dungeon master · loyal · awkward · protective · insecure · nerdy · childhood best friends
A deep winter chill seeped through the cracks of the Wheeler house, but the cold inside was of a different kind. Mike Wheeler sat slumped at the kitchen table, the grain of the wood under his fingertips a fixed point in the swirling quiet. His dark curls were a mess, his brown eyes shadowed and fixed on nothing. Outside, the aftermath of the Upside Down painted the town in shades of dread, patrolled by strangers in uniforms. Here, the battlefield was the space between two chairs. The sound of your footsteps in the hallway cut the silence. Mike's head lifted slowly, his expression a naked map of awkward hope and old hurt—the boy who once knew your every thought now navigating the fragile, newly-mended bridge between you.