(Ep. 9: The Piggyback)

"Okay, I wanna run through it one more time."

Currently, the group is inside the trailer that Steve had parked deep in the woods to prevent anyone from finding it.

"Phase one," Nancy turns around, standing in front of the RV while the others are in the back.

"We meet Erica at the playground," Gwen explains. "When we're ready, she'll signal Max and Lucas."

"Phase two."

"Max baits Vecna," Steve reluctantly says, not at all thrilled about her being used as a distraction and putting herself in danger. "He'll go after her, which will put him in his trance."

"Phase three?"

"Me, Eddie, and Natalia draw the bats away," Dustin points at the pair behind him, causing Eddie to place his hand on his head and shake it playfully.

"Four?"

"We head into Vecna's newly bat-free lair, and..." Robin raises the Molotov cocktail she and Steve had prepared, "... flambé."

"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," Nancy orders. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?"

"Got it," the six answer in unison.

With that, everyone gathers their weapons and heads out the RV. They start making their way back to Eddie's trailer with Steve leading the way, Gwen, Nancy, and Robin following behind, while the rest stay at the very back. All of them were silent, not knowing what to say that will make this any better as they know there's two ways this can end.

A. Each phase goes accordingly and Vecna ends up getting defeated.

B. Something goes wrong, resulting in any of them getting hurt and not being able to kill Vecna.

It's safe to say which option they prefer, but of course, only time will tell.

Once arriving at the trailer, Steve turns on the light and removes his bag off his shoulder as he stares at the rope. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the maneuver he'll have to make.

"Be careful," Dustin tells him.

"Thanks, buddy," Steve pats him gently on the shoulder and looks over at Gwen, who sends him a reassuring smile that makes him feel much better. He steps forward and wraps his hands around the sheets to begin climbing, "Here goes nothing."

Within a quick second, Steve lands in a swift way on the other side. He had performed an impressive spin halfway in the air, leaving him standing all proudly at his success as he gazes up at them with a boastful smirk.

Gwen gnaws at the inside of her cheek, not wanting to smile at the very attractive sight - especially when seeing she's the only one that had been impressed by his movements.

Robin nonchalantly shrugs and turns to Nancy, "What does he want us to do, applaud?"

"All right," Steve announces once he places a mattress under the rope to soften the fall. "Let's go."

Gwen removes her backpack and curls her hands around the rope. She starts climbing up, not daring to think how the last time she did this, she ended up stuck in her trance. She knows she's no longer cursed, but it doesn't change that she's still afraid, but once she manages to find those brown sets of eyes, all of her fears start fading to the back of her mind knowing he'll be there to catch her.

She lands on the mattress in a soft thud with her eyes closed. Once she opens them, she's welcomed by the sight of Steve offering his hand to help her up. With a smile, she leans forward and takes it.

"Don't worry, love. I got you," Steve pulls her toward him, landing their faces in close proximity.

Like magnets being drawn to the other, they're unable to prevent their eyes from looking into theirs. The world around them starts fading the more they stare into those brown and blue eyes, resembling a golden daylight and the beauty of the ocean waves. Slowly, they trace down to their lips as they desperately seek to become one.

Gwen's unable to prevent the goosebumps from trailing down her skin. Her nose bumps against his as her voice is barely a whisper, "Thank you."

"Anytime," he says, his voice low and tremulous before both of them get one last glimpse and pull away for the others to climb down.

A few minutes later, everyone and their weapons landed safely into the other side. Not wanting to waste anymore time, they got everything ready and started heading out the door with Nancy leading the way. It was the moment to go their separate ways, making them afraid and reluctant to do so when not knowing what's bound to happen in the next few hours.

Dustin, Eddie, and Natalia remain standing in front of the trailer. They glance at each other and nod their heads in reassurance, feeling better they have each other and won't have to face this alone.

Steve turns around to face them, "Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort." He points his finger at them in an authoritative way, "Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just-"

"Decoys," Dustin and Steve say in unison. "Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve."

Gwen takes a step forward, focusing more on her brother, "You know that's not what he meant. He's worried and is asking you three not to do anything stupid." She places her arms around them, not wanting to let go just yet. "Please be careful. I'm begging you."

"Understood, Gwen," Eddie says, "I mean, look at us. We are not heroes."

Natalia slaps his shoulder, taking him by surprise, "Stop with the deprecation. You really need to stop looking down at yourself, because you're much braver than you think."

Eddie's surprised at her words, especially since this is all coming from the girl that had been a total bitch to him in high school. He's gone through a lot of shocking things these past few days, but this is definitely taking the number one spot.

"Thanks for that, Cortez. Didn't think the princess had a heart," he teases, earning a playful eye roll.

"You'd be surprised," Natalia says through a smile.

Gwen shakes her head slightly before moving to her brother. They're both silent as they stare at the other, not knowing what to say that doesn't sound like they're saying goodbye. Usually, they're always together for missions like this, but now that they're separating, it feels horrible being apart as they won't know if they're safe or not.

Not thinking twice, the siblings come forward for a tight embrace. He nuzzles into her shoulder as she cradles the back of his head and takes in every part of him. There's uncertainty on how this is going to end, so they're determined to put all that sibling teasing aside for the meanwhile. At least until they reunite and are able to resume their lives back to normal.

"I know you're a certified genius, but please, don't try to be smart and risk yourself," she makes him look at her as she tries pushing her emotions aside for him. "If things get dangerous, you head back and wait until I find you. Alright? You wait for me."

"I'll wait for you," he agrees, his eyes welling up with tears at the thought of being away from his sister for the first time. "But you need to promise that you'll come back safe and sound. If things get dangerous, you won't think twice about running off as well, okay? I'll be waiting for you, so please... come back."

Gwen pulls him in for another hug and blinks away her tears, not daring to cry at a time like this. She needs to be strong. She needs to push every emotion aside for her brother and assure him that everything will be okay, because deep down, she knows it will be. She'll be able to return to her brother and all of them will finally be safe and happy.

"I'll come back," she promises and reluctantly draws away to rejoin the others.

Steve offers his hand, both of them now walking hand in hand into the forest. Only before they're able to, they're stopped by Eddie.

"Hey, Steve? Make him pay."

The two boys nod in understanding before Steve looks away, leaving just Gwen and Eddie staring at each other. With just one look, the promise made earlier at the field is remembered. His expression is gentle and apprehensive, one that indicates he'll do anything to keep Dustin safe, and that's enough for Gwen to finally walk away.

__________________

The walk from the trailer park to the Creel House felt much longer than expected. Everything looked the same and it sure didn't help having small flashlights as their only source of illumination.

Gwen looks around, making sure to be careful where to step and checks their surroundings just in case there's creatures lurking around. She feels an odd sense of familiarity to when she, Nancy, and Jonathan were searching for clues back in '83. It was the same level of darkness, except the colors were much more vibrant and the air didn't feel intoxicating. The Upside Down is colder and more dull. Even with its tinge of blue hues, there's a lifeless ambience surrounding the area, making it the place for nightmares and terrors to brew.

"Uh... I don't mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we've seen this tree before," Robin breaks the silence as her voice shakes nervously. She waves her flashlight around all frantically, inspecting each tree with much more detail just in case she's wrong.

"That's impossible," Nancy argues.

Robin nervously laughs, "That would suck, right? If Vecna destroyed the world because... 'cause we got lost in the woods?"

"We're not lost," Gwen tries reassuring her as she knows this is just Robin's nerves getting the better of her. "I'm certain we're going the right way."

Not believing her, Robin starts walking away in an attempt to find the right path, causing Nancy to call out to her, "Robin, hey. Watch out for the vines! Hive mind. Remember?"

"Thank you!" Robin sarcastically says, continuing to run ahead in a much more careful way,

Gwen takes a deep breath and continues looking around. She's certain they're not lost. If they managed to walk all the way from Skull Rock to Nancy's home, then walking to the Creel House should be a piece of cake. Besides, the others can't move on to the next phase if they don't hear from them, so really, remaining calm is the only way to get through this.

Steve keeps a close eye on Gwen as she walks in front of them. He waves his flashlight into the trees all while walking alongside Nancy, "Uh, don't worry about Robin. She's just stressed. You know, scared."

"Yeah. Yeah. I... I know," Nancy tells him, "It's just..."

"She's a super klutz?"

Both of them laugh slightly before Nancy says, "She did tell me that it took her longer to walk than most babies, so..."

Steve softly chuckled, "I really shouldn't laugh. When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards."

Nancy raises a brow at him, "Crawled backwards?"

"You know, I'd push my hands like this. Beep. Beep," he demonstrates by moving his arms forward and backwards. "Always in reverse, you know? Like come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?"

"No, no it doesn't make sense," Nancy shakes her head, chuckling at the image of a baby Steve crawling backwards.

"Well, it did to my tiny little Harrington brain," Steve tries defending himself as he continues explaining. "That is until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head real good."

Nancy stares ahead with a teasing smile on her face, "Wow. That explains so much."

"Yeah," Steve laughs. "I think it kinda does. I think, like, right out of the gate, like I'm super confident. But also, like, an idiot. Which is just... I mean, it's a brutal combination." He continues looking around and checks on Gwen to make sure she's okay, "But, I mean, the good news is, I get a big enough thump on my head, I can change, you know? I can learn. I can crawl forward." A momentary silence comes between them until he stops and turns to her, "I guess what I'm trying to say in a really stupid, roundabout way is, umm... is thank you."

She stares at him incredulously, "Thank me?"

"Yeah."

"For...?"

Steve softly smiles, "For giving my head the biggest thump of its life two years ago. I needed it. It's changed my life and now I'm crawling forward. Slowly." He starts walking away, his gaze setting strictly on Gwen as his heart starts leaping uncontrollably when seeing her.

"Nance!" Robin calls out while running in their direction. "I think I have a lead, but I need your brain to make sure I'm not messing it up."

Nancy turns to him, an apologetic look on her face, "Sorry, but I have to go check on her."

Steve nods at her, both of them sharing an understanding look and a soft smile before she runs off in Robin's direction. He quickens his pace and reaches Gwen, nerves suddenly overcoming him once their shoulders brush against the other.

"Hey, love," he breaks the silence, causing her to smile at the name he calls her.

She turns to him and her heart performs a somersault when seeing his beautiful face, "Hey there, little Steve. Miss me, already?"

He nods agreeingly, not bothering to deny it, "I'm always missing you."

Gwen finds herself incredibly grateful for the low lighting. That way, he won't be able to notice how red in the face she's getting. Just standing near him makes her feel like millions of electricity volts are pumping through her veins. It's such a glorious feeling that in all of her years, only he is the only person to evoke this sensation.

"How are you doing?" Steve breaks the silence between them as they continue walking alongside each other. "I know it must be hard to be back after everything."

"I'm doing okay," Gwen softly chuckles and turns to him. "Better now that you're here with me." She stares ahead, internally scolding herself from how wrong it sounds, "Obviously I'm not glad that you're here in the Upside Down. You know, 'cause it's extremely dangerous and I would much rather you be safe than here. I just meant that every time I'm around you, I'm much better than without you."

God, he loves her rambles. He loves how her nervousness makes her speak quicker and much louder. He loves the way her brows come together, how her nose scrunches up, how she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, and plays with her hands skittishly. He loves everything about her and will forever be grateful for whatever holy divine exists that wrote her into his life. Now as he's staring at her with such a longing gaze, one that displays all the love he's had for years and will never move past, he finds himself unable to contain everything in much longer.

"Remember the dream I told you about? About the Winnebago? About seeing the country with my six lil' nuggets?" She nods and he takes a deep breath, "It's all true. Every last word, but I left one part out. It's the most important part." His heart races much faster that it feels like it's about to jump out of his chest, "You're there. You've always been there."

Gwen is left at a loss for words. The thought that he envisions his life by her side was something she only thought would happen in her dreams. She's always been afraid of forming a life with someone, especially when seeing the aching it brings when losing them. She's spent years deciding not to chase a love that consumes her and is maddening, but then he came.

He brought the light back to her and made her understand that it's worth taking a leap of faith. Sure it might hurt like hell when things don't work out, but moving past that and focusing on the amazing parts is what makes it worth it. If she had chosen to remain in the shadows trapped in her decision on not allowing herself to love, she wouldn't have found her person, the love of her life, and the person she envisions making a family with.

She loves Steve Harrington and she's not going to waste another second not telling him.

"I love you," she blurts out, the words pouring like water from an open faucet. "I've loved you ever since I met you back in 7th grade. I've loved you back when I was tutoring you for Spanish, which you were terrible at, by the way. I've loved you even when I thought I hated you and no matter how much I tried to push my feelings aside, you just kept coming right in. You kept digging deeper and deeper until I just couldn't resist keeping you out." She smiles nervously, wishing she wasn't rambling like always, "I've loved you even when we were broken up and tried convincing myself that you didn't, because how could you love someone like me? It sounds crazy! But I- I have loved you through everything and I've been trying to tell you, but I just never knew how, so now I'm saying it." She takes a deep breath and walks closer, "I am so in love with you, Steve Harrington and I will never stop. Not even if the world ends at this second. I will always love you."

Not wasting another moment, Steve reaches forward and presses his lips against hers. He's waited so long for this and doesn't intend on letting another minute go by without letting her know that he loves her with all his being. His heart has and always will call her name. Nothing else matters. Only them and just them.

"I love you. So much," Steve tells her once they pull away. He wraps his arms around her waist while she places hers around his neck. "You know, I'm thinking that after this is over, I'm going to New York with you. It's you, it's me, it's us in the city." She smiles as her eyes fill with tears, "Wherever you go, I go. I'm just going to follow you for the rest of my life, and besides, there's lots of Family Video Stores over there, right?"

Gwen nods her head, unable to prevent her smile from becoming wider, "There's lots of them and there's one close to campus."

"Then it's settled," Steve comes closer, their foreheads now pressing against the other. "New York better watch out for us 'cause here we come."

Gwen chuckles happily and runs her hands through his silky locks. Her body is radiating with bliss and a profound love. She can't wait until this is over and can finally move in with Steve in New York. He's her missing puzzle piece, the one she's been searching for all these years and has finally found.

Steve closes the distance between them and captures her in a kiss, not daring to let go as right now despite everything, his life is starting to piece itself together. He always felt there was something missing, something that felt he needed in order to be at peace, and now that he's found that piece... her, he's not about to let her go. He loves her. He really loves her and will spend the rest of his life proving it.

"Yes! Finally!" Robin and Nancy exclaim, taking them both by surprise that makes them look in their direction. "It's about time!"

The newly returned couple laugh in ecstasy, their arms holding on to each other as their cheeks press together.

Steve turns away from them and reaches for his neck to show her the ring, "I never took it off. It's always been with me."

Gwen smiles and pulls the dainty necklace out from under her shirt, revealing the ring he gave her, "I never took it off either."

Both of them begin removing the necklace and start taking the ring out from the chain. He looks up at her and is relieved to find her doing the same. They place their necklaces into their pockets, leaving their rings in their palms in clear display.

Steve reaches for hers and places it into her ring finger, "This is a promise to a new beginning. One that we will never break."

"Never break," she assures him and places his ring on his finger. "But just know, you will still continue to annoy the hell out of me."

"Oh really?" Steve rests his hands on her back, unable to prevent his smile from returning. "Is that a promise then?"

"Yes. It's a promise," Gwen tells him with a smile and wraps her arms around him.

Both of them lean in at the same time and crash their lips unceremoniously, taking in every bit of each other one last time. Not knowing that in just a couple of moments, everything is bound to change.

Author's Note

Writing this chapter gave me the feels like yes, they're finally back together!

but...