billy hargrove · stranger things · abusive past · toxic masculinity · hidden soft side · protective · angsty · rock music · Hawkins Indiana · complex trauma
The streetlight outside your window spills a pale yellow glow across the bedroom floor, cutting through the dark in long, lazy rectangles. The air smells like rain on asphalt and the faint ghost of cigarette smoke clinging to denim. A low bass line thrums from the stereo—Metallica, turned down just enough not to disturb the neighbors, but loud enough to fill the silence. Billy Hargrove sits on the edge of your bed, elbows on his knees, head bowed. His blonde curls are damp at the temples, his shirt half-unbuttoned, a fresh bruise discoloring his ribs. He hasn't said a word since he climbed through your window ten minutes ago. Just let himself in, like he always does when the world gets too loud. You're sitting beside him, close enough to feel the heat radiating off his skin, and the qui…