I Got Slapped In The Face With That Last Photo, I Felt Like I Was Reading A Really Good Fanfic And Then

I got slapped in the face with that last photo, i felt like I was reading a really good fanfic and then BAM this is tumblr

when the final scene of stranger things is a grown-up will byers at his kitchen table, drawing, and he calls out “hey, sweetheart? can you bring me my good eraser?” his husband walks out of their home office with the eraser in his left hand, wedding band glinting, wordlessly handing will the item.

will smiles up at him. “thanks, michael,” he teases, and mike leans down to kiss him. “you know, you still need to finish your part of volume 5 before we can send this out.” mike stands up, huffs a laugh and gently rubs will’s shoulders.

the camera focuses on what will’s been drawing—the first draft of a graphic novel. will reaches forward and flips from the early page he’d just been sketching on, which depicts the dnd campaign from s1e1 and will getting captured by the demogorgon, and flips to the end, which depicts the Party saving him in s5 (which we’ve just seen earlier in the episode).

“remember?” will points at empty speech bubbles on the page. “this was all happening in your perspective. i was literally in a trance. i can’t fill it in for you,” will laughs, a mirth-filled sound that radiates through their cozy kitchen and living room.

“oh my god, and especially this part.” will flips back to volume 4 of their comic, showing frames of will and mike in the pizza van. “you left all your thought bubbles empty, babe. lucas and dustin are brutal when they edit our shit, you know they won’t let it slide—”

“yeah, yeah,” mike smiles. he sighs as he reaches down and traces his fingers over the thessalhydra on the final pages of the novel. “will?”

“yeah?”

“this is gorgeous.”

“oh, stop.”

“…and i wanted to ask you—“

“yeah?”

“do you think anyone will believe us?”

the room falls silent. will knows what he means—are readers going to believe that this really happened to them and their friends, that this is really their love story? or are they going to think it’s pure fiction? just a metaphor, maybe? and the bigger question hangs between them: do they want people to believe them?

mike clears his throat and continues. “i guess i should ask you what i’m really worried about. do you think people will… like it?”

finally, will’s face breaks into a beaming smile. “oh, yeah. the smart ones. the ones who know what it’s like to be… different.” will leans back into his husband’s arms. “it’s late. we should sleep. el is picking us up early tomorrow, remember?”

“oh yeah, that’s right. she’s really excited about teaching that yoga class.”

they laugh together and roll their eyes lovingly at the thought of their best friend, and will gets up from his chair. he starts to follow mike into their room, but gets stuck on the image of the whole Party physically pulling him from vecna’s clutches on the final page.

mike notices and peeks out from the hallway. “hon, you coming?”

“yeah,” will says, and he smiles fondly, thinking about how lucky he is to have the people that he has, and to have been to hell and back with them. “yeah, was just looking at a couple things.” he sighs and closes the book, and follows mike. his voice trails off as he says “you know, i’m still not sure about the title…”

the camera shows us that the draft’s cover reads:

STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED…

by William & Michael Byers

Introduction by Jane “El” Hopper

Epilogue by Maxine Mayfield-Sinclair