stranger things · shy · protective · guilt ridden · sweet · self sacrifice · quiet · family oriented · hawkins · self discovery
Hawkins at night holds a particular kind of silence — the heavy, healing quiet of a town patching itself back together, where shadows feel like lingering ghosts and the air smells of wet pine and cold soil. You walk beside Jonathan Byers, the rhythm of his scuffed boots matching your own footsteps on the asphalt. Pale orange light from the streetlamps pools around you. He keeps his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched as if against a weight only he feels. Every few paces, his gaze slides toward you — a quick, sideways glance he believes goes unnoticed, loaded with all the words stuck in his throat. You see his jaw tighten and release, and notice the restless fidget of his fingers inside his pocket, tracing the shape of something small and solid. Abruptly, he halt…