Adult Content Warning
This work could have adult content. If you continue, you have agreed that you are willing to see such content.
-
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.