Best Short Byler Fanfics
Byler novellas — 10k–50k words, perfect for a weekend. All curated from AO3 and ranked by kudos.
Top 10 Short Byler Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Mid-length Byler fics — 10,000–50,000 words.
blender
by ominousbabe
"So after being with her for years, you couldn't even tell her you loved her when she needed it the most?" Will spat back at him. "I kept looking at her and seeing you. God you look so much alike, whenever I was with her, I kept thinking about you." "No, don't put this on me. It's not my fault you c
Just Looking
by sleepykangaroo
Freshman year. Mike, Will, and Lucas are ready for a clean slate. No more high school nerd status. But back in their triple dorm room after their very first campus party, Mike can’t sleep. He never noticed the tiny noises Will makes in his sleep. So, he steps closer. Just looking. He does it once. T
Something happens and I'm head over heels
by YellowxBlue
Miwi to Blyer Omegaverse AU Mike and Will have always been best friends ever since they were little. Nothing could ever change that, not even the world trying to tear them apart. This is their story. It's a glimpse into the years of their lives and the struggles they face together.
The Spy: Third Year
by MogulMama
His stomach wouldn’t stop doing cartwheels, his heart wouldn’t stop squeezing inside his chest, and his mind prickled with an awareness that everything he’d been trying to shove away, every little feeling that popped up wherever Mike was concerned, it could no longer be ignored. He had a crush on hi
Distance & Desire (D&D)
by blairbyler
In the summer after their graduation, Mike and Will move into a tiny apartment above Hawkins Video Store to prepare for sharing a dorm room at NYU in the fall. What starts as an attempt to adjust to college life quickly becomes something more dangerous: months of unbearable proximity, possessiveness
Gaining Attention
by mollysoychic
El will do just about anything to get Mike’s attention back. When she witnesses Mike gawking at a girl who’s…well endowed…El plots to “develop” herself. Max and Will get stuck in the middle.
Honey, I Shrunk the Cleric
by from_the_woes
When Will gets caught in a machine Dustin has made, he has to make a dangerous trek to find his friends and get them to fix it, hopefully without running into anything dangerous on the way. (Spoiler alert: things don't go quite so smoothly)
Borrowed Name, Loaded Gun
by Blood_Red_Moon
Will Byers rides into Tombstone under a stolen name. Mike Wheeler knows exactly who he is. He doesn’t turn him in. The posters multiply. The bounty climbs. Mike’s chamber stays empty. or: Ten days in which a bounty hunter lets his prey sleep in his bed and pretends he doesn’t know his real name. ━━━
Is it my fault you don't like girls? (You know it is)
by sti11wish4u
Summer of 1987.The Wheeler family rents a house in the mountains for two weeks. In this time, Mike and Will realize they have lots of things to talk about.
to live for the hope of it all
by star_bywolf
It's been years since Mike and Will last talked. During their time apart in high school, Mike realized two things. One, he was gay. Two, he was obsessed with Will. Things were changing, they were growing and maturing. Will they find their way back together, or will some distance break them apart? Wi
Find More Short Byler Fics on AO3
AO3's filter sidebar lets you set a custom word-count range. Browse 10,000–50,000 words Byler works sorted by kudos. Then read offline with Fanfict Reader.
More Byler Fics by Length
Looking for a different reading commitment? Browse Byler fics in other length ranges:
Why Read Short Byler Fics?
Novella-length Byler fics — roughly 10,000 to 50,000 words — let writers fully develop a single AU, trope, or relationship beat without sprawling. Plenty of time for setup, payoff, and a satisfying ending; not so much time that you're juggling fifty bookmarks.
Great for trying a new author or testing whether you'll enjoy a sub-genre before diving into something longer.
About This List
This list of 10short Byler fanfics spans 225,310 total words. Kudos range from 4 on the newest entries to 492 on the most established. Most entries are ongoing works, so subscribe on AO3 for update notifications. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (4 of 10 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Omega Verse · Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics · Alpha Mike Wheeler · Alternate Universe - Modern Setting · Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers.
Read Stranger Things on the go
Fanfict Reader is the best way to browse, search, and read AO3 fanfiction on your iPhone. Download for free and start reading your favorite Stranger Things fics today.