Inspired by a picture I found as I was mindlessly scrolling down Pinterest, of Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton with a guitar.

"Take my hand. Take my whole life too, cause I can't help falling in love with you"-Can't Help Falling in Love, Elvis Presley

6:00 pm, the Byers Household.

The boys and El were out in the woods, collecting twigs, rocks, and other 'cool stuff' to decorate El's room (Will's old room before he elected to bunk with Jonathan to give the girl her privacy). At first, everyone was reluctant to venture far into the woods, bad memories of the horrific events still fresh in their conscious. Surprisingly, it was Will, the one with most reason to stay away, who convinced them that they needed to go out.

"I don't want this to be the defining factor in my life. I don't want this to take away the fun that we've had in the woods."

El, always so quiet and reserved, spoke up. "Yes. Brother is right,"

Will smiled back at his adoptive sister, relishing in the fact that she had finally begun to refer to him and Jonathan as her brothers.

So the five kids started re-entering the forest. At first, it was only for a few minutes, then for a half hour, then for almost an hour.

But the thing that got them to fully return was on the issue of privacy in the Byers home. Or the lack thereof.

Jonathan's eighteenth birthday was drawing near, but with all of the extraordinary changes that had happened in the past few months, it had completely slipped everyone's minds, including Jonathan himself. Or at least, that's what he thought.

A low murmur of voices had alerted Jonathan to the kids' presence in the kitchen. Silent as he was, he ghosted to the door and opened it without being noticed by anyone.

"We need to make it the best birthday he's had yet," Will was saying. "I have a great idea for his present."

"What?" Dustin questioned eagerly, grinning.

"A-"

"Jonathan!" the three other boys interrupted, crying out at the realization that their secret was about to be spoiled.

"What are you doing here?" his brother shot out.

"It's my house, too."

"At least let us know when you get home"

"Man, we should put a bell on him"

"What is 'birthday'?"

The dissolving of the order in the room, with Dustin arguing with Jonathan about a cat collar, and Lucas and Mike trying to explain the concept of birthday to El, gave Will the understanding that, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay away from scary places forever. Especially not if they were trying to keep a secret from his sneaky brother.

"Guys," Will told his friends once his brother left, or rather, been forcibly removed from the room and order had returned, "I think that we should go to the forest to make it."

Silence. Then, a chorus of agreements.

With that settled, the pack began to walk out the door, past the shed, and into the trees.

"But Will," Mike stopped, and the rest of the kids paused as well.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly are we gonna do in the forest?"

"C'mon." He tipped his head in the direction of his old castle. "I'll tell you guys along the way,"

When she returned home that evening after work, Joyce panicked at not seeing Will in his room. She bursted into Jonathan's room, visibly worried, but before she could say a word, Jonathan spoke up.

"They're in the woods. I guess they're planning a secret for my birthday and they need their 'privacy'."

"Oh… Okay." She made to leave. "But don't you think that,"

"Mom," Jonathan stood up, removing his headphones. He put his hands on her shoulder, his eyes serious. "They are fine. The monster is gone, and so are the bad men. You know that they can't spend the rest of their lives indoors."

Joyce smiled softly, wondering at the sudden wisdom of her eldest son. Just when had he grown up?

AN: For those of you who are reading Konoha's Best, I'm not abandoning that piece. I just found this story, mostly complete, just sitting in my drive, so I decided to polish it up a bit and post it. I'll get back to KB probably sometime next week