Chapter Eight: The Upside Down

chapter fifteen , Sunday of Summer

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Gus sits on the examination table and stares blankly at the wall, trying to process everything she has experienced this past month. The loss, the guilt, the uncovered truths, the betrayal, the drama. God, Gus was over the drama.

The doctor finished wrapping her hands. "All done."

Gus blinks and looks at the doctor. The brunette manages a small smile.

"Thank you..."

The doctor touches Gus' shoulder. "Smile, sweetie you and your friend are alive." The doctor tries to lift the brunette's spirits.

Gus plasters on a fake smile. "Yeah, I know." she nods her head. Gus hops off the examination table, as soon as she exits the room her smile falls. She was grateful Will was alive, that's all she's ever wanted. But it doesn't mean she wasn't sad about Eleven. It doesn't mean she wasn't sad about Barb. Sofía wasn't even awake yet.

She was supposed to protect and save all of them.

Gus enters the waiting room and all eyes land on her. The brunette meets Steve's eyes and she pulls her brows together. Steve tenses up as his guilt-ridden eyes look into her small shaky ones.

"Hey, kid..." Hopper walks over to her.

Gus looks at Hopper and inhales, "B-Before you get mad...I just--"

Hopper cuts Gus off by pulling her into a warm embrace. Gus exhales a sharp breath, she slowly wraps her arms around his middle and quietly cries.

"Why the hell would I be mad?" Hopper touches the back of her head.

"I-I tried to protect all of them, but I wasn't strong enough." She sobs.

"Hey, you did the best you could, all right?" Hopper says, pushing his guilt down. "None of this is on you."

He separates from the hug and cups the side of her neck. Gus looks at the ground, unconvinced. Hopper's eyes soften. "Go sit down and get some rest."

Gus exhales, "The last thing I can do right now is rest." she wipes her eyes, ignoring her bandaged hands.

"We don't know how long it'll take for Will and Sofía to wake up so at least sit down." Hopper says. "You've earned it."

Gus' eyes look around the room and her eyes land on Fallon's. The brunette raises her brows. Fallon's eyes quickly fall onto Gus' and she pulls her brows together. Both of them acknowledging that they are in this situation and know some of the truths that lay within Hawkins.

Fallon looks down at her hands, her guilt overwhelming her. She lets out a soft defeated breath. Gus' shoulders sag with exhaustion.

The brunette's eyes shift to the only empty seat and she lets out a reluctant huff. "Shit..." she inhales. "...okay."

Hopper smiles softly and ruffles her hair.

Gus chuckles softly and approaches Steve. His eyes immediately meet hers, but he looks back at the ground. She sits next to him with a sigh. They both sit in silence, until Gus decided to speak.

"How bad does that hurt?" Gus points at his bruised eye.

Steve looks at her and Gus presses her lips into a small smile, signifying that she is trying. A smile twitches onto his lips, "Oh this? Pfft! Doesn't hurt, not even a little."

Gus raises her brows and slowly nods her head. "Oh--right, right. Because that blood definitely says 'hey this doesn't'!" she quietly chuckles and so does Steve. The brunette shifts her eyes to her bandaged hands and Steve's smile saddens.

"Listen, about the alley today--"

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Steve." Gus tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No, I want to, okay?" Steve fully turns to her. "I wasn't thinking. I was just acting on anger. And I know that still doesn't let me off the hook, but...what Tommy, Carol, and Nicole did to you..." he shakes his head. "Your journal—"

Gus' face heats up.

That fucking journal.

"I am going to fucking burn that thing when I get home." She looks at the bandages on her hands.

Steve looks at the side of her face. "Gus, listen. That journal, it's your business—"

"That was a long time ago, Steve." Gus lies, she looks into his eyes. "I was a kid and I had a gigantic crush on you, but that's all it was..." she shrugs her shoulders. "...a crush."

Steve didn't know why, but he felt something in him deflate. His eyes shift to the side. "Uh—yeah, I mean...obviously." He chuckles. "That makes sense, right?"

Gus presses her lips into a small frown and she slowly nods her head. "Right."

Steve places his head against the wall. "God, I can't believe they did that...and I can't believe I let them."

Gus turns to him again, her brows furrowed. "You're mad about that?"

"I'm mad about everything that happened." Steve admits. "I'm mad that I tried to use you; to forget about Nancy, I'm mad that I hurt Nancy, and I'm mad that I hurt you now and all those years ago."

Gus raises her brows, "You should really think before you act." she looks to the side.

"You're telling me that?" Steve cranes his neck forward.

Gus looks back at him, "Yeah. I am. That should tell you something."

Steve lets out a breath, "Yeah...I should really get someone else's opinion on the matter."

Gus' mouth hangs open. "I'll have you know over the course of this month. I have changed for the better."

"Is that why you beat the shit out of Tommy today?" Steve asks.

"Hey, if it was me a month ago, I would've tried to kick all your asses." Gus shrugs.

Steve pulls his brows and thinks for a second. "Huh...I guess you're right about that."

"Oh, and FYI..." Gus turns back to him. "...you are so sappy."

Steve scoffs with a smile on his lips.

"It's disgusting."

"Shut up..." Steve lightly pushes her. The brunette laughs softly. Steve looks at the side of Gus' face and his heartbeat accelerates. Seeing all the pain wash away from Gus, even if it was just a moment felt like he won the lottery. Steve just wishes he could do that for her all the time. His heart rate quickens and his stomach flutters, Steve pulls his brows together. He feels something in his heart that he has been trying to bury ever since he met her.

The door to the waiting room swings open. Gus turns her attention to the door and sees Jonathan. He nods his head and Gus' eyes widen.

Simultaneously, Gus and Mike stand up. Mike wakes his friends up and the four shoot out of the waiting room and sprint down the hall into Will's room. Gus lets out a breath with a smile on her lips. The kids all run to Will's bedside and hug him. Gus looks at Joyce and Jonathan.

"How is he?" Gus asks.

Jonathan smiles, "He's good...he's smiling."

"Thank you, for finding Will and for watching the kids."

Gus shakes her head, "You, Hopper, and El did all the work." she sends them a faint smile.

"How's Sofía doing?" Jonathan asks.

Gus chews on the inside of her cheek. "Hasn't woken up yet."

"She will." Jonathan touches her arm.

Gus smiles, "I hope so."

Will starts to cough, catching everyone's attention.

"You okay?" Mike asks.

"It got me. The Demogorgon." Will says.

"We know." Mike states. "It's okay. It's dead."

"We made a new friend. She stopped it. She saved us." Mike informs. "But, she's gone now."

"Her name's Eleven." Dustin says.

"Like the number?" Will questions.

"Well, we call her 'El' for short." Lucas answers.

"She's basically a Wizard." Dustin states.

"She has superpowers," Lucas whispers.

"More like a Yoda." Mike corrects.

"She flipped a van with her mind, and these agents were shooting at us--"

"Yeah, and Gus has powers now too." Lucas points at the brunette. Will looks over at her with a smile. She waves at her and sends him a similar smile.

"She's like the Black Canary!"

"And Quake!" Gus calls out. "Don't forget Quake..." her stomach flutters.

Gus would do anything for that woman.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! She screamed and this guy flew into the bus and the bus flipped over," Dustin explains. Gus smiles at their excitement.

She walks over to them and tries to organize the explanations as best as she can.

☆

Gus was quiet the entire ride home. Hopper didn't push Gus into talking, he knew that she still felt guilt about Barb, Eleven, and Sofía. All Hopper wanted to do was tell Gus the truth about him exposing Eleven's location. But their relationship was actually becoming something and he didn't want it to slip away. He didn't want to lose her.

The truck comes to a stop and the brunette immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and hops out. She walks toward the house and stands at the porch. Hopper locks the truck and walks over to the house. He spots Gus wiping her eyes as she looks at the ground. Hopper unlocks the door and Gus quickly walks in.

"Hey, did you want anything to eat?" Hopper asks. "I don't even remember the last time we actually had breakfast or dinner together."

Gus stops before she could walk up the stairs. "Uh, I'm not that hungry actually."

Hopper tenses, "Gus don't do this."

The brunette clenches her jaw. "I'm not doing anything. I'll eat later." she then walks up the stairs.

Hopper lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. The two may not have been close, but that doesn't mean that Hopper didn't notice when Gus would barely eat.

The brunette keeps her eyes on the ceiling while her headphones blast punk rock music. The girl doesn't know how long she's been staring at the ceiling. But she does know that she's been crying since she got home.

A soft knock is heard at the door. But Gus doesn't hear it. The door opens and Hopper enters the room.

"Gus."

The brunette doesn't answer.

Hopper sighs and he looks at the ceiling. "These kids are killing me."

He walks over to the brunette and takes her headphones off. Gus quickly sits up. "Hop, I already told you I'm not..." she trails off her sentence, seeing the teenager standing behind him.

"There's someone here for you." Hopper motions to Fallon.

Gus stands up and keeps her eyes on Fallon.

"I'll leave you guys to it." Hopper presses his lips together. He walks out of the room and Fallon steps in. The Chief of Police stops and turns back to them. "And...please don't kill each other."

Hopper closes the door and both the girls stand in silence. Gus looks at the ground and rocks back and forth on her heels.

"I'm sorry."

Gus blinks. Fallon inhales a shaky breath and shakes her head. "I-I know I stopped being your friend so no one would suspect me and what happened in the alley and the drive-in were such bitchy moves and I'm sorry." tears form in her eyes. "But, guess what? Everything I did was for nothing..."

The brunette pulls her brows together. "What do you mean?"

"The second I defend you and Nancy, everyone suspected me...liking girls." Fallon quickly wipes her tears. "Fallon The Dyke Price..."

Gus' heart drops into her stomach. "They called you that?" she takes a step forward.

"Can you blame them--:

"Fallon, stop it." Gus stands in front of her crying friend. "You don't have to pretend that you're okay with that. You shouldn't be okay with that."

Fallon's lower lip quivers and she wipes her nose. Tears form in Gus' eyes from seeing Fallon in pain. "Those homophobic assholes."

"Don't worry, Steve had nothing to do with it," Fallon reassures the brunette.

"The last person I'm thinking about in this situation is Steve, all right?" Gus folds her arms. "I am going to strangle them--where do Tommy and Carol live?"

"Where does Nicole live? I will beat the Bystander out of her ass."

Fallon shakes her head, "It's not worth it--"

"Fuck that, it's worth it to me!'" Gus' voice was firm. "They can't talk to you or anyone like that."

Fallon's mouth twitches, "Gus, I didn't come here for them."

"I came here to apologize to you," Fallon says. "And I came here to tell you that even if it takes years--I'm gonna make it up to you."

Gus scratches the side of her neck. "I shouldn't have kissed you back." she shakes her head. "It made the situation worse and I didn't mean for you to think that I was pitying you."

Fallon looks at her heels, "I also misread the situation. I thought you were disgusted. But, I know you and I know your heart, Gus. And I've never confessed to anybody like that--especially to the same sex."

"Or your best friend," Gus adds.

Fallon nods with a chuckle. "Or my best friend." she looks back at Gus. "I expected to believe in the worse because I...thought this part of me was the worse."

Gus tilts her head, "Fallon, you are the most badass and confident person I know." she chuckles. "Every part of you is the best. And I'll remind you every day if that's what it takes."

Fallon's jaw goes slack. She takes a step toward Gus but stops. "Uh--can I...hug you or--"

Gus wraps her arms around Fallon and pulls her into a tight embrace. Fallon quietly laughs and wraps her arms around Gus' waist.

"So..." Fallon huffs. "...monsters in Hawkins, huh?"

Gus inhales a breath and nods her head, "Yeah and...other things."

Fallon pulls her brows together. "What other things?"

Gus purses her lips, "I, y'know...may or may not have powers..." she scratches the side of her neck. The brunette looks back at Fallon, but the coil-haired teen's expression was blank.

Suddenly, Fallon bursts out laughing. Fallon places her hands on her knees and she bends over. "Powers!" she wheezes. Fallon stands up straight, and sees Gus not cracking a smile.

Fallon immediately stops laughing and her smile drops. "You have powers?!"

Gus scrunches her lips together and bunches her shoulders.

"Well...what do--what are you talking--what kind of--I gotta sit down." Fallon sits on the edge of the bed.

Gus inhales, "Yeah, I get it...you need time to process." she folds her arms. "This past month has been uncovering truths about me and my past. Who I used to be...who I might still be."

Fallon looks back at Gus, noticing the brunette in her own thoughts. Gus shakes her head and looks back at her best friend.

"So...you like girls, huh?"

Fallon inhales a breath and looks at the ground. "Uh...yeah--yeah, I do."

This time the silence was too much for Fallon. She felt like her heart was going to explode. Whatever reaction she was waiting for, it wasn't the one she got.

"I like boys."

Fallon pulls her brows together.

"And girls."

Fallon's back straightens and she blinks. "Oh..."

"Really?"

Gus' eyes widen, "What? Is that weird?"

"No--no!" Fallon shakes her head. "I just...didn't know."

Gus relaxes, "Oh, well...yeah...Uh, you know Carol?"

Fallon's eyes widen, "Shut up!" she lightly pushes Gus.

"I'm serious--"

"You just punched her in the face earlier." Fallon deadpans. "And she was reading off of your secret journal."

Gus purses her lips, "Well...yeah, but she's hot."

Fallon's mouth hangs open, "And what about me?"

The brunette looks at Fallon and sighs. "You are beyond gorgeous and smokin'. And I can tell you that for the rest of your life, but..." she grips Fallon's arms and rubs them in a sympathetic manner. Fallon rolls her eyes.

"You're my best friend."

"So was Steve," Fallon states.

"Yeah, and now Steve isn't." Gus shrugs.

Fallon tilts her head and blinks, "Sometimes I don't understand your logic."

Gus smiles and bunches her shoulders, "Yeah...me neither."

They both burst into laughter.

"So...Hopper said he was going to cook. You hungry?" Fallon asked.

Gus looks away from Fallon and pulls her brows together, thinking.

"And just saying...it wasn't a request," Fallon whispers.

Gus looks back at Fallon. A smile forms on the brunette's lips and she nods her head. "Fine--yeah, I could eat."

☆

One Month Later...

"Something is coming. Something hungry." The brunette says in an eery tone. "Hungry for your blood. It is almost here."

After Will was found, the kids had a first campaign back; but they all decided to vote Gus as Dungeon Master. And of course, she accepted it. Besides, now Mike had more time to be apart of the campaign. Handing over the title of Dungeon Master was easy for Mike. Gus was someone that has been watching their campaigns for years, she was also their friend. She had every right to become Dungeon Master.

"What is it?" Will asks.

"It's the Thessalhydra, I'm telling you," Dustin speaks.

"It's not the Thessalhydra." Lucas disagrees.

Gus frowns, "And what say you Enchantress Alvarez?"

Everyone looks at the young girl and she chews on the inside of her cheek with her brows pulled together. After two weeks in a coma, Sofía finally woke up. Gus was the first person the little girl saw. She didn't know who Gus was, but it was comforting not 'waking up alone. Then, not long after, Mrs. Wallace and the rest of the kids from the Orphanage came to visit. It took a lot of convincing on Gus and Hopper's part to get them all in to visit Sofia at the same time.

Even though Sofía and Will were both in different places in The Upside Down, they formed some kind of bond. Gus once again had to do some convincing on her side to have Sofía join the party. And by convincing, it was actually threatening to turn the kid's bones into dust. Even though, Gus was still unfamiliar with her powers, it worked. Hopper offered a place in his home for Sofía , but she wanted to stay at St. Wallace's. She couldn't leave Mrs. Wallace alone. But Gus does visit all the time.

Sofía looks at Lucas and gives him a small smile. "Thessalhydra--definitely."

A smile tugs at Gus' lips.

"No way it's the Thessalhydra," Lucas repeats.

Gus slams down the piece, "The Thessalhydra!"

Everyone groans.

"Dammit..."

"It roars in anger! Will your action!" The teenager looks at the boy.

"What should I do?" Will asks.

"Fireball him!" Lucas and Mike chorus.

Will turns to Dustin and Sofía , ready for more options.

Dustin and Sofía look at each other.

"Fireball the son of a bitch." Dustin says.

Sofía shoots Will a thumbs up.

Gus smiles at their cooperation. Will rolls the dice and Gus looks down at it.

Sofía raises her arms and laughs.

"Fourteen!" Dustin shouts.

"Direct hit. Will the Wise's fireball hits the Thessalhydra! It makes a painful..." Gus lets out a dramatic screech. "...and then--it crumbles to the ground. Its clawed hand reaches for you one last time and...and..." she drops to the ground, confirming death.

The kids cheer and Gus laughs at the excitement. The brunette stands up and straightens her clothes in a dramatic manner. "And you tell me I'm a bad actress." she looks at Lucas and Mike with a smug smirk, causing them to roll their eyes playfully.

"Lucas cuts off its seven heads and Dustin places them into his bag of holding. You carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service--"

"Hang on, Hang on a sec..." Mike stops her. "That's not...it...is it?"

Gus frowns, "No, there's a medal ceremony--"

"Oh, a medal ceremony? What are you talking about?"

The teenager blinks, "Wh...huh?"

"The campaign was too short," Lucas says.

"Yeah!" Will agrees.

Gus looks down at her watch.

"It was...ten hours--"

"But it doesn't make any sense--"

"It makes sense." Gus looks at Sofía .

"Uh, no, what about the Lost Knight?" Dustin inquires.

Gus presses her lips together.

"And the proud princess?" Lucas adds.

Gus slowly nods her head, "Okay, uh--"

"And those weird flowers in the case?" Will questions.

"You've gotta give us more, Gus!" Sofía exclaims.

"That's not it!" Mike adds.

"Okay, okay--there are a few continuity errors. So what? We had fun!--"

"But we didn't finish!" The kids shout.

The door opens and footsteps are heard on the stairs. "Jeez, what's that smell? Have you guys been playing games all day, or just farting?" Jonathan asks.

Gus chuckles.

"Oh, it's a full moon. So it was Gus." Lucas points.

Gus' smile drops and her face heats up. "What?!" she looks at Jonathan and chuckles. "He's lying!"

"She's right I was kidding." Lucas nods. "It was Dustin, he farted."

"Gus..." Sofía tugs on Gus' sleeve.

Gus looks at the girl and Sofía points at her watch. The teenager's eyes widen. "Shit, we've got to go, too." she grabs her bag.

Everyone says their goodbyes as Will, Jonathan, Gus, and Sofía make their way up the stairs.

"Thank you for having us, Mrs. Wheeler."

"Of course, Merry Christmas." Karen smiles.

"Merry Christmas!" Sofia waves.

Gus and Sofia head for the door but stop when they hear Gus' name being called.

She turns and presses her lips together, "Hey, Steve. What's up?"

Sofía looks between the two, "I'm...gonna go and talk to Mrs. Wheeler." she slowly walks away from them while rolling her eyes.

Gus looks back at Steve.

"I just...I wanted to say Merry Christmas." Steve says rubbing the back of his neck.

Gus raises her brows, "Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you too." She smiles. The brunette bites her lip, "I was...uh...I was going to give this to you later, but since you're here I mean..."

Gus searches through her bag and hands him a medium-sized box. Steve accepts it and smiles, "I also...got you something..." He pulls a small wrapped gift out of his back pocket.

A smile ghosts on her lips, "Thank you, Steve..."

Gus grabs the gift and her fingers brush against his, causing a chill to run down each of their spines. Gus examines the sloppy wrapping job and smirks.

"You still can't wrap for shit."

Steve's mouth hangs open, "Listen here, Guster. I tried, all right?"

The brunette rolls her lips into her mouth and nods her head. "Mhm, yeah suuure."

"Well, you still can't act for shit." Steve retorts, folding his arms.

A smile appears on the girl's face. "I'll have you know, I actually put on a pretty good show down there as the dying Thessalhydra!"

Steve shakes his head, "I don't even know what that is."

Steve and Gus both start to laugh.

"Thank you again, Steve." Gus gestures to the gift.

The boy smiles, "No need to thank me, that's what friends do." He says. "Best Friends." He adds.

Gus smiles and she nods her head.

"And uh--also, Thank you." He nervously replies.

"Well, Steve. No need to thank me, that's what friends do." She shrugs. She reaches for his arm and squeezes it, "Best Friends." She mocks him in a deep voice.

Steve snickers. "Okay, okay." He nods his head.

Gus presses her lips together. "Hey, what if I opened this right now?"

Steve slightly opens his mouth. "I don't know about that—and you're already unwrapping it."

"Well, was it every really wrapped?" Gus bunches her shoulders and winces. "I mean, look at all the spots that you forgot—"

"Okay, I get it! My wrapping needs work."

Gus snickers and she sets the wrapping paper to the side. The brunette looks at the small box and takes the top off. Her brows rise and Steve tenses.

"Oh."

"You hate it."

Gus scrunches her face. "Did I say that I hated it?"

"I mean, no, but—"

"Then why would you just assume that I hate it?" Gus cranes her neck forward. "No one's ever made me a mixtape before." She holds it up. "Especially one named 'Sunday of Summer'..."

Gus thinks back to their conversation at the drive in theater. The brunette didn't actually hate her name, but it did hurt to hear since her mom was the only one who called her that.

"I wasn't lying, y'know?"

Gus slightly lifts her head to meet Steve's eyes.

"August is a beautiful name." Steve shrugs a shoulder.

Gus inhales a breath and chuckles. "Well, maybe I should start embracing it again."

Steve raises his brows. "You don't have to start using it because I said it was beautiful or anything. I was just—"

"Wow, you think that highly of yourself, don't ya, Harrington?" Gus clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "My mom was the only one who called me August. And with all my memories coming back, I just...don't want to push things away to the point I forget them."

Steve's eyes soften and he smiles softly. "Your mom would be proud of you."

A lump forms in Gus' throat and she presses her lips into a small smile. "Thanks, Harrington, you big ol' softy." She toughly pats Steve on his arm. Steve quietly chuckles, but then he groans and rubs his arm.

"Okay!" Gus raises her voice, causing Steve to jump. "Open yours."

Steve looks down at the gift and raises his brows. "Oh, I mean, if you really want me to." He unwraps the gift and takes the top off. Steve raises his brows. Gus bites her lower lip, trying to contain her excitement.

"Uh..." Steve lifts the crew neck out of the box.

"Turn it around." Gus spins her finger.

Steve turns to front part of the shirt towards him and his expression falls. "No."

"But we said we would."

Steve shakes his head. "When we were 12!"

Gus looks at the ceiling and groans. "Well, too bad. Look in the box again."

Steve swallows, he looks back into the box and whines. He pulls out the dvd case that has the words, Star Wars: A New Hope

"Do I have to?"

"This the first step to forgiveness, Steve Harrington." Gus places her arms behind her back and smiles. "Thanks for the mixtape."

She gives him, what she thought was a light punch but he ended up groaning again.

"That's sweet." Sofía walks back over to Gus, wiggling her brows.

Gus rolls her eyes, "Oh, My God--knock it off."

Sofía shrugs her shoulders, "Whaddya mean?" she asks in an oblivious tone.

Gus opens the door and Sofía skips out of the house, while the brunette laughs. "You're such a dork."

"Takes one to know one, Guster."

☆

Gus and Sofía quickly walk into the Police station with Tupperware. The teenager looks around and cheers. "I'm not late." She announces.

"Yeah for the first time in...3 years--"

"Hey! It's a start." She points at Callahan. Simultaneously, she and Hopper walk over to the food and begin to stuff their containers.

Gus looks at Sofía , who was looking at the food. "Hey, you okay?"

Sofía looks at Gus, "Yeah, there's just a lot of options."

"Well, take your time and choose what you want," Hopper says. "Or you could just do what we do, grab everything and stuff it into a container."

Sofía laughs softly and nods her head. "I like that idea." she walks over to the table and starts placing food into her bowl.

"You leaving already, Chief?" Powell asks.

"Oh, come on, you think I actually wanted to come to this thing? I was just hungry." Hopper states.

"Oh, yeah, that's the spirit," Callahan says.

"Yeah, I feel it thriving off of him..." Gus says to Powell and Callahan.

"Well, your wife doesn't have time to cook for me, you know what I'm saying?" Hopper jokes.

"Boom roasted!" Gus laughs.

Hopper and Gus high five each other.

After getting the food that they wanted, the three said goodbye to every before leaving the Station. Hopper and Gus dropped Sofía off at St. Wallace's.

They get back into the truck. Hopper glances at Gus and sees her pull out a second bowl of food. "You packed two things of food?" he cranes his neck forward.

"Uh--duh!" Gus snorts. "I mean, I have to have some food for myself, Hop."

"I'm kind, but not that kind." Gus lets out a breath. wave goodbye to

"How long until this stuff gets cold?" Gus asks as Hopper starts to drive. "Sometimes reheating food isn't the same."

"About 30 minutes." Hopper tilts his head side to side.

Gus' mouth hangs open, "Damn..."

"Don't worry, the food is better when it's reheated. I have my word." Hopper says

"I'm going to hold you to that." Gus snorts.

Hopper looks at the brunette that was eating her food and chuckles. During this month, Gus has been in recovery from her eating disorder. Granted, everyone had an intervention with her and she snapped at them. But Gus realized she had a problem soon after and admitted to needing help. There was still a part of her that wanted to not eat anything when she was stressed or busy. But she tries to push through it.

After half an hour of driving, Hopper pulls off to the shoulder of the highway. He gets out of a truck and so does Gus. She follows Hopper into the woods, through the dark gunky snow. Gus' combat boots sink into the snow with each step deeper into the woods. They make it to the familiar area and enter the snowy woods. Gus spots the chest in the middle of the woods. The brunette crouches down beside Hopper.

Gus revealed to Hopper that apart of her knew Eleven was alive. And Hopper was hesitant to even believe that, but with everything they have been through these past couple of months. Eleven still being alive wasn't so crazy to him anymore. Gus' instincts just told her that something was in these woods. And she wanted to believe it was Eleven.

Hopper opens the chest and he places the Tupperware in with some Eggos. Gus places one of the containers in and she leaves a bag of Twizzlers in the chest.

Gus stands up with Hopper. He gently squeezes her shoulders.

"Come on, kid. Let's go home."

...

The brunette sits on her bed, legs crossed with her hands on her knees. She pats her knees and blows air out of her mouth. Her eyes stay glued to the mixtape on her bed that Steve gave her. Gus swipes her tongue across her lower lip and tilts her head. She inhales a deep breath and holds it, hoping to slow her accelerating heartbeat.

"It's just a gift from a friend. It doesn't mean...anything." She whispers, trying to calm her nerves.

Gus nods her head. She grabs the mixtape and makes her way over to her stereo. She places the tape into the stereo and presses play.

The brunette exhales a soft chuckle from the first song playing. She didn't think he remembered.

She covers her mouth and rolls her lips into her mouth. She closes her eyes. The brunette lays her back against the bed and kicks her feet, while squealing.

Gus quickly sits back up, "Okay. Okay. Okay..." She runs her hands through her hair while exhaling a sharp breath.

August then shifts her eyes to the box the mixtape came in and a smile forms on her lips.

Maybe being named after the Sunday of Summer isn't so bad after all...

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

That's the end of Season One! I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you for all the support on the story I appreciate it so much!

And I am so excited to start officially officially start building each ship since all the characters have been introduced.

I hope you guys all enjoyed the first part of the book. Don't forget to Vote and Comment, it really helps a lot!!!

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