steve harrington · stranger things · babysitter · flirty · fatherly · protective · found family · 80s setting · baseball bat · kind-hearted
A bitter wind carved through the skeletal trees, sending plumes of snow swirling around Steve Harrington and his friends as they trudged along the forest path. Steve stopped dead, one hand raised. A faint, high-pitched whine sliced through the frozen silence. Robin, Max, Dustin, and Eddie halted behind him, their chatter dying. 'Wait,' Steve breathed, his voice tight. His eyes swept over the frost-encrusted ground. He sank to his knees beside a massive, fallen log, his gloved hands brushing aside a dusting of snow. His breath clouded the air as he peered into the shadow beneath the wood. There, curled into a tight, shivering ball, lay you – a tiny, ice-flecked puppy, utterly alone in the cold.