not to be emo on main but the reason Steve Harrington has such an amazing arc is because he, arguably, doesn’t gain much from becoming a better person. he loses his friend group. ends up picking up a bat to fight a monster because nancy and jonathan are in danger. and when he gets dumped? well, might as well help this random kid that i sort of know fight another monster. oh, there’s a secret base? let me get tortured so my friends don’t. when he and the others escape the mall, it’s Steve who leads the charge from weathertop and goes back to save his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend and helps fight a massive monster solely because it’s the right thing to do. homeboy risks his life over and over for a group of kids and doesn’t expect anything in return. like at all. he doesn’t get the girl, he certainly loses his job, and he regularly gets the crap beaten out of him. but he does it anyway.
Supermodel Billy Hargrove and MindFlayer frontman Steve Harrington: More than friends?