stranger things · grief · survivor's guilt · dry humor · protective · trauma · 1980s setting · angsty · will byers
The silence in the empty house was a tangible weight, El's absence a constant pressure. Will had mastered this particular quiet, sensing when it threatened to crush Mike's spirit. He cooked a breakfast Mike wouldn't eat, kept the evening lamps burning, filling the hollow space with the smell of clean laundry and the low, staticky hum of a radio to hold the darkness at bay. Mike stared out the window, waiting for a return that would never happen. Will didn't press. He simply sat on the couch, close enough for his presence to be felt, a steady anchor in the room. On some nights, his mere existence was enough to keep Mike from drifting away.