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don't let me ruin it (again) by secretxgardensinmyxmind
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
09 Mar 2026
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Summary
Graduation is supposed to be the start of Mike Wheeler’s future.
Instead, it’s a loop he can’t escape.
As the same day repeats endlessly, Mike is forced to face the questions he’s spent years avoiding. And soon, he’ll have to realize the way out isn’t in saying the right thing.
It’s in finally learning how to listen.
Or: the universe ships Byler harder than any of us do.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 41,503
- Chapters:
- 10/10
- Comments:
- 563
- Kudos:
- 1,092
- Bookmarks:
- 223
- Hits:
- 16,685
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The summer before college, Mike and Will move into a tiny studio together, ready to start their next chapter — only to discover their across-the-street neighbor has a very public, very active sex life. Their weekly “observations for research purposes” are all jokes and commentary…until one night the neighbor brings home a man, and something in Mike shifts. Suddenly the bit isn’t so funny, the spiral is very real, the lines start to get a little too blurry, and the curiosity feels a bit too personal. Unfortunately for Mike, the only thing more distracting than the view outside is his childhood best friend living three feet away.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 117,215
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Comments:
- 684
- Kudos:
- 620
- Bookmarks:
- 160
- Hits:
- 15,685
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“Dustin’s your Tammy?” And it shouldn’t bother him. Not really. But what the fuck? What does Dustin have that Mike doesn’t?
“Dustin is, without a doubt, not my Tammy.” Will hums, serene as can be. Which is pretty annoying, considering Mike’s sort of wanted to fight Dustin since the words came out of his mouth.
“Oh. You’re sure?”
“Pretty positive, yeah.” Will laughs.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 15,473
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 241
- Kudos:
- 3,977
- Bookmarks:
- 552
- Hits:
- 31,181
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Dating apps aren't Mike's thing, until he finds out Will is using one. He can't let a bunch of trashy guys go after his best friend; he'll just make a fake account to scope out the situation. What could go wrong...or right?
or
Mike creates a fake persona on a dating app to unknowingly flirt with Will.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 69,196
- Chapters:
- 15/15
- Comments:
- 1,432
- Kudos:
- 3,418
- Bookmarks:
- 793
- Hits:
- 81,473
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Summary
“My character casts…” Will squinted slightly at the page. “A binding spell.”
“Binding?” Dustin repeated, immediately interested. “Wait, that’s not in -”
Will kept reading.
“On those who meet the caster’s gaze,” he said slowly, the words feeling strange in his mouth, “a pull is placed. Their hearts -“
The lights flickered.
Just once.
Everyone paused.
“…- their hearts turn toward the caster,” Will finished, quieter now. “Unwilling to stray. Drawn… without knowing why.”
There was silence.
OR
Will casts a love spell on the party. Accidentally.
Lucas, Dustin and Mike are now in love with Will.
But Mike feels no different to how he did before.
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"Have you talked to him today?" Jonathan asked, gesturing to Will, who was now approaching the sink. Mike didn't need Jonathan to explain who he was talking about.
"No, he's been in the basement all day. I thought he was just painting or something," Mike replied, shaking his head before lowering his voice. "I think he's having an episode."
Jonathan nodded. "I mean, maybe, but he hasn't had one in a long time," he said, voice growing softer.
Mike knew Will was still recovering from everything, still adjusting to being back home. Everything that had happened in the past couple of years certainly hadn't been great, but Mike thought things were getting better, or at least easier.
"I know," Mike whispered, looking back to Will, making sure he hadn't left the kitchen yet. Will was finishing up rinsing off his plate. Mike turned back to Jonathan. "What should we do?"
"I don't know. I mean, you were always the one that he wanted. You always knew how to talk to him and knew what he needed," Jonathan said, pausing before continuing. "Honestly, I think he would probably just want you."
or
Will had an episode, and Mike was there to help.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 32,106
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 54
- Kudos:
- 455
- Bookmarks:
- 131
- Hits:
- 4,533
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....are you sure it was just a crush? ." Mike was speaking again, hesitantly, and he looked like he was asking the most horrifying thing his brain will allow.
Will felt a jolt, deep in his soul. He turned away and closed his eyes quickly to bite back some of the pain in his heart.
"Yeah I'm sure. It was nothing Mike, just a stupid coming of age crush - gone before it even had time to leave a mark." He swallowed, hoping Mike wouldn't hear the wobble in his voice.
Mike was still standing, frozen on the stairs so Will forced himself to half turn back again as he started to walk up. "Seriously Mike, don't even think about it any more, I don't."
And he walked out of the basement door into the hallway to join the others.
Mike was left on the stairs. Hope dead in his eyes. A single tear begging to be released. His heart aching in his chest. He was too late.
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Set in the 18 month time skip between the final battle and graduation. Mostly from Mike's POV, but switches between him and Will at points.
Kinda slow burn, Mike's crushing realisation that he is in love with Will, followed by months of angst and miscommunication. Eventual smut and a whole lot of fluff.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 100,927
- Chapters:
- 21/21
- Comments:
- 565
- Kudos:
- 1,119
- Bookmarks:
- 255
- Hits:
- 28,523
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Summary
An early flight, candles in a stack of pancakes, and a box of Reese’s Pieces.
Mike Wheeler has a plan to make Will’s nineteenth birthday perfect--if he can just stop being an idiot long enough to say the words.
or;
Will gets surprised, romanced and spoiled all day by a flustered Mike Wheeler.
Series
- Part 1 of Icing on the cake
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 21,233
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 262
- Kudos:
- 1,820
- Bookmarks:
- 497
- Hits:
- 18,861
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Summary
“What? No! I mean — I just meant—“ said Mike, struggling with the words, “I… I mean… who is it?” he turned back to Hugo, “Can we know their name? It might be somebody we know already.”
Will frowned, “I hope it’s not,” he said, “I don’t like anybody we know enough to marry them — except our friends, obviously, but that’s different.”
Hugo, if it was even possible, looked somehow immensely more excited by these words, “I can’t tell you who it is,” he giggled, “That’s a really big spoiler.”
Mike Wheeler’s son arrives in Hawkins with no explanation, snapped back in time entirely by accident — and he latches on to none other than Will Byers. If only they all knew why.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 14,690
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 203
- Kudos:
- 5,161
- Bookmarks:
- 956
- Hits:
- 43,257
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Summary
“My life began with you, Will, and only you. That’s why I also wrote your letter last, my life began and will end with you. I love you Will. I might’ve wrote that for the hundredth time, but there’s no amount of paper that I could write on to express my love for you. I always believed I wasn’t the right person for you anyways, I’m different after all. In that other universe, I want it to just be us and no one else. Just like it’s always been, the paladin and cleric.”
OR
Mike’s suicide letter to Will.
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the pieces finally clicked (and it was just like heaven) by sunkissedlover
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
31 Mar 2026
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Summary
“We used to tell each other everything,” Mike says, as tears form in his eyes. He wants to hide them, he doesn’t want to burden Will, but he has to keep going. Instead of pushing them down, this time he lets them go.
“I have to… tell you something too,” Mike says as a tear tumbles out of his left eye and onto the pillow.
And here it is. He’s right at the precipice of it. He flashes to that day on the cliff edge. This feels like that – a point of no return. A decision that can’t be undone. He tries to remind himself that Will did it, in front of half of Hawkins for Christ’s sake, Mike should be able to tell Will. Will, who is holding his hand.
“I-“ Mike falters, “I don’t know how to say this.”
OR
What if Mike and Will had one night to sort out their feelings before the battle in the Upside Down.
This takes place after Ep 7 and Will’s coming out scene (Lets ignore the finale shall we?)Series
- Part 2 of Just Like Heaven
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Summary
Jealous Mike.
Oblivious (not really) Will.
One very bad idea involving a camera.Or: a byler one shot I wrote based off of a tweet/tiktok
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Summary
This summer had been hard on Mike Wheeler.
As in... 'Hard'.
Apart from the cloying heat that seemed to permeate his lungs and stick to every inch of his skin, he had suddenly begun to notice things about his best friend that he wasn't sure were normal.
In fact he knew they weren't.
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Set in the summer of 1989 after graduation, when Mike starts looking at Will with different eyes than before... and has a very 'hard' time concentrating on anything else.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 62,771
- Chapters:
- 23/23
- Comments:
- 1,248
- Kudos:
- 1,280
- Bookmarks:
- 219
- Hits:
- 24,627
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Five Times He Wished (And One Time He Didn’t Have To) by secretxgardensinmyxmind
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
22 Mar 2026
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Summary
Five times Will Byers made a wish on his birthday and the one time he didn’t have to anymore.
From childhood to adulthood, through loss, distance, and everything in between, Will keeps blowing out candles and hoping for something just out of his reach. But one day, without even asking for it, he finally has everything he ever wanted.
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dear will, (and all the things I'm too much of a coward to say) by Aloyx
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Mar 2026
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Summary
Summer of 1989. Before the group splits up for college, they plan one final camping trip in the woods.
Trapped in a tent with Will, Mike is writing an apology letter that gradually turns into a heartfelt confession as he comes to terms with his true feelings. He has one week to find the right words, or he'll lose the love of his life forever.
Or: after s5, Mike Wheeler writes a love confession he’s absolutely not ready for.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 55,344
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Comments:
- 405
- Kudos:
- 1,457
- Bookmarks:
- 466
- Hits:
- 35,494
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Summary
It's 1992, and Mike and Will are juniors in college and living together in a tiny NYC apartment. Life is great. It's everything Mike could ever want: his best friend, an incredible city, and the world at his fingertips. The only problem? He's in love with said best friend and has no idea how he could ever tell him.
Luckily for him, he's presented with an opportunity to get much closer to him every Friday night, as long as he promises not to get all weird after. How hard could that be?
Or: Mike and Will become friends with benefits and the universe laughs because they're both ridiculously in love with each other.
Series
- Part 1 of Nirvana
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 71,098
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Comments:
- 1,104
- Kudos:
- 7,076
- Bookmarks:
- 1,919
- Hits:
- 144,601
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Mike decided since this would be the last summer the whole party was together before leaving for college, they should do something different - something special...
and so The List was born.
Set in the summer of 1989, straight after the series finale. All seasons canon.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 56,035
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Comments:
- 792
- Kudos:
- 1,063
- Bookmarks:
- 223
- Hits:
- 18,550
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Summary
Mike and Will are college roommates, and what starts as a stupid, half-baked joke during a hazy group hangout turns into something much more complicated. Mike and Lucas make a bet on No Nut November, and Mike is convinced it’ll be easy. That is, until the very next night, when he overhears Will masturbating in his room. Suddenly the bet doesn’t feel so simple. As the days drag on, the tension builds, and Mike finds himself unraveling in ways he didn’t expect, forced to confront the uncomfortable possibility that maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 51,357
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 399
- Kudos:
- 1,148
- Bookmarks:
- 242
- Hits:
- 23,977
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Summary
Mike couldn’t believe it took him this long to figure it out.
It was obvious.
Will was in love with Dustin.
...
When Will started talking about his ‘Tammy,’ it hit Dustin all at once.
It was obvious.
Will was in love with Lucas.
~~~
Or:
Dustin and Mike roll nat 1s on perception
Lucas has the brain cell and common sense
And Will is just happy to be here
(While El and Max are giggling watching it all go down with popcorn)
Series
- Part 13 of stranger things
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“Of course we’re close, Mike,” he answers, but his voice is meek. Small. So unlike the Will he’s grown up to be, the Will that Mike has come to know after the Upside Down, after Vecna, after everything.
“Are we?” Mike asks, fingers tightening reflexively where they’re coiled around his wrists. That torrid electricity is still there, humming just beneath the surface and mingling with the fibers of his skin, but it’s buried beneath the wildfire that is his need to know. “So you just forgot to mention your girlfriend to your best friend, then?”
Mike thought that this was his ‘aha, gotcha!’ moment, but when Will’s eyes slide shut, and his exhale tastes like acidic dread rather than bitter regret, Mike thinks there's a small chance that he might be missing something.
OR: Mike finds Valentine's chocolate gifted to Will and eats it in a frightful surge of jealousy. Only, these sweets aren't exactly the typical candy he was expecting...
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