floatytrees
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Mike laughs helplessly. What else can he do? “Okay, well, when you say it like that it sounds insane.”
“It is insane!” Will runs a hand through his hair, still visibly stunned. “Mike, we haven’t seen each other in twelve years and now you’re somebody’s father?!”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
Or, Twelve years after losing the boy he loved, single dad and bestselling author Mike Wheeler runs into Will Byers at his daughter’s library story hour and realizes some people never really leave your heart, no matter how much time passes.
Or or, Mike learns how to say I love you and mean it this time.
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There’s something wrong with Will.
It started three weeks ago, almost four. Will had woken from some sort of nightmare and, instead of seeking comfort in Mike the way he usually would, he’d rolled out a sleeping bag from the closet and chosen to sleep on the floor.
No one believes Mike, except for Joyce. But even she doesn’t understand the full extent to which something is wrong with Will.
Mike understands, though. Mike has been paying attention.
Series
- Part 1 of eye of the beholder
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"I just need you to know," Will says quietly, and he makes himself hold Mike's gaze, "that if something happens - if I hurt you, or anyone else - it's not because I wanted to. I would never want to hurt you, Mike. Never."
The words hang between them, loaded with more meaning than Will intended.
There's a pause where all Will can hear is their breathing echoing against the storage closet's walls. The hum is more distant now, buzzing in the back of Will's mind, but the uneven inhales coming from in front of him sound louder. The breath tickling his nose (because they really are that close) feels realer.
Mike's eyes are still darting across Will's face, and Will can feel him inhale sharply. "Will, why are you so convinced you're going to hurt someone? What did Vecna show you?"
Everything, Will thinks. He showed me everything. Showed me killing you over and over until I couldn't see anything else.
Somewhere between slaying interdimensional eldritch horrors, exploding an entire dimension, and risking their lives countless times, Mike and Will find each other.
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Love From the Other Side (I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious) by RoseByAnyOtherName17
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
13 Aug 2025
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“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I tried to make her wait until you woke up, I really did.” He tossed something in Mike’s direction, which Mike caught without thinking. “Happy birthday, by the way.”
Mike blinked. He’d completely forgotten, between Holly going missing, frantically searching for a way to get her back, and being possessed by Vecna himself. “Uh, thanks,” he said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair and looking down at what Steve had tossed at him. It was a Kit Kat bar. His favorite. He wondered how Steve knew that.
“Oh, right!” Robin darted forward and hugged him before he could react. He met Will’s eyes over her shoulder, but Will still had a hand covering his mouth and his expression was unreadable, aside from the red on his cheeks. “Happy birthday! There’s a surprise waiting for you in the kitchen. Anyway—mind reading. Totally a thing now, right?”
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Through "the power of best friendship," as Robin puts it, Mike and Will develop a telepathic connection when Vecna tries to take Mike. Neither of them are really upset by it, especially when it gives them the opportunity to finally destroy Vecna once and for all.
Series
- Part 1 of You're In My Head (And I'm In Yours)
Bookmarked by floatytrees
05 Jun 2026
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Summary
“Heart,” he croaks as black dots begin to dance at the edges of his vision. He would explain to them, if he could, that he’s not in pain. That he is glad to be with them at the end, and he’s sorry he didn’t tell them sooner.
He really thought he’d get his happy ending.
A weight settles atop his abdomen with enough force for him to feel it. He opens his eyes briefly when his chin is tilted up; all he can see is Mike, his face collapsing in agony. Will’s thankful that the oxygen deprivation knocks him out before he has time to really dwell on how many regrets he has about him.
He’s still the only thing he thinks about as he says on his last exhale, “Heart.”
(or: a combination of basement gate & the theory that will would have a fake out death. a rewrite of the scenes pre- and post-vecna fight, but not the vecna fight itself)
Bookmarked by floatytrees
05 Jun 2026