SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

boobies, robin

VIRGINIA SINCLAIR AND STEVE HARRINGTON BROKE UP ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1986.

It was a tough decision for them both, but ultimately the one they made. When Ginny left Hawkins for school a good three hours away, things slowly descended into shit. Or really, worse than shit, because on top of not being able to see each other more than one weekend every few months, each goodbye was worse than the last, more tense, more resentful.

Ginny loved Steve with all her heart, but it was just too much.

He agreed, of course, because he felt it too. Things were different.

When she was away, Steve got antsy. He worried and got insecure, thinking she'd leave him— which led to late night phone calls debating the state of their relationship. Ginny never judged him for feeling insecure, but wished he felt comfortable enough to tell her this. She only found out because Robin told her.

So they decided to start fresh in '86. Ginny had switched her major to nursing and it was a lot damn harder than it seemed. She was swamped with school work and ultimately a little relieved she didn't have to worry about a relationship on top of it all. She still loved him, but from a distance.

She was good at that— loving from a distance. It might've been their downfall, because it bugged Steve to no end to be away from her.

They laid together on the last day of 1985, savoring the last moments of the year. At 11:34, Steve suggested they take a break.

At midnight, she kissed his cheek and disappeared into her car.

That was the last time Steve saw Ginny, over three months ago.

Now it was March 21st, the last day of school before Robin's spring break. He couldn't lie and say he was relieved to only have a best friend to worry about spending a little quality time with. He tried to move on, accepted a few dates with girls he met at the video store.

None of them compared to the memory of her.

So, as spring break swiftly approached, Steve was glad to be in Hawkins, Indiana, far from
his ex-girlfriend whom he was still
helplessly in love with.

What he didn't know, is that she wasn't so far at all. And Ginny Sinclair was less than ecstatic to be back in Hawkins. Bad memories lurked around every corner.

Max Mayfield and Robin Buckley were the only reasons she had come back at all this particular week. One of her college buddies, Ian, had invited her to come the beach, but she declined, opting to spend the time with Max, maybe the only person in the whole world who knew how she was feeling.

Eight months later and Ginny still couldn't get Iris out of her head. Max knew what it felt like— she hadn't been doing well since losing Billy.

Max's nightmares stopped a few months ago, and even then, they were inconsistent. The last time Ginny saw her, she'd said they stopped completely.

But Ginny's hadn't. Even after months of seeing the therapist on campus, she still had the nightmares— or a nightmare, she supposed, since it was the same one every single night.

The same gravelly voice in her ears, coming out of Iris' mouth. Most times it was Lucas or Erica's bones snapping in front of her, sometimes Max, sometimes Robin, Nancy, Dustin or Mike. It was always Steve getting pulled away into the darkness by some unknown force.