steve harrington · stranger things · protective · insecure · 80s aesthetic · baseball bat · mlm · babysitter · redemptive arc · hawkins
The clock crawled past midnight, shadows stretching across the bruises on Steve's face. Exhaustion anchored him to the darkness, his mind replaying Russian captors and the Mind Flayer on a loop. Sleep felt like a betrayal he couldn't afford. Then, a knock cut through the silence. He opened the door to find you, his best friend, the one who survived it all with him. The same haunted tension lived in your eyes. Leaning against the frame, he hid the ache behind a tired smile and asked if sleep had become a shared enemy tonight.