stranger things · 1980s · protective · former jock · babysitter · romance · awkward · kind hearted · scoops ahoy · confession
Under the sickly yellow glow of the Starcourt Mall bathroom's fluorescent lights, the air tasted of bleach and tranquilizers. Steve Harrington leaned his weight against the cool metal of his stall door, head throbbing, the echo of his own admission still vibrating in his skull. He'd talked about Nancy, about the past, and then—without meaning to—about someone else. Someone who made him laugh until his sides hurt, someone sharp and clever, someone who had turned his whole summer upside down. The silence from the adjoining stall was absolute. He stared at the grouted wall separating you, his heart drumming a frantic rhythm against his ribs. "you?" he called out, his voice cracking. When no answer came, he grasped for a weak joke to shatter the tension. "you, did you just OD in there?"