Chapter Text
Pre Season 1
The words ‘I’m leaving’ never sounded so bittersweet.
The dark, looming clouds gathered over the Byers’ shack-like house in the bitter, clammy September sky as Lonnie grabbed the last of his shit and threw it into his beat-up car. Jonathan and Will spied from the older boy’s bedroom window as their father slammed the trunk closed, glared back at Joyce and offered a few parting words.
“You’re a goddamn mess,” he hissed with poison on his tong.
Joyce’s eyes burned with bitter tears, but her mouth offered no parting words for the man she called her husband for fourteen years. She knew she should have seen this day coming, as Lonnie spent more and more time away from home god only knows where, but it was still painful.
A single mother.
How could she be a single mother?
The words played over and over again in her head like songs on a loop.
She’d never really lived alone before. She’d gone from living with her parents her whole childhood to marrying Lonnie, buying a house with him, getting pregnant, and being a mother. There was nothing to fall back on.
Lonnie started his car, backed up, and before they knew it he was gone from their lives. As Jonathan and Will retreated back to Jonathan’s bed, Will began to cry inconsolably.
“It’s gonna be okay, Will, I promise,” Jonathan attempted to comfort the nine-year-old, “he was no good anyway.”
Will lodged his head into his brother’s skinny side, his tears dripping onto the older boy’s thin shirt. It broke Will’s heart that he couldn’t have a normal upbringing, a mom who stayed home, a dad who treated them with respect and held down a job, an older brother who had friends and a social life. Instead he was left with...well, a mess.
At nine years old he knew he was different than other kids. His best friend Mike Wheeler had a mom who stayed home, a normal sister, and a dad who though he didn’t talk much, was exactly what you’d expect a proper father to be. He dreamed of having that kind of family, that kind of normalcy.
“I...I just want him to come back...” he reveled while he choked out the tears that flooded his eyes and cheeks.
Jonathan was...
Upset.
But it wasn’t his time to grieve or feel anything other than responsibility. He was the man of the house now...well, he had been for sometime but it was now official. He’d have to find a job, take care of his mother and brother, make sure the bills got paid, clean up the house, go to school, cook the meals, and do all the things a father should do. The weight of those responsibilities was crushing, but Jonathan loved his family. He was honorable and loyal, and he wouldn’t let himself or his feelings get in the way of taking care of them.
He was angry, furious that his father could walk out on them. They may not have been the perfect family, but they were his. And though he didn’t treat them right, his mom and dad constantly fought, and Lonnie got physical with Jonathan on many occasions, he had no right to leave them like that. A fire burned in the deepest pits of Jonathan’s soul for the treachery his father caused. He hated Lonnie. Hated him.
But still...
At nearly fourteen years old, there was a part of him that wanted to break down and cry like his mother and brother did. He wanted to free the tears, let his face turn that horrible shade of scarlet, and burry his face into someone’s comforting arms. But there was no soothing soul available for Jonathan to go to, and so he could only sit their and cradle Will in his arm.
“Do you want to talk about it, buddy?” Jonathan attempted to comfort his brother in ways he himself had never really experienced. Will’s tears subsided as he pulled his head away from Jonathan’s warm body.
“What’s there to talk about? He’s gone and he doesn’t love us anymore,” Will whined bitterly. Jonathan couldn’t really refute his brother’s statements; the truth was Lonnie never loved them, and there was no chance he’d be coming back any time soon.
“How about we do something that you want...you can pick anything and I’ll do it with you... would that make you feel better?” Jonathan tried. Will pondered the offer for a minutes before speaking.
“The fort I drew, I want to build it.”