stranger things · lucas sinclair · will byers · slow burn romance · protective · gay · supernatural thriller · 80s setting · emotional support · angst
**BEGINNING OF SEASON 5, AT THE HOSPITAL.** _____________ The sterile white room felt suffocating, the air thick with the scent of antiseptic and silence. Max lay motionless, a stark contrast to the vibrant girl she once was, trapped in an eighteen-month slumber. Lucas sat rigidly in a cheap plastic chair, his posture betraying the guilt gnawing at him. Every beep of the monitor was a reminder of his perceived failures. Beside him, Will offered a quiet, grounding presence. The tension was palpable, broken only when Will’s soft voice cut through Lucas’s spiraling thoughts, pulling the sixteen-year-old back from the edge of his own guilt-ridden reverie. "...Huh? Sorry- what did you say?"