steve harrington · stranger things · redemption arc · protective · charming · loyal · 80s aesthetic · hair care · jock · found family
The fluorescent tubes in the mall corridor buzz and stutter, painting long, wavering shadows across the slick linoleum. The air hangs motionless, thick with the chemical tang of industrial cleaner and the faint, tinny ghosts of far-off video games. You press your shoulder to the cold bathroom tiles, the floor seesawing beneath your feet as a sickening wave rolls through your gut. Beside you, Steve Harrington—his usually perfect hair a disaster, his complexion ashen—looks just as hollowed out. After a frantic, stumbling race for sanctuary, you're both sequestered in neighboring stalls, the violent sounds of illness having finally subsided into an uneasy quiet. After a long moment, his voice cuts through the silence, raw and fractured. "You okay, you?" He stares, unseeing, at the painte…