The group ran out of the building in the darkness of the night. The priest telling the two that he'd take their certificate in the morning to legalize it while he gave the two a copy. Everyone of the friends found the situation insane, cute, but insane.

"I can't believe they actually married you two!" Robin exclaimed as she let out a loud laugh, "Andrea looks like a seven year old!"

"I do not," Andrea turned around as she shook her head.

"I can't believe they actually did it," Lucas laughed as the air remained happy and carefree even if it had just been for a moment.

No one actually believed that Andrea and Steve had just gotten married. Not even the two themselves. It almost didn't feel real, but when did anything ever truly feel real?

"Well, they do say that weddings and funerals bring everyone together," Nancy remarked as everyone got back to their vehicles.

Andrea's hand tightened on Steve's, "I just wanted one happy memory of all of us together... with everything going on I fear... I'm scared it won't stay like this."

And she was right.

Everyone feared the same thing, that it wouldn't be like this ever again. Nancy and Robin knew something was going on with Andrea, that it wasn't just the entire Vecna situation that it was also the government and with Max being marked by his curse...

No one judged the decision.

Even if they were young, it was Hawkins. Who truly was going to live long enough to make their escape from the wretched town?

"So we're all crashing back at Nancy's, right?" Lucas asked while everyone nodded unanimously.

"Who is going in what car?" Robin questioned trying to figure out who was going where.

It seemed like a unanimous agreement to ride with Steve for the most part. Robin and Nancy being the only ones who weren't, taking the Wheeler's car to the Wheeler's residence.

Steve drove off after them. The group in the car now falling into an uncomfortable silence as the bliss of the moment wore off. Andrea could see through the girls reflection that Max was worried, and she should be.

Andrea would find it really odd if she wasn't. After all, this creature did seem to go after anyone that he could easily get.

They pulled into the Wheeler residence and everyone got out of the car. Andrea trying to keep her mind on the happy side of her brain, the side that kept internally making fun of Dustin and Lucas for crying during the very short wedding.

Andrea moved back and walked in with the teenagers. Her arms lazily dropping over their shoulders as the entire group made its way down to the Wheeler basement before Nancy passed out sleeping bags.

Andrea watched as everyone took their places in various places on the floor. Everyone sharing a familiar look, one of worry.

"Goodnight," Andrea called out trying to at least get the feeling of dread off of her chest.

"Night," Max responded as she laid a few feet away, her legs slightly under the coffee table in front of the couch.

"See you in the morning," Nancy responded like every church goer ever.

"Good night, dad," came Lucas.

"Wouldn't she be mom?" Nancy found herself questioning.

"No, that's Steve," Dustin spoke up as he turned the situation into a debate.

And so the small talk conversations began as everyone bickered over who was the mother and who was the father. Everyone ended up agreeing that Andrea wore the pants of the relationship, even Steve made a comment on the statement. So it was decided collectively that the parents of Hawkins were switched in roles. Steve was the mother and Andrea was the father.

"I'm always the goddamn babysitter," Steve huffed as he laid on his back beside Andrea.

"That's why you are the mom," Andrea hummed as she snickered, "You're the overprotective one. I step in when I need too."

"Not quick enough," Steve moved one of his arms from under his head so that he could poke Andrea's ribs.

"So we're in a collective agreement, right?" Robin questioned as she had a small grin, "Does that make me the cool aunt?"

"You're the cool aunt who is kinda one of the kids as well," Andrea joked as she stared over at the night light.

"Why did this turn into the new conversation?" Steve found himself asking.

"We like to debate, would you rather the conversation be on the problems of the world?" Andrea retorted before she rolled her eyes, "You can't get what you want, Harrington."

"And neither can you, Harrington," Steve shot back and Andrea had to bite down a smile.

"Stealing my comeback? How unoriginal," Andrea booed the man as she managed to slide her leg out of the sleeping back to kick his.

"Did she just kick him?" Robin questioned.

"I think so," came the stifle of Lucas' laughter.

"This is going to be a long night," Nancy sighed before laughing.

"Steve... mother... now brother in law," Dustin began to speak before everyone groaned.

"Now that sounds so wrong," Max quickly shut down Dustin, "Just find something to refer to him as so it doesn't seem like your sister married your mom."

"My now brother in law..." Dustin then began his speech once again, "You've only actually won one fight."

"Henderson! Come on," Steve groaned as he placed his hands on his face, "I thought we didn't talk about this one, man!"

"You won't win against my sister," Dustin then spoke as he laughed.

Even though the entire group laid in the darkness, with the exception of the nightlight that rested with Steve and Andrea, everyone had a similar look on their face as they cracked jokes.

"Okay, now what time is it?" Steve questioned as he felt the mom in him rise.

"Two-thirty," Robin spoke, somehow finding a clock.

"Time for bed. Now, everyone," Steve began to order, "Lights out for the most part. If you aren't asleep then I'll ground you."

"I'd like to see you try," Andrea shot as she rolled on her side.

"Try me," was Max's response.

And so that is how the night went. The bickering ended not too long after that because everyone knew that they really did need sleep. Sleep was what was going to keep them going in the morning, what was going to help them in their decision to figure everything out.

In their decision to stop Vecna from killing anyone else.

And when morning broke over the Wheeler home, it seemed that barely anyone had gotten any sleep. Andrea was laying as she held Steve, a very rare occasion, while staring at the ceiling.

Max was shifted a bit more under the coffee table than she had originally been as she fiddled with part of the sleeping bag, Lucas not even a foot or two away from her was trying to keep himself from staring but it was clear he had been awake.

Then there was Dustin, Nancy, and Robin sleeping peacefully.

Nancy had gone up the stairs to figure out how long it could take to distract her parents while she went to get breakfast while the others

Andrea sat fiddling with her hands while everyone began to make some sort of talk. Everyone trying to figure out what they needed to do next and where they would go.

"We need to learn more about the Creels," Andrea spoke as she looked at everyone, "We've got copies of the paper we can sift through, there has to be something in them."

"Then let's look through them," Robin helped Andrea pass them out between everyone who sat in the room.

Andrea gave Steve a small smile as she handed him an old magazine before grabbing a paper of her own to watch. Everyone found a place to sit comfortably because everyone knew this was going to take a bit.

Though Robin didn't stay much longer saying she had to go home for even an hour so they'd all catch back up with her later.

Could they really find something from these papers? What would it teach them? Andrea worried that they wouldn't find anything. And if they didn't, what would they do then?

Andrea watched as everyone went through the papers. Everyone tried to sort through the entire Victor Creel situation to see what they could find out. Though, it seemed that everyone began to grow tired of looking through the papers.

Andrea couldn't help but wonder about old Peter Ballard. Surely, that wasn't his real name. Andrea had found out long ago what number he had been. If he had one alias, who is to say he didn't have more?

"You okay?" Dustin peered over at his sister who lost herself in her train of thought.

Andrea gave a soft nod before responding, "Never better."

Looking through these papers only shed more light in Andrea's eyes. From the descriptions of Henry Creel and what his father claimed his possession was... things started to line up in her mind.

But she still found herself confused.

Thinking back on Dr. Owens, what had he meant about the family comment he made? Who was truly related to this man that he kept coming back after? Surely it couldn't be Andrea herself, she wouldn't believe it.

But there was no doubt that there were striking similarities between the two.

Steve let out a grumble after a while, his brown eyes dim with annoyance as he spoke, "Okay, be honest. Uh..." He continued to pace back and forth in the room, "You guys understand any of this?"

"No," Lucas responded as he looked up at Steve momentarily before his gaze fell back onto the paper.

Dustin looked between the two as he held a knowledgeable expression, "Pretty straightforward."

"Yeah, it makes sense," Andrea agreed as she gave a soft nod of her head.

Who was Andrea kidding? She hadn't actually read the papers. She had been lost in her own train of thought a majority of the time.

"Oh, straightforward, really?" Steve shook his head as he looked up at Dustin as if mad about his comment.

Dustin took in a deep breath before speaking, "Well, what's confusing to you?" Dustin questioned as he leaned forward, "So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found and my sister. Their the only known survivors."

Andrea made a face as she watched Steve stop his pacing, "I'm not cursed in the same way, Dustin."

Dustin gave a slight nod before he began to add, "If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it's him."

"Yeah, that's assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don't even know," Steve placed a hand on his hip as he looked back down at the paper with a face of disbelief, "How can Vecna have existed in the '50s? It doesn't make sense."

"Actually, it might," Andrea muttered before ignoring the looks that the others gave her.

"As far as we know, Eleven and Andrea didn't create the Upside Down," Dustin explained as he looked at Steve who had placed a hand on his head, "She opened a gate to it," He got really into his explanation before adding, "The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn't be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs."

Dustin wasn't far from wrong. That one fateful day in the rainbow room only opened the original gate. It's what started everything, after the death of Peter of course. Oh how Andrea prayed she was wrong with her theories, she wouldn't know what to do if they were true.

"Dinosaurs? What are we-" Steve began to wave his hands through the air as he looked at Dustin.

"Okay, okay," Lucas began to stop the arguing, "But if a gate didn't exist in the '50s, how did Vecna get through?"

"Oh! And how he is getting through now?" Steve pointed his finger over at Lucas, the need for answers getting stronger.

It was a good point but one that could easily be placed down. If One or Peter was Vecna, he was a child or early teenager in the 50s. He could've been the cause and now that he's through the dimension and in the Upside Down, maybe things changed.

"And why now?" Lucas questioned as he looked over at Dustin.

Dustin rolled his eyes before Steve added, "And why then? Just pop out in the '50s, kills one family, and he's like, I'm good and poof, he just disappears. Just... gone?" Steve gave his little run-through while Andrea shook her head.

"Steve," Andrea ran her fingers through her hair.

"Only to return thirty years later and to start killing random teens? No, I don't buy it," Steve looked back at the paper in his hand.

He let out an exhale and a sigh.

"Guys, what if he was a person?" Andrea offered up, "The government can easily make people disappear, and uh..."

Andrea trailed off, deciding that she did not need the rest of her sentence to get out.

"Doubt it," Dustin shut her down.

Steve sighed as he continued walking before adding, "Straightforward, my ass. You know? Honestly, Henderson, a little humility now and then, it wouldn't hurt you."

Steve had stopped his pacing as he held his paper out. Pausing when he saw the look on Andrea's face. Everyone was getting stressed out.

"Sorry," Dustin apologized as he looked at the man from under his hat.

Steve sat back down in the chair beside Andrea while he sighed, "So am I."

Andrea watched as Steve leaned back into the seat as he rested one of his legs on top of the other one. Sitting in a pure mom position causing a small grin from her. Dustin raised an eyebrow before he leaned over to the side trying to get a peek at Max.

The girl had been doing the same thing for hours. Sitting and writing. Sitting and writing and so on. Through the silence the only thing that reached everyone's ears was the sound of her pen moving against the paper.

"Any idea what she's writing?" Dustin asked after a few minutes of silence.

Everyone looked at Dustin before turning to take a look at Max. Everyone staring over as she sat in the chair in the back of the basement with her little lamp on as she continued to write. Never stopping to even look back at them or make any conversation.

She believed she was going to die, Andrea wasn't going to let that happen but that didn't stop Max from being scared.

Max Mayfield was setting her affairs in order.

"Did she sleep?" Dustin questioned as he watched her.

"I mean, would you?" Lucas questioned as they all stared at her.

Max and Robin appeared back in the room as they threw the basement door open before running down the stairs. Andrea was pleasantly surprised that Robin had yet to trip and fall down with how clumsy she was and how fast she was moving.

"Okay, so..." Nancy looked back at Robin who let out a sigh before adding, "... We have a plan."

They looked proud of themselves as they made their way further into the group before they would begin to explain. Wanting everyone to get the gist of what was going to happen.

"Okay, thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame, as well as you Andrea," Robin explained before looking back at Nancy.

"I'm now Ruth," Nancy spoke with a false grin.

"And I'm Rose, Andrea you're Wendy," Robin explained with a small grin.

"Ruth?" Steve questioned as he made a face, "Wendy like the little girl from Peter Pan?"

Andrea nudged Steve's shoulder as she rolled her eyes, "Proceed."

Dustin eyed over the paperwork that had been given to him. The paperwork that the newspaper staff had forged so that the girls seemed like legitimate college students.

"Nice GPA," Dustin looked at Nancy with a small look of surprise.

"Thanks," Nancy grinned happily as she turned to the others, "So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics-"

The look on Nancy's face was hilarious before Robin began to speak, "To which they said no."

"But we landed a three o'clock with the director," Nancy continued to explain while Steve handed something to Dustin before grabbing Andrea's hand.

"Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor," Robin then finished explaining.

"I can do that," Andrea shrugged her shoulders before grinning and pointing to her head with her free hand.

"Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse," Nancy looked over at the girl who was still sitting and writing.

Steve made a face before adding, "Yeah, about that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh... we got some questions."

"Lots of questions," Lucas added as Steve took the papers from him.

"So do we," Nancy added before looking at Andrea as if trying to get her to speak.

Andrea nodded before taking over the conversation, "Hopefully, Victor will have our answers."

"Wait... wait... wait a second. Uh..." Steve paused the conversation as he looked over at his girl, "Where's mine?"

Andrea let out a small laugh as the three girls looked at each other, "You're the babysitter."

Andrea found this really funny as she stayed downstairs sitting with the other kids while waiting for Nancy, Robin, or Steve to come back down. Steve wanted to go with the others but the girls agreed that Steve should stay behind.

Steve would have to be the one to watch the kids and keep them safe, he always did. Andrea knew he could easily take care of them and as much as Andrea did not want to leave them for a while, Steve was the one person he trusted to keep them safe.

"Hey, Max?" Andrea watched as Robin opened the door in some sort of outfit Nancy had forced on her, "I've got to go but I'll be back okay, Steve's going to watch you and I know you are in good hands," Andrea placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "I'll be back before anything happens again."

Max didn't say anything nor did she stop writing causing Andrea to sigh before she grabbed a jacket and threw it over her dress from the night prior. Nodding at her brother in Lucas before she walked up the stairs.

"Keep them safe," Andrea gave Steve a firm look as they swapped places, pulling him in for a hug.

"I always do, it's why I'm always the goddamn babysitter," She could tell he was salty about it but he hugged her back before retreating to the basement.

"Pennhurst here we come," Andrea made a face before walking out of the Wheeler home.