. (L/N) got a nice job. Mrs. (L/N) started a small business that never quite flourished because her husband told her that he'd take care of the money. He thought he was being noble, but in reality, the chains were made all the much thicker.
Then, (Y/N) was born and her mother felt happier than she'd ever been before. Finally, she had a purpose. She was going to raise her daughter, and she'd do it well. As well as she could.
But a problem had arisen. Her husband received promotion after promotion. More stress had been added to his life. So, he turned to alcohol. It became his everything. He put on a mask of security and compatibility at work and ripped it off right when he stepped into his home. He sometimes tried to show he cared. Maybe even overcompensated to the point of manipulation. When on the brink of divorce, he'd gotten his wife pricey jewelry and nice dinners at top tier restaurants. They used to do things as a family, like apple picking and trips to amusement parks, but as (Y/N) got older, that slowly disappeared from their lives.
(Y/N)'s mother unfortunately doesn't give herself enough credit. She's raised her daughter the best she could, but it is difficult to do so when Mrs. (L/N) had low confidence in herself.
Sometimes Mrs. (L/N) wonders why (Y/N) had become so reserved. Was it her fault? Was it her husband's fault? Or was it just fate? No one can ever really know.

♥︎

Mrs. (L/N) rummages through multiple boxes in the attic. Christmas lights have spilled out onto the floor. She pulls the last string of lights from a cardboard box replete with ornaments for the faux tree they set up every year right after Thanksgiving.
(Y/N)'s mother gathers her collection of Christmas lights and shoves them into remaining empty boxes. She ends up with three. Mrs. (L/N) stacks the boxes on top of each other and attempts to grab them with her arms faced downwards. This proves to be unsuccessful. She then observes the stack and calculates the best way to lift the pile. (Y/N)'s mother squats down and wraps her arms around the lowest box. At first, she has a difficult time getting up, age and stress had taken a toll on her body. But, Mrs. (L/N) ends up lifting the boxes, grunting in the process, and carefully maneuvering her way down the unstable set of attic stairs. The box on top tumbles off the tower and Mrs. (L/N) swears under her breath. She sets the stack down, pops the box back on top, lifts the pile then continues her journey back to her car.
Mrs. (L/N) steps out of the front door and carefully makes her way to her car. She puts the ensemble into the backseat of her car. She hasn't realized her husband's truck which is parked opposite to hers, the stack of boxes had been obstructing her vision of the driveway. Mrs. (L/N) opens the driver's side door of her car and feels a rough hand plant itself onto her shoulder.
She yelps and swings around. The hand stays planted. Her husband towers above her. The smell of alcohol wafts from his hot breath to her nose which scrunches at the scent. He's home early, and she knows why. "You b*tch," Mr. (L/N) sneers at his wife, his words are weak and slurred . He must have gotten sent home because of his intoxication. Another employee must have noticed his strange behavior. Maybe they'd observed how he sat aggitated at his desk, or maybe he even had a heated interaction with a coworker. Nevertheless, he was definitely sent home. His mask had been peeled off in his sanctuary, the place which he ruled. Now he's enraged.
Mrs. (L/N)'s adrenaline spikes and she tries to back into the seat of her car. However, her husband forces the door shut. (Y/N)'s mother moves left as to not get hit by the door. She tries to muster up any words that can help her case, "Move!" That's all she is able to say. Her brain feels frozen.
Her husband only grumbles in response. His brain is also frozen, but in an entirely different way. "Move!" Mrs. (L/N) shouts again with an accompanying push. Her husband is barely impacted but because of his intoxication, he's distracted for a brief moment.
(Y/N)'s mother swerves around the back of her car and runs to the passenger's door. Her husband finally regains his footing and goes around the front of his Mrs. (L/N)'s car. She whips the passenger's door open and rushes inside, slamming it behind her. She crawls to the driver's seat and inserts her keys into the ignition. Mr. (L/N) opens the passenger door and continues to mumble insults at his wife. Mrs. (L/N) whimpers and locks her car doors, even though she knows that this won't do anything to remove her husband from the car, the act makes her feel safer.
(Y/N)'s father's eyes are locked on his wife. Like a hunter's on its prey. Mrs. (L/N) throws her head back in anguish as an idea pops into her head. She doesn't want to put this idea into action but it's now or never. Mrs. (L/N) props herself up with her arms and positions her body towards her husband. She draws her legs back towards her and mutters a broken, "I'm sorry," Mrs. (L/N) forces her legs forwards into her husband's stomach. He moans, and she repeats this action once more to make sure that he gets her message. Mr. (L/N) turns and falls to the ground. His shoulders lurch and vomit spills from his mouth onto the pavement.
Sobbing, Mrs. (L/N) straightens herself and leans to her right, closing the passenger's door. She slides the clutch into reverse and backs out of her driveway. She wipes her nose and speeds off towards the Byers' house.
Mr. (L/N) recollects himself and rolls over on the concrete staring up at the gray-blue sky. He hears his wife's car speed away and hoists himself up off the ground, feeling like he weighs twice as much as he really does. The man stands hunched over, his head spinning. Mr. (L/N) hops into his truck, which he left running, and tails his wife in a drunken haze, in hopes of catching her. Not hurting her. Just catching her. And restoring things to how they used to be. However, he doesn't realize how impossible that task is without his lost daughter.

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Hello! Sorry again for the late update, I haven't been feeling very motivated lately :( Hopefully, I get back into the groove. Thanks so much for all the support, every single read and vote makes an impact♥︎ ~WoodCeiling

*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*