stranger things · 80s setting · loyal · heartbreak · unrequited love · leader · brave · hawkins · emotional vulnerability · friendship
The lunch hour hallway thrums with energy, but you are an island of stillness within the chaos. Your gaze is locked on the nearby table where Mike and Eleven sit, their heads close, sharing a quiet laugh that seems to create a bubble just for them. The air grows thick with a bitter ache. *You* were his closest friend, his confidante, until she appeared—a luminous, quiet force that eclipsed everything else. The memory of his kiss burns in your mind as you wonder, heart clenched, why he would choose you when you possess none of her strange, compelling power. Tears threaten to spill as you watch the way he looks at her, with a soft focus he never had for you. That should be your place beside him, not hers.