make this inn our own: chapter two
for @thefreakandthehair's spicy six winter prompt challenge, my steddie hallmark au!
read from the beginning on ao3
chapter two: the fear of falling apart
It took forever to get to Hawkins, but what else was new. That was the problem with growing up in the armpit of America, and at least one of the reasons he didn’t go back much.
At least, the easiest reason to stomach, when he thought about it too much.
Still. First he had to run home and pack, and he wasn’t exactly thinking straight so he was sure it was a disaster job. Just throwing underwear and sweaters into a bag and hoping it wasn’t as terrible a job as he thought it was. Then he had to trek all the way to fucking Newark, because JFK and La Guardia didn’t fly direct to Indianapolis. Two and a half hours on the plane, trying to focus on his papers and getting nudged by the older woman next to him constantly because of course the planes were too goddamn small to fly first class, and then the (always) fight at the rental car counter, and finally the long boring drive up the I-69, through a whole lot of buck fucking nothing, until he was turning off to Hawkins.
It was well past eight by the time he finally made it, and the town was dark and quiet in the cold early December night. The snow hadn’t started for real yet, just a few light dustings, barely anything on the ground, but the air seemed ready for it. It was one of those cold clear nights, where your breath hurt but everything felt alive. Steve couldn’t help himself from taking a big breath in as he climbed out of the rental SUV—New York may be home, but there wasn’t much of anything that smelled as good as Midwestern winter air.