Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Billy's sports car drove and stopped near the arcade, Max unbuckling herself and getting out. "Listen, if you don't come back in an hour-"

"I'm walking home, yeah, I know," she replied snappingly as she grabbed her skateboard.

"Hey!" She froze and looked at her scary stepbrother. "Watch the attitude, shithead." She huffed and slammed the door, Billy driving away and her flipping him off as he went. Piece of shit asshole...

She faced the arcade and walked towards it. Lucas wanted to meet her there, right? So that he could tell her everything. She wondered what he was going to tell her. Maybe it was something completely stupid...maybe it was something serious. Whatever it was, she'll find out today.

When she got inside, she tensed up when she saw Keith right in front of her, eating Cheetos and looking at her. "Jesus," she muttered under her breath.

"Good afternoon to you too," Keith replied plainly and sarcastically. She sighed and went around him to find Lucas, but he said, "Hey." She stopped and turned back at him, looking irritated.

"What?"

"You looking for Sinclair?"

She looked a bit surprised that he knew that. "Uh...yeah?"

He walked past her and said, "Follow me." She did so, wondering if Lucas talked to him beforehand. After all, she did remember him mentioning that they'll speak in private.

They reached to the end of the arcade, being in front of the "Employees Only" door. The guy handed her the bag of Cheetos and told her, "Hold these for me, will ya?" She had held it for him as he reached for his keys and unlocked the door. He opened it, the red-haired girl seeing the African-American boy sitting near an "Out of Order" arcade machine. He smiled when he saw her, making her kind of smile back awkwardly before stepping inside and standing next to him.

Keith gave him a glare and held the doorknob. "You better give me that date now, Sinclair."

He rolled his eyes. "I told you I would-"

"Ah-ah-ah..." He held his hand out to stop him from speaking anymore. He looked at Max before looking at him again. "And try to keep things PG in here, alright?" They both gave him weird looks before he winked at them and closed the door.

The red-haired girl turned towards Lucas and stated, "Well, I'm here now."

He chuckled a little. "Yeah...you are."

"So..." She pulled up a chair and sat down on it, propping her skateboard next to it. "Now you're going to tell me everything, right?"

He nodded, looking serious. "Yes. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He sighed. "I'm going to tell you the truth about everything that happened last year. If you tell anyone what I'm going to tell you now, everything will go to shit. You could be arrested..." He looked a little scared when he finished, "Or even killed."

She scoffed, her eyes wide and her grin smartass-like. "KILLED?"

"Yes." There was that serious look again...seriously, what kind of SECRET would get her arrested or KILLED? "Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

She sighed and muttered under her breath, "This is stupid..."

"Do you promise, Max?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. I promise." She crossed her arms. "Now spill it out already. We've got an hour."

He took a deep breath. He was really doing this...but he'll pull through with it. This was happening now and he shouldn't chicken out at the last minute. "Okay..." He looked at her solemnly. "Last year...Will didn't get lost in the woods. He got lost...somewhere else." That got her attention instantly. He didn't get lost in the woods? That was the official story...

But since they were friends, maybe he decided to tell them the truth, and that's why he was talking to her about this now. She wondered where this was gonna go...

Back in the Byers home, Jane and Joyce witnessed Will aggressively drawing the place where he saw Hopper and Terry on a piece of wrapping paper. Once he was done, he dropped the crayon he last used. His mother looked at him worryingly. "I-is this where you saw them? Is this where you saw Hopper and Ms. Ives?"

He nodded and answered rather apathetically, "Y-yes, I think so."

She nodded back at him and grabbed it. "Okay." She got out of the room, leading the tomboy to follow her right out. They both looked around to see where it would fit. They split up, Joyce being in the living room while Jane was in the kitchen. The girl looked around there until she found the spot for it. She looked at Joyce, pointed at it, and said, "Right here!" She turned and walked towards her and the spot, placing the picture over it. It matched the picture it covered.

"S-so, Hopper and your mom are right here?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Now we just need to find where 'here' is."

"Right..."

Her lips drew to a thin line. "So...did Hopper say anything before he left?"

The brunette woman sighed. "I-I think he said something about vines." She looked at her. "What about your mom? Did she say anything?"

She shook her head. "When I came home yesterday, she left a note at the door. It said that she'll be gone doing extra hours before returning this morning." She frowned, looking worried now. "But since Will also saw her there..."

Joyce felt bad for her, so she gently grabbed her arm and said softly, "Hey, I think she's going to be alright. She has Hopper with her and she can even handle herself. If she could survive being in the Upside Down by herself, then...she'll be alright with Hopper, okay?" Jane guessed she was right. Her mama was full of surprises-

They both heard a car approaching, so Joyce let go of Jane before they both went into the living room and looked out the window. Though Joyce was expecting either Hopper or Terry, or even both, it was neither of them. It was Bob, who got out of his car with a bunch of brain teasers carried in his hands. "Stay here, okay?" the woman asked the girl. She nodded before she got out and talked to him. Jane had met Bob before, he was a nice guy with a lot of knowledge. He must have gotten here to cheer Will up with those brain teasers.

Wait...brain teasers...

...

Later, Bob was brought inside, still carrying the brain teasers and looking around at all the connected drawings Will made. The boy himself was there, standing next to Jane. "Huh..." the man said, looking rather impressed. He looked at the auburn-haired boy and asked, "You drew these all by yourself, buddy?"

He nodded and quietly answered, "Yeah."

He looked around again. "Why, if you don't mind me-"

"Bob, I-I told you about the rules," Joyce told him, interrupting. "No questions, alright?" He nodded at her. "W-we just need you to help us..." She paused to go straight to the spot Will saw Hopper and Terry. "...figure out what..." She saw that Bob wasn't following her and was still looking around. "Bob? Bob!" He, as well as the kids, turned to her. She gestured him to follow her. "Come on." He did so, the kids following suit. The woman grabbed the red crayon and drew an X over the spot. "Where...this is."

Jane nodded as Bob looked at it closely. "That's the goal: find the X," she added.

"Yeah?" He then grinned and looked up at his girlfriend. "What's at the X? Pirate treasure?" He then chuckled. His joke wasn't hated, but wasn't allowed.

"Bob." Joyce gave him a stern look. "I said no questions."

His grin disappeared by her face and her tone of voice. "Okay..." He looked around, being deep in thought for a second. He then grabbed Joyce and said, "Let's talk in private for a sec. Hang on, kiddos." They then got into a room and began to talk, leaving Jane and Will alone.

The curly-haired girl sighed, crossing her arms and looking down, thinking of her mom being there in the Upside Down...again. At least Hopper was with her, but...what if...

Will saw the solemn look on her face and felt awful...despite "him" not liking that feeling. He placed a sweaty hand on her shoulder. "J-Jane?"

She looked at him, thinking about what he was going to say to her before giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm alright, Will. Honest."

He wasn't convinced since he knew her for so long. She needed some good news. "Your mom...she's still okay. Hopper too."

She continued to smile at him. "Thanks for telling me that, Will, but I'm okay-"

He shook his head. "Y-you're not..." Her smile disappeared. "You look worried...that's okay, Jane. She's...your mom."

She couldn't deny that. Plus, he WAS her best friend since kindergarten. He would know how she feels by how she looks. She gave him a genuine smile and replied, "Right...sorry."

He tried to smile back. "It's okay." He felt his heart racing and warmth washing over his face at the sight of her smile, "him" not liking it. He tensed up, clenching his fists and braving through the dislike "he" was feeling.

"...and that's Lake Jordan," Bob suddenly said, him and Joyce now being out of the room. That got the kids' attention as Will removed his hand from Jane's shoulder and they both looked at him and Joyce walking through the hallway. "And if that's Lake Jordan, then I can probably find..." He snapped his fingers and pointed at one spot. "Sattler's Quarry! That's it!" The kids looked both surprised and hopeful that Bob was getting somewhere...though they now wondered why he was naming off the bodies of water in Hawkins. Did his drawings look similar to him somehow? He turned and walked into the living room. "And if I just follow this naturally...it goes to Eno River." He then pointed at another spot of drawings on the wall. "There! See Eno River?" Both Joyce and the kids looked baffled because now that he said it...

He walked some more and continued, "The lines aren't roads, but they act as such!" He pointed at the brunette woman and got into the kitchen. "And if they act as roads, if you follow 'em, you'll see that they don't go over water." He pointed at the drawings once more as the three looked around with wide eyes. "THAT is the giveaway! Ha!" He then walked over to the kids. "You see, this isn't actually a puzzle, but a map!" He spread his arms out before dropping them at the sides. "It's a map of Hawkins!" That made the three's jaws drop. Will's drawings...they were actually the outline of Hawkins? The ENTIRETY of Hawkins?! Now the fact that Will could feel "him" spread out more made sense...

Bob laughed before looking at the auburn-haired boy. "Isn't that right, Will?" he asked him. The thing was...the boy didn't even knew he drew the map of Hawkins. He just drew what he felt...

In the tunnels, Terry kept dropping small pieces of cigarettes to track her and Jim's path, the two stepping on live vines unknowingly. The police chief has suggested to try to contact his fellow officers through radio, but she convinced him that there was no way communication would pull through in an environment like this, so he didn't.

Jim suddenly stopped, making Terry stop as well. He shined his light over wherever the hell they were, the two looking shocked as they saw that they were in a place that was wide in space, but filled with what looked like slime and waste, like dead animal carcasses. The dirty-blonde-haired woman felt sick again, seeing these carcasses.

The man took slow and steady steps, telling her, "Careful not to step on anything." She nodded as she took slow and steady steps with him, looking down to make sure she didn't step on anything that could move. However, she stepped on a dead mouse and it spilled its guts at her step. She screamed and latched onto Jim, holding her as he shined his light on the carcass. She panted, holding onto him tight as he whispered, "It's alright...just a dead mouse." She took a deep breath and let go of him.

"Shit..." She then scoffed a little. "Reminds me of how much I hated Anatomy in high school."

He chuckled a little at that. "Is it NOT because of Mr. Kurdensberg?"

She solemnly laughed. "I hate...I hate seeing blood and guts and..." She sighed. "Anything a dead person or animal has."

The grin he had disappeared as he patted her shoulder. "No one does."

Before she could reply to that, they both heard a bit of squelching, the two whipping around and seeing a wall made by the vines that repaired the hole. They couldn't get a good look with the flashlight, so Jim got out a lighter from his pocket and lit it up, inching closer to the vines. When the fire got close, they both heard screeching and saw the vines moving away from it. They were both a bit surprised to see that, but...it made them think of something.

"Fire..." Terry muttered. "This place is cold. That means that anything that lives here is cold-blooded in some way."

"And it likes it cold..." Jim also muttered, getting the flame closer to one of the vines, it screeching and moving away as it burned a little. "So we give them heat."

She nodded. "Exactly."

He capped his lighter, dimming the small fire, and handed Terry the flashlight. "Hold this." She did so as she watched him walk over to one animal carcass, pull out a long bone sticking out of it, take off his jacket, wrap it around the top of the bone, and then light it up with his lighter, creating a torch. "Stand back." She nodded and did as she was told, him storming to the wall of vines and pointing the torch to them. They all screeched and moved away from the torch in a circular motion, revealing a bare and vulnerable spot on the wall.

After that has happened, he stuck the torch on the ground near them and he began to dig his way through the hole, making Terry think that she should do the same. "Jim."

"Yeah?" he replied without stopping what he was doing.

She placed the flashlight right next to the torch and began digging through the hole with him. "Let me help."

He gave her a bit of a worried look. "Terry-"

"Don't 'Terry' me. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine with getting sludge in my nails if it meant getting out of here faster, okay?" She was right...he knew she was right. She has been proven herself to be capable time and time again. It was just that...he cared for her...a lot. That was why he wanted to protect her...

Back in the Bertuzzi household, the adults sat with Mike at the dinner table, the boy looking over at his mother still on the chair, muttering things, and watching TV. There was a sandwich Giana made for him, but he didn't touch it. Caleb was sleeping upstairs in his room. "Listen, sweetie, we just want you to help us understand," Giana told him, her voice solemn.

"Yeah, bud," Nick added. "We just need to understand you."

"Could you, perhaps, tell us where you came from?" Jen asked him.

"Right, where have you been all this time, kid?" John also asked him. The boy answered neither of them, making all of the adults sigh and look worried.

"Listen, Mike. There was a policeman and a couple of women looking for you last year," Nick told him.

Giana nodded and looked at her long, lost nephew. "Yeah...I think they were looking for Nancy too...despite her being dead." Though he still didn't look at the adults, hearing that made his blood run cold. Nancy...was dead? Was she really? "Did they find you, Michael?"

He still focused on his mother, looking saddened as he asked, "Is she...is Mom going to get any better?"

The adults looked away from him sorrowfully, Giana holding John's hand tightly. "I hate to break it to you, bud..." Nick said to him. "But...no. Unfortunately, she can't get any better." Mike felt a lump forming in his throat when he heard that, making him look at his uncle.

"What...?"

His aunt sniffled and added, "Michael...it's not that...she's in any pain or anything." He looked at her, his eyes saddened. "The doctors say that she's just...stuck."

"Stuck?"

"Like a dream," Nick continued. "Like she's stuck in a dream."

So she wasn't gone...but stuck. "Is it a good dream?"

Giana gave him a sad smile and replied, "I hope so, sweetheart."

"We all do," John added in a somber voice.

He looked sad and worried as he looked over at Karen again. "Is it the same dream...?" he asked, his voice cracking a little.

"We don't know," Jen answered him. "From what we've seen, she could say some different words. But usually, she says those." He sighed deeply, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. He began to sniffle as well. It hurt him to hear all of that and see her like this...she couldn't get better...

They all felt heartbroken to see him like this, so Nick reached out and held his hand, making him look at him. "Hey...your mom always believed that you would come home." That last word hit him hard.

"Home...?" he asked in a quiet, somber voice.

Giana nodded, also holding his hand. "Yes...home." This could be it then...

This could be his home.

He fully turned to them and held their hands with his other one. Jen and John had decided to hold that hand too, smiling in a sad way. "Welcome to the family, Michael," Jen said to him softly. Seeing his aunts and uncle supporting him like this made him feel so...heart-warmed, welcomed. This was what it felt like to join up with family, actual family...

...

Not much later, Nick and Giana specifically went with him to his room-or as it was now, Caleb's room. The boy looked around, seeing the painted clouds and pictures of animals before seeing his baby cousin sleeping inside what could have been his carriage. He walked towards him and softly placed his hand on the top of his head. This was the first time in his life that he ever touched a baby. His hair and skin felt so soft, like a pillow.

Giana giggled a little, her and Nick walking towards him. "Be careful not to wake him up," she whispered to her nephew. He turned his head to her, seeing her smile...which unfortunately reminded him of Terry's. "He doesn't like to be woken up when he's sleeping." He nodded as he got his hand off of Caleb's head.

"Who is he?" he asked her.

"He's your cousin, Caleb."

He looked a bit puzzled. "Cousin?"

She placed her hand on her chest. "I'm his mom. Your mom is my sister, so that makes you two cousins." He never knew that, so he nodded in understanding. "Speaking of being your mom's sister...that makes me your aunt." He knew that Giana was his "auntie", but Nick...

He looked at Nick and asked, "You're my...uncle, right?" That was the title, right? Uncle?

He grinned at him a little and nodded. "Right, I'm your Uncle Nick, Mike." So it was right. His grin disappeared for a bit as he said, "This was supposed to be your room."

Giana's smile also disappeared when he said that. "Yeah...your mom worked on this room all by herself..." She gulped, trying not to break down. "Just for you." That made his heart feel heavy once again. "I...I thought that this should be Caleb's room because...it was so empty...and it was never used. I thought it'd be perfect for Caleb." He nodded, though he still felt heavy. "We just...never thought you even existed until today. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's fine." He looked down at his sleeping little cousin, feeling at peace seeing him sleep and move around so quietly.

"So, Mike," Nick started. "How about we get you a real bed and you can stay here with us, if you wanna?" That sounded good to him, since they made him feel welcomed before, so he nodded at him. He and his sister smiled for a bit. "That's good."

"Mike, we wanna help you, we really do," Giana told him. "All you need to do is talk to us." His lips drew into a thin line when she said that. "We'll...we'll give you time. You don't need to talk to us now, or today, just when you're ready, okay?"

"Yeah, we won't rush you, bud. You just got here and we're just getting to know each other. You deserve some time to adapt before talking to us." He liked that Auntie Giana and Uncle Nick were very kind to him. He was his mother's son and they were her mother's siblings, so...

He turned to them and nodded, answering, "Okay." They nodded back him before...seeing the hallway light flicker. He looked a bit puzzled and walked towards it. Nick and Giana saw it flicker too, also looking puzzled and walking towards it.

"That's weird," Nick stated. "Could've sworn the electrician yesterday said we have no problems."

"Maybe there's a problem with the wiring today?" Giana asked him.

"How?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, just..." The three then saw another hallway light flicker. Mike had a feeling this wasn't an electricity problem. He walked forward to that light, then another down the stairs. His aunt and uncle followed him as he got down on the floor and entered the main hallway. The lighting there was flickering as well.

"What's going on?" Nick muttered before Jen and John came to them.

"You see the lights?" John asked them.

They nodded. "Yeah. Dunno what the...what's going on." He censored himself because Mike was only a child.

"Is it the wiring?" Jen asked.

"No," Mike answered, following the flickering hallway lights and leaving the adults confused.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Giana asked him, she and the rest of the adults following him.

"It's not the wiring."

"No offense, Mike, but how would you know?" Nick also asked him.

When he reached the living room, he saw a lamp's light flicker not too far from his mom. He walked into there and looked at her, seeing that her nose was bleeding...like his would whenever he would use his powers. "It's Mom." He covered his hand with the sleeve of his jacket and used that to wipe the blood off of her nose.

"Sunflower...rainbow," she muttered.

"What do you mean it's Karen-I mean, your mom?" Jen questioned.

He looked emotional as he answered, "She knows I'm here." It was such a relief to him because...to think that she wouldn't even acknowledge his presence...

Suddenly, the TV began to switch channels...without the remote. The adults were freaked out, spouses holding each other as John asked in shock, "How is that possible?!"

Nick and Giana's eyes widened, the two looking at each other as they muttered, "Powers..."

"What?" their spouses asked.

Mike walked to the TV, seeing the commercials flick away. "Mom has powers...like me." Jen and John felt tense hearing that, considering they witnessed him unlock the door without him touching it...

When the TV went to static, his mom's intention came to full realization for him. "She wants to talk."

Stopping here! What do you guys think? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?

I thought that moment with Jane and Will was kinda cute, now that I'm reading it again. Too bad he'll never get a chance with her...

I hope I wrote the talking scene with Mike and his aunts and uncles well. It's hard to write an emotional scene with a few people around, but hey. They're family. They needed to talk after so long. Besides, the adults finally get to see their long-lost nephew and he finally gets to see his aunts and uncles for the first time.

I just realized there's no Kali and Jonathan in this chapter...huh.

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