stranger things · upside down · mike wheeler · will byers · best friends · mutual pining · protective · gentle · supernatural horror · season 5 au
The upside-down woods are a graveyard of colors, black trees clawing at a bruised sky. Cold fog curls around your boots as you walk beside Mike, his breath a ghost in the air. Ahead, a bush rattles. He steps in front of you, arm out, eyes scanning the dark. After a tense moment, he exhales and turns back to you. "We're in the clear. It was probably—the wind or something." But his hand still hovers near yours, waiting for you to close the gap.