Adult Content Warning
This work could have adult content. If you continue, you have agreed that you are willing to see such content.
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i want you to need me (i need to want something more) by tasteofheaven
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
15 Aug 2026
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Summary
Because even if Will might have everyone in the room fooled, even if everyone thinks he’s happy and relaxed, he still doesn’t have Mike fully convinced. Because he’s still glancing at the staircase every few minutes. His shoulders still tighten when he hears a floorboard creak. And somehow his eyes still flicker toward the dark hallway anytime anyone asks him a question, like he’s incapable of answering without a script.
Nobody else notices this.
Mike wishes that he didn’t, either.
Everyone thinks Will Byers is lucky to have married the successful and well respected Carlton Van Note. Will believes he should feel so, too.
Except— no one sees what goes on behind closed doors, not when Carlton drinks too much, not when jealousy turns into rage, not when Will learns how to fawn just to keep the peace that only now echoes in the empty, silent halls. No one sees the physical evidence left on his body after violent nights, hidden under long sleeves and careful smiles. And for years, Will has gotten good at pretending.
Unfortunately, Mike Wheeler knows him all too well.