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angelkissiies · 2 years

Text

warmth

will byers x gn!reader

tw/cw : fluff, so much fluff. young love. pining. realization of love. unspoken feelings. best friends to lovers. will byers being happy for once.

a/n : love him as much as I do, he deserves it. also ignore any grammatical mistakes, it’s been a tough weekend lmao.

word count : 3409

Mid-December in Hawkins was beyond what you could consider cold, at that point it was pretty much always below 30 degrees. The roads and sidewalks were covered in thick patches of transparent ice that, if you were unfortunate enough, would victimize you in a heartbeat. Despite all of this, it did not phase Will. He had still decided to show up at your house that morning sporting the largest winter coat you’d ever seen. He could’ve put the marshmallow man to shame. That brought you to now, sitting at the kitchen table with the boy eating breakfast much earlier than you would’ve preferred- not that you really minded. You never admitted it out loud but spending time with Will was the highlight of your weekends because without fail he’d show up like clockwork every Saturday afternoon.

“Do you want some juice?” You asked, the fridge standing wide open as you looked back at the boy for an answer. The frigid air mixed with the already cold weather made you shiver.

Will nodded quickly, shoving another fork full of eggs into his mouth. He’d taken the liberty of making breakfast, seeing as he woke you up literally at the crack of dawn. “You don’t drink it with pulp right?” He questioned mid chew, raising an eyebrow.

You scoffed, holding a hand over your heart in mock distress. “You think that lowly of me? That I’d tolerate pulpy orange juice? Disgusting!” You laughed, pulling the carton out and closing the fridge behind you. “I actually don’t think I know anyone who drinks orange juice with pulp.”

He paused for a moment, his face deadpanning before he responded. “You literally know Nancy.”

A faux gag emitted from your throat, face twisting in disgust. “Oh that’s gross.” You moved to lean across the table, pouring the juice into his cup and then your own. “Anyways, since you’re here so early- I’m guessing there’s something you wanted to do today.”

Will smiled, throwing back the glass of juice in record time. “You bet! There’s this frozen pond just about a mile from here and I thought that maybe we could ice skate on it!” He exclaimed, feet tapping on the ground in excitement. He knew, for a fact, you could rarely ever say no to him- which usually leads to the two of you in massive trouble.

You eyes almost popped out of their sockets, It was pretty common knowledge to Will that you had never skated. Ever. Not once. “Will-,” you began, only to be cut off by the boy.

“No no, I know. You’ve never done it before.. but I have! I could teach you.” He assured, reaching across the table to grasp your hands, pleading silently. “I promise I won’t let you get hurt.”

The offer was tempting, it sounded like it could be fun- but with your luck it would definitely end with an injury. The more you thought about it, the more you wanted to spend some quality time with Will.

“Okay, I’ll do it. Just promise you won’t let me fall, okay?” You asked, holding out your pinky for Will to take. He gladly linked his pinky with your own, squeezing it as hard as he could playfully.

He stood from his seat at the table, gathering the now empty dishes and placing them in the sink. He didn’t bother to wash them, knowing your mother did them after their breakfast every morning. “Now, I know you don’t have ice skates so I brought my mom’s. She’s a size 7 in shoes, so I hope they fit.” He moved across the room to the bulky bag you had been wondering about since he arrived, the size now made sense considering what it held.

You laughed lightly, sitting down on the floor next to where he was. One by one he handed you Joyce’s skates, they looked well loved which made you glance over at Will. They just have done this often together, it almost felt like an honor to have him ask. “I think they’ll fit, I can try them on first though. Just for good measure.” You assured, unlacing the tops so you could slide your socked foot into the skate. As far as you could tell, it was a decent fit. You restrung the laces just a tad looser and wiggle your toes around, pleased with the comfortability.

Will watched you expectantly, taking in the subtle changes in your face as you experienced putting on ice skates for the first time. It may not be the biggest milestone in the world, but it counted to him. “So? Are they okay?” He asked, moving his hands down to pull the tongue of the skate out a tad, releasing some tension at your ankle.

“They’re pretty much perfect!” You smiled, slipping your foot out of the skate and setting it to the side. You wanted to leave immediately, you were so excited it hurt. “Let me run and put some warmer clothes on, could you write my mom a note? Just so she doesn’t worry.”

He nodded instantly, hopping up from where he was to rummage through the drawer next to the fridge. Most of the random things you had no place for found a home there, including the designated note pad and pen the two of you used to write notes to your mother when you left without speaking to her. She never really minded, she appreciated the effort to make her worry less- though it never worked. She always worried, like if the two of you went to the arcade- she would occasionally call up there to check in on you and make sure you were okay. He scribbled a simple note, nothing too lengthy.

‘Me and (y/n) are going ice skating at the pond on Spencer road. We won’t be gone too long, maybe a couple of hours. See you then!’

You had hurried into your room, closing the door quietly to avoid waking up anyone unnecessarily. The time now reading 5:45am, you picked through your closet- pulling out a winter coat, long sleeved sweater, and a pair of thick jean pants. For safe measures, you added a pair of leggings underneath the pants. You couldn’t be too warm, right? As you hustled to change, you ended up throwing your hair up to avoid it getting in the way. This made record time for getting ready, as the clock had only recorded four minutes passing. You snatched a couple scarves off of your dresser before heading back out to the kitchen where you had left Will.

“I didn’t see a scarf with you when you got here, so I grabbed this one for you. If you went home with a cold, I don’t know if Joyce would ever forgive me.” You joked, holding out the plaid scarf that clashed horrendously with his coat. You’d love to say that you’d planned it, but you really weren’t looking too closely at color when you grabbed the scarves so unfortunately you couldn’t. One way or another, it was still funny.

He made a face of faux disgust as he snatched the fabric from your hands before his lips upturned into a smile. Nobody paid attention to him the way you did, if this was anyone else- they would’ve never noticed he forgot his scarf, but you were different. You didn’t look through him, you actually saw him. “Thank you, I would’ve worn my own but I left in a hurry to get here. I wanted us to have more time to skate.” He explained, pulling on his coat. Once he had zipped up the massive thing, he wrapped the scarf around before securing the loose ends in his jacket.

You zipped your own coat up the rest of the way, following in suit with your scarf. You left the loose ends out though, as they felt too bulky underneath. You then haphazardly threw on your tennis shoes as they really wouldn’t matter later. Officially, you were ready to go- before you could utter a word though, Will was two steps ahead of you.

“Cmon!” He smiled, grabbing your hand and practically dragging you to the living room. He stuffed the skates back into the bag and threw it over his shoulder before hustling you out the front door. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was waste time. That was until he halted on the front porch, “Did you remember to fill your tires?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he squinted at you, he knew the answer already but chose to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Your mouth fell open, you had completely forgotten about the tire. As if the whole incident of having to walk your bike home wasn’t a clear enough reminder. “Uh.. well.. about that..” you began, looking anywhere but his eyes. You knew for a fact he was giving you that face, the stereotypical ‘I’m not mad or surprised, just disappointed’ look.

Will barely batted an eyelash, “You can ride on the back of my bike, but we will be filling that tire today.” He stated, shoving you playfully as he slid the backpack off of his back and into your hands. It was obvious that since the two of you were going to ride together, you’d need to carry the bag so you’d both fit safely- you didn’t mind. He clambered onto the bike, scooting forward to leave you enough room to be comfortable.

The backpack fit snugly on your back as you hopped on after him. You froze momentarily, realizing just how close you were to him. It flustered you a bit, but you pushed those feelings aside as you moved to wrap your arms around his waist. You never really rode with Will, since you both had bikes you usually just rode alongside each other rather than on the same bike. It made you unusually nervous.

He would never admit it out loud, but his stomach came alive the moment you held him. It wasn’t in a romantic way, but it sent a flight of butterflies into his stomach. Ignoring the fluttering, he began to peddle, but as much as he tried and tried to get those feelings out of his mind- he couldn’t. With every bump in the road, you instinctively held him tighter, which didn’t help his predicament in the slightest. Not to mention the feeling of your head resting against his back, it was almost empowering despite how nerve wrecking it was.

The sights passed by in a dull blur, blending together as the two of you sped along the side of the road. There were barely any cars, as most people were either asleep or at work at this time of morning- that was better for you two, less cars less risk. Before you knew it, Will had pulled off of the main road onto a small dirt trail that led back through a thick grove of trees. To say it was sketchy, would be an understatement.

“So this is the place?” You asked, hopping off the back of his bike. As you looked around you noticed just how well maintained this area was. The trail was clear of any brush or litter, meaning people regularly came through to clean it. That realization made the situation out in a much brighter light than before, seeing as it didn’t look like any murder would go undetected here- not saying that Will would murder you but.. you can never be too safe.

He threw you a smile, waving you forward as he walked his bike into the grove. The trail was pretty easy to follow, it was impacted into the ground from a history of use. “This is the best place in Hawkins to skate, I’m honestly surprised you’ve never been.” He admitted, looking over to you as you walked alongside him.

You shrugged slightly, adjusting the backpack on your back to a more comfortable angle. “My parents are the most active, unless you count my mom's aerobics class. They don’t do much outdoorsy stuff like normal families.” It was true, your parents were more into watching movies and shopping as a bonding activity. It was fun, sure, but you felt you’d missed out on a lot.

Will chuckled, stopping abruptly to tuck his bike into a patch of brush on the side of the trail. “Aerobics count for something, they just don’t compare to his.” He stated, grabbing your hand before taking off down the rest of the trail.

If you squinted, you could see the trails end just up ahead. It was brighter on that side of the grove, as if the sun had chosen to shine on that spot only. You tried your best to keep up with Will , gripping his hand for dear life as he dragged you to the grove's edge.

Once you exited the patch of trees, you finally understood why he was in such a hurry. You’d been partially correct about the sun, it had begun to shine down through the cloud cover and onto the ice of the pond. In turn, the ice was glowing a soft ethereal light that lit up the entire clearing.

“Oh my god, Will. This is amazing.” You breathed out, you couldn’t help but agree with him. Aerobics definitely couldn’t hold a candle to the flame this lit in your chest. It was as if heaven had become a real place on earth, none of it felt real.

Will watched your reaction, beaming with pride as he soaked in the morning sun. He couldn’t have chosen a better person to share this side of himself with. Truth be told, you and his mom were the only people we wanted to do things like this with. The two of you made him feel comfortable enough to breathe freely. “I know, how about we hop on the ice?” He suggested, not realizing he still had a hold on your hand. He was quick to realize when he felt you squeeze it gently, a redirection of your excitement. He led you down to the edge of the ice, right where the ice met the ground- the safest starting place for you two to launch from.

You swung the backpack off of your back, sitting down on the ground to unpack the skates Will had haphazardly shoved in. Thinking about it, that was probably the training for the weird poking feeling in your back the whole bike ride. You felt dumb not realizing before now but shook those thoughts off. “So, just to clarify- you won’t let me fall, right?”

He sat down beside you, pulling his tennis shoes off. He pretended to think about it for a second, earning a scoff from you. “I pinky swear, I will not let you fall.” He swore, holding out his pinky for you to take. It was an endearing gesture, but you knew he couldn’t promise anything. It was the effort that counted though.

Your pinkies linked together, drawing a smile to your lips as you shook them- as if it was a handshake before turning back to the task at hand. Your shoes slipped off and you began to fumble with the laces on the skates. It was pretty easy, but for some reason anxiety began to grow in your stomach. A bundle of nerves being poked and prodded by every moment you got closer to actually skating, internally you knew that Will wouldn’t let you get hurt but it still scared you.

The two of you sat in peaceful silence as you finished lacing up and tying your skates, then came the real question.

“Will, how do I get up and actually on the ice?” You asked, looking from your bladed feet to the ice just a few inches away. Because the blades were so thin, it seemed impossible to stand up and step onto the ice without actually breaking your neck. The anxiety creeped back up into your throat as you looked between the boy and the ice.

He noticed the hesitation and was quick to act, “Close your eyes, okay?” He instructed, grasping your hands within his own. As you closed your eyes, you heard a rough ‘click’ of his skates against the ice. His hands moved down to grip your waist, sending a heartaches worth of butterflies into your stomach. He was careful as he helped hoist you up onto your feet, steadying you as you wobbled slightly on the unfamiliar skates. As you began to grow accustomed to standing on the blades, he gently lifted you from the grass onto the ice.

You had been holding in a breath this whole time, terrified that he might slip and drop you, but as you opened your eyes you could breathe again. You were standing upright on the ice, Will still holding your waist to keep you steady. A delighted smile pulled at your lips as you leaned forward to wrap your arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, I probably would’ve died trying to do that alone.”

Will pulled away, bowing. “No problem at all, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He chuckled, holding his hands out for you to take. His fingers were slightly tipped in pink, the cold air relentless on his exposed skin. From what you could tell, it didn’t bother him.

Taking his hands, you clasped them tightly. You weren’t as afraid anymore, more focused on the curvature of Will’s lips as he smiled at you. He was the perfect boy, that was something you’d always known.

He intertwined your fingers together, using a free hand to give himself some momentum. He pushed off the ice, sending the two of you into a slide forward before he slowly began to loosen his grip on your hand. This terrified you, making you instinctively reach out for him, only to be greeted by his arm moving down around your waist.

“It’s okay, watch this.” He assured, prompting you to keep your eyes open as he pushed off again. He had the two of you gaining speed, and as you watched and attempted to copy his movements- you seemed to be helping him. He wasn’t pulling all of the weight as he had been, feet gliding across the pond effortlessly. The air was crisp, turning your nose and cheeks a soft pink as you came closer and closer to the other edge of the pond.

Will used his free arm to turn, utilizing gravity to send the two of you into a whirlpool spin. He quickly grabbed a hold of you, pulling you tighter into him as the two of you went in circles. His face was filled with delight as he bunched his hands up in your coat, watching as your eyes shone.

You felt like you were flying, the momentum causing your scarf to flap wildly in the wind as you tightened your grip on Will. You don’t think you’d ever be able to describe this feeling, a mix of terror and pure unbridled joy. The thumping in your chest was the only indication that this was real life, heart filled with adrenaline. As you began to slow, and inevitably stop, you didn’t let go of Will. The world spun as you had and your body hadn’t caught up- and as you attempted to acclimate to the stillness, something caught your attention. The boy in front of you was laughing, Truly laughing. a noise that you didn’t often hear. His body shook with joyous laughter that came from a deep place of carelessness, making a smile form on your lips.

He took a deep breath, crisp winter air filling his lungs as he looked down at you. “Isn’t it the best?” He asked, moving his hands to correct your scarf back around your neck so you wouldn’t get too cold. His fingers brushed across your cheek as he did so, sending a pang of nerves into his chest. He did his best to ignore it but the feeling blossomed into one that encased him, making his cheeks turn a shade of red.

“I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

That was the truth. Being here with Will was something you wouldn’t trade for the world. Despite the frigid winter air and the frostbite nipping at your fingers, you were filled with warmth.

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