The weather is warming up outside as they head into summer. Steve rolls his window down and breathes it in. The air fills his lungs, leaving him buoyant on the drive to meet Hopper in town. That buoyancy has little to do with the change in weather and everything to do with the weight of worry over his future being lifted from his shoulders.

He'd known it was bothering him; it would have been impossible not to. The way he expects his stomach to tense at the idea of meeting Hopper almost catches him by surprise. Since Hopper brought up the idea of working with him, he's dreaded their one on one time. Now he doesn't have to. He drums his fingers against the steering wheel as he drives and it's not from nerves. There won't be a need to hold them still to avoid looking like he's fidgeting later.

Graduation is right around the corner. Steve still doesn't have a plan, but it doesn't feel so scary anymore. When he picked up his Class of '85 shirt, he'd smiled. Somehow, after years of classes that felt too hard and monsters—and people who were worse than both—he's made it. Without anxiety clouding every thought of graduating, Steve can appreciate the fact that he's gotten this far.

Who knows what he'll do? His grades aren't enough to get him into any schools and he isn't going to be working for his dad. None of that sounds so terrible now that he knows he isn't going to lose what he does have because of it. His parents won't be happy, but he has time and options and other people who care about him enough to let him think through those options.

It's great.

When he gets into town, he half expects to see the kids despite how clear he'd made it that they were too busy to do anything today. There's no sign of them outside of the arcade when he drives by it. The outside of the diner is also bike free. The small parking lot is mostly empty, too. Steve doesn't see Hopper's truck, but that doesn't mean anything with the station being so close by.

Steve hears his own name being called when he walks in and smiles.

Hopper is sitting at one of the smaller tables, menu lying open beside his hat. He nods his head to the empty seat where a closed menu is already waiting. Steve clenches his hands in his pockets without thinking. It takes him reaching his seat for his body to remember that he doesn't need to react that way anymore. Hopper invited him out today to eat just because he wants to have lunch together. They won't be spending any of their lunch talking about how things will be when Steve is working at the station. The conversation might turn to his future, but the thought doesn't sit uncomfortably at the forefront of his mind.

"Hey," Steve says, pulling the chair out to join him. "Surprised Flo let you out of the building."

Hopper rolls his eyes and Steve is struck by how much it reminds him of El. She's learned little things from all of them. The easiest ones to pick out are what she's learned from Mike; the way he crinkles his eyebrows and tilts his head. But she rolls her eyes like Hopper and can give Steve the same piercing stare that her dad has perfected. Steve's also noticed her knocking Dustin or Lucas in the arm with her fist the way Steve often does with her.

"You are aware I'm the boss at the station?" Hopper asks, eyebrows high on his forehead. Steve nods and shrugs, fighting back a smile.

"Sure, but we all know who's really in charge."

Hopper snorts loud enough that the few other people in the diner look at them. He shakes his head, forehead smoothing out. The corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles. "You got me there."

Steve will always remember the way Flo had patted his hand after Hopper told her about his decision. Hopper told Flo before anyone else. When Steve came into the station after, she'd given him a dimmer than usual smile, but leaned in and—quietly enough no one else could hear—told him that if he ever changed his mind, there was a place for him there. And continued before he could worry that she expected to still see him coming around even if he never changed his mind. Then she'd sent Steve to Hopper's office to bother him for a while.

Steve hadn't known how much he cared about her opinion until that moment.

"Any other big plans today?" Hopper asks, leaning with his forearms crossed over the table. Steve's mother would have a fit if he ever tried sitting like that at home. He's not sure why the thought pops into his head; they haven't had a family dinner together in a while.

"Kids are busy." Steve gives Hopper a look because the kids being busy can be as dangerous as them being bored. Even keeping an eye on them only gives him a fifty-fifty chance of being able to talk them out of whatever idea they've come up with. For smart kids, they're so dumb sometimes.

"I might have heard something about that," Hopper says, scratching his nails through his beard. Whatever the kids are doing can't be too bad with him still smiling. Curiosity stronger than ever, Steve holds back the question he wants to ask. If Hopper hasn't said anything yet, he's not going to. Sometimes Steve thinks Hopper gets a little too much enjoyment out of teasing him.

"Anyway," Steve draws out, tapping a finger against his still unopened menu. "I've lost control of my life"—Hopper's smile starts to fade and Steve hurries to continue—"and don't know what to do with myself when they aren't making me drive them all over town."

"I can imagine," Hopper says, sitting back when the waitress comes to take their orders.

"It'll be right out," she tells them as she takes their menus. She's back with their drinks not even a minute later. Perks of getting there when the place is practically empty. Steve stirs his pop with his straw, enjoying the sounds the ice makes against the glass.

"How're you doing?" Hopper asks, leaning his arms on the tabletop again. He looks Steve up and down closely. If Steve had so much as a paper cut, he thinks Hopper would know.

"Good," Steve says, running a finger through the condensation on his cup. Hopper raises his eyebrows at him. "Really. I feel...a lot better about. Everything."

Hopper nods.

"Good," he says, sounding relieved. Steve smiles and tries to cover it by taking a sip of his drink. It's nice having someone checking up on him.

The food is the same as always, with too-large portions that Steve manages to devour in one sitting. Hopper, elbows on the table and his chin resting against his fists, watches him polish off the last bite.

"Guess you really are feeling better," he says. Steve swallows hard, almost a little too soon. Someday he's going to stop being surprised when evidence of how well Hopper knows him presents itself. That Hopper noticed the terrible time Steve's had with food when Steve hardly noticed himself until it stopped.

Steve wipes his napkin across his mouth and nods. He feels even lighter than he had on his drive when Hopper grins. Hopper gets a box for the food still left on his plate. Lunch has gone by way too fast. It's a nice change of pace from those ride-along days that felt like they would never end.

When they finish the last of their drinks, Steve goes to grab the check. With a quick, loud, "Nope," Hopper snaps it off the table. "I've got this."

Steve could argue. Insist that he can pay for his own meal at least; that it's the least he can do after what Hopper has done for him recently. He doesn't. Steve is eighteen, an adult, and very nearly out of high school but Hopper has been very clear—especially since their talk—that he sees Steve as his kid. It's not the same, he knows it's not, but Hopper wouldn't make El pay for lunch if she had the means.

Instead of arguing, Steve holds his hands up in surrender. He chuckles at the suspicious narrowing of Hopper's eyes like he isn't sure he trusts Steve not to snatch the receipt out of his hand and run to the register or something. Maybe if El was here and she brought her powers to the table, Steve would have a chance. But Steve is, slowly but surely, trying to let himself enjoy having someone else treat him the way he's seen other parents treat their kids. If that means letting Hopper pay for a meal that he used to check on Steve's emotional state or whatever, Steve is happy to let him do it.

"Thanks," Steve says as they leave, holding the door open for them. Hopper lets it fall closed behind them and squeezes Steve's shoulder, pulling him close.

"Anytime," Hopper tells him with a final squeeze before pushing Steve in the direction of his car, looking far too amused when Steve hasn't done anything tease-worthy. It's Steve's turn to give him a suspicious look, but Hopper only winks. "Have fun today, kid."

"Sure," he says slowly, watching Hopper start heading towards the station. "Want a ride?"

"I'm good," Hopper says with a huff of laughter. "Give me a chance to walk some of this off."

Steve snorts. "Whatever, Hop. See you later."

Hopper waves at him over his shoulder and Steve gets in the car, shaking his head.

"SURPRISE!"

Steve jumps. He barely manages to hold the shout that wants to escape him behind his teeth at the wall of noise he encounters when he opens the door. His hand hurts from the tight grip he has on the knob, but he's more focused on the line of kids standing in front of him. In his house. The door was locked, he's sure it was, but his eyes find El and that's one mystery solved. Unlocking doors is something she's had plenty of practice in at the cabin.

"What is this?" he asks, confused.

"Surprise party," El says, a smile stretched wide across her face.

"It's...not my birthday," he says carefully.

Her smile only grows. "We know."

Dustin holds up a stack of movies with a wide grin of his own. "Surprise movie day. You get to pick!"

Steve narrows his eyes, looking them over slowly.

"What did you do?" he asks. They don't look hurt. He doesn't smell anything burning or see any broken glass.

Mike rolls his eyes. "Jeez, try to be nice to a guy."

Eyebrows high on his forehead, Steve says, "You're never nice to me."

"That's not true. I let you join our campaigns."

It's not like Steve can argue with that. They invite him to join in a lot. Not on all of the—and he wouldn't agree even if they did. But, even though Steve isn't much better now than he'd been when they first started teaching him—Dustin has to remind him what's going on a lot of the time—Mike doesn't complain nearly as much as he could.

"But a surprise party?"

"It was El's idea," Lucas pipes in, reaching behind Dustin and punching Mike's arm. He straightens back up next to Dustin, so close to Max that their arms are touching. The way they've been sort of attached at the hip is cute.

"I'm still not sure," Mike says, "why we're throwing a surprise party after you're feeling better instead of before. But whatever, your worrying was starting to get annoying."

"My what?"

Steve had been sure that they didn't know anything was bothering him. Dustin is the least subtle person he knows. If Dustin had noticed him acting upset, Steve figured there would be no stopping him from trying to coax the reason out. Or Lucas from trying to make him smile, or Max from rolling her eyes but giving him a hug if she thought he needed it. He's not as close to Will as the rest of them and never really factored him into worrying over Steve.

Unlike most of the others—and Hargrove doesn't count—Will already has an older brother. One that Steve has a less than great history with. Mostly, Steve's thought that the kid was too nice to say anything about this teenager, someone he's sure Will knows used to be a dick to his brother, hanging out with them so much.

But there he is, staring up at Steve with wide eyes and an armful of Steve's favorite movie snacks.

Max snorts, but her voice isn't mocking when she says, "Your worrying. You're pretty good at hiding it, but," she shrugs and he gets the feeling she knows the signs of someone who is unhappy and somehow isn't surprised, "we noticed."

"We don't know what you were upset about," Dustin says, throwing a look in El's direction that speaks volumes about how he feels about being kept in the dark. "But you've been way happier, dude."

"And we figured a movie night would be a good way to, like, celebrate it or whatever," Lucas continues, shrugging. He looks a little embarrassed, but mostly determined to make his friend happy.

Steve feels his lips stretching into a smile, chest warm. "Wow," he says before he has to clear his throat. "Thanks, guys."

El beams and the rest of them, even Mike, brighten up at his reaction.

"So what movies do we have to choose from and so help me Henderson, if I even see the word Ghostbusters, your ass is grass."

"What?" Dustin darts his eyes left and right before he shuffles the tape from the top of the pile to the bottom instead. "Ghostbusters, who?"

Snorting, Steve plants a hand on the top of the kid's and gives it a friendly shake. He wraps an arm around El's shoulders and leads the way into the room, more than happy to spend a day watching movies with a bunch of kids who have somehow become his best friends.

"Thanks," he says again to all of them, but keeping his eyes on El a beat longer. She hugs him tight and pushes him down onto the couch, taking the spot beside him.

"You're welcome."

Between what feels like one blink and the next, it's graduation day.

Steve doesn't know where the last month went. Of course, that's not entirely true. There have been a lot of afternoons and evenings with Hopper and El—some spent continuing their attempts to convince Hopper that they can make it safe for her to attend the ceremony. The rest of the kids fill up his weekends so that he's hardly ever bored. It still feels, even now that he's not quite dreading it, like the day has come too soon somehow.

He should have taken Hopper up on his offer to stay at the cabin the night before. It's always a bit of a hassle to get to school the mornings after he does, but worth it to wake up to someone making breakfast for him or getting to see El for a bit before she's stuck on her own for the rest of the day.

But with a small, silly hope, Steve slept in his own room last night in case his parents decided to be around. The rest of the house is quiet. He's not sure why he thought it might be different. It won't ruin his day, though. If his parents don't show—at this point, Steve doubts they realize what week it is—that just means he'll have more time to spend with the people who have actually been around this year.

He takes his time getting ready, not looking forward to the damage his cap is going to do to his hair. Maybe Steve can get away with not wearing it? Probably not. They were pretty clear in the rehearsal what is expected of them today. The cap and gown are required, as well as sharing a row with Hargrove. Hopefully having so many people there—having Hopper there—will be enough to convince him to continue to keep to himself.

God, Steve hopes today goes well.

As expected, the ceremony itself is boring. Whoever decided it should take place out on the football field should be fired. Despite starting early, the summer sun is hot and Steve isn't the only one miserable in the stupid cap and gown combo. The gym might be lame, but at least there's a roof over it.

He didn't get a say in the setup, though. So he's stuck, like the rest of them, hoping that the valedictorian and whoever else is speaking knows better than to keep them here with overly long speeches that no one is paying attention to or going to remember when they think back to today.

But he's here. It's happening. The front row of seniors line up along the side of the stage they've set up for the speakers. One by one their names are called and they cross the stage to the principal for their diplomas and a handshake. Steve expects it to feel like forever before it's time for his row to form a line, but it doesn't. Time seems to speed up with the speeches finished and names being called because before he knows it, he's waiting by the steps and hearing his own name.

He doesn't know if it's because he hasn't been paying attention or if they really are that loud, but Steve thinks the cheers from Dustin and Hopper are the loudest of the day. His nerves calm down as he takes the few steps up to the stage and shakes the principal's hand. This is real. His diploma is in his hands and Hopper and the kids are cheering him on like the huge deal that it is.

It wasn't all that long ago when Steve hadn't been sure he would survive until graduation. Now here he is, walking down the other side of the stage with his diploma in his hands. A high school graduate. He can hardly believe it.

The rest of the ceremony can't finish soon enough. Steve wastes no time finding Hopper after the last of the names are called and it's finally over. Maybe having the whole thing outside wasn't as terrible an idea as he thought earlier. His forehead feels sticky and gross where the cap meets his skin and his hair is probably unsalvageable, but there's no way he could have had such a large group of well-wishers if they'd used the gymnasium instead.

"Congratulations," Hopper says, pulling him into a tight hug when Steve reaches him. Dustin doesn't wait for them to be done before barrelling into the both of them.

"Thank you," Steve says into Hopper's shoulder, holding him tight. He blindly moves a hand until he finds the top of Dustin's head to shake him fondly.

Dustin lets go first, and Steve reluctantly pulls away. Hopper keeps a hand on his shoulder. Getting to see the wide, proud smile on Hopper's face is more than worth letting go. Max surprises him with a brief hug around his middle. He barely gets the chance to return it before she's pulling away. Steve doesn't know how she managed to get out of sitting with her family, but he isn't going to complain.

Lucas grins, punching his arm. "Congrats."

"Good job not tripping up there," Mike says, disappointment clear in his voice and expression. Steve rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything. The kid didn't sit around in the sun for hours for a chance to see Steve trip over his own feet on stage.

"Thanks, brat."

Will offers him a thumb's up that Steve returns with a grin.

"Ready to get out of here?" Hopper asks, slinging his arm around Steve's shoulders.

"Please," Steve says, letting Hopper lead them through the other families taking pictures on the field. They're waiting to take their own when they're back at Steve's house where El is waiting for them. "I need out of this thing as fast as possible."

"Well, you're going to have to be patient a little while longer." Hopper laughs and Steve snorts, nodding. El hadn't managed to talk Hopper into letting her come and she will make life hell for them if she doesn't get to see Steve all cap'n'gowned up like the rest of them.

They all head for the cars. Even though they're going to see each other in a few minutes, Hopper gives Steve another hug before they leave. Will and Mike go with Hopper. Dustin takes shotgun in Steve's car while Lucas and Max seem happy enough to get the backseat to themselves.

Getting out of the parking lot doesn't take nearly as long as he feared with everyone else sticking around with their families. The rest of Steve's family is waiting, impatiently he's sure, at his house.

El is standing just outside his front door when Steve pulls up in front of Hopper's car. Steve adjusts the cap on his head when he gets out of the car and braces himself when she comes running straight for him.

"You did it!" she says excitedly into his chest. She's practically vibrating. It feels contagious and he lifts her up just to hear the surprised, happy squeal she makes.

"I did it!" He puts her down, hands on her shoulders, and lets her look him over. Her smile becomes more and more amused. Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I look ridiculous."

She shrugs and nods because friends don't lie, but he doesn't mind. He's going to end up with a ton of pictures as proof of how ridiculous he looks. They haven't taken them yet and Steve already can't wait to get them developed, even if he can't put the ones he's sure to take with El anywhere someone else might see just yet.

"Are we going to stand outside all day or what?" Mike yells from the door. Steve shakes his head, squeezing El's shoulders before letting go.

He nods toward the door and she turns, joining Mike and taking his hand before they go inside. Hopper must be happy because he doesn't grunt or roll his eyes at them. His arm ends up back over Steve's shoulders as they follow the rest of the kids into the house.

His living room is set up for a party. There's music and food and people who care about him enough to show up when his own parents didn't. He sees the pride on Hopper's face and the way it's mirrored on El's every time she catches Steve's eye and Steve knows that with these people, he's found a place where he feels at home.