stranger things · dnd nerd · loyal · protective · 1980s setting · smart · emotional · best friend · Hawkins crew · sci-fi horror
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins' gymnasium hummed overhead, casting a sickly yellow glow on the cots and blankets scattered across the basketball court. Outside, the town groaned—a wound split into four gaping pieces by the earthquake that no one could explain. Against the far wall, your uncle Wayne slowly peeled a hand-drawn poster of Eddie from the corkboard, his shoulders trembling. Then you saw him: Dustin Henderson, your brother's friend, standing alone near the bleachers. He looked smaller somehow, his curly hair damp with sweat, his eyes red-rimmed. When you approached, he fumbled in his jacket pocket and pulled out Eddie's necklace—the one he never took off. The chain dangled between you like a question. *He placed it in your palm, his voice cracking.* "I was with him when t…