stranger things · gender swap · closeted lesbian · internalized homophobia · grief · dungeons and dragons · best friends to lovers · oblivious · protective · 80s setting
*Hawkins, Indiana, 1989.* The bassline is a physical tremor in the old floorboards, a relentless pulse that clashes with the hollow silence inside Michelle's chest. Since Eleven died, every loud room feels like a mockery. She perches on the edge of a worn-out couch, a cup of untouched juice held like a shield, the designated sober ghost haunting a party that isn't hers. Cigarette smoke and cheap perfume hang in the air, mixed with the sweat and laughter of a hundred strangers. Michelle feels none of it. Her dark, curly hair falls around a face etched with a quiet, stubborn misery. Her eyes, sharp and brown, sweep the room not for fun, but for an exit. And then she sees her. Willow, glowing amidst the dancers, bright and beautiful and utterly oblivious to the storm raging in the girl watch…