Welcome back, everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I've been really busy with online classes, and I was facing some MAJOR writer's block this chapter... this segment kind of acts as a bridge between the move and the next part of the story. There's a lot of jumping around with characters, but there were a lot of people involved in this move that I wanted to cover. Things will start getting more intense in the coming chapters, I have many ideas regarding our friend Troy, and what might be in store for our heroes.

Thank you all for the great response from last chapter! I was so happy with the way it turned out and I love that you guys enjoyed it! Hope this chapter entertains you guys as well :)

e1evenwhee1er: Thank you so much! I don't have an Instagram where I post my edits, only YouTube. But feel free to subscribe if you want, haha :) I think the next edit I'll make will either be Steve or Billy, but I have no idea when I'll get around to that. I use Sony Vegas Pro to edit my videos. I've been doing well during quarantine... I hope everyone else is, too. Your inquires on Troy will soon be answered, and the coming chapters will get into the Byers adjusting to their new living situation. Hope you enjoy!

Jean Sumnerland: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the character development.

Hypersushi: Thanks! Hope you like this one.

Age Of X: Thank you so much! That's the plan... until season 4 drops ;D

Stranger Records: Thank you! So happy that you liked the last chapter.

Jbg: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the El and Mike dynamic in the last chapter. That's what I always imagined it being like between them. Both of them clearly had a lot on their minds, and their just teens at the end of the day, so, you know... in response to the future of this story... I will see where the road takes me. I absolutely love this show, and I'd love to see this fic continue until S4 drops, but we'll see how it goes. I'm glad to have you on board :)

andy: Thank you! Thanks for reading it!

strangerthingslover13: That was the desired reaction, haha... last chapter was definitely challenging to write, but I'm glad that it was able to stir some emotions with you :)

Guest: I'm going to have lots of stuff going on in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there isn't going to be a timeskip. We all love Mileven, don't we? haha. Don't worry, there is lots of stuff down the road for our couple.

Shrike176: It was very sad to write, believe me. I'm glad you liked seeing Mileven's perspective that day. It was something that I thought the show was lacking in, and I had this scene in my mind when I started writing this fic. I'm excited to see where the story goes, too! I have so many ideas, I hope you stick around for all of them. So many questions... Thank you for watching the video! I'm glad you liked it. I'm happy that this story is helping you with the quarantine a little bit :)

Luna0603: Yes we did... thank you so much! The dynamic between Mileven was certainly difficult to capture, I was having a hard time putting it into words for the story, but I'm very happy you enjoyed it! Hopper's letter was another scene that I always wanted to do since I started writing this, so I'm glad that you like that, too! And me, too! Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

In the trees far out from their yard, a group of boys sat huddled in the woods, watching the moving van and car pull out of the decrepit looking Byers residence. As they did, the middle one let out a snort of laughter.

"I never knew the freak lived with the faggot," Troy sneered.

"Neither did I," said James. "Do you think they're siblings?" he thought aloud.

"Nah, they can't be. Not real ones, anyway," Troy replied. "We would have seen her in school if they were. At least, you'd think. Maybe they had her in some freak school and she was visiting."

"Maybe."

Troy stood up from his crouching position and started walking into the woods away from the house. The rest of them followed suit. "So what do we do now, Troy?" Daniel asked.

"We do what I've been wanting to do since the beginning of school," he scoffed, as if it was a stupid question.

"But Troy… what if she comes back? What if she still has her powers, and she comes back?"

"Did you even see what I just saw? They were crying like little pussies. She's gonna be gone for a long time. That's what I'm willing to bet," he reasoned. "But if she does come back, we'll make it clear to Mike that he isn't gonna tell her anything."

"How?"

"You'll see," he answered deviously.

"And the plan…?"

"The way things are looking now, it's a go."

Mike watched the large moving truck and the car pull out of the driveway, a greatly pained expression on his face. The situation was giving him flashbacks to the winter, when El and Hopper had to go off to the lab from the Byers only minutes after she and him were reunited. Except this time, he knew that she wouldn't be coming back, at least not anytime soon. He glanced around him at his friends and saw everyone with similar somber looks across their faces. Nancy appeared to be fighting tears, but without a lot of success. He sympathized with her, knowing that it was probably hard seeing Jonathan go. Dustin's face was stuck in a permanent forlorn frown, which was especially weird to see, because usually he was always the one trying to make a situation happier. But even he was quiet. Beside Dustin was Lucas and Max.

At least they're still together, Mike thought bitterly. He cursed himself. Now wasn't the time to be childish. Becoming envious of Lucas and Max was immature and stupid. He was jealous of them, but he was happy for them, too. It was clear to him that they had become a lot closer since the Fourth, and he was grateful that his friends were in a good place.

The group continued to stand there, staring down the road long after the cars disappeared from their sight. No one dared speak for a long time; it appeared as though everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

"We should head out," Dustin finally broke the silence, turning around to go toward the group of bicycles that had been sloppily thrown on the ground at the side of the house. "Don't want the new owners getting here when we're still around."

A series of lighthearted chuckles washed through everyone. Good old Dustin.

"Do you guys wanna do something? We still got the rest of the afternoon," Max suggested.

The Party looked at exchanged glances. "Maybe tomorrow," Mike answered quietly. "I just… I gotta go home for a little bit." No one argued. They all knew what was going on inside his head, so they chose to leave him alone.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to head back too," Dustin grumbled sadly. "Not really in the mood right now."

Max looked over at her boyfriend who offered an indifferent shrug. She wasn't surprised by the response of everyone; if she was being honest with herself, she didn't really want to hang out with anyone either. But she didn't want to just leave. There wasn't any need to come off as a bitch right now.

"Take care, guys," Mike said, swinging his leg over his bike to mount it.

"Wait," Lucas blurted. "Let's bike back together, at least." No one could help but crack a small grin, in spite of everything.

After the quiet bike rode home and waving goodbye to his friends before putting away his bike in the garage, Mike was about to put his hand on the doorknob to open the door when he stopped. His hand slowly slid off of the metal sphere and it fell to his side, limp.

Like the rest of his body felt. For some reason, he just didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to look at anyone, not his mom, not his dad, or Nancy or Holly. He just wanted to be alone. But it was nearly guaranteed that his mom was in the kitchen, so he'd have to at least see in her passing.

Oh, well.

Mike inhaled and exhaled deeply and opened the door and walked into the house. His mom was posted in front of the kitchen counter, cutting something on a wooden block. He had figured. She looked up to say hello but her face fell immediately upon looking at him. Mike silently cursed himself for not being able to hide his feelings better. But it was his mom, after all. She was always able to tell everything, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

It only occurred to him how badly he needed to hug someone when her arms were already around him. He stared blankly at the tiled floor, reciprocating the hug but never feeling it. For the first time in a while, all he felt was… emptiness. He felt numb and cold.

El wasn't gone forever. So why was he feeling like this? Maybe it was because he had literally spent nearly every day of the last nine months of his life seeing her and talking to her and touching her? Maybe it was because he loved her more than anything? And now he had to face the next two months without seeing her once?

Those were probably the main reasons. And he just couldn't bring himself to actually accept it. He wouldn't even be able to talk to her for the next week or so, because Dustin was still working on that radio tower that he had been talking about last month. He almost felt pathetic, being so dependent on a person that was not himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tear his feelings away from her for just a second. He felt his throat closing up, as well as the tears of anger and frustration and sadness that were begging to be let out.

He forced himself to swallow the lump, breaking away from his mom.

"Do you want to talk, sweetie?" she asked softly.

"Not right now," he replied.

Karen cringed. She could hear the pain in his voice and tone. It never occurred to her that Mike was this close to Will. She knew that it was going to be hard for him to say goodbye to the first friend he ever had, but she had not anticipated this.

"Okay, well just… let me know if you need anything, baby," she said, holding his hand tightly.

Mike nodded. "Okay."

"Promise?"

He felt a twinge in his chest at the mention of the word. He had never been able to help himself from thinking of El when he heard that simple phrase. It always reminded him of that day after they met, when he had been showing her around his house. He had explained to her what a promise was.

"Yeah, I promise."

He gently pulled his hand out of his mom's grasp and turned, starting on his way upstairs toward his room. On his way down the upstairs hall, he passed by Nancy's closed door. She had already gotten home because she had taken the car. Mike pursed his lips thoughtfully.

Perhaps against his better judgment, he raised his arm and gently tapped on her door. "Nance? It's me. Can I come in?"

He heard a sniffle through the thin piece of wood. "Yeah, the door is open."

Mike swung the door open slowly and tentatively, not sure what to expect from his sister. How upset was she? He was about to see, he guessed. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, and turned his gaze toward Nancy. She tore her eyes away from the ground where she had been previously looking, and met her brother's eyes.

Her eyes were red and puffy. She had obviously been crying. "Are you okay?" Mike asked quietly.

Nancy breathed out and shrugged. "I… don't know. I'm just upset," she replied, her voice shaky. She smiled sadly at him. "But I bet you're probably feeling the same thing right now, aren't you?"

Mike shuffled slowly over to her bed and sat down beside her awkwardly. Nancy looked over at him and smirked in spite of herself. "What are you doing, baby brother?"

He looked over at her and chuckled dryly. "What? I can't just come over and hang out with my sister?"

Nancy stared at him for a second before breaking into a wide grin. She wiped her eyes and leaned onto him, resting her head on his shoulder. Which was easier now than it had been a few years ago, because at this point he was a lot bigger than her. "Thanksgiving isn't that far away, right?" she thought aloud, her eyes watery.

A tear slipped out of Mike's eye and he gently pushed her head off of him so that he could look at her. "We'll be okay," he assured her. "At least we've got each other."

They ended up crying together for a long time.

Will watched the sight of the trees flying by at the side of the road, not sure if the image was blurred because of how fast they were driving, or if it was the teardrops that were still in his eyes. He was sitting in the passenger seat of the car, which was being driven by Jonathan. They hadn't exchanged a word since they pulled out of the driveway over half an hour ago, and if he was honest, he was too lost in thought to even say anything.

It had been hard saying goodbye. Really hard. Harder than he originally thought it was going to be. He had been saying bye to the greatest family he had ever had, after all. There were no other people on the Earth that he felt closer to, and now that he had to come to terms with being away from them… well, it felt weird, to say the least. He wouldn't be getting up tomorrow and going to Hawkins high with all of his friends; he wouldn't even be waking up and seeing them around the neighborhood. In fact, he'd be in a completely new town.

But he couldn't dwell on that now. He had told himself repeatedly over the last few days that he would have to take everything one step at a time. And right now, the first step was just getting to the new town.

Des Moines. It was a city in Iowa, but they were moving into a house into one of the small suburbs outside of the city. Oddly enough, he had never actually seen the house in a photo or anything. For some reason, his Mom was all hung up on it being a "surprise" for them when they got there. Which was fine, he didn't object to it. He doubted that even if he did know what the house looked like, it would alleviate any of his stress. They knew what school he was going to be attending, and Joyce already had a job set up for herself there. Will was fuzzy on the details of it, but he knew that it involved a desk and paperwork, or something. A secretary job, maybe?

Jonathan was looking into going to school but he was taking this year off to save up some money by getting a fulltime job somewhere local. He still wanted to go to NYU, and that required money that he didn't yet have.

And during all of this, the family was going to work together to make sure El would be all caught up on her academics in time for her to join Will in school in the second semester. He knew that she was already pretty far into her prep work; her science and math skills had always been excellent because apparently, she learned those sorts of things in the lab.

But her English, French, geography and history skills were lacking. So she had been working on the textbooks that Hopper had gotten her during her time in the cabin, and as of more recently, Joyce had been getting them for her too. So things were going well with that.

Long story short, they all seemed to be prepared for the journey ahead. The Byers family had taken the proper precautions to ensure that the transition was going to be as smooth as possible. Will knew that his mom was actually feeling confident in herself for once when it came to all of it. He just hoped that this new change of scenery would give her the "fresh start" that she was in need of.

Maybe it would be good for him, too. He'd always have his friends back in Hawkins. The Party. They would never go. Even if they were apart for months, he knew that when he came back, it would be like nothing ever happened. It was true that there were times when he was walking around Hawkins and it would remind him of something. For example, every time he walked in the school field, he'd get a flashback to when he got possessed by the Mindflayer. It was awful. For the first couple of weeks after the incident, he could barely walk into the school because it reminded him of being chased by the Mindflayer through the halls after looking for Dart. At least in this new town, he wouldn't get any flashbacks to the Upside-Down walking around town.

He really just wanted El to be okay. A true sibling bond had been formed between them, and he genuinely wanted to look out for her when she finally started going to school. In addition to that, he didn't want Mike getting mad at him for not protecting her, or something. Although, thinking about El in school made him nervous for a lot of reasons.

What if she just wasn't able to fit in? She had clearly made astronomical steps in her social skills since the beginning. Will had been told by his friends that when they had first met her, she only spoke one-word sentences. But it was easy to tell that she wasn't quite on the same level as everyone else. He imagined that it would be even easier to tell for someone random who didn't know her and was meeting her for the first time.

What if she didn't like school? What if she just couldn't manage to get into the groove of waking up, leaving the house early in the morning, coming back, doing homework… it was very different from the system that she used at home, which was basically just doing everything when she pleased, just as long as everything was done by the end of each week. For Will, the almost ritualistic act of going to school everyday was second nature. It wasn't for El.

Or of course, she could like school, but just not do well in it. Who was to say that, in spite of their exhaustive efforts to help her, she would just catch up to the standard that she needed to be at?

Yet somehow, the worst possibility was something far different, something not even linked to academics.

What if some boy started trying to get with her? That would wreak havoc. El probably wouldn't know how to handle some random dude asking her things like what her name was and "what she was doing tonight." If a guy did hit on her, she probably wouldn't even be able to tell. But even worse… and he doubted that she would ever do anything like it… but what if she cheated on Mike? What if she found a guy who she liked, somehow? He shook his head, trying to clear his brain of the thought. It would never happen.

The worst that he'd have to worry about was some creep trying to get in her pants. And he knew that if that happened, that guy would have to either back off, or deal with him. Will knew that he wasn't exactly the toughest or strongest person, but if the time came, he knew he would defend El if someone threatened her or tried to do something to her. And he would let Mike know if anything happened, of course. They had had a discussion about it a few weeks prior to them leaving that he remembered distinctly.

They had been at the house, and El had gone to use the bathroom or something, and Mike had approached him. "What's up?" he had asked.

"Not much. Enjoying yourself?" he had humorously responded, knowing fully well that he and El had been making out in her bedroom only minutes ago.

"Uh… yeah," he answered awkwardly. "Speaking of that, could I talk to you a minute?"

Will folded the book in his hands and looked at him directly. "Sure, what's going on?"

"It's, umm… about El," he began. "And her going to your school in that new town."

"Go on."

"I'm worried about her," he blurted, and then checked behind him after, just to ensure that she was still in the bathroom and out of earshot. "I don't want her to have any problems in the new school, and I don't want some other guy to move in on her or something," he explained, his voice more hushed this time.

"I don't think that would happen, Mike," he assured him, nearly scoffing at the idea of El doing anything with another guy.

"What?" Mike quipped, a confused look on his face. "Do you not think other guys would find her attractive? And maybe try to do something?"

"That might happen, yes. But I don't think you have to stress over it because nothing would come out of it. El is loyal to you, you know that."

"Ok, well, besides that… all I want is for her to be okay. Could you just… look out for her? And let me know if anything happens?"

Will's expression turned more serious and he sat up straighter. "Oh, yeah. Of course dude, I will," he answered. "I promise." Mike gave him a gracious smile. "And don't forget, I don't want anything happening to her, either, okay? She's my sister now."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Yeah, for sure. I just… wanted to make sure, I guess. But thanks."

"You're welcome."

And that had been the end of their conversation. Short and to the point. But it had stuck in his mind like glue, that was for sure. He didn't want to let Mike down, and he didn't want to let himself either down by breaking his promise. And most of all, he didn't want to let El down as her brother.

They had been driving for around two hours, and El was starting to feel the boredom getting to her. Her book had grown tiresome, and she had been looking at the same old forest for what felt like an eternity. She sighed loudly and propped her elbow up on the side of the door and rested her head in the palm of her hand.

"You okay?" Joyce asked in a concerned tone.

"Yes," she replied, still gazing through the window. "Just… bored."

Joyce snuck a glance away from the road and looked toward her adopted daughter. "Is there anything else in your bag?"

El shuffled through her things. She dug under her pile of books that were squished together in her small backpack and pulled out the notebook that she usually liked to draw in. It was the one that Will had given to her that she occasionally liked to draw in. But the road was too bumpy for creating anything worthwhile.

But she was still able to write, she supposed. She had never really tried just writing for pleasure before. It was known to her that some people did write things "journals." Will kept one, and she remembered him explaining it to her one day when she asked what he was doing.

It's just a book that you write stuff down in. Thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams… anything. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to keep one? It could improve her reading and writing skills, which would be beneficial for her when she got into school in a few months. English was still her weakest subject in her homeschooling. Reading could only do so much. Maybe writing would give her some more practise.

On top of that, she always had so many thoughts whirling around in her mind that it often became stressful. Perhaps it would help to just get all of those thoughts out on paper. It wouldn't hurt to try. With a slight amount of hesitation, she placed the tip of her pen on the lined page and started to write.

The longer El spent letting her hand run freely across the page, the more at ease she felt herself becoming. Of course, none of her problems were actually being solved by doing this, she knew that. But it was certainly making her feel less like the world was spinning.

When she was feeling content with the work she had done, she closed the book and put the pen back in her bag, and then redirected her attention out of the window once again. Her eyes widened. This time, she was being greeted by a staggering sight of farmland; large fields and rolling hills for as far as the eye could see. She had never seen anything like it, not in Hawkins.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Joyce said, breaking the silence for the first time in a while.

El nodded, not taking her eyes off the outside scenery. "Yes," she agreed.

Joyce snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye toward the girl. "What were you writing in that notebook?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, um… nothing. Just working on my handwriting," she lied as smoothly as she could, hoping Joyce wouldn't press her with any more questions. For some reason, she fancied the idea of keeping her journal private.

"Hm," Joyce hummed. "Okay, well… let me know if you need anything sweetie, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, staring down the road in the direction they were headed. After a few moments, she heard herself asking "we're going to visit them, right?"

"Of course," Joyce confirmed with a glace in her direction. "As much as we can, I promise."

El sighed. "But that's still only on holidays and stuff…"

"Hey, don't worry, El," Joyce comforted, reaching across the car and grabbing El's hand. "Jonathan can drive on his own, maybe the three of you can come for a weekend sometimes. I don't always have to be with you, you know. You guys are getting older. We can explore different options," she suggested "But I promise, I will do everything I can to make sure you see them as much as you can. I promise."

El found herself smiling. "Thank you," she said appreciatively, not even sure what else to say.

"You're absolutely welcome, sweetie," she responded, smiling back warmly. They fell silent for a few more minutes before Joyce spoke again. "I know that this was hard for you, El."

El turned toward her. "Sorry?"

"Moving," Joyce clarified. "Believe me, I… I was very hesitant about all this. I've been wanting to move, just me and the boys, for a while, but when we took you in, it… complicated things," she admitted.

El looked at her feet. "I know," she mumbled softly, feeling her chest tighten. "I'm sorry."

Joyce's heart skipped a beat. "Hey, hey, hey, that's not what I meant," she said quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "I'm not mad or anything, baby, okay?"

"But it's t-true," she stuttered, her resolve breaking. "I r-ruin e-everything. Everything th-that happened, it was a-all because of m-me."

The older woman in the car kicked herself mentally, cursing the fact that she had caused this mess. But she was driving, and they were running really tight on time. None of them wanted to be arriving at the new house after dark.

"El, shhh, look at me," she said, desperately trying to alleviate her crying. She ran her hand up and down the length of her thigh, trying to calm her down. "Sweetie, you've done so much for this family, okay? You saved Will, you saved me and my boys so many times. You've been nothing but a blessing to us all. You're strong and brave, and…" she trailed off, finding herself looking for the right words. "You're a part of this family, El."

El hiccuped and looked at her, her sobs ceasing. "But-"

"Let me finish," Joyce cut her off. "What I was saying was… when you came to live with us, it complicated things, because I wanted to give my family the best life they deserved, but I wanted to give you the life that you deserved, too. And I know that it was best for us to go to Des Moines, but I didn't know if it was best for you," she explained slowly, trying to communicate her feelings as well as possible.

Joyce looked away from the road again and to El, who was still looking at her with wet eyes. "I wanted to make sure that all of you guys have the best life possible," she continued. "That's my job, for heaven's sake. I'm a mother," she laughed to herself. To her relief, the girl beside her also chuckled lightly.

"Starcourt was putting Melvald's out of business and I wasn't able to afford losing my job. And with everything else happening, I knew that… that this was the best option for this family. I knew it, in my heart. And I know that you know that now, too," she told her. It was hard for her to keep her voice steady, but she bit her tongue and continued. "But I know how close you are to your friends. Hawkins is your home. And I know that it will still feel like home for you for a long time. It'll take getting used to. It'll be awhile before any of us can say that Des Moines is our home, because Hawkins still feels like home. I feel the same way.

"But one day, I know that it will be our home. But until then, I still want you to be happy. I don't want to keep you away from Dustin, or Lucas or Max, and especially not Mike. I'm going to try my very best to make sure that you can still see your friends as much as you can. Will and Jonathan, too. Everything is going to be fine."

El was touched. She had never realized that all this time, Joyce had been thinking of her this much. She felt bad for judging her in the past, and thinking that she never cared for her. Because there was a time when she did; when Joyce first told her that they were going, El had been convinced that Joyce didn't care about her. Why would she move them out of Hawkins if she had?

But right now, it was clear to her that Joyce had always cared about her, even in the beginning. And all she had given to her in response had been lies and attitude and difficulty. El understood that without work, Joyce wouldn't be able to support the family, or her for that matter. Everything that she was doing was for the family.

And for her to have done it while everyone was hating her for it must have been extremely difficult. In the beginning, when the decision had first been made, even her own sons hated her for it. But Joyce still pushed through and went through with the plan to move her family, because that was what was best for the family.

El exhaled shakily. "I'm s-sorry, Joyce," she said quietly.

Joyce was incredulous."Why?"

"Because, in the beginning…" she cried softly. "I was so… mean to you."

"Well, yeah, but that's okay," Joyce shrugged, biting back a confused laugh. "I would be, too."

"But still," she continued. "And Will and Jonathan, too, we all just got so mad at you about this-"

"Of course, you did," she dismissed. "People act that way when they're upset. But you guys came around, right? We're talking right now, and we're fine," she reasoned.

"I guess…"

"Exactly," Joyce said. "Everything's going to be fine, El. I'll make sure of it."

El could do nothing but nod, finding herself at a loss for words. When Joyce didn't speak either, she let herself zone out, staring ahead blankly. The conversation that had transpired had left her feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest. She had had no idea how much built-up tension had been existing between the two of them, and it felt like something had just finally been… released.

"Joyce?" she asked, unsureness evident in her tone.

"Yeah, sweetie?" she answered.

"Would it be okay if…" Was this a good idea? Yes. After everything she's done for you… yes. "If I called you…'Mom'?"

Joyce had to restrain herself; she could feel tears brimming in her eyelids, but she didn't want to break down and cry in front of El right now. "Nothing would make me happier."

Alright, that's it for this one. Short compared to the last one... I still can't believe how long it was! The reviews were amazing last chapter guys, I loved reading all of them. Be sure to leave another! Take it easy, guys :)