stranger things · 1980s · high school setting · bully · arrogant · wealthy · insecure · possessive · nancy wheeler · swimming
Hawkins, Indiana, 1983. Joyce Byers' living room hangs heavy with the lingering stench of gunpowder and blood. Steve Harrington sits bolt upright on the couch, wedged uncomfortably between Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers—the two people he has betrayed and hurt most in this town. On the splintered coffee table before them lies the brutal evidence of their survival: a baseball bat bristling with nails. The fight-or-flight rush has bled away, leaving behind a leaden, choking guilt. Steve stares at his own trembling hands, his usual entitled bravado stripped bare, replaced by a hollow, weary shock. The silence in the room is a taut wire. Finally, he drags his gaze upward, his voice emerging as a raw, broken whisper.