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Lucas walked Max home from school before heading to his own house to do some homework. Max walked into her front door. Her mom was waiting on the couch for her, which was extremely unusual since her mom usually worked late into the evening.

"Maxine, I'm glad you're home!" Susan exclaimed. Max was weary of her mother at this moment because she was acting… off.

"Uh hi Mom," Max replied.

"Come here honey," Susan said, leading Max to her own bedroom. Max followed, now totally weirded out. They sat on Max's bed together with the door shut.

"Sweetheart, Child Services are investigating Neil." She took a deep breath. "Now, I know that you were worried about me this weekend and I should have listened to you, but you've got to understand. Neil would never hurt you or me, so there's nothing to worry about," Susan said calmly.

"He did hurt you Mom, are you that thick that you don't even realize that?" Max shot at her.

"Honey, I know he has a temper, but they're not going to find anything to investigate!" Susan told her daughter. Max looked down and wondered, there wouldn't be anything to investigate… unless we had a witness. Max glanced at the door to her room, wondering what Billy was up to in the room next door…

Jane met Mike at her locker after last period, just like every other day. But today was slightly different. Since Jane was basically living at the Byers now that she had to look out for Will, Jane had asked Joyce if it would be okay for her and Mike to hang out at the Wheeler's until Joyce got off of work and picked them up. Being the kindhearted person she is, she had agreed. Mike beamed at Jane as she approached him.

"You ready to hang out today?" he asked her with excitement.

"I can't wait, Mike," she replied, her eyes glistening. They both looked into each other's eyes with the most adorable passion.

"FREAK!" someone from behind them muttered. Jane's head snapped around to look for the source of the noise, but in the crowded hallway, it would be impossible to tell.

"Don't worry about them," Mike said, taking her hand as they walked out of the school together. "They have no idea how amazing you are." Jane grinned from ear to ear.

Once they reached Mike's basement, the pair were quickly snuggling on the couch, 'freak' soon forgotten. Jane had her head resting on Mike's lap while he played with her hair. She loved looking up at him like this. His eyes seemed to be endlessly deep and she enjoyed searching their darkness.

Mike looked down at Jane, his hands playing in her chocolate curls. He remembered the first time he had seen her with hair. Mike's heart had been pounding with anticipation as he saw the chain lock on the Byers' front door begin to slide down. The whole room had assumed it was a Demogorgon, but boy were they surprised when they saw white converse high tops enter the room. Mike's heart had literally dropped when he realized who it was. She looked very different from the last time Mike had seen her, but she still looked like her. She had an air of strength around her, and that seemed to have grown over the last 353 days, but she also had a vulnerability that Mike had really connected with. He saw her face transition to her softer self when they met eyes, and Mike knew he had never felt more whole in his entire life.

"What are you thinking about?" Jane murmured softly, cutting into Mike's thoughts.

"You," he replied without hesitation. Jane sat up and looked him in the eye, moving closer to him slowly. Soon their faces were only inches apart. Mike's heart began to race, knowing where this was headed. Jane smashed her face against Mike's, moving onto his lap. Mike was at first shocked, but he quickly embraced her and began moving his mouth against hers. The voice in the back of Mike's mind told him that this was escalating too fast, but Mike ignored it, enjoying the electricity he felt kissing her so passionately.

"Mike," Jane muttered into his lips.

"Yes?" he breathed.

"I love the intense," she said with a laugh. Mike pulled away, his hands remaining in her hair and looked at her.

"I love you," Mike said. He knew he should feel nervous about the fact that he had just spilled that on her, but nothing had ever felt more right to him. Jane's breath hitched.

"I love you too."

Will was at his dining room table finishing up his homework. Jonathon and Nancy had driven him home from school and they were sitting on the couch in the living room watching some girly TV show that Will knew Jonathon would never choose to put on. Will laughed to himself, wondering when Jonathon had fallen in love so deeply with Nancy that he didn't mind watching dumb TV, as long as it was with her. Will continued on his homework. Today hadn't been bad at all. Will was feeling especially well rested thanks to Jane. Will really owed Jane his life several times over and he would never be able to show how grateful he was to her.

It was Monday, so Steve Harrington was on his way to the Henderson's for his usual Monday night dinner. Dustin enjoyed having Steve around, and Steve enjoyed having someone who was fun and carefree to hang out with, plus free food was always nice when you had just moved out of your parent's house.

"Dusty! Steve's here!" Ms. Henderson called, grabbing her casserole from the oven.

"Coming!" Dustin replied, emerging from his room. He swung the front door open and gave his signature goofy smile. "Steve! How's it going?"

"Good, good! Smells great in here, Ms. H," Steve said, taking off his shoes at the door.

"Well it's done, so take a seat," Ms. Henderson told the boys. They sat down for dinner, which was a mixture of Steve charming Dustin's mom, Dustin going on about some scientific concept the neither Steve nor Ms. Henderson understood, or Ms. Henderson talking about her new cat, Tews.

"What do you we should do about Will?" Steve asked Dustin when they had finished up eating and had sat down in the living room. Dustin's mom was cleaning up the dishes so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Jane thinks she can kill it, and I totally trust her judgement on that, but I mean it seems like a big risk. We really need to understand what the shadow monster really is and why it's targeting Will," Dustin brainstormed.

"The Chief is never going to agree to put Jane up against that thing. We saw what happened after she closed the gate," Steve said.

Hopper had returned from the lab holding Jane in his arms as she was completely passed out. She had dried blood coming from her nose, eyes, and even ears. It was frightening. They had put her in Joyce's bed and washed her face off before letting her sleep. Mike had sat next to her the whole time she slept, with Hopper periodically coming in and seeing how she was doing. She didn't wake up for fourteen hours, and when she did she could barely speak. Her voice was so drained. Jane had complained of feeling sore for almost three whole days and didn't use her powers for about a week after that. She had been so worn out, it was nerve racking. The thought of her actually facing that thing was scary. Dustin wasn't sure she could do it without being taken to the upside down like she was with the Demogorgon. Both boys sighed, trying to figure out what they could do.

Max knocked on Billy's bedroom door. She wasn't even sure he would be able to hear her knock over his blasting music, but he swung the door open after a few moments. Billy looked surprised to see her standing there.

"What do you want, shitbird?" he growled.

"Billy, I think we might be of use to each other here, but you'll have to hear me out." After a short contemplation, her step brother moved out of the door way for her. Once she stepped in, he closed the door.

"You have five minutes. Go," Billy said, crossing his arms.

"Okay so you know how your dad's being investigated? I don't think they'll find any evidence of how much of a dick he is, but maybe if there was a convincing story of abuse, it would be enough to make a case. So I guess I was wondering… What exactly has your dad done to you?"