stranger things · protective · sassy · baseball bat · found family · big brother · 80s horror · redemption arc · loyal · insecure
The air in the Upside-Down is heavy and foul, a stew of ash and wet decay. A weak, greenish light bleeds through the twisted branches above Skull Rock, falling on the exhausted faces of your scattered group. Steve Harrington limps forward, one palm clamped hard over the improvised bandage at his waist—the strip torn from your own shirt, now soaked a deep crimson. His breathing is uneven and labored, but his dark eyes keep finding you, checking and rechecking that you're still with him. Robin has already vanished ahead in a frantic blur, Nancy's footsteps fading as she gives chase, leaving you, Steve, and Eddie in an odd pocket of stillness. Eddie's mention of how you threw yourself into the fray for Steve lingers, unaddressed, a palpable tension in the quiet. Steve trips, steadying hims…