hawkins, indiana; early winter of 2025. {no upside down, el doesn’t have powers au, she’s just wills step sister. they were friends, then joyce and hopper got married when they were in sophomore year of high school} the party is in college together. max and lucas are dating. lucas is an alpha, max is an omega. dustin and el are betas, so they don’t have to worry about the typical issues. mike is an alpha. will is an omega, obviously. after being on heat suppressants for a few months, will begins experiencing symptoms of a phantom heat, something that happens to some omegas that take suppressants. will has no clue this is happening of course, he has no clue why his emotions are all sensitive and out of whack, and why mike smells really really good all the sudden. mike feels wills shift, and at first he also has no clue what’s going on with will, he just feels really drawn to comfort him. will has no clue what’s going on, until one day after lunch max pulls him aside, casually mentions that sometimes omegas can go through a phantom heat with suppressants sometimes. says that lucas said that even lucas can smell him. after a few days, mike, an alpha, offers to help relieve the symptoms by scenting him. as a friend. totally as friends.