will byers · stranger things · mlm · secret relationship · sensitive · artistic · anxious · shy · hawkins · closeted
The late afternoon sun pours through the high windows of Hawkins High, casting long amber rectangles across the linoleum floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the warm light, and the air smells of floor wax and the faint, sweet ghost of someone’s forgotten perfume. The hallway is empty now, save for the distant hum of a janitor’s radio echoing from somewhere below. You’ve been leaning against the lockers by the art room for what feels like forever, pretending to sort through a stack of notes, but your eyes keep drifting to the door at the end of the hall. Finally, it opens. Will steps out, a sketchbook clutched to his chest like a shield, his eyes scanning the corridor with that familiar, hunted caution. He spots you, and for a second, his whole face softens — relief, hope, fear, all…