HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1984.

STEVE WAS THROWING PUNCH AFTER punch, throwing Tommy to the ground of the hallway.

Theresa, who was almost to her next class, heard all of the commotion and quickly turned around to head back. She never missed school fights.

But her mouth fell open in both shock and horror as she saw Steve on the ground, bringing his fists around on another boy's head.

"Steve?"

He glanced up at her, getting distracted for a split second and allowing Tommy to push him over. He got the upper hand but right as Tommy was about to throw a punch, the principal came running over to intervene.

He grabbed hold of Tommy and pulled him back while Steve climbed to his feet, Theresa staring at him with her hands over her mouth. He glanced over at her, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he muttered before Mr. Matthews grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him away.

She raised a hand to her head, closing her eyes with a deep exhale. Theresa had a strong suspicion that this fight had something to do with her. She just wasn't sure what.

Theresa decided to skip next period, sitting in the office while she waited for Steve. Her nerves were at an all time high, having no idea what to expect when he came out of the principal's office.

The door finally opened after Tess felt like she had been sitting there for hours, Steve walking out behind Mr. Matthews. Theresa looked up at him as she was the first person in the room for him to lay eyes on, holding one hand in the other.

She stood up after Mr. Matthews went back in his office, slowly approaching Steve. He had been untouched aside from the bruised knuckles, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey."

Steve glanced up at her, then back down. He seemed like he was... ashamed, almost.

"Hi," he replied at once.

Theresa bit her lip, her eyes darting around the room.

"Do you... wanna go talk?" she asked quietly.

Steve scratched his head, nodding.

"Y-Yeah."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

     "SO... YOU GOT SUSPENDED?"

Steve nodded, rubbing in the corner of his eye. They sat side by side on the hood of his car, Theresa having gone to get ice for his hand.

Tess stared at the ground for a moment, then shook her head with confusion.

"What happened, Steve?"

He stared at his hands, taking a long pause of silence before he answered.

"Tommy called you a slut. And I– I just got so angry. I tried to walk away but then he said something else and I just– I lost it. I'm sorry."

Theresa furrowed her eyebrows, leaning forward to make him look at her.

"Don't apologize."

She reached out for his hand, Steve allowing her to take it. Theresa dropped her head, keeping her hand in Steve's while she thought deeply.

"You know that you're the only person who's ever stuck up for me?"

Steve turned his head to her, knitting his brows. When she raised her head again, there were tears in her eyes. She withdrew her hand from his to wipe them away, trying not let him see.

"Hey," Steve spoke gently, "hey, it's okay. Tess, hey, look at me."

He reached out, placing a hand under her chin to turn her head toward him, Theresa meeting his eyes. Steve softly smiled, wiping the tears off of her face.

"You're too pretty to cry," he lightly joked, earning a laugh from Tess.

She shook her head, sniffling. "You're so stupid."

"But you love me for it."

Theresa tensed up, and Steve could see that his comment made her uneasy. Right, he thought to himself, love is a sensitive topic at the moment.

"So now I have to present this project without you," Tess remarked, sitting up straighter. "Are you sure this wasn't your plan all along?"

He brushed her off with a chuckle, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry about that. You'll probably make a better grade without me, if I'm being honest."

Tess glanced over with a sideways smile, nudging him with her elbow. "You contributed too. And I'll make sure to let Mr. Morris know."

Steve grinned, removing the ice from his hand at once. Theresa looked over at the bruises, wincing a little.

"Damn, you really did a number. But hey– for what it's worth, I think everyone agreed that Tommy H. deserved a punch in the face. Or in this case, a few."

He laughed again, scrunching his nose.

"God, my parents are gonna kill me," Steve muttered with realization, shaking his head. "This is my first suspension, and I'm gonna miss next week's game–"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Tess tried to encourage him, though her guilt was eating away at her. This whole fight was because of her.

It seemed like everything was because of her.

Theresa checked her watch, seeing that she needed to be getting back to class soon. The lunch period was almost over.

"I should probably be going back inside now," she announced with a sigh. "I-I'll call you tonight, yeah?"

She hopped down off of the hood of his car, brushing off her skirt as Steve nodded and stood up as well.

"Y-Yeah. If I'm not grounded for life, anyway."

Theresa let out a small laugh through her nose, pushing her hair over her shoulder. She met Steve's eyes, staring into them for a lot longer than she intended. The way he looked at her made her feel secure, and it gave her trust.

The inexplicable butterflies in her stomach made Theresa slowly begin to take in at that moment what she had been denying all along.

That she really was in love with Steve Harrington.

She broke the silence, her lips curling into a smile.

"See you later, Steve," she softly spoke, Steve returning her smile before she turned and began to walk away.

He was no stranger to his feelings, but Steve felt as if something had been different with the conversation they just had. It almost seemed like what he felt had been reciprocated. Like she was beginning to feel the same way too.

But Steve decided not to let himself have false hope.

Theresa avoided the stares of the other students for the rest of the day, not giving them any answers to their questions. She walked alone in the halls since Jonathan was not there, and now neither was Steve. Tess hoped Jonathan would be back tomorrow.

When the last bell rang, Theresa gathered her things and headed out to her car. As she rummaged in her purse for her keys and brought her head up, Tess nearly jumped out of her skin.

Billy leaned against the driver side door of her car, displaying a nasty grin as Theresa finally saw him.

"Sinclair," he sneered, pushing off of her car and taking a few steps closer to the girl. "I hate that I missed the fight today. Would've loved to have seen it. I didn't know that Harrington had it in him."

She clenched her jaw tightly, scowling up at Billy as his face inched nearer to hers.

"What do you want, Billy?" Tess kept a calm, steady tone, but her heart was racing. His eery smile was rather terrifying, especially when he was so close.

Billy laughed softly. "I'm glad you asked, Theresa. First and foremost, I want that scrawny ass brother of yours to stay away from Max. And second–"

"Oh, you can count to two?"

He glared, his smile fading. Tess was quite honestly scared for life in that moment, but she showed no sign of fear. She'd be damned if she let Billy Hargrove think she was scared of him.

"I want revenge. I want your pretty little face to be so badly screwed up because then– then you'll be nothing. You are nothing. But a self-centered bitch."

Theresa had a bitter taste in her mouth. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her chin almost quivering. She had so much anger that it made her want to cry.

"You're insane," she barely spoke above a whisper, blinking a few times as she fought back tears for a second time that day.

Billy's lips curled into a smile. An evil, malevolent, wicked smile.

"Is the princess gonna cry?" he mocked, narrowing his eyes. "I'd watch my back if I were you, Sinclair."

With that, he pushed past her and walked along to his car. Theresa let out a breath she did not realize she was holding in, fumbling for her car keys and hurriedly getting in. She jammed the keys in the ignition, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand. Theresa suddenly did not feel safe anymore. She felt like he would come back at any moment, and she had no one there to defend her this time.

She inhaled a slow, shaky breath, trying to recollect herself. Billy was not going to get to her that easily; she refused to let it happen.

Tess picked up Lucas and Erica, unusually quiet on the ride home. Both of her siblings noticed but they did not say anything; usually when she was quiet it was because she was mad, and they did not want to make her even more mad.

She went up to her room as soon as she got home, barely even mumbling a hello to her parents. Theresa paced her bedroom, glancing over at her phone and wondering whether or not it was too early to call Steve. And more importantly, why she wanted to call Steve so badly. She was not going to tell him that Billy had threatened her. He would go ballistic.

So instead, Tess picked up the phone and called the Byers' residence. She had been meaning to, to check on Will.

"Hello?"

"Hi–" Theresa frowned, not recognizing the voice over the phone. It sounded like a grown man's, and it definitely wasn't Jonathan's.

"Hi," she repeated. "...May I ask who this is?"

"This is Bob!" the man replied in a cheerful tone, Tess raising an eyebrow. "And may I ask who this is?"

She blinked a few times. "Um– I'm Tess, I'm a friend of Jonathan's. Is he there?"

"No, actually," Bob replied. "He's staying off at another friend's for the night."

Other friends? Theresa knew that wasn't true.

"Oh– well that's fine," she responded at once. "I was just calling to check in on Will. Can you tell Jonathan I called when he gets back?"

"Sure thing!" Bob quipped.

"Thank you. Bye bye."

Tess hung up, standing there in thought for a second. She folded her arms, puzzled. Where the hell could Jonathan possibly have been?

She wondered if she should have been concerned or not. Surely Jonathan would have told her if he was going somewhere. So why hadn't he?

Theresa decided to wait it out and see. If Joyce was not concerned, then Tess knew the situation was nothing.

After dinner, Tess went back upstairs to study, but the only thing on her mind was Steve. She sincerely hoped his punishment had not been too severe, especially since it was basically because of her.

She stared at her phone for at least five minutes before she caved and picked up the phone, dialing Steve's place.

As she sat there, waiting for someone to pick up, Theresa heard something hit her window. Then again, and again.

Frowning, she hung up the phone and walked over, undoing the latch and pushing up the window. Theresa peered outside, looking down and squinting at the darkness.

"Tess! It's me!"

She could just barely make out a figure in the darkness, the hair giving him away.

"Steve?" She said aloud, shaking her head. "What the hell are you–"

"Can I come up?" he whisper-shouted, placing his hands on his hips.

Theresa blinked, unsure of what to say.

"You could just... use the front door," she suggested, leaning against the windowsill.

Steve was not listening, though. He was already in the process of trying to climb, Tess watching him with her mouth slightly agape.

He was a literal dumbass.

She observed with some amusement as he continued to struggle, but by some miracle finally made it up. Theresa moved out of the way as Steve put a leg through the window, steadying himself once he was in Theresa's room.

With a shake of her head, Tess sarcastically remarked, "You amaze me."

Steve smiled proudly, walking over to her bed and dramatically dropping himself on top of it.

"So... you mind telling me what the hell you're doing here?" she questioned, sitting down as well.

He picked up her notebook, reading her English notes as he replied, "Well, I know you said you were gonna call but I figured– what's better than seeing me in person?"

Theresa pulled her lips in, trying not to laugh. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes.

"That's bold of you to assume that I wanted to see you in person," she retorted, earning an eye roll from Steve.

"You can never get tired of me," he teased, looking down at the notebook in his hands. "And besides, I obviously came here to help you study. Just like old times, hm?"

Theresa shook her head slowly, grabbing her pencil and snatching the notebook out of Steve's hands.

"No offense, but I'm not sure if I want you to help me study. You know, considering that your English grade is... not the best."

Steve placed a hand over his chest, pretending to be offended. "Excuse me? English is my best class! Well– aside from Gym, but you get the point."

Theresa gave him a look. "Aren't you supposed to be under house arrest or something?"

He raised a finger. "Technically, yes, but my dad wasn't as pissed when I told him that I won the fight."

She shook with laughter, having a brief thought back to her moment with Billy earlier that day. Tess was still pondering on whether or not she should tell Steve.

She decided against it. Theresa did not want Steve to get into anymore fights. Especially not over her.

"So," Steve snapped her back to reality, opening a literature book, "let's start with relative, reflexive, and inter– interro–"

He furrowed his brow, pointing at a word in the book. "Whatever that says." Steve looked up at her with a small smile.

"Let's start with those."

Theresa raised her eyebrows, eyeing him.

"Maybe we should start with third grade English."

notes.
a bit later than usual with this chapter, but it's here 🫶 i had to w*rk today, but i'm getting paid though 🤑

let's talk about why i hate billy hargrove and why he should die. 1) because you do not EVER threaten my girlboss theresa and 2) do nawt EVER threaten my girlboss theresa's little brother

theresa & steve have truly captivated my heart, they're all i think about rn and the number of scenes i already have planned out for them, ESPECIALLY in season 4 when they're a happy and healthy couple 😩 lowkey might be my fav fic (don't tell anyone i said that though 🌝)

anyway, next chapter will be where dustin, steve & theresa become the most chaotic trio you will ever meet. it's going to be a wild ride, lemme tell you

what's one thing you want to know about theresa?

OH AND BTW THANK YOU ALL FOR 40K READS <333 ILY ALL SM