Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

After his visit to Joyce due to her calling him, Jim drove to Hideaway, trying to look casual without his sheriff hat. He would call Terry, but he knew that the Lab would listen in, so a visit was safer.

He took a deep breath and entered in, seeing a couple waitresses, but not Terry. "Oh, Chief Hopper," one of them at the bar greeted, distancing herself from her customers to try and not make a scene. "It's been a while."

He smiled and nodded, smoking his cigarette. "It has, Diane," he replied. He has been in Hideaway before, but no one knew him on a name basis. Ever since he gotten himself a friendship with Terry, nearly every waitress calls him by his title, which he decides to let slide. He had taken visits to Hideaway a few times, but just a few times. His last visit was two months ago and Terry was always off the clock whenever he visited.

"You looking for Terry?" He simply nodded. "She just went into the kitchen."

"Alright."

He was about to move, but then Diane said, "Wait. You're not allowed to go in there."

He looked at her plainly. "Not even as Chief of Police?"

She shook her head. "Not unless you get my bosses' permission."

"Permission to do what?" asked Terry. The two of them looked at her, seeing that she was surprised to see him there.

While he just smiled at her, Diane stated, "He, uh, wants to see you."

"Actually, I want to talk to her for a bit," he added before looking at her. "Is that fine?"

What the hell did he want to talk to her about? "Make it quick." As they walked out of the restaurant, she spotted Diane winking at her, making her roll her eyes. She and the rest of the girls knew they weren't like THAT at all. It didn't help that she wasn't concrete on his question earlier either.

"So, listen." He ashed his cigarette on the ashtray provided at the table. "The kid wants to go trick-or-treating and I told him what we talked about."

Right... "Is he upset?"

"Yeah, but I compromised with him."

She looked a bit concerned. "Compromised?"

"I told that I would come talk to you into buying some candy for us before we all come back home."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I told him that I'll get off work early and we'll come at seven and watch a scary movie while eating them. I think he's looking forward to it."

It didn't sound like a bad compromise. After all, Terry wouldn't be around to greet the trick-or-treaters...like before. It honestly reminded her of some times in the 60's when she and Becky would do the same thing on Halloween with their bags of candy. Perhaps it'll be fun for all of them. "I'll buy the candy for us."

He smiled at her. "I appreciate it, Terry."

She smiled back at her, feeling a bit warm-hearted by his statement. He then smoked his cigarette again, blowing the smoke away from her. That made her ask, "What's with that?"

He looked at her. "With what?"

She pointed at the cigarette. "You smoke, Joyce smokes, Becky smokes..." A couple of her co-workers even smoked too and her parents did too before they died. She swore, she grew up around smokers.

He chuckled at that statement. "What, do you wanna?" He offered her the cigarette, but she held her hand up and shook her head.

"No, no thanks."

"Ya sure?"

As much as she wanted to say yes, the curiosity of trying it was eating her away. She knew it was bad for health, but she knew that one smoke wouldn't kill a person instantly. She sighed and offered her hand. Jim handed it to her and said, "You just suck it in and breathe it out." She did as she was told, but then instantly took it out of her mouth and began coughing out smoke.

"Oh my God..." she muttered, making him grin. It was like she was suffocating. "How do you guys tolerate this crap?" She coughed out more smoke. "I feel like I nearly choked myself to death..."

Her reaction was as expected. "Ah, you get used to it after a few times." She handed the cigarette back to him and tried to regain her breathing, shaking her head. "You alright?"

"I'll live." After she coughed again, she made herself go through a deep breath. "Isn't this what you and Joyce did back in high school?"

He looked surprised by what she said. "She told you?"

"Back then. She told me you would share cigarettes with her between periods before getting caught by Mr. Cooper or someone else." She chuckled a little, remembering her high school days way back when and crossing her arms. "I always thought you were trouble, not only making Joyce do that, but also being the talk of the girls back then."

He grinned again. "'Course you did. You were the teacher's pet, a goody-two-shoes." As much as she hated to admit it now...he was right. "You crushed on me?"

She scoffed. "I was WAY into my studies to have a crush."

"'Course you were."

She giggled a little before straying from the subject by stating, "Anyway, I'll get the candy for you and Mike. I'll see you at seven?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It'll be like a family get-together." They both exchanged smiles before leaving each other.

The police chief noticed that he shared cigarettes with two women today, two women he was close to, two women he attended high school with...two women that were single at the moment. God, it was like he was a damn teenager again.

As Terry went inside, not only did Diane grin, but also Cathy, much to her dismay and assumption that they saw what happened. "It's not the way you guys think it is, okay?" she told them.

"Are you sure about that?" Cathy asked her.

"I mean, he shared a cigarette with you," Diane added. "That's like an indirect kiss."

She looked at her, nodding. "Yeah."

The older woman rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You guys are so obsessed with romance..."

"It's natural to us women, Terry. Aren't you interested in romance?"

Honestly...she didn't know. Sure, she wasn't exactly a fan of romance movies nor does she want to read romance novels, but...she was unsure, for lack of a better word.

In the high school's library, Kali and Steve were doing their math homework. She wore a multi-colored collared shirt, a lavender sweater, skinny jeans, and flats. She erased a number on her paper and rewrote a different one. As she did though, the lead of her pencil broke off, much to her annoyance. "Shit..." she muttered almost inaudibly before standing up and going to the pencil sharpener. Steve watched her go, keeping an eye on her.

She approached it and began sharpening her pencil. She decided to look around while doing so, suddenly seeing a spot of red hair. Catching her eye, she saw a girl with red hair...like Barb's...wearing what she would wear if she was still alive. She felt very uneasy, but kept looking at her, not caring about sharpening her pencil for too long. Damn it, she remembered hearing her voice like it was yesterday...

"Kal...this isn't you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't believe it. You're NEVER this stupid!"

"You know what? If you're not enjoying this, then go home. I don't need your negative attitude, anyway!"

She knew she was a bitch back then, but...she couldn't forgive herself for it still. Their last conversation was a stupid argument...

"Kali...?" she could hear her call out. "Kali?!" She probably did that while she-

"Kali, Kali," Steve said to her, holding her shoulder and making her look up at him. He looked a bit worried for her. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She wished.

She looked at the doppelganger, seeing that it was indeed another girl and not Barbara as she walked away with a book in her hands. She sighed deeply, looking down and frowning.

...

Inside a room inside the library now, she told her boyfriend, "I can't keep doing this, Steve."

"Doing what?" he replied.

"Pretending that everything's okay, that everything's just peachy."

"What are you talking about?"

She raised her eyebrows and whispered, "Barbara." She looked melancholic, making him look the same as well. "It's like no one gives a shit except her parents, who are selling their house and..."

"Kal-"

"And now they're gonna spend the rest of their lives looking for her..."

"I know, I know-"

"And it's gonna destroy them!"

The jock deeply sighed. "I know, Kal, I know. I get it. But...there's nothing we can do about it."

She gave him an appalled look. "Is telling them the truth out of the question?" Since she and some Lab officials did fill him in after that encounter with the Demogorgon last year...

He shook his head. "You and I both know we can't do that."

"But we don't need to tell them EVERYTHING."

"This isn't a game, Kali. If they found out we told any..." He trailed off, knowing that they would look suspicious to a bystander. He went to wind the blinds shut to look less suspicious before being in front of her again. He looked more worried now. "If they found out we told anybody, we could be in jail or worse...they could destroy our families. They could do anything they want, okay? Think about what you're saying." Damn it, as much as she didn't want to admit it...he's got a point. It didn't make her feel any better though. Damn the government. She just felt like shit...

He saw that she looked more sad than before, making him feel like shit too. "Hey..." He leaned against the table and caressed her arm gently, managing to make her look at him. "Hey...it's hard, but let's..." He let out a deep sigh, shaking his head before continuing, "Let's just go to Tina's stupid party, wear our stupid costumes we spent a stupid amount of time working on, and pretend like we're stupid teenagers for one night, okay?" He continued to caress her arm before caressing her cheek. "Just tonight."

She thought it was a stupid idea, but he knew it was stupid and...well, getting stupid for just one night would make her feel less shitty, so she nodded. "Alright, Steve."

He needed to comfort her, so he whispered to her, "Come here." They both then hugged each other, Kali sighing. She hated this, but...she was glad that Steve was there for her and trying to make her feel better. He was an idiot...but he was her idiot, her kind and loving idiot.

Back in the cabin, Mike was watching TV, his hair combed and seeing an advertisement for soap for women. He tilted his head, turning the knob to change the channel. There was another commercial, this time for the Terminator. "Inhuman..." the narrator said. "Relentless..." He saw the Terminator crash through a wall, break open a door, and cause an explosion.

It had captured Mike's attention, him murmuring, "Inhuman...relentless..." He always says words or phrases to himself to make himself learn new words to say. Of course, Hopper and Terry would give him a "word of the day" for him to learn. However, he would do this and ask Terry what they meant when she comes at seven zero-zero-no, seven o'clock. He had no idea what those meant, but they had to be bad, right?

"Arnold Schwarznegger is...the Terminator."

"The Terminator." He wondered what that title meant.

As the channel played another commercial, he switched the channel to another, playing a soap opera. He heard the woman in it say, "Well, I'm stunned! I don't know what to think!"

"Don't you love me?" a man in the show asked her.

"Of course I love you!"

"Love..." the freckled boy said. What was it?

"It's just that...it's so sudden. I mean, it's not like you."

"Erica...I am this way because of you."

"I am this way because of you."

"Me?"

"Mmm-hmm." The man began to talk into her ear, making the boy look a little concerned. "You make me wild and impetuous, just like you."

"Impetuous..."

"People are gonna be aghast!"

"People are gonna be aghast."

"They're gonna love it!" The two in the TV then laughed before Mike heard some squealing. He looked behind him, wondering what made that noise.

He stood up and walked towards the window, opening up one of the blinds. He knew he shouldn't do that, but it was just for a second. He then saw a squirrel on a bird feeder, seeing it look at him. Seeing it suddenly triggered a memory pertaining to last year...

Snow was on the ground and it was cold. A squirrel ran up on a stump, minding its own business. Suddenly, it was thrown against a tree and killed...by Mike's power. Some of its blood stained the snow as the telekinetic boy approached it. His entire outfit was dirtier than before and he had grown short, curly hair. His nose bled a little as he held it up and sighed. Killing the animals was the only way to get food in these woods...he had to do it.

...

He had set up a fire, having the dead squirrel on a stick and hovering it over the fire. He tried his best not to burn it up like the first time he did this.

He suddenly heard a twig snap, making him look back to see an elderly man with a gun and dressed in hunting attire. "Hey," he called out to him. He didn't want to be spotted by anybody... "I'm not gonna hurt ya." Even though he had a gun? Though his clothes looked warm...

The man slowly approached him, asking, "What's your name?" He didn't answer. "What're ya doing out here in the cold?" Even though he wasn't looking at it, Mike held up one of the flaming sticks from his fire, surprising the man before throwing it towards him and knocking him out. He ran to him and took off his jacket and hat, putting those on to keep himself warm.

He then ran away as far as he could from him. He will never left his guard down like that ever again. If he was a bad man...it would've been worse.

He remembered not eating the squirrel that day, but killing and eating another one. Still...he felt so guilty for killing animals so he wouldn't be hungry.

He only gulped and closed the blind to resume watching television.

After school, Jane, Lucas, and Dustin rode their bikes to Jane's home to hang out before trick-or-treating. "Really though, everyone dressed up last year," Dustin stated.

"Why didn't they this year?" Jane asked.

Lucas shrugged. "I dunno," he answered. "I mean, we didn't get sent to the principal's office for wearing these, so..."

A hum of a car rang off in a distance, Dustin looking back to see a blue sports car driving fast towards them. "Uh, guys...?" The two other kids looked back to see the car driving at them quickly, making them all panic and ride their bikes faster.

"Go, go, go, go!" the tomboy exclaimed. None of them wanted to die today, so they all swerved to the side as the car swerved to the right...to avoid them.

Dustin fell off his bike and yelled, "Shit!" Jane and Lucas got him up on his feet, the kids panting and having their hearts pumping fast because of what happened. "H-holy shit! Was that..." He pointed at the car speeding off in the distance.

"Mad Max..." Lucas breathed out. Jane looked at the two with irritation.

"What, Mad Max tried to run over us?" she sarcastically asked.

They both looked at her and shook their heads. "No, I think..." He and the curly-haired boy both looked at each other and exchanged glances before looking back at her. "When we were looking after her-"

"You mean stalking her."

Both looked at her disapprovingly before the black-haired boy continued, "We saw her riding with someone else, probably her brother."

"Of course he gets to drive 'cause, y'know, he looks like a teenager," the curly-haired boy added, shrugging.

Jane let out a heavy sigh and said, "He's an asshole."

They both nodded at her, seeing the car disappeared at the distance. "Yeah," Dustin replied.

"Definitely," Lucas added.

Entering into the grocery store later that day, Terry wore a long-sleeved white shirt, loose fit jeans, and black high heels. She spotted Joyce at the cash register, the two looking happy to see each other and waving. "Hey, Terry!" the brown-haired woman greeted her.

"Hi, Joyce," she greeted back, approaching her. "I just want to know, are you guys still selling bags of candy?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah, but they're selling big, so you have to hurry."

She nodded back at her and said, "Thanks." They exchanged smiles before she left. Joyce wondered why her friend needed another bag. Perhaps Jane found it and hid it? No, Terry would have found it in a jiffy. She told her that she mostly find what Jane hides from her...

Mostly.

The dirty-blonde-haired woman laid the bag of candy on the counter, making Joyce check it out and type something on the cash register. She then said, "$8.96." Terry got out her wallet and gave her the exact amount with dollar bills and coins. When she put the money in the cash register, she asked, "You need a bag?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine."

She smiled at her once again. "Okay. But..." Terry looked at her with a concerned look. "Why are you buying another bag of candy?"

Right...she couldn't tell Joyce about Mike. She quickly thought of something and lied, "I wanted to offer more candy to the trick-or-treaters this year."

That wasn't what Joyce expected, making her look pleasantly surprised. "Oh, okay."

Terry did want to ask her something, so she asked, "By the way...how's Will doing?"

The brown-haired woman deeply sighed, looking away from her. "He's trying to be himself again, but he's still having episodes." She looked at her with a worried expression on her face. "He even made this...drawing. It looked like...like some monster was coming up on our home."

That sounded serious, causing Terry to worry as well. "Is he suffering from P.T.S.D.?"

Joyce sighed deeply again. "That's what the doctor said and Hopper as well. I just..." She looked like she was about to cry, making Terry feel bad. "I just want this to be over, I want Will to be happy again."

The dirty-blonde-haired woman firmly but gently grabbed her shoulder and said, "I'm sure Will wants the same thing too. P.T.S.D. may be permanent and difficult to handle, especially for a boy his age, but he could overcome it. He just needs to build up the strength and he needs support. You, Bob, Jonathan, you're all giving him the support he needs."

She frowned. "But he...he doesn't like it. We all just want him to be safe."

"He's a kid. Of course he's going to act like that. But it's not because he doesn't need it." Joyce looked straight into her friend's eyes. "It's normal for someone like him to want things back to the way they were and not have anyone worry about him. I say, don't bother him about it too much because it might stress him out more, but keep supporting him, whatever he might go through."

She nodded. "It's not like I'm not trying, but...thanks."

Terry smiled at her. "I didn't get a Bachelor's in Psychology for nothing."

She smiled back at her. "Yeah..."

"Excuse me," a man told Terry. The two of them saw him carrying a shopping basket of Halloween-related things.

The dirty-blonde-haired woman got out of his way and said, "Sorry. I'll get going." She then waved her friend goodbye, mouthing, "See you later."

"Bye," Joyce also mouthed out, waving her fingers at her as she left. She then got out the things from the man's shopping basket and punched in the prices for them. Not bother Will about what he was going through because it would stress him out more...she was really worrying about him and really wanted to ask him about the drawing, but since Terry was the one that went to college and got a Bachelor's in Psychology, she won't. If it's to make sure he'll overcome P.T.S.D., she won't.

Later, Jonathan drove Will to Jane's house, the two talking about Bob before the boy shrugged and stated, "At least he doesn't treat me any different." He then looked out the window. "I mean, I can't even go trick-or-treating on my own. It's stupid."

His older brother gave him a sarcastic look. "What? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No...but it's not like Kali's coming to watch over Jane, you know?" He sighed and looked straight ahead at the road. Since his mom told him not to talk to him about why he was behaving like this since last year, the conversation ended there. Still, he had to know that it was for his own good and protection.

At the same time...he didn't exactly feel like trick-or-treating with his little brother all night...

...

When the car arrived at Jane's house, they both saw the three kids waving and greeting Will specifically, pointing their handmade proton guns at him. Jonathan stopped the car as Will unbuckled himself, coming to a conclusion about how he was going to spend his Halloween. Should he...?

Screw it.

Before Will could leave, he said, "Hey."

The auburn-haired boy looked at him and asked, "Yeah?"

He then gave him a smile. "If I let you go trick-or-treating alone, you promise to stay in the neighborhood?"

The boy's face lit up happily, being pleasantly surprised by his suggestion. "Yeah, of course! Totally!"

"And be back at Jane's by nine?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Nine...thirty?"

"Nine."

Okay, why not? Will was going to relish this opportunity anyway. "Yeah, okay?"

Jonathan held his hand out to him. "Deal?"

He took his hand and shook it. "Deal!"

"Alright." The boy then opened the door and got out. "Hey, Will!" He looked back as he saw his brother hand him the video camera Bob had. "Don't let any of your ghost-busting friends use this, alright?"

He nodded and took it from him. "Okay."

He then tried to imitate Dracula like Bob did when they left, saying, "I hope it doesn't suuuck!" Will chuckled before closing the door and running up to the rest of his friends.

He heard Jane shout, "Will!"

"Egon!" he also heard Lucas shout. All of them huddled to greet him the way each of them do. He smiled. They were such great friends to him.

Speaking of friends...

He took out the folded flier for the Halloween party out of his pocket and unfolded it to read the information. Once he read it all, he started up the engine and put the flier away, driving off. Usually, he would never go to a party. Not only because he never been invited before, not that it was bad, but also because he wasn't a people person. Kali knew that and she still urged him to go.

Just once...just this once, he'll go. He wanted to see what a party looks like anyway. Plus, if she and Steve happened to get shit-faced during the party, he'll take care of them.

...

Meanwhile, the kids were all looking at the video camera Will had. "Whoa, so it could record videos?" Lucas asked.

Will nodded. "Yeah."

"Man, I thought Hollywood would hoard this kind of shit to themselves," Dustin stated.

Jane looked up at the auburn-haired boy with a smile. "Bob really is awesome!"

He blushed at her smile, but got it away and nodded. "R-right, he is." After all, he treated him like he wasn't a dumb toddler that can't help himself. Plus, he was a tech expert and worked at RadioShack. What else would make him more awesome?

"Alright, alright, let's not dwell on the video camera for too long," the curly-haired boy told everyone else. "Let's go get some candy."

"Yeah!" the kids replied off-sync. They then walked off, singing the Ghostbusters theme among themselves.

...

Just as they left, Terry began to drive away too. She couldn't help but smile at them having fun and being friends. It seemed like Will wouldn't be accompanied by anyone else in the Byers family, including Bob. Maybe Joyce did take her advice to heart. She hoped the best for him. She also knew she could trust Jane to be on her own, so she also hoped that whatever happens to Will, Jane will be right there for him.

On the other hand...there was Mike.

When she exited the neighborhood, she let out a deep sigh, feeling pretty guilty about not having Mike get out and go trick-or-treating. It would still look suspicious and she couldn't let him and Jane cross paths...as much as it hurt her to do so...like keeping him a secret from her.

Done! What do you guys think of this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?

How did I write the original scenes with Terry? I figured that I should write her interactions with Hopper and Joyce more just to show her real relationships with the two of them. I hoped I wrote them well!

Review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!