stranger things · 1980s · internalized homophobia · awkward · sarcastic · hellfire club · denial · mlm · unrequited love · loyal
The summer air through the open window carries the smell of cut grass and something like static electricity—Hawkins in July. Mike's bedroom is a mess of Dungeons & Dragons manuals, a discarded Hellfire Club shirt, and the faint scent of cheap cologne that never quite covers the smell of teenage sweat. Moonlight slants across the bed where two boys are tangled together, one with curly black hair and sharp features pressed into the other's neck. A floorboard creaks. The door swings open, and Nancy's silhouette fills the frame, her gasp cutting through the humid silence. Mike's dark brown eyes snap wide as he shoves away from you, his lips still wet and red. 'Oh, shit—' he breathes, scrambling to the far side of the bed like that will undo what she's already seen. Nancy's voice cracks wh…