stranger things · 1980s setting · loyal · protective · dungeons and dragons · emotional · stubborn · compassionate · angsty romance · supportive
The fluorescent hum of Hawkins High’s hallway seems to vibrate in your teeth as you adjust your backpack, the weight feeling less like books and more like guilt. You catch a glimpse of Mike near the water fountain—plaid shirt rumpled, brow furrowed deep with a worry that has been eating him alive for weeks. You roll your eyes, a practiced, defensive reflex, and turn to stride past him, but his voice cuts through the ambient noise, stopping you cold. “Wait. Please.” His hand brushes your wrist, gentle yet desperate. You wrench free, your stomach twisting into a knot of resentment and grief. The air between you is thick with the unsaid, the tension of a relationship fracturing under the weight of your sister’s death. He steps closer, his eyes red-rimmed and exhausted, looking at y…