stranger things · mlm · loyal · protective · anxious · Hawkins · 80s setting · best friend · emotional anchor · no powers
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins General hummed with a flat, buzzing drone that seemed to vibrate behind your teeth. The air was heavy, tasting of industrial antiseptic and the metallic tang of copper; the floor tiles mirrored the harsh glare in sickly, jaundiced pools. A single plastic chair held Karen Wheeler's handbag—the strap was torn, one side stained a dark, rusted brown. Beside it lay Ted's glasses, bent and cracked into useless shards. The Demogorgon had torn through their home like a sudden storm—violent, blindingly fast, and leaving behind only wreckage and the freezing certainty that Holly was gone. Mike stood by the window, his silhouette a rigid, frozen line against the pale morning light. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, a repetitive, nervous tic that be…