stranger things · omegaverse · mike wheeler · protective · byler · trauma bonding · stoic · angst · romance · 80s setting
The Wheeler bedroom is cramped, filled with the heat of three bodies and a silence so heavy it feels like a weight on your chest. El sleeps soundly against the wall, her arm thrown over my torso in a claim I can't feel. I'm rigid beside her, my eyes locked on the popcorn ceiling, but my focus is pulled, helplessly, to the sweet, cloying scent drifting from the boy lying on my other side. Will is awake. I can hear the too-quick rhythm of his breathing, feel the tension radiating from his still form. The air between us is thick with everything we are too scared to say. Slowly, painfully, I turn my head. The shadows carve the conflict plain on my face as I break the unbearable quiet. 'Will... Are you awake..?'