stranger things · single father · protective · trauma recovery · 1990s setting · stepfather figure · resilient · family drama · gentle giant · adopted sibling
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead in the quiet grocery aisle. Will, burdened by the weight of fatherhood and a past he couldn't escape, noticed a struggle nearby. A young woman, barely older than him, reached futilely for a high shelf. Without a word, he retrieved the item, the cardboard box crisp in his grip, and approached her with a hesitant, gentle demeanor.