It was after driving away from Leslie's that Jenna thought about her house here. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to handle seeing the place for the first time in six months. There was a part of her that wanted to be happy about it, to be content that she could find shelter within the familiar home like before. But with everything being so different, she couldn't help but have doubts regarding seeing her house as a safe place compared to Aunt Judith and Uncle Travis' house. How could she get that same feeling back with the place that she grew up in?

Before Jenna knew it, she spotted the house just down the street, which she slowed down as she got closer to it. When she pulled into the driveway, a knot formed at the bottom of her stomach, taking a deep breath to try and get rid of it.

"One step at a time," she mumbled as she turned off the car and stepped out, grabbing her suitcase and duffle bag from the back.

Jenna stared at the house for a moment, seeing that it looked exactly the same. Still, nothing about it would feel the same once she went inside, and despite never being ready for that, she headed towards the front door, anyway, unlocking it and entering the house. As she expected, she couldn't get past the odd feeling it gave her being back again. She noticed that nothing was added or removed, every picture, decor, and piece of furniture remained untouched. When Jenna headed upstairs to her bedroom, she got the same feeling as she looked at everything, also detecting that none of it had been messed with since she left.

"It's weird seeing you actually standing inside your own bedroom again," her mom said from behind. "I walked by this room more than I'd like to admit while you were away. Of course, it was always a habit to do that whenever you were here. But I guess I thought I'd actually find you in there every time I looked."

For a moment, Jenna thought her mom was going to cry with the way she was talking. Of course, she knew her mom would miss her, but she didn't realize how much it really affected her until now. The thought of her going by this room knowing she wouldn't be there for the last six months tugged at Jenna's heart a little.

"Well, I'm back now, so my bedroom won't be so empty anymore," Jenna assured her.

Dorothy gave her a small smile in response. "How about we go ahead and get your stuff unpacked, then?"

Placing her suitcase and duffel bag on the bed, the two began to go through Jenna's clothes and other souvenirs she took home with her from Nashville, spreading everything out to keep it more organized as they were putting things away. The more they filled the closet and dresser and desk with all Jenna's stuff, the more it was starting to feel like her bedroom again, almost as if she had never left to begin with.

"So I was planning on seeing Wayne tonight," her mom spoke up, folding up some t-shirts on the bed. "I didn't know what time you were coming back into town. I can call and cancel so that we could--"

"It's fine, Mom," Jenna cut her off. "I actually thought about going to Hopper's cabin to visit Carter, Dana, and Eleven to see if any of them are around."

"That's a good idea," she exclaimed, her smile getting bigger. "I'm sure they'd love to finally hear from you now that you're back."

Jenna couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh in response. "We'll see about that." She paused for a moment as she put some more clothes away. "So, when do I get to meet Wayne?"

Dorothy shrugged her shoulders in response. "Whenever you're ready. I know I kind of threw it on you, so it's fine if you need more time before meeting him."

Nodding her head, Jenna leaned against the dresser. "How about tomorrow?"

Her mom shot Jenna a surprised look. "Tomorrow? That soon?"

"Well, I gotta meet him at some point, especially since this thing between you two has been going on these last few months."

"So you wanna interrogate him, huh?" She chuckled a little, shaking her head. "With how much I talk about you, I think he's ready to finally meet you."

"Then let's meet up with him tomorrow at the new mall," Jenna stated. "You and I can go look around at the stores before we meet up with him at the food court. It could be like a little late birthday dinner for me."

She gave it some thought for a moment, then grinned and nodded her head in response. "Yeah, that's a good plan. I'll mention it to him tonight. Maybe Eddie would like to join us."

With some reluctance, Jenna nodded back. "Yeah, sounds good." To be honest, she wasn't really thrilled over the idea of Eddie joining them for dinner, knowing that they weren't really friends. But she figured since her mom and Wayne were most likely getting pretty serious about their relationship, then they'd want the two of them to get along eventually. So maybe for both of their sakes, Jenna and Eddie could try their best to be civil towards each other.

Once they got all of the unpacking done, Dorothy plopped on the bed, looking over at Jenna. "So, now that everything is all put away, is this house starting to feel like home again?"

Huffing a sigh, Jenna took a few steps and jumped onto the bed next to her, laying on her stomach. "Slowly, but surely. I think I just need some more time to get settled back in. You know, just get a feel for being back here after I was away for so long."

Nodding, Dorothy gave her an understanding look. "Take all the time you need, sweetheart." She paused for a moment, sighing as well. "You know this house will always be home to you, right?"

Jenna looked over at her and smiled a little. "Yeah, I know." While it was nice to be sitting back in this house and in her bedroom once again, she wondered how long it would take for it to feel like home again. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long at all.

For the rest of the afternoon, Jenna went to call Aunt Judith to let her know that she arrived in Hawkins safely before she and her mom hung around the house, talking some more about Jenna's time in Nashville and Dorothy's dates with Wayne, along with watching some TV. As the daylight was slowly fading, that was when Dorothy decided to head out, with her going to Wayne's trailer and Jenna to Hopper's cabin.

It was no problem for her to get there, as she still knew the route like she knew the back of her hand. Because of that, the drive wasn't so long, and before she knew it, Jenna parked her car at the dead end spot next to a small blue car, turning off and stepping out before making her way deep into the woods, wondering who the other car belonged to.

Compared to when Jenna came out here during the fall and winter seasons, it was a much more beautiful sight during the summertime. She glanced up at the sun as it was setting, peeking through the space between the leaves still hanging on tree branches. There was also a cool breeze blowing her way, making it perfect to be taking a walk outside. But with her being in the middle of the woods, she still turned around every so often to make sure no person or animal was following her. She felt relief once arriving at the cabin, but she was also still nervous seeing some of her friends after being away. The last thing she needed was for this visit to be a disaster, which she already had a feeling that was how it'd go down with certain people.

Going up the steps, almost knocking over a bike leaning against the stair railings in the process, Jenna was about to knock on the door when it flew open all of a sudden, causing her to jump back with hands up and eyes wide. She stared at the three figures in front of her: Eleven in the center, with her hand up and blood running down her nose, Mike Wheeler standing on one side of her, holding a book, and Dana standing on the other side, with a tight grip on a steak knife.

"Whoa, don't hurt me!" she shouted. "You guys haven't already forgotten about me in just six months, have you?"

It took a moment for the realization to hit the three of them, watching their faces go from defensive to surprised once they knew Jenna wasn't some random threat.

"Jenna?" Dana spoke up, lowering the knife.

She nodded, slowly putting her hands down and relaxing her eyes. "Yeah, it's me."

Mike dropped the book from his hands, still staring at her in bewilderment. "Holy shit."

Eleven, however, didn't say anything. Instead, she ran up to Jenna and threw her arms around her neck, which caught Jenna off guard, but she was quick to hug her back. It was surprising to get this embrace from her after neither one of them called each other after Jenna left Hawkins, thinking that Eleven was upset at her for it. When Eleven pulled away, she had a smile on her face.

"You're back," she breathed.

Jenna smiled in response. "I am." She took a good look at Eleven, seeing her hair was a bit longer than before, but with some curls still intact. Another thing about her that stood out was the baggy clothes she had on, something that Jenna was surprised to see. She thought Hopper or Dana would've gotten Eleven some decent clothes that fit her.

But what didn't take Jenna long to figure out was that there was obviously something going on between Mike and Eleven by the soft way the two were looking at each other. She really did miss a lot, but at least Eleven had been doing okay, especially now that whatever was going on between her and Mike turned into a relationship from what she could tell.

Jenna then glanced over at Dana, her expression now blank as they stared at each other. She wondered what the girl was thinking with her being home again.

"You wanna come inside?" Dana asked.

"You wanna put the knife down first?" Jenna countered.

Dana looked at the knife in her hand, quickly lowering it and turning around to place it on the table as Jenna stepped inside. There was a lot more added and taken out of the place, making it look a lot more new and cleaner than before. Jenna noticed some new furniture around the cabin, along with knick-knacks and decor on shelves that brightened up the living room and kitchen.

"Sorry we scared you," Dana stated, flipping her hair back, to which Jenna noticed it was a little bit longer since the last time they saw each other. "No one really comes out here other than Mike, Jonathan, and Eddie."

"So you didn't think to check through the window to see who was coming?" she questioned.

"You didn't announce yourself."

Jenna almost rolled her eyes in response. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time I visit."

"Oh, how nice of you to think of us now that you're back," Dana retorted, to which she closed her eyes for a moment as she let out a sigh. "Sorry. I've had a long day at work."

"Work? Where at?"

"The Hawkins Post. I'm supposed to be a journalist, along with Nancy, and Jonathan is a photographer." Dana was grabbing some plates from the cabinet above her, setting them on all four sides of the table. "It seems like he's the only one who's taken seriously there. All Nancy and I do is get coffee and sandwiches." She shook her head in annoyance. "With us being the only female journalists there, I'm surprised we even got hired. But at least we get some experience, even if we're hardly doing anything writing-related."

"Sounds like you two are miserable there."

Dana scoffed a little. "Well, Hawkins is a miserable place with miserable people."

"That's definitely one way to put it," Jenna mumbled.

"Hey, El, can you--" Dana turned around, only to find Eleven no longer standing there, along with Mike, which Jenna didn't even notice that they had left the room. "El!" She headed towards the closed door, swinging it open. "Three inches! That's the rule!" Pausing for a moment, she let out a sigh of annoyance. "Can you come help with dinner? Mike, it wouldn't kill you to lend a hand, too." Dana rolled her eyes when she glanced back at Jenna. "It's the least he could do with how much time he spends over here."

"And how much time does he spend over here?" she asked, getting more curious about Mike and El's relationship.

"A lot, and my dad hates it, even though he's the one that won't let Eleven go anywhere," Dana answered. "He also hates that Eddie comes around as well. Then there's Jonathan, but he actually likes him, which makes sense because he knows him pretty well." She paused again when the sound of the door slamming, to which she dropped the silverware on the table out of frustration. "You know what, let's go outside. I need some fresh air." Dana then made her way to the front door, quickly heading outside, down the steps, and into the woods.

Jenna had no idea where Dana was going, but she followed her anyway, confident that she knew her way around these woods after being surrounded by them for over a year. It was weird seeing her so worked up like this, as it was a side of her Jenna had never really seen before. Then again, they were both different people the last time they saw each other, and a lot of things happened during those months, so Jenna shouldn't have expected to see the same Dana Sellers that she said goodbye to six months ago. Especially when Jenna witnessed Dana pulling out a small bag of rolled-up joints and a lighter out both pockets of her jeans.

"So much for getting some fresh air," she said. "Since when do you smoke weed?"

"For a while now, some time after you left. Though I didn't start smoking it regularly until a few months ago."

"I guess that's what happens when you start dating a stoner."

She rolled her eyes at this, pulling out a joint from the bag. "So you know about me and Eddie."

"Yeah. My mom told me after telling me about her and his uncle."

Huffing a sigh, she offered Jenna a joint, which she declined, then lit the one she had for herself. "Well, he's not a stoner. He's far from it, actually. Your mom thinks he's a good guy."

"And your dad?"

Dana scoffed. "He can't stand Mike. What makes you think he'll feel any different about Eddie?" She stopped them in front of a log lying on the ground, where she took a seat and started smoking the joint. "Anyway, I would've told you about me and Eddie sooner if you had bothered to call."

Jenna's face fell as she sat down next to her. "I know. I'm sorry about that."

Blowing some smoke into the evening air, she looked Jenna's way once she was done. "Why didn't you come back for spring break? Hell, why didn't you even call any of us?"

"Because I was having fun," Jenna told her bluntly. "There wasn't any drama going on in my life and I didn't want to have to come back to that here, even if it was just for a week."

She let out a laugh, clearly amused at her response. "So you didn't come back because of Steve."

Jenna rolled her eyes, wanting to deny it. Except they both knew that Dana wasn't wrong. "It's still complicated between us."

"Obviously." Dana continued on the joint, her body language becoming more relaxed. "I went to see him at Starcourt Mall when it first opened to interview him for an article about the food court. He works at an ice cream place with some other girl. You should see him in that ridiculous sailor outfit. God, he looks so stupid wearing it."

Jenna almost groaned at the fact that Steve worked at the food court, which meant she would see him there tomorrow when she and her mom would meet up with Wayne after they took a look around at the stores inside the mall.

Dana paused to chuckle a little when she talked about it, then continued. "Anyway, he acted differently once you left. I mean, we've all changed in the last six months that you were away, but it was obvious with Steve that you leaving affected him more than he'd admit to any of us. It was like a part of him was missing, and I think after a while, he just gave up on trying to get that piece back."

"And you think I'm his missing piece?"

"Yes, and I also think that he's your missing piece, too."

Jenna couldn't help but laugh at her words. "You know what I think? It sounds like the weed is doing most of the talking."

"Or maybe you just can't see that I'm right," Dana retorted. "You two have always been there for each other, like best friends should do." She paused, laughing like before. "And let's not forget that kiss. You don't just kiss your best friend like that and not think you weren't meant to be with them."

"We were drunk, Dana."

"So? It still meant something to you two, didn't it?"

Jenna didn't respond, because they both knew that it did mean something at the time. But now, she was certain that Steve tried to forget what happened, letting go of whatever feelings he had for her after the fight at the quarry. It was nothing but a mistake, a bad memory they wanted to shove in the back of their minds.

"Look, I don't know a lot of what happened with you and Steve before you left, but you both had plenty of time apart to figure things out, and now you two need to just talk about everything. You know, make all the shit between you guys that's been going on for way too long uncomplicated like before." Dana was taking another drag on her joint. "Wow, I'm getting pretty good at giving advice. Maybe my boss should let me write the advice column."

The two then talked about different things as the sun was finally going down, with the night sky above them. Jenna asked Dana about the unfamiliar car parked at the dead end of the woods, which she told her after getting some inheritance from her mom when she turned eighteen, it was enough that she could get a car of her own. She mentioned that Carter was working on getting his own car, too, as he was tired of using the bike on the days where it was too hot and sunny for him to be pedaling to work.

Next, Dana asked Jenna about her time in Nashville, eager to know just about everything she did while she was there. So Jenna told her about her family and the friends she made, along with very little details about Dennis in particular. Thankfully, Dana didn't suspect that Jenna was leaving anything out. Jenna wasn't quite ready to tell her about all of that yet. The last thing she needed was for Dana to lecture her on another complicated matter that would affect her and Steve resolving their issues.

Both girls went quiet for a while as Dana was slowly becoming out of touch with her surroundings. While Dana was humming some song Jenna didn't recognize, she was counting the stars, thinking about how Dana had changed, along with Eleven, Carter, Janet, and Steve. A lot happened in their lives during these last six months, and while this was the same Hawkins she lived in all her life, the people in it weren't the same people she remembered. Then again, maybe that was a good thing, as they all had to move past things eventually.

But how long would it take for them to get over Jenna not calling or coming home for spring break like she said she would? And with Steve, was there any chance he'd forgive her for the things she said to him that night?

The more these questions gnawed at her brain, the more stressful it was trying to figure out what their reactions would be once Jenna talked to the others for the first time in six months. In her mind, the outcomes always ended badly, which only made it worse to think about.

"You look a bit tense," Dana spoke up, her voice a bit softer. "Are you sure you don't want a joint? It'll help you relax."

"I'm fine."

Dana raised her eyebrows, her expression filled with surprise. "Wow. Jenna Howard refusing an offer to smoke some weed? You're definitely not the same girl from before." There was a pause as she let out a sigh. "But that's okay. Everyone's gotta grow one way or another, right?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, they do."

The girls didn't stay out much longer, as Dana was already starting to talk about how hungry she was, which she then pointed out that she and Eleven were supposed to make dinner, and her dad was most likely already home doing all the cooking himself. After finishing her joint, they headed back to the cabin, where Jenna parted ways with her, deciding that she wanted some time to be alone. As she was leaving to head back to her car, Mike was biking his way from the cabin, slowing down once he caught up with her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she responded, furrowing her brows, confused as to why he was even speaking to her.

"El talked about you a lot while you were gone," he told her. "She really missed you."

"I missed her, too," she said. "I should've called her every once in a while." Jenna paused and huffed a sigh. "I should've called everyone."

Before he could say anything else, the static sound coming from his walkie talkie caught his attention, then the muffled voice of Eleven was heard. Waving goodbye to her, the boy started to pedal fast on his bike as he began to talk to Eleven over the walkie talkie, leaving Jenna to walk back to her car by herself. Luckily for her, she didn't have much farther to go, and she was back on the road in no time.

Jenna didn't realize how long she and Dana stayed outside until she glanced at the time on the radio and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. As she focused her eyes on the road again, the street lights ahead of her went out all of a sudden, making Jenna slow down once she saw that none of them were coming back on right away. Confused, she finally came to a complete stop, pulling on the side of the road. She waited a minute or two, wondering if there was a power outage all over town.

What the hell would have caused that? Jenna thought.

But when the lights came on again, she pushed the question out of her mind and continued driving into town. She thought about going back home and just laying in bed for the rest of the night, but her hands turned the wheel in the opposite direction, and before she knew it, she was parking the car at the top of the quarry, stepping out and getting close to the edge, looking out at the water below.

Her head was spinning the longer she stood there, thinking of the days to come with the rest of her friends. Jenna was glad returning home today came out with a good result. But she still had more friends to see and talk to, and hopefully, it wouldn't be so terrible to do. Of course, the only exception to that was Steve, which she had to figure something out when she saw him tomorrow. Or maybe she could just avoid him altogether for the time being, if that was possible.

Jenna kept track of the time from the faint sound of the town clock chiming every hour. When the clock rang nine times, she didn't move, enjoying how quiet it was out here. It was a while after the clock struck ten that she considered going home for the night. She was turning around to head for the car when a pair of headlights just about blinded her. Squinting her eyes, she stood there to see who the hell it was, hearing the engine turn off and the doors opening and closing.

After the lights went out, Jenna opened her eyes to see Steve and Janet standing there.

"Hey there, dudette!" Janet called out. "Long time, no see!"

Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but the words just couldn't escape past her lips. Frozen in place, all she could do was stare at Steve, who gave her the same look of shock. She wanted to say something, anything to diffuse the tension. But it was just silence on her end, because now seeing Steve just a few feet away from her was more overwhelming than she expected it to be.

Without uttering a single word, Jenna managed to move her legs and dash towards her car, hurrying to get inside and starting the engine. As she was speeding away, she thought she heard the muffled cries of Steve calling after her.

~~~~~~~

A/N: OOP, we're getting somewhere with Steve and Jenna (sort of).

This chapter was originally gonna be something completely different and also a part of chapter two but it would've messed up the flow and be a lot longer than necessary. Of course this chapter was longer than I had planned, but it's fine lol.

Anyway, what do y'all think?

Comment, vote, more Stenna angst (with them actually talking to each other) coming up in the next chapter!

-A