"Just wait for it," Lucas says, craning his neck to see past the boxes of fireworks in his hands as he, Will, Dustin, and Erica walk through the store to the shopping carts. "We'll be stuck somewhere without El to help us and the Mind Flayer right in front of us, and the only thing to save us are these babies right here."

Erica narrows her eyes at her brother while Dustin says, "Just make sure you don't kill us with these things in the process."

"Yeah," Erica says, "if we all die, it's your fault."

The four of them weave through another aisle, hands full of fireworks, but they slow their steps when they hear Mike's voice close-by. "I just, like, I've never felt like this, you know, with anyone before... and... You know, they do say it makes you crazy."

"What makes you crazy?" El responds. Will wants to stop walking, get the hell out of there, but everyone keeps moving, closer to Mike and El's voices. From what he can tell, Will figures they're somewhere in the next aisle over.

"You never – You never heard that term... You know, like the phrase, like... 'blank makes you crazy,' like the word..."

His heart crumbles. Crazy? Crazy is our word. Or so he thought. Will's face is heating up, from anger or embarrassment or betrayal, he doesn't know. Possibly all of the above.

"'Girlfriends'?" El asks.

"No, no, no, no, not – not girlfriends," Mike stutters.

"'Boyfriends'."

"No! No, no, not boyfriends either. It's like – It's like a feeling or..."

"A feeling..."

"Yeah, like something... Like, old people say it to each other sometimes."

"Old people?"

Lucas, Dustin, and Erica all furrow their eyebrows while Will just wants to die inside.

"Yeah," Mike says. "What I wanna say is... that I just..." A knot is forming in Will's stomach, growing tighter with each word Mike utters. "I know that I -"

The four of them halt in front of the aisle Mike and El are sitting in, staring at them. A box of fireworks falls out of Will's hands and lands on the floor. His cheeks grow pink when Mike and El glance up at them.

"That's awkward," Erica murmurs.

"Erica," Lucas hisses before giving Will a sympathetic look.

There's a beat of silence before Dustin steps forward, standing in front of Will like a shield, and clears his throat. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" Mike's eyebrows knit together. "Plan for what?"

"For the Mind Flayer. We need to have a plan to get rid of it."

"I thought we were going to the source," El says.

Lucas raises an eyebrow. "What good is going to the source now that we know the Flayed have already turned into that monster?"

The six of them glance to each other. When no one responds, Mike gestures to the boxes in their hands. "What's with the fireworks?"

"Backup plan."

"What are you guys talking about?" Max asks as she appears at the other end of the aisle along with Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, and Robin. They walk over to them, and Mike helps El to her feet.

"We need a plan," Will says, trying to keep the words Mike said to El from re-entering his mind, "for the Mind Flayer."

"Yeah, and we don't think going to the source now will do us any good," Lucas says.

Nancy's eyebrows knit together. "Why not?

"Because that monster could be out there killing everyone right now. We need to kill that thing, not waste our time finding out where it came from."

"Okay." Nancy nods. "We should close the gate. That's the only way we can get rid of it, right?"

"Doesn't that mean we kill all the Flayed?"

"Billy's one of them," Max murmurs.

"What other choice do we have?" Jonathan asks. "We can't let that thing kill anyone else."

With a pained face, Max leans back against the shelves. A twinge of guilt hits Will. "Maybe we should have El look for Billy again," he suggests. "See where he is."

Mike shakes his head and gestures to El. "No, do you see her? She's way too drained. We've used her powers enough. And besides, Billy's probably gone already."

"What if we can still save him?" Max asks.

"How?"

She opens her mouth but shuts it quickly.

Lucas motions to Mike. "So what do you suggest?"

"Like Nancy said, we should close the gate."

With a scowl, Max storms out of the aisle. El, frowning, watches her leave while Will sends a glare in Mike's direction. "You could've been nicer about it." Will shoves the boxes of fireworks at Mike and hurries after Max.

"Nice going, Mike," Lucas says.

"What'd I do?"

Will finds Max in the frozen section of the store, sitting in front of a freezer. He takes a seat beside her. "I'm sorry."

She stares forward, not meeting his eyes. "I guess I just thought he'd be alright in the end. That he would get better, you know?" Her breath hitches. "I know it's stupid, after all the shit he's done, but he's still my brother, and..."

Will pulls her into a hug as tears fall down her cheeks.

"He's the only one who understands what... what our family is like," she continues. "I know I should hate him, and I do a lot of the time, but other times, he's the only one who's there. Who knows what it's like."

"Knows what what's like?"

She pulls away and rests the back of her head on the freezer door. "For the only feeling at home to be anger or fear."

Will pauses, trying to think of something to say, but Max beats him to it. "I'm not just afraid for Billy. I'm afraid of what might happen if Billy really is gone. I don't know if it will be worse than it is now."

"It's your step-dad, isn't it?" Will asks.

Max sighs. "If Billy is dead, I don't know what his dad will do."

"My – my dad wasn't a nice guy either." He wrings his hands together, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

Looking at him, Max half-smiles. "Maybe we're long-lost siblings." They share a hesitant laugh. "Or maybe there are just shitty parents everywhere."

The two of them sit there in front of the freezers for another minute, neither of them saying a word until Will turns to face Max. His hands are clasped together, his elbows on his knees. "So are you alright with us going to close the gate?"

"Alright with it? I don't know." A sigh escapes her mouth. "But I guess we have no other choice."

"Yeah, we just have to shut it, and the monster dies."

She smirks. "But if not, we always have Lucas's fireworks."

"Come on, those fireworks could work."

"Know what else could work? El." She nudges him in the shoulder. "Not to forget, you too."

He rolls his eyes. "Max, I told you I don't know if I can even do anything."

"So what's that about?" She gestures to his nose.

"It's still there?" He rubs underneath his nostrils with the back of his hand, speckles of red falling to the floor.

"Barely." Max purses her lips. "You're starting to remind me of El."

"I'm not."

"Oh, I know you're not. You're not a badass super-powered heroine like her." She gives him a smile. "But you're something."

"I'm not anything, and I can't do anything."

"I saw you do something at the hospital."

"I don't know what that was, and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to do it again. You'll have to just forget about it."

"There's more to you than you let on, Will. You're special, whether you admit it or not. And by the way, you could always talk to El about it. See if she knows anything."

Shaking his head, Will gets to his feet. "Let's just stick to the plan. Get to the mall and close the gate."

"Suit yourself."

The two of them emerge from the frozen section and go to the front of the store where everyone else is gathered. "Hey, there you guys are." Lucas glides up to them on a shopping cart filled with fireworks. "Oh, and I'm really sorry, Max. About Billy."

She shrugs. "Not much we can do, I guess. It's just what it is." Cracking a smile, she gestures to the shopping cart. "I see you're still going through with your backup plan?"

As they roll the shopping cart out the door, Lucas says, "Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again because you keep doubting me."