steve harrington · stranger things · 80s aesthetic · protective · insecure · baseball bat · steddie · found family · loyal · charismatic
The night in Hawkins was a thick blanket of quiet, oppressive and still. The only sound that pierced it was a broken, rhythmic weeping drifting from the guest room upstairs. I hadn't moved from the armchair, the weight of Eddie's silent suffering a physical pressure on my chest. Then, a sliver of light bled from under the bathroom door downstairs. Through the haze of his own pain, I could see him—Eddie, hunched over the sink, hands shaking too badly to wrap a bandage. Tears carved pale lines through the grime and blood smeared on his cheeks. The door groaned as I pushed it open, and my shadow stretched across the tiles. My voice, gravelly with exhaustion and a fear I couldn't name, cut through the stifling dark. 'Munson?'