The door of the store jingled as another customer walked through the door, making Joyce raise her head. The police chief took off his hat with a sigh, nodding to her in greeting.

"Hey, Hop." She said with a smile, and he grunted, grabbing a couple of packs of screws from the shelf close to him. "How have things been?"

"Fine." He said, inspecting the packaging.

"What are you up to?"

"I'm making shelves for El's room, now that Max introduced shopping to her she can't stop buying things with who knows what money. She has no room to put all of her stuff now."

Joyce chuckled. "That's a teenage girl for you."

"I guess so."

Hopper found the size of the screws he was looking for and made his way to the counter, placing a couple of crumbled bills on the surface. Casting a quick glance around the store, he noticed a bike in the corner, a small sign on the handlebars listing its price.

"Since when did the store start selling bikes?"

Joyce looked in the direction the chief was focused on and gestured to the bike with little interest.

"That's been there for a while, we had a lot more but that one has a crooked seat. No one's been willing to fix it. Hence, the cheaper price."

Hopper whistled, walking over to the bike to inspect it closer. "It is pretty cheap."

And it was a nice bike. Although the seat was obviously on the bike in an uncomfortable fashion, everything else looked perfect. It was mainly black with dark blue and silver accents, and the wheels were perfect for both off and on road biking.

He gripped the handlebars, testing the feel of it in his hand, and he found it to be perfect.

"Hey, do you think El would like this?"

Joyce took a second glance at the bike, smiling. "I think that she would love it. Does she know how to ride it, though? I know she's slowly learning how to live here."

Hopper knew what she meant. El was still adjusting to life outside of the lab. He remembered the words of the day he did with her, teaching her what simple words meant, and even Mike, who had shared that she didn't even know what a friend was until they met.

She definitely wouldn't know how to ride a bike, but she could learn. Hopper knew that it would make her day, and then she could begin to go on rides with her friends. When he got comfortable with that, of course.

"I could teach her, or try, at least. And I'm sure that Wheeler would be willing to give assistance if need be."

Hopper picked up the bike and let Joyce ring it through, passing her even more money.

"She's going to love this, Hop, she really is."

"Never more than Eggos, though."

She laughed, and Hopper gave her a small wave as he walked out of the store, bike and screws in hand. The only thing he would have to do before showing her the bike was fix the seat, but that would be an easy task. He gently put the bike in the back of his truck, getting into the front seat and driving away, careful to avoid any potholes in the road that could damage the present for the girl that deserved it.

...

El didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he was in the garage for a couple hours when he got home, as she was so absorbed by the TV, especially the commercials. When Hopper walked into the small cabin, his hands covered by a fine layer of dust, he smiled when he saw a plate of Eggos on her lap.

"We're going to have to put a restriction on the number of those things you eat."

El looked up and watched him with curiosity. "Why?"

"They aren't the best thing for you to eat, kid. It's like eating ice cream for breakfast every day."

Her response was taking another bit of the waffle in her hand, and Hopper sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Come on outside, El, I have a gift for you."

El stood up hesitantly and followed him out the door, sliding on a pair of shoes that Max had bought her a couple of days ago. The fresh air was refreshing on her skin, wind going through her hair, but she didn't focus on it. Her gaze was fixated on a bike that lay in front of her, near the beginning of the driveway.

"Did Mike leave it here?" She asked, and Hopper shook his head.

"Nope, I got this for you. It's your bike, El."

"My bike?"

Hopper nodded. "Yup. I'll teach you to ride it. I figured it was time that you learned. Do you want to give it a try, kid?"

"Yes, please."

He picked up the bike and gestured for her to get on it. She carefully placed herself on the seat, gripping the handles so tightly her skin went white as Hopper held the bike unwaveringly.

"Okay, I'm going to push you, and then you use those petalsー" With that said he pointed to the plastic holders that she put her feet on. "ーto push down and forward on. That will move you and the bike. You steer with the handles."

El nodded, taking a deep breath. Hopper effortlessly lifted the bike to face the road, making El gasp at the sudden movement, but she was smiling.

"Ready?" He asked, and she nodded.

He put his hand on her back and one on the steat, steadily pushing her forward. She could feel the gravel from the road make the tires bump, but it was more fun than anything. It reminded her of when she rode on Mike's bike. But, this time she was the one with hands on the handlebars. The wind picked up as Hopper pushed harder, and she laughed.

"Okay, El, start pedaling! I'm letting you go in 3一"

El pushed her feet against the pedals, holding on eagerly.

"一2一"

She made sure to keep her eyes on the road ahead of her as he said the last number. The lack of his hand on her back scared her, yet she kept on pedaling.

It turned out that that couldn't save her from falling.

El screamed as the ground pitched forward towards her, the bike tipping onto its side and her arms scraped against the gravel as she protected her head. She was soon on the ground, covered in dust and gravel, breathing heavily.

"El!"

She panted as she tried to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. Her legs were tangled in the bike, and she felt like she was trapped.

Soon Hopper was by her side, picking her up and dusting the light gravel from her shirt and pants.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, a bit of tears in her eyes, looking down at the skin on her arms that was red.

"What did I do wrong?"

Hopper sighed, casting a glance at the bike, but El could tell that he wasn't annoyed at her. He wasn't looking at her like Papa would, he seemed more angry at himself.

"I一 you did nothing wrong. I completely forgot that you might need training wheels to keep you balanced."

"Training wheels?" For some reason the words made her cringe.

"They're smaller wheels that help beginners keep their balance, so they don't fall. I'm sorry, El."

"I lost my balance?"

"Yeah, kid, you did."

She wiped the tears from her cheeks, put on a brave face and picked the bike up, setting down into the seat once more.

"Kid?"

"I want to try again." Her voice and her steady expression showed how determined she was, and Hopper rubbed his face with his hands with worry and confusion.

"You could fall again, El, and it'll hurt. Bad."

"You said I need to balance. I know how to balance."

"Okay, fine, you win. We'll try again. Just don't say that I didn't tell you so."

He led her back up the driveway, and began the process again.

Instead of focusing on the fear when Hopper let go of her, El turned her attention to the bike itself as she rode down the driveway, her feet pushing the petals furiously. As soon as the small contraption wanted to pitch to the side, she would push it upright with her abilities.

It wasn't until the main road came up towards her that she realized what she was doing.

She was riding a bike. She wasn't falling.

El laughed and gave a beaming smile, steering with the handlebars and her powers to turn back to Hopper, who was smiling, too. He took his hat off as if he wanted to see her better, and El lifted her feet off the pedals and dragged them on the ground to slow herself down.

Hopper helped her slow to a stop and shook his head, disbelieving.

"I gotta admit, that was smart. You did it, kid. You rode a bike for the first time."

She let out an exhale, nodding. "I did it."

"You most certainly did."

He took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to her, and El touched the top of her lip, where blood from her nose sat. She wiped it carefully, getting off the bike and letting it fall onto the ground once more.

"But," Hopper continued, "Soon you'll be able to ride a bike without your abilities, and we're going to keep on practicing until you can get there, got that? I don't want you to get nosebleeds every time you ride."

El nodded eagerly, suddenly wrapping her smaller arms around his chest in a tight hug. He chuckled and hugged her back.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he couldn't imagine a happier moment in his life than the one right here, holding his daughter in his arms after a victory like this.