Alright guys, I'm back. Sorry about the wait for this one, school is just kicking my ass right now. I finished this chapter during my physics class (we have a sub), and I didn't really proofread this too much. I got a review asking about the next chapter, and I had to get something out. This one's a little short, but I prefer to keep content coming, even if it's small. I'd rather not wait for a month and then get a chapter of like 10000 words. So anywhere, here you guys go. I hope you enjoy :)

Luna0605: Thanks! I just read chapter 8 of Tied Together With A Smile. You're a brilliant writer.

39CluesStrangerThings-Star: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter too, it's a doozy.

Vader115: Thank you! And here you go, if it hadn't been for you, this wouldn't be coming out today, lmao.

A streak of colour dashed from the ground and into the sky with astounding speed and exploded into a shower of red and orange sparks, illuminating the night sky like a heavenly campfire up above. Steve whooped and the rest of the party laughed and cheered, gazing upward and lost in the magical sight.

"It's just like Starcourt, except without that bitch-ass Mindflayer!" Lucas yelled out.

Everyone agreed with that statement in their minds, but no one bothered answering because then another jet of light shot up in the stars and exploded with a boom.

"Are you sure the police won't come or anything?" Robin whispered over to Steve.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," he replied, looking over at his lighter. "Worst-case-scenario, we'll

just tell the kids to hide inside and they'll give us a slap on the wrist." Robin nodded and looked back up, turning her attention to the spectacle overhead.

El was standing behind the rest of the Party along with Mike, their hands latched together. Every single time one of the projectiles blew up, she tensed up and gave his hand a hard squeeze, and each time she got a comforting squeeze back. She knew that he didn't mind. It was hard not to admit that the sight of it was beautiful; they way the different hues of light blended and mixed; the shadows that it casted upon them; how the forest canopy flashed. And when there was no Mindflayer trying to eat her, it was a breath-taking thing to look at.

But there was a sort of bittersweetness to it all; she was standing before these fireworks with everyone who she cared about. But in the back of her mind, she kept getting these flashbacks to that horrible night. However, she was able to push those flashbacks behind. Being with everyone gave her strength to stand through it all. And she knew that as long as her friends had her back, she would be able to get through anything, no matter what.

"What do you think of the fireworks, El?" El turned to her right and saw Mike staring right back into her eyes. He had beautiful eyes. She always got lost in them if the gazed into them long enough.

"They're nice," she replied honestly, tearing away from his face just for a moment before watching another burst in the sky. She turned back to look at him, and saw that his eyes had never left her face. He smiled and leaned down, giving her a single peck on the lips; it felt teasing, as if she was meant to feel like she wanted more.

Which she did.

"Have you ever seen fireworks before, El?" Dustin's voice sounded faint through the noise of the works, but she still heard him.

"No, I haven't," she answered. "Well, besides at the mall," she clarified.

"They're really pretty, aren't they? They're like Suzie," he laughed, his words meshing together slightly. El could tell that he was still decently drunk, as was the rest of the group. But Mike and herself had sobered up a decent amount since their time alone just under half an hour ago.

She recalled a conversation that she had had with Hopper during her time in the cabin, before Mike came back in her life. It was New Year's and the two of them were doing something relaxing; she couldn't remember exactly what, but it was most likely some kind of board game. They had played lots of those.

Then a loud boom had interrupted the tranquil silence of their evening, and she had been terrified. Hopper barely had any reaction toward the sound until he saw that she had started crying. When he saw what was happening, he had almost dropped his cutlery and reached across the table to grab her small hand with his large, rough fingers. "Kid? What's wrong?"

She sniffed. "The noises," she whispered unsurely. "What are they?"

"Noises?" Hopper repeated, confused. Then he understood and nodded, blowing air out of his mouth. "Those are, uh… those are fireworks, kid."

"Fire...fire-works?"

"Yeah, they're these colourful rocket thingies you shoot in the sky and they explode and look really pretty. People use them when they're celebrating something."

"Ce-le-brate?"

"Yeah, celebrate. Like, uh… it's a special day today, and they're having fun because of it. It's New Year's."

"What's that?"

"You know the calendar on the fridge?" He pointed toward the fridge door and El saw the piece of paper pinned by a magnet to the door. She nodded.

"Well, the calendar has three-hundred-and-sixty-five days on it. When all those days pass, a new year starts. It used to be 1983. It's going to be 1984 tomorrow."

El simply nodded in response. "And the next year will be 1985. Each time it goes up," Hopper continued. "You know that, right? You've seen it in your math work."

"Yes."

They continued to sit in silence, the only noise being the occasional echoes of the fireworks from town square from across town.

"Maybe some time we can see some New Year's fireworks together. Maybe in a year or two I'll take you there."

El looked up, looking almost frightened. The idea of being so close to all that loud noise gave her an uneasy feeling. Hopper seemed to pick up on this and reached across the table to brush her knuckles with his fingertips reassuringly. "They're not scary. They're really cool, actually. You'll see, when I take you to see them some time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"El? Are you okay?"

Her mind flashed back to her current position, on the patio of Steve's house. Looking over, she saw Mike looking back at her expectantly and concerned. "Yes, I was just thinking about something."

Mike nodded, and pulled her closer to him by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She sighed and smiled, snuggling closer to his warm body and allowing his larger frame to envelope hers. Looking up at the sky, she realized that right now, everything was perfect.

"Hopper told me about fireworks a long time ago," she spoke aloud, to no one in particular. "He told me that one day, he would take me to see the one's on New Year's."

"Yeah, they're really nice," Max agreed. "I saw them last year."

Lucas looked confused. "With who?"

"Just myself," she replied. "I didn't really want to go with anyone back then." Max and Lucas then proceeded to get caught up in a conversation about fireworks and New Year's. El tuned them out and watched as Steve lit up the last one in the box and flew up, exploded, and then shimmered away magically.

"Well," Steve announced. "That was the last one. Let's pray no police show up." Everyone laughed at his joke, which might not have even been a joke, but all of them were sailing on a sea of liquor and happiness, and it was pure bliss to not have to worry about anything.

El became saddened after the last firework. She had really enjoyed watching them. But looking on the bright side, she realized that now she had an entire evening of being alone in a bed with Mike.

That was an appetizing thought.

But her disappointment from the fireworks ending must have shown on her face a little bit too much then she wanted, because then Dustin spoke. "Hey, don' look too glum, El," he cracked. "Maybe one day we'll find Hopper n' he can take you t'see those New Year's fireworks."

Mike choked on his breath. Dustin was drunk. And now he was about to completely reveal the truth about what happened with Hopper, and more importantly, about how he lied to her. He had no idea what he saw saying, probably. And if he did know what he was saying, than there was going to be an even bigger problem.

El looked at Dustin incredulously. Dustin was about to open his mouth again but Mike swooped in to try to save the situation. "Dustin!" he interrupted loudly. "What are you talking about? Stop talking about Hopper, I don't want-"

"No, whattaya talkin' about?" Dustin slurred, and only then did Mike realize that he was holding the entire bottle of whiskey in his hand. Oh, Jesus. "Hopper is still alive! You jus' told me not to tell El!"

Shit, shit, shit, shit! Mike left El's side and strode over to where Dustin was standing and leaned in close to him so he could whisper. "Dustin, shut the fuck up, man," he growled. He was too scared to look back at El, who he knew was probably already starting to piece together the puzzle.

Dustin blew a gust of air out of his mouth and into Mike's face, and he could smell the strong tang of the alcohol on his breath. "Mike, be quiet," he stumbled over his words, trying to nudge Mike away.

"Mike?" A small voice entered Mike's ear from behind him. He already knew what was coming, and he squeezed his eyes shut and gulped. He turned around slowly to look at El, and realized that everyone else in the group was staring at the two of them, not daring to say a word. His heart started to pound on his chest when he saw the hurt and angry look in El's eyes, the look he had seen many times before, but not usually directed at him.

"What is Dustin talking about?' she asked firmly, not breaking her intent stare, not even blinking. "Friends don't lie."

Mike licked his lips. What choice did he have? He could either confess now, and maybe she would even understand. Or he could dig himself even further down the rabbit hole. But that would just mean that when she did find out, it would be even worse. And Dustin was still standing beside him, and there was no way of knowing that if he did lie again, if he would just catch it and tell El the truth. It would probably be better if it came from anyway, not from one of his friends. Fuck!

"Uhhh," he began, swaying back and forth on his tippy toes. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! "There...might be a chance that Hopper is still alive. And… we found out from Will a while ago about it. His Mom never saw his body. So… there's a chance… a chance… that he might still be alive. We think. Maybe somewhere in Russia."

El was silent. Mike could not tell if she was upset or angry, so he chose to continue. "When Will told us, we didn't know if we should tell you about it or not. Some of us thought that you should know because...well, he was your Dad and stuff, and that you deserved to know. But some of us thought that it would be easier if we didn't tell you so that… so you could move on easier.

"And Dustin kinda spilled the beans here," he laughed nervously, hoping to draw at least a tiny reaction from El, but there was none. His heart continued to beat furiously in his rib cage, so hard that he thought he might pass out. "But, um… Dustin thinks that he could be alive somewhere, maybe some Russian prison or something, but.. We don't know. If he's dead. Or not."

He swallowed heavily, allowing El to digest what she had just been told. Her face was still expressionless, and with each passing millisecond Mike was getting more and more tense to the point that he was scrunching his toes together in his shoes. It was unbearable. She just had to say something, anything. Had she even been listening?

Her eyes were no longer focused on him, they were just simply glazed over and she was now just gazing into thin air. "El?" he asked, almost in a whisper. "Are you okay?" His question was met with more silence. It was killing him. He noticed that the rest of the group was starting to slowly back away, as if they were afraid of El suddenly exploding with them close to her. Mike took a few slow steps toward El, trying to get closer. She was looking at the floor now. It was impossible to read what she was feeling. What was she feeling? Was she feeling anything? What was wrong?

"El?" Mike reached a hand out to touch her but she quickly took a step back. No. No, no, no no no no… "El?" he repeated taking another step closer, but she took another step back. The situation was slipping through his fingers like grains of sand. He tried to hug her but El reached up and pushed his arms away, still not meeting his eye. Her lip was shaking and her eyes were starting to tear up.

Holy shit, was she really that upset? What was going on? He was getting more and more terrified by the second. He wasn't going to lose her again, not like this. Not because of some stupid lie. She opened her mouth. "I…" she trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

"El, please-"

"No," she said quietly, starting to walk away.

"El, I can explain-"

"Go away."

"There was a reason, I just thought-"

"NO!" she screamed, her voice ripping through the cool forest air like a machete. "Leave me alone!" She was crying now, completely and utterly.

And with that, she took off, running into the woods.

Alright guys, what do you think? Things are gonna get a little bit bumpy as we approach the whole moving plot line etc. Again, the reviews are always greatly appreciated. They push me to get this stuff done for you quicker, so if you like what you're reading, please let me know! I love all you guys. Take it easy :)