"Eleven?"

Will stood in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth open, shocked at the sight before him. He had never seen the girl before but he knew who she was, would have known even if she hadn't said his name. She nodded once and continued to stare back at him, clearly as surprised as he was.

"Eleven? Like the number?" Max asked. "Wait, do you guys know each other?" She was confused and the other two seemed to be having a silent conversation.

Will debated what to say, what to reveal. He was still getting used to this parent thing nor had he ever expected this to happen. "Uh, we have mutual friends," he said while mentally smacking himself.

"El, how did you get here?"

"The Upside Down. Where...when is this?"

"It's 2005. It's been over 20 years," he added when she wrinkled her brow.

"Okay, you've gotta be shitting me," Max said as she stood up. Will didn't even bother correcting her language. "Your name is Eleven?"

El nodded and pulled up her sleeve to display her tattoo. Max's expression only became more confused and she swung her head wildly between the two of them. Will took a deep breath and decided to just go with the truth. He didn't know what else to do.

"Eleven and I met before...sort of. It was a long time ago."

"1983," El softly added, still staring at Will. She saw bits of the little boy in his face - the softness of his jaw, the kindness in his eyes.

"Ok, no. No, no, no. Are you punking me?" Max paced the living room, one hand clutching her long hair, but stopped still at the sight of the television remote. It was floating just in front of her face and slowly circled her head before resting back on the coffee table. Max looked over with wide eyes to see El staring at her, a small drop of blood below her nostril. She'd seen enough sci-fi movies to know what was going on. Flopping on the couch, she nodded and quietly said, "Okay. Tell me everything."

Will gave a half-smile. "There's someone I need to call first."

Will picked up the cordless in his bedroom and bounced on his heels as he listened to the line ring. Please pick up, please pick up.

"Hello?"

"Dustin! You have to get over here!"

"Whoa, Will, what's going on?"

"You just - you need to get over here. Now."

"Is everything okay?"

Will sighed. "Eleven."

"What?" He hadn't heard hope like that in Dustin's voice in ages.

"It's Eleven."

Dustin practically cut him off, he was so quick to reply. "I'm leaving now."

"Wait, Du-" He tried to interrupt but Dustin had already hung up.

It was mere minutes before Dustin barreled through the front door without even knocking. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of the girls on the couch, leaving the door wide open behind him.

"Holy shit."

There she was, completely the same, as if no time had passed. Dustin had to glance back at Will to confirm that he was even in the right decade.

"Dustin," she softly said and he had to laugh - she sounded just the same. He made a move to hug her but quickly stopped himself. He was a lot older now and he didn't want to spook her. Instead he asked,

"Where have you been?"

"Upside Down."

"This whole time? Wait, start from when you disappeared. Man, it was crazy what you did," he said with a chuckle. Then his smile dropped and his voice softened. "Thank you, by the way, for that. You saved us."

She gave a weak smile and nod. "I killed the Demogorgon. Then I was in the Upside Down. I walked and found a gate. Then I found Max."

"So wait, how long were there?"

"Not long."

"So...how long ago did you defeat the Demogorgon?"

She shrugged. "Yesterday?"

Will and Dustin exchanged a glance, the latter whispering, "Time travel?"

Will replied, "Maybe the Upside Down…"

"It's a different dimension. It could be a different dimension in time, too," Dustin finished, rubbing his chin. A thousand thoughts fluttered through his mind.

Eleven couldn't stop staring at him; he looked the same but so different. Like looking for your reflection in a pond while it was rippling.

"You're...still you."

Dustin laughed before saying, "Well, of course I'm still me."

Will ordered pizzas and once they arrived the group sat down to eat. Dustin and Will brought her up to speed on everyone.

"I'm the science teacher now. Remember Mr. Clarke? He had a mustache and we told him you were from Sweden?"

El nodded. She remembered the man well; she'd seen him only a few days ago.

"Well, he works at the high school now and I have his old job. Actually, Max is one of my students."

"Mmhmm," Max hummed, mouth full of pizza and feeling put on the spot. She actually liked science but didn't always like studying. Luckily, Will spoke up.

"And I'm working for the paper. My mom still lives in the same house. She's good, but...well, she's been a lot more anxious since I got back."

"Who else did you know...Hopper's still the chief of police."

"Jonathan, my brother, moved to New York."

"Mm, and Nancy is a doctor in Texas. She married Steve Harrington. I don't think you met him, actually…"

"Lucas is in Milwaukee now."

And then she realized the one thing they hadn't talked about, hanging heavy in the air around them, threatening to crush her chest.

"Mike?"

She didn't miss the look that passed between Dustin and Will before the former turned to her with sad eyes.

"He died. In '88."

She heard Dustin's words, but they sounded far away. The memory of her own voice took over: gone, gone, gone.

She came out of it to feel Will's hand on her shoulder but no one would look her in the eye. She set her half-eaten piece back on her plate; she wasn't hungry anymore.

Dustin spent the rest of the evening telling Max the story of that week back in 1983, desperate to fill the silence. Will mostly played with his hands, sometimes adding a detail or two. El didn't seem to be listening but Max was hooked on every word, still half in disbelief. When El started yawning, they decided it was bedtime.

Will walked Dustin out and the two stood on the porch, staring out at the sky. Dustin stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"I always hoped she would come back, that we were wrong somehow. But…"

"But we never expected it like this."

"No," Dustin breathed out before shaking his head. "You'd think that being grown-ups we'd know what to do."

"Nah. Somehow it makes me know less." Will turned to him with a raised brow. "So, do you want to call him or…"

"Yeah, I'll do it. That's gonna be a fun conversation," Dustin groaned before heading back to his car.

Inside, the two girls were tucked into bunk beds in Max's room. Eleven gently fingered the quilt wrapped around her, thinking that the last time she'd had a proper sleep was a few days ago in the blanket fort.

My parents - they'll get you your own bed.

But that was decades ago and everything had changed. That kind boy, her friend, didn't even exist anymore. And she didn't know where she would go or what would happen. Her face crumpled and she buried it in the pillow.

Max lay on the top bunk wondering about the strange girl beneath her. She could have sworn she heard her crying. Well, whatever...she'd cried plenty of times. This girl would get over it. She flipped over roughly before hearing familiar footsteps in the hall. Billy was home. She relaxed and let sleep take over.