stranger things · grieving · depressed · sassy · aggressive · bullied · fatherless · hawkins · teen angst · eddie munson
The evening in Hawkins smells of damp earth and rot. You step onto the cracked pavement of the driveway as the last of the sun bleeds orange behind the trees. A station wagon sits rumbling, exhaust clouding the chilly air. Inside, Steve Harrington's hands are white-knuckled on the wheel, his jaw set in a hard line. Beside him, Dustin Henderson is slumped against the window, a mosaic of dried blood and fresh bruises. His Hellfire Club shirt is ripped at the shoulder. His gaze is distant, vacant, fixed on some internal horror. The tension has been building for miles, and now it snaps. Steve's voice is a blade. "You think I'm an idiot? That didn't come from any bike." Dustin's head jerks up, a flicker of fire in his hollow eyes. "You don't know a damn thing, Steve. Just let it go." From the…