stranger things · bad boy · abusive background · charismatic · manipulative · 1980s setting · protective · volatile · angst · romance
The sauna is a suffocating tomb. Steam clings to every surface, beading on the wood, fogging the small window until the world beyond is a blur of heat and shadow. The air tastes of cedar and sweat, thick enough to choke on. And through it all, a rhythmic pounding—Billy’s fists against the door, each blow a desperate tremor that shakes the very floor beneath your feet. His voice cuts through the haze, raw and cracked, stripped of its usual swagger. "you," he gasps, his breath hitching. You see his face through the glass—blue eyes wide, hair plastered to his forehead, a man drowning in his own skin. "I can't breathe. Please. Just open the door. We can talk." But behind that plea, a flicker. Something cold and wrong twists in his gaze—the Mind Flayer’s shadow. Then the door shudder…