"Alright, you've seen her, she's alive, now get out."

"No!"

Mike was sitting at El's bedside and Steve was in the doorway, his arms folded and a deep frown on his lips. To be completely honest, he didn't care what the kid did, but he would be damned before he let Hopper shoot him for not following a simple request.

"I mean it, Wheeler, get out."

"I haven't seen her in a year, Steve!" Mike whirled around and shot a pointed glare at Steve. The older kid furrowed his brows in shock at the anger that was radiating from Mike's eyes. This was not the generally quiet, kind of nerdy kid brother anymore and Steve suddenly found himself confronted with how much Mike had grown up in just the past year. Hell, it looked like the past week had aged him years.

"Mike-"

"No, I know Hopper's at work, so just let me stay here a little longer. Please? Just til she wakes up?"

"I don't think-"

"Come on, Steve!" Mike balled his fists. "What if this was Nancy?!"

Steve stopped short and stared at Mike, who looked back at the taller boy and bit his lip. He'd gone too far. He could tell just by the myriad of emotions that flashed onto Steve's face in just a few short seconds. Anger at Mike for daring to ask that. Sadness at having the wound of breaking up with Nancy ripped open. And, there was even a little bit of him that was impressed that Mike would even think to go that far.

"You know Nancy and I broke up," Steve said quietly, his voice hollow.

"Yeah, but you still care about her."

Steve paused and looked away, glancing at a window that was boarded up. The whole house seemed so dark, so empty. He wondered what it had been like for El to be stuck here for nearly a year, never leaving. Perhaps Hopper realized that was wrong and that's why Steve had been asked to babysit. Maybe the man would loosen some of his rules. But, that wasn't for Steve to decide or judge. He was just there to do his job.

Steve looked at the ceiling for a long moment, then sighed, then looked to Mike. "Fine. But the next time I tell you to go, you get your ass outta here, got it?"

Mike's face brightened and he agreed enthusiastically. Steve felt better too. Man, babysitting would be so easy if all he had to do was say yes to a couple kids. They ate that word up like candy the day after Halloween.

Steve turned his back to Mike and started walking towards the kitchen. He was about to ask if the kid was hungry when there was another pounding on the door. Steve jumped and grabbed the first thing he could-a broom-and held it out in front of him. "Close the door," he whispered pointedly to Mike who was staring back at him with wide eyes. The boy wasn't about to question the babysitter, especially not after being granted a major concession, so he did as he was told.

Steve slowly walked towards the door and began to pull it open, slowly at first before he flung it into the adjacent wall. He shoved the broom forward and was ready to attack.

And that was when he realized it was Dustin standing there, his hand over his chest and his mouth open in a scream that didn't quite escape his lips.

"What the shit, Steve?!" Dustin cried.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Steve shouted in as an answer.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Steve groaned as he slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead and sighed into his wrist. Why, oh why, couldn't his life be normal for one stupid day? Just one! Was that too much to ask?

"I'm watching El! And watch the language!"

It was then, after hearing the shouting and the familiar voices, that Mike appeared beside Steve. "Hi Dustin," he said nonchalantly, as though meeting up at an old cabin in the woods was the most normal thing in the world. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't answer when I paged you," Dustin replied with a shrug. "I figured you'd be here. Did Hop let you see El?"

Mike opened his mouth to answer, but Steve spoke first. "No, and neither of you should be here right now! The only person who's supposed to be in this crappy place is me."

"How's El doing?"

"She's okay," Mike answered, both boys ignoring Steve's comments. "She's still asleep, but I bet she'll wake up soon."

"Cool, what do you want to do until then?" Dustin asked as he took a step inside the house. Steve reached out and pushed him lightly back outside.

"Oh no, you're not staying here. Hopper told me no one gets in the cabin except him."

"But Mike's in the cabin," Dustin reasoned. "Come on, Steve, haven't we been through enough already? Must we be separated again and again and again? It's been a long week, man. Let's just watch TV and hang out. You know, like friends. Don't we deserve that? Huh? After all we've been through, don't we deserve a little fun?"

God, that kid was dramatic. Steve narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips but of all the kids in the world, he absolutely couldn't say no to Dustin. He was like a brother to him. A mini-Steve and, though he liked to push his luck, the boy looked up to him. And besides, Hopper went to work, not the store or something. Steve was sure he'd be able to get the boys out of the house before Hopper came home.

"Fine," the teen groaned as he stepped aside. Dustin smirked, knowing his little dramatic flair would help. He and Mike high fived and Mike went back to El's room.

"Oh!" Dustin turned on his heel and looked over at Steve. "Lucas is gonna be here in like ten minutes."

"What?!"

Poor Steve, his little ducklings are filtering in lol! Thank you guys for all the love! It's much appreciated! To get this kind of response on a short little story like this is exciting and I'm thrilled! This isn't an epic or a really long story, so the chapters will be short. Hopefully, that also means they'll come quickly! Anyway, I hope you keep on enjoying!