Under Pressure
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Summary
Steve's feet stumbled more than walked, but Hopper didn't care. He half-carried, half-dragged the kid toward the emergency room doors, his jaw clenched so tight it ached. Every step felt like it took too long.
As the two of them started to slowly stumble to the front of the ER, Hopper took a brief moment to think about it. Took a moment to think how despite everything—despite barely knowing the kid, despite all his preconceptions and assumptions, despite the amount of times Steve had purposefully acted like a smart-ass punk just to piss him off—Hopper had realized something tonight:
Steve Harrington was a good kid.
Series
- Part 1 of Under Pressure
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Summary
He knew he shouldn't be driving, of course he knew that.
But he was better now. Stronger. The headaches were less frequent, and he hadn't had any dizzy spells this week aside from the typical vertigo that followed him whenever he woke up, or turned his head too fast.
Plus, it was late. The roads were empty, dark stretches of pavement with no other cars in sight. No one to hit, no one to swerve around.
Just Steve and the yellow lines on the road and the knowledge that Dustin needed help.
Series
- Part 2 of Under Pressure
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He couldn't do this. Couldn't stand here and watch Harrington struggle to do something as basic as standing up.
Because if he stayed, if he watched him try to get up and fail, or worse—if he watched Harrington succeed but saw how much effort it took, how much pain it caused—then he'd have to acknowledge it. He'd have to name it.
He'd have to accept that he'd done something unforgivable.
He'd have to accept that he'd taken someone who'd gotten under his skin in ways Billy didn't have words for, someone he couldn't stop watching, couldn't stop thinking about—and he'd ended him. Reduced him to this broken thing on the floor.
And Billy Hargrove didn't do guilt. He didn't do regret—he didn't do apologies or amends or any of that weak pathetic bullshit.
So he left.
Series
- Part 3 of Under Pressure
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Summary
The bleachers were packed with families: parents and grandparents and siblings, all dressed up, all holding cameras and flowers and balloons. Steve could see them from where he sat, could see the way they waved at their graduates, calling out names and taking pictures. The gym was full of people celebrating, full of love and pride and joy.
None of it was for him.
He knew the kids wouldn’t—couldn’t—be here, even if they wanted to be. They were still in school, and teachers wouldn’t have let them leave for the ceremony, since none of them were actually related to Steve.
His parents weren't here either. Steve had known they wouldn't be—had known it with the kind of bone-deep certainty that came from a lifetime of disappointments—but there was still a small, stupid part of him that had hoped. That had thought maybe, just maybe, they'd show up for this. His high school graduation: that was the thing parents were supposed to care about, right?
They probably didn't even remember it was today.
Probably didn’t even know he was graduating at all.
Series
- Part 4 of Under Pressure
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Summary
Robin doesn't know where this is going. She doesn't know if she and Steve will ever be friends, or if they'll just be coworkers who tolerate each other for the summer.
But she does know one thing for certain: she can't keep pretending she doesn't care.
Steve isn't who she thought he was and whatever happened last semester matters—she doesn’t know why, but she knows something happened to him, and that’s beyond getting the shit beaten out of his face.
There's… there’s something else too.
And Robin's going to figure it out, one way or another.
Even if it kills her.
Series
- Part 5 of Under Pressure
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Summary
After the new year and the months since then, since his hair had grown back enough to hide the scar and he started letting them come to his house, she watched Steve carefully, learned what to look for.
She noticed the headaches and the migraines—the way he'd squint and clench his jaw and move a little more carefully, like sudden movements hurt. She noticed how it took him longer to answer questions sometimes. She noticed how he'd forget words mid-sentence and have to pause, frustrated, until he couldn’t even remember what he'd been trying to say.
Everyone called him slow. And stupid. They joked about it, teased him about getting dumber, and Steve always laughed it off or agreed with them, like it was a choice and not a consequence.
But Max could tell it bothered him; could see it in the way his smile would tighten, just for a second, before he'd shrug and change the subject.
And it bothered her too.
So she started running interference.
Series
- Part 6 of Under Pressure
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Summary
The Squawk had become their cover, their communication hub, their war room. Robin did the actual broadcasts mostly playing music and reading pre-written community updates approved by the military presence in town, but the real purpose was the coded messages. Steve had helped her set up the whole system, spending hours figuring out how to get all the sound effects she wanted, taping things to walls and attempting to MacGyver random things around the station.
That was just who Steve was, but looking around the room now, Robin wondered more and more if anyone else actually saw that.
Series
- Part 7 of Under Pressure