We had a chance to defeat this thing. Close the gate. We could. "Eleven." Mike said as she walked over to him.

"Mike." She said enforce they hugged. I was happy for them.

"Is that..." Max started and I saw Lucas, Dustin and Hunter nod at her.

"I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for- -" He started before she cut him off.

"353 days. I heard." She said to him, she was always there with him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?" He asked her and there was probably a reason for that.

"Because I wouldn't let her. The hell is this? Where you been?" Hopper said as he started to approach her. I was quite liking this new look that El had going on.

"Where have you been?" She asked him before he hugged her.

"You've been hiding her. You've been hiding here this whole time!" Mike shouted out. He wasn't happy at all.

"Hey! Let's talk. Alone." Hopper said before he took Mike into another room.

"Protecting her! Protecting her!" He shouted at her and I went over to El.

"It's good having you back." I said before hugging her. I then let go of her so that the others could hug her.

"We missed you." Lucas said to her.

"I missed you, too." She said to the three of them.

"We talked about you pretty much every day." Dustin said to her as they pulled away.

"He's not joking either." Hunter said and I smiled at the four of them.

"Teeth." She said to Dustin.

"What?" He asked her confusedly.

"You have teeth." She said to him and Lucas smiled.

"Oh. You like these pearls?" Dustin asked before purring. I shook my head with a smile on my face.

"Eleven? Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you." Max said as she she stuck her hand out. El just walked past. She went to Joyce.

"Hey. Hey, sweetheart." Joyce said as she hugged her. "Hey." She said to her.

"Can I see him?" She asked Joyce. Him had to be Will. That's when she took him to see him. We all stayed in the other room. When they came out they went to the kitchen.

"You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asked her and that's when we all started to walk in there.

"Yes." El answered.

"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Joyce asked her and I looked at El. I was hoping she could close it. Well there was a lot to catch Dad up on. Mom still couldn't know about this. That's when we started to come up with a plan.

"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs." Hopper said to us, this had to be logical.

"Demo-dogs." Dustin corrected.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hopper asked him.

"I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass- -" Dustin started to explain.

"How is this important right now?" Hopper asked him and I looked at Dustin.

"It's not. I'm sorry." Dustin said to him. He then looked back at the table.

"I can do it." El said and I looked at her.

"You're not hearing me." Hopper said but she was. Loud and clear.

"I'm hearing you. I can do it." She said to him with a nod.

"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies." Mike said that would mean that Will would die.

"I thought that was the whole point." Max said to us and it was and wasn't at the same time.

"It is, but if we're really right about this...I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike started and I looked around at everyone. Who was going to say it.

"Will's a part of that army." Lucas said speaking up.

"Closing the gate will kill him." Mike said and I looked at Joyce. I hope this wasn't the end for her. That's when we started towards Will's room. He was on the bed. Still out.

"He likes it cold." Joyce said to all of us.

"What?" Hopper asked her and she looked at her son.

"It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold." She said that was when she shut the window. Letting air stop coming in. "We keep giving it what it wants." She added, we had to do the opposite.

"If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then..." Nancy started. We had to make Will seem better.

"Then we need to make the host uninhabitable." Johnathon said to us all.

"So if he likes it cold..." Nancy started and I looked at Joyce.

"We need to burn it out of him." Joyce said to us and we had to find somewhere.

"We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time." Mike said to us but where.

"Yeah, somewhere far away." Dustin said and that's when Hopper knew where to go. They wrapped him up and started to move him.

"Take Denfield, then you'll see a large oak tree." I heard him say before the door closed. The rest of us were staying here. In the house where it was somewhat safe.

"Hey, does Dad know what's going on?" Hunter asked me as we sat down at the table.

"No, he doesn't. He knows some parts but not everything." I said to him and he looked at me.

"I bet mom's worried." He said to me. We then went outside to see the group go. El was closing the gate. When we went back inside I looked over at Steve.

"You know this is the worst date ever." I said to him and he looked at me with a smile.

"I'll make up for it. But you gotta admit we are good babysitters." He said to me and I looked at him with a smile.

"The best more like. But yes, once this is all over you better make up for it." I said to him with a smile. He looked at me with a smile.

"Deal and I will make sure it's somewhere nice." He said to me. As this was all going one Dustin was clearing the fridge out. Steve then had to pick up the dead Demo-dog.

"All right. It should fit now." He said to Steve and I looked at him.

"Is this really necessary?" Steve asked him and I smiled at him.

"Yes, it is, okay? This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can't just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It's not a dog." Dustin said and I looked at him.

"Kind of is a dog." I said getting a glare from Dustin.

"All right, all right, all right. But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right?" Steve said to Dustin as he started to put the Demo-dog on the fridge. I walked away and went to Hunter.

"So, you and Steve were looking for me." He said to me and I looked at him. Pushing his shoulder gently.

"Kind of. The Demo-dog was first. And don't I have a story for you." I said to him before we saw that Mike was pacing.

"Mike, would you just stop already?" Lucas asked and I knew that whatever was happening Hunter would understand it.

"You weren't in there, okay, Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." Mike said to us all. I looked at Hunter.

"We we're lucky to get out of there." Hunter spoke up and I couldn't imagine how scary that was.

"Demo-dogs!" Dustin shouted from the kitchen.

"The chief will take care of her." Lucas said to Mike trying to calm him.

"Like she needs protection." Max got out and that's when Steve walked into the room.

"Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?" Steve asked and I don't think a sports analogy was fitting for the people were with.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench." Mike said but the neck was important. We had to get ready for our turn to play.

"So my point is...right, yeah, we're on the bench, so, uh, there's nothing we can do." Steve said and I looked at him.

"You tried." I said to him as I stood up and went over to him.

"That's not entirely true. I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away." Dustin said so we had to distract them. But how could we do that?

"If we get their attention..." Lucas started before someone else continued.

"Maybe we can draw them from the lab." Max said and this was a plan.

"Clear a path to the gate." Mike said and I looked at Hunter.

"That'll draw them away from Eleven." Hunter said to everyone.

"Yeah, and then we all die." Steve said and he needed to think positive over this.

'That's one point of view." Dustin said to him and I looked at them.

"No, that's not a point of view, man. That's a fact." Steve said and I looked at him.

"No, that's one point of view. There might be a good outcome as well." I said to him and he looked at me.

"I got it!" Mike shouted before going into the kitchen. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So..." Mike said as he showed of on the vines. He then went somewhere else. "Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire..." Mike started as he showed us the hub.

"Oh, yeah? That's a no." Steve said and we weren't doing that at all.

"The mind flayer would call away his army." Dustin said and we still weren't doing it.

"They'd all come to stop us." Lucas said to us all. This wasn't happening.

"Hey." Steve and I got out.

"We circle back to the exit." Mike said as if this would be easy.

"Guys." Steve said but they didn't listen.

"By the time they realize we're gone- -" Mike started before he was cut off.

"El would be at the gate." Max started and I heard Steve clap his guys.

"Enough." I said to them all.

"Hey. Hey! Hey! This is not happening." Steve said to them at all.

"Not under our watch.

"But- -" Hunter started.

"No, no, no, no, no. No buts. We promised we'd keep you shitheads safe, and that's exactly what we plan on doing. We're staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?" Steve asked them all and I looked around.

"No one is to leave the house." I said to them and Mike looked at him.

"This isn't a stupid sports game." Mike said and Steve was getting mad. I could tell.

"I said does everybody understand that? We need a yes." Steve said to them before we heard an engine rev.

"Who's that?" I asked them all. Max and Lucas then went to the window. It couldn't have been been the starting team. It hadn't been long since they left.

"It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me. He'll kill us." Max said and I looked at Steve. He had to think of something. Soon the engine stopped. Steve then went outside.

"Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?" I heard Billy ask, I had to keep out of his sight as well who knew what he'd say.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants." Steve said and I took a few of them into the kitchen. They didn't need to see it. Especially if things went in the other direction. Of course they all ran out and looked out the window. Getting caught before ducking.

"Shit! Did he see us?" Lucas asked and I looked at him from the kitchen doorway.

"Probably you idiots." I said to them. They all stood by me. I wrapped an arm around Hunter protectively. I knew his rep. Soon the door was kicked in by Billy. I saw Steve laying on the floor.

"Well, well, well." Billy said as he started to walk forwards. "Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise. I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max." He said whilst looking at Max. This wasn't good at all.

"Billy, go away." Max said to him but he wouldn't.

"You disobeyed me. And you know what happened when you disobey me." Billy said and now he was scaring me. I didn't like this. I didn't get what the girls saw in him.

"Billy..." Max started and he stopped her.

"I break things." He said before he grabbed ahold of Lucas.

"Let him go! Billy!" I shouted as I saw what happened. I let go of Hunter.

"Billy! Stop! Billy! Stop!" Max shouted and Billy has Lucas pinned to a shelf.

"Let go of me- -" Lucas started and I looked at him.

"Let him go! He's a kid!" I shouted at him. I didn't know that Billy was capable of this.

"Since Maxine won't listen to me, maybe you will. You stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?" He said to Lucas and I looked at Steve. Still on the ground. I wanted to go over but I couldn't leave these guys alone.

"I said get off me!" Lucas shouted as he fought back. Good kid. I saw Steve get up and come in. I was glad he was ok.

"So dead, Sinclair! You're dead." Billy said to him. Steve then pushed him.

"No. You are." Steve said before he punched him.

"Steve!" Max shouted before Billy started to let out an unnerving laugh. Lucas then came over to us.

"Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about. The one that Y/n fell f or." He said and I hated my name coming from his mouth.

"Get out." Steve said and that's when Billy swung a punch a Steve. But he ducked out the way. They then started to fight. Steve winning.

"Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!" Dustin shouted and I looked at Steve.

"Be careful, baby!" I shouted at him. I needed him to be ok.

"Get him!" Mike shouted at him.

"Murder the son of a bitch! Now! Now!" Dustin shouted like this was a fight club or something.

"Get that shithead!" Mike shouted and I was looking at Hunter.

"Get him, Steve!" Hunter shouted it was nice that he'd warmed to Steve after a while.

"Kill the son of a bitch!" Dustin shouted that was before Steve got hit by a plate.

"Steve!" Lucas and I shouted. Please be ok.

"Billy!" Max shouted and Steve stumbled over to us.

"Holy shit!" Mike shouted and that's when I saw Billy go in again. He wanted to take Steve down.

"Shit!" Dustin shouted and they went into they main area.

"No one tells me what to do!" Billy shouted before he head butted Steve.

"Steve!" I cried out as he landed on the ground.

"Whoo! Get up!" Billy shouted as Steve stopped sliding. I hated seeing this. I could feel tears in my eyes. I felt useless.

"You're gonna kill him." Dustin shouted and I looked at them.

"Billy, leave him alone!" I shouted before Billy just started punching away and we were all shouting. I felt the tears on my face. He was gonna kill him. That was when Max went over and stabbed him with a needle. Injecting him. I then went over to Steve. "Hey, hey. Steve, I'm here. You're gonna be okay." I said to him I saw the blood on his face. There was a lot.

"The hell is this? You little shit what did you do? What did you do?" Billy asked and that's when he fell on the floor.

"Shit." Mike said and that's when Billy started to laugh. Max then picked up Steve's bat.

"From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" Max asked him and I was hoping he would. This was hurting Steve. I started to run my hand through his hair. He had to be okay.

"Screw you." Billy said. Max then swung the bat landing it into the panels where his legs where separated. She then took it from the ground.

"Say you understand! Say it! Say it!" She screamed at him.

"I understand." He said quietly to her.

"What?" She asked him getting him to say it louder.

"I understand." He said and then he was out. Max then took his keys.

"Let's get out of here." She said and I looked at her.

"Someone help me with Steve. I can't leave him here." I said with tears running down my face.

"We'll help don't worry." Dustin said to me and Hunter came over to me.

"He's gonna be okay." He said to me and I was hoping he was right.

"Max your driving, this one time." I said to her and she nodded this was the only exception. When Steve started to wake he looked around.

"Y/n?" He asked while looking at Hunter.

"Steve, I'm here." I said to him and he looked at me. I was making sure that his wounds were covered with bandaids whilst Dustin had an ice pack. Steve then went to touch his face.

"No, don't touch it. Hey, Buddy..." Dustin said before shushing him. "It's okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a fight. You're okay." Dustin said to him and I could tell that Steve was dazed and confused.

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai." Lucas said to Max. She was good at driving for now.

"What's going on? Oh, my God!" Steve got out as he looked at the drivers scene.

"Just relax. She's driven before." Dustin said to him and the answer wasn't better.

"Yeah, in a parking lot." Mike said and I was just glad we hadn't crashed yet.

"That counts." Lucas said and I looked at Hunter.

"Not really." He said to me and I shook my head.

"They were gonna leave you behind." Dustin said and I looked at him.

"But I didn't let them." I said to him and I nodded.

"Oh, my God." Steve got out he wasn't chill at all.

"I promised that you'd be cool, okay?" Dustin asked as Steve sat up. His face was so swollen.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?" Steve asked that was before Max put her foot down. "Oh, my God. No! Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down." Steve said and he was freaking out he needed to calm down a bit.

"I told you he'd freak out." Mike said to us all.

"Stop the car!" Steve shouted and that wasn't happening.

"Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Max shouted at everyone and that was mainly directed at Steve.

"Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left." Lucas said to Max but she kept going straight.

"What?" She asked him, we needed to take the left.

"Make a left." Lucas said and that's when Max hit a mailbox.

"This was a bad idea!" I shouted as she swung around the corner. I grabbed onto a broken Steve. She then stopped when we made it to the hole.

"Hello!" Steve shouted as we came to a stop.

"Whoa!" Dustin shouted.

"Never again!" I shouted at everyone. That was not happening again.

"Incredible." Mike said and it definitely wasn't.

"Muy bueno." Hunter said and I shook my head at him.

"I told you. Zoomer." Max said as we all started to get out. Steve fell out of it.

"Guys." He said as he stood up. All the others started getting ready to go in the tunnel. "Oh, no. Guys. Hey, where do you think you're going? What are you, deaf? Hello? We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear. So did Y/n. Hey, there's no change we're going in that hole, all right? This ends right now!" Steve shouted and he wasn't happy at all. I had to get ready. I couldn't let the kids go down alone. "Not you as well." He said to me and I looked at him.

"I'm sorry." I said to him. I had to look after them. 

"Steve, you're upset, I get it. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Y/n that you would keep us safe. But look at her, she's joining us. So, keep us safe with her." Dustin said and I started walking away. I had my gun and I was already to go.

"Look, it has to be done." I said to him and that's when he caved. We all then went down the hole. Into the other world.

"Holy shit." Steve got out and I went over to look at the map.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way." Mike said as he looked at it.

"It's the only way it can be." Hunter said and I wasn't believing them but I had no choice.

"You're pretty sure, or you're certain?" Dustin asked from the back and I turned to see Steve coming up behind us.

"I'm 100% sure. Just follow me and you'll know." Mike said and that's when him and Hunter started to walk. I knew they were doing this for their friend but to this extent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't think so." Steve said stopping them from going anywhere.

"What?" Mike asked him.

"Any of you little shits die down here, I'm getting the blame. Got it, dipshit? From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go." Steve said as he got in front and started walking. "Come on. Hey, a little hustle." He shouted at everyone.

"I didn't realize you were dating a drill sergeant." Hunter said to me and I shook my head at him.

"Hey, it's watching out for all you dipshits." I said making him laugh. We then kept walking until we found the hub.

"God." Lucas got out. This place was connected to everywhere.

"What is this place?" Max asked and I looked at Steve.

"Guys, come on. Keep moving." Steve said to them as we kept walking. We then heard screaming and I did a headcount.

"Dustin." I said, he wasn't here.

"Shit! Help! Help! Help!" I heard him shout, he was in danger.

"Dustin." Mike shouted as we started to head back.

"Shit!" Dustin shouted. He needed us.

"Dustin!" Lucas, Max and Hunter shouted out to their friend.

"What happened?" Steve asked as we made it to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him and I was hoping he was.

"It's in my mouth! Some got on my mouth! Shit!" Dustin shouted before he started to cough.

"Shit." Steve got out and I looked at Dustin.

"You're gonna be ok." I said to him. I was hoping he would be.

"I'm okay." He said to us and that was all that I needed.

"You serious?" Max asked him and none of us were impressed.

"Very fun, man. Nice. Very nice." Steve said as we started to walk away again.

"Jesus, what an idiot." Max said to us all and that he was.

"Hang on. Wait, wait." Dustin said as we kept walking through the tunnels.

"All right, Wheeler. I think we found your hub." Steve said as we made it to the main hub. There were tunnels everywhere.

"Drench it." Mike said and that's when we started to douse it all in gasoline and other flammable materials.

"Please work. Please work." I whispered to myself.

"It'll work it has to." Steve said to us and I was hoping he was right. Once the place had been drenched we went into the tunnel we came from. Steve was holding the lighter. "Right, you guys ready?" He asked us all and I nodded.

"Yeah." Mike said to him.

"Ready." Lucas, Hunter and Max got out.

"As ready as we can be." I said to Steve and I was hoping this would be the end of it.

"Light her up." Dustin got out. Maybe we'd see Hawkins go back to normal soon.

"I am in such deep shit." Steve said before he lit the lighter up throwing it to its own food. The whole place went up straight away. "Go, go, go!" Steve shouted.

"Everyone move!" I shouted at all of them as we started to run.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Steve shouted at them all. We had to keep going.

"Oh, my god. Oh, my god." Dustin shouted and we needed to get out before those things came back. We kept running.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Steve shouted and he briefly stopped to look at his map. "Hey, this way!" He shouted as we started to run.

"Help! Help! Help! Help!" I heard Mike shout.

"Shit! Mike!" I shouted before running back to help him. We had to get out of here before El closed the gate.

"Help! Help!" Mike shouted at us and we made it back to him.

"Hold on!" Steve shouted at him.

"Steve, pull him out." Dustin shouted and pulling him wasn't gonna work.

"Everybody back! Back!" Steve shouted as he hit the vine with his bat. Breaking it.

"You good?" Lucas asked him and I looked at him.

"Your not hurt are you?" I asked him and I hope he was.

"You okay?" Dustin asked him. "Guys, we gotta go." Dustin shouted and we heard growling. "Dart." Dustin said and we all started talking over each other. "Shh. Guys." Dustin got out. He couldn't be serious.

"Dustin, get back." Max said but I knew that he wouldn't.

"Trust me, please." Dustin said as he started to walk towards his old friend. "Hey. It's me, it's me. It's just your friend, it's Dustin. It's Dustin, all right? You remember me? Will you let us pass? Dustin asked it getting a screech in return. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Dustin said to it and I looked at him.

"He's insane." Lucas said to us and I looked at him.

"Don't." Mike got out.

"Shut up." Steve said to him.

"This is a personal moment." I said to them all before looking back.

"I've got our favorite. See? Nougat." Dustin said to him before holding it the candy bar. He started unwrapping it. "Looks at that. Yummy. Here, all right? Eat up, Buddy. Come on. Come on." Dustin said as he waved us to pass him. I was hoping we'd get past with our lives.

"Let's go." Someone whispered to him.

"There's plenty more where that came from." I heard Dustin say. He then got ready to say goodbye to his friend. "Goodbye, Buddy." He said as he stood up and got ready to leave. "Let's go. Let's go." Dustin shouted and we started running again.

"Let's go!" Steve shouted before there was rumbling. Making Steve fall over. "Jesus!" Steve said as he fell.

"Steve!" I said as I grabbed his hand to help him up. How many heart attacks could one guy give me tonight.

"What was that?" Max asked us and we heard roaring.

"They're coming. Run! Run!" Mike shouted and we started running again.

"Don't stop!" Hunter shouted as we kept running.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Steve shouted and there was no way I was stopping for anyone.

"Come on, Mike! Move, Mike!" Dustin shouted and the rope was finally in our reach.

"There, there!" Lucas shouted and I was glad to see it.

"Come on! Let's go. Go, go, go! Let's go! Come on! Let's go!" Steve shouted and he started helping everyone up. I was last in line.

"Come on, hurry up! Come on!" Lucas shouted as Max was the first to get out.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Steve shouted and Lucas was next. Then Mike. Hunter was after him. "Take his hand!" Steve shouted at him. We then heard growling again.

"Y/n. They're close." Hunter said to me and I went over to him and the rope.

"I'll help you up." I said as I put my hands out to give him a leg up. He stood on them and I pushed him up. "Lucas, Mike, grab him!" I shouted at them and they took him. I then went over to Dustin and Steve. With my gun ready.

"Dustin, come on!" Mike shouted at him but we wouldn't.

"No!" Dustin shouted and they ran around us. They weren't interested. I grabbed Steve so that I wouldn't fall over and land in the stampede. Steve had ahold of Dustin. Eleven must be closing the gate.

"Time to go!" I shouted at them as soon as the stampede had gone. They would be running towards the lab. They would try to stop Eleven. But I know she'd close it in time. She had to. The rest of us then managed to get out of the hole. I was hoping that everything has been trapped in there. Never to be seen again. The lights of the car got brighter and it stayed that way until it died down. We all covered our eyes and once it had completely died down I hugged Steve.

"I love you so much." He said before kissing me. I knew that he'd been worried.

"I love you too. Now let's go drop these kids off." I said to him with a smile.

One month later

At home the news was currently on. I'd told Dad about everything and he was glad that we were ok. But today it was Barb's funeral. We couldn't hide it anymore. "Since the release of the incendiary tape, the once quite 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 has 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." The reporter said before I heard the door go. I then opened to see Steve in his suit.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked me as he offered his arm out for me.

"Is anyone truly ready to go to a funeral." I said to him and I wrapped my arm around his. It was also time for the Snow Ball as well. So once I got home I changed and then started to help Hunter pick out a suit.

"Which one this one or this one?" He asked me while showing me two suits at my door.

"That one." I said to him pointing to the all black one.

"Thank you." He said to me before running off I then leaned on my door frame.

"Hurry though you don't have a lot of time!" I shouted at him and I heard his door close. In a few minutes the door opened up again.

"Ready, let's go." He said to me and we got downstairs of course like all Mom's. Mom wanted a picture taken of him a few of them. Once I'd dropped him off I went home. I'd barely sat down on the sofa when I heard the doorbell.

"I'll get it." Dad said before he opened the door. "Steve what a delight. Please come in." He said and Steve came in. I went over to him and he took my hand. "I'll leave you two to it." He said before walking away. He'd closed the door.

"So, how about that date we never had." He said to me and I smiled. He then wrapped his arm around me.

"I would love that. I'll be happy with anywhere." I said to him and he smiled at me. I was just glad that we had a sense of normal-ness again.

"I was hoping you'd say that because I don't know where we're going." He said to me and I smiled at him.

"Hey, Mom and Dad, I'm going out with Steve. Don't wait up." I said to them before the both of us left. I didn't even let them get another word out. I just needed to be with Steve for the night. Everyone was having a good time at the ball and we had to occupy ourselves with something else. Going back to normal.