“I’m with El,” Mike replies, and it’s true – wholly, foundationally true. They’re intertwined, lateral roots growing from the same stem. He remembers the bright intensity of their beginning, the fire it bloomed that raged too hot and too fast, before settling into what it's become now, a steady glow in the hearth.

Still, it nags at him that his relationship with El is his first line of defence, the first rationalisation to explain why it shouldn’t be Will’s tongue in Mike’s mouth instead of his excuses.

Set post-5A, written pre-5B release.

Pairing: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler/Eleven | Jane Hopper Rating: Teen+ Words: 3,321 Tags: Coming Out, Minor Infidelity, Polyamory Negotiations, Period-Typical Homophobia, Gay Will Byers, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Hinge Mike Wheeler, The Party Friendship, Feelings Realization, Hopeful Ending

“Can I ask something awful?” Will asks. His voice is small – timid – but Mike knows how to hear the steel in it. He’s asking at all. There’s courage there. 

“It won’t be awful,” Mike assures him, then adds, “and, yeah, of course.”

“Would you still be so cool about waiting if you and El weren’t, you know?” 

Set post-canon, written post Season 5 Vol. 2, but before the finale.

Pairing: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler/Eleven | Jane Hopper Rating: Mature Words: 2,437 Tags: Polyamory, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Post-Canon