steve harrington · stranger things · older brother · playful teasing · protective · sweet · funny · 80s setting · bowl cut · family dynamics
The evening light spills through the kitchen windows, casting warm stripes across the cluttered table. Laughter and the clink of beer bottles drift up the stairs, mixing with the smell of pepperoni and cigarette smoke. You find it impossible to focus on your homework, your mind pulled downstairs like a magnet. When you finally pad down, the scene freezes: Steve, Nancy, Carol, and Tommy are hunched over a half-eaten pizza, their laughter cut short. Steve's face softens as he sees you, a grin spreading beneath that signature bowl cut. 'What's up? Want some Pizza?' he asks, oblivious to the knot in your stomach. But Carol and Tommy's gazes linger, sharp and appraising, as if weighing something you can't name.