"Yeah, so do you have any popcorn or something?"

Dustin looked back at Steve innocently, like he hadn't just barged into this cabin in the middle of nowhere, completely unannounced, and totally uninvited. The older boy found himself with his eyes narrowed and his mouth opened and even he was unsure if yelling or gasping would be more appropriate. But then Dustin smiled back at him with that adorable smile where his lips covered his teeth and Steve knew he couldn't bring himself to yell. Besides, he figured, if most of the kids were here now, that meant they weren't out somewhere else causing trouble.

"I don't know," he sighed, pointing towards the kitchen. "Why don't you go look for yourself?"

Dustin grinned again, knowing that the suggestion was also an affirmation of his being there. He'd broken Steve down to allowing this and he was thrilled. Steve, meanwhile, paced the living room, trying to think about how he was going to get these kids out of the damn house before Hopper came back.

It was then that the door swung open and Lucas came in with Max in tow. Steve whirled around and pointed a finger at the kids who stopped short as he started to say, "No. No, no no! What did you say? Lucas was coming over." Dustin appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and shrugged. Lucas frowned.

"Oh, stop freaking out! It's a party meeting," Dustin replied. "So now the whole party is here. Well, except WIll, but I don't think his Mom's gonna let him outta the house anytime soon."

"Yeah, come on Steve," Max pleaded. "You can't seriously expect me to sit out a party in the woods, can you?"

"Yes, I can," he said and opened his mouth to say more, but the door to El's room opened. Eleven and Mike stepped out, El looking better than before, and Mike looking surprised to see an additional two people in the cabin.

"Hey, guys," Mike waved.

"Hey!" Max and Lucas responded.

"Party?" El asked quietly, glancing at Steve, who looked both agitated and defeated, Lucas and Max who were walking towards the couch, and Dustin who had appeared with a bowl of popcorn.

"Yeah!" Dustin replied with a large smile.

"No!" Steve shouted right after, causing all the kids to look at him. "Listen here, you little shits, this isn't a party! I was hired to babysit one kid. One. And a sick kid at that!"

"Not sick!" El called, her lips pursed in a pout.

"Sick enough. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, I need all of you to get the hell out before Chief Hopper comes home and skins me alive!"

"Aww, come on Steve," Lucas whined as he flopped on the couch. "Chief's a softie deep down. You'll be fine!"

"And he's at work," Mike added. "So we'll be out by the time he gets home."

"Five-one-five," El chimed in.

"Right." Mike nodded. "So we'll leave at four. Isn't that plenty of time?"

Steve glanced around at the kids who peered back at him with hopeful eyes. He looked back at El who had more color in her cheeks and looked all around happier at seeing all her friends in the small cabin, and Steve knew she needed this. He didn't know why Hopper had kept her here for a year, but he figured if nothing else, she deserved a reward for, you know, saving the entire world. That, and it was five against one, so there was no winning here.

"Fine," Steve spat out, as though he was completely dejected about the situation. "But when I say leave, you get out, got it?" The kids cheered, happy that they'd gotten their way. Steve just sighed and realized that since El was awake, he needed to call Hopper. "I gotta call the Chief and let him know El's okay," he said. "You guys keep quiet. If I hear one little peep, I'll beat the shit outta you, got it?"

"Got it!" The kids called out in unison as Steve went to the phone and dialed the number for the police station.

"Hi, Chief Hopper, please," He said, twirling the phone cord around his finger anxiously. As he was redirected, he glanced over at the kids silently sorting movies out by the television. You know, when they were nice and quiet, they weren't that bad.

"Hopper." The voice startled Steve and he jumped a little at hearing the man's deep voice over the crackling phone line.

"Hi, sir. Uh, this is Steve," he said timidly, praying the kids wouldn't hear him sound so small and unintimidating.

"Oh. Hey kid," Jim replied gruffly. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's okay. Great! Everything's great! I mean, good. Probably just good. Um…" He paused to take a breath. "El woke up. You said you wanted me to let you know when she did."

The mention of the girl kept Hopper from questioning the jumpiness in Steve's voice. "Oh, she did. Is she good? Has she eaten?"

Steve glanced over to see her eating some popcorn. "Yeah." Technically not a lie. "And yeah she's doing really good. She seems pretty well."

"Not eating more Eggos I hope."

"No, sir." Also technically not a lie.

"Good. Look, I gotta go. I'll be home by five fifteen, okay? Thanks for doing this, you're a real stand-up kid."

"No problem sir, happy to help."

The line went dead and he hung up the phone. He turned back to the kids who were looking back at him and sighed, crossing his arms. They were going to be the death of him for sure. But, he could enjoy his time with them before they sent him to an early grave.

"Alright, twerps, get the player ready." He marched over to the television and grabbed a tape. "And I'm picking the movie."

They arranged themselves on the one small couch, El, Mike, and Dustin, squeezing on the small sofa with Steve sitting on the ground, his back against the base of the couch, and Max and Lucas on either side of him.

And then there was a knock on the door.

"For the love of… Who the fuck is it now?" Steve asked irritably. Dustin hopped up and went to the door, throwing it open before Steve could tell him to at least look out the window first.

And there was Will, standing there looking as though nothing absolutely and completely awful had happened to him in the past two days. Nope, he looked perfectly cheery with his hand gripping his backpack and a smile on his face.

"Hi, guys!"

Six kids, including a girl with psychic powers, a boy who was possessed two days ago, and a kid who's brother literally tried to kill him all in one cabin after being under strict orders not to let anyone else in? Yeah, Steve knew it was going to be his last day on earth.


And then there were six...

Hope you guys are still enjoying! This isn't meant to be anything long or deep-just a shallow little self-indulgent mini fic-so sorry for the shortness! If you want longer, deeper stories (mostly centered around El and Hopper), check out my other fic, And the World is Still for cute oneshots! Thanks again for all the love! I truly appreciate it!