#jonathanbyersstrangerthings

[inviswounds]

Inside a Photograph - Jonathan Byers

WARNINGS: Mention of death, second-hand embarrassment (lmao) & mention of a family?

SUMMARY: Jonathan interrupts you in the dark room working on some of your photographs and the two of you bond over your love of photography.

A/N: This is bad but I think its also kinda cute

Your POV:

The hot summer breeze fell harshly upon Hawkins, not allowing anyone to keep cool. Most people found themselves at the beach during weather like this, but instead, you were sitting inside the dark room finishing some photographs. The red light covered every inch of the room, protecting the photos from being exposed to unwanted light. You had to fan blasting on the highest mode, trying desperately to cool down the hot room. 

As you hung another photo to dry, a bright light tore through the room, forcing you to angrily shout towards it. 

"Oh, come on!" You yelled, throwing your hands up. 

"Sorry, sorry!" A voice through the light called back, quickly making their way inside and shutting the door. "I didn't know anyone was in here!" Your eyes adjusted back to the darkness, focusing on a familiar face. Jonathan Byers.

"You didn't see the light on beside the door?"

"No, sorry, I was in a rush to get in here and just assumed no one would be using it." He replied, fidgeting with his fingers. "No one ever really uses this room except me."

"Yeah, well, I usually do my prints at a studio across town," You started, turning to face him. "But I had no way to get there today so I'm just using this dark room." You folded your arms and looked around awkwardly. "Um– is that alright?" You asked. Jonathan quickly nodded, his mouth opening in search of words to say. 

"Yeah! Uh– yeah! Totally." He stuttered, nodding repeatedly. There was a moment of silence as you turned to continue working on your photographs. "I uh– I didn't know you were into photography." He moved closer to you, looking over your shoulder at the photos. 

"Yeah, I love it."

"Me too." He said quickly, a smile forming on his face. "I uh– I've never–" He started, "Um– I've never really had anyone to talk to about it, I guess." Being distracted by your work, you just nodded and smiled. He gulped as he glanced around the room nervously, desperately trying to think of something to say. Jonathan had always been a very awkward person and usually, he didn't mind it, but right now, he wished he could just act cool. "So..." He sucked in a breath as he took a small step forward, now directly beside you, and turned to face you.

"So..." You repeated. 

"Um, what is this for?" He asked, nodding to the photograph hanging on the line of string in the air. You looked up and followed his eyes to the photo, then turned back to the one you were working on. 

"That one was for a friend, it's a photo of her and her boyfriend." You answered. You gently pulled another photograph from the tray and hung it on the line to dry. 

"And that one?" He said, looking at the one you had just hung. You placed your hands on your hips and took a step back, admiring the photo. 

"That ones for my port folio, for school," You started. You smiled as you looked at it. It was the most beautiful image of water droplets falling from a flower with a garden filled with more behind it. "It might not be my best work, but I like it." 

"Does it have a particular meaning?" He asked. You paused for a moment, starring at the photograph hanging from the rope. It did have a special meaning to you. It was a photo of your grandmother's garden. When you were younger, she taught you all about the different kinds of flowers and what each one of them needed to survive. You enjoyed spending time with your grandmother, even if it was gardening. At the time, you hated being out in the sun and digging out dirt to plant flowers in. But now, you would do anything to do it once last time with her. 

Last winter there was a huge drought that devastated the town your grandmother lived in. Because of the lack of rain, the flowers all died and there wasn't a sustainable amount of water to revitalise the garden. Sadly, your grandmother passed later that winter. You took that photo the day she passed and the first day that it rained, signalling the end of the drought. You remember sitting inside with her and watching the rain trickle down the window. The two of you smiled when you realised you could start growing the garden again. 

"Y/N?" Jonathan's voice pulled you out of your trance. You blinked a few times as your eyes focused on him and you thought about what to say.

"Oh! Uh– nope!" You lied, quickly moving on to a different photograph. "It's just a pretty picture." You gulped as your eyes pooled with tears that threatened to spill. You bit your lip to stop it from trembling as you tried your best to hold the tears in. It didn't take long for Jonathan to notice, however, he felt like it wasn't his place to say anything.

He looked around the room again, glancing between the hanging photographs and pictures placed on the wall before his eyes locked back on you. He licked his bottom lip and sucked in a breath.

"I'd love to show you some of my work sometime." He choked out. You paused and turned to face him.

"Really?" You asked softly. You knew that Jonathan was into photography since he always wore a camera around his neck but you also knew that he never really liked showing any of his photos to anyone. He was shy and usually feared people's judgment. Photography was the one thing he could just keep private and not have anyone make fun of. 

"I mean, yeah, if you'd want," He said. "I'd love some feedback from someone who actually understands photography, ya know?" You watched his face light up at the mere mention of photography. You smiled back at him and nodded. 

"Yeah, sure, that would be cool." You replied before turning back to continue your work. His finger ran along the table as he walked a few steps away from you, before his eyes met on a small brown satchel laid against the table with a few photographs spilling out of it. He picked one of them up and smiled. It was a photo of your family. His smile faded when he noticed your absence in the picture. 

"You're always behind the camera?" He asked. Your attention stayed primarily focused on the photograph you were working on. 

"What?" You asked, turning slightly to see him. Your eyes widened when you saw the picture in his hand. You quickly ran towards him and snatched the photograph away from him.

"I just noticed that you're never in any of these photos." He said. 

"Well yeah, obviously, i'm the photographer." You replied, shoving all of the pictures back into your bag. 

"Hey, I get it." He added. You turned to face him, now realising how close you had gotten. The two of you looked at each other for a moment before you both quickly took a step back. Both of you – as very awkward teenagers – locked your eyes on the floor. A few moments of silence passed before one of you spoke.

"I'm uh– I'm gonna go." Jonathan said, avoiding eye contact. He nodded to himself before heading towards the door. His hand reached for the door knob and slowly turned it.

"Wait, Jonathan!" You called. He turned around with his lips pressed together, nervous for what you were about to say. You quickly grabbed a small piece of paper and scribbled your house's phone number on it before handing it to him. He looked at the paper. "You might need that if you want some feedback on your photos." He looked up at you as you smiled at him. His eyes locked with yours and he smiled back before exiting out the door. 

You cringed at the harsh bright light that suddenly hit the room before disappearing. You starred at the door for a moment, thinking about whatever had just happened, before making your way back to the photograph you were working on. As you slid the photo out of the tray, you smiled at the thought of Jonathan Byers.

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