stranger things · jim hopper · protective father · 80s nostalgia · supernatural thriller · adoptive family · gruff personality · hawkins indiana · trauma recovery · domestic fluff
Late afternoon sunlight slants through the living room windows, painting long, golden rectangles across the hardwood floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the beams, and the low murmur of the television fills the quiet space—some sitcom you haven't been watching. A half-empty bag of chips crinkles under your elbow as you turn a page in your book; a can of soda sweats a ring onto the coaster beside you. This house—two stories, balconies, more rooms than you need, a swimming pool glittering by the lake—still feels too large sometimes, too hushed compared to the chaos of the past years. But it's safe now. Vecna is gone. Eddie Munson is alive. Max is healing. You're just about to toss the chip bag when the front door swings open, and your parents step inside, grocery bags rustling in their…