Will Byers sat in his bed, desk lamp on and comic book in hand. He had gotten back from another 10 hour Dungeons and Dragons campaign with his friends. A few days ago had marked the dreaded night when Will had been taken to the hellish Upside Down by the Demogorgon. The boy would never forget those long, nightmare-filled days of being trapped and hiding for his life. He couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried.

He focused on his comic book, the new X-men issue he won from Dustin after another bike race, when he heard a noise that pierced his ears and sent chills down his spine. It sounded like an echoing scream followed by a loud boom.

Will's eyes shifted back and forth in his room. He ran over to his window and glanced outside, Castle Byers could barely be seen with all the trees surrounding it. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the 13 year old grabbed a small baseball bat from under his bed and quietly snuck outside, not wanting to wake Jonathan or Joyce.

His heart began to beat against his chest as he thought of all the scenarios that could happen. What if the Demogorgon was back? What if it was a more terrifying monster? Would it drag him back to the Upside Down?

Will approached Castle Byers, baseball bat gripped tightly in his hand, ready to fight off anything that was in there. He took a deep breath and pushed back the sheet to the entrance of the fortress. What he saw in there made him drop his weapon in shock.

There lay Eleven. Curled up on the ground, shivering violently and blood running down her nose. Her skin was pale and her hair had grown out, small twigs and leaves tangled in her short, brown locks.

"Oh my gosh," Will spoke softly and kneeled down by the girl. "Are you okay? You're El right?"

El opened her eyes and glanced over at the person hovering over her. She recognized Will, although having never officially met him. But he was friends with the boys so she immediately trusted him.

"Will..." her voice barely audible over her chattering teeth.

Without waiting a second, Will helped El onto her feet and guided her back to the house. He turned on the living room lights, sat El on the couch and yelled for his mom and brother.

"Mom! Jonathan!"

The rest of the Byers family entered the living room almost instantly, wondering if Will had been hurt or something else horrible happened. Both noticed the freezing girl on the couch peering up at them with a frightened expression.

"Jonathan, get her some blankets now!" Joyce ordered.

While Jonathan raced back to his room, Will watched his mother curiously as she comforted El, as if she was her own child. Joyce wiped away the tears on the girl's face and wrapped her into a tight hug, saying how she deeply missed her after all these months. Jonathan came back with 3 blankets and a pillow, and bundled up El who thanked him and nestled into the soft material.

Eleven looked at Will. "Are Mike, Dustin and Lucas okay?" she asked.

"Yeah the guys are just fine!" Will chirped. "They're gonna be so thrilled to see you, especially Mike. I know he missed you the most."

With the color returning to El's face, a faint blush could be seen upon her cheeks. After all this time, Mike hadn't forgotten about her. He missed her! She hoped that he wouldn't be mad that she broke her promise to the snowball.

"Hey are you hungry?" Jonathan's question broke El out of her thoughts. "I can make you something if you want."

"Eggos?" she smiled hopefully.

Jonathan returned the smile and headed towards the kitchen to grab the waffles out of the freezer. Will took this opportunity to head back towards his room and call up the rest of the boys.

He turned to channel 6 and spoke. "Mike! This is Will, do you copy?"

Static came out the other end for awhile until Mike returned the call.

"Will? What's wrong?" he wondered. His voice concerning.

"Listen, call Dustin and Lucas and get over here now!" he spoke frantically.

"Will, it's getting late. Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No, you don't understand!" he groaned. There was only one way to get him to haul ass over here. "The girl you guys told me about, El, she's here! She came back!"

There was a sound of a drop and retreating footsteps before more static came out of the other end. Will tried to get ahold of Mike once more, but couldn't get a response. He sighed and returned back to the living room and took a seat next to El.

"Where have you been all this time?" he smiled and spoke quietly as to not frighten her.

El just shook her head and closed her eyes. "Bad," she whispered.

Will just nodded in response. He didn't want to pressure her into answers if she wasn't comfortable to talk. Jonathan returned from the kitchen with a plate full of Eggos and Eleven's eyes widened in hunger. She had eaten plenty of them while trapped in the Upside Down, but most of the waffles were still frozen or cold and didn't taste nearly as good when they were fresh out of the toaster. The brothers watched El in amusement as she tore away at the waffles in front of her, and Joyce informed the three of them that Hopper was on his way over.

. . .

The chief arrived almost as soon as he was called. He rushed in the Byers' household and froze when he saw Eleven, still wrapped up in many blankets on the sofa. She looked up at him with that same focused look, trying to understand what he was feeling. Hopper chuckled and bent down to her eye level.

"You are one tough kid you know that?" he praised. "You get those Eggos I sent you?"

"That was you?" she asked, a surprised expression lit up her face.

The chief nodded and his smile slowly faded. "I, uh, I'm sorry you had to go through all that. The lab and everything."

"Thank you," she told him. El let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes. Jonathan moved from his spot on the couch so she could have a place to lay down. She wondered about Mike and the others, where they were and when she would see them again. With an exhausted sigh, she shut her eyes and was finally allowed to rest without being tangled in vines and mold.

. . .

There was a rapid knock at the door a few moments later and Will rose up from his spot on the floor to answer it. Outside stood Mike, Dustin and Lucas, all in their pajamas and hopeful looks on their faces.

"Where is she?" Mike asked, out of breath.

"She's inside, asleep," Will smiled and let them in the house.

The boys rushed into the living room and Mike froze in place. There he saw her, sleeping peacefully on the sofa, short wavy bangs covered her eyes. Dustin let a 'holy shit' escape his lips but Mike wasn't listening. He felt like his legs would give out as he made his way towards her.

He knelt by the couch, his eyes stung as he looked at her. Mike felt a bit nervous, given that everyone was watching them, waiting for a reunion. Hesitantly he lifted a hand and gently brushed back the hair that was covering her eyes.

"El?" he whispered in a tearful smile.

The girl's brown eyes fluttered open and she turned her head to look up at Mike who showed off that goofy grin of his. El sat up on the couch, many emotions clouded her mind. Happiness, guilt, sadness. She reached out to touch his shoulder to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. He was wearing one of his many striped shirts and pajama pants.

"Mike," she croaked before cracking a huge smile.

'This is real. She's real' Mike thought as he held her close in a loving hug, never wanting to let her go again. One by one the other boys crowded around the couple, creating a giant group hug. Afterwards, Lucas and Dustin began hounding El with questions and comments about her disappearance.

"Where have you been all this time? We missed you!"

"You have hair now!"

"Were you in the Upside Down?"

"What happened to the monster?"

Eleven's eyes darted back and forth between the two until Mike snapped at them to chill out. Will explained how he had found her inside Castle Byers and Mike apologized to El, wishing they could've found her sooner.

"It's not your fault," she looked at the group. She pointed to herself and said "No energy."

"You didn't have enough energy to open another gate?" Lucas asked, trying to get a sense of understanding. "That's why you were gone for so long?"

Eleven nodded and Dustin ruffled her messy hair in response. "Well, all that matters is you're back now and we've got a lot of catching up to do!"

The kids continued to laugh and fill in Eleven on the small adventures she had missed out on. Will got a chance to thank her for helping rescue him from the Upside Down, and promised to make it up to her somehow. Jonathan joined in the conversation and made a mental note to create El a mixtape to introduce her to music. El wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night with her friends, listening to their stories while she held Mike's hand, but her drooping eyelids and continuous yawns told herself otherwise.

"Guys, it's getting pretty late," Lucas sighed and glanced at the clock which read 1:45.

"What?!" Dustin cried out. "But we just got started!"

"Yeah, why don't we all just spend the night?" Mike suggested.

"Well we could," Lucas started. "But what part of 'we snuck out without our parents noticing' do you not understand?"

Mike stayed silent as he quickly went over his options. On one hand he wanted to stay by El's side, letting her fall asleep on his arm while he calmly ran his fingers through her hair. But on the other hand, he wasn't sure how he would explain his sneaking out to his parents. 'I'm sorry, but this girl I like just returned after a year of being gone'.

"Think about it, Mike," Lucas attempted to get through to his friend. "If your parents find out, if any of our parents find out, we'll be grounded for god knows how long."

"And that means we won't be able to see El for awhile longer," Dustin sighed as he realized the consequences.

"Exactly," Lucas folded his arms.

"Yeah, I guess," Mike sighed in defeat. "Let's head back before our parents notice we're gone."

Hopper appeared in the doorway from the kitchen and put on his hat. "Put your bikes in the back of the truck, I'll drive you kids home."

"Thank you, Sir," Dustin smiled politely.

"You're leaving?" El looked up at them with sad eyes.

"If we don't get back soon, we'll get in big trouble, El," Lucas explained calmly. "But we'll be back tomorrow!"

"Yeah, first thing tomorrow." Mike smiled. "We'll come right over and we can all have breakfast together!"

"Promise?" she uttered and their eyes met.

"Promise," Mike nodded. He took in a deep breath and quickly kissed her on the cheek before leaving his spot by her side. Eleven gasped softly and smiled as she softly touched the spot Mike had kissed.

Almost instantly, he caught teasing from Lucas and Dustin. The boys batted their eyelashes at him while making kissing noises. Mike just kept his eyes looking forward and tried to hide his cherry-red face as he stalked out the door.

"Shut up and let's go!" he barked.

. . .

After Hopper and the boys left, Will brought out an extra pillow for El to sleep on. Joyce told her to wake any of them if she needed anything and Eleven politely thanked all of them. The rest of family went to their rooms for a decent nights rest and Eleven positioned herself comfortably on the couch. She was out like a light, dreaming of all the things she would learn and all the shenanigans she and her friends would get into.

She smiled and allowed her muscles to relax, a great feeling she hadn't felt in a long while. But now, there were no monsters, no Upside Down, and no bad men. Just warmth, friends and family, and eggos.