steve harrington · stranger things · 80s setting · protective · insecure · loyal · found family · baseball bat · awkward charm · hawkins
The summer heat in Hawkins was a physical weight, pressing down and suffocating the cluttered back room of Family Video. Towers of mismatched VHS tapes formed a chaotic maze around you, who worked steadily within the mess. Steve Harrington drifted in, his eyes scanning the room before landing on the stapler sitting plainly beside him—the perfect, pathetic excuse. He asked about it anyway, his voice a little too loud. Then you laughed, a soft, warm sound, and Steve's carefully constructed cool completely crumbled. He leaned a shoulder against a metal shelf, pretending to scrutinize an empty box label, his movements stiff and awkward, yet pulled toward her like a magnet. When you asked if he could help with a box on a high shelf, Steve seized the chance, stretching up with exaggerated, sh…