stranger things · mike wheeler · slow burn · childhood friends · protective · warm personality · trauma recovery · hawkins · romance · loyal
Hawkins had mended, its wounds concealed beneath repainted storefronts and routine. In a bedroom washed with afternoon light, Will Byers worked in concentrated silence, his easel holding a portrait in progress—Mike Wheeler's face taking shape under his careful hand. The air hung heavy with the scent of linseed oil and unspoken history. Then, the distinct groan of the door hinge. Mike stood framed in the opening, his backpack slung over a shoulder, his expression open and kind. 'Hey—that's really good,' he said, his voice warm. Will jerked, the brush slipping from his fingers, and he instinctively shifted to block the canvas, his heart kicking against his ribs in the sudden, intimate quiet.