Exams are over, so I should be back to updating everyday again! There's a bit of mileven fluff in this chapter, let me know if you like it or if it's too cheesy! Also, a special thanks for so many kind reviews, they mean a lot to me!
"You're gonna love it, Kiddo," Hopper said to his daughter. Jane stared at the Jiffy-Pop skeptically.
"Trust me, he's right," Max said, nodding. With a shrug, Jane put the Jiffy-pop on the burner. When the foil started to rise, her eyes widened. It was so strange! She kept waiting for the expansion inside to cause the foil to burst, but it held its own. When it was finished, Hopper poured the popcorn into a bowl for the girls.
"Before you two run off into her room, Max, we should talk," the Chief said. Sighing, Max sat on the couch with Jane, looking at Hopper in the recliner.
"I know I should have told my mom where I was, but I just didn't really want to talk to her." Max looked upset, but was playing it off as if she didn't care.
"I get that kid, I do, but you need to tell me exactly what's going on," Hopper said, leaning forward. "Why don't you want to be at home? Is it your step brother? Step dad?"
"Both, but this time step dad," she paused. "He's not… good to us," Max continued vaguely. Hopper gestured for her to continue. Max glanced at Jane, who nodded in support, grabbing her hand. "He gets really… angry at my mother. I tried to get him to leave her alone, and he pushed me. I've talked to my mom about him before, but she won't leave him. I… I just didn't know what to do, but I don't want to go back there." Max finished, voice shaking.
"Well, here's what I can do. I can call a buddy I know who's in Child Services and get him working on a case for you. In the meantime, if you would rather stay here, you're more than welcome." Max's eyes brightened at the thought of being able to stay longer. "But," Hopper continued, ignoring how her eye's fell when he did, "you'll have to talk to your mom. Tomorrow."
"Of course, thank you!" Max said. Hopper smiled and headed into the kitchen to heat himself up some dinner when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Hopper yelled from the kitchen.
"Mike and Lucas!" Jane replied. Hopper rolled his eyes and went to stand in the archway. Jane was leading them to her bedroom with her bowl of popcorn in hand.
"Hey!" Hopper called, causing every kid to turn his way. "The door stays open, got it? And no funny business!"
The kids nodded aggressively before heading to Jane's room. Once inside, Mike and Jane quickly claimed the bed and Max and Lucas took the floor. With a twitch of Jane's head, her boombox started playing some Madonna (who was currently her favorite artist). The music helped to mask their conversations from being overheard by Hopper, and also to set a mood for the room.
Lucas took Max's hand in his and started rubbing circles on hers with his thumb. Max looked at him softly before resting her head on his shoulder. Lucas looked up at Mike and Jane who were whispering softly to each other and eating popcorn. They were such an adorable couple, Lucas thought. Though when he had first met who they then called Eleven, he had thought she was a weirdo, Lucas had grown to understand her better and in turn, had understood why Mike was so smitten with her. They are a cute couple, he thought again. Lucas held Max tighter, thinking of how lucky he had been to be with her. He smiled. Lucas knew that Neil had been becoming possessive over Max's mother, but he never would have thought that he would put a hand on Max. When she'd told him during second period he had half a mind to grab the best rock he could find and put his Wrist Rocket to work on Neil Hargrove's face.
"How's your eye?" Lucas asked her. She lifted her head to look at him.
"It doesn't hurt that much, I've just had a headache all day. I should probably wash this makeup off to get a better look at it," Max explained. Lucas nodded as she stood up to go wash her face in the bathroom. In her absence, Lucas stood and grabbed some popcorn, deciding to crash Mike and Jane's conversation.
"How's your first sleepover going, Jane?" Lucas asked, raising his eyebrows comically.
"It's nice. She's sweet," Jane said simply. As if on cue, Max entered the bedroom again, this time bearing a purplish-blue halo around her right eye.
"Is it that bad?" Max asked, reading her friend's faces.
"No, no of course not," they all denied a little too hard. Max laughed and grabbed onto Lucas' hand again.
Will was in the shower, thinking over his day and trying to massage the stress knots out of his neck. School had been normal. He had gone to his appointment with Dr. Owens, where he'd explained the dreams he'd been having. Dr. Owens hadn't been as skeptical as he was last year, but still didn't seem very worried about what the boy had been seeing.
"Well, maybe you're just able to get glimpses of that world," he had explained with a shrug. Neither Will nor his mother were entirely pleased with that answer, but since his brain scans were normal, they decided not to dwell on it. Will just hoped he'd be able to sleep tonight.
When Will was out of the shower, he and his mom were scrolling the TV channels, looking for something to watch together. Will was sipping his Coca-cola when his mother had landed on a channel that was playing the movie 'Mr. Mom'. Will quickly glanced at his mother, wondering how she would react. She sat still for a moment, before giving a sigh and switching the channel again.
Joyce had been slowly getting over Bob's death. She felt immensely guilty, knowing that if she had never been close to him, he would probably still be alive. She shoved that thought to the back of her mind, knowing that if she dwelled too long, it would eat her alive. Joyce need to be strong for her boys. She just had to.
Mike was lost in Jane's eyes. She was smiling back at him as they leaned on her headboard eating popcorn. Her dimples would make an appearance every once in a while when she chewed. He loved noticing things like that about her. Mike wanted to memorize her face. After living without her for 353 days, Mike never wanted to miss a single detail of her ever again.
Jane was looking back at Mike. She liked his freckles a lot, they reminded her of the stars. She liked how he looked at her like she was the only person in the world. She liked how he had been the first person she remembered who treated her like a human being. The stars on Mike's face reminded her of a bittersweet memory. Back at the lab, she had never seen the stars, but after making some progress translating a far-off conversation in the bath, she had been rewarded with an astronomy book. It was the first item that had let her know something that kept her going for a long time: she was not alone. There were millions of stars and planets accompanying her, as well as people and places she had never been. It made her hopeful that someday she would be able to be out there in the world. Her mind drifted back to the present.
"Something wrong?" Mike questioned, watching Jane's smile falter.
"No," she says, looking back at him, a smile resuming on her face. Mike knew there was a lot more to Jane that she wasn't sharing with him, or with anyone. He wanted to give her space, but he also didn't want her to hold her burdens alone. Without thinking, Mike leaned in for a kiss. For that moment, Jane and Mike were in their own solar system among the stars and nothing else mattered.
"It's almost ten boys, you'd better get going," Hopper called from the living room. All four teenagers sighed.
At 11:30, Nancy Wheeler had finally sobered up enough to be left alone for the night, thanking Jonathon for going to that stupid party with her in the first place. Now the eldest Byers was driving home. When he reached their house, he figured his mother and brother would be asleep, or close to it. Once inside the house, his suspicions were confirmed. The house was silent. He got ready for bed being as quiet as he could not to wake them. When he was leaving the bathroom, he heard a whimper coming from Will's bedroom. Jonathon slowly opened his brother's bedroom door and saw Will lying on his back seemingly paralyzed with a look of intense terror on his face. A few more moans left his lips and Jonathon rushed over to wake him.
"Will! WILL! Wake up, it's just a nightmare!" Jonathon tried. He shook his brother, still attempting to stir him awake. Jonathon went on yelling and shaking him, which woke his mother up in the other room. Joyce was there in a flash.
"What's happening?!" she asked.
"I think he's having a dream again, but I can't get him to wake up!" Jonathon explained. Suddenly, Will's eyes shot open and he heaved a shaky breath.
"Will?" Joyce called. "Honey, are you awake?" Will looked back at her close to tears and nodded.
"I was there. I was actually there! It was not a vision or a dream, I was in the upside down," he exhaled in a shaky breath. "And there's more than just demo dogs there now."