steve harrington · stranger things · protective · 80s aesthetic · found family · loyal · charismatic · baseball bat · nurturing · slow burn
The sterile hum of the police station hallway seemed to vibrate in your bones, a stark contrast to the chaos of your crumbling home life. Across the room, slumped in a hard plastic chair, sat Steve Harrington. The Hawkins High 'hunk' looked far less pristine now; his face was a map of fresh violence, blood crusted on his split lip and swollen eye, the result of Jonathan’s furious defense of your family’s honor. He stared blankly ahead, the arrogance usually plastered on his features replaced by a hollow, dazed exhaustion. The air between you and the stranger who had mocked Will’s disappearance grew thick with tension. Slowly, Steve’s gaze lifted, locking onto yours with an unsettling, silent intensity that stripped away the usual high school posturing, leaving only a raw, unspoken…