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1. i won’t say it (if you won’t say it first) by Angela_Addams

   Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)  

   • Mature
   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • M/M
   • Complete Work

   05 Feb 2026

   Tags

   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
   • Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler
   • Will Byers
   • Mike Wheeler
   • Nancy Wheeler
   • Lucas Sinclair
   • Dustin Henderson
   • Maxine "Max" Mayfield
   • Robin Buckley
   • Karen Wheeler
   • Ted Wheeler (Stranger Things)
   • Jim "Chief" Hopper
   • Joyce Byers
   • Lonnie Byers
   • Vicky
   • Angst
   • Hurt/Comfort
   • Slow Burn
   • Friends to Lovers
   • Post-Canon
   • Pre-Epilogue
   • Grief/Mourning
   • Internalized Homophobia
   • Coming of Age
   • Emotional Repression
   • Miscommunication
   • Healing
   • Trauma
   • Suicide Attempt
   • Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler
   • Mike Wheeler is Bad at Feelings
   • Emotional Hurt/Comfort
   • paintinggate
   • El is presumed dead
   • Period-Typical Homophobia
   • Eat your Heart out Duffer Bros
   • POV Mike Wheeler
   • First Time
   • Fade to Black
   • Unreliable Narrator Mike Wheeler
   • Bullying
   • Mild Blood
   • Anxious Mike Wheeler
   • Artist Will Byers
   • Angst with a Hopeful Ending
   • Disordered Eating
   • Neurodiversity
   • References to Depression
   • Closeted Mike Wheeler
   • Getting Together
   • First Kiss
   • Implied Sexual Content
   • some sexual content
   • Eyeliner Mike Wheeler
   • Hopper Is So Done With Mike and Another of His Kids
   • Mike Wheeler Needs a Hug
   • Nancy Wheeler is a BadAss
   • Everyone Needs A Hug
   • The Cure (Band) References
   • 80's Music
   • Making Out
   • Boys Kissing

   Summary

   Six months after the final battle, Hawkins is back to normal in all the wrong ways.

   Mike Wheeler is grieving El, the battle against Vecna, the version of himself who used to know what to do. He’s not eating, not sleeping, not talking, and definitely not saying the one thing that might save him. Being in the closet feels safer than truth.

   Will Byers is still there anyway.Waiting for him to come to his senses.

   I wanted a character study of Mike that didn’t bash him over the head for being closeted.
   Inspired by The Cure, and Twilight: New Moon (unfortunately).

    

   My friend called it John Hughes but way darker, I will go with that.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   38,206

   Chapters:

   18/18

   Comments:

   32

   Kudos:

   103

   Bookmarks:

   20

   Hits:

   1,226