Thank you for reading! Happy New Year!

"Hold Me Now"

Hold me now

Warm my heart

Stay with me

Let loving start

- Thompson Twins

All three groups converged at the Byers' house when it was over. Hopper's eyes skipped over all the others—Will's pale but smiling face, the bruises and streaks of blood on the Harrington kid, all of it—looking for Joyce. She looked exhausted, and no wonder, after the night she'd had. But she was smiling, holding on to Will's hand.

Hopper opened his arms and Joyce got up, glancing at Will as if to make sure he would be okay with her across the room, and came over to him, fitting herself into his arms. He held her close, ignoring all the chaos around them as the kids reunited, all talking at once.

After a moment, he felt her relax against him, and then she was shaking, muffling her sobs against his coat. Hopper took two quick steps backward, bringing her with him, around the corner where the kids wouldn't see her. He didn't know if Will knew about Bob yet, but the kid didn't need to see his mom break down. Not right now.

And then he just held her, letting her cling to him while she let go of the control she'd held herself in all night.

Jonathan poked his head around the corner at some point, checking on his mom, but Hopper shook his head, and Jonathan backed off, seeming to understand the situation. Or at least part of it. The irony that Hopper was holding her while she wept for another man, after having realized only hours ago that he was in love with her—well, he supposed that was what love really was, wasn't it? Putting the other person's needs above your own? Hopper had never been particularly good at that kind of thing, as his ex-wife would have been the first to confirm, but in this case … well, he owed Bob, too, and he owed Joyce … everything, for waking him up again, for bringing him out of the fog of pain and back into the world. Nothing that was good in his life right now would have happened without her.

At last she seemed to have cried herself out, and he bent down, asking quietly, "You okay?"

Joyce nodded against his chest. "Yes. No. I don't know."

He got it. "Take as long as you need."

But that reminded her that she wasn't just Joyce, a woman who had lost the man she loved tonight. She was also a mom, and her kids, and all the others, needed her. Pushing herself away, she swiped her arm across her face and looked up at him, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Hop."

"Anytime."

It was getting late; these kids were going to need to get home at some point.

Hopper came around the corner, searching for El. She was in the midst of all of them, shoulder to shoulder with Mike. They weren't looking at each other, but you could tell they were completely aware of one another. He was going to have trouble there, he could see. But now at least it was normal trouble. He didn't have to keep them apart for their own safety anymore. This was all going to take a lot of getting used to.

"Hey!" he shouted above the din, watching as all the faces turned in his direction. "Who needs a ride home?"

Turned out they all did. The Harrington kid agreed to take Dustin and Max, and the two Wheeler kids and Lucas would come with Hopper. None of the kids thought their parents would be any too concerned about them being out this late, which made Hopper wonder if he, too, was supposed to let El roam around at all hours of the day and night with no supervision. What if something happened to her? Clearly he had a lot to figure out.

They dropped the kids off in their cul-de-sac, with a brief but intense good-bye between Mike and Eleven. Mike met Hopper's eyes over El's shoulder. "When can I see her again?" the kid demanded.

"Soon."

Eleven whipped her head around and glared at him, and Hopper knew that word was going to be a sore spot between them for a long time.

"Soon as I hear back from the lab," he amended. "Once we know what they're going to do, and we're sure she's safe from them, you'll see her. I promise."

El narrowed her eyes, but decided to accept the answer, and she persuaded Mike to do so, as well. Mike's backward glances at the car as he followed Nancy to their house said it would take Hopper a long time to earn the kid's trust back again.

Once they were all safely inside, El leaned her head back against the seat and sighed, her eyes closing.

"Tired, kid?"

She nodded.

"I don't blame you. That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen." He reached out, holding her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, El."

Without opening her eyes, she whispered, "Thanks."

"Hey. This might be … the wrong time, and I'm gonna take you home and let you get some sleep, but I have to ask you something."

El sat up, her eyes on his face.

"This is your life, and you deserve some choices in it, so if you want—if you want a different kind of life, I'll help you. But … I would very much like it if you'd stay with me, let me—let me be your family. I—" He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he felt shy about it. "Will you stay?"

"Will you promise to tell me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then … yes." She smiled. "I'll stay with you."

"Great. Great!" He put the car in gear and reached for her hand, holding it as he drove back to the cabin, even as Eleven leaned her head back against the seat and fell asleep.