"Guys, Steve isn't back yet," Dustin says. Lucas had noticed, too.

Mike, engrossed in Dig Dug, seems unfazed. "He's probably just caught up at the pharmacy."

"He's been gone almost an hour," Lucas says. "That's a long time."

"Should we go look for him?" Will asks.

"We'll run out of money in like, 10 minutes," Mike says, not taking his eyes off the screen. "If he's not back by then we'll going looking. Now shut up and let me concentrate."

xxx

"Okay. Now we can be worried," Mike says, when 15 minutes have passed, they're out of money, and Steve still isn't back.

"How far is the pharmacy from here?" Lucas asks.

"Four blocks, I think," Will answers. "But what if we leave to look for him and then he comes back and we're not here?"

"Maybe two of us should go and two of us should stay," Dustin suggests.

"Okay, who goes and who stays, then?" Mike asks.

While they're deciding all of this, Nancy arrives.

It's not every day that a beautiful girl graces the inside of the arcade, let alone Nancy Wheeler.

All eyes turn on her the second she steps through the door.

She pauses at the doorway. Aware of the stares, she holds her purse more tightly to her side before scanning the arcade for the boys. When she sees them, she determinedly starts walking to them; they meet her halfway.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asks Nancy.

"Steve called me. Asked me to pick you guys up."

"Why?" Dustin demands. "Is he okay?"

"He told me to assure you all that he is fine. He found Billy. Said he's in bad shape. He's taking care of him."

"What happened?" Lucas asks, a pit forming in his stomach.

"I don't know," Nancy answers with a sigh, sounding as frustrated as Lucas feels. "Steve didn't go into details."

"Does he need help?" Will asks.

"Steve says he has it handled. He says he's sorry and that he'll take you out for ice cream another time. Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah, unless you want to give us some money," Mike says hopefully.

"In your dreams, Mike," Nancy says, nudging him toward the exit. "C'mon."

xxx

"You want to come over for a bit?" Mike asks Lucas, when Nancy drops them off. She had plans to meet Jonathan back at the Byers' place since he was off work by now.

Lucas nods. "Yeah, sure. Let me just tell my parents and I'll be right over."

xxx

When Lucas steps into his house, the first thing he hears is Erica crying.

"It looks worse than it is, baby," his dad's voice assures her. "I'm okay."

"You're hurt!" Erica wails.

And Lucas's stomach drops into his toes.

"Mom? Dad?" he says cautiously as he walks down the hallway to the kitchen. "I'm home. What's goin' on?"

The scene he walks into is his mother cleaning a cut on his father's cheek, while Erica holds onto his knee, watching.

"Your father got into a fight."

"What? With who?"

"It wasn't really a fight," Lucas's dad says, and nudges his wife's hand away. "I'm fine, Sheila. You can stop."

"Dad, who did that to you?" Lucas asks, taking his snuffling sister by the shoulders and pulling her gently away. He can see discoloration around his father's left eye and a cut along the cheekbone. "Are you okay?" he asks, as he rests his chin on the top of his sister's head.

"Yes, son. I'm okay. I stuck around too long in a bad situation, that's all. Have a black eye to show for it."

"But who did it?"

"Your father was picking up some eggs at the grocery," his mom says. "A man behind him started calling him names and said that he'd cut him in line."

"Which I hadn't," his dad asserts. "He must be new to town or passing through because I didn't recognize him. He left as soon as he clocked me. Ditched the six pack he was buying."

Lucas's mom goes to the sink to rinse out the rag she had been using to clean his dad's cheek. "All these years living in Hawkins and this is the first time…" she trails off, shaking her head.

"The first time what…?" Lucas asks.

"The first time one of us has been targeted for the color of our skin," his dad says, standing up from his chair to rest a hand on his wife's shoulder. "But Sheila, this was an isolated incident. And I shouldn't have let him get to me. I fired back a few insults myself. That's why it escalated."

Lucas watches as his mom turns around to hug her husband. "Just promise me, if there is a next time, you'll remove yourself from the situation before you get hit."

"I promise."

xxx

"He's okay though, right?" Mike asks as Lucas flops down on his couch. They're in the Wheelers' basement and Lucas has just filled Mike in on what he'd arrived home to.

"Yeah, just has a black eye."

"I bet I know who it was that did it," Mike says.

Lucas sighs. "You can't jump to that conclusion, man."

"You're jumping to it, too!" Mike exclaims. "If you know what I'm thinking, then you must be thinking it, too!"

Lucas covers his face with his hands. It's true. Neil Hargrove had been the first to cross his mind. "Okay, so maybe I am thinking it. But… if it was him, I don't want you to hold it against Max."

Mike groans in frustration. "Here we go…"

Lucas swallows hard. He's been meaning to have this conversation with Mike for a while now. "I just wish you would give her a chance." He lets out a deep breath. "But I get it. She's this new person that I want to be in the party, and you don't know if you can trust her or if she'll fit in. It's… It's how I felt about El. Remember?"

That floors Mike. Lucas can tell because the wind has left him when he croaks out, "Yeah. I remember."

"Looking back on it, I wish I had just trusted your judgment, man. And now I guess… I'm asking you to trust mine. With Max."

Mike nods vaguely. "Okay," he says simply.

Lucas raises his eyebrows. "Really? Okay?"

"Yeah, man. I mean, if you're going to give me a whole speech about it, you must really like this girl." His voice is dripping with mock exasperation, but sobers when he puts a hand on Lucas's knee. "I trust you."

Lucas smiles shyly. "Thanks."

"Okay, enough of that," Mike says and drops the newest issue of Captain America in Lucas's lap. "On to more important matters."