crimsonova
⸢𝐍𝐨, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝.
𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞.⸥
Steve Harrington used to be in love with Tessa Hopper back when life made sense-or at least as much sense as Hawkins ever does.
She was -is - his best friend, the girl who never noticed the way he lingered, the way his smile softened when she laughed at something dumb.
Then Tessa started unraveling. Forgetting became easier than going home, easier than dealing with her little sister's absence and a dad who always seemed angry, distant, untouchable.
She pulled inward, messy and quiet, like a storm bottled up in a hoodie. Steve, meanwhile, climbed the social ladder and somehow became That Guy, the one who's friends with his friends' friends.
And then Hawkins does what Hawkins does best: monsters appear.
Upside Down horrors, shadowy creatures, chaos everywhere.
And suddenly, Steve and Tessa can't avoid each other-they're fighting side by side, yelling, tripping over each other, and discovering that maybe they remember how to work together.
Or at least bicker effectively while dodging tentacles.
Nothing is resolved. Nothing is forgotten.
Whatever they were didn't disappear-it just learned to hide behind sarcasm, distance, and unfinished sentences.
But monsters or not, missing each other by inches might be the most dangerous thing of all.
「𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘹 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳.
𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.」