So, I'm hoping to do one chapter a day, but please don't be upset if that doesn't happen. -Cat

About one hundred miles away, Will Byers sat up in bed, rubbing at his neck. He sighed, fully knowing what that meant, but not wanting to believe or deal with it. He was far away from Hawkins now, should he still be able to feel The Mind Flayer? Or was it just that powerful?

He pushed the thin sheet off his body and headed out of his room. Several seconds later, he knocked on the wooden door of his mother's room. He heard some rustling before she opened the door, disheveled and confused. Sleepiness was evident on her face.

"Will, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I can feel him again," he said, fear evident in his face. His mother looked at him and opened her bedroom door further to pull her young son into a hug.

Would this nightmare ever be over for them?

The next morning, at the Wheeler residence, the phone rings. An annoyed and huffy Nancy picks it up from the kitchen.

"Wheeler residence, this is Nancy speaking," she says into the phone.

"Hey," says a voice on the other end. Instantly, a smile spreads across her face.

"Hey," she replies back. "I miss you, Jonathan."

"You may not have to miss me much longer," he told her. "We're coming back for a few days."

"Really?" Nancy asked, getting a little giddy, her smile spreading further across her face.

"It's not just to visit though," Jonathan told her and her smile fell slightly. "It's to make sure everything is okay there. Will says he feels him again."

"When?" Nancy asked.

"Last night," Jonathan answered. "It woke him up."

"Is he sure it wasn't a nightmare or something?"

"Nance," Jonathan sighed.

"I'm sorry, it's just-" she started to say, but he interrupted her.

"I know," he said. "I don't want this to be true either, but he hasn't been wrong yet." There was a slight pause.

"So, when will you be here?" Nancy asked, somewhat changing the subject.

"Sometime tomorrow morning," he told her and she could hear him smiling.

"I can't wait to see you," she told him.

"If you keep staring at me, I'm going to start to get weirded out," Steve said before he looked over at Robin, who was just looking at him expectantly with wide eyes. "What?" he said, laughing. They were both working the evening shift again at Family Video, and she was starting to worry him.

"I wanna know," she told him.

"Know what?" he asked, looking away, fully knowing what she was referring to.

"Your date, Harrington," she said, shooting a glare at him. "I know you know what I meant." He just rolled his eyes.

"We watched a movie and a half before I left," he answered.

"So, let me get this straight," Robin began, "she invites you back to her hotel room, alone, no one, and you guys just watch a movie or two together?"

"A movie and a half," Steve corrected.

"Oh, I'm sorry, a movie and a half, and you don't even get a kiss?" she asked, staring right at Steve. He blinked twice before sighing.

"It's been a while," he responded and Robin immediately began laughing. "Stop laughing, dweeb!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Robin said, wiping away tears from her laughter. "So, will you see her again?" As if on cue, Valerie was walking past the window with an armful of paper grocery bags. Steve quickly jumped over the counter. "I assume that's a yes!" Robin yelled after him.

"Hey, Valerie," Steve called as soon as he exited the video store. Valerie was already at the edge of the block before turning around, hearing her name called. She immediately smiled when she saw Steve standing there.

"Hey, Steve," she said back to him, walking towards him. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night."

"No, it's fine," he told her.

"It's just, I had been traveling for a few days, and I was really tired and-" she began but he cut her off.

"Seriously, it's perfectly fine," he told her. "I... didn't mind it." He remembered her head falling to the side onto his shoulder last night and thought she looked absolutely adorable. "Actually, I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow for lunch?" He put his hands in his pockets, feeling nervous again.

"Oh," she said, slightly deflating. "I'm actually meeting up with a friend, to look at a place."

"Oh, so you'll be staying in Hawkins a little longer?" he asked, hopeful.

"No," she answered. "It's just a place for him."

Him?

"He's actually more like a crabby uncle rather than a friend when I think about it," she said, chuckling. "But maybe dinner instead?" She sounded hopeful.

"Yes," Steve said. "I'm off tomorrow, so that would work out too." After a pause, he asked, "I'll pick you up around 7?"

"Sounds like a date," she responded. He smiled.

"It's a date then."