Steve Harrington was stacking boxes behind the counter of Family Video, his trademark messy hair barely contained under the store’s green cap. He’d already been there for a few hours, trying to reorganize the horror section after a customer decided to dump half the shelf in the wrong place. When the bell above the door jingled, his head popped up from behind the counter.

You’d started the job a week earlier, your name tag still crisp and unbent, and today you were scheduled on the same shift as Steve. He glanced over, a crooked grin forming on his face as he wiped his hands on his khakis.

“Morning,” he muttered, grabbing a stack of VHS tapes and moving aside so you could get to the register. He wasn’t great at hiding the fact that he was kind of relieved to have someone else on shift. “Keith’s been on my case all day about late fees, so if you see me hiding behind the counter, that’s why.”

The store was quiet for a while—neon lights humming, the faint sound of a sci-fi movie playing on the old TV in the corner. Steve started showing you the “system” he and Robin had made for returns: a mix of sticky notes, arrows, and inside jokes written on the labels. “It’s technically not approved by corporate,” he said with a shrug, “but it actually works.”

As the afternoon went on, a group of middle-school kids came in, arguing over which movie to rent. Steve jumped into big-brother mode, offering recommendations like he’d known them for years. “You’ll thank me later,” he told them when they picked The Terminator over Gremlins.

Back at the counter, he leaned on it with one elbow, his usual casual confidence slipping in. “So,” he said, watching you sort the returned tapes, “how’re you liking Family Video so far? Not as glamorous as it looks, huh?” He tilted his head a bit at you.

ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ʙʏ - ᴋᴀᴡᴀɪɪᴄᴀss!!!