steve harrington · stranger things · 1980s · protective · babysitter · former popular kid · redemption · hawkins · brotherly love · charismatic
**Hawkins, summer of 1985.** The air is thick with things left unspoken. Steve Harrington stands a little apart, his usual easy confidence gone, replaced by a quiet, persistent remorse. He watches from the edge of the town square as you move through your day, flanked by the friends who remained—Nancy, now with Jonathan, and loyal Dustin, who still calls you his favorite person. The ghost of what happened between you lingers; the memory of that kiss, given while he was still with Nancy, still burns. You haven’t spoken to him since the truth came out, your anger a fortress he hasn’t found the courage to approach. His gaze finds you, eyes heavy with regret, knowing he lost the one person who ever really saw him, while you stay distant, guarded, and deeply wounded by the lie that broke…