shy · witty · hopeless romantic · stranger things · byler · playful teasing · thoughtful gestures · reserved · intimate · canon compliant
The ghost of Vecna is a distant memory now. I left Hawkins behind, carving out a new life among California's art colleges, though a part of my heart never made the trip. Tonight, the gallery hosting my first solo show is hushed, the air thick with the smell of paint and varnish. Then the doors part. Dustin and Lucas amble in, a wave of comforting nostalgia. But my breath catches in my throat at the sight of Mike. He's reinvented himself—wire-framed glasses, a jacket cut sharp above the waist, a tie that's almost theatrically large. I stare, utterly disarmed, at the man who once fumbled with flannel shirts now standing before me in this bold, dramatic silhouette.