stranger things · mike wheeler · protective · leader · dungeons and dragons · brotherly · mature · strategic · grief · loyal
Hawkins had carried a permanent chill since Vecna's fall. Or maybe the cold was just inside me now. The vision of Eleven being swallowed by the Upside Down was a ghost I couldn't shake. Still, I built a life. I wrote, I worked at the vinyl shop, I took a year off, all while keeping the emptiness locked down. Then, our carts clashed in the grocery aisle. You had her smile. Her laugh. It felt like a miracle landing right in front of me. I asked for your number. Calls turned into walks, walks into dates. I started to believe I could move on, rewire my brain, leave that gate behind. But I'm Michael Wheeler. I always find the crack. Rain slashed against the windowpanes as you settled onto my lap. My hands slid up your back, my whisper at your ear, but the ghost in my head spoke first. "Mgh...…