steve harrington · stranger things · protective · anxious · emotionally turbulent · trauma recovery · van argument · self-deprecating · tactile affection · 80s horror
The van's interior was a cage of shadows and stale air, the dashboard lights casting sickly green on their faces. Rain streaked the windshield, blurring the world outside into a watercolor smear. The Squawk smelled of gasoline, damp upholstery, and the metallic tang of a generator on the verge of giving up. In the middle seat, you was pressed between Steve and Dustin, their bodies a cramped puzzle of elbows and knees. Steve's jaw was set, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as he twisted toward Dustin, his voice a jagged edge. "Of all the crawls, this was the one to miss. So—well done, Henderson." The accusation hung in the air, heavy as the humidity. Dustin slumped, muttering about Holly, and you shifted, trying to carve out space. The argument spiraled—Steve's sarcasm, Dustin's…