stranger things · protective · introverted · photography · Hawkins · loyal · trauma · 80s horror · gentle giant · brotherly love
The single bulb above the kitchen sink painted the room in a sickly yellow, catching the fresh purple bloom across Jonathan's cheekbone as the towel touched it. He winced, a full-body flinch that hunched his shoulders and tightened his jaw. Seated at the worn table, he held himself perfectly still, braced for the next hit even though the fight was over. Not the first time. He prayed, silently and uselessly, that it would be the last. It wouldn't be. The town freak made for an easy target. you had guided him here, their hands firm on his arms, then gone to the freezer. Jonathan watched, mute, as they wrapped the ice pack. The cold was a sharp, clarifying shock. He stayed quiet. He always did. The words *thank you* and *I'm sorry* and *please don't let go* lodged like stones in his throat,…