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you took my heart (i was sleeping) (mike pov) by dearaeris
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
16 Dec 2025
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A rewrite of lameparties fic from Mike’s pov! All credits to them.
It’s winter in Hawkins, and Mike has nearly stopped speaking to Will entirely. Mike hardly sees him, but he avoids him just the same, afraid to confront what’s been on his mind these past months.
Then the power goes out—and an idea enters Mike’s brain. But he shoves it aside.
Seven nights in which Mike and Will have to sleep in the same bed, even though they’re barely friends anymore. -
when everything gets too hard (please come find me) by kayjewels
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
16 Dec 2025
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After effectively preventing the end of the world, everyone is trying to figure out what "normal" means to them. The party, on the brink of young adulthood, is still going strong. Mike Wheeler is still reeling from it all, and trying to escape is his only way of processing (or avoiding, more accurately). The party is starting to notice his detachment and sulky tendencies amplifying, but Mike has never been the best at sharing his true feelings. Even to who it matters to the most.
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Or: The one where Mike's internal struggles start to seep into his outside life, and there's only one person who can pull him from the darkness that's overtaking him.
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No beta, we die like men -
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After losing Joyce and Jonathan in a car accident he can barely remember, Will Byers is left living with Lonnie and trying to survive a life that feels permanently broken. A new school brings familiar cruelty especially from Mike Wheeler, a boy hiding his own fear and desire behind violence/homophobia. When a class project forces them together, hatred turns into something far more dangerous: truth.
This story is sad asf BUT has a happy ending! You will feel so sorry for poor Will :((
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Call it what you want by Mentallyunstablegirl (Bee___xoxo)
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
16 Dec 2025
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Decided to try to write a byler fic from Mike's POV. Begins after the end of vol1 of season 5 but I plan on doing some flashbacks occasionally to try and get more into Mike's head and feelings. A bit of a slow burn because I love that.
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“Why?” The question felt more loaded than it was. “I just needed some space.” Mikes head quickly turned to him, the sad expression evident. “From me?” Will stopped walking before quickly clarifying. “No! No, not from you Mike. From the house, you know? It can feel a bit crowded since everyone’s..I.. I didn’t mean you, Mike.” They stood in place, Mike simply staring at him for what felt like 30 seconds.
Was there really anything Will could hide from Mike?
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The one where they saved the world and Mike loses his best friend in the aftermath. It’s his own fault. As usual.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 7,212
- Chapters:
- 1/3
- Kudos:
- 6
- Hits:
- 97
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Summary
Mike and Will bumped elbows as they walked down the hallways, headed to the back of the school where it would be easier to sneak out unnoticed.
"Do you want to.. talk about it?" Will hesitantly questioned. And Mike, he didn't know how to respond, what was there to talk about?
Mike settled with a small shake of his head and a weak sounding, "Not yet." to which Will nodded firmly, sending worried glances over to Mike every now and then.
Mike wanted more than anything to hold Will's hand, tell him that's he's ok, that he 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 be ok as long as they're together.
But he can't, and that hurts more than he'd like to admit. He wished things were different, he wished he was normal.
He wished Will was a girl, it'd be easier that way.
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Mike breaks up with El and tries to accept his sexuality while dealing with an unrequited love for his best friend.
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tell me i look beautiful underneath the stars by stArdust_m00nlight
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
15 Dec 2025
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“Stars.”
“Stars?” Will mirrors, pulling himself out of his head, back into the now.
“And the moon, can’t forget the moon.”
Now he sees it. Every speck of the galaxy’s diamonds twinkle around them and the moon. They may as well be up in space considering how clear, ethereal, the view before their eyes is. Moonlight shimmers down, making the two of them glow, as though the sky is admiring them in the same way they’re admiring its beauty. It almost doesn’t look real, like this is just something the two of them were joint-visualising, because how could something be both magical and real, all at once?OR
It’s been over 24 hours since Will discovered that he has powers. His mind is a mess.
Him and Mike figure out that stargazing is their outlet from all of the destruction in Hawkins. It’s the one thing they have left, their secret weapon. Being alone, together, under the stars, it helps.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,668
- Chapters:
- 1/?
- Kudos:
- 10
- Hits:
- 95
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Summary
Mike’s mind flashes back to big, brown eyes and tousled hair, and he knows it’s the wrong pair of eyes he should be dreaming about, but he can’t help it. He wrote this song about him, and their friendship, even against better judgment.
El had thought it was about her at first. But as time went on, Mike feared that she figured it out.
And he hates that she knows him that well.
Because now when El looks back at him when they’re performing this song, she doesn’t look at him with love. She looks at him with pity.
Mike can’t hold her gaze when she looks back at him this time, instead focusing on his guitar, and trying not to rush through the song.
His skin feels like it’s on fire, and his heart is beating too fast.
“You’ve changed.”
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“The whole ride, Mike couldn’t stop staring. He tried to create any physical distance possible but he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering down at the boy in front of him. Still so helpless, still so…vulnerable. God. Mike wished he could just get a damn grip but every time his eyes moved away, his mind kept replaying the scene of Will with his hands raised, being the most badass superhero he’d ever seen.
That’s when a single tear fell from Mike’s eyes. He once thought the same thing about El…and he knew right then and there that he was screwed.”
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Or how Will and Mike navigate their feelings and mutual yearning for one another, set immediately after Wills discovery of powers -
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“Oh and uh- Will?” Mike called out softly, his tone gentle and a little bit shaky. As if, anything he said would crack their relationship even more.
Will’s breath shuttered, he turned his head just enough for his eyes to meet Mike’s gaze.
“Yeah?” Will said, his fingers clutching the mattress just a bit tighter.
“Don’t.. don’t forget to take care of yourself.”
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A look into what happened in the 18 months the Byers had been staying at the Wheeler’s
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Mike had a nightmare sent from Vecna. Will died in it. He wakes up Nancy who looks for immediately alerts everyone else.
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saw a TikTok, said i'd write it, here we are babe.
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Going back to Hawkins seemed like a nightmare to Will Byers. Especially when he understood it also meant seeing Mike Wheeler everyday. Mike Wheeler, who he thought was left to rot in his past, a vague memory of an old friendship from middle school. A friendship neither of them could keep alive as phone calls eventually faded and letters stopped coming in. It's been five years and Will Byers now sees Mike Wheeler as nothing but a stranger.
Too bad Mike Wheeler cannot keep his eyes off Will, no matter how hard he tries not to. He simply doesn't understand what went so wrong, his so-called best friend won't even look at him anymore. And why the hell hasn't Will told him he was moving back from California.
It just seems like they view their friendships on totally opposite sides of the spectrum.
TW. Eating disorder, mental and physical abuse, child abuse, self harm -
okay so are the curtains blue for a reason or what (this is a metaphor) by sunflower_J
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
15 Dec 2025
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Now, someone walked into the room. A boy, awkwardly standing at the side of his bed, looking over him worriedly. His hair was brown and scruffy, and he had big baby doe eyes and a yellow-and-blue horizontally-striped shirt like a cartoon character. The window was lighting him up like he was important to Mike’s narrative. The curtains are blue, thought Mike, this boy is light. I love metaphors. Maybe he was high on the pain meds. Upon seeing him, Mike felt a great affection, a great peace. Plus, he had long eyelashes. Mike almost giggled to himself. He was definitely a little high.
“Hi.” breathed Mike.
“Hi.” he said, hesitating.
“We’re friends?” Mike asked hopefully.
Or: During the Party's final battle with Vecna, Mike is gravely injured and loses his memories. He wakes up in a hospital only remembering a handful of inconsequential little things, like how much he loves a boy who seems like light.
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Miles stays over at the Wheeler's house. He occupies Mike's guestroom and Will's thoughts.
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“There's no pattern to Vecna´s killing. Not one that I can decipher, we don't know when he's going to attack next, we don't even know who he's going to attack next.” Robin says. That's wrong, I know who he's going to attack next, me. I can still feel him, matter of fact I never stopped feeling him. He's always there, nagging. “Yes we do.” I say and everyone's attention turns to me but they stay quiet. I continue “I can still feel him. I'm still marked, he's still watching me. If I ditch The Clash he'll have a chance on me again and I'm sure he'll take it.” ”Will..” Jonathan says sadly, kinda disappointed and trying to change my mind somehow. But I’m not having it anymore. I can do it, I’m not a baby. “I can be the bait”. I say confidently
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In this Will is the Victim of Vecna, instead of Max. And we’ll they’re are all in Hawkins <3
(this is a old draft so if y'all like it pls tell me and I'll write more chapters)
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Letters to William - Lettergate by Luna_meowzers_licksyou
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
15 Dec 2025
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Love, Mike
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Mike's letters over the time gap between 3 and 4, what high school has been like for him, the slow realization and internalized homophobia settling in.
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“And if you were-” Mike swallowed hard, the words ripping out of him, painful, slurred, and honest in a way he’d never let himself be sober, “I just wish you were a girl.”
Will froze.
Mike kept going, unable to stop himself now, like the admission opened the flood gates. “It’d be so much easier if you were a girl. Everything would make sense. No one would question anything. I wouldn’t have to feel like… like I’m wrong.”
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Mike and Will have kept their relationship tightly locked behind closed doors. But when they decide to start a youtube channel with Lucas and Dustin, fans notice how close the two seem to be. And the spotlight on the relationship Mike isn't ready to be public deepens a crack between them.
Series
- Part 1 of Fear and Acceptance
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After the blackout, Hawkins doesn’t heal so easily. The town is cracked open, the Party is scattered, and the monsters everyone tries not to name are still out there, waiting. Between nights shared on a mattress by the heater, bike rides through broken streets and plans whispered over walkie‑talkies, the kids of Hawkins are pulled back together for one last fight —against the things that crawled out of the Upside Down, and the ones that have been growing quietly in their own hearts.
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a fault you could follow (if you weren't so afraid of falling) by refrigeratorlights
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
15 Dec 2025
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Summary
And for the first time in a long time, Mike isn’t scared.
He doesn’t feel ashamed of the way his heart beats too fast, or the way it’s always known where it belongs. He doesn’t feel like the little boy he once was—hands red and aching, glitter still clinging stubbornly to his fingers, terrified that wanting something too much meant losing it.
Mike Wheeler has always believed that loving Will Byers is something to endure.
Something quiet and private. Something you survive rather than choose. Something you bury beneath loyalty, fear, and the unspoken understanding that wanting too much is dangerous—especially when the world already knows exactly where to hurt you.But some truths don’t stay buried.
As a year of silence gives way to proximity, to touch, and to the quiet devastation of being seen, Mike is forced to confront what he’s been running from all along: not the fear of losing Will, but the fear of wanting him openly. Of choosing him without bracing for impact.
Because earthquakes don’t always destroy things.
Sometimes, they reveal what was always there—waiting to be held without shaking.