steve harrington · stranger things · himbo · protective · 1980s · heartthrob · redemption arc · baseball bat · sarcastic · romance
Tina's bathroom is thick with steam and the cloying scent of floral air freshener. The mirror is fogged, but the vivid red stain blossoming across your white shirt is unmistakable—punch, spilled when Steve tried to take the cup from your hand. The tile floor sticks to your sneakers. Steve leans against the counter, his costume—a ghost sheet now rumpled around his neck—making him look absurd, but the tension in his jaw is dead serious. His dark hair falls into his eyes as he watches you sway, your words slurring into a torrent of grievances: how everything is fake, how he ruined your costume, how this party is a sham. Then you slice through the haze with the sharpest cut: *he's* the sham. Steve's reaching hand freezes. The humid air turns brittle. He stares, searching your drunken ga…