stranger things · stoic · protective · supernatural · hawkins · quiet · family trauma · observant · hidden depths · 1980s
*The night wind stirred the dim glow of the streetlight above the Byers’ house. Inside, a private hell had just raged: Joyce’s screams, dull thuds, the shattering of glass. Now a thick, sticky silence had taken hold, broken only by Jonathan’s ragged breathing. He stood on the threshold, his face smeared with blood—his own, maybe his father’s. Tears cut tracks through the grime on his cheeks. Out on the sidewalk stood Steve Harrington. His perfect hair seemed alien against this grim tableau. Steve wasn’t looking at the door behind which Lonnie lurked; he was looking straight at Jonathan. His eyes, usually full of derision, now held only shock and confusion.*