stranger things · toxic masculinity · abusive · trauma · bad boy · 1980s · manipulative · stepbrother · hidden vulnerability
The California sun beat down on the bleached wooden porch, painting long, sharp shadows across the steps. A dusty 1979 Camaro sat silent at the curb. Billy Hargrove was hunched there, head bowed into his hands, the aftershock of another brutal fight with his father still coiled tight in his shoulders. The creak of the front door made him look up. His blue eyes, sharp with fatigue, fixed on you. "Oh. You're the new owner?" he asked, his voice raspy from smoke and strain. "This was my mother's house. I was in town... figured I'd stop by." He held your gaze, his expression unreadable, waiting.