Stars Constant | S. Harrington

71: Crawling Forward

Steve holds out a hand and she gratefully accepts it. "Gotcha," Steve says as he pulls her up.

When she stands up, her face is mere inches apart from Steve's. Gwen smiles. "Thanks."

The others soon follow, falling onto the mattress and getting out of the way for the rest to throw the gear through. Once they're all in the Upside Down, they file out of the trailer. Before leaving Eddie and Dustin, Gwen and Steve turn to them.

"Hey, guys, listen," Steve starts. "If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. 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 nods. "Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve."

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us," Eddie says, glancing at Dustin. "We are not heroes."

"Being here, helping us finish this... yes you are," Gwen tells him and brings him in for a hug.

"Thank you," Eddie says into the hug.

"Please keep him safe," Gwen says back, referring to her brother. When she feels him nod, she pulls away with a smile before turning to Dustin and holding him close. "Be careful," she whispers.

"You too," he whispers back.

Gwen pulls away and smiles at both of them before walking with Steve, Nancy, and Robin.

"Hey, Steve," Eddie calls, making them turn again. "Make him pay."

The two boys nod at each other before they set off into the dark thunder that is the Upside Down.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Uh, I don't mean to freak anyone out, but I swear we've seen this tree before," Robin says, pointing her flashlight at a vine covered tree. They've been walking for a good 20 minutes now, and the fear is definitely starting to catch up to Robin.

"That's impossible," Nancy responds.

"That would suck, right? If Vecna destroyed the world because we got lost in the woods?"

"Robin, we're not lost," Gwen says and Robin only chuckles nervously before walking ahead.

"Robin, hey. Watch out for the vines! Hive mind!" Nancy calls, running to catch up to her and leaving Gwen and Steve behind.

"Eh, don't worry about her. She's just stressed. You know, scared," Steve says.

"Yeah, me too. It's just... she not the most stable person."

"She's a super klutz," Steve nods in agreement.

Gwen scoffs with a smile. "She did say the other day that it took her longer to walk than most babies."

"I really shouldn't laugh," Steve says through a chuckle. "When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards."

Gwen raises her eyebrows. "Crawled backwards?"

"You know, I'd push with my hands like this. Beep. Beep," Steve uses his hands to demonstrate. "Always in reverse, you know? I mean, come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right?"