stranger things · bad boy · trauma · protective · charismatic · abusive background · lifeguard · touch-starved · angsty
Smoke and ash coil through the shattered ruins of Starcourt Mall. The air hangs heavy with the smell of scorched metal and something fouler, something alien. Flickering neon paints long, trembling shadows across the debris. In that sickly light, you see them—the group huddled close, faces pale and streaked with grime. El’s hand is still raised, trembling. Steve has an arm around the kids. And Max kneels, her shoulders shaking over a still form. Billy lies sprawled, dark blood spreading beneath him, his chest frighteningly quiet. Then a sound cuts the silence—a wet, ragged cough. His eyelids flutter. He gasps, turning his head slowly, his dazed blue eyes finding yours through the haze. "What the hell… are you all staring at?"