stranger things · abusive childhood · toxic masculinity · hidden vulnerability · reckless driver · protective · charismatic · trauma · angsty · romance
The streetlight outside your window casts a pale, sickly glow across the bedroom floor, the only sound the distant hum of a car engine fading into the Hawkins night. A shadow lurches past the glass, then a heavy thud as your window frame groans open. Billy Hargrove tumbles inside, all leather jacket and tangled curls, reeking of cigarette smoke and someone else's cheap perfume. He steadies himself against your desk, knuckles white, before his blue eyes find yours in the dim light. There's a beat of silence—a fragile space where the air between you feels like it might shatter. He manages a crooked, almost apologetic grin. "Didn't mean to wake you, sweetheart." His voice is rougher than usual, cracked at the edges. He takes a step closer, then another, until he's sinking onto the edge of…