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1. Sidelined by kleinedee

   Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)  

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

   09 Apr 2026

   Tags

   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
   • Mike Wheeler
   • Will Byers
   • Slow Burn
   • Enemies to Lovers
   • Former Best Friends
   • Falling out
   • POV Mike Wheeler
   • Unresolved Tension
   • Mike Wheeler is Bad at Feelings
   • Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
   • Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things)
   • Popular Will Byers
   • Nostalgia
   • Forced Proximity
   • Miscommunication
   • Unreliable Narrator Mike Wheeler
   • Petty Mike Wheeler
   • petty will byers
   • Will Byers is a runner
   • he's a track star
   • El is not adopted by Hopper in this universe sorry not sorry she deserves better
   • mike and el never dated
   • Making Out
   • Secret Relationship
   • Yearning
   • Sneaking Around
   • Recreational Drug Use
   • Underage Drinking
   • Implied Sexual Content

   Summary

   Mike and Will used to be inseparable. Best friends. Then Will moved away without warning.

   Now he’s back in Hawkins… and he’s different and everything Mike isn’t: popular, charming, athletic, and adored by everyone.

   Mike can’t stand him.

   But thanks to a very unfair Mr. Clarke, they’re stuck together on a senior project. One project. Two ex-best friends. And somehow, they’re both about to survive the most complicated semester of their lives.

   Or: the forced-proximity, enemies-to-lovers Byler fic no one asked for.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   52,491

   Chapters:

   11/?

   Comments:

   75

   Kudos:

   149

   Bookmarks:

   31

   Hits:

   3,373