HAWKINS, INDIANA — 1986.

     STEVE WAS WORRIED FOR THERESA.

After she had startled him the night before, waking him up with a bloodcurdling scream, Steve knew something was going on with her that she was not telling him.

Tess was still sound asleep when Steve woke up, arm draped over him and her face nuzzled into his chest. Steve laid there for a few more minutes, listening to her slow and steady breathing.

Finally, she came to, opening her eyes with a soft sigh. Steve looked down at her, an involuntary smile creeping onto his face.

"Good morning," he greeted, Theresa returning his smile.

"Hi," she mumbled, stifling a yawn.

Steve stretched his arms then settled them back around Tess. "How'd you sleep?"

She gave a small shrug. "Fine, I guess. I didn't have anymore nightmares."

He nodded, thinking for a moment.

"We have to go check in on Eddie today," Steve said at once, Theresa nodding.

"Yeah, I know we have to go see that little fucker," she grumbled, turning on her side to look at Steve. "I can't believe Chrissy Cunningham is dead."

Steve knit his brows, rubbing her arm as he replied, "I know. Whoever– or whatever– this Vecna dude is, I hope Dustin's wrong about it. Just this once."

Tess gave a small laugh. "Me too. I'm tired of fighting Demogorgons and Mind Flayers every other month."

He returned her laugh, Theresa trying to ignore the nauseating feeling in her stomach that she had had since she woke up. Now was not the time for morning sickness.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Steve offered, sitting up a little bit.

The thought of any kind of food only increased Tess's nausea. She tried to hold it in, but that was unfortunately only making it worse.

"Um..."

Theresa shot out of the bed, sprinting to Steve's bathroom and collapsing in front of the toilet to vomit. Steve, alarmed, got up and followed after her.

"Hey," he said softly, dropping to his knees and holding her hair back while she continued to puke. Tears stung her eyes from gagging, finally reaching for toilet paper to wipe her mouth.

Steve knew something was definitely wrong, now. There was something Theresa was not telling him.

"It's okay," he soothed, guiding her back into his arms as she dropped her head to her hands. Steve gave her a moment before he asked any questions, letting Tess breathe deeply and regain her composure while rubbing her back.

Even once she seemed to calm down a bit, Steve continued to rub her back and whisper to her. Theresa pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a shaky exhale.

"You alright?" he finally asked, tilting his head down to look at her.

Theresa gave a nod. "Mhm. Just– on my period."

Steve wanted to believe her, but he was not buying that. He chewed his inner lip, hesitating.

"Tess... what's really going on?"

She brought her head up to look at him, shaking it slightly. "What do you mean? I just told you."

He tilted his head. "Tess. I know you better than that. And as much as you hate to admit it, you know that I can tell when you're lying."

Theresa shrugged his hand off of her, glancing away.

"I told you," she curtly replied, "it's just my period. I'm fine."

She grabbed onto the counter nearby, pulling herself up as Steve climbed to his feet as well, turning to watch her leave the bathroom. He sighed deeply, following behind her.

Steve would figure out what was going on, one way or another.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

THERESA BURST THROUGH THE DOOR of the boathouse, bags of groceries for Eddie on each arm.

He jumped as she, Steve, Robin, Max and Dustin walked in, swearing under his breath.

"Here's some food, dick face," Tess announced, approaching him and dropping all of the bags into his arms.

Eddie glanced up at her, blinking. "Dick face?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, clenching her jaw. "What, are you deaf and dumb?"

The others all raised their eyebrows a bit, exchanging wary glances as Tess searched for her stool and took a seat in front of Eddie.

He slowly sat down, unsure of if he should have been afraid to be within a close vicinity to Theresa.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," Dustin informed as Eddie shoved his face with Honeycomb cereal. "How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always," Eddie mumbled with a mouth full of food.

Dustin nodded. "Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also– they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, a hundred percent convinced," Max added.

Tess laughed under her breath, almost saying something but holding her tongue.

"And the good news?" Eddie inquired.

"Your name hasn't gone public yet," Robin informed him. "But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

Eddie glanced down. "Hunt the freak, right?" he muttered.

"So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," Dustin cut in.

Theresa scoffed a little. "Really simple," she muttered with sarcasm, rubbing her eyes.

Eddie was not consoled by Tess's lack of enthusiasm, looking up at the others with some worry in his eyes.

"Listen, Eddie," Robin took a step toward him, "I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean– they have, a-a few times and... and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based and theirs was more smoke related, but–"

"Robin," Theresa gave her a knowing look, Robin realizing she was rambling.

"We usually rely on this girl who has super powers," Steve explained to Eddie, "but, uh... those went bye-bye, so..."

"So we're technically in more of the–"

"Brainstorming phase," Max finished.

Steve snapped his fingers in agreement. "Brainstorming."

Dustin smiled. "T-There's nothing to worry about," he stammered, his voice raising an entire octave.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, Tess doing the same as she eyed all of them.

Turning back to Eddie, Theresa said, "Look, I'm not gonna bullshit you like the rest of them are doing right now. We have no idea what we're up against at the moment, and right now the odds of you spending life in prison are pretty high. But... if you just trust us, we can prove that you're innocent."

Eddie made eye contact with Tess, seeing that she was being legitimate.

"She's in law school," Steve added with an affirming nod.

Theresa halfway rolled her eyes, standing up. Just then, from the distance, the sound of sirens started to grow louder as they all realized the cops were coming.

"Shit," Tess pointed to Eddie, "under the tarp!"

He scrambled into the boat, covering himself while the others ran to the windows to see what was happening.

Cop cars raced down the road, followed by firetrucks and an ambulance as well. Theresa frowned, exchanging a look with Steve.

He knew what she was thinking.

They all rushed out to Steve's car, getting in while Steve followed after the first responders. The group pulled to the side of the road when police tape came into view, quickly hopping out of the car.

Tess could see a girl in the distance, standing with the police, recognizing at once that it was Nancy. She raised a hand, giving a small wave.

Nancy waved back, appearing relieved at the familiar faces.

Once the police dismissed her, Nancy approached them and explained what had happened. Just as Theresa had suspected; another murder.

"Fred Benson?" Tess questioned as they sat down at a picnic table in the trailer park, Nancy giving a nod of confirmation.

"Yeah, he was helping me with some stuff for the school newspaper."

Theresa knew him. She had not exactly been the nicest person to him, but they had worked on Yearbook Staff together.

"So we've got Chrissy and now Fred," Steve said, taking a seat beside Tess. "Do you think it's–"

"Vecna?" Dustin finished. "Definitely."

Nancy furrowed her eyebrows. "Vecna?"

"It's what we're calling him," Dustin explained. "Whatever could possibly be behind these murders. Someone from the Upside Down."

Nancy slowly nodded, unsure if she was following along.

"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse," Dustin continued. "Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens... we don't know."

"All we know is that this is something different," Max spoke up. "Something new."

Nancy and Theresa exchanged a look, Nancy clearly wanting to see what the Sinclair girl thought of this.

Tess pursed her lips, giving a shrug. "It's only a theory. But– I've seen a lot of crazy shit so I've stopped questioning many things at this point."

"Fred and Chrissy don't make sense," Nancy muttered. "I mean– why them?"

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place," Dustin suggested.

Robin thought for a moment. "They were both at the game."

"And near the trailer park," Max cut in.

Steve glanced around. "We're at the trailer park... uh– should we maybe, not be here?"

Theresa fought the urge to roll her eyes, glancing over at him.

"There is something weird about this place," Nancy agreed. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."

Tess frowned. "Acting weird, how?"

"Scared," Nancy replied. "On edge... upset."

"Max said Chrissy was upset too," Dustin informed, looking to her.

She responded, "Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school."

Theresa rested her chin on her knuckles. "I think it has a deeper meaning. Whatever reason they've been killed, it goes beyond coincidence. There's got to be a connection."

Max looked up suddenly. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelly's office," she said. "If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But, you might go to your–"

"Your shrink," Robin finished for her, Max nodding.

Tess was thrown off a bit by the mention of Ms. Kelly's name. It had been awhile since she had thought about the guidance counselor. She was glad she was not the one having to pay visits anymore.

"What about Fred?" Theresa wondered aloud, looking over at Max. "Do you know if he saw Ms. Kelly?"

Max shook her head. "I-I guess I could try to find out."

They all got up from the table at once, making their way to Steve's car. Tess noticed as Nancy began to veer off in the opposite direction, stopping abruptly.

"Where are you going, Nance?"

She stopped, giving Theresa a timid look. "I-It's nothing. It's– it's a real shot in the dark."

Theresa crossed her arms. "Try me."

Nancy sighed. "I'm gonna try and look into Victor Creel. See if it leads me anywhere."

"I should come with you then," Tess replied, starting toward her when Steve stopped her.

"Hey, woah woah!" he grabbed her hand, Theresa giving him a sharp glare. "W-Why don't you stay with me? And... Robin, Robin can go with Nancy, yeah?"

Robin raised her eyebrows, then gave an awkward nod. "Y-Yeah, sure. That's fine."

Theresa could see Robin's flushed face, still clenching her jaw as she gave Steve a scowl.

"Fine," she snapped, yanking her hand away from Steve's. Robin walked over to Nancy, a smile on her face as she looked to Tess and Steve.

"See you guys in a bit?"

Theresa had a sour expression, side-eyeing Steve. "Whatever."

She turned on her heel, walking to the car and getting in. Steve huffed, following her at once.

"Wipe your feet," he said to Dustin and Max, to which Dustin responded by wiping his feet on the car's interior.

"On the outside, not the inside!" Steve exclaimed, exasperated.

Max showed the way to Ms. Kelly's house, getting out of the car once they arrived and not hesitating to walk up. Dustin scooted to the middle seat in the back, leaning forward between Theresa and Steve.

"Look at us," he said with a grin, "the trio's back together again. Who would've thought?"

Tess did not even have the energy to roll her eyes, sinking down lower in the passenger seat. "Dustin, are you capable of not talking, like– ever?"

He scoffed, clearly offended. Steve gave Dustin a look, silently warning him.

Theresa happened to turn her head at just the right time, seeing the look Steve was giving Dustin.

"Got something to say?" she snapped, Steve instantly shaking his head.

"No, nope. Not at all."

They reverted back to silence, Tess staring out of the window while thinking deeply about something. Steve never knew what she was thinking.

"So, were you and Eddie actually friends?" Dustin then inquired to her, Theresa turning her head to him.

She was prepared to cuss him out, but closed her eyes for a moment and opened them once more.

"Yes. We were. But it was like seven years ago, so it really doesn't matter anymore."

Dustin tilted his head thoughtfully. "I just can't imagine what you and Eddie would have in common, you know? It's like– Claire and John Bender from The Breakfast Club. It doesn't make sense."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "...Did you ever see the ending of The Breakfast Club?"

He slowly shook his head. "No, why?"

Steve rolled his eyes with a twinge of a jealous thought. "Doesn't matter. Tess and Eddie were friends because Tess wasn't popular when she first moved here. Right?"

"Well, I–"

She paused, realizing she had no defense. Theresa sighed, reluctantly agreeing. "Yeah. I wasn't very well-liked at Hawkins Middle School."

"So... why'd you and Eddie stop being friends?" Dustin then asked.

Tess chewed her inner lip, shrugging. "We just went our separate ways. I got more popular and he got... weirder."

Dustin started to laugh. "So you've always been a secret nerd?"

"Shut up," she said with an eye roll, turning away from him. "Why is everyone so obsessed with calling me a nerd?"

"Because you are," Steve and Dustin said in unison.

Theresa scowled, flipping them off.

notes.
hello everyone, i would like to announce that theresa sinclair is bisexual

because i am bi and therefore i will make all of my favorite oc's bi

another chapter, no pregnancy reveal to steve 😔 how tragic, anyways

i feel like y'all are gonna hate me by the end of this season fr, i'm going to try to appease everyone but i feel like some of y'all will still be mad

me writing ronance because they're a superior ship <3 don't be cowards, duffer brothers!!! make it happen

steve is starting to catch on to tess, though... i love screwing with y'all

what characters (tv shows/movies/books) do you think theresa is most similar to?