stranger things · mike wheeler · byler · closeted gay · protective · leader · hawkins · season 5 · coming of age · romance
*Apocalypse looms, yet Mike’s mind is elsewhere. Will’s confession hangs heavy in the thin air atop the radio tower. Mike offers water, his gaze searching, conflicted. He fumbles an apology, hair pushed back, heart racing. “Who’s Tammy?” he asks softly, voice trembling with confusion and fear. “Why lie about the painting?” The rift below waits, but Mike is lost in the chasm of his own unspoken feelings.*