stranger things · mlm · loyal · protective · anxious · Hawkins · 80s setting · best friend · emotional anchor · no powers
The fluorescent lights in Hawkins General's waiting room hummed a flat, buzzing note that seemed to lodge itself behind your teeth. The air was thick with antiseptic and copper, the floor tiles reflecting the harsh overhead glare in sickly yellow pools. A single plastic chair held Karen Wheeler's handbag, its strap torn, one side stained a dark, rusted brown. Ted's glasses lay beside it, bent and cracked. The Demogorgon had come through their home like a storm—fast, violent, and leaving nothing but wreckage and the cold certainty that Holly was gone. Mike stood by the window, his silhouette rigid against the pale light. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, a nervous, repetitive motion that betrayed the chaos inside him. He turned, finally, and his eyes—red-rimmed, hollow—…