HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1984.

     THE NEXT DAY, THE SINCLAIR FAMILY were all sitting at the table having lunch when Lucas asked a peculiar question.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"When Mom's mad at you, how do you make her not mad?"

Theresa glanced over at Lucas from her plate, narrowing her eyes. Then, she slowly began to smile when she realized who this was about.

"Hm," Mrs. Sinclair smiled, facing her husband. "That's a great question. How do you, hon?"

Mr. Sinclair did not even look up from his newspaper, responding, "First, I apologize. Then, I get your mother whatever she wants."

Lucas frowned. "Even when she's wrong?"

Theresa laughed, picking up her glass of orange juice.

"Women are never wrong, Lucas. That's the first rule of thumb in any relationship," Tess informed him.

Mrs. Sinclair nodded in agreement. "That's right."

Lucas focused on his plate for a long moment, then stood up and took it into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Sinclair questioned, Lucas stopping in the doorway.

"To... hang out with Dustin."

Theresa furrowed her eyebrows, then realized what he was really doing. Her eyes widened, standing up and following after him.

He was already outside, picking up his bike when Tess got to him.

"Lucas!"

He paused, turning to her with a face of confusion.

"What?"

Theresa took a few steps forward. "Where are you going?"

Lucas' eyes darted to the side.

"I told you. To hang out with Dustin–"

"Don't bullshit me," she cut off, giving him a sharp look. "Just tell me. Where are you going?"

He tapped his foot, then finally caved with a sigh.

"To the arcade, to talk to Max. I owe her an apology."

Theresa twisted her fingers, chewing her inner lip. After Billy's threat yesterday, Tess did not want Lucas to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But Tess could also see how much Max meant to Lucas, and she did not want to try and force him to stay away from her.

"Just– please be careful, okay?"

Lucas eyed her suspiciously, but then nodded. He hopped on his bike, pedaling away. Theresa felt uneasy now, thinking back to everything Billy had said.

Just as Theresa was about to go back inside, a car pulled up to the curb. Steve's car to be exact.

The passenger side window rolled down, and none other than Dustin stuck his head out.

"Tess! Where is Lucas?" he asked.

Theresa knit her brows, peering down to try and figure out what was going on. Steve sat on the driver's side, giving her a wave.

"He just left. Why? What– what are you doing with Steve?"

Dustin sighed, throwing his head back. "Goddammit. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

She slightly shook her head. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Just come on!" he groaned with irritation, rolling his eyes.

Theresa raised her hands, slowly walking to the car. "Alright, alright."

She reached the passenger side, looking down at Dustin and nodding toward the back.

"Move."

Dustin tilted his head. "What?"

"I said move. I'm not sitting in the backseat."

"Well I was here first," he defended, Theresa giving him a glare.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Scram, Henderson."

Dustin turned his head in disbelief, but eventually gave in. He opened the door with reluctance as Theresa smiled triumphantly, mumbling things under his breath as he got in the backseat.

She got in the car and shut the door, looking over at Steve.

"So... why exactly are you hanging out with Dustin?"

"Because an inter-dimensional creature is in my cellar and we have to kill it," Dustin explained irritably, Theresa contorting her face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. "I-It's a long story, he just–"

"Just nothing!" Dustin exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "This is a serious situation! If we don't find this thing then it could end up killing people."

Tess pursed her lips.

"Okay, well if we're gonna do– monster killing, can I at least change my outfit first? I don't wanna get this one dirty."

Dustin stared at her with contempt. "Make it quick!"

She turned her head to him, narrowing her eyes. Theresa opened the car door again and got out, hurrying back inside. She went upstairs to her room and changed into a sweater, jeans and boots. She pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, walking back downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Mrs. Sinclair inquired from the dining table.

Theresa paused, thinking. "I'm going to... the library. I've got to finish my Physics project."

Mrs. Sinclair nodded absentmindedly, waving her hand. Tess hurried back to Steve's car, buckling her seatbelt as she got in.

"Alright, let's start over," she spoke to Dustin. "You said an inter-dimensional creature is on the loose and we have to find it because it could kill people?"

"Exactly."

Steve looked at him through the rearview mirror. "Where did you even find an inter-dimensional creature?"

"In my trash can," Dustin responded as if it were obvious. "And I thought I'd discovered a new species and it was going to be amazing but that was not the case."

Theresa slowly nodded. "So how did it escape?"

"Because he grew like ten times bigger and broke out of the tank. So now, we have a code red situation and no one is responding to me, so it looks like I'm stuck with you two."

She scoffed. "Hey, we killed a Demogorgon last year."

"Yeah," Steve cut in, nodding vigorously. "Well, it was mostly Tess."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "That's not the point. The point is that we need to kill him before he kills anyone else."

"It killed someone?" Theresa turned around, her eyes bulging.

"No, he ate my cat."

Her mouth fell open, horrified. Dustin sighed, sitting back. She turned around, looking at Steve.

"How did you get involved in all of this?"

Steve shook his head. "I-I was coming to your house to surprise you and see if you wanted to go the movies and then this little dipshit–"

"Hey!" Dustin proclaimed.

"He decided that his problems were more important–"

"They are–"

"And so, here we are," Steve finished, returning her look.

She sat back, halfway laughing.

"Sounds like fun."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

IT WAS DARK BY THE TIME THEY GOT to Dustin's house, having to stop and get supplies that they might need to kill a miniature monster.

They got out of Steve's car and walked to the trunk, Steve opening it up and pulling out a bat. The same one that Jonathan had hammered the nails into a year ago to kill the Demogorgon.

"Why do you still have that?" Theresa questioned, Steve scratching his head.

"Just in case... the Demogorgon came back."

She folded her arms, dismissing it. They followed Dustin around to the back of his house, where he had a storm cellar in the yard. There was a padlocked chain around the handles, clearly trying to keep something in.

"Why would you trap it in your cellar?" Tess inquired, glancing at Dustin.

He slowly turned his head to her. "Where else would you have suggested, Theresa?"

"Well I would have suggested not trying to keep it as a pet in the first place," she shot back, Steve closing his eyes with a sigh.

"Will you both just shut up? Please?"

They both gave him sour looks, Steve pointing the flashlight down at the cellar doors.

There was silence for a moment.

"I don't hear shit," Steve said at once, shaking his head.

Dustin narrowed his eyes. "He's in there."

Steve looked between Dustin and Theresa for a second, then took the tip of the bat and lightly hit it against the doors. He then hit it harder, but there was still nothing happening.

Pointing the flashlight in his eyes, Steve turned to Dustin. "Alright, listen kid, I swear if this is some sort of Halloween prank... you're dead."

"It's not–"

"Alright?"

"It's not a prank," Dustin insisted, holding his arm up to his eyes. "Get outta my face."

Theresa placed her hands on his hips, pressing her lips together with annoyance.

"Guys, come on. Are we gonna kill this thing or not? It's cold out here."

Dustin rolled his eyes, reaching in his pocket. He pulled out a set of keys, handing them to Steve.

Steve took the keys, kneeling down to unlock the cellar. Tess stood around impatiently, rocking on her heels with boredom.

He opened the doors at once, Dustin holding the flashlight as he stood behind Steve. Theresa peered down on the other side of him, squinting at the darkness.

"He must be further down there," Dustin spoke at once. "I'll stay up here in case he tries to... escape."

Steve gradually turned his head to Dustin, deeply exhaling.

Tess tapped her foot, growing irritated. She reached down without warning, snatching the flashlight from Dustin.

"Move," she nudged Steve with her boot, taking a few steps down into the cellar.

Steve's expression turned to alarm.

"Tess, what are you doing!" He scrambled after her, following closely behind her.

"You were taking too long," she absentmindedly replied, shining the flashlight around the room. Theresa saw a string dangling in the center, pulling on it to give a little bit more light.

She and Steve both looked down, their faces contorting with disgust and disarray.

"What in God's name is that?" Tess murmured, Steve taking the bat and using it to pick up what looked like a shedded layer of slimy green skin off of the cemented ground.

She shuddered. "That's disgusting."

"Guys?" Dustin called from up above. "Is everything alright down there? You're not making out, are you?"

They both rolled their eyes, Theresa walking back over to the stairs.

"Get down here!"

Dustin hesitated, but finally made his way down the steps. Steve was holding up the nasty layer of skin for Dustin to see.

"Oh, shit," Dustin swore.

Steve then pointed the flashlight to the opposite wall, where there was a giant, gaping hole. Whatever had been in the cellar was out now.

"Oh, shit!" Dustin repeated, placing a hand over his head. The brick confines had been busted through, which concerned Theresa. Whatever that thing was had been strong enough to do that much damage, and that was never a good sign.

The three all squatted down, looking through the hole that did not seem to have an end in sight.

"I thought you said that creature was small," Tess tensed, twisting her fingers.

"It was," Dustin replied.

She stood up, bringing her hands to either side of her temples.

"Okay, okay. Alright. We need a plan." Tess swallowed, pacing in the cellar.

She looked up, snapping her fingers. "We need bait. To draw it somewhere, where we can kill it."

"Bait?" Steve stood up, giving a shake of his head. "What kind of bait?"

Theresa shrugged. "Well, Dustin said it ate his cat. So... we need meat. Lots of it."

Dustin surprisingly agreed.

"You're right. The only way we can get him to us is to leave a trail for him."

"Yeah, but where are we gonna get a bunch of meat from?" Steve questioned.

Tess crossed her arms, tapping her chin in thought.

"The butchery in town. Tomorrow morning, I'll go first thing. And then we can meet up at the railroad tracks behind your house," Theresa nodded to Dustin.

He and Steve both gawked at her, almost in awe. Tess furrowed her eyebrows.

"What are you two idiots just staring for? Do you agree or not?"

"Yeah, yeah," Steve and Dustin both nodded, Tess uncrossing her arms.

She checked the time on her watch. "Shit. I should've been home like an hour ago. Steve, can you take me home?"

He nodded once more, swinging his bat over his shoulder and following Theresa up the stairs.

Dustin went inside his house, Tess getting in Steve's car while he started it up.

"So this is how you spend your first day of suspension?" Theresa asked with a smile, Steve laughing softly.

"It wasn't exactly the plan. All I wanted was to go to the movies, but..." He sighed, making a left turn.

Tess grinned, resting her head on her right hand so she could face Steve.

"Well, after we kill the baby Demogorgon, I think we should be able to squeeze in a movie."

He laughed once more, glancing over at her.

"Are you scared?"

Theresa raised her eyebrows. "Scared? Of what?"

"The... demo– monster, thingy. You're not scared?" Steve inquired.

She shrugged. "I've fought a fully grown one before. Sure, I almost died, but I didn't. So that counts for something, right?"

Steve tilted his head to the side. "I guess so. I just– I don't understand how you can be so... fearless."

Theresa's lips spread into a small smile, glancing down.

"Fear is subjective. What I may not be afraid of, you could find terrifying. And vice versa."

Steve nodded dumbly, slightly comprehending what she was saying.

"Well... what are you afraid of?"

She pulled her lips in, unsure of how to answer. There were so many things, but most of them felt miniscule. Like they were not real fears.

"Insects," Tess responded with a curt nod. "Any kind of bugs. I'm afraid of snakes, diseases, death... and frogs. The list goes on."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, taking this all in.

"What's your biggest fear?"

Theresa tensed, drawing in a breath. She slowly shook her head, staring at her lap for a long time.

"Love."

Steve swallowed, pulling into the driveway of the Sinclair house. "That's a pretty big one," he muttered in response, placing the car in park.

Tess turned to face him, taking a few deep breaths.

"Love is the biggest emotion of them all. It– it makes people do crazy things sometimes. I just... I don't ever want to be so blindsided by it that I lose focus of more important things."

Steve looked down, then met her eyes with a small shake of his head.

"What's more important than love?" 

Theresa pursed her lips, failing to think of an answer. She sat there, almost dumbstruck. There were many things much more significant than love, obviously. But it seemed that, at the moment, she was drawing a blank.

She inhaled sharply, plastering a smile on her face.

"I'll have to get back to you on that. Thanks for the ride. Goodnight, Steve."

He observed her getting out of the car, watching her all the way until she was out of eyesight.

"Goodnight, Tess."

notes.
best trio tess, steve & dustin it's true!!

the conversation at the end of this chapter really got me in my feels bro, why does this bitch have to have such complicated feelings 😭 things will get worse before they get better, but i can assure y'all that season 3 will be everyone's fav <3

anyway i was thinking of some headcanons today, and i had the cutest thought ever. imagine theresa, steve, lucas and max all going on a double date. THAT'D BE SO FUCKING CUTE I CAN'T

the way theresa & dustin are so sassy when they talk to each other is so funny to me,, ik steve is gonna get tired of their shit LMAO

what do you think theresa's zodiac sign is?