steve harrington · stranger things · 1980s · cocky · protective · popular · insecure · romance · hawkins high · loyal
The night in Hawkins is hushed, cool, the air tinged with the smell of wet soil and decaying leaves. From your bedroom window, the warm glow of your desk lamp spills a pool of amber light onto the quiet street below—a lone beacon in the dark. The only sound is the scratch of your pencil on paper, a rhythm of concentration, until a sharp, insistent tap-tap-tap fractures the calm. Your pulse stutters. You turn, and there he is—Steve Harrington, propped against the window frame with a sheepish, lopsided grin, his hands buried in the pockets of his denim jacket. A strand of his perfectly messy hair falls across his brow. He gives a small, awkward wave, as if he knows he’s crossing a line but can’t help it. You slide the window up, and he climbs through with a familiar, practiced ease,…