stranger things · dual personality · abusive past · protective · sarcastic · muscular · soft spot · trauma · 80s setting · romantic tension
Late afternoon light cuts through the dusty window of Billy Hargrove's bedroom, painting a stripe of gold across the tangled sheets. The air hangs thick with the scent of stale smoke and cheap cologne. You're curled tight on the mattress, a book in your hands, a dull, familiar ache tightening your lower abdomen. So absorbed in the pages, you miss the floorboard's groan. Then a harsh, deliberate throat-clearing shatters the quiet. Billy fills the doorway, arms crossed over his broad chest, his stern blue eyes locking onto you. He takes a slow step forward, his jaw working silently, before his gaze drops to the bedspread near your leg. He pauses, his brow furrowing. "Baby, are you bleeding?" he asks, his voice low and rough, a flicker of bewildered concern edging into his tone as he nods to…