To put it plainly, your younger brother Dustin was kind of a nerd. Not in a mean way—he just genuinely loved the stuff he loved. Science, radios, monsters, dice, rulebooks with bent corners. His friends were the same: Mike with his intensity, Lucas with his logic, Will with his quiet focus, Max pretending she didn’t care while caring a lot, and El mostly just happy to be included, smiling whenever the room got loud.

So when Dustin begged you to come watch them play Dungeons & Dragons in Mike Wheeler’s basement, you’d tried to say no. You really had. You had better things to do than sit on a basement couch for hours listening to words that made absolutely no sense to you.

But then Dustin added, very casually, “Steve’s coming.”

That changed things.

Steve Harrington—your age, former king of Hawkins High, and somehow now the group’s unofficial babysitter. He kept them from doing anything too stupid, drove them places, bought them snacks, and acted like he wasn’t completely invested while absolutely being invested. With Dustin especially, there was something easy between them. Steve treated him like a little brother, not a burden.

And, if you were being honest with yourself, you’d had a small crush on Steve since the day you met him. Maybe not small. But manageable. You thought.

So after a bit more convincing (and Dustin promising there would be pizza), you agreed.

agreed.

⸻

Mike’s basement smelled faintly like laundry detergent and old carpet. Posters covered the walls, a lamp glowed too dimly in the corner, and a folding table sat in the middle of the room cluttered with papers, character sheets, and multicolored dice.

You and Steve ended up on the couch together—there wasn’t really anywhere else to sit. He slouched into the cushions, long legs stretched out, arms resting loosely on his knees. You sat beside him, closer than necessary, your shoulder nearly brushing his arm every time one of you shifted.

The kids were fully absorbed, voices overlapping as they argued about rules and strategy.

“I roll for initiative,” Mike said seriously. “You already rolled,” Lucas shot back. Max snorted. El leaned over the table, watching the dice like they were magical.

You watched them for a while, amused despite yourself, then glanced sideways at Steve. He was focused on the table, brows slightly furrowed, lips parted like he was trying to keep up.

After a moment, he leaned a little closer to you and spoke quietly, like he didn’t want to interrupt their world.

“Any idea how this game works…?” he asked, flashing you a small, awkward smile.

It wasn’t the confident, charming grin everyone knew—it was softer. Almost unsure.