1 - 20 of 1,310 Works in Will Byers's Painting
Navigation
Listing Works
-
Will Byers Gets What He Wants by xxstaindrosesxx
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016), Byler - Fandom
04 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
After the world nearly ended, something as simple as Senior Year in high school feels too normal. That's before Jonathan meddles in his brother's life, making Will promise to be more honest, brave, and to start asking important questions. He knows Will deserves more, and it's a matter of pushing his brother to want it.
Will learns how much communication makes a difference in his life. Everything ever left unsaid about the painting, the rain fight, the awkwardness in Lenora, his so-called 'Tammy', and much more, allows him to heal, and to learn.
OR
With a little encouragement from Jonathan, Will starts to get what he wants, including the one and only Mike Wheeler.
Set during senior year, post battle, pre-epilogue. A slice-of-life centered around Will Byers, some of his internal thoughts, focusing on his relationships, his future, and so much more.
SMUT STARTS IN CHAPTER 16. THESE CHARACTERS ARE SEVENTEEN, SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT.
-
Tags
Summary
The man’s hair was black, really wavy. There was no air conditioning in here, but his hair blew anyway.
His eyes were black holes, irises out of orbit. Freckles danced across his cheeks.
Will’s feet sank into the floor.
“Miiiike.”
Or:
Will Byers sees Mike Wheeler across a warehouse rave in Brooklyn and thinks: hallucination.
He’s not sure he’s wrong.
The problem with acid is that you can’t always tell the difference.
-
Tags
Summary
The smile that spreads across Mike’s face is involuntary, like it must exist in Will’s presence. It’s like he waters the parched soil of his mind.
Mike doesn’t realize how badly he needs him until he’s had a drink. And right now, he thinks this weekend is exactly what he’s been needing.
OR: After years of grappling with his feelings, Mike visits Will in Chicago for a weekend during his junior year of college.
-
Tags
Summary
"Last night, the painting... it came to life! He spoke to me and... it was his voice. It was his voice, Jonathan."
It's 1999, and Will Byers is a successful artist in NYC, making ends meet despite the difficulties his lifestyle presents. Only problem? He's out of inspiration and running low on funds, having sold the last of his paintings at a charity auction he didn’t even want to be a part of. So his therapist suggests he paint the thing he can’t seem to let go of, and with that homework he decides to paint a portrait of the One That Got Away.
It's fine, and somewhat cathartic... until the painting starts speaking with the voice of his deceased childhood love. His best friend, painted in the colors that hold all the words and thoughts he could never say.
-
Tags
Summary
Mike Wheeler gets bitten by a demo bat after the final battle with Vecna, and suffers the consequences while trying not to ruin his relationship with horrible thoughts of his best friend.
--------
just an excuse to write vampire smut honestly -
Vol 2 plus final rewrite (fuck the D*ffers) by Kittykat_LoverofFandoms
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
03 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
A rewrite set after the sorcerer, where the characters are people and the stakes are high, and Byler is happening.
Warning: will have character death, violence and horror.
This is what I wish would happen.
Such as Hopper not being a dick to Kali, and the rest of the parents learn what is happening. Joyce cares about he oldest son. The painting lies exposed; the hospital attack is more realistic. The first shadow is mentioned. Characters in danger, and we have some character deaths. Also, some Vecna is a real threat.
P.S. The first few chapters are kind of in episode format, but I stopped and chose to write it how I want, and not limit it to a theoretical TV episode time slot.
-
Tags
Summary
Stacey leaned forward. “Truth or dare?”
Mike hesitated.
Then—
“Truth.”
“Of course,” Max muttered.
“Have you ever lied about your feelings to someone you care about?”
The room quieted.
Not completely—just enough.
Mike’s eyes flicked up—
and landed on Will.Or
Graduation night was supposed to be simple—goodbyes, bad music, and one last party. But when an unexpected invitation pulls the group into a night of reckless games and blurred edges, things start slipping out that were never meant to be said. On a quiet balcony, away from the noise, two best friends find themselves standing on the edge of something neither of them is ready to name… or lose.
-
Tags
Summary
Seven years.
After seven years of awkward silences and unanswered phone calls, Will and Mike's friendship has crumbled to a quiet death.
Will has accepted it. Even moved onto a semi-serious boyfriend whom he may or may not be introducing to the Party in Max and Lucas's wedding.
He just needs to survive three nights in the general vicinity of Mike - three nights sharing a bed.
What's the worst that can happen?
-
Tags
Summary
He reaches for Will’s pencil and starts marking small X’s where he wants them to go.
“I think we should go further. As far away from Hawkins as possible.” He says, his eyes darting up to check Will’s expression. He’s looking down at the map, his expression unreadable as Mike’s X’s move further and further away from Indiana.
“We’ve never been anywhere Will—well, you’ve been to New York and we’ve both been to California—but still, we’ve never been anywhere just to be there.”
…Will Byers has stopped speaking. Everyone is desperate to make him talk again, but all Mike Wheeler cares about is having his best friend beside him as they get far away from Hawkins together.
Or. Mike and Will go on a road trip and try to manage their grief and trauma.
-
Tags
-
Tags
Summary
Something happened between Mike and Will during winter break of ‘89, and they haven’t spoken in four years. When Mike moves to New York for grad school in 1993, he is finally starting to figure himself out, and he wants to fix things with Will. He has no idea where to begin, so he writes a play about it.
Will has been building a life for himself in NYC as a painter. He has a boyfriend, volunteers with an AIDS housing program, and pays his rent by acting in other people’s plays – including, as it turns out, Mike’s.
A story about the damage of being loved before you’re ready, and about trying to make your way back (with a little help along the way from your meddling older siblings).
-
Tags
Summary
This is a rewrite of stranger things S5 from volume 2 till the epilogue. I have kept some of the scenes the same but many will be my own.
THERE WILL BE MAIN CHARACTER DEATH so pre warning. Each chapter is what would be an episode but the last few are all post the Finale. -
Tags
Summary
Mike stretches out his hand towards Will, palm facing upwards. An invitation. Will rises to his feet, takes a small step towards the dancefloor and the crowd between them parts like the Red Sea.
Mike pulls him closer by the hand, looking down at Will with a soft smile. "Just look at me," he whispers. "Forget everyone else. Just keep your eyes on me."
Easier said than done.
"This okay?" Mike asks when a hand sneaks around Will's ribcage.
Will just nods, eyes not leaving Mike's.
"Just follow my lead, alright? It'll be over before you know it," Mike adds, straightening up slightly before taking the first step.
Despite his promises, Mike never sent a single letter.Despite his best intentions, Will was never able to fully move on.
Or,
Mike and Will reunite at Lucas and Max’s wedding. After months of no contact, they’re forced to confront unspoken truths and long-forgotten lies.
(A post-season 5 slow burn inspired by Love, Rosie.)
-
In the Back of My Mind (I Still Think About You) by Sparks521075
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
02 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
Mike finds a journal entry of his best friend, Will Byers, detailing explicit feelings about him.
-
Every Song Sounds Like You (Even When I Don’t Want It To) by blue_fish_at_sea
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
02 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
There’s a quiet pause beside me.
Then Mike sighs hesitant at first before softly reaching over, his fingers hooking lightly under my jaw.
Before I can react, he turns my face towards him.I feel my brain short-circuit.
“Will,” he says, low and patient. He’s closer than I expected. Close enough that I can see the faint freckles across his nose, the way the afternoon light catches in his eyes.
My gaze drops for a split second - traitorously - to his mouth.
Big mistake.
His lips tilt into the smallest, most knowing smile.
Shit. At this rate I'm gonna give myself away.
I can feel the warmth at the bottom of my stomach and the press of his thumb against my jaw, just resting under my chin like he’s making sure I keep looking at him.
Friends do this, I tell myself quickly. Guys mess with each other. This is normal. Completely normal.
Except he’s still looking at me like that.And I might be staring at his lips a little too long...
-
Tags
Summary
"Will would like to make one thing clear: he was over Mike.
He was over it.
Okay?
He cried like a sweet sweet gay disaster in that Surfer Boy van, what, five whole months ago?
Pssh, old news.
Mike Wheeler? Who even is that? How do you even spell that?
Never heard of him.
Okay, he’s joking, obviously. But really, he was over his, um. His silly little crush."
When the Byers Moved In: A Post-ST 4 / ST 5 Fix-It Dance of Forced Proximity (in a Billion Chaotic Acts)
OR: Will Byers and How He Learned to Stop Lying and Let Himself Love Mike Wheeler
-
you and i have history, don’t you remember? by taffyquelquepart
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
Will couldn't really understand how she could become so important to Mike in just a week.
Of course, she had powers.
Cool.
That was… definitely something.
But that was all Mike ever talked about.
Even so, that seemed enough for her to become a recurring topic of conversation over and over and over again. Will noticed the way Mike’s hand would tremble, just slightly, every time he mentioned her. Will would avert his eyes before it could mean anything. Before he could make it mean anything.
Before it had a name.
Or: the events of Stranger Things through Will Byers’ eyes, exploring his trauma and complicated feelings towards Mike and Eleven.
-
Tags
Summary
It's 2004, and Dr. Penelope (Penny) Wheeler is living in Hawkins Indiana with her husband Michael, and their two daughters. She has a successful career as a physician specializing in emergency and trauma medicine. Despite their traumatic upbringings, Penny and Michael have created a beautiful family and live a picture perfect life.
That is, until Penny discovers a book tucked away in a storage container of her husbands Dungeons and Dragons collectibles. On the first page, a handwritten dedication brings a decades old secret into the light, shattering her sense of self.
She's left with an impossible decision: confront the issue head on at the risk of destroying her family, or hold onto the secret and keep up appearances, even if it kills her.
(inspired by "you're losing me" by taylor swift)
Series
-
stay with me (this is what i need, please) by ryuzakiix
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
Ever since Will moved to New York crazy things have been happening to Mike that he thinks he’s only imagining it. The rest of the party—Max, Dustin, and Lucas, have been going on a random trip that doesn’t even make sense to Mike.
or
Mike gets deja vu from all the places they're going and flinches like a Victorian child everytime. He feels like the universe is making him pay back whatever BS he's done to Will and the guilt eats him up so bad, basically.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,730
- Chapters:
- 1/3
- Kudos:
- 2
- Hits:
- 12
-
Mike Wheeler and the overwhelming ordeal of surviving the apocalypse by Banishedcleric
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Jun 2026
Tags
Summary
Hawkins didn't rebuild, it fell apart.
The upside down leaked into Hawkins, and the two places are merged at this point in time.
The party is spilt, people are dead, and Mike Wheeler is separated from Will Byers, Hawkins is in ruins with no return.
Mike Wheeler goes against all safety procedures, leaves the bunker, and goes to find him.
Little did he know.