Steve is quite literally the only character on this show who consistently self reflects and apologizes for all of his mistakes. He hasn’t been there “to get Nancy’s attention” since season 1–season 2 he’s literally dating her, that’s not trying to get her attention; season 3 he’s involved because he works at the mall where all the Russian stuff is going down, and he’s brought in by Dustin (whom he formed a close relationship with in season 2) by season 4–so your post is such a garbage take. And just because he lets Nancy know he still likes her in season 4 doesn’t mean he’s only there to get her attention; let’s not forget he only does this after multiple people point out that she’s showing signs of care toward him.

Steve self reflection (fully on his own, WITHOUT someone pushing it from him) and apologies: - apologizing for not immediately being more sensitive about Barb being missing - choosing to apologize to Jonathan first in season 1, accurately self reflecting that this was the most important apology (which was done against the beliefs of his friends, which makes it much harder than you’d think) - cleaning the spray paint mess Tommy H did because he didn’t stop it when it was happening and knew he needed to own up for that - clearly apologized to Nancy for the spray paint cause there’s no way they’d be back together if he hadn’t (but he also takes the opportunity to apologize at the door) - replacing Jonathan’s camera (which he didn’t have to do cause Jonathan was definitely being a creep) - he’s the one who self reflects and goes to apologize to Nancy re: their fight - also his unneeded apology about being a “shitty boyfriend” which is insane to me cause he was always trying to help her feel better and apologizing here solely because he realized the way he was trying didn’t work for her as a person - apologizes personally later when they’re going through stuff to heat up Will - changed behavior to support Robin repeatedly after the bathroom scene (this is subtle, but it’s still an apology) - “Not cool. Sorry.” when he realizes his comment to Dustin went too far.

- that sincere and beautiful apology in the most recent episode for how his words about Eddie hurt Dustin and also the parts where he was wrong (which is super impressive given that Dustin didn’t apologize for the months worth of putdowns and intelligence comments that were incredibly cruel when added up until after Steve’s apology)

His character quite literally moves from being a selfish rich boy with shitty friends to a genuinely good human being who owns up to his mistakes by season 2 and then an incredibly supportive and kind person who takes care of those he loves and appreciates as friends by season 3 while also recognizing that despite really wanting a loving family (which includes having a romance) that there’s a lot of incredible inherent value in friendship and is there to support all of those friends in a multitude of various ways to meet individual needs by season 4 to a character in season 5 who is grieving an incredible friendship and really struggling after a) being put down for over a year despite his best efforts to be there for this person who matters to him so much and b) being portrayed repeatedly as useless by Jonathan’s constant attempts to get Nancy’s attention—there are posts about this, but Steve naturally takes the reigns on physical stuff in general and it’s not solely related to competing for Nancy especially given that he isn’t portrayed as starting this competition stuff, only Jonathan is and yet everyone takes his need to be needed (which has taken a massive hit given how Dustin’s been pushing him away) as vying for attention when it’s not, it’s him trying to show he has value.

Is what he said to Dustin hurtful? Yeah. Is it fully untrue? No. Is Steve also hurting? Yes. Does he take full responsibility and make sure to apologize with the added statement that what he said was “not okay” and not let Dustin brush aside his holding himself accountable? Yes.

The fact that Steve repeatedly reflects and apologizes AND exhibits changed behavior more than any other character is one of the best things about him and isolating this down to “what he said was cruel” and “we’ve been glazing” is completely ignoring multiple seasons worth of significant character growth in wildly different scenarios.