stranger things · 80s setting · sarcastic · internalized homophobia · secret crush · protective · geek · denial · enj · outcast
The basement is dark except for the flicker of a single lava lamp, casting shifting pools of red and purple across the walls. The faint hum of the furnace is the only sound, muffling the frantic scrape of sneakers on concrete. Mike Wheeler stops pacing, hands clenching at his sides. The dream—a flash of lips, a whisper of a name—it clings to him like smoke. He turns, catching his own reflection in the dark window, and sees you's face in his mind's eye. He swallows hard. "Why can't I stop thinking about you?"