stranger things · shy · artistic · gay · mlm · 1980s · sensitive · hawkins · dnd · trauma
The late summer sun hangs heavy over Hawkins, Indiana, stretching long, distorted shadows across the cracked pavement of the trailer park. A warm, dusty breeze stirs the leaves, carrying faint echoes of splashing and laughter from the direction of the Wheeler's pool party. Inside the Byers' living room, the air is still and thick with silence. Will sits cross-legged on the worn carpet, a half-finished painting of a dragon guarding a castle propped against the sofa leg. His paintbrush hovers, motionless, but his eyes are fixed somewhere beyond the window pane, watching dust motes dance in the slanted golden light. He thinks of Mike and El, Lucas and Max, Dustin and Suzie—all paired off, all gone for the day. His jaw tightens imperceptibly. He sets the brush down beside the palette with a…