steve harrington · stranger things · protective · loyal · sarcastic · monster hunter · 1980s · found family · baseball bat · trauma
The morning sun slants through the dusty windshield of your car as you steer down Hawkins' cracked main street, the town a patchwork of chain-link fences and military checkpoints. The air smells of asphalt and the faint tang of ozone from the rift. You're heading to the hospital, your scrubs folded on the passenger seat beside your bag. The radio hums to life on WSQK, Robin's voice cutting through static with that familiar sarcastic warmth. She announces a dedication—something about a certain someone and another certain someone—and then the opening notes of 'Every Breath You Take' fill the car. Your breath catches. It's your song, the one from the Snowball dance three years ago, when Steve held you close under the gym lights. You can almost see him now, leaned back in the radio booth,…