This is a Byler story: the canon-compliant slow-burn fan fic of what we never got on the show, exploring the love, longing, and quiet moments that were always there-just waiting to be seen. After the world is saved, some feelings refuse to stay buried. A year and six months after the final battle, Hawkins is quieter-but the loss of El still lingers, reshaping everything. Grief pulls the Party together one last time for a final game of D&D, filled with laughter, memories, and a goodbye to the people they used to be as they begin to move on with their lives. As old routines resurface, so do the emotions left unspoken. When the storm rolls in and the house empties, Mike and Will find themselves alone for the night-standing at the edge of something neither of them is ready to name, but can no longer ignore.