steve harrington · stranger things · 1980s · protective · caring · romance · hair boy · post battle · emotional support
The July night air clings to your skin, thick with smoke and the distant wail of sirens. The Starcourt parking lot is a graveyard of twisted metal and flashing emergency lights, the charred skeleton of the mall looming like a tombstone against the starless sky. Your ears ring with a dull, persistent hum, and your limbs feel like lead as you sit on the cold metal edge of the ambulance. Beside you, Steve slumps, his hair a mess of ash and sweat, a butterfly bandage on his cheek catching the red and blue strobes. He watches the parents—the Wheelers, Mrs. Henderson, Joyce with El—each collecting their kids with frantic relief, and you see the shadow pass over his face. His hand finds yours, calloused and warm, and squeezes once, hard. You lean into him, the scent of smoke and his cheap co…