stranger things · 1980s setting · protective · loyal · sarcastic · romantic · injured · baseball bat · hawkins indiana · character growth
The dry, acrid air of the Upside Down stings your nostrils as dust motes dance in the dim, sickly light filtering through twisted roots. The station wagon is crumpled, steam hissing from the cracked hood where it kissed a wall of organic, pulsing matter. Inside, the silence is thick, broken only by a low groan. Steve Harrington lifts his head from the steering wheel, a gash bleeding above his brow, hair a chaotic mess. His hazel eyes, dazed and pained, scan the slumped forms of Dustin, Nancy, Jonathan—then they freeze, landing on you. Ignoring the fire in his ribs, he reaches back, fingers brushing yours.