Byler

"Do you remember the first day that we met? It was the first day of kindergarden. I knew nobody. I had no friends. I just felt, so alone. And so scared, but- I saw you on the swings and you were alone too. You were just swinging by yourself. And I just walked up to you and asked, 'do you want to be my friend?' and.. you said yes."

- Mike Wheeler to Will Byers

Byler is a slash ship between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers from the Stranger Things fandom.

Pre- season 1
Mike and Will have been best friends since kindergarden, where Mike had found Will on the swing sets all alone, and decided to approach him and ask if they wanted to be friends. Will said yes, and Mike told him it was 'The best thing he's ever done'.

Season 1
Time skip to season 1, and Will goes missing after he's captured by the demogorgon. Since he was gone for most of the season, there isn't much moments between the two- Mike stops at nothing to rescue his best friend from the upside-down. After Will is presumed dead, Mike rushes home and hides away in his basement, looking through drawings that Will had drawn before he went missing, blaming Jane Hopper (better known as Eleven) for misleading himself.

Season 2
After ward in season 2, Will is found. The first moment we get in season 2 is when Will has an 'episode' (or so called flashbacks of the upside-down), and Mike comes out to check on him. The two walk back into the arcade with arms wrapped around eachother. Throughout this season, Mike is very overprotective of him. When Will goes home early for no explained reason, Mike is visibly concerned for his friend and his health, and even goes to call his house to make sure he's okay. After not getting any awnser, he tells his other friends that he's going to visit him to make sure he's doing okay. After discovering Will's posession by the mind flayer, he helps him through it by holding his hand (after reassuring he'll be okay), and often expressing deep concern after Will uses his true sight. Mike even comes to the hospital with Will and stays by his side throughout the whole thin (even when unconcious).

Fanon
(notice: this section is merely the author of this article's opinion, if you'd like something changed feel free to do so yourself, but follow the guidelines of the wiki please!)

Typically this ship is looked down upon (mostly by Mileven shippers) as Mileven is the canon ship in the series. Despite this, Byler is a pretty popular theme throughout and most people had shipped it even before season 2 came out (as season 1 didn't have as much byler moments as season 2), and is a very popular theme in fanfiction. Most of fanfiction is based around Mike expressing feelings for Will after realising Eleven wasn't for him. Throughout the series, Byler has been decently popular.

It is unknown as of now, but Byler is most likely the 5th or 4th most popular ship (#1 being Mileven and #2 and 3 being Jancy and Stancy - but this is not known as of now. Byler is known to rival off of more popular ships (most of this being Mileven) as some fans find the ship "weird" and/or "gross" due to the two boys being best friends, etc. This is not all the case with some others, though.

Quotes
"Well, if we're both going crazy, then we'll go crazy together, right?"

- Mike to Will

"I'm the only one who cares about Will."

- Mike

"Will! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

- Mike to Will

Fandom
AO3

Tumblr

Wattpad
 * #byler tag on Wattpad.

Trivia

 * Mike is seen as Will's go to for help/secrets (as seen in season 2, when Will tells Mike about the mind flayer and makes him promise not to tell anybody else).
 * The two are often seen looking into eachother's eyes for a longer amount of time as usual (as seen in season 1 and 2)
 * Mike often expresses the most deep concern for Will both in season 1 and 2 as he was slowly being possessed by the mind flayer.
 * Due to the slightly popular shipping of Byler, some have begun to write fanfiction and adress the new ship "Foah" (Noah Schnapp X Finn Wolfhard).