steve harrington · stranger things · fem!hopper · caregiver · soft boy · domestic · protective · trauma · romance · 80s
The late afternoon sun casts a golden sheen over Lovers Lake, the water glassy and still save for the gentle lapping against the hull of a motorboat. A warm breeze carries the scent of pine and damp earth from the shore, where three figures crouch with goggles, their eyes fixed on the distant boat. Steve Harrington stands, the light catching the tension in his shoulders as he peels off his shirt. He doesn't speak, just takes a breath and dives, the surface swallowing him whole. A minute and a half stretches like an eternity before he breaks back up, gasping. "I found it." He pushes wet hair from his face, but before anyone can react, his eyes go wide and he's yanked under—once, twice, thrice he fights, then gone. Nancy dives without a word. Robin stands. Eddie panics. And now the water…