HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

TRAVELING THROUGH THE DARKNESS in the Upside Down forest had not exactly been on Theresa's to-do list for spring break.

She felt more and more on edge the further they walked, especially with the ominous feeling that Vecna might try and take her at any moment.

Tess looked over at Steve as she walked alongside him, the burden of guilt growing upon her shoulders. If she did not tell him now, Theresa did not know that she ever would get to.

She glanced up, seeing Nancy, Robin and Eddie ahead of Steve and herself. A pit of nausea formed in her stomach, Steve turning his head to see her looking at him.

He frowned. "You alright?"

Theresa blinked, then nodded abruptly. "Y-Yeah. I was just... thinking."

Steve studied her for a brief moment, and then Tess suddenly stopped walking and turned to fully face him. He slowed up as well, the frown on his face deepening.

She met his eyes, feeling her heartbeat in her throat. Tess knew she had to do this. She had to do it now, before it was too late.

"I need to tell you something."

Steve swallowed, his palms feeling suddenly clammy and his heart skipping a beat. But he managed to muster up a nod, weakly replying, "O-Okay."

Theresa felt a lump form in her throat, wringing her shaking hands as Steve looked down at her expectantly, anxiously waiting.

"So– I found out something a few weeks ago. And, uh– I've been trying to find a way to tell you."

Steve stared at her for a moment, fear inevitably swelling inside him. He was afraid to know, now, afraid there was something wrong with her.

"What– what is it?" he finally replied, his mouth running dry.

Tess licked her lips uneasily, eyes darting to the side as she drew in a breath. She closed her eyes tightly for a second, opening them back up and looking into Steve's big round ones. He looked at her so innocently, so blissfully unaware of what she was about to hit him with.

But there was no going back now.

"I'm pregnant."

Steve seemed to process what he was hearing at the rate of a turtle, his eyes slowly widening and his mouth falling open. Theresa watched him, wondering if he had gone into shock.

"Steve?"

He blinked, running a hand through his hair and placing the other on his hip. Steve seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Tess stood there, raising an eyebrow while Steve had gone pale.

But then, he started to smile. Steve let out a laugh of disbelief, dropping his hand and looking back at her. He was smiling like an idiot, and that stupid smile brought a tremendous amount of relief to Theresa's face.

"Holy shit," he muttered, his eyes welling with tears of joy. "Holy shit. I'm gonna be a father, holy shit!"

Tess broke into a small grin, nodding her head a soft look in her eyes. Steve pulled her into a hug, holding her close while she hugged him back with a muffled laugh. She felt foolish for anticipating a harsh reaction from Steve; he would have never done that to her, no matter how unprepared he felt.

"W-Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Steve questioned, pulling away with a vigorously confused head shake. "Is this why you've been acting so weird?"

She scoffed a little, mouth falling open in search of a defense but not finding one. "I– I didn't know how you would feel about it. I didn't know if you were ready for a kid. I-I don't even know if I'm ready for a kid."

"Are you kidding me?" Steve returned, placing a hand under her chin. "You're gonna be the best mom in the whole world. And I– I get to be a dad. Holy shit," he said yet again, "I'm gonna be a dad."

Steve spoke as if he did not yet believe it, but he laughed nonetheless. It appeared that he was overjoyed with this news, Theresa's heart growing warm at the sight of his lopsided grin.

"You do get to be a dad," she replied with a nod, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. It faded a bit as she continued, "I-I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I was just... scared. I mean, honestly, I still am scared because I really have no idea what I'm gonna do now. I don't know how– how I'm going to keep doing law school if I've got a baby on the way. A-And I don't know how I'm supposed to tell my parents, or–"

"Tess," Steve stopped her, placing his hands gently on either side of her face and looking into her eyes. "Everything is going to be alright, okay? You know that you're gonna have me right beside you the entire time. Once all this is over, we're gonna figure it all out. Together. Alright?"

Theresa knit her brows, chewing her inner lip as she looked up at Steve. That was something else she was worried about: whether or not she would be alive long enough to give birth.

She brought his hands down softly, holding them in hers as she fixated on the ground.

"What if... I don't make it?"

Steve eyed her warily, then shook his head. "Don't say that. Listen, that's not gonna happen, do you hear me? I don't care what I have to do, but you're not going anywhere any time soon. I-I can't–"

His voice broke, and Theresa looked up to see that Steve was on the verge of tears. She had never seen him cry before, and she was just now coming to that realization.

"I can't let anything happen to you," he finished, his chin slightly trembling. "Why am I so goddamn powerless?"

Tess was trying not to cry too, slowly closing her eyes and inhaling shakily. She felt pretty damn powerless, too.

"You're not, Steve," she replied, shaking her head. "Because when I think of my happiest memories, I think of you. And if Vecna comes for me like he said he was gonna do, then I know that I've got you to save me."

Steve wiped away a singular tear spilling over his eye, sniffling while he searched Theresa's eyes wholly.

"Promise me something, Tess."

She gave a nod, knitting her brows. "Anything."

He never broke eye contact with Theresa, giving her a pleading, begging look.

"Don't try to sacrifice yourself. Because I can't handle losing you."

She swallowed thickly, pulling her lips in before exhaling slowly.

"I promise. I really do promise."

Steve stood there for a moment longer, finally realizing how long the two of them had been standing there talking. The others were probably miles ahead by now.

"Thank you," he muttered, looking up to see where Robin, Nancy and Eddie were. He could still see them up ahead, becoming small specks in the dark woods. "We need to catch up."

Tess nodded, turning and taking a few steps forward. Steve followed alongside her, placing a hand over his wound briefly. The adrenaline rush he had just gotten made the pain go away, but he could feel it again now.

"How do you feel?" Theresa inquired, almost as if she had read his mind. Steve glanced over, giving a small shrug.

"Uh, well– I've been better."

She laughed softly, shaking her head. "We really need to get you to a doctor soon."

Steve looked around the vast, vacant forest, making a face. "Seems like we might be out of options at the moment."

He turned his head back to her. "So, uh... am I the only person that knows you're pregnant?"

Theresa poked her tongue in her cheek, glancing to the side.

"Um... I might've told Erica first."

Steve scoffed lightly, slightly offended. "You told her before me?"

"She's my sister," Tess argued. "She would've caught on eventually, anyway."

He pursed his lips, knowing that was true. Steve was unbearably giddy, wanting to jump up and down and run in circles from the news he had received. He was still somewhat processing it, but Steve was thrilled.

"I can't believe this," he said once again, the smile on his face returning. Steve pointed to Theresa's stomach, "You've got a little nugget in there. My little nugget."

"Our," she corrected, Steve halfway ignoring her.

"Do you think it's gonna be a boy or a girl?" He gasped. "What if it's twins? What if it's a boy and a girl?"

Theresa's eyes widened a bit, raising her chin. "Let's hope it's not more than one. And a boy."

Steve made a face. "A boy? You want a boy?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't want to have a girl that grows up acting like I did. That's... scary to imagine."

He rolled his eyes, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

"Well, I hope it's a girl."

Tess looked up with amusement. "Really? I figured you'd want a little Steve Junior."

Steve returned her look, completely serious as he responded, "Maybe someday. But I want a girl first."

Folding her arms, Theresa took this into consideration. Thinking about Steve with their little girl was a heartwarming thought, admittedly.

"Well, no matter what the gender is, I know you're gonna be a great dad."

Steve dropped his head with an instant grin, reaching over and throwing his arm around Tess's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her shoulder.

Then, without warning, the ground gave a sudden shake once again that nearly sent them both to to the ground. But Steve grabbed hold of Theresa and the other hand wrapped around a nearby tree while the earthquake raged, the two of them looking around for any sign of the other three.

They were not too far ahead, all of them grasping onto anything they could to keep themselves steady.

"Come on," Tess said, wriggling out of Steve's hold and running forward as best as she could without tripping.

"Nancy!" she called, finding the Wheeler girl first. The others followed as Theresa approached her and the tremors subsided again, looking at whatever Nancy was seeing.

Loud thunder clapped overhead, electricity lighting up the red sky that showed the Wheeler house not too far ahead of them. The place was an only warped version of Hawkins, obviously, but it was still difficult to navigate.

Nancy led them to her house, opening the back door and walking in first. Theresa followed directly behind her, shining her flashlight around at the vines covering the walls.

"Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler," Robin muttered, looking around.

Nancy dismissed her. "Come on. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to."

She started up the stairs, the others following. Steve stopped halfway up the staircase, no one else noticing as they continued up to Nancy's bedroom.

Nancy cracked open her closet, locating a shoe box and placing it on her dresser. Opening the box, she pulled back the tissue to reveal a pair of heels.

Tess squinted. "That doesn't look like guns to me."

"These heels are pointy, but I was hoping for something along the lines of a deadly projectile," Robin added in.

Nancy frowned, visibly perplexed as she gave a slight shake of her head. "I– I don't understand."

"Maybe you left them somewhere else," Eddie suggested.

"I think she would remember where she keeps her guns, Eddie," Theresa remarked to him.

Nancy nodded. "And I threw away these shoes years ago. Something's not right."

Tess examined the various items on Nancy's dresser, picking up a stack of colored notecards and sifting through them.

"Why do you have Chemistry notes, aren't you a senior?" she asked, looking up at Nancy who took the cards from her.

She looked for herself, then shook her head again. Nancy brought her head up, noticing the walls. "This is old wallpaper. All of this, it's– it's old."

Theresa furrowed her brows, tilting her head. "So... wait a second. Surely this can't mean that–"

"It's not 1986," Nancy finished, Tess looking over to see her holding a diary in her hands.

"I think... the reason that my guns aren't here," Nancy said slowly, glancing back down at her journal, "is because they don't exist yet."

Eddie narrowed his eyes, not following. "They don't... exist?"

Theresa was catching on more quickly, placing a hand to her head.

"What year does it say in your diary?"

"1983," Nancy responded, looking up. "November sixth, 1983."

Tess remembered that day for a multitude of reasons. "The day Will went missing. That was... that was the day that the gate opened."

Nancy nodded, closing her diary. Just then, they heard a shout from downstairs, and it was at that moment that Theresa realized Steve was not with them.

Her eyes widened a bit, racing out of Nancy's room and down the staircase.

"...Dustin! Can you hear me? Dustin!"

"Steve!"

He stood in the foyer, flashlight pointed upward while Steve looked at the ceiling and frantically shouted.

"Du– hello? Hel– HELLO?"

"Maybe he really does have rabies," Robin remarked quietly, Tess letting out a small sigh.

"Steve!" she called again, louder this time.

He whipped around, shining the flashlight in the other four's faces. Theresa raised a hand irritably while Steve rushed forward.

"He's here," Steve gushed. "Henderson. That little shit, he's here. He's like– he's in the walls or something. Just listen."

They were barely given a moment to listen in on the silence before Steve was shouting Dustin's name again, Tess angling her head to the side.

But, just then, she heard a very distinct and familiar voice. Dustin's voice.

Everyone's eyes went wide, beginning to search around for any sign of the Henderson boy. It seemed that he was nowhere to be found, though, unsurprisingly.

"Alright, either this kid can't hear us or he's being a total douchebag," Steve said dejectedly.

Theresa tapped her foot, folding one arm under the other. "We're in the Upside Down. When Will was in the Upside Down, he could still hear people in our world. And he found a way to communicate with them."

"Through the lights," Nancy added on, giving a nod and hurrying toward the nearest light switch. Yet, as expected, they would not turn on.

"Hey, guys," Steve shined his light into the dining room, up at the chandelier.

They all turned their attention to it, seeing that the lampshades on the light fixture had a strange glow to them. Like they were buzzing with electricity.

Each of them approached the lights, Nancy being the first to raise her hand toward the strange glowing particles. She stuck her hand in the glimmering mass, contorting her face with wonder and amazement.

Theresa did the same, getting a strange feeling in her fingers as she waved them through the particles. This was astounding, whatever it was.

"Well. I think we found our way of communication."

notes.
y'all we're getting closer to the end, i'm scared 💔

ok and i finally gave y'all the pregnancy reveal will you leave me alone now 🙄 jk but that's why it took me so long to update bc i wanted it to be perfect

now that steve knows tess is pregnant i just know that mf was planning baby showers in his head

i feel like s5 needs a proposal 🤭 depending on what happens now i don't wanna speak too soon

i'm so tired so i apologize if this is ass, i'll reread in the morning to see

if not a lawyer, what career could you see tess having?