#flayerlinked

          nothing’s  been  the  same  for  a  long  time,  really.  it  was  something  mike  had  tried  time  and  time  again  to  ignore.  even  when  they  were  kids  starting  to  go  through  puberty  and  mike  tried  to  force  himself  to  grow  up,  a  part  of  him  still  wanted  to  ignore  how  much  things  were  changing.

          he  thinks,  perhaps,  things  between  will  and  himself  have  changed  the  most.  a  lot  of  their  dynamic  stayed  mostly  the  same,  only  changing  in  brief  ways,  but  others  had  changed  drastically.  to  put  it  simply,  mike  didn’t  want  to  make  out  with  lucas,  dustin,  or  max.  he  didn’t  let  thoughts  of  them  consume  him  for  days  on  end.  they  weren’t  the  ones  he  was  most  thrilled  to  share  his  newest  work-in-progress  d&d  campaign  notes  with.  

          and  though  all  these  changes  weren’t  anything  negative,  mike  understands  where  will’s  coming  from  all  the  same.  growing  up  was  hard—harder  still  when  your  childhood  was  stolen  from  you;  riddled  with  trauma  you  still  don’t  quite  know  how  to  process—and  now  with  them  having  graduated  and  on  the  countdown  'til  college,  well,  mike  truly  does  understand  all  too  well  the  anxieties  will  feels—hopes  he  does,  anyway.

people really think it's a personality trait to hate s/tancy and b/yler and at this point, i hope they're endgame just to spite everyone. people are at least more receptive to b/yler, which is good, bc they're a cute ship and deserve happiness, but when it comes to s/tancy? holy FUCK the amount of people who complain about it in the tags makes me wanna bash my head into a wall.

"m/ike's an asshole, he doesn't DESERVE w/ill!" lord for-fucking-bid he be a realistic teenager with realistic teenager emotions while he navigates life and tries to come to terms with his sexuality. the boy comes from a loveless ass home (i know k/aren tries her best but y'know) and he's very obviously struggling with his feelings and emotions, but nah, fuck m/ike, right? and if ANYONE "deserves" w/ill, it's m/ike, end of. eat my ass, idc.

           cheeks flush and eyes widen when will is suddenly leaning in, pressing his lips to mike’s. his hands twist into his bedsheets with a death grip. he still isn’t used to sharing kisses with his best friend of a decade. he watches will watching him for his reaction. his hands continue to futz with his bedsheets when he finally finds his voice.

It was the quiet moments that often unsettled her. The ones where there was hardly any sound. It felt like a soft lull leading to a false sense of comfort, one that put her at unease. She felt her stomach shift as she sat on the couch, arms folded and her eyes staring at nothing in particular. Normally the Wheelers' house had some noise to it; the sound of talking upstairs, the soft footsteps, ted's snoring while the television played. Anything.

Now there was nothing. The unnerving silence broke her and she withdrew her already thinning patience. "I can't stay here all day." She rose from her seat. Where the hell was Mike anyway?