#also I did ship M*leven in S1 but to me it didn't work when the innocent childhood crush aspect was lessened
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words-are-my-medium Ā· 7 years ago
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Post-S2 ST Headcanons
This started out as headcanons I was writing down and then it just got so out of hand it turned into a semi-fic? Itā€™s long and probably not great writing Iā€™m sorry but I wanted to keep track of it here for myself at least so here (please donā€™t take this as an example of my actual writing quality because I would format this so much better if it wasnā€™t just a heacanon dump)
El-centric, pre-Byler/Byeler, Byers-Hopper family feels and headcanons galore, (probably overuse of commas galore too), kind-of a fic?
-So El is likeā€¦ super not into studying. I mean she had a dictionary in her house for almost a year and she didnā€™t know the word ā€œcompromiseā€; girlā€™s been watching TV all day and learning words slowly and not entirely accurately through context. After the Snow Ball Hopper starts cracking downā€“she needs to start school (high school no less) in the fall of ā€˜85 and sheā€™s got a lot of catching up to do.
-She HATES it, and the Party quickly realizes this, so they try to study with her and help whenever possible. Unfortunately they donā€™t succeed much: whenever Mikeā€™s over El never wants to study; Lucas gets too impatient with her; Dustin makes a valiant effort to introduce her to the joy of curiosity voyages but it doesnā€™t work. Max, after being unfairly given the cold shoulder for quite a while, finally becomes friends with El and then becomes a HUGE distraction; Elā€™s only friend whoā€™s a girl (even if sheā€™s not into pretty things like playing with makeup), why study when you can have special girls only friend time?
-So the Partyā€™s pretty stuck, when surprisingly Will steps up and like magic, El tries super hard to be attentive and they start making progress! Mike is pretty sure there is some kind of guilt on Elā€™s part regarding Will thatā€™s contributing, but hey, whatever works. Will is actually a pretty good tutor it turns out, heā€™s really patient and intuitive, observant to what seems to work and what doesnā€™t, if not particularly gifted at teaching, and while El will probably never be an amazing student, she starts getting the hang of the basic subjects. (Except math, which she is shockingly good atā€“Max is convinced that her brain is actually a calculator, but El explains that math was easy because it was so exact: no complicated answers, just right or wrong, not a lot of words to get in the way. Sheā€™d quietly admitted to Mike once with a wry smile that numbers just made sense to her.)
-Hopper takes Will out for his birthday because Lonnie sucks and the kid loves his mother obviously and hey, Hopper doesnā€™t care if heā€™s sensitive or different or something else, heā€™s Joyceā€™s boy and a good kid, but it wouldnā€™t hurt to spend some time with a positive male figure again after Bob. In early May Joyce and Hopper startā€¦ not quite dating but everyone knows itā€™s just a matter of time. Jonathan and Will have already discussed what it might be like having El for a sister someday. Theyā€™re not sure if/when that might become official, but to the brothers sheā€™s already joined their family and theyā€™re both happy. (Jonathan immediately had a fondness for El, sheā€™d saved Will and her ā€œpapaā€ was super shitty too, and his protectiveness and compassion kicked in and he was able to start bonding with her pretty quickly, to his surprise.)
The weekend after the 4th of July they are all hanging out at the cabin, trying to cram in as much as possible as the fall and upcoming school year draw nearer. Theyā€™re eating leftover watermelon and Max is teaching them her patented seed-spitting technique, though Will is still helping El finish the part of the lesson theyā€™re on and he loves that he can help, but he wants to kinda hang out too and El realizes this, of course.
El leans in to kiss him on the cheek and thank him because she genuinely appreciates his patience with her so much and she knows itā€™s taking time away from other stuff he could be doing to tutor her, heā€™s such a good friend and a sweet person and El is so happy having him in her life, in her family even, but at that exact moment Dustin nails Will in the side of the head with a watermelon seed and Will whips around to face his attacker, and El ends up planting it right on his mouth.
Everyone gasps and freezes and El breathes in sharply and tenses, but Will just kinda sits there wide-eyed for a minute before bursting out laughing. Elā€™s face is a mix of fear and shame and sheā€™s turning red, and everyone else is kind-of hesitantly looking at Mike. He isnā€™t sure how to react because yeah, hisā€¦ girlfriend(?) just kissed his oldest friend but it was completely an accident, obviously not intended, and rather than being mad heā€™s kind of having a sudden anxious realization that wow, okay, that was not something he ever expected to see but uh, it wasnā€™tā€¦ wasnā€™t bad because El is pretty and Will is cute and heā€“um, okay yes he did just think Will is cute?! Heā€™s having a violent bi awakening panic attack and omg why is Will laughing this is so awkward Mikeā€™s turning into a tomato to match El whyā€“
ā€œWill, isā€¦ are you okay?ā€ Dustin asks carefully, afraid heā€™s just set into motion a chain of events that made his friend go insane, because Will is practically rolling on the floor by now, and Will manages to stop just enough to gasp ā€œIā€™m going to have to tell everyone who ever asks for the rest of my life that my first kiss was with my sister,ā€ and Lucas spits his drink out all over Dustin and Max and then thereā€™s an uproar of laughter and yelling and El is apologizing frantically and Will is wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and Mike is just standing there frozen and beet red and kind-of?? more than a little upset that El kinda just stole Willā€™s first kiss?!
-When everyone finally goes home Will and El stay (because Joyce and Hopper were out somewhere together so sheā€™s picking him up when they get back), and they both kinda sit for a while comfortably in silence until Will knowingly asks if sheā€™s okay and El admits sheā€™s sad because Max explained that apparently first kisses are important and Elā€™s sorry she ruined Willā€™s. Will assures her instantly she didnā€™t, it was an accident anyway and then goes quiet for a moment before ā€œIā€™ll tell you a secret, El, donā€™t tell anyone else, but I donā€™t wanna kiss girls anyway, so it doesnā€™t count, it was only a technical first kiss, my official first kiss has to be with a boy so you didnā€™t ruin it at all.ā€
And El is so relieved because she never talks about it to anyone but she knows, knows everything bad that happened to Will is her fault, but now heā€™s her brother and her friend and she loves him and her new family and though she hates it, the truth is she wouldnā€™t take it all back, opening the gate, even if she somehow was able to, so she just has to try her hardest to make sure heā€™s happy and safe from now on.
-This is how Will Byers comes out (because confirming with Jonathan what Jonathan has always kinda known doesnā€™t count, heā€™s never had to hide who he is from Jonathan so itā€™s not ā€œcoming outā€, he was never ā€œinā€ when it comes to his brother). El is the perfect person because she doesnā€™t know how to hate, not for reasons like this; she accepts him immediately and thatā€™s what heā€™s been so worried about, after everything Lonnie and the kids at school have ever said heā€™s been too scared to even tell his mother, let alone the boy he likes. And suddenly Willā€™s crying in her arms and Elā€™s become a sympathetic crier so then theyā€™re both crying and El starts crying harder because maybe she was wrong again and itā€™s not okay, obviously, if Willā€™s still sad? And thatā€™s how Hopper and Joyce find them, hugging and crying their eyes out and the adults are so bewildered.
-The Byers get in the car to go home after they finally calm down (and Will assures El everythingā€™s fine several times with hugs), and Joyce doesnā€™t even have to ask, she just gives him a concerned look and Will looks out the window to hide his face and takes a deep breath before he quietly admits, ā€œI was crying because I told Jane Iā€™m gay and she didnā€™t bat an eyelash, she just accepted me.ā€
-Joyce immediately pulls the car over and unbuckles her seat belt and leans over and hugs Will so tight, and he screws his eyes shut so he doesnā€™t see her face but he can hear her murmur ā€œSweetie, I have been waiting for you to accept yourself,ā€ and suddenly a weight he didnā€™t even realize heā€™d been carrying is gone.
The remainder of the summer Will and El become closer than ever, while Mike strangely becomes frequently absent to Party events. One day in mid-August Mike visits El alone while the others are out seeing Back to the Future for the second time (because Dustin and Lucas started an argument about time travel mechanics after the first time and forced Will and Max to come again while they rewatch for research) and heā€™s only there 15 minutes before she quietly asks ā€œAre you mad I kissed Will because Iā€™m supposed to kiss you?ā€
Mike shakes his head furiously like a wet dog and assures her of course he isnā€™t, it was an accident and heā€™s over it, itā€™s been over a month, El, ā€œI practically forgot about it alreadyā€, but she just looks at him thoughtfully and then her eyes widen the tiniest bit and she asks again, ā€œAre you mad I kissed Will because you wanted to kiss Will?ā€ and Mikeā€™s face drains of color so fast itā€™s like heā€™s in a cartoon.
ā€œWhat?! No, Iā€“ā€ he starts unconvincingly, his voice raising into a panicked shrillness, but interrupts himself, ā€œSteve told you, didnā€™t he, or I mean he told Dustin who told you, or something, whatever, somehow it was that douchebag, wasnā€™t it? I knew I shouldnā€™t have trusted him, ā€˜master of romantic adviceā€™ my ass!ā€
El is very confused but lets Mike rant about Steve Harrington being an untrustworthy jerk for a full five minutes before finally grabbing his hand and shaking her head. ā€œNobody told me anything. You seemed mad. So if youā€™re not mad about me then itā€™s about Will, right?ā€
And then Mike is very embarrassed because obviously Steve wouldnā€™t have said anything, heā€™s practically Dustinā€™s older brother now, but he can feel the ā€œfriends donā€™t lieā€ coming so heā€™s screwed anyway.
ā€œOkay, fine, maybe I might have thought about it a little butā€¦ itā€™s because I think I might like boys too.ā€
ā€œLike? Like you want to kiss?ā€ Elā€™s mental gears are turning and Mike nods, ā€œYeah, I still want to kiss girls but maybe boys too, Steve said itā€™sā€¦ that I donā€™t have to pick only one. Some people like both.ā€ (Bisexual is much too complicated a term and Mikeā€™s still not entirely convinced Steve didnā€™t make it up.)
-A light bulb goes off in Elā€™s brain and she thinks hard for a minute before she says, ā€œIf you want, we donā€™t have to kiss anymore so you can try to kiss a boy,ā€ and Mikeā€™s eyebrows almost shoot clean off his head, but he looks at her carefully and sees sheā€™s sincere and not upset, and for the first time he sees her solely as the girl sheā€™s become, not the Eleven he first met nearly two years before, so quietly he just says ā€œIf thatā€™s what you want, El.ā€
She nods but then narrows her eyes at him, ā€œYouā€™ll still like me as a friend?ā€ and he smiles warmly and nods, ā€œIā€™ll always like you as a friend, El, no matter what, even if itā€™s not the kissing kind of like,ā€ and Elā€™s heart jumps because maybe it is possible, maybe sheā€™s really this lucky, she can keep all the good things sheā€™s gained and still make Will happy too.
ā€œBut donā€™t tell anybody else I like boys, okay El?ā€ Mike adds suddenly, and El nods, a smile creeping onto her face. El keeps her promises and tells nobody anything, but for the few weeks remaining in the summer, she occasionally wears a satisfied little smile, the cause of which even Max canā€™t get out of her.
-In the fall of ā€˜85 the kids all start high school, El a little nervous but feeling prepared thanks her friends and family (especially Will), and Will finally confident, at least a little, because heā€™s accepted himself and heā€™s got the best family ever and if anyone gives him shit, his future step-dad is the chief of police and his sister can break arms (and worse) with her mind and they all accept him too and love him no matter what. (Heā€™s pretty sure the rest of his friends will too, but he promised himself that he wouldnā€™t tell them heā€™s gay until he told Mike first, because Willā€™s realized thatā€™s been a long time coming and nowā€™s as good a time as any since El told him vaguely about their ā€œbreakupā€; Will knows heā€™s single and hasnā€™t had a chance to develop a crush on anyone else yet. He owes it to his best friend to be honest, and well, if Mike breaks his heart, [which heā€™s mostly expecting, tbh] Will believes at least heā€™ll still be his friend, and heā€™ll move on. Eventually.)
El is so happy when the complete Party meets for the first time in front of the school on the first day, finally all together in the open, and she doesnā€™t miss how her two closest friends look at each other. This will be a good year, El thinks.
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