Hold On, Honey

"And when you come home in pieces, bleeding, pretending nothing happened just because for ten minutes someone pretended to want you..." Mike's voice cracked for a fraction of a second before turning to ice.
"When you break down and realize how pathetic you've been... don't call me. Don't you dare call me."

It's 1992, and college is an unbearable cage of isolation for Will Byers.
His only anchor is Mike, who visits every weekend while constructing a wall of lies to not face his feeling.
Driven to the brink by Mike's sudden coldness and the cruel words hurled over a breaking phone line, Will's mental state spirals into a dangerous craving for self-destruction.
He seeks an escape in the neon haze of the Blue Room, where he willingly surrenders to the bruises and the blurred touch of strangers, desperate to wash Mike's shadow out of his skin.

But his reckless behavior leaves scars, and when Mike finally discovers the dangerous edge he has pushed Will into, the thin veil of their platonic promises will shatter for good.