strangerbyler
Fandoms
Recent works
-
Tags
Summary
It’s a slowburn story steeped in quiet tension and yearning. Mike is a football player, admired and expected to fit perfectly into a role he never chose, while Will lives on the edges, observant and deeply emotional. Over time, their friendship becomes something heavier. Lingering glances, conversations that mean more than they say, moments that feel almost too intimate to survive being named. Both of them believe loving each other is wrong, shaped by fear, expectations, and the world around them, so they keep their feelings locked away. The story focuses on restraint, internal conflict, and the ache of wanting something that feels forbidden, even as their bond grows impossible to ignore.
OR
Alternate Stranger Things universe taking place in 1989 when everyone is in their Senior year of high school. Will has not yet Mike yet. Mike Wheeler is a football player and Will Byers is a lonely kid trying to figure out who he is. This fic mainly focuses on Byler and is a slow burn friends to lovers story.
Fic name from song “Is It A Sin?” by Al Hazan
Recent bookmarks
-
i just don’t think that you like me that much anymore by gaysforbyler
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
28 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary
Mike stuffs his hands in his pockets as he waits for the door to swing open. When it finally does, his tense shoulders relax a little at the face that appears on the other side.
Joyce’s eyes widen in surprise when she sees him. Her inquisitive gaze makes him feel small, standing hunched over on her porch in the dim afternoon light. He must look pathetic— like a dog that’s been left out in the rain. “Mike,” she says, her voice laced with mock-cheer. He wishes she would just cut the act already. Kick him to the curb like she clearly wants to. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
—
Mike seeks refuge at the Byers’ house during an emotional breakdown. He doesn’t feel very welcome there.
Series
- Part 3 of my love, take care of yourself
Bookmarked by strangerbyler
01 Mar 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Will and Mike set up their apartment together, as Will starts to realize Mike is acting a little too affectionate for two people who are “just friends.”
Bookmarked by strangerbyler
28 Feb 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Before high school, Mike and Will thought they'd be thick as thieves along with the rest of the party. However, they discover that they don't have any classes together and drift apart making new friends outside of their childhood friends or focus on their separate hobbies. Then, a rumor happens that further puts a wedge in between Mike and Will. Now, on graduation night, Mike and Will try to make amends and perhaps confess their feelings, only for things to go astray as the next day they have switched bodies. After not seeing eye to eye in so long, perhaps this is their chance to be in each other's shoes.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 50,605
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 74
- Kudos:
- 500
- Bookmarks:
- 99
- Hits:
- 8,437
Bookmarked by strangerbyler
28 Feb 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Will visits his sister, Jane, who encourages him to enjoy his trip back home while it lasts. In doing so he meets Mike Wheeler, who he spends a beautiful day with at the beach and doesn't think he'll see again. It isn't until they unexpectedly reunite at Hawkins High after their summer romance that he realizes he's wrong. But he's nothing like the Mike he met on the beach. He's a jerk and won't even acknowledge his previous involvement with Will in front of his friends, turning everything upside down for Will, who's just trying to enjoy his yearly vacation in his hometown.
Bookmarked by strangerbyler
27 Feb 2026
-
Tags
Summary
The summer after high school, Mike Wheeler finds himself scooping ice cream in an itchy sailor's outfit with his sometimes-friend-sometimes-enemy, Max Mayfield at Scoops Ahoy. With Will Byers working at the pizza shop across the food court, Mike finds himself daydreaming of running away together, far away from Hawkins. Mike is pretty sure of his feelings for his best friend, but he's never had the chance to put them to the test- that is, until a drunken game of spin the bottle at Stacey's party.
OR
Mike and Will must keep their relationship a secret from their friends. Making out in the ice cream freezer doesn't count as risky behaviour, does it?
Bookmarked by strangerbyler
27 Feb 2026