Mike Wheeler's stuck in a lot of ways. He's stuck in Hawkins, since his parents insisted he stayed in town for college. He's stuck in his mind, which has caused him to spiral into a deep depression ever since he helped save the world a year and a half ago. But worst of all, he's stuck in his own feelings for his best friend, Will. Will, who's been moving while Mike's been stuck. Moving out of Hawkins the day after graduation, moving on from his trauma, moving on from Mike. To try to cope with the mess that's Mike's life, he started imagining countless "what ifs". Harmless things, really. What if there wasn't an Upside Down? What if El lived? What if he could finally leave Hawkins? When he found himself thinking "What if Will were a girl?", he ended up diving head-first into a spiral he doesn't think he can come out of. When the spiral led to frequent visits to the quarry, the change of location brought infinitely more "what ifs" than Mike could even comprehend-"what ifs" of the future instead of the past. "What ifs" that promised danger, which, if Mike was entirely honest with himself, he didn't really mind. (Title is from Trailers after dark by Finn Wolfhard)

"I feel like my life started the day we found you in the woods." Will could feel his heart slowly breaking. -- The gang are now all in Hawkins, struggling to pick up the pieces after Vecna won. Some members still feel the divide left by the drama of the fight, and one especially is feeling heartbroken and devestated. Alone and vulnerable, Will begins to be haunted by illusions of Vecna- and it wants Will on his team. As everyone races to stop it before the gates open and Hawkins is destroyed, Will and Mike will have to finally face themselves and the shattered remains of their relationship. - Originally posted on my ao3, thebitchywitcher, im reuploading it here.

Continues immediately after the events of Stranger Things, season 5 episode 7. Basically the finale, but written by someone who actually cares about queer representation. Mike did NOT deserve that absolute assassination and I WILL be doing him right. In other words, a fix-it fic based on my last byler theory on my YouTube channel, in which we get a Mike-central finale where byler is canon. I do want to clarify I only watched the finale once and I refuse to watch it again so I might get some plot points wrong but you guys don't care anyway because no one likes the finale.