★☆

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE ; THE RETURN OF THE BLOODY NOSE
also known as;
( the gate; part one )

★☆

ELEVEN LOOKED DIFFERENT. The last time Stella saw the young girl, she was crying underneath a makeshift tent in Mike Wheeler's basement after having found Will in the Upside Down, but not having anyone believe her. To believe that was already a year ago made Stella feel overcome with shock. But it was clear Eleven had gone through some shit since they had last talked, as she was decked out in a full black outfit with a pair of converse on her feet. Her newly grown hair was gelled back and she was even wearing some thick punk eyeliner. 

Stella thought she looked like someone from MTV.

All of these things seemed to rush through her mind as Eleven stepped into the Byers home, silence looming over the large group. Not one person knew what to say as she walked further into the living room, all of them speechless. It was only Mike who decided to move forward, finally being reunited with the incredible girl. 

Lowering her mallet, she watched with a soft smile on her face and the two kids embraced in the centre of the room, both of them thankful to be able to hold each other once more. They were young, sure, but everything they had experienced together was a lifetime of struggle, and they deserved to love one another. 

"Is that?" Max asked softly from behind the older teenager, peering over Stella's shoulder. 

"Yeah," Stella whispered, her eyes soaking in the sight of the young girl who was holding Mike. "He was right."

"I never gave up on you," Mike's voice was wavering, though there was a sparkle in his eyes that somehow brightened up his entire face. He sniffled slightly as he pulled away from El, though he held her shoulders tightly as a way to keep her close to him. "I called you every night. Every night for--"

"Three hundred and fifty three days," Eleven gasped out, her own tears dripping down her cheeks. Amidst all the chaos, Stella found herself most in shock of the fact that she was speaking more than one word at a time. This brought a wide smile to her own face as she looked across at them. "I heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you were there?" Mike asked, his voice dropping a little in surprise. "That you were okay?"

"Because I didn't let her," Hopper took a step forward, exhaling softly. Stella's eyes trailed up to his looming figure with widened eyes. He approached El, lowering his gun to his side. "The hell is this? Where have you been?"

"Where have you been?" El retorted sharply, though she pulled Hopper into a tight embrace, to which his pressed a soft kiss to the top of her gelled head. Stella made a soft 'hmph' sound, as it wasn't really what she was expecting. 

"You've been hiding her," Mike put the pieces together, his face quickly reddening as his insides began to boil. He suddenly lifted his fist and aggressively pushed Hopper, though the Chief barely budged. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" 

"Hey!" Hopper snapped, holding a hand out to Stella, who had taken a step forward just in case Mike did something he'd regret. Hopper then grabbed Mike by the collar, just not enough to hurt him.  "Hey. Let's talk. Alone."

Hopper then pulled Mike out of the room, the younger boy, glaring at him harshly. Stella exhaled softly and exchanged a glance with Steve. She then returned her stare to Eleven, who let out a shaky breath before turning to face them. The raven-haired girl placed her mallet on the ground and allowed a warm smile to take over her face, rushing forward and pulling the child into a hug. 

Eleven didn't hesitate in holding her back, the pair remembering the short amount of time they had spent together -- Stella was the only one who remained kind and loving towards her throughout every mistake and troubles she faced, so there was no reluctance whatsoever to greet her again.

"Hey, sweetheart," Stella chuckled as she pulled away, taking the girl's face in her free hand. "I missed you after you went away."

"I missed you too," El allowed a soft smile to appear on her sullen face, before her eyes trailed down to Stella's dirty cast. Her fingers were red and bruised, as was her upper arm, but that didn't stop the joy the teenager felt being reunited with the incredible girl. El gently touched the plaster, frowning a little. "What happened?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Stella shook her head amusedly, patting the cast and ignoring the pain that shot through her body. "It was just a mouthbreather. You remember them, don't you?"

Eleven smiled again as she nodded. 

Stella grinned and turned, allowing her to move further down the group to greet Lucas and Dustin. As the kids clutched each other with the intent of remaining together, Stella stepped up to where Steve was standing, a new twinkle in her eye that he happened to notice. He leaned in slightly to ask her something. "So, what's the deal with her?"

"That's Eleven," Stella began to explain quietly. "She's a badass psychic princess who saved all our asses last year."

Steve was silent for a moment, before nodding. "Ahh."

Both stared back at Eleven, who was now embracing Joyce, remembering how much the mother had done for her the last time she was here. The pair had then wandered off into the hall, most likely in search of Will, so Stella decided to take a breather and collapse on the couch. Dustin joined her, followed by Lucas, and then Max, who seemed a little unhappy. Stella looked over with a concerned expression. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing," Max mumbled, crossing her arms and averting her eyes. Stella sighed, pursing her lips in a unimpressed fashion. 

"Liar," the teen responded matter-of-factly, nudging the redhead in the side. "C'mon, are you okay?"

Max shifted slightly in her seat, looking down at her lap with an upset expression. "El doesn't like me."

"What makes you say that?" Stella asked, her thick brows knitting together in confusion.

"Cause she just shoved past me like I wasn't even there," the younger girl scoffed, shaking her head in a dismissive fashion. "She probably thinks I replaced her or something -- but Mike doesn't even like me, and told me I'd never make it into their party."

"That's not Mike's decision to make, Max," Stella responded quietly, and Max rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. Yeah, he says it's a vote or whatever, but he's been a little bit of a jerk lately, though it's understandable why. You didn't do anything wrong, and if you want to be part of the group and more than one person thinks that, then I don't see a problem. Besides, I've learned that if you want Mike to accept you, just annoy him until he gives in."

The corner of Max's pale lips turned up a little. "Thanks, Star."

"No problem, kid."

★☆

"So you're saying this...gate, could be closed again?" Stella asked, tucking her feet underneath her legs as she sat in one of the wooden chairs around the Byers' dining table. The entire group were all gathered around to discuss what their next move was, seeing as they had Eleven, who could probably save the entire world in her sleep if she wanted to. 

"Surely it can't be that hard, can it?" Jonathan asked, looking between El and Hopper, who seemed to have some sort of Father-Daughter dynamic going on, which was pretty adorable in Stella's humble opinion. "I mean, it can't be that big?"

"It's not like it was before," Hopper sighed, scratching the back of his head as he paced around the kitchen tiles. "It's grown. A lot. And this is considering if we can get back in there, that place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-dogs," Dustin rudely corrected, to which he received a handful of glares from everyone around him. From Hopper's confused and irritated expression, the boy cleverly decided to elaborate. "Demodogs. It's like, uh, demogorgon and dogs. You put 'em together...and it sounds pretty badass--"

"How is this important right now?" Hopper snapped, and Dustin sighed, turning away. 

"It's not, I'm sorry."

"I can do it," Eleven decided, looking up at the Chief, who didn't seem completely sure.

"You're not hearing me," Hopper said warningly, to which El challenged with a determined expression.

"I'm hearing you," she replied confidently.

"Even if El can, there's still another problem," Mike piped up, drawing the attention to himself. "If the brain dies, then the body dies."

"I thought that was the whole point," Max stated, a look of confusion evident on her features. 

 "It is, but if we're really right about this, I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayers army..."

"Will's a part of that army," Lucas realised quietly, to which a realisation of shock fell over everyone in the room. Stella felt her heart stop in her chest and she swallowed nervously, unsure of what to think or say. 

"Closing the gate will kill him," Mike concluded, and Stella's eyes fell to the ground, hoping there was a way around it. The poor boy had already gone through enough, he deserved nothing but happiness and love, but instead the universe decided to continuously throw a whole lot of bullshit at him. 

Joyce stood up from where she was sitting and trailed down the halls into her bedroom, where Will had been transported. Everyone followed suit, filling into the room easily. Joyce was staring at the window when Stella and Steve arrived, muttering to herself. "He likes it cold."

"What?" asked Hopper, his voice laced in uncertainty. 

"It's what Will kept saying to me," the mother elaborated, nodding towards the open window. She walked over to the end of the room and shut it quickly. "He liked it cold. We keep giving it what it wants!"

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then," Nancy trailed off, finally speaking up. She glanced down at Jonathan, who was kneeling at his brother's bedside.

"We need to make the host uninhabitable," he finished, and Stella quickly caught on. 

"So if he likes it cold," she continued, looking over at Joyce, who looked so exhausted in that moment, but fuelled by rage and the determination to save the dying boy she had failed to keep safe for so long. 

"We're gonna have to burn it out of him," she hissed, her lip curling up in understanding of what she had to do to save both Hawkins and her thirteen year-old son. 

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time," Mike quipped.

"Yeah, somewhere far away," Dustin agreed, nodding quickly. 

Hopper stood up straighter from where he was lingering in the doorway. "I know a place."

★☆

OKAY FUCK I'M WELL AWARE THIS IS GARBAGE BUT I NEEDED TO UPDATE AND HAVE A FILLER CHAPTER BEFORE SHIT GETS INTENSE SO I'M SORRRRRYYYY

dedicated to the person who i knOW commented asking for one but i can't remember what chapter they asked lol so can i just ask y'all that if you would like a dedication to ask on the most recent chapter? so tell me if you'd like one cause i'm pretty open about who gets one!!

also i'm sorry once again that this is a lame chapter and that i haven't updated in a while, but i've been having a shit time lately and i'm currently writing to distract myself so hHAHAHhahAHah don't be mean 2 me i'm already sad :))

and i was babysitting the other night and i made a bunch of those incorrect quote things n i found them pretty funny so tell me what you guys think!!

★☆