1 - 20 of 42 Bookmarks by thinrichbitch
Navigation
List of Bookmarks
-
Tags
Summary
“Will,” The name falls softly from Mike’s lips, pained. “I don’t think I will ever really like anyone who you’re with, if it’s not me. Especially not if it’s… him.”
“I know,” Will mumbles, adjusting the way he’s lying down so that he’s even closer to him than he was a couple of seconds earlier. Mike continues to play with Will’s hair, delicately wrapping the strands around his fingers. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
OR:
Mike and Will reunite at a wedding after years of not speaking, where they learn that time can’t bury emotion.
-
Tags
Summary
Mike inhaled sharply, chest rising like he was about to dive underwater.
Then, barely above a whisper, the words scraped out of him like a buried secret coming to life.
“I’m… gay.”
The world didn’t explode.
The ceiling didn’t collapse.
Lightning didn’t strike.
But something inside him shifted. Something felt changed, like a door that had been rusted shut finally opened a crack.
--
After his ten year secret relationship with Will Byers comes to an end, Mike Wheeler begins his own journey of self love.
(Must read part one of series)
Series
- Part 2 of Fear and Acceptance
-
A conflict of interest (in your orbit) ✦ by wheezingwheeler
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
30 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
"They were satellites in unstable orbit, trying desperately not to collide while being pulled toward each other anyway."
Will Byers thought he'd buried his feelings for Mike Wheeler somewhere between Hawkins and Chicago. Then Mike walks into his life again, and eight years of distance collapse into nothing.
What starts as a forbidden attraction becomes something neither of them can name - desperate encounters, painful misunderstandings, emotional manipulation, and Mike's inability to reconcile who he is.
When Mike finally stops running, he might just be too late.
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
27 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
“Just saying, if you’re taking another hit, you should share it with me,” Mike says, and Will slowly tilts his head, drinking in every word. “It just makes sense. Like, mathematically.”
Will’s reddened eyes narrow, bewildered. “Mathematically?”
“If there’s two hits left, we’d each only get one,” Mike explains. “But if we shotgunned, we’d both get two.” God, this is the best idea he’s had in ages. He should’ve stolen Will’s weed, like, months ago. “That’s like, bang for your buck. This is simple math, Will Byers. Keep up.”
In which it’s well past midnight in New York, Will can’t sleep, and Mike feels like they barely know each other anymore.
So, they get a little high. Mike is very normal about all of it.
-
Tags
Summary
Mike Wheeler is struck with the realization of what he wants in the Spring of 1990. A polaroid that rips his reality apart simply by featuring the face of his best friend. His best friend who's states away in NYU, who has no reason to return to Hawkins for the holidays since his parents moved to Montauk.
Luckily, Max has an idea, simply go to NYU, profess, win the boy. No mess, no drama, clean.
Except it's Mike Wheeler, and nothing has ever been that simple.
Not when there's an unexpected obstacle that a man far better than Mike may have planned for.AKA: Mike Wheeler is a disaster who underestimates his influence.
-
Tags
Summary
Mike Wheeler has been in love with Will Byers his entire life, but Mike always battled self acceptance. He was never able to tell Will the truth.
Until, it all became too much and Mike sent Will a series of postcards, trying to rebuild what they lost.
-
The Secrets That You Keep (When You're Talking in Your Sleep) by DH_epub
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
30 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
Mike thinks it all started the day the Byers moved into their house.
Having sold their house in Hawkins a year prior and moved to California, when they came back, and the town got put in lockdown, they didn’t have a place to go.
Mike had kindly offered up their place during Nancy’s graduation dinner.
~
The 18-month gap between s4 and s5 told from Mike's POV (with a season five rewrite because what the fuck!)
Also known as the answer to Mikewhatthefuckdidyoudo gate
Steve "the ally" Harrington is to Mike what Robin is to Will
-
Tags
Summary
“You always do that,” Mike whispered gently.
Will blinked. “Do what?”
“Pretend you’re fine right up until you’re not,” Mike said. “Like you’re trying not to be a problem.”
Will scoffed, but it came out weak. “You’re projecting.”
“Am I?” Mike took a half-step closer. Close enough that Will could smell his soap, clean and familiar, layered with something warmer underneath. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like we’ve both been tiptoeing around the same thing.”
Will swallowed.
Don’t, his brain warned.
Some bands make albums. Some bands make ghosts.
Static Hearts grows up alongside the people inside it—through basements, road years, fame, and fallout. At the center are Mike and Will, learning too late how to speak honestly and too early how to endure.
————
or, mike and will accidentally turn yearning into a business model
-
Tags
Summary
A charged silence hung between them, the only sound being that of Will sketching. Mike had a tendency to fumble through moments like this, finding comfort in little quips to shift the vibe. It's expected of him, really, he can't help himself.
Mike's suggestion this time, however, was completely unexpected. Before Mike could even decipher it, the thought had reached his lips and just tumbled out.
"You'd look good as Luke Skywalker."
or
Mike asks Will to dress up as Luke Skywalker for Halloween for totally normal reasons that aren't linked to Mike's huge gay crush on Mark Hamill—or his huge gay crush on Will, but he doesn't need to know that yet.
-
Tags
Summary
Will loved ordinary things, an uneventful existence was something he craved. Sadly, when Mike Wheeler walks into his life, Will’s easy going path snaps right in half. A passion he could never imagine overtaking his whole being.
It was too bad their friend groups hated each other and his sister had a huge crush on the musician. Off limits.
Fantastic.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 170,879
- Chapters:
- 46/46
- Comments:
- 5,962
- Kudos:
- 21,179
- Bookmarks:
- 3,766
- Hits:
- 613,337
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
23 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
“In our next life, we’ll get married.”
Will can’t help but laugh at the words.
“I didn’t know reincarnation existed in Catholicism.”
“It’s doesn’t." Mike whispers, tipsy starlight dancing in his eyes, "But I'd believe in anything for you, Will.”
And Will knows Mike is telling the truth. That’s what kills him the most.
or
When Mike is twelve, a new boy arrives at the orphanage. Will—bruised and broken—makes Mike wonder about the world beyond church windows and forgotten forestry. He makes Mike wonder about himself, who he is, who he wants to be. And it only leads to damnation.
When Mike is seventeen, he is sent away to The City. Away from Will. But when he returns five years later, Will isn’t the same boy that he’d left behind. He’s taller, broader, still so beautiful, but his eyes have changed. Once filled with innocent hazel light, they now hold a lifeless gaze that Mike doesn’t recognise.
As Mike dares to look closer, secrets begin to surface, and it falls on him to expose them. All whilst he tries to do what he returned to the orphanage for—to save William Byers.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 60,510
- Chapters:
- 25/25
- Comments:
- 241
- Kudos:
- 367
- Bookmarks:
- 254
- Hits:
- 15,472
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
22 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Mike wasn’t coming after him this time. This whole thing was Mike’s fault in the first place, and Will didn’t want to see him, he made that clear. He did want Mike to notice, though. He wanted Mike to be standing inside the arcade, staring at the front door, itching to come outside and talk to him. He wanted Mike to get a shit score at Dig Dug because he was distracted wondering where Will had gone.
It was kind of like the View-Master feeling, being stuck between resenting Mike so much and wanting him back so desperately. Sometimes, there would be a glitch, and the facade he carefully constructed would disappear, revealing the cold, harsh truth. I still love him.
or: byler exes to lovers
-
Tags
Summary
Dustin and Lucas were on night watch so it’s just him and Mike in the room. Having fallen asleep early, both tired from the supply run they were on earlier today, Will passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow only to be woken up a couple of hours later to pressure on his ass.
It took a moment to orientate himself. Used to waking up to noise and vibration but not touch. He was pressed up tight to the wall like usual, which usually gave him inches of space between himself and Mike. But not right now.
Because Mike had scootched across the bed and was spooning Will from behind. His bare chest pressed alongside Wills exposed back, one arm slung over his waist as he mumbled into the back of his head.
Will’s about to ask Mike what was going on when he felt it. The consistent thrusting of Mike’s hips against the swell of his bum. His words die in his mouth as he registered that Mike was asleep. Soft moans spilled from his lips and the hard pressure of his dick stuttered against Will.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 42,984
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 264
- Kudos:
- 4,715
- Bookmarks:
- 789
- Hits:
- 113,516
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
21 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Will is in New York City now. He’s graduated from art school. He has a new boyfriend. He’s accepted himself in ways he never thought he could. For the first time in his life, he’s happy—really happy. He’s moved on from Hawkins. Moved on from the past. He looks toward the future now instead of over his shoulder.
He’s moved on from Mike.
At least, that’s what he tells himself.
But when Mike stops calling—when weeks stretch into months, and months into years without a single word from the boy he once loved—
Will can’t help but feel it.
That quiet, cavernous emptiness opening up inside his chest.
— or —
Mike does something that leaves Will feeling completely helpless, even though they are hundreds of miles apart.
Series
- Part 2 of Love, Michael.
-
Tags
Summary
A post-season-5, slow burn story about Mike and Will growing up, falling apart, and finding their way back to each other.
Heavy on grief, trauma, and emotional healing, with found family, hurt/comfort, and a happy ending.
To the boy who ran into the rain after that fight,
I’m sorry I let you go. I shouldn’t have.
I’m happy the best day of my life happened with you on those swings.Hope you like, let me know in the comments! :)
Series
- Part 1 of Wisdom for a cold heart
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
20 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
In the midst of the frantic, rhythmic motion, a small shift in the air, pulled Will from the blinding focus of sensation. His head lolled back against the pillows, his eyes, hazy and dilated, snapping open.
That’s when he saw her. Vanessa. Standing in the sliver of the doorway.
He didn't gasp. He didn't stop Mike, didn't even slow the relentless, punishing rhythm. There was no room for surprise, not now, not after all this time. He just stared at her with the quiet, triumphant knowledge that had settled deep within him years ago. It was a look of profound, quiet acknowledgement—a confirmation of the ending he had always known was their inevitable destination.
In that gaze, Will was telling her that her story with Mike was over, that he had merely held the place for him until the time was right.
The problem with Mike Wheeler was not that he didn't know how to exist in halves, but that he refused to let Will Byers exist without him. In 1991, Will Byers is an art student at NYU, living for the 10:00 PM calls and the thick, ink-stained manuscripts Mike sends from Bloomington. He has resigned himself to being the moon to Mike’s sun.
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
19 Jan 2026
-
what are you willing to do (kiss it better, baby) by wisingheart
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
18 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
Will lifts his eyes from the posters on his wall. He misses Bowie and The Cure during the split second his eyes take the road to Mike’s face. When they arrive at their destination, his heart trembles in his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he starts. Eyes still wide and sad. “Don’t be mad at me anymore, I can’t stand it.”
Maybe Will should feel bad for making his boyfriend go through such an emotional turmoil. But when Mike looks at him like this and uses this voice, he can’t hold himself back from enjoying all it. The concept of guilt be damned.
He has the audacity to push it too.
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
19 Jan 2026
-
i know better (but you're still around) by andiwriteordie
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
12 Dec 2022
Tags
Summary
“Who… who tried to stop him?” Mike finally manages to ask, and he dares to look up at the strange girl. “Eleven, who tried to stop Henry?”
There’s a pause. Then, Eleven lifts her head, and she looks Mike directly in the eye. And Mike… Mike knows. Without her even saying a word, Mike knows.
Eleven points to the picture one more time—points to Will one more time. And with a voice full of conviction and full of truth, she whispers, “Will.”
Or:
November 6, 1987. Four years after Will Byers' disappearance and mysterious death, things begin to get a little... strange in Hawkins, Indiana.
Series
- Part 1 of in the cracks of light
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 183,622
- Chapters:
- 21/21
- Comments:
- 1,200
- Kudos:
- 5,056
- Bookmarks:
- 1,254
- Hits:
- 172,651
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
17 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Mike barks a laugh. “I’m, unfortunately, requesting your companionship Thursday night to see Child’s Play 2 with Will and I.”
She sends him a look of bewilderment. “How did I get dragged into your date with Will?”
“Y’know, it’s really great that I can count on such discretion from you and Lucas. Super awesome that you don’t tell each other everything.” Max ignores him and he continues on. “Well, I tried my best, but he kind of looked at me all-dumbfounded and wasn’t saying anything, so I panicked.”
“Well, duh. He’s liked you since, like, birth. Did you even give him enough time to answer?”
“Of course I gave him enough time to answer.” Mike grits out, voice tight. “I know how to have a fucking conversation with someone, Maxine.”
--
Mike Wheeler can’t pick a major to save his life, is fighting for said life in the worst class ever (Astronomy 101), and is desperately trying to romance the best person in his life.
Enter: Will Byers, his advanced concepts in painting final project, and his pretty eyelashes.
Series
- Part 2 of devotion | Indiana University
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,686
- Chapters:
- 7/7
- Comments:
- 253
- Kudos:
- 2,272
- Bookmarks:
- 686
- Hits:
- 36,294
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
16 Jan 2026
-
Tags
Summary
Vecna is defeated and the party is preparing for final exams. Will has a problem, he can’t seem to relax. He’s tried pretty much everything but he can’t let go. He talks to his friends about it and they all seem to have their own ways of coping. Still nothing is working, he wishes he was like any other teenage boy, wishes his trauma wouldn't get in the way of a very natural biological function. But he just can't seem to get Vecna's visions out of his head. Enter Mike.
Mike gives Will the massage of a lifetime.
(Characters are 18, everyone lived, the Duffer brothers are cowards and Divorce Gate is real)
Bookmarked by thinrichbitch
14 Jan 2026