*The following chapter contains a scene of smut. No one under 18 should read beyond this*

Jim pulls up towards the gated compound of the Hawkins Lab. Amelia looks down at Eleven, watching her body language as they get closer and closer. She wraps her arms around her, holding her in comfort.

"We're here, Starshine. We're not going to let anything happen to you." Amelia whispers.

Jim pulls up towards the building and grunts as he gets out of the truck. Eleven gets out through her door with Amelia. While Jim grabs his guns and ammo, Eleven stood before the Lab, flashbacks of all the painful memories hitting her hard. Her screams and cries.

Eleven gasps softly as Amelia wraps her arm around her, "Remember, Starshine, remember what Kali told you."

Eleven looks at her in surprise, "How do you know so much?" She whispers.

Amelia grins, "I'll tell you when we survive this. But, don't let your anger consume you. Your emotions are the key but it doesn't make you who you are. Learn to control by channeling them." She strokes her cheek.

Jim shuts his truck, carrying the machine gun he took from the lab and two shotguns. Also, carrying a bag full of ammo. He grunts and hands Amelia a shotgun, "You know how to use this, Babe?"

She takes it and cocks it in her hands, checking the safety and ammo, "You would be surprised what all I know." She grins.

Jim smirks and sighs as he looks down at Eleven as she continues to look at the building in fear.

"All right. You let me do the heavy lifting up front, all right? You save your strength till we're below." He states.

"Ready, Starshine?" Amelia asks.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Eleven nods and glares at the building, using all the memories for strength.

"You okay?" Jim asks her.

Eleven sighs and just walks towards the door without answering him.

Together, the three of them walk through the hallways, guns ready. The alarm was still wailing and the lights were pulsing. But the power was still on and the doors were unlocked still. The evil in this place was suffocating.

Jim managed to find the door that led to the stairs and opens it, going in first as Amelia had his back secured. Eleven looks around, keeping an eye out for anything.

Slowly, they make their way down to get to the elevator that'll take them to the gate.

Amelia yelps when she slips but catches herself. Jim and Eleven turns fast just as she looks at her hand that was coated with blood.

They gasp but Amelia shakes her head.

"It's not mine." She whispers and looks at the rail, shining her light on the blood trail. Handprints.

Jim follows her light and walks slowly down the stairs but stops when he hears faint groans. Someone was still alive!

He turns towards them, "Both of you. Stay here." He says and slowly makes his way down.

Amelia watches him as she scans up and down the stairs, making sure they didn't have any surprised visitors. she turns when she hears him gasp very softly.

"Oh, shit." He whispers.

"What is it?" Amelia asks.

He looks up at her with a disturbed look and quickly goes down the stairs to kneel next to the survivor.

"Hey, Doc." Jim says softly as he helps.

Amelia moves and goes down to see who it was, she gasps and paces down the stairs.

"Oh my god." She kneels next to Owens as he sat on the floor, leaning against a wall. A big bite mark was on his thigh, he was losing a lot of blood and it looked like he was losing strength from the blood loss.

Owens sighs, relieved that someone came back for him. But he was in a lot of pain as sweat pouts down his face.

"You're gonna be ok, Sam. We got you." Amelia says softly as Jim gets his belt off.

"Those suckers got you pretty good, huh?" Jim mutters and begins to tie his belt around Owens' leg. Owens tries to touch his leg but Amelia stops him.

"Don't. You're okay. Don't talk. We're gonna help you." She says softly.

Owens frowns as he sees a young girl walking down the stairs, watching him with caution. His eyes widen as he recognizes her.

Jim looks over his shoulder and briefly sees her standing behind him.

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to tell you. This is Eleven. Eleven, Doc Owens. Doc Owens, Eleven. She's been staying with Amelia and I for about a year and she's about to save our asses. Maybe when this is all said and done, maybe you could help her out, too, you know? Maybe you could help her lead, like, a normal life."

"A real life where she's not poked and prodded and...treated like some kind of lab rat. She deserves more than that." Amelia states.

"You know? I don't know, just a thought." He yanks the belt tightly, making Owens groan loudly in pain. "But, uh... think about it. Don't go anywhere."

Owens chuckles sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, they were reaching the laboratory where Jim and Owens escaped, where the gate was far below. Amelia follows Jim with Eleven as he leads them all towards the room. As they draw closer, Jim could hear them. The...Demo-Dogs, growling softly as they swarmed the hole that blocked they're path towards the gate.

The glass shield was shattered and the environment was already producing in the lab. Spores floating in the air and a cold as death chill filled the room.

Jim turns towards Eleven and Amelia, "Stay there." He whispers.

He slowly and carefully walks towards the room, hearing the growls grow louder. He holds his gun up fast as one of the creatures spies him but, suddenly, it perks up and howls. It calls for the others but instead of fighting, they run.

Amelia and Eleven slowly walk towards Jim as he stands frowning in confusion. Someone must be harming the hive mind.

Soon, Johnathan's voice erupts from the walkie talkie.

"Chief, are you there? Chief, Amelia, do you copy?"

Jim presses on the button, "Yeah, I copy. We copy."

"Close it."

Amelia and Jim both sigh in relief, "Thank God." She whispers.

Jim breathes deeply and nods at them both to head on with him. The three of them get on the elevator and begin to ride it down. Eleven's eyes widen as they go down further, seeing the huge gate before them. When they met the right angle of the gate, smack down in the middle, Jim halts the elevator.

Gently, he reaches and takes Eleven's hand, giving her a supportive grip and Amelia takes her other hand, giving her a soft smile.

"You can do it, sweetie. We believe in you." Amelia says softly.

"You got this, Kid." Jim nods.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Eleven let's them go and moves closer to the edge of the Elevator. Slowly, she holds up a hand and calls forth the power inside her and uses them to close gate. She struggles as she keeps pushing herself to use and grunts as her nose begins to bleed.

"Don't push too hard. Feel it." Amelia whispers.

Suddenly, a huge shadow of a creature with long tentacles appear in front of the gate. Casting it's shadow as it growls loudly at them all. Eleven gasps at the sight of it. Amelia's eyes widen with Jim's as they look at the size of the monster's shadow. 'That...wants to mate with me?!' She exclaims in her thoughts.

Eleven feared that maybe the gate was too big to close.

"Remember, Starshine. Find a memory that makes you angry." Amelia says softly.

Eleven sighs and closes her eyes. Thinking about how Papa would punish her. How he destroyed her Mama. Thinking about how this creature wants to take away her new Mom.

"Now channel it."

Eleven snaps her eyes open and feels her power grow stronger. Soon, the gate begins to rapidly close. Amelia and Jim watch in wonder. Amelia smiles big, so proud of her.

Suddenly, the creature roars and the Earth begins to shake. Amelia yelps and holds on to the elevator. Jim rushes to hold on to her. Making sure she didn't fall. She holds on to him tight and gasps. Soon, they hear them. The creature scurrying on the walls. Amelia yells when one jumps on the roof of the elevator and goes after Jim and Eleven.

Jim pushes her behind him and shoots at it. Amelia gasps as she sees one jumping towards the elevator. She aims her shotgun and shoots. The force of the gun shoves her back with a yelp. Together, Amelia and Jim shoot at every angle and protect each other from the monsters. Especially, Eleven as she continues to close the gate.

Amelia turns fast, "Duck!" She yells as she points her gun at Jim.

Jim ducks in time as a creature swipes his claws. Missing him by inches.

"Go to hell!" Amelia fires and grunts when her back hits the corner as she hits the creature dead on.

Jim straightens and fires more till his gun clicks. He switches to his shotgun and fires as Amelia presses her back against his. Amelia turns and gasps when she sees a shadow-like tentacle reaching out towards Eleven and another was heading towards her. But Amelia was more scared for Eleven's safety than her own.

"Starshine!"

With a furious thrust of her other hand, Eleven blocks the monster's tentacles, blocking it from harming her and her family. With a loud, long scream, Eleven pushes and pushes, giving it all she had to permanently close the gate and shove the monster back to where it belongs. Soon, her body hovers in the air as her eyes dilated past their limit. The monster shrieks with rage as it fights her, but she was too strong for him. She doesn't stop until the gate finally closes.

With an exhausted gasp, Eleven almost falls to the floor, but Jim and Amelia catch her before she could hurt herself.

"Starshine." Amelia says softly as Jim holds an unconscious Eleven.

"She's okay. She's still breathing." Jim says.

Eleven sighs softly and slowly open her eyes. She reaches out and takes their hand. Holding them close. They all looked around and see the creatures they didn't kill fall dead all around them. Without the Mind Flayer and the gate, the access to their world, they had no reason to live. Amelia sighs softly, smiling in relief.

"Go home?" Eleven asks softly.

Jim chuckles and nods, "Yeah. Yeah, let's go home." He grins at her and Amelia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting Owens to the hospital, Jim carries Eleven into the cabin, holding her close as she was still exhausted from the battle. Joyce, Nancy, and Johnathan were long gone, but the heat from all those fans and fireplace...it was like a sauna in the cabin.

"Jesus, it's hot in here." Jim says.

Amelia walks over to a window, opening it and using a cloth to fan out the heat, "At least, it got that thing out of Will."

Jim puts Eleven on her bed, making sure she was comfy. She slept all the way home. He wasn't surprised that she was exhausted.

"I'm proud of you, Kid." He whispers, not even if she heard him. But he was.

"Hello? Hello? Are you there?" Mike's voice is heard from the HAM radio.

Amelia sighs and walks to pick up the mic, "Mike, you can see her in the morning. She's really exhausted. You two lovebirds can wait."

"But..."

"In the morning, Mike. Go to bed. Over and out." Amelia states and places mic down, rubbing her head.

Jim walks into the living room, towards her. She sighs as he places his hands on her shoulders, massaging them.

"You okay, babe?" He asks.

"Just tired. Sore and dirty." She groans and sighs as he continues to massage. "Mmm, that feels good." She moans.

"You sound like you need a good...full body...massage." He whispers in her ear.

Amelia chuckles and gives him a sexy smile over her shoulder, "How about a shower first?"

He grins, "Yeah. A shower sounds good."

"Then I think after, we should turn in that deep tissue massage I recommended to you. I have some oils that'll make your eyes roll." She says and giggles as he chuckles.

"That sounds great, Baby." He leans down and kisses her with passion, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her tight against him. "Mmm, we better get a move on it. While she's sleeping." He whispers against her lips.

Amelia gives him a coy smile and moves out of his arms but holds his hand to guide him towards the master bedroom and bathroom.

(Smut!!!)

Under the hot spray, Jim sits on a bench in the shower to meet Amelia's height as they heavily make out in shower. Jim holds her close against him as she wraps her arms around his neck. Both were breathing heavily with arousal. Amelia giggles as he reaches and grips her ass, pulling her to straddle his lap. After washing each other, they were ready. Jim grins down at her and gently pushes her off to let her stand so he could get up. He helps her sit down and gets on his knees. He's been aching to taste her again.

He lifts her legs up and drapes them over his shoulders. She gasps out a moan as he leans down and slides his tongue into her folds, wiggling around to find her pearl. She groans and gasps when he finds it, squirming in his grip.

"Ah!" She moans and arches her back as he feasts.

Jim closes his eyes as he licks Amelia's sweet little pearl. God, every time, she's sweet to his tongue. He couldn't resist moaning around it, grinning like a devil as she moans and squirms in his grip. Crying out in pleasure.

Gasping softly, she whimpers as she feels him slowly inserting his fingers inside her. Filling her deeply as he continues to lick and suck. Hearing her moan for him, the sound of her excited him and made his hardness twitch in need.

With a wet smack of his lips, he lets her go, licking his lips to catch her wetness. He gets to his feet but keeps his fingers inside her, bending over to press his head against hers, watching her wiggle and squirm in her seat.

"You like that, baby? Hmm?" He moves his fingers inside, touching her spot.

Amelia places her hands over her mouth, whimpering in pleasure.

"Yeah?" He grins and slides his fingers in and out. "God, your so tight. Soaking for me. Aren't you?" He says huskily against her ear.

She gasps, "Oh! Oh, my god." She whimpers as he slides them back inside, wiggling them again against that spot. "Jim...please." She moans.

"Mmmm, god, you're so sexy." He whispers and slowly pulls out his fingers, loving the whimper she made. He gasps as she reaches and grips him in her hands. He grunts when she pulls him closer and goes down to lick his quivering member.

"Ah, god!" Jim grunts and moans as she slides him in her mouth, sucking like he was a lollypop. He grips her hair when she latches on his tip and swirls her tongue around. "Holy shit! Mmmph!" God, she was amazing! "God, babe!" He grins and throws his head back, but panics when he was getting close to the edge, way too close. "Wait-wait-wait!" He gasps and gently removed himself from her mouth.

Panting heavily, he bends down picks her up, carrying her out of the shower after shutting off the water.

Amelia grunts when Jim tosses her on the bed, forcing her to get on her hands and knees. She moans as he rubs her body, feeling his rough hands over her soft flesh. She feels him crawl on the bed and cover her body with his. He pushes her legs apart...

She moans as he slides inside her, filling her deeply. Jim sighs as he was in her all the way. Wrapping herself around him in that perfect grip. Getting to his knees, Jim begins to thrust in and out of her, holding on to her hips as he fills and loved her body. Moaning, she meets his thrusts, gripping on the sheets. Jim grunts and moans at the feel of her. So slick, tight, and hot all around him. It was driving him crazy.

He gently pulls her to press against his chest. Reaching around, he trails his hands to her breasts, squeezing them gently as he continues to love her. His breathing picks up at every thrust. She whimpers softly, letting soft cries as she holds on to his wrists. She gasps when he gives her sharp thrust. Quick snaps of his hips. He grins as he tests her, seeing if she would like it a little rough.

She turns to look over her shoulder as he leans down and kisses her deeply. She reaches and grips his hair on her fingers.

"Jim. Please." She begs.

Panting, "What? What do you want, baby?" He whispers against her lips. Watching her as he slowly trails his hand down her body till his fingers reached to her pearl, making her gasp in pleasure, especially when he slowly rubs it in circles.

A soft moan escapes her lips, "Harder." She says breathlessly.

Jim groans at those words and grits his teeth. She gasps as he shoves her to the mattress and begins to pound her.

"Ohhh, my god. Yes. Yes! Ohhh! Ohhh!". She moans and shoves back to meet him.

Grunting rhythmically, he grips her his tightly, filling her deep and hard. "Ugh! Ohhh! Ohhh! Ohh god!" He shouts. Praying he'll last. He didn't want to end till she does. He keeps going for as long as he could, crying out as he feels her tightening around him. He wasn't sure how long they were going but both of them were coated with sweat. He drops on top of her, using the bed for support as he continues to thrust and grind deeply inside her.

"Jim! Ohhh!"

"Augh! Ugh! Oh! Ohhh!"

Neither of them could contain their cries as the ending hit them hard, forcing them to stiffen and scream together. Jim digs his fingers into her hips hard enough to leave bruises and shoves himself deeper as he throws his head back when she traps him inside her. Amelia screams as she tightens around him, gushing him as she's hit by the climax, feeling his cream stuff her. Finally, both of them collapse over the mattress in a sweaty sticky pile.

Whimpering as the aftershock rocks her body, Amelia squirms over the mattress with Jim on top of her, panting heavily on her back.

"Oh...oh...ahhh." He sighs. "Shit." He grins and gently pulls out. Wincing he grips himself. He felt sore all over. But so good at the same time. He rolls off her and collapses on the bed with a long sigh.

Amelia pants heavily and weakly crawls to snuggle on his chest. He filled her so good, she could feel his cream drip from her. He happily holds her close to him.

"Raincheck on that massage?" Jim asks breathlessly, still panting and soon calms.

Amelia mumbles softly, "Mm-hmm." Still panting hard as well.

Jim smirks, he's still got it. With a grunt of effort, he managed to get the covers over them and pulls her back into his arms. She makes a happy sound and soon her breathing softens. He couldn't help but look down at her as she sleeps in his arms. With a sigh, he leans down and kisses her hair.

"I love you." He whispers in her hair.

With a soft sigh, he closes his eyes and goes to sleep.

It's a good thing Amelia made the walls soundproof or things would be weird and awkward with Eleven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One month later...

Amelia sighs as she watches the news on her TV that she had set up in her new dining room area in shop. Now that more customers were coming around, she needed to make new upgrades. A bigger dining area for the cafe part of the shop. She even had a Christmas tree set up in there with presents from the townspeople for the salvation army. Amelia asked everyone to make donations for those in need.

It's been a month since Eleven closed the gate and today marks the day where Hawkins Lab closes their doors for good. Thanks to Nancy and Johnathan. They're so brave to sneak in that tape recorder and managed to record Owens confession. Amelia just hopes that Nancy will find peace with her guilt. Shortly after the news about the tape got out, Owens pulled strings and got a fake body for Barbara's parents to burry. In a way, to give them peace.

Amelia chuckles as she touches a mirror and sees a reflection of Murray getting a front row seat to see the soldiers of Hawkins Lab evacuate the building. He was laughing his ass off, sending mocking salutes while they took turns flipping him off.

Removing her hand, her reflection shimmers back to normal and all she could see was her. She turns as gives her customers warm smiles as they sit and watch the news.

"Since the release of the incendiary tape, the once quiet town of Hawkins, Indiana, has spent time in a place it never expected. The national spotlight. Under mounting pressure, several high-ranking members from the U.S. Department of Energy have admitted involvement in the death and cover-up of Hawkins resident Barbara Holland who died due to exposure to an experimental chemical asphyxiant, which had leaked from the grounds of the lab. We sent our own April Kline to Hawkins to speak to residents, residents who told us they thought they lived in a safe town. The kind of town where, they say, nothing ever happens."

Amelia looks up and sees Jim walk inside, sending her a smile as he walks towards her, "Hey babe." He leans down and kisses lips softly as she walks around the counter to meet him halfway.

"Mmm." She smiles as the kiss breaks. "He's over there." She says and nods towards the dining area.

Jim looks over and sees Owens sitting down, eating a sandwich. He nods and kisses her one more time before heading over to him.

"How's the leg?" Jim asks.

Owens looks up and sees Hopper sitting down in front of him.

Sighing softly, "Better. Pretty sure my football career is over."

They both chuckle lightly and see Amelia walking towards the table with a slice of cake, "Miss Holloway, you are too much." Owens shakes his head. "I don't know if I can eat this after the sandwich." He says as she sets it down.

"There's always room for a little cake." She smirks and gives him a small shove with her elbow, making him laugh. She walks over and sits in Jim's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, draping them around his shoulders.

"Want some? No way I'm gonna finish it. Now that I have cake." Owens offers.

Jim laughs, shaking his head, "No. I'm, uh... on a diet."

"Doctor's visit wasn't great?" Amelia asks, worried about his health.

"Nah, nothing bad. I'm as healthy as a horse...only problem is that I'm starting weigh like one." Jim grunts.

Amelia giggles, "Aw, if you wanna diet, I'll help you. My cooking never fails, even with vegetables and fruits."

"Can't argue with that." Owens says with a knowing look and reaches down to get an envelope out of his briefcase. "Hey, got a little something for you two." He hands them the envelope.

Jim takes it and opens it, pulling out the papers slightly. Amelia and Jim both freeze at what it says. Adoption papers...with Eleven's true name and a new surname. Jane Hopper. Jim's heart begins to pound as he sees his own name listed as the father. Amelia wanted to cry with happiness when she sees her name listed as the mother.

Jim looks up at Owens in surprise, "I thought--" He stutters, confused. He never thought this could be possible.

Owens grins at them both, "Sometimes I impress even myself. Still, I'd let things cool off for a while, if I were you." He says with caution.

Jim rubs his nose, sniffling, "How long is a while?" He asks.

"Want to be safe? I give it a year." Owens says as he begins to dig into the cake.

"A year?" Jim's eyes bugged out and he reaches to grab half of Owen's sandwich, chowing down. He wasn't sure if he could handle another year with Eleven.

Amelia giggles at Jim and looks over towards Owens, "What about one night out?" She asks.

"One night?" Owens asks.

"Yeah. How risky would that be?" She asks.

"What's so important about one night?" Owens frowns.

Amelia holds up a finger and points at her window. There, she had a poster about the Snow Ball stuck to the glass. According to Mike, Hawkins Middle throws a dance every year before Christmas vacation. Mike, recently, told her that he wanted to take Eleven to the ball.

"She deserves to have one night as a normal teenage girl. Dance with her boyfriend, spend time with her friends. Just have one night of normal worries." Amelia states.

Owens sighs, knowing well that Eleven has never had a normal childhood or life till she escaped. Amelia was right, she deserved one night. He looks over to her, giving her a unsure look.

"IF you let that girl out to have her night, stay by her at all times. Don't overestimate anything. Are you sure she won't use her..." He looks around and leans in and whisper." ...abilities if she goes out?" He asks.

"She wouldn't unless she's given a reason. She would never harm someone unintentional." Amelia states.

Jim nods, "We'll make sure she doesn't."

Owens nods, trusting their word, "Okay then. It'll be less risky to go to a dance, full of children her age, than go out in a public place. Like a grocery store." He grunts with a knowing look, remembering the last time Eleven was sighted in town and went to a grocery store to steal several boxes of Eggos. She used her powers to slam the electric doors shut, scaring a whole bunch of people.

Amelia simply smiles, "She's not like that anymore. Trust us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ow!" Eleven yelps as Amelia stands behind her to fix her hair.

"Sorry, Starshine. But you have a knot in your hair that's bugging me." Amelia says as she uses a comb to get the knot out. "Finally. Good lord." She begins to comb is a lot smoother than earlier.

Tonight was the night of the Snow Ball and Amelia and Jim have been helping Eleven...Jane...get ready for the big dance. Amelia watches her sigh shakily; she could tell she was nervous. She places the comb down and looks in the mirror with her, "Hey...did I ever tell you why I call you 'Starshine'?"

Jane looks up at her, shaking her head.

Amelia smiles, "Because other mothers label their daughters as Sunshines. They all move in one direction. Always the same. But you..." She sighs softly, smoothing Jane's hair gently, "You shine in your own way. Through the darkness, you are the light. The light that keeps everything going and make everything right. You are my light that leads me home. Like a star in the night's sky."

Jane's eyes fill with tears as she sniffles softly, touched with her Mom's words. Amelia moves around and tips her chin.

"Keep shining, my darling. As bright as you can." Amelia sighs and smiles, stroking her cheeks, "My baby." She whispers and kisses forehead, hugging her. She pulls away and wipes her tears away, "And tonight, you'll shine so bright for Mike. He'll never be able to take his eyes off you."

Jane and Amelia giggle as Jane blushes when she mentioned Mike. Amelia moves to get the dress that she picked out for her. Once she had her hair and makeup fixed, she helps her get into the dress. Amelia walks out first as Jim was waiting in the living room. He looks up as Amelia comes out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you...the lovely Jane Hopper." She cheers and holds a hand out for her to walk out.

Jim smiles, chuckling as Jane gives her mother an awkward look but blushes as she stands all dressed up, ready for the dance. He gets up and moves towards her.

"You look very beautiful...Jane." He says, then frowns, "Is that as weird with you as it is with me?"

Jane laughs, "It will take time getting used to my name, but...I'm more used to being called El." She smiles.

"Okay then...El." Jim chuckles.

"But...I like it when you both call me Kid...or Starshine." She adds.

Amelia moves and gives a gentle side hug, "We won't ever stop."

Jim claps his hands, "Okay, ready to go?"

El nods, sighing softly, "Ready."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim pulls up towards the gym and parks by the door. He looks over towards Eleven looks out the window. Amelia sat in the middle of the truck, watching her with Jim. Amelia strokes her back.

"Do you want me to walk up there with you?" She asks.

El sighs deeply and shakes her head, "No. I'll be okay." She turns and gives them a small smile. She was about to leave, but Hopper stops her.

"Wait. One more thing." He reaches and takes off Sarah's hair tie. He sighs as he rubs it with his thumb and leans over to reach her hand. He slides it around her wrist and gives her a grin. "For luck."

El touches the hair tie, giving him a smile, "Thank you."

Amelia was so touched. She looks at Jim and gives him a proud smile then turns as El was exiting the truck.

"Have fun, Starshine." Amelia says softly.

"We'll be right outside if you need us." Jim says.

Eleven nods and gets out of the truck, shutting it behind her as she sighs nervously. Walking slowly towards the door and heads inside.

Amelia sighs and moves to take El's seat, "Hmm. It's never going to get easy...is it?"

Jim chuckles, understanding what she means, "No. But I don't think it's supposed to be." He puts the truck in drive and moves to head towards the school parking lot. He sees Joyce and Bob were already there, keeping an eye on Will like always. After that night, she tries to keep her distance but still fears of losing Will.

Amelia gives Joyce a wave as they head on to their own spot to keep an eye on El. Jim parks the car about 10 feet away from the gym and shuts off the engine. They both could see Joyce and Bob talking from where they sat.

Amelia sighs, "Bob asked Joyce to move with him."

Jim looks at her in surprise, "What?"

She looks at him and nods, "Mm-hmm. Joyce is actually considering it but wants to wait."

He frowns at her, "Where are they going to move to?"

"California."

"That's a long way." He sighs and moves to get comfortable, places his arm on her seat, "But...after what happened...I don't blame her for wanting to get away."

"Yeah." She sighs, sad that she was going to lose her best friend. "Once Will is out of school, transferring to high school and when Jonathan graduates, they're gonna get started with the move.

They both turn as they hear music playing from the gym. Amelia smiles as she hears 'Every Breath You Take' play faintly. She smiles, chuckling as she thinks back during her childhood.

"You know...I never went to my school dances." She says.

Jim looks at her in surprise, "What?" He chuckles, thinking she was kidding. "You? Why?" He could picture her perfectly as one of those popular girls who has boys calling her left and right.

"You think I was born like this?" She gestures at her face, laughing with him. "No, I wasn't ugly or fat or anything like that. Awkward, very. But definitely not shy."

"Oh, I can see that." He chuckles.

"No, it's because...I went to my first and last dance during junior high. I went with the most popular boy in school. I wasn't popular."

Jim snort out a scoff, "Come on!"

"No, I'm serious. I was awkward. I hated talking to people I didn't know. All of the sudden, Henry Minkerson, the star of the basketball team, asked me out in front of the whole school."

"Pfffft! Hahahaha! Minkerson?"

"Yes, Minkerson."

"Let me guess. It was all a prank." He sighs as he thinks who could hurt his girl's feelings, feeling a little pissed off.

"No. Actually...it was a ruse. He didn't want anyone to know he was actually gay."

Jim's brows hit the ceiling as he whistles, "Oh. Wow. But...why did that stop you from going to more dances?"

"After the dance, he told everyone we had sex and I was a lousy lay. I was 16." She scoffs.

"Asshole." Jim scoffs.

"This was before I knew I was a witch. After that, I cursed him. Accidently." She giggles. "I yelled in front of the whole school, 'Henry, may your grow warts till your dick becomes a twig."

Jim snorts, laughing, "You really said that?"

Amelia giggles, nodding, "Yep." She stops and sighs, "A few days later, Henry stopped coming to school."

Jim's smile slowly falls as he watches her face shows past guilt.

"I heard from my grams that Henry had to be sent to a special hospital in Atlanta. He began to grow infections, warts and such all over his privates and lower body. It got so bad they had to amputate in several areas of his body." She rubs her nose. "My grams managed to undo the curse, but it was already too late for Henry." She sighs heavily. "She sat me down and told me everything about myself. She told me that the Goddess forgives me for being reckless with my magic because it was mainly her fault that she waited too long to tell me." She sighs heavily. "I ruined a man's life and that's on me, no one else. After that, I promised not to get close with anyone."

Jim sighs softly and pulls her close into his arms, "Till me." He whispers.

Amelia sighs, "Till you." She sniffles, "I learned over time to forgive myself for that incident and learned to control my powers and emotions. Which is why I became a cook." She giggles. "That's why food taste so good. I literally put my emotions in the food and drinks. Plus it gives me joy to create and give to people."

"So, people are eating you? I thought that was my job."

Amelia burst into fits of laughter, covering her mouth as he joins her. She smacks his arm playfully.

"You sicko."

Chuckling, Jim smiles as an idea pop in his head. He reaches in the back of the truck and found his small radio. He gets out of the truck after he shuts off the engine. Amelia frowns in confusion. She watches him place the radio on the hood of the truck and moves towards her door, helping her out.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

He places his finger over his lips and turns on the radio, fumbling with the knob. Several voices and songs scramble around till finally, he finds what he's looking for.

".....lying in my bed I hear the clock tick and I think of you..."

Jim turns and faces her, "Amelia...will you do me the honor?" He holds out a hand to her, giving her a cunning smile.

Amelia giggles, blushing so brightly, but she accepts his hand, "I would love to."

Jim pulls her into his arms and dips her once before slowly swaying side to side with her as they dance to the music. She giggles when he dipped her then snuggles against his chest.

Jim sighs and holds her close, smiling at how great it is with her. He suddenly thinks of how life was before he met her. She helped him become a better man. And losing her scared him to death. He couldn't risk losing her. He rests his cheek on top of her head, thinking about the future. Now that he confessed his feelings, he's wondering about going further. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get married again or have kids again. Eleven was enough for him but what about Amelia? Could she accept that?