That one night, the one night that changed everything– the perspective of the past, the emotion of the moment and the unforgettable future.

Each step El takes closer to that thing, their hearts drop lower and lower, until it feels as though they're trying to touch the bottom of a deep pool.

Chris stands there, watching in absolute dread as she inches towards the proximity of the screeching Demogorgan.

"Good bye, Mike." She whispers with tears filling her eyes, before turning around to sacrifice herself for the lives of the group, "No more."

Her words linger in Chris's mind as he charges towards her; to try and save her.

Mike is sitting back in sorrow, covering his ears and closing his eyes at the terrible sound coming from the Demogorgon.

Chris slides towards the floor on which El stood– it's too late, she's gone.

Mike, Lucas and Dustin also go to where El stood.

Mike frantically calls out El's name, "El? El?"

Lucas and Dusin join in and in unison they shout, "Eleven!"

"El?"

Chris clutches onto what is left behind of Eleven close to his heart and begins to sob.

With the sudden realization that they can't waste any time.

Dustin blurts out, "Shit. We gotta go."

Mike and Lucas both nod to each other as they turn their flashlights on and bolt out of the lab.

They all run out into the hallway, the sound of their thumping feet start to soften as they all run out, except Chris who's still sitting there.

Unable to pick himself up, he drops the flakes and watches them disintegrate on the floor with a few still clinging onto his red hoodie. With his vision blurry from tears Chris can hear footsteps, loud footsteps as though there were 10 people running down the hall towards him.

He can slightly make out what looks to be lights flickering around the door frame and on the wall behind it, the sound of people running soon makes its way to the door.

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.

~Time skip 1 and a half years later~

(S3 Ep1)

El and Mike are sitting cross-legged on the bed making out, they have been inseparable ever since the Mindflayer was defeated and Mike was allowed to go to Eleven's house.

Mike stops during the make-out session, only to smoothly come in with the chorus of the song, "And nobody wants you to know you now... nobody wants to show you~~."

El is confused by this and immediately tries to cut him off but he keeps going, "Mike. Mike, stop. Stop!"

"So if you're lost and on your own..."

"Mike! Stop!"

"You can never surrender!"

El starts to laugh, "Stop!"

Mike finally stops singing and asks "What, don't you like it?"

"No!"

The couple share a smile and lock eyes before resuming the make-out session. The clearly miserable Hopper sat on his Easy-chair while eating Tostito chips and watching TV at the same time, he hates every second of every night that Mike has to stay there and do this to his Daughter.

He reaches down for the handle to slowly recline, making sure that El has obeyed the rules of a three-inch-open-door, coming close to the full extent of the recliner he spots El and Mike kissing.

"Hey!" Hopper yelled with a frown on his face.

The sudden burst of rage in Hopper's voice startled the two and instantly broke apart from each other, before El telekinetically flicked the door shut.

"Hey!" Hopper continued on, jumping out of his Lazy-boy and sprinting towards the door to Eleven's bedroom, "Three-inch minimum! Leave the door open three-inches!"

He rattles the doorknob vigorously, trying to get in.

"El, open this door," He rambled, while banging on the door, "El open the–"

The door swiftly opens, the force of Hopper's fist not hitting the door makes him shift forward.

"What's wrong?" Mike replied with a sheepish grin. Hopper squints his eyes at Mike, copying his grin for a moment then replying with, "You know what, I think it's time you go now."

Hopper has that scary undertone in his voice and Mike detects it almost instantly; it scares him.

He realizes that he really can't stay for much longer, but it was worth every minute of time that he had with her. Mike grabs his backpack in the corner of Eleven's room and exits without looking at Hopper in the eyes, or anywhere for that matter.

He quickly shoots one last look at El before closing the door behind him, picking his bike up and leaves. Eleven looks up at her Dad with an un-wipeable smile on her face, Hopper takes a swift look before exiting the room to continue eating his Tostitos.

As soon as Hopper left the room, El raced up and went straight towards her Walkie-talkie, turning it on, pulling out the antenna and flopping onto her bed.

"My God, that was priceless! Did you see his face?" Mike started with.

"It was like a tomato!" El replied

"Yeah, a fat tomato!"

"I wish I was still with you."

"I know. Me too. But I'll see you tomorrow alright? First thing."

"Tomorrow" El finishes, lowering her Walkie-talkie and smiles.

There's a hard knock on the front door of the cabin, it sounded as though the whole door would collapse. . . Hopper was startled at first.

"Mike, I said to get out of here!" Hopper shouted from the Easy-chair. El heard the name Mike, she sped to her door and watched from there. A loud boom can be heard, it rattled the whole house, but this time it wasn't on the door; it was on the porch. Hopper leapt out of his seat, grabbed his gun and hid it behind the door to answer it.

He looked down and there was a body, it looked lifeless but he could see that it was breathing. It had a familiar red hoodie and that's when his heart sank into his chest.

It was Chris from one and a half years ago, it seemed like forever since they last saw him. El stood there watching in horror as Hopper dragged the body inside and put it on the couch.

He examined the body, it was skinny and pale; how is this alive?

Scared and a little creeped out by this, El crept back into her room.

Hopper opened the door and saw his clearly weirded-out daughter

"Do you remember who that boy was?" Hopper asked, while fidgeting with a pillow from the couch.

"No, should I know?" El replied

He let out a huff, "That was Chris from 17 months ago, he was a part of the group that first found you."

El shakes her head "I've never seen him before."

Hopper begins to get worried, "When you killed the Demogorgan he was there, how do you not know him?" He said with a stern voice.

El shakes her head slowly and replies with a stern voice too "I. don't. know."

Hopper swings out the door and paces towards the body. He pulls a blanket up to Chris' waist and takes his hoodie off, only to find that there are bruises all over his torso. His body is clammy and sticky as though it has been in water for a long time. It looked almost exactly like Will's body then they found him the Upside Down. Hopper didn't care what he looked like, but he still tried to nurse him back to health.

~At Starcourt~

Bustling people are coming in and going from the massive new mall in Hawkins named 'Starcourt'.

Mike is speeding through the carpark and up to the entrance of the Mall, where Lucas, Max and Will are waiting for him.

"You're late" Lucas starts with

"Sorry!" Mike replied

"Again!"

"We're gonna miss the opening." Will says, frustrated.

"Yeah, if you guys keep whining about it. Let's go"

Lucas mocks Mike in a high-pitched voice "If you guys keep whining about it. Nyeh- nyeh- nyeh."

"Just please stop talking, dude"

Mike and Lucas come through the doors first, followed by Max and Will.

Lucas starts up again, "Let me guess– you were busy." Lucas kisses the air, yet again mocking Mike and his relationship with El.

Mike rebutts, "Oh yeah, real nature, Lucas."

But he continues his assault on Mike while they all power through the floor of the Mall.

"Oh, El, I wish we could make-out forever, and never have to hangout with any of our friends."

Max has had enough, "Lucas, stop."

"Will thinks it's funny."

Will lets out a chuckle, "Because it is."

The group 'round a corner and head to the escalators.

"Yeah, it's so funny that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend." Mike implies.

"I'm spending romantic time with my girlfriend." Lucas says, putting his arm around Max's shoulders.

They all soon come into the sight of the massive, neon food court and make their way down the crowded escalators.

Mike bumps into a woman, "Sorry!" Mike says, but the woman just turned around and angrily shouted, "Watch it!"

Erica Sinclair saw this and shouted at them, "Yeah, watch it, NERD!" She was sitting nearby with four friends, girls, the same age, eating ice cream.

Without stopping to chat, Mike, Lucas, Max and Will walk by Erica and her friends.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Lucas backfires

"Isn't it time you died?"

"Psycho!"

"Fart face!" Lucas blows raspberries in the air at Erica, clearly he lost this battle.

Max grabs Lucas' arm and leads him away, "Oh, now that was mature."

Mike, Will, Lucas and Max enter Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor, the nautical theme of the place plays as they enter from the Foodcourt.

Mike, leading the way, marches up to Robin Buckley, who loves making fun of her dingus colleague.

Mike taps the service bell repeatedly, disregarding Robin's glares at Mike and calls out to her colleague, "Hey, dingus, your children are here!"

Behind Robin, is another counter. A sliding plastic window opens. Steve Herington appears and is working in the backroom and he too glares at Mike, "Again? Seriously?"

Mike gives Steve a death stare straight in the eyes, before ringing the bell one more time.

The service hallway runs behind the Food court restaurants. It is normally used by staff and for deliveries. But today, like many other days before it, Mike, Lucas, Will and Max are using it for a different rear door of Scoops Ahoy swings open. The four friends rush out and into the corridor.

Steve is worried, "I swear, if anybody hears about this– " Mike, Lucas, Max and Will all cut him off and say, "We're dead." Steve sighs before retreating, shutting the door behind him.

Mike cracks a door open and peeks out, "All clear."

He leads his friends from the service hallway and into a nearby Movie theatre. They pass by a poster on the wall: Back to the Future. And then another poster on the wall: George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, Sneak Preview.

The lights in the theatre are dimmed. Patrons are already seated watching the previews– which have just ended.

Mike, Will, Max and Lucas squeeze past to find their seats.

"See Lucas, we made it." Mike reassures Lucas.

"We missed the previews"

Max talks to Lucas, "Still, we made it, Fart face."

Max shoots Lucas a coy smile while Lucas jokingly mocks.

Will opens his backpack and pulls out snacks. He and Mike distribute them out to Max and Lucas. The movie begins and their focus turns to the film.

Moments later the projector shutters, before going dark. The crowd clamors their lights go out.

The escalators grind to a halt.

Complete loss of power goes all over the Mall.

Erica and her friends are right where we last saw them, Erica is confused and asks, "What, the hell?"

Steve and Robin are serving two customers, girls. The lights turn off.

"That's weird." Steve says while walking to a nearby light switch on the wall and flicks it on and off repeatedly.

Nothing.

"It isn't going to work, dingus" Robin butts in, "Oh, really?"

Steve continues with the flickering of the light switch, but more rapidly.

~Moments later~

The lights turn back on, the escalators start moving.

Erica, still eating her ice cream cone, looks at her friend and shrugs.

The lights turn on as Steve, is still by the light switch.

"Let there be light." He says in relief.

The projector comes back to life and the movie resumes. Much to the delight of the crowd, but not Will. As his friends and the patrons around him settle, Will becomes increasingly worried. Goosebumps form at the back of Will's neck, as he reaches behind and places his hand over them.

Suddenly, the past comes back and haunts him with the staining memory of the Mindflayer looming over Hawkins Middle School. It's tendrils entering Will's eyes, ears, nose and mouth. The feeling of the Mindflayer leaving his body back at the cabin, when he was strapped to the bed, comes back stronger than ever before.

"Hey" Mike says, making Will snap out of his jarring flashbacks, "You okay?"

"Yeah." Will says, trying not to look nervous."Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Clearly he's not okay.

Will shifts nervously before turning his attention to the movie screen.

~In the morning~

It's 11am and Chris suddenly wakes up without moving, giving the impression that he's still asleep. His eyes darted around the place trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. He feels the blanket around his waist and checks to see if he has pants on.

He does.

A loud snore comes from the Easy-chair, realizing that the residents in the house are asleep, Chris gets up as quiet as a mouse and slips his hoodie back on.

Using the fridge, he climbs up onto the beams that support the roof so he wouldn't be as visible if he was down on the couch.

He sees a room next to the kitchen and decides to creep over to have a look. He drops down in the room and sees– its Eleven, alive and well. Holding back the urge to cry and hold her in his arms, Chris just sits there and watches her sleep peacefully, in a way it was reassuring for him.

Thinking that it would be kind of creepy to continue, he decides to leave her room and goes back onto the couch where Hopper put him.

Hours go by and El wakes up. She makes her way towards her door and hears music coming from the other side. She quickly swings open the door and finds Hopper grooving to a song, all bright and happy.

Chris stands at the stove-top making omelettes. They smell good, Hopper notices El and greets her with open arms "Oh, look who's awake! See, this is Chris!"

She looks towards Chris, he's a really tall guy. He turns around and smiles showing off his white teeth, while wiping his hands on a kitchen towel.

"Please, take a seat," He offered, pointing towards a chair at the small table, El listened to the music, the song's Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

Chris serves up the omelets and pours them each a glass of water. The food was delicious, on the first bite El's eyes lit up and looked at Hopper to see his reaction.

"Oh, what a lovely breakfast!" He comments enthusiastically.

Chris just shrugs his shoulders and replies with, "It really wasn't something special."

At the Byer's house Will is eating breakfast at the kitchen table.

Joyce is about to sit down until she notices Jonathan, "Hey, hey, hey! Wait up."

"Oh, no, I'll eat at work. I'm late." Jonathan replies.

He stops momentarily to face Joyce. Jonathan has Nancy's lipstick kiss imprint on his right cheek.

"Your cheek." Joyce says.

"All right. I gotta run! See you later."

"All right." Joyce joins Will at the kitchen table.

"Ugh, gross," Will says.

"Well, I don't think you're gonna think it's gross when you fall in love."

"I'm not gonna fall in love."

"Okay."

Joyce notices something near the fridge. She gets up from the table and walks over.

"Hey. What happened here?"

Joyce crouches down and picks up fallen magnets and papers. She takes a moment to look mournfully at a picture Will drew of Bob Newby, Superhero. Using a magnet, Joyce secures the picture to the fridge. She briefly touches it before walking back to the breakfast.

Dustin's coming home today and Will wants to get ready for his friend so he quickly drinks the milk left in his bowl and bolts out the front door.

Dustin's Mum (Claudia) is driving her Volvo. Dustin Henderson is in the front passenger seat trying to raise his friends on his Walkie-Talkie headset, "This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Dustin has returned from Camp Know-Where '85. He's wearing a cap and T-shirt proudly displaying the Camps logo.

"This is Gold Leader returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

Nothing.

Dustin is losing his patience.

"I repeat: This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."

He does it even louder "I repeat: This is goddamn Gold Leader– "

Claudia stops him before he gets even louder, "Dusty!"

Annoyed, Dustin replies, "What!?"

"Relax! For goodness' sake."

"I'm in range. They should be answering"

"You've been away a whole month, honey bun. Maybe they just forgot."

Dustin looks worriedly out as his Volvo pulls into the driveway.

Dustin slams his duffle bag onto his bed. He sits wearily. Then, he notices Yurtle, his pet Turtle, looking at him from it's Terrarium.

Dustin sighs and says "At least someone's happy I'm home."

Just then, a toy robot comes to life and wobbles into the room. Then, the robot is joined by R2-D2. Alarmed, Dustin rises to his feet, staring at the robots. A toy monkey starts clapping its cymbals. A transformer and a tank come alive, and start approaching Dustin. An electronic dinosaur starts shooting disc's at him. A toy steam train rumbles by Dustin's feet.

The toys make their way out of Dustin's bedroom following the robot. Dustin quickly looks around his room for something to arm himself with. He grabs a bottle of Farrah Fawcett Hairspray from his dresser.

Dustin carefully and slowly exits his room. The hairspray is at the ready– as if it were a gun. Dustin begins following the toys as they march toward the living room.

Dustin reassures himself saying, "It's just a dream. You're dreaming"

Dustin's finger is on the hairspray's trigger. He continues after the rogue toy.

Max, Lucas, Will, Mike, Eleven and Chris stand pressed against a wall, out of sight from Dustin. Eleven's eyes are closed. Blood drips from her left nostril.

Mike looks at her and whispers, "Now."

El's eyes open. At that moment, the toys come to a halt. Dustin, standing behind the army of toys, rushes over to R2-D2 and picks it up. He quickly examines the toy before putting it down then picking up the robot leader.

In the background we can see, Max, Lucas, Will, Mike, El and Chris slowly creep behind the unsuspecting Dustin. They're carrying a homemade Welcome Home sign and have noise-makers at the ready

Max begins a silent countdown. 3- 2- 1

At that moment, they all blow into the noise-makers. Dustin jumps to his feet, turns around, and without warning, sprays Lucas in the face with the Farrah Fawcett Hairspray. The others back away, covering their eyes. Lucas screams, which, oddly, sounds a lot like a little girl's scream.

After Dustin emptied his can of hairspray in Lucas' eyes, everyone celebrates his arrival. They all give Dustin a hug, except Max and Lucas for they needed 'medical attention'.

Shortly after the little greeting, their attention is quickly drawn to the absurdly familiar stranger in the room. Will comes out from behind Mike to have a closer look at the stranger, the look of realization slowly but surely comes over his face.

"Guys! It's Chris!" Will says, ecstatically.

Chris just stands there, stretches his arms out wide for a big hug with a smile on his face. The boys' mouths open wide in shock as they race up to him and have a group hug.

El is standing back, still wondering who the hell this person is.

Max enters the room and sees Dustin, Mike and Will, all huddling around this one person.

"Who is that?" She asks, pointing her finger straight at Chris.

Mike turns around and says, "He's an old friend, we thought we'd lost him ever since Will came back from the Upside Down, years ago."

~Moments Later~

Lucas is still at the sink flushing his eyes out.

"Ow, ow, ow." He says in agony.

He stands up, Max is beside him.

"Better?" She asks comfortingly.

"Still stings." He says as he runs his fingers over his eyes, then turns his focus to Max, "Is that a new zit?"

Max's concern for Lucas turns to scorn.

"What is wrong with you?" She scolds at him, before dunking Lucas' head in the sink.

"I was just asking!" Lucas pathetically screams, as his voice is drowned out– literally– under-water.

Chris' sitting on the bench next to them watching the couple. He covers his mouth with his fist, trying very hard not to laugh or smile. Max notices his facial expression, she can't help but roll her eyes and shoot him a cheeky half-smile.

Will, Mike and El join Dustin in his bedroom. Dustin is showing off his inventions from Camp Know Where.

"I call it– the Forever Clock." Dustin says, showing them a wooden/tin contraption that resembles a windmill. Strangely, there is no clock, "All right? Powered by wind. Very useful in the apocalypse."

Dustin hands the device to Will.

Dustin continues to say, "Then, I give you the Slammer."

It's a motorised hammer. He engages the device, and pushes it toward El and Mike.

Dustin chuckles, "Pretty neat, huh?" He turns to his duffle bag, "But this. This is my masterpiece."

He places the heavy bag on the floor. They all sit. Dustin unzips the bag.

"I would like you to meet– Cerebro." The bag is full of parts.

Confused, Mike asks, "What exactly are we looking at here?"

Dustin's enthusiasm is contagious. His toothless grin, beyond cute.

"An unassembled one-of-a-kind battery-powered radio tower!" Dustin states, smiling brightly, while the others look bewildered.

"So, it's a– ham radio." Will clarifies.

Dustin replies 'as a matter of fact' like, "The Cadillac of ham radios. This baby carries connection over vast distances. I'm talking, North Pole to South. I can talk to my girlfriend whenever and wherever I choose."

Wait, what?

Will, Mike and El shoot each other a look.

Then, in unison they clarify, "Girlfriend?"

Dustin smiles and nods.

Out into the hallway, Dustin carrying his duffle bag, is leading the way. Following behind is Mike, El and Will.

"Wait, so her name is Suzie?" Mike asks.

"Suzie with a 'z.' She's from Utah." Dustin replies.

"Is she cute?"

"Think Phoebe Cates, only hotter."

Max, Lucas and Chris are still at the sink in the kitchen. Lucas still has his face under the running water and asks, "What's going on?"

Dustin, Mike, El and Will are on their way out the front door. Before leaving, Will responds to Max.

"We're going to talk to Dustin's girlfriend," Will answers.

Lucas, eyes closed, lifts his head from the sink and Chris jumps off the bench. Max, Lucas and Chris say together, "Girlfriend?"

Lucas, Max and Chris rush out after the others.

~A little later~

Dustin is leading Max, Lucas, Will, Mike, El and Chris up a steep grassy hill known as Weathertop. It's the highest point in Hawkins. Mike and El are holding hands while the others are carrying Cerebro parts.

"Aren't we high enough?" Lucas says puffed out and covered in sweat.

"Cerebro works best at a hundred meters." Dustin answers.

"You know, I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones." Max states.

"Yeah, but Suzie's Mormon."

"Oh shit! She doesn't have electricity?" Lucas says, clearly shocked.

"No, that's the Amish." Max clarifies.

Will is confused and asks, "What are Mormons?"

"Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but since I'm not Mormon, her parents would never approve. It's all a bit. . . Shakespearean." Dustin says.

"Shakespearean?" Max asks.

"Yeah, like Romeo and Juliet."

"Right."

"Star-crossed lovers." Dustin says with a smile on his face.

"I got it." Max huffs.

Speaking of star-crossed lovers, Mike and El are purposely lagging behind the rest of the group.

"Hey guys!" Mike yells.

The others halt and turn to face Mike and El.

"This is fun and all, but, uh. . ." Mike taps his watch.

"I have to go home." El says.

Chris is confused whether he should go with Mike and El because he lives at her place now.

"We're almost there." Dustin says.

"Sorry, man. Curfew."

Mike takes El's hand.

"Come on, let's go." Mike says to El.

They start walking back down the hill, leaving their friends behind to set up Cerebro.

"Good luck." El says, before turning back to walk with Mike.

Mike and El share a cute giggle. Chris really didn't want to leave Dustin but he had to know if he was allowed to stay with the others.

"Hey, umm," Chris starts, "I don't know if I have to go or not, with them. Can I go make sure that, I can stay with you guys? Since I have to live with El now?"

Dustin throws his arms up in the air annoyed.

"I'll come back and find you guys! Don't worry!" Chris says, before trailing off behind Mike and El.

"Curfew at four?" Dustin repeats to himself.

Lucas overheard Dustin, "El and Mike are lying."

"It's been like this all summer for them." Will butts in.

Max protests, "It's romantic."

"It's gross."

"It's bullshit, I just got home." Dustin says.

"Are you angry at Chris as well?" Max asks.

"No, because he has a valid reason to go, but El and Mike? They're just lying to our faces." Dustin answers, "Well, their loss, right? Onwards and upwards. Suzie awaits!"

Dustin turns and continues up the hill. Max and Lucas sigh in exhaustion and fall-in behind Dustin. Will turns to follow but hesitates. A look of dread overtakes Will's pale face. Goosebumps form on the back of his neck. He slides a hand on the back of his neck, then turns toward Mike and El.

"Will, come on!" Dustin yells at him.

Will turns around and hurries to catch up with his friends.

~Later that afternoon~

Dustin, Max, Will and Lucas make it to the top.

"Made it!" Dustin exclaims.

"Yeah, it only took five hours." Max states annoyed.

"Why couldn't we just play D&D?" Will request.

"I'm so thirsty." Lucas complains.

Lucas drops what he's carrying, uncaps a canteen of water, and drinks. And drinks. And drinks. And drinks. Max stares at Lucas incredulously.

"Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?" Max says.

Lucas spits some back into the canteen, then holds it out to her with an innocent grin. Max shakes her head, then turns away.

~Moments later~

As the sun sets, the friends begin to build Dustin's Cerebro.

Dustin admires his creation, "Impressive, right? You ready to meet my love?"

Max replies with, "Okay, sure."

"Yeah." Also says Will.

Dustin sits on the grass and picks up a mic attached to the transmitter. Lucas, Max and Will gather closer to Dustin.

Dustin speaks into the mic, "Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Radio static.

He talks to the group, "One sec. She's probably– she's still there," Dustin talks into the mic again, "Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Radio static. Lucas, Max and Will exchange sceptical looks.

"I'm sure she's there. It's just– " Dustin talks to Lucas.

"Yeah." Lucas says.

"It's around dinnertime– "

"Mm."

"Yep." Max joins in.

Dustin hesitates before speaking again, " –here," he starts to talk into the mic, "Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

Radio static. The sun is low in the sky. But Dustin persists.

"Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

Radio static.

~Hopper's Cabin - Night~

The boombox is playing: "Can't fight this feeling by Reo Speedwon." Mike and El are sitting opposite, on El's bed, making out.

Hopper is on his bed hugging a pillow nervously. A lit cigarette hangs from his lips. He's rehearsing his heart-to-heart.

". . . Why it's important to establish these boundaries– moving forward, so that we can create an environment where– you feel comfortable and trusted and open. Shit," He checks his notes, "To share our feelings."

Hopper sets the pillow aside and takes a drag from his cigarette.

He slides back the sheet serving as his bedroom door. He tucks his notes into his shirt pocket and walks to El's bedroom door (Which is ajar precisely three-inches). Hopper knocks on the wall beside the door.

"Hey." Hopper says.

"Yes?" El replied calmly.

"Can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

El telekinetically opens the door much wider.

The door swings open. Hopper stands at the threshold. Mike and El are sitting on different parts of the bed. Mike looks really disappointed.

Hopper's voice is shaky, "Hi."

"Hi?" El replied with a face that clearly said 'Um, okay?'

Mike however had a cold hard "Hi," with a face that clearly said 'go the hell away'.

The song continues at near full volume. Shifting vulnerably, Hopper steps inside. He grabs a chair and sits facing the bed. El scoots closer to Mike. Hopper glances nervously between the two. Mike and El regard him with confused looks. Hopper turns to the boombox and switches it off. He turns his attention back to Mike and El.

"Um." Hopper says, disrupting the awkward silence.

He rubs his lip. There is silence. El pitches her head forward expectantly.

"What I, uh– needed to say to you– What I wanted– to say to you– is that, um– " Hopper is lost for words.

Mike says to El jokingly, "Uh-oh. I think we're in trouble."

The two kids chuckle and Mike shoots Hopper a sly smile. Hopper gapes at Mike.

"No. Nobody's in trouble, okay? I just, um– " Hopper tries to say but is cut off by Mike's sudden movement.

Mike leans over and whispers something in El's ear. El giggles.

"Uh– "

El giggles again. Hopper glares at Mike.

Not even a beat goes and Hopper sounded dead serious this time, "You know what? Your Mum called."

"What?" Mike said worriedly.

"Yeah. She needs you home right away."

A look of concern crosses El's face.

"Is everything okay?" Mike asked the exact same way he did earlier.

"No, I don't think so. It's your Grandma."

Mike's face goes pale.

~Moments Later~

Hopper and Mike walk over to Hop's truck.

"Is she dead?" Mike asks with concern.

"No."

"Did she fall again?"

"No."

"Does she have cancer?"

"No."

"Then I don't understand. What's wrong with Nana?"

They both climb in the truck.

Hopper yells at Mike, "Nothing! There's nothing wrong with Nana!"

"What?" Mike answered incredulously.

Hopper calms down and elaborates, "But– there's something very wrong with this thing between you and El."

"You lying piece of shit!" Mike insults.

Mike turns to leave the truck. Hopper locks the doors. Mike lifts the lock pin; Hopper pushes the button to lower it. Again. Again. Mike turns to Hopper.

"You're crazy."

He's got that look.

"Crazy?" Hopper mirrored with his eyes widening, "You wanna see real crazy? You disrespect me again."

Fear washes over Mike.

In a chilling whisper, Hopper clarifies, "Okay?"

Mike is frozen with fear.

"Here's what's going to happen. I'm gonna drive you home. And I'm gonna speak– and you're going to listen. And then, maybe– maybe by the end of it, maybe if you're lucky, maybe– I will allow you to date my daughter." Hopper says before turning to Mike who just stares at him, "Nod if you understand!" He says with a raised voice.

Mike nods vigorously. Hopper hits the gas and the truck speeds away.

~At Weathertop~

A full moon provides the only light as Dustin continues his efforts to raise Suzie on Cerebro.

"Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

Radio static.

"Suzie! This is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Radio static.

Will, Lucas and Max are lying in the grass. Dustin is standing.

Dustin continues his barrage of trying to contact Suzie, "Suzie, this is your Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Radio static.

When Dustin is just about to call again, Chris comes into view trodding up the mountain side.

Max sits up, "Wait. You actually came back?"

"Well, I mean, yeah? Why not? I wouldn't miss this for the world." Chris says while approaching Dustin's side.

Dustin shares a grin with Chris, until he realizes there's something on Chris' hoodie, "Hey, is that blood?"

Chris looks down, searching for the stain.

"Wow, I don't know where that came from." Chris quickly dismisses.

"Uh-huh, it didn't take you very long to get to El's house and back." Dustin realizes.

"I ran there, and back." Chris protests.

"You don't look sweaty."

"Really? It must be too dark for you to see."

Chris walks away and joins the others on the ground before Dustin interrogates him even further.

Dustin shrugs it off and gives Suzie another go, "Suzie– "

Max cuts him off, "Dustin, come on, she's not there." She said annoyed.

"She's there, all right? She'll pick up." Dustin protests.

"Maybe Cerebro doesn't work." Will suggests.

"Or, maybe, Suzie doesn't exist." Lucas says.

"She exists!"

"She's a genius and she's hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect."

"Who is Phoebe Cates?" Chris asks, confused.

Lucas just stares at Chris.

" 'No girl is that perfect', is that so?" Max buts in.

"I mean– you're perfect." Lucas says.

Max glares.

"I mean, like, per– perfect in your own way– in your special– your own special way." Lucas tries back-up his argument.

Max can't hold it in anymore. She laughs.

"Relax," She says, "I was teasing."

Lucas nods nervously, but somewhat relieved.

"I'm obviously perfect and Dustin's obviously lying."

Max stands up.

"Come on Don Juan." Max says to Lucas.

Max and Lucas head off hand-in-hand.

"Where are you going?" Dustin asks.

"Home."

"Well. . . guess it's just you, me and Chris, Byers."

"Um. . . it's late. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow we can play D&D. Or something fun. Like we used to?" Will suggests.

"Yeah. Sure." Dustin says hurt.

"Don't worry, you'll have Chris to accompany you. Welcome– home." Will says.

Will breaks into a jog down the hill leaving Dustin alone with Chris. Dustin checks on Chris. He's asleep.

Dustin says to himself, "Yeah. Welcome home."

Distorted radio chatter breaks the momentary silence. Dustin turns his attention to Cerebro. Rushing to respond, Dustin trips and falls on the ground.

Dustin talks into the mic, "Suzie? Suzie, is that you?"

A man speaking Russian can be heard through the static. Dustin turns up the volume. The Russian man continues talking without tone or emotion.

~The End of Chapter One~