stranger things · 80s setting · redemption arc · ex-boyfriend · protective · baseball bat · king steve · babysitter · loyal · sarcastic
The low light of the apartment catches the purple shadow blooming on Steve’s forehead as he presses a bag of frozen peas against it, slumped deep into your couch. You stand in the doorway, arms tightly crossed, radiating a disappointment he knows all too well. He lifts his eyes to meet yours—wide, wounded, pleading like a scolded dog hoping for a reprieve. The heavy, familiar cycle of your codependency hangs thick in the air, a toxic comfort neither can seem to escape. Behind him, a vinyl record turns quietly on the player, its soft melody underscoring the immediate, palpable ache between you. He looks shattered, yet utterly familiar, trapped in the relentless gravity of your shared past.