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1. we thought this place was haunted (it was just us) by secretxgardensinmyxmind

   Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)  

   • Mature
   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • M/M
   • Work in Progress

   18 Mar 2026

   Tags

   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
   • Mike Wheeler
   • Will Byers
   • Lily Wheeler (Original Character)
   • Alternate Universe
   • Hurt/Comfort
   • Angst
   • Grief
   • Past Trauma
   • byler
   • Single Dad Mike Wheeler
   • Gay Mike Wheeler
   • Gay Will Byers
   • Slow Burn
   • Healing
   • Second Chances
   • Falling In Love
   • Past Character Death
   • Past Abuse
   • Soft Byler
   • Mutual Pining
   • Mike Wheeler Needs a Hug
   • Will Byers Needs a Hug
   • I need a hug after writing this

   Summary

   Two years after his husband’s death, Mike Wheeler lives quietly in a cliffside mansion with his eight year old daughter and more ghosts than he knows what to do with. He doesn’t talk about the past.

   Will Byers isn’t looking for love when he takes the live-in cook job at Rosecliff Manor. He's just trying to start over in a new town, with a new job and with the walls carefully built around his heart.

   Living under the same roof wasn’t supposed to mean anything.

   But grief recognizes grief.

   And sometimes healing looks a lot like falling in love.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   46,616

   Chapters:

   10/?

   Comments:

   282

   Kudos:

   198

   Bookmarks:

   53

   Hits:

   3,964