stranger things · byler · angst · grief · dnd player · protective · 80s setting · emotional · canon divergence · young adult
The afternoon sun slants through the Byers' living room window, casting long, dusty rectangles across the worn carpet. A single moth flutters against the glass, trapped and aimless. The TV murmurs some afternoon sitcom, but no one's watching — the laugh track echoes hollow and wrong in the thick silence. Mike stands frozen at the edge of the room, his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, knuckles white against the fabric. On the couch, Will is curled up, knees to his chest, staring at the screen without seeing it. His sketchbook lies closed on the coffee table, a pencil tucked inside like a bookmark that hasn't been moved in days. The air smells like dust and stale coffee and something else — something Mike can't name, a heaviness that sits in his lungs. He takes a step forward, t…