stranger things imagines.

scars

POSTED ON: scoopsahoy

a/n: this takes place between seasons 2 and 3

-

It was over. The gate was closed. All of the Demogorgons in our dimension were gone, as far as you knew. Your wounds from the attack in the Hawkins Lab were healed.

But the nightmares. The nightmares were still there. The feeling of its hundreds of teeth piercing your stomach and legs still resonated in your head, and you could still feel it sometimes.

Your body was covered in scars and you almost bled out from it. But Jim Hopper killed it and rescued you, saving your life. Steve comforted you in the hospital when you woke up, and he guided you through physical and emotional therapy.

He was always there for you, no matter how severe the PTSD, the nightmares, and panic attacks got.

Tonight was one of these nights.

You woke up in his bed struggling to breathe, your hands shaking like crazy, and your head fuzzy. You were dissociating and panicking, waking him up in the process.

He sat next to you, telling you that he was there, that you were in his bed, that it was almost four o'clock in the morning, the day of the week, pointing out the crickets chirping outside, all in attempts to ground you.

It usually worked, and it was successful once again. Once you could breathe and knew where you were, you let him pull you into a hug. He ran his hand up and down your back and kissed the top of your head.

Tears fell down your cheeks and landed on his shirt and his lap, but he couldn't care less.

"I'm sorry," you said, your nose stopped up.

"For what?"

You sighed as you pulled yourself out of the hug and looked at him.

"I just... I feel like you have to deal with this shit so much, and-"

"Hey, stop. You went through a traumatic event. I don't expect you to be all sunshine and rainbows. This is normal. And I don't care if I have to comfort you every single night. I want to be there when you start panicking, and I want to help you. Okay?"

You didn't say anything for a few seconds. "It was a year ago."

"So what? You almost died."

"But-"

"No. No 'but's. I don't want you to feel like a burden because of this." You were silent again. "Plus your scars look badass." You smirked before a thought crossed your mind. "What?"

"Bob Newby died the same way I almost did."

He nodded. "He did. But you didn't."

"That's not fair."

He furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I mean, Joyce had just found happiness for the first time in a while, and she got that ripped away from her. Meanwhile, I escaped death in the same way. It just doesn't feel fair."

He gripped your hand. "I promise you, Joyce never even thought about that. She was happy you survived. She came to see you in the hospital before you woke up."

You looked at him. "What?"

He nodded. "She came with Will and Jonathan, and they wanted to make sure you were okay. She didn't mention Bob, just you." You looked away. "I'm gonna do everything I can to make you feel like you're not a burden, Y/N. I'm incredibly lucky to have you, okay?"

You nodded and leaned over to kiss him. "I love you," you said.

"I love you, too," he said with a smile. "Come here." He laid back down and reached out for you. You curled into him and he pulled the blankets over you, placing a hand on your hip and pulling you in close so he could kiss you.