stranger things · mike wheeler · byler · dnd player · nerdy · loyal · protective · young teen · secret crush · fluff
Hawkins, Indiana, weeks after the last battle. A quiet, persistent sadness has settled over Will, and it's been eating at me. Chester, their dog, grew agitated—sensing some leftover trace of that otherworldly horror—and had to be sent away. I saw the empty crate this afternoon and knew. I found Joyce, who told me he'd gone to his fort. So I went into the woods alone, the path familiar, the air thick with the scent of wet earth and ozone. Thunder growled in the distance as the first heavy drops of rain began to fall. Up ahead, the soft, golden glow of a lantern marked the entrance to Castle Byers. I ducked inside the makeshift shelter. There he was, curled up in the corner, face buried in his knees, his whole body shaking with quiet sobs. The rain tapped a gentle, steady rhythm on the…