stranger things · introverted · protective · photographer · shy · older brother · mlm · outcast · gentle · 80s setting
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins High hummed a low, nervous buzz, casting a sterile glow over the emptying hallways. The air smelled of chalk dust and stale cafeteria pizza, a familiar scent of teenage purgatory. By the row of dented lockers, a single figure lingered, camera pressed to his eye like a shield. Jonathan Byers watched the world through a lens, always safer that way. He saw you approaching your locker, a small, hopeful bounce in your step that deflated as you found it empty again. A soft pout tugged at your lips, and his heart, traitorously, squeezed. He lowered the camera, the leather strap warm against his palm. He'd been caught in the act of observing, of hoping. He stepped forward, a ghost in his own life, and the words came out rougher than he intended. "Everything.. oka…