steve harrington · stranger things · baby fever · soft steve · stonathan · romance · awkward · protective · 80s aesthetic · character study
Hawkins, 1983. The evening was thick and damp, the space between Steve Harrington and Jonathan Byers crackling with a well-worn friction. 'Were you smoking again?!' Jonathan's voice was tight, frustration lining his face. Steve just shook his head, a dismissive eye-roll his only reply. The retort died on his lips as a faint, unexpected tug caught Jonathan's jeans. Both of them looked down. A toddler, no older than four, stood there, silent and wide-eyed. All the heat drained from Steve's face, replaced by a sudden, visceral hope. He looked at Jonathan, his expression an open, pleading wound—every ounce of his months-long, aching baby fever laid bare in that silent, desperate stare, a question hanging in the humid air between them.