I am writing that ST rewrite with the ships all mixed up (except for stoncy? I guess?) and I am calling it Weirder Things because I have no sense of humour whatsoever. So this excerpt is a test for a byclair scene which would take place in season 4.
I changed the plot btw the whole Party is together in season 4 because they wanted to surprise Will for his birthday (I am not dealing with birthdaygate in this fic). I just liked that "We're not in Hawkins anymore" and wanted to indulge in it more than they did in the source material. Also, in the hypothetical season 3, Will and Lucas were a duo while Mike Max and El a trio.
Disclaimer: English isn't my first language
For a cool get away with his friends, those vacations were a real mess. El was literally in jail, Dustin was sulking in her room about a fight that felt like a breakup, Max was in the same absent state she has been since the end of summer and only Mike was still trying to hold the group together by suggesting movies they could binge. A for the effort, but nobody was convinced. Not even him—as mentioned earlier, his best friend was in jail.
Lucas threw the ball. Score.
"Nice shot," said a voice behind him.
Lucas turned. Ah. If it wasn't Will Byers, the boy who had been ignoring his calls for almost nine months. Lucas had tried to match his nonchalance since they arrived in California but he couldn't help but look at him. Notice all the changes in his appearance and his demeanor.
He was taller, for one. His hair were shorter, though. His face got slimmer and he finally matched his age—Will has always looked a bit younger than them while being the oldest. And, right now, he looked tired. Really tired. Which wasn't surprising: his sister was in jail, his mother MIA and his brother stoned. Oh, and his birthday had been ruined.
"You saw?" was all that Lucas could say, which he regretted the minute it left his mouth. Obviously, he had seen. Luckily for him, Will smiled and nodded. "Guess all this training didn't go to waste." He went to fetch the ball, awfully aware of Will's eyes following him.
"Yeah, Mike told me you were in the basketball team."
"Well he wouldn't have to if you had just answered the phone once."
Will stiffened. Even Lucas was surprised by what he had just said; he wasn't used to being angry at his friend. It was uncomfortable but Lucas wasn't going to apologize. Not before getting his own apology first, at least. A hard resolution to hold up to with Will looking at him with those kicked puppy eyes…
"Lucas…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
Well, that was all Lucas wanted to hear. And it still felt like it wasn't enough. Maybe he would like an explanation as well? Things had never been that complicated with Will before but, since last summer, Lucas was walking on eggshelves.
He didn't want to push Will but he was ready to do anything so that things could go back to normal. To before.
"That's nice, but I mostly want to know why you acted like that. Why didn't you answer any of my calls?"
"My mom's always on the phone, she has this telemarketing job—"
"And Mike has like, a book of letters from you!" Lucas hadn't meant to raise his voice but the memory of Mike telling them about Will because he had news was engraved in his head, painful and mocking. "Sorry—" Lucas couldn't help it. "—but I don't understand. You know you can talk to me. After this summer, I felt like we were closer. I understand Mike is your best friend and I get that you needed time to adjust to life here but I feel like you don't even want me in your life anymore."
"That's not true," Will replied immediately, his brows furrowed.
"Which part?"
"The part where you believe I don't want you in my life anymore. I know I could have reached out more but I just…" Will froze. Looked at Lucas. A million thoughts seemed to cross his mind, but he ultimately just sighed and added: "I don't know. Every time I tried to start a letter, I just couldn't figure out what to write. I'm sorry."
Now, Lucas had an apology and a half-assed explanation. He wasn't expecting that much. It still wasn't enough. He wanted Will to say something, something else, and he had no idea how to get Will to tell him that thing. How could he? He didn't even know what he wanted!
So this had to be enough. Lucas would take it and roll with it. Maybe distance had truly just been hard on their friendship and that was the reason why he felt uncomfortable with Will? Yeah, that must have been that.
"Alright." Lucas forced a smile. "So, friends?"
Will smiled. He seemed relieved. "Obviously."
And Lucas felt better, truly. Getting Will to smile was a good enough reward for anything.
After a few seconds of silence and a shared looks Lucas would rather not think about too much, he passed the ball to Will. The brown-haired boy caught it and raised an eyebrow.
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Usually the goal is to put it in the basket."
"You know I suck at sports."
They were finally slipping into their usual back and forth. Will's smile was genuine and the weight on Lucas's chest felt way less heavy.
"I could teach you how."
"Wouldn't change much, I fear."
"Have more faith, young Padawan."
Will let out a small giggle. Lucas grinned. Yeah. It was enough. What could he even want more than that?
Had she been dressed in a red coat, and the setting had been more fairy tale-ish, Liv probably would have looked like Little Red Riding Hood. Complete with the basket that was hanging over her forearm. However, the hoodie jacket that she was wearing was a rich green that offset her eyes, and stood in contrast to dark hair that was touched by red in the beams of sunlight that came through the forest canopy.
While most things didn’t grow in the dead of winter, she and her Mum had found a patch of truffles that seemed to grow year round, no matter the temperature outside, or how buried in snow they might be. The fact that this particular spot was also near where they would open the Way into a place in the Never Never where it seemed to be perpetual fall or winter may have had something to do with that. Should some of the spores have escaped, they may have found purchase on the mortal side, thus causing this particular patch to grow and flourish.
Liv considered the mushrooms in her basket as she tracked the path back to where she’d parked her truck. Definitely something she should look into, and couldn’t remember for the life of her why she hadn’t previously. Possibly because they were delicious, therefore the focus usually was on eating them.
Her thoughts were disrupted as something started to tickle along the back of her neck, causing the small hairs there to raise. It felt like magic, but there shouldn’t be anything out here. This part of the forest was remote enough that people shouldn’t even be living here as there didn’t seem to be any power lines or cable lines. Or really anything that would connect someone to civilization.
Quite possibly something to check up on. Pausing in her walk, she carefully traced what she feeling back to the direction it was coming from, then started to walk that way. Walking quietly through the forest had never been her strongest skill, so she made sure to take her time and try noit to alert anyone to her approach.
