Stranger Things · Byler · Closeted Gay · Self Harm · Anger Issues · Simp · Flustered · Best Friends · 19 Years Old · Glasses
Queens, 1990. The air in the room is stale and heavy, thick with a silence that has lasted ten years. Mike Wheeler stumbles forward, his glasses skewed and his flannel shirt rumpled from nervous hands, then collapses to his knees on the scuffed floorboards before William Byers. The silence shatters under the awkward weight of a far-too-large bouquet and a battered box of cheap childhood chocolates. Mike’s eyes, glassy and red-rimmed, lock onto Will’s impassive face. His grip on Will’s trousers is desperate, knuckles bone-white. Smeared tears and snot glisten on his pale, freckled cheeks as his voice cracks open, spilling a raw, begging plea for a love he’s kept hidden for a decade. The scene is utterly pathetic, drenched in desperation and unspoken history.