JASPER'S ARMS WERE NOTHING BUT a sea of white as she continued to gaze at her bandages, her teeth raking against her lip at the pain that still shot up from her wrists when she moved them. "Fuck," Jasper cried weakly, no more tears springing from her eyes, however.

"Hey, just relax," Hopper murmured softly, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder as he continued to drive out of the hospital parking lot. "We'll be home soon. Then you can get some rest."

"Where's El?" Jasper murmured quietly, resting her head against the cloth headrest on her seat. Her eyes fluttered upwards to stare at the full moon, watching how the trees would block her from seeing the bright white circle every now and then.

"She left with Joyce a while ago. They took her back to the cabin so she could sleep," Hopper answered, afraid of moving his hand anywhere but on her shoulder. He didn't want to cause her any more pain, and judging from the grimace she held on her face, the casts on her arms didn't completely alleviate the burning agony she felt.

"Where's Dustin?" Jasper asked next in a pleading tone. "Is everyone safe? Did we all make it out okay?"

"Dustin's waiting at your house, actually," Hopper told her, a small emotional smile pressed against his lips. "He's gonna be staying with you tonight. Isn't that cool?"

"Hop," Jasper pressed, turning her head from the window to face her father. "Is everyone safe?"

"Yeah, everyone is okay," Hopper nodded, suddenly letting out a manly sob. "Dammit, Jasper. I thought you were a goner back there."

And in the darkness of that car, which was only illuminated by the pale moonlight, Hopper saw his favorite thing in the whole word. Something he loved seeing, especially since it happened so often despite all the horrible things in the world: Jasper's smile.

The redhead's lips curved upwards, a certain joy beaming in her eyes. "Nah, I'm invincible. Haven't you heard? Nothing can kill me," she retorted, and something about the way she made a joke despite her pain caused Hopper to lift her hand to his lips as he placed an affectionate kiss on her knuckles.

"I love you so much, Jasper," he cried, growing more emotional than he had felt in his entire life. He had almost witnessed another daughter leave him, and that fear was enough to handle for one night. "Don't you ever stop smiling like that, you hear me?"

"Oh, you big sap," Jasper giggled, her arm slowly moving upwards as she landed a soft punch on his shoulder. "Stop it before I start crying again."

"You were so strong today, you know that?" Hopper grinned, his mustache dancing on top of his lips. "I can't believe how brave you are. You and El both. What I saw today...I'll never forget it. I'm so proud of you."

Jasper didn't respond at first, reminiscing on the way her heart was filled with happiness and love for her father. "Thank you, Hop. For everything. For coming into my life at the right time. For staying. For believing in me."

"Always," he simply replied, and the father and daughter held hands the entire car ride back home.

~

"Dustin, will you relax?" Ruby demanded restlessly, leaning against the doorframe of Jasper's bedroom. The brunette had tied her hair up, massive purple bags hanging underneath her eyes. "It may be hours until she's back from the hospital. Why don't you get some sleep...so I can get some sleep?"

"No!" Dustin hollered defiantly, continuing to pace aggressively back and forth across the redhead's bedroom. "I can sleep when I'm dead. Or when Jasper is back from the hospital."

Ruby just rolled her eyes, grumbling in annoyance and disappearing downstairs. "Well if you're not gonna sleep, I'm gonna at least try. Goodnight!"

Dustin ignored the obvious irritation in the Marrow sibling's voice. He was too busy fighting back tears, his throat clenching as sobs piled up in his esophagus. He was worried beyond belief, unable to stop thinking of the agonized screams he had heard over his walkie. The screams that belonged to his best friend.

He had almost lost her again. And this time, there would've been no hoping. There would've been no bicycle lights flickering or cars suddenly moving at the speed of snails. There would've been just total emptiness, and Dustin's world would've been incomplete forever.

He couldn't live like this anymore. With their lives constantly at risk, Dustin couldn't be afraid of being honest with his best friend anymore.

Sometime during his frenzied pacing, Dustin had collapsed onto Jasper's bed, trapped in a deep sleep. He woke hours later to a harsh rapping of knuckles against wood, and he let out a confused gasp as he instantly sat up straight like a board. His vision took a few seconds to focus, but his entire body grew cold with shock when he saw Jasper Hopper, his best friend and biggest crush (since he was being honest with himself), leaning in the doorway.

"Well," she sighed, holding out her bandaged arms to him. "I look like Casper the Friendly Ghost, now, but—Hey! That actually rhymes with my name!" She laughed, amused at her own comment.

Dustin's lips parted open in an 'o' shape, and he sprang to his feet with one massive leap. He rushed forward, charging towards his best friend and not stopping until his face was only a few centimeters away from hers. Jasper glanced up at him, noting the surprise filled in his speechless face.

"Hi." She uttered, a slight smirk spreading on her face.

Dustin didn't respond. Instead, his hands flew up to cup her cheeks as he leaned down and pressed his lips furiously against hers.

Jasper didn't respond at first, her body paralyzed with shock, but she recovered in seconds and began kissing him back. Their lips seemed to melt into one another's, and Dustin, unsure of what to do with his hands, began to run them through the short strands of Jasper's hair. Jasper's heart seemed to leap from her chest as she kissed her best friend, her own fingers brushing through Dustin's curls. The curls she had loved and dearly missed so much.

They finally pulled away, gasping for air. Dustin thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head as he gawked at his best friend, a sensation of electricity seeming to buzz on his lips.

"Admit it," Jasper panted happily, a giggle falling from her mouth. "You have wanted to do that...for so...long!"

Dustin found himself giggling too, his face burning red with slight embarrassment but mostly, joy. "Will you let me do it again?"

Jasper inched forward, the tips of her sneakers touching the tips of Dustin's. She peered up at Dustin, and he could've sworn he saw stars in her brilliant blue eyes. "No," she snorted, causing the hazy smile to fall from Dustin's face. "You kiss like a frog."

"What?"

And before he could actually get hurt from Jasper's joking remark, his lips were dancing with hers again. The two lovers were smiling into the kiss, both thinking about how they would do this forever if they could.

"So," Dustin heaved when they pulled away again. "Does this mean you can still be my date to the Snow Ball?"

"Oh, so it's a date now?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow, smugly eyeing the Henderson boy.

"Oh no, because I think it's normal for friends to slow dance and kiss each other," he quipped, not squirming under the challenging eyes of his best friend like he usually would. He liked her, and she liked him. And there wasn't really anything to hide anymore.

She laughed at his retort, lightly slapping his chest. "You better ask Steve for some tips on how to tame those curls, then."

"Don't worry," Dustin grinned, showing off his toothless smile that Jasper missed more than she missed being able to eat pizza and ice cream. "I've got it all figured out."

~

"So you really kissed her?" Steve questioned for the millionth time, earning an eye roll from the Henderson boy.

"Yes, why is that so hard to believe?" Dustin snapped, running another swift hand along his hair sprayed curls.

"Honestly? It's really not," Steve chuckled, his hands grazing against the steering wheel. "I just can't believe it took this long."

"Well, my friends would be agreeing with you there," Dustin sighed, pulling down the passenger mirror worriedly.

"Hey, would you stop that?" Steve mumbled disapprovingly, lifting the mirror back up. "You look great, dude. Take my word for it. She's gonna swoon over you tonight."

"Of course she is," Dustin snorted.

"There's the confidence I've been looking for!" Steve whooped, clapping the boy on his back proudly. "Now, go knock 'em dead, tiger! Oh, and don't do that weird teeth thing you do."

"Oh, my purr?" Dustin raised an eyebrow, snickering. "Jas just so happens to like it, actually."

Steve clicked his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head fondly. "No she doesn't."

"Yeah, she doesn't," Dustin admitted sheepishly with crimson cheeks.

"Now get out of my car!"

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Lucas gasped, his eyes squinting judgmentally as Dustin stalked over to his friends inside the decorated gymnasium.

"Yeah, what kind of bird you got nesting up there?" Mike teased, his fingers flying to touch the tall quiff that rested on top of the Henderson's head.

"What bird? There's no bird! You're just jealous because your hair looks like a bucket, Mike." Dustin fired back.

"A bucket?"

"Yeah, a very large bucket," Dustin snapped, dramatically emphasizing the word "bucket". "So, uh, is she here?"

"If by 'she' you mean Jasper, no," Max answered, folding her arms as she continued to giggle over Dustin's ridiculous hair. "Neither is El."

"Man, what is it with girls always being late?" Mike groaned, and Dustin exchanged glances with Lucas and Max. They all knew Mike was just waiting for his time to finally dance with El.

A slow song began to play, and Dustin watched in bemusement as Lucas hesitantly turned towards Max. "Hey, Max," he wiggled his eyebrows together. "It's nice, isn't it? So you wanna, you know, just do you and me?"

Max smirked at him, raising a single eyebrow teasingly. "Are you trying to ask me to dance, stalker?"

"Uh..."

"C'mon," she shook her head, laughing softly as she pulled him into a sea of dancing of bodies. Another girl approached the boys, shyly inviting Will to the dance floor.

"Wow, can you believe it?" Dustin sighed happily to Mike, leaning against the table his friends had all congregated at. "We're all gonna have somebody to dance with tonight."

"Speaking of..." the Wheeler raised his hand, pointing towards the doors. And Dustin finally saw his best friend.

She wore a short-sleeved silver dress that ran down just past her knees. Her short red hair was curled and tucked neatly behind her ears. She looked beautiful, and Dustin felt like crumbling into a million pieces of sheer happiness and adoration.

Dustin raced over to, incoherent words falling from his lips. "Wow, Jas...I...You...Wow..."

"Don't get too cheesy on me now," she giggled, the smile quickly falling from her face as she glanced down. Dustin followed her sad stare, noting how she was insecurely tugging at the obvious bandages on her exposed arms.

"Hey, you look beautiful, okay? Regardless of these stupid things," Dustin gestured to her casted arms. "Now, will you do me the honor of joining me in making a complete fool out of myself and dancing like a chicken on steroids?"

Jasper laughed and nodded eagerly, allowing the curly headed boy to drag her out onto the dance floor. A fast paced, bubbly song played from the speakers, and Jasper and Dustin began dancing crazily in the center of the room.

They earned several weird stares and judgmental glares as they spun each other around and waved their arms wildly in the air, but neither of them noticed or cared. Because in that moment, it was just Jasper and Dustin. For the first time in a long time, it was just Jasper and Dustin. And it was a feeling that the two of them missed incredibly.

The aura of the dance shifted into a slower mood as Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love filled the room. Jasper and Dustin stopped dramatically kicking their legs, staring at one another. Dustin was gawking at Jasper with huge eyes, while the redhead simply smirked.

"I, um," he laughed nervously. "I've never slow danced."

"Neither have I," Jasper admitted, shrugging lightly. Her smile never seemed to leave her lips, and the light-hearted beauty of it made Dustin want to dip her down and kiss her right there. "But how hard can it be? Just don't step on my toes!"

Dustin matched her smile, and he gently placed his hands on her waist while she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. The two swayed softly, their faces growing closer and closer as they allowed themselves to be carried away by the breeziness of the song. Their noses brushed together, and before they knew it, their lips were moving softly against one another's.

The kiss was slow, and filled with nothing but intense passion. Jasper's hand cupped the back of Dustin's head firmly, knowing she would never get tired of kissing this beautiful boy.

"Hey, Jas?" Dustin whispered, beaming at her.

"Yeah?"

"You remember what you said last year?" Dustin questioned. "About how we're too young to know the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?"

Jasper nodded gradually. There was no detail from that night that had truly escaped her mind, and something told her that this night would be just as unforgettable. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, well," his hand slowly swept upwards, grabbing the redhead's as he placed a small kiss on her the back of hand. "I think I'm beginning to figure out the difference."

Jasper said nothing, biting her lip as she continued to just gaze at her best friend. She was so incredibly happy. There was nothing better than right now, being with him. So she nuzzled her head into his chest, arms wrapping around his torso. He reciprocated this action, and they continued to sway gently to the soothing voice of Elvis Presley, hugging one another.

Dustin rested his head atop Jasper's, closing his eyes and taking in every aspect of this moment. He wished that it would be like this forever, and that he would never have to feel that heart-stopping fear of potentially losing the love of his life again.

But of course, like many wishes, they don't always come true.