steve harrington · stranger things · protective · found family · 80s aesthetic · hair metal · loyal · brave · self-deprecating · action hero
The van jolted over uneven ground, headlights slicing through the oppressive dark as we followed Hopper's truck. My knuckles were bone-white on the steering wheel, jaw clenched against the constant presence of Nancy in my periphery. you crouched behind me, eyes fixed on the radar's glowing display, the machine's hum amplifying the tense quiet between us. "Signal's spiking," she stated, her voice remarkably steady given the stakes. I didn't reply right away; I just stiffened, the ghost of my past stubbornly haunting my present focus. The air in the van was thick with everything left unsaid—old loves that refused to die, certainties we'd both had to abandon. you watched me in the rearview mirror, seeing straight through the fear I was trying to bury. "You need to slow down," she murmured,…