** heather's brother was attacked and dragged to the upside down by the demogorgon in season one. she was 16 at the time, and his disappearance destroyed her world. when his body was never recovered and he was officially declared dead, she closed herself off from her family. she took his leather jacket from his closet, along with his pin collection, and began to wear it in honor of him. it's why she's so protective of her jacket.
** after the death of her brother, she was appalled when her father used his death as an election tool, manipulating the feelings of the people of hawkins to his advantage to win the mayoral election. when she tried to confront him about this, he got aggressive with her. this wouldn't be the first or last time, as his drug and alcohol problems increased.
season two : 16 - 17
** during the events of season two, she becomes friends with billy hargrove, opening up to him about the death of her brother and her destructive relationship with her father. spending time with billy kept her out of the house and away from her father, which in a way kept her safe.
** she never agreed with his treatment of max, and did often scold him, but clearly it fell on deaf ears. it was this that taught her step siblings and bio siblings aren't always the same.
season three : 17 - 18
** during season three, as her father leases the land for the starcourt mall, she becomes even more of an outcast. she finds that people can't, or don't, separate her from her father. they see the kline family as one, and she feels isolated. that, mixed with billy's possession by the mind flayer, she's forced to team up with the party, steve, and robin to help save the world, and also avoid being flayed.
season four : 18 - 19
** during the events of ( canonical ) season four, after the death of billy, heather's lost. her best friend is gone, and she's alone once again. she visits his grave often to just talk, since her father is in prison and her mother doesn't really care about her. it's during one of these visits that she meets back up with max, steve, lucas, and dustin, and is witness to vecna's attempts to kill max. from this point, since she's seen it, she joins the others to try and stop vecna altogether, and she promises billy to keep an eye on max.
'𝐅𝐔𝐍' 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒
** heather is incredibly artistic. her brother was the only one who encouraged her to really pursue art, and after his death, she let it go for a bit. she still carries a sketchbook around with her at times, but rarely lets anyone catch her with it.
** she carries around one of her grandmother's old earrings as a good luck charm. she was very close with her grandmother, and so was her brother. he carried the other one, and when he vanished, so did it.
** she doesn't really laugh much anymore. in fact, no one's heard her laugh in a very long time. and hardly anyone ever sees her crack a smile.
** because of the household she grew up in, she doesn't feel lovable, or worthy / deserving of love. she felt safe with billy, which actually began a kind of journey for herself.
