Chapter Two:

..

He woke to the sound of crashing in the kitchen, and with a groan he rolled over to check the glowing digits of his alarm clock beside his bed. 04.45am. Oh god, it was FAR too early to be up on a Saturday, his head throbbed. He rolled back over and covered his head with a pillow and tried to block out the racket of El doing whatever it was she was doing in the kitchen. He managed to stay in bed until 05.10am, but once El had started singing there was no way he was going to be able to sleep again.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." He grumbled and shoved on the nearest clothes and swung his bedroom door open with a bang. "Eleven, what in the…" the smell of something frying surprised him. He didn't even know the girl could cook.

"I'm making pancakes!" She told him excitedly. She waved a spatula which sent oil, and bits of pancake batter flying. "Sorry," she looked at the splatter on the cupboards and shrugged.

"How do you know how to make pancakes?" He asked, heading immediately for the jug. He needed coffee before he could even begin to figure this out.

"Joyce taught me."

"Of course, she did." He chuckled, picturing the two of them in the Byers kitchen made him all kinds of happy. Neither cooking nor baking were his forte, that was for sure.

"I follow this recipe here," El pointed to a slightly oily and crinkled piece of paper. "And when they are done I have to clean up everything, even the dishes. It's the rules when you make pancakes."

Sometimes hearing her form full sentences really shocked him. He had once thought it had happened all of a sudden, but really it had been a gradual thing over the past year and a bit.

"Well they smell delicious. If I think they are good enough, I might even help with the clean-up."

"Pancakes are very nice." She licked her lips. "I tried some already!"

"Cheat," he told her and settled at the small kitchen table with his coffee. It was then that the phone rang and El dropped everything she was doing and dashed for the phone on the wall.

"Hello," she answered breathlessly. He raised an eyebrow, and the girl blushed. It's Mike. She whispered to him. "Yes, I'm going to Will's this morning." She twirled the phone cord around her finger, suddenly looking more like a normal teenage girl than he had ever seen before. He wasn't sure if he was proud, or worried. "Uh huh, yup." She turned her back on Hopper and whispered into the phone. "You too." And then she hung the phone up, turning back to her pancakes.

"So…?" He prompted.

"Mike's going to come over to the Byers."

"Is he now?" He watched El bite back a sharp reply and force a smile on her face. She knew how Hopper was very protective and wasn't sure on her relationship. Mike said all dads were like that, and she was lucky that he hadn't threatened Mike with his gun yet. "Did you ask Joyce?"

"Will asked his mom, and she said if Hopper said yes and as long as Jonathan was babysitting it was fine."

"Uh huh," she plonked a plate of pancakes down in front of him and grabbed her own.

"Please?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Hmm," he said through a mouthful of pancake. "These are really great!"

"Hooopppppeeeerrrrr…?" She alternated between calling him Hopper and Dad, he didn't mind which really. They were family, and they both knew it.

"Fine, yes Mike can visit. You know I prefer it if an adult is around though, right?"

"Yes, okay." She nods enthusiastically and digs into her own pancakes. "I can't believe I'm getting a cat!" The words are garbled, her mouth full of pancake. He raised his eyebrows but chose not to tell her off for her bad manners today. After all, tomorrow would be her very first birthday party – and today she was getting her very first pet. He didn't want to ruin her weekend.

..

Joyce jumped into the passenger seat of her car and as he sat down he tried to ignore the wonderful smell of her perfume, it had become a very familiar smell of late. It was a very mild scent, and just so Joyce.

"Ready?" He lit up a cigarette and wound down his window. "Want one?" He asked holding out his packet. She scrunched up her nose and pulled out her own packet. She had never been a fan of camels, filter-less cigarettes were a bit of an acquired taste he supposed.

"She is so excited." Joyce smiled serenely as she looked out the window. "It's just so great to see, I know you weren't sure – but I think you are making a great decision. She won't be quite as lonely at the cabin now."

Guilt stabbed him at her words. It was something that constantly worried him. Though since the gate had closed he had managed to make life a little more bearable for the girl, sneaking her over to the Byers and having Nancy and Jonathan pop over to tutor her, and even letting her friends visit on the weekends… she still spent many hours a day alone.

"Hmm," he answered, frowning.

"I know you worry, Hop." She turned to him, concern in her eyes. "But you are doing the best you can, the best anyone could in your shoes."

They fell into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. It took over an hour to drive to a shelter far enough away that they would hopefully not bump into anyone they knew. By the time they arrived, Joyce had fallen asleep and he had to gently squeeze her shoulder to wake her. Without thinking he brushed a tendril of hair from her eyes as she woke, her sleepy eyes turning to him with a small smile.

"Hopper," she said softly. He pulled his hand away as if burnt, and he noticed the smile drop from her face. God, he was so smooth.

"Well, we are here." He said awkwardly pointing at the shelter before them.