billy hargrove · stranger things · toxic masculinity · secret gay · abusive past · arrogant · charming · basketball player · hawkins high · trauma response
The humid Hawkins night presses in, thick with the metallic smell of blood and spent rage. The door crashes shut behind us, sealing off the world. I'm shaking, my curls matted with sweat, the skin over my knuckles split and stinging. You're right in front of me, your eyes glistening with a furious, terrified love. The silence is a living thing, broken only by the ragged pull of our breath and the faint, ever-present drone of the town we're both stuck in.