It's December 1990, and Mike is at his last University of Indianapolis frat party. He's going through hell; after having lost contact with his friends, tried to fill his emotional void with sex, and dropped out of college a year and a half in because of his worsening drinking habits, Mike stands at the edge of a lookout with only one thing- one person- on his mind. The title and story are inspired by the Taylor Swift song <3 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32sdnXCHQ5ahfidegL9Cmf?si=5493376540b34dae There's an audiobook! Listen here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeWy_dqPXg4bb_0XIe_FhOM4ZIWLHo2TO&si=7y50F6pdFQlnlFys

The party is having a sleepover in Mike's basement during summer break. Mike has a nightmare. Mike and Will have been more closer recently, after Mike apologised about their 'little fight' in the rain a few months ago. ──⋆•☆•⋆ ───── ⋆•☆•⋆ ───── ⋆•☆•⋆ ── (Sorry if this is horrible or cringey (edit: it is!!), this is my first story i've wrote lmao. But i hope you still enjoy it. Don't be scared to comment<3 This is an AU where the Byers never moved. The party also has the looks of after season 3 and before season 4 (how ever u want them to look like kinda just on the older side :) I hope you enjoy my first book<3 ✮Warnings✮ ~swearing ~'mature'-ish scenes ✮Highest ranked tags I've gotten✮ #1 byler #36 byler #146 boyfriends #83 homosexual Est. - Fri, 31st Oct 2025 Completed - Sun, 14th Dec 2025 ────⋆•☆•⋆─────⋆•☆•⋆────

. 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭." - 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎 . 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟔/𝟖/𝟐𝟎 . 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝: 𝟖/𝟑𝟏/𝟐𝟎 #𝟏 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐫 (𝟔/𝟏𝟒/𝟐𝟎) #𝟏 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 (𝟖/𝟏𝟖/𝟐𝟎) #𝟏 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 (𝟏𝟐/𝟑𝟎/𝟐𝟎) #𝟏 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐱 (𝟑/𝟐𝟎/𝟐𝟏) [𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝟐]

Will moves back to Hawkins and him or Mike can't seem to get their act together now that they're living in the same house while Will's family looks at listings. Mike keeps telling himself he isn't gay, he wasn't gonna disappoint his dad. Will keeps pushing his feelings deep down, convincing himself Mike doesn't feel the same.

Will moves back to Hawkins and him or Mike can't seem to get their act together now that they're living in the same house while Will's family looks at listings. Mike keeps telling himself he isn't gay, he wasn't gonna disappoint his dad. Will keeps pushing his feelings deep down, convincing himself Mike doesn't feel the same.