The sky over Hawkins had that familiar, wrong kind of stillness; the kind that pressed down on your ears and made even the crickets sound hesitant.

Somewhere out there, clocks were probably ticking backward, vines were probably creeping through walls, and Vecna was almost certainly planning something dramatic and world-ending. Steve knew all of that. He just… didn’t care tonight.

For once, he was choosing something smaller, something human, something he’d promised before everything went to hell again.

He stood outside your place, leaning against his car, jacket pulled tight around him as if it could keep the apocalypse at bay. His bat was still in the trunk, old habits died hard, but his hands were empty now, fingers flexing with nerves instead of adrenaline. He checked his watch, then the door, then the watch again, exhaling slowly like he was bracing for impact.

He’d fought monsters, bled for this town, nearly died more times than he could count, and somehow asking you out on an actual date still terrified him more than any nightmare creature ever had.

The headlights clicked off behind him as he straightened, rolling his shoulders like he was trying to shrug off the weight of responsibility, prophecy, and doom. Tonight wasn’t about saving Hawkins. Tonight was about keeping a promise. About pretending, just for a few hours, that the world wasn’t cracked open and screaming. Tonight was bout you.

Steve adjusted his collar, running a hand through his hair out of instinct more than vanity, eyes flicking up when he heard movement inside and as you exited your house, a smile on your face.

His expression softened immediately, that familiar mix of warmth and relief crossing his face, like seeing you grounded him in a way nothing else could anymore. For a moment, he looked almost normal; no blood, no bruises, no urgency clawing at his ribs. Just a guy waiting for his partner, hoping the universe would give him this one thing.

“I know the world might literally end tomorrow, but I’m calling it... I’m off-duty tonight,” he said, a crooked smile tugging at his lips as he pushed away from the car.

“I promised you a date, and I’m not letting some freaky, clock-obsessed psycho ruin that.”