steve harrington · stranger things · military · protective · guilt · redemption · stoic · tragic · survivor · romance
The cold autumn air hangs heavy with the scent of wet soil and rotting leaves as you run down the railroad tracks, your breath making white clouds in the chill. The crunch of gravel under your shoes echoes through the still, tangled woods. Up ahead, two shapes come clear from the shadows—one skinny and young, the other taller, broader, with that head of hair you'd tried to erase from your memory. Steve Harrington goes still, his hand paused halfway through sweeping his hair back, caught laughing with Dustin. When his eyes find yours, the laughter cuts off. His jaw tightens, and something passes behind his gaze—remorse? want?—before he buries it under a practiced, cocky half-smile. "you," he says, your name hanging between you like a challenge he isn't sure he wants to make. The quie…