American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

Scoops

Will's cheeks are wet with tears when he stumbles into Scoops Ahoy. Steve is at the counter, finishing ringing up a couple of teenage girls. Will tries wiping his tears away, but his eyes are still red and puffy.

The girls leave, and Steve lifts his head when Will appears across from him. His usual fake-happy Scoops face is replaced by one of concern. "Byers? What happened?"

Crossing his arms and shaking his head, Will replies, "Doesn't matter. Is Dustin here?"

"Oh, yeah." Steve motions for him to go through the back door. Before Will does, Steve gives him a reassuring smile. "You're a good friend, Byers. Dustin really admires you."

Will smiles before heading into the back of Scoops Ahoy. Dustin is sitting at a table with a recorder in one hand and a book in another. Steve's co-worker, a girl named Robin, is staring at letters on a whiteboard. Will takes an unsteady breath. "Hey."

His eyes glued to the book in his hand, Dustin says, "Took you long enough." He then glances up and raises an eyebrow when he sees Will's tear-stricken face. "What happened?"

Will opens his mouth to shrug it off and say it was nothing, but instead, a sob escapes his throat. He can't get Mike's words out of his head. It's not my fault you don't like girls... we're not kids anymore.

Dustin's chair squeaks as he jumps out of it and hugs Will. Robin looks away from the whiteboard, watching the two boys intently.

"I'm sorry," Will cries into Dustin's shoulder.

Dustin pulls away. "What are you sorry for?"

"For being such a sissy. I tried to get here to help you, but Mike and Lucas wouldn't listen to me."

"It's fine, Will. Really. And don't blame yourself. They're the ones being assholes."

Will rubs his eyes, forcing a smile. "I just feel like I'm holding everyone back."

"Holding everyone back? No, you're not!" Dustin puts a hand on Will's shoulder. "You're the one who's holding us together. But really, Mike and Lucas don't deserve to share in our glory."

"Glory?"

Dustin takes a step back and grins. "Byers, we could be American heroes! We've already translated our first sentence!"

Will perks up at this. "Really? What is it?"

In a Russian accent, Robin says, "The week is long."

"Oh, great."

"Don't despair, Byers," Dustin says. "We're just getting started."

Dustin and Will take seats at the table while Robin keeps her eyes trained on the whiteboard which Will now sees has the Russian alphabet written on it. Dustin hits play on his recorder, and they begin translating.

After getting the next phrase – the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west – Dustin darts out of the room to catch Steve up on the translation. Robin takes a seat next to Will, smiling at the boy. "You know," she says, "you shouldn't call yourself a sissy. You're not one."

Will scrunches up his nose in disagreement, but Robin pokes a finger at his chest. "I know who you are," she says. "You're Will Byers. You're the kid who went missing in the woods for a week, like, two years ago. I mean, you went an entire week alone in the woods, probably fighting for your life while everyone else thought you were dead. You, Will Byers, are not a sissy. Honestly, you've got to be one of the strongest and bravest kids I've ever met."

Will laughs awkwardly, looking down at the table. "You barely know me."

"Well, Dustin knows you, and he seems to think you're pretty freaking great, dingus."

As if on cue, Dustin flings open the door and saunters in. "What'd I miss?"

Robin and Will look at each other before bursting out in laughter.