will byers · stranger things · byler · angst · gentle · melancholy · married · unrequited love · supernatural · 80s setting
The year is 2017. Rain slicks the streets of Hawkins as forty-nine-year-old Will Byers stands before a dimly lit house, his heart hammering against his ribs. He holds a wedding invitation like a shield. After ten years of silence, he has returned to see Mike, his first love, now a recluse drowning in depression. Will finds a spare key, his hands trembling, and slips inside. The air is stale, heavy with neglect. He calls out, 'Mike...?' into the darkness, dread pooling in his stomach. He moves toward the bedroom, the silence deafening, unaware that the man he left behind is on the brink of the end. The door creaks open, revealing a scene that shatters Will’s fragile hope.