Chapters: 8/?
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Will Byers/Original Male Character(s), Will Byers/Will Byers's Epilogue Boyfriend, Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers&Original Male Character(s)
Characters: Will Byers, Original Male Character(s), Mike Wheeler
Additional Tags: Angst, Fluff, doomed byler, carlton - Freeform, Slow Burn, Internalized Homophobia, POV Will Byers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, post s5, College Student Will Byers, Sharing a Bed, Coming Out, First Kiss, Jealous Mike Wheeler, Closeted Mike Wheeler, Closeted Character, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Art School, Smut, Coming of Age, Will Byers Cheats on Will Byers's Epilogue Boyfriend
Summary:
Fall, 1989. Far from Hawkins, Will Byers is studying art in West Philly, trying to build a life that isn’t defined by what he survived or who he had to be.
When a quiet, magnetic boy in his drawing class begins to pull him out of his carefully constructed shell, Will starts to believe he might finally be allowed to want more.
But the past doesn’t stay buried forever. And when a boy from Hawkins returns with truths Will isn’t ready to face, he’s forced to choose between the future he’s building and the love he never learned how to let go of.