Eleven continues to scream and wail in pain and I look down at her leg, which had something moving in her wound. "What is that?" Erica asked, disgusted, as she looks at El's leg. "There's something in there." Mike said as the wound seems to get worse. "No!" El screamed. "Jesus Christ." Dustin said, worried.

"Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathon said before he runs off somewhere. I look down at El and placed a hand on her forehead. "It's okay, honey. You're gonna be okay." I tried to assure her and she looked like she was about to lose consciousness. "Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake." Mike said to her, keeping her alert. "Let's get her on this side, on this side." I tell Mike and he, Dustin and I move El. "Easy, easy, easy, easy." I tell the boys.

"It's, uh...You know, it's not actually that bad. There was a...The goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane." Robin rambled and I give her a confused look. "Robin." Steve said. "Yeah?" She asked. "You're not helping." Steve tells her. "I'm sorry." Robin said as we get El situated and Jonathon comes back with a wooden spoon, some bandages and a large knife.

"Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" Jonathon tells her. "Okay." She sobs and I hold my right hand out to her. "Here, if you want, you can hold my hand." I tell her and she takes it as Jonathon starts to put on gloves. "Need you to stay real still." He said and he hands the wooden spoon towards her. "Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?" He said and Mike takes it and hands it to El.

"Jesus Christ." Dustin mutters as El leans her head forward and bites down on the spoon. "Holy shit. Holy shit." Dustin mutters as I firmly grasp El's hand. "It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay." I whispered to her as Jonathon moves the knife close to her wound

"Do it." Mike tells Jonathon, who looked very nervous to do this but he takes a couple of deep breathes. "Okay." He whispers then starts to cut into the purple bulge and El's scream was muffled as she bites down hard on the spoon and grips my hand really hard, I was starting to loose the feeling of my fingers but I did my best to hold onto her.

"Oh, shit." Dustin exclaims as Jonathon slices the wound open then sets the knife inside and, slowly, inserts his finger into the wound, which made El scream even louder. Everyone, including me, all gave an exclaim of disgust as Jonathon keeps digging in the wound.

"Jonathan!" Nancy yelled. "Stop talking!" Jonathon exclaims as he continues to dig around into the wound, trying to get whatever was in El's leg. "No! Stop it! Stop! Stop!" El screams as she drops the spoon from her mouth and Jonathon stops. "I can do it. I can do it." El grunts, tearfully, and she lets go of my hand and Mike and I help her sit up.

She raises her right hand towards her leg and uses her power to remove it from her leg. Some glass breaks around us as El screams and slowly removed this weird, fleshy looking leech from her leg. "Oh, God!" I grumbled, in disgust, as the leech flies up and El uses her power to throw it far away from us. It looked like it started to scurry away when Hopper, Joyce and some bespectacled, bearded balding man come in and Hopper steps on the fleshy monster.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world." Mike started to explain after we patched up El and the adults asked us what the hell has been going on. "And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it." Nancy said.

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked. "It's big. Thirty feet, at least." Jonathon replied. "Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin." Lucas said to Hopper, who looked a bit upset. "Sorry." Lucas whispers, apologetically. "Okay, so, just to be clear, this...this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic...weapon?" I asked the others. "Yes." Nancy confirmed.

"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon...with melted people." Steve said, as if to understand what is going on. "Yes, exactly." Nancy said. "Yeah, okay. I...Yeah, I'm just making sure." Steve said and I sighed, giving a side hug to Max as she was standing between me and Steve.

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asked. "El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive." Max said. "But if we close the gate again..." Will said. "We cut the brain off from the body." Max adds. "And kill it. Theoretically." Lucas finished. "Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!" The balded man said as he walks in, wave some papers in his hands.

"Okay, this is what Alexei called the hub. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room." The man said as he sets down the papers on a nearby table. And from what I could see it is a map of the Russian bunker. "Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asked. "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so." The man said as he points at a certain part of the map.

"More like 500. What, you're just gonna waltz in there like it's commie Disneyland or something?" Erica asked as she walks up. "I'm sorry, who are you?" The man asked her. "Erica Sinclair. Who are you?" Erica asked, with an attitude. "Murray...Bauman." Murray replied. "Listen, Mr. Bunman, I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die." Erica said.

"I'm sorry, why is this four-year-old speaking to me?" Murray asked, annoyed. "Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" Erica yelled. "Erica!" Lucas shouts. "Just the facts!" Erica yells at him. "She's right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to. Excuse me." Dustin said as he walks up to the table. "Sorry, may I?" He asked Murray as he gestures to the map. "Please." Murray said, sounding a bit annoyed that a couple of children were talking back at him.

"Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way." Dustin said. "You can show us the way?" Hopper asked, confused. "Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your...navigators." Dustin said as Erica nods.

"No." Hopper said, shaking his head, as Dustin and Erica frowned. "Nope." Hopper said again.

After thinking it over for a bit, Hopper decided to let Dustin and Erica navigate him, Joyce, and Murray through the bunker. But to be able to communicate from so far away they need a strong frequency for their radios to work.

Dustin gets an idea to use his radio he had built at camp, that's still out on a hill in the fields. Hopper tosses Steve the keys to his car when he and Robin volunteered to go with Dustin and Erica.

"You coming?" Steve asked, turning to me and I look over at Max. "Um, if it's okay with you...I'm gonna stay here and be with my sister." I said, pointing over at Max and Steve frowns slightly which causes me to start panicking.

"N-Not because I-I don't wanted to hang around y-you or anything, I-i-it's j-just..." I stammered and Steve chuckles a little, his lips quirking up into a small. "It's okay, I get it." He said and I let out a small sigh, slumping my shoulders.

Then without any warning, Steve's hands slips into my hair at the back of my head and the other going to rest on the lower part of my back as he pulls me into him, leaning his head down for an electrifying kiss.

I let out a surprised gasp when I felt his lips to mine. It took a few seconds for me to recuperate myself and once I did, I closed my eyes and place my hands on his cheeks, kissing him back. We break the kiss and lean our foreheads against each other before I speak up. "Just be careful." I tell him and he gives a small smile to me. "You too." He said then he gives me a quick kiss on the lips then walks over to Dustin, Robin and Erica, who all looked shocked and surprised.

"Well, you finally did it, huh?" Max asked and I turned to face her, my cheeks turning warm. "Yeah, I, uh..." I stammered and Max smiles. "Good for you." She said and I chuckled and we stand there in silence for a few moments.

"Sooo, Billy..." I said, changing subject, and Max nods. "Yeah, it's crazy." She said. I still couldn't believe that this monster was controlling Billy. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her. "I didn't want you to worry. You already had enough on your plate." Max said and I frowned. "It's my job to worry, especially about you. You could've gotten hurt!" I said. "But I didn't!" Max said, defensively. "I can see that. But if something were to happen to you, I would never be able to forgive myself." I shoot back at her.

Max's eyes soften at this then she looks down and I place a hand on her shoulder. She looks back at me. "You're my little sister and I love you very much. And I'm always gonna be worried about you, even when we're both old and gray." I said and Max scoffs out a laugh.

Then Mike comes up to us. "You guys ready?" He asked us and we nodded. Mike goes over to Hopper and El then said. "We should probably go." He and Max go over to El and go on either side of her and start to carry her off. "Mike?" Hopper said and Mike turns to him. "Be careful." He tells him and Mike nods and he and Max continue to carry El while Nancy, Jonathon, Will and I follow them out.

"El, you're bleeding." Max said as we walked outside of the mall and towards Nancy's car. "Are you okay?" Mike asked El. "Yeah." She replied, still wincing a bit, then I go to the back of the minivan and open the back hatch. "Here." I said and I help Max and Mike get Eleven into the car.

"Lay down." I tell El as we get her in the car and she winces in pain again while Nancy starts the car but the engine sputters. "What's wrong?" Jonathon asked as Nancy tries to start the car again but it still sputters as Mike, Max and I get into the car. "I don't...I don't know." Nancy said, confused, as she continues to get the car started.

"You can't be serious. Come on!" Nancy growls as she tries to start the car but still nothing. "Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas asked her. "Yes. I'm sure it's fine." Nancy said, frustrated. "Did you leave the lights on?" Will asked her. "No." Nancy replied. "Do we have gas?" Lucas asked. "Yes!" Nancy yells, angrily, as she tries to start the car but still it sputters.

"Come on!" Nancy growls as she turns the keys again, aggressively. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just stop, stop!" Jonathon said and she stops and looks at him. "Pop the hood." He tells her as he gets out and she does that then I get out and walk over to the hood of the car as does Nancy.

Jonathon opens the hood and looks in it. "What the hell?" He said, confused. "What?" Nancy and I asked. "The ignition cable's gone." Jonathon said. "How the hell..?" I started to ask but then the familiar sound of a car engine reeves up. We all look to our right and see several feet away, Billy's car. My heart sank at this as the car continues to rev up its engine, seeming to get ready to hit us.

Nancy runs to the back passenger side and I head to the back of the car and open the hatch. "Back in the mall! Back in the mall!" Nancy shouts and Lucas and Will get out while I opened the hatch and Max and Mike get out and try to get El out. "Here, let me." I said and I start to carry El, bridal style, and she places her arms around my neck. "You got her?" Mike asked. "Yes. Just go! Go, go, go!" I said and we all run back into the Mall.

"Go! Go! Go, go, go!" Nancy and Jonathon yelled as we run back into the mall

"Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, I repeat, do you copy?" Mike asked into his radio but nothing after we got settled into the mall. "We're trapped in the mall and in need of emergency transportation. Scoops Troop, do you copy? Billy has found us. He has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall. Repeat: Billy has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall." Mike repeated over and over again as Nancy was loading a pistol and Lucas was preparing his sling shot.

"You're gonna kill him, aren't you?" Max asked Nancy. "This is just a precaution, okay?" Nancy said. "And not just against Billy. If he knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer." Will tells Max then her and I share a look of worry. "This is so fucked up." I muttered as I place my hands on my head.

"Scoops Troop, I repeat, we are in need of emergency transportation. Do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy?" Mike, continuously, said into his radio but still no response from Dustin. Nancy looks over at the car El used to take out the Russians.

"No chance that thing'll drive, right?" She asked, sarcastically. "We don't need it to drive. We just need the ignition cable." Jonathon said and we all look at the car.

Minutes later, Nancy, Max, Lucas, Mike, Jonathon and I push up the car as best as we could so that Jonathon could get to the hood of the car and get the cable. "Push!" He grunts and all of us strain as we push up but then we let it slip and it crashes. "Shit!" Lucas exclaims, annoyed. "Let me try." El said as she hobbles over to us, Will standing next to her.

"El..." Mike pants and El steps a couple of steps forward. "I can do it." She said, firmly, and we all move out of her way. Then she raises her hand at the car and concentrates on trying to move it but nothing. She looks down, in defeat, and I go and place my hand on her shoulders. "You did your best." I assured her but she still looked sullen.

Later, we found some pole stands and start to use it on the car to flip it over. "Push!" Jonathon ordered and we push, making the car move a bit. "All right, great. All right, now, all the way. Ready?" Jonathon asked and we place the poles up against the car. "Three, two, one...Push!" Jonathon said and we all push the car and it flips over on its wheels.

"Told you. Physics." Mike said and Nancy and Jonathon go to the hood but couldn't get it open. "How do we get it open?" Nancy asked and I go over to the car. "Uh, there should be a latch." Jonathon said as I get to the driver's side. "Checking under the wheel." I said and I look under the wheel and found it and push the latch. "Got it." I said and the hood pops open.

"Do you see it?" Nancy asked Jonathon as he looks inside. "I don't know. It should be right here." Jonathon said as he looks around. "Distributor, distributor..." he mutters and I look over and noticed Will shivers a bit then places his hand on the back of his neck.

"Will? You okay?" I asked him. Before he could reply, we hear rumbling and pounding no footsteps. I look up on the roof and noticed the glass roof shakes as whatever was coming was getting closer. "Guys." I muttered as the cracking of glass sounds out and Max, Mike and El looks up in fear.

"Got it." Jonathon said and I look over to see he got the cable. "Nancy!" Mike shouts and she looks over and I point up. She looks up as the cracking of the glass continues and the rumbling gets closer. I run over to Mike, Max and El and turn to El. "Can you run?" I asked El, she shrugs and shakes her head slightly. "Okay, I'm gonna carry you again." I said and I pick her up and carry her like I did earlier and turn to Mike and Max.

"Come on!" I shout and we begin to run as I hear a loud crash behind us. I look over my shoulder and see this giant fleshy looking spider monster as it lands on the floor and roars. I noticed Jonathon, Lucas, Will and Nancy go and hide before I turn my head forward and Max, Mike, El and I go behind the escalators, I hold El close to me in case I have to carry her again when we make a run for it.

All of us sit in silence as we hear it move around then we hear the radio go off and Dustin's voice speaks through it. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over! Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you..." then I hear the roar of the monster again and I gasp then I hear it throw the radio but I could still hear Dustin's voice shouting for us.

"Griswold Family, do you copy? Do you copy?! Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop. Please confirm your safety! Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest? Please confirm your safety! Someone, please just answer. Is anyone there? Just answer! Anyone, please...Griswold Family, do you copy? Griswold Family, do you copy? Griswold Family, do you copy?Do you copy?!" Dustin voice keeps asking and I bite my lips, like that would hold back my fear, as the monster moves around.

I look over at Max and she looks back at me, a look of fear etched over her face. I then reached out, with my free hand, to her right hand, which was next to me, and grab onto it and hold it tight. She squeezes my hand back as we look back into each other's eyes, having a silent conversation between the two of us.

The monster continues move around, trying to find us, as he head if stomping around and throwing a few things. Mike stands up alittle to look out then shrinks back down. "It's turned away. If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it." Mike said. "No way, not with El's leg; even with (y/n) carrying her..." Max starts to argue. "We have to try." Mike said. "There's another way...to get out. Through the Gap." El said and Mike stands back up and looks over.

Then he gets back down and looks over at us. "Okay." He whispers and I let go of Max's hands and hook it under Eleven's legs. "Hang on, sweetie." I whisper and El nods as she wraps her arms around my neck. "Now." I said to the kids and we get up and start to run over to a clothing store and we enter in but El's leg hits one of the clothing racks, which made a loud clanging sounds.

"Shit." I growled under my breath and we run behind some shelves as we hear the monster come to us. Then we heard it grab something then it roared and throws something, which turned out to be a mannequin. We continued to sit and hide as we hear it moving around then a long slimy tentacle comes up to the side and I try my best to not puke.

It looked like it was about to reach for us until we heard a loud pop from a balloon. The monster then moved away from us and we get up, me carrying El again, and run out of the store as the creature was distracted.

We get around to the back area of the mall then run through the back hallways before we get to one of the doors that lead to the side of the mall. We go to the gates and go through it, leading to the front of the mall, but then we all stop and see Billy standing some feet away from us, his car was on fire. "Shit!" Max and I said and we turned away and run back into the mall. "Go, go, go, go, go, go!" Mike shouts and we run back to where we came then Max pushes the button to shut the gate as we run back in.

The lights flickered as we run as fast as we could down the hall. "Hang on, El. Hang on." I whispered to her. "In here. In here." Mike said as he gestures over to a corner snd we go over to it to see an elevator.

"Okay. Come on, come on, come on..." Mike said, frantically, as he presses the elevator call button several times and I set El on her feet for a moment to rest my arms. But then we hear a door open and Max walks around the corner. "Billy. Billy, you don't have to do this." Max pleads as we hear footsteps. "Billy. Your name's Billy, Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy, please, I'm Max, I'm your..." Max said but then Billy comes up to her and slaps her across the face, knocking her down.

"Max!" I screamed and Mike runs over to Billy to attack him but Billy grabs him and shoves him against a pipe. "Billy, stop!" I shouted as he turns to me and comes up to me, obviously eyeing El who I pushed behind me. "Whatever's wrong with you, you need to fight..." I started to plead but then he grabs me and throws me across the room and I black out.

*3rd Person POV*

After knocking (y/n) out, Eleven tries to use her powers but Billy grabbed her hand then flings her against the wall, rendering her unconscious. He goes over to Eleven and carries her out of the back hallways and back into the middle of the mall.

Once he makes it back to the mall, he sets Eleven down in the ground then leans into her ear. "Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon. Just try and stay...very still." He whispers to her as she wakes up and they hear the growls of the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer climbs back down into the mall and El looks up at it in fear as it gets closer to her. It opens its mouth and the small extra mouth sticks out towards her until a loud explosion and lights hit the monster in the head, making it look where the distraction came from.

It was Lucas, on the second floor, with a firework that he and the kids had grabbed from the grocery story, back when they tried to treat El's leg wound. "Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!" Lucas shouts and throws another firework at the Mind Flayer in the mouth. The monster stumbles back as on another side of the of the second floor Nancy and Will throw some more fireworks at it. It roars and growls as the fireworks hit him and it stumbles around.

"Hey, asshole! Over here!" Steve shouts as he and Jonathon throw more fireworks at it. El then noticed that any time the monster got hit with the colorful explosions, Billy was in pain too as if he too was affected by it. She decided to take this opportunity to get away but it wasn't long before Billy grabbed her leg and dragged her back towards the Mind Flayer.

Then Billy stops dragging her, gets on top of her and places his hands on her neck. "We're almost out!" Will shouts at Lucas. "I know." Lucas said then Steve uses the extra radio Robin got from Dustin and contacts Dustin. "Dustin! We're out of time!" Steve shouts and Dustin, who was still upon the hill with Erica. Dustin then contacts Joyce, Hopper and Murray's radio. "Hurry! Close it now! Close it!" Dustin shouts at them.

*(y/n)'s POV*

"(Y/n)...(y/n)...(y/n)..." I hear a voice say but it sounded so far away as I start to come back to consciousness. "(Y/n), please wake up!" I hear the voice plead much clearer and I realized it was Max. I open my eyes and see Max and Mike were kneeling over me. I sit up and Max places a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked me. "Besides a splitting headache, I'm fine." I said then I look around to see El was gone. "Oh no..." I whispered and Max and Mike help me up to my feet and we run back into the mall.

We get back into the mall and hear some explosions and roars and we run to the middle of the mall and see The Mind Flayer surrounded by smoke. It roars then I noticed Billy was standing before the monster, Eleven was laying down by his feet.

Max, Mike and I came to a stop as the Mind Flayer shots its tentacle mouth towards Billy, who held out his hands to catch it and stops the monstrosity from attacking El. He lets out a strenuous scream as he fights against the Mind Flayer. Max and I gasp at this, amazed by his strength to fight back against such a large and dangerous opponent.

Then several more tentacles came out of the Mind Flayer, one impaling itself into Billy's stomach and Billy goes quiet. Another tentacle goes into his waist and Billy's head droops down.

More tentacles impale themselves into Billy's back, holding him up so he's looking directly at the Mind Flayer. I stood there, my legs feeling as if they're frozen sold and my heart running a mile a minute, watching this monster kill my stepbrother.

The monster roars down at him and Billy lets out a furious and anguish yell before another tentacle hits him in the chest. "BILLY!" Max and I screamed as the monster removes its tentacles from Billy's body and he falls to the floor.

Then the monster screeches and squirms around like it was in pain before it falls to the ground, dead. All of us stare at this, unsure if it's safe to approach yet. But then Mike runs out to El, dropping down to his knees to hug her.

Max and I slowly walk over to Billy, seeing him bleeding way too much from too many places, so much so that blood was pouring out of his mouth. I knew in this moment that any hope of him surviving were nonexistent.

"Billy." Max and I said as he looks up at us, utter fear in his eyes as he gasps for air. "Billy, Billy, get up, please. Billy, get up, please, please." Max pleads to him as I kneeled down and place my hands on his chest, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Just hang on, Billy. W-W-We'll g-get you an ambulance a-and they'll fix you right up." I said in denial, not really wanting to accept the reality of the situation. I know Billy and I never got along, if anything we downright hated each other but I never wished death upon him.

"I'm sorry." Billy whispers, his voice sounding weak and raspy. Then he exhales sharply before his body goes still and his eyes loses all light in them.

"Billy...Billy. Billy." Max and I said, trying get him to respond but received nothing, he was gone. Max breaks down in tears while I sat there, too stunned by everything to even register what emotion I should be feeling. I couldn't believe it, Billy was gone and his last act was protecting El at the cost of his life.

Max drops down next to me and press her head into my chest, seeking comfort and I instinctively wrap my arms around her to hold her. But even with Max sobbing into my shirt, no tears came to me. No feeling of sadness or lost or pain came over me, I just felt...nothing.

El comes over to us, kneeling down and throwing her arms around me to hug Max from behind, crying along with her best friend.

Sometime later, the ambulances, firefighters and the army arrived and ushered everyone outside to get us out of the army's way and check us for injuries.

Max and I stood by an ambulance as we were being checked over when Steve came over to make sure we were okay. I told him I was fine but I honestly didn't feel fine, I was so confused on how to feel about all of this.

Steve didn't say anything and just pull me into hug and like a dam being burst open, the tears I thought weren't going to shed for Billy streamed down my face.

I buried my head into his chest, sobbing so hard I was start to have trouble breathing and had to make the annoying hiccup sound. Steve held onto to me tight, running his hand up and down my back to soothe me and I felt Max throw her small arms around me too and begin crying again into my arm.

After what felt like an eternity, I felt myself begin to calm down. Max pulls away to dry her eyes while Steve kept an arm around my shoulder as Robin comes up to us, seeing if we were okay.

I spotted Joyce coming out and Will runs over to hug her, then I saw Eleven walking around, looking for Hopper. Joyce looked over at El and she looked very upset as if she's telling El she's sorry.

And then it hit me that Hopper didn't make it. "Oh God." I muttered as I see El starting to cry. I pull away from Steve and made my way over to El to give her a comforting hug. She press her face into my shoulder as she sobs and I did my best to whisper comforting words to her while I try not to cry again myself.

Three Months Later

I drive up to Will's house to see the large moving truck and Joyce's car. Max, who was in the passenger seat, looks out the window and sighs. "Sucks that they're moving." She mutters. "Yeah, but I guess I understand why." I said and Max nods. Joyce, Jonathon and Will had decided they were gonna move to California, taking Eleven with them.

Hopper didn't make it back at the Russian bunker so Joyce took Eleven in and she's been staying with them since then. I parked the car and Max unbuckles her seatbelt then looks over at me. "You coming in?" She asked me and I nodded. "Can't stay too long, got a job interview to go to." I tell her and I start to unbuckle my seatbelt and we get out.

"It's just not fair. El and I just started hanging out and now she's leaving." Max said, frustrated, as we walked towards the house. "I know. But you can still write to her and we can visit her someday. I have been wanting to go back to California." I tell her as I knock on the door. It opens and we

After saying my goodbyes to Joyce, Jonathon and Will, I go down a hall and into one of the rooms to see Eleven standing there as she packs up her things. I knock on the doorway and she looks over at me. "Hey, sweetie." I greeted her and she gives a small smile then I go over to her and we hug.

"Unfortunately, I can't stay long but...I'm gonna miss you." I tell her. El goes quiet as I pull back from the hug and look down at her and begin to speak. "You'll love California. It's so much more sunny there. And there's so much to do." I tell her and she looks down and I frown at this

"I'm scared." She whispers. "Of what? The move?" I asked her and she nods. "I don't like being alone." She mutters and I give her a sad smile. "You won't be, El. You'll have Will and Jonathon with you. And you'll make new friends." I said and El still looked unsure. "Hey, if anything, you can always write me or Max a letter." I tell her and she looks up at me, hopeful.

"Really?" She asked me and I nodded. She goes to hug me again and I hug her back, chuckling alittle. I tilt up her chin and said. "Hey, chin up okay? Everything's gonna be fine." I tell her and Eleven smiles and nods.

After saying goodbye, I made my way to the rental store and pulled up to the parking lot. I dig into my bag and pull out my application and read it over. Since the mall was practically destroyed, Robin, Steve and I lost our jobs and the past few months we had been trying to find another job.

But like I said, the mall got destroyed and lots of people lost their jobs. So finding a new job was like finding a needle in a haystack.

After checking over my application, I hear a car pull up next to me and I look over to see it was Steve and Robin. I smiled and get out of my car as do they. "You put your mom down as a reference?" Robin asked Steve. "Yeah. Why not? She's, like, super well-respected." Steve replied, defensively, and I chuckled as I walk up to them

"You're such a dingus." I remarked as I go and kiss his cheek. "Wha..." he stammers and I chuckled. "You guys ready?" I asked them and they turn to me. "Yeah.." Robin said as we head to the main door of Family Video.

"Uh, just to be clear, we weren't fired, you know. The mall burned down and, like, killed a bunch of people." Robin tells Keith, who is now the manager of Family Video instead of the arcade. "Thanks for sharing. Didn't know." Keith said as he sets out applications down then he points to Robin.

"Three favorite movies. Go." He said. "Uh...The Apartment, Hidden Fortress, Children of Paradise." Robin replied then Keith points to me. "You, go." He demanded and I think real quick. "Ghostsbusters, Sixteen Candles and National Lampoons Vacation." I replied then Keith points to Steve.

"You. Go." He said and Steve looked taken aback. "Favorite movies?" He asked, confused. "Did I stutter?" Keith asked and Steve goes to think. "Uh...Animal House, for sure. Um..." Steve said as he looks away then Keith snaps his fingers and points towards himself. "Eyes on me, Harrington." He said and Steve looks back at him.

"Yeah. Uh...Star Wars." Steve said. "A New Hope?" Keith asked. "A new what-now?" Steve said, confused, and I run my hand over my face. "Which Star Wars?" Keith asked, clearly getting annoyed. "The one with the teddy bears. Duh." Steve replied then he mimics the sound of Ewoks before he looks over at me and Robin, who lowers her head and I shake my head.

"No? Uh...Oh, the one that just came out. The movie that just came out. The one with the DeLorean and Alex P. Keaton, and he's trying to bang his mom. The time..." Steve chuckles. "Babe, stop..." I whispered to him then he clears his throat. "Yeah, those are my top three. Classics." Steve said.

Keith looked beyond offended before he turns to me and Robin. "You two start Monday." He said then he turns to Steve. "You start never." He said and Steve looks down, obviously upset. Robin then leans into us.

"Will you just, um...Will you give us a minute?" Robin asked me and Steve. "Why?" Steve asked, annoyed and disappointed, and I place a hand on his shoulder. "Steve." I said then I grab his arm as he, aggressively, yanks his resume while Keith makes a face at him. Steve and I walk away while Robin talks to Keith.

"What the hell is she gonna do? Clearly he doesn't want to hire me." Steve grumbles. "Robin has a way with words, I think she'll figure it out." I assure him and Steve hums, unimpressed. "Mmmhmm, yeah we'll see." He said. "Hey, don't be such a downer, it's not a good look on you." I tell him and he looks over at me and scoffs before he crashes into a cardboard cut out.

He curses as I go and help fix the cut out, which was of a scantily clad dressed woman that was promoting the movie Fast Times In Ridgemont High. "How the hell..." Steve grumbles as we fumble with the cutout then I get it to stand up again and Steve seemed to noticed the movie it was promoting.

"Fast Times. Fast Times. Ever heard of it? Top three for me, Keith." Steve calls out to Keith, who looks at me and Steve then back to Robin as if to ask do I have to? But whatever Robin said to him, it worked and now the three of us are back working together again at the Family Video Store.

Later that day, after spending some time with Steve, I make my way back home and start to head to my room before I glance over at Billy's room and my heart sank alittle. After his death, mom and Neil were devastated and they had tried to act like they were okay after several weeks but I could tell something was up. Neil was gone more often than usual and mom drank more and that had been fighting a lot as well, I'm starting to think that they might break up soon.

I sighed and shake my head as I head to my room but then I noticed Max was sitting in her room. "Hey..." I said and she looks up at me and she looked alittle sad. I frown then go over to her and hug her, comforting her since her friend was now gone. "I'm sorry, Max. But...maybe, one day we can go and visit her." I suggested and Max nods alittle and we sit there in silence.

"How did the interview go?" Max asked me. "Well, you're looking at the new employee of Family Video!" I said and Max smiled. "Congratulations!" She said then I dig into my purse. "Also, I got you something." I said then I pull out a cassette tape and hand it to her. "Kate Bush?" Max said, confused.

"Hey, I listened to this at the store and I thought she had great music but there is one song I really like." I said then I go over to Billy's old boombox and I insert the tape inside. Synthetic music start to play for a bit and then Kate's voice comes through the speakers.

It didn't hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna feel how it feels? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? (Yeah, yeah, yo)

You
It's you and me

And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building
Say, if I only could, oh

Max and I sit and listen to the song and I bob my head to the music as we listen to the rest of the song. Although I couldn't help but think of Billy as I listened to this song.

You don't wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
But see how deep the bullet lies (yeah, yeah, yo)
Unaware I'm tearin' you asunder (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts (yeah, yeah, yo)
Is there so much hate for the ones we love? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, tell me, we both matter, don't we? (Yeah, yeah, yo)

You
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy

And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building (yo)
Say, if I only could, oh

Once it was over, Max turns to me. "Okay, that was a good song." She said and I chuckled. "You're welcome." I said and we share another hug.