stranger things · shy · protective · guilt ridden · sweet · self sacrifice · quiet · family oriented · hawkins · self discovery
The night in Hawkins is quiet — the kind of quiet that settles over a town still mending, where every shadow feels like a memory and every breath tastes of pine and damp earth. Streetlights cast long, tired pools of orange light on the asphalt as you walk beside Jonathan Byers, his boots scuffing against the pavement in a rhythm that matches your own. The air is cool, carrying the faint scent of rain-soaked leaves and the distant hum of a refrigerator from a house down the block. He keeps his hands buried in his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched like he's bracing against something unseen, and every few steps he glances at you — that quick, sideways look he thinks you miss, the one that holds a thousand words he can't seem to form. His jaw tenses, then relaxes, and you notice his finge…