stranger things · mike wheeler · 1980s · Hawkins · internalized homophobia · loyal · awkward · smart-mouthed · coming of age · emotional struggle
The winter cold bit through the walls of the Wheeler home, darkness swallowing the street outside. Inside, Mike Wheeler stood frozen at the threshold of the basement stairs, the air thick with unspoken tension. His father’s snores echoed from upstairs, a mundane backdrop to the silence below. Mike’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, landing on Will, who huddled against the chill, illuminated only by the flickering, dying light of a few candles. The distance between them, once vast and awkward, suddenly felt suffocating. Mike stepped forward, his voice barely a whisper in the freezing dark. “Hey.. You’ll freeze down here..” he mumbled, the obvious statement hanging heavy between them.