Mike was surprised when Max said she wanted to talk to El alone, and slightly nervous. What if El realised she would be happier with a group of girl friends instead of the party? And Max didn't know El- she might say the wrong thing and set her off. Mike asked if El was ok having this private talk with Max, praying she would say no. But of course, she nodded her head yes.

Mike reluctantly joined Lucas, Dustin and Will by the couch. Lucas and Dustin were laughing hysterically and Will was smiling, with a worried look in his eyes.

"What's so funny?" asked Mike.

"Nothing!" All three boys answered immediately, each looking guilty. They knew Mike wouldn't appreciate the joke.

"Seriously, what were you laughing about?"

The boys didn't answer. After a few seconds of Mike staring intensely at all of them, Will cracked.

"Dustin and Lucas were betting on how long it would take El to use her powers against Max." he blurted.

"What?"

"Hey!"

"Why would you tell him?"

Mike, Lucas and Dustin yelled respectively.

"El and Max are in the party now! We can't bet on how long it will take them to fight!" Mike chastised.

"Hey, we make bets on ourselves all the time, betting on them has nothing to do with their party membership."

defended Lucas.

"And we all know this 'one-on-one talk' can't end well." Dustin added.

"Why not?" Mike was genuinely confused.

Lucas explained, "Man, you didn't see them when they met last night, Max introduced herself and El just walked straight past her!"

"It was cold" agreed Dustin.

"Well El isn't great with strangers, we knew that!"

"Yeah but this was something else.."

Lucas continued.

"Do you think she's jealous because she's not the only girl?" Dustin wondered out loud.

"Actually about that, who put you in charge of deciding on new members? We never took a vote on Max!" complained Mike

"We never took a vote on El either..."

"What, so you want to kick El out of the party?"

"No! Nobody is being kicked out of the party! But after everything Max went through with us last night, she's one of us now. So is El. They both are."

"What do you think Will?" Mike noticed he was quiet during this argument.

"I think they should both be members. I think it's the right thing to do."

Mike let out a long groan. He knew Max was one of them now, there was no denying it. If this happened yesterday, before El came back, Mike would not have given up so easily. But now that El was here, he didn't want to waste time on stupid arguments. And he had to admit, Max was pretty incredible last night.

After a long pause he issued his final verdict. "Ok, El and Max both stay."

All four boys looked at each other and smiled. They were thrilled that these two amazing girls were their friends now and that Will was ok. Everything seemed perfect on the surface. But there was a bittersweet taste in their mouths.

It would never really be the four of them anymore. Of course they will still be best friends, and they'll hang hang out, just the four of them, but things will be different. Max and El will be with them most of the time. It won't just be the four party founders anymore. It will be different.

There is also the fact that most of the boys were developing romantic feelings for the girls. If a miracle occurs and they get girlfriends, they will go on adventures together, not as a group. All of the boys will grow up and leave the party behind.

And next year they'll be in high school. Obviously they still have plenty of time to grow up and mature, but as the four boys sat together, realising two girls just joined the party, it seemed like the end of an era. It was the beginning of the end of their childhood.

After a pause charged with thoughts, Dustin felt the need to address the next topic of business.

"So, is El officially your girlfriend now or something?"

Mike's face turned 500 different shades of red and he felt like the wind was knocked out of him. "What? No! Ha! Wwwhhy would you think that?"

"Because you slept in her room last night instead of with us"

"I bet he didn't even sleep, just stayed awake making sure she was still alive"

" So what? I hadn't seen her in a year and then when she came back, she had to close the interdimensional gate with her mind. Sorry that I was worried about her!" Mike defended.

"Is she ok?" Will piped up.

"Yeah. I think so. It's hard to tell with her." Mike said slowly.

The girls started to giggle across the room and the four boys turned to look at them.

"Damn, they like each other. Is it bad that I was kinda looking forward to a fight?" complained Dustin.

All the boys, including Mike, laughed.

Silence fell on the group once more.

A thought occurred to Mike . "You never properly met El" he said to Will.

Will nodded his head. He hadn't forgotten about the agreement he made with El to talk about everything by themselves later.

"Is she going to hate me the way she used to hate Max?" Will was slightly nervous about their meeting.

"No, I don't think so.."

"Nah probably not"

"Maybe"

The boys all replied simultaneously.

"Great" Will thought to himself.

"So, how awesome was last night? I know it was terrifying and Bob died, but it was sooo awesome." said Dustin.

"Really?" Will asked.

"Yeah definitely! And the demodogs were all around the house and we were screwed but then El came and killed them all, and she flung one through that broken window. It was pretty awesome." added Mike.

"And when Billy came, I think I shit myself. But then Steve and him started fighting and Steve was winning but then Billy broke a plate on his head and then Steve was losing real bad and then Max stuck the syringe in Billy's neck and he blacked out. It was the most awesome I've ever seen that didn't involve super powers." continued Lucas.

The recount of Billy and Steve's fight last night made the boys howl with laughter.

Lucas noticed that Max was staring at him from across the room. They both smiled at each other and turned pink. Mike watched this exchange. He knew Lucas and Dustin both liked Max but he didn't think it was serious. He thought they just wanted girlfriends and that Max seemed pretty cool.

Only now, looking at Lucas and Max, did he realise that they actually really liked each other. They liked each other the same way that Mike liked El, and the way that Mike hoped El liked him back.

That meant he could also tell that Dustin's feelings for Max were as shallow as he originally figured. But that didn't mean that Dustin wouldn't be crushed when he found out how Lucas and Max felt about each other.

As he listened to Lucas, Dustin and Will talk a million miles an hour about other events that occurred last night, a realisation hit him. El would get to have a normal life. She might even go to school with him. They'll be able to have a normal relationship where they'll be able to see each other, and talk, and kiss, all the time.

Mike and El caught each other's gaze from across the room and they both just smiled. He couldn't wait for her 'normal' life to start.