chapter twenty-five , Old Enough to Understand

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"I hate this place..."

Sofía and Will walk down the hall. "Yeah, I know how you feel." She blows air from her mouth. "So, you're mom's at work, right?"

"Yeah. She's working a double." Will answers.

"Then, who's picking us up?"

Will shrugs a shoulder, he pushes the door open, and immediately hears shouting.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

The teenager rolls her eyes, "Oh, God—calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, August Castillo-Hopper!"

"Uh-oh! The full name! I'm in trouble now!" Gus slaps her hands into both sides of her face. "Like, come on, Hop!" She scoffs.

"Gus, if someone is slut-shaming you—

"Dude, you do realize that you are being a hypocrite, right?!" Gus presses both her hands together. "You didn't tell me about my dad being alive. But, you want me to inform you about those dumb flyers and that Tristan showed up—"

"I am the adult in this situation!" Hopped cuts the girl off. "I was keeping that from you to keep you safe!"

"Well, guess what? He found me anyway, Hopper!" Gus' shouting raises. "Don't try and lie to me, all right? The only reason you kept it from me was because you were scared he would want to form some relationship with me."

Hopper shakes his head. "That's not true—"

"Stop lying!"

"Hey, guys...?"

Hopper and Gus turn to the two blank staring kids. Gus raises her brows and the hot rage slips away from her face. "Hey—hi!" She holds her arms out. "How was...your exams today?"

"They were fine..." Will answers.

"Why are you guys yelling? In the parking lot?" Sofía looks around.

"We weren't yelling." Hopper let's out a sputter and nudges Gus.

"Right!—Hop is right! We weren't yelling. We were having an exciting conversation."

"Well, that 'exciting conversation' was embarrassing." Sofía presses her lips together. "People are watching..."

Hopper and Gus look around at some of the people staring at them. "Okay—all right, lets get you guys home, huh?"

"Wait, we usually get ice cream." Will says.

"Everytime?" Hopper and Gus chorus.

Sofía and Will nod.

"Well...that's not healthy." Hopped scrunches his face. "How about a smoothie."

"Smoothies are good." Gus nods, getting into the passenger seat. Everyone gets into the car, then Hopper drives out of the parking lot.

The entire time everyone was sitting at the table outside of the smoothie place, there was tension. Sofía and Will were sitting next to each other and throwing ideas back and forth at each other about a their new campaign. Gus was sunk in her chair, while sipping on her strawberry smoothie. Hopper was moving his straw up and down, creating a squeaking nose.

Gus' eye twitches and she snaps her eyes over to him. "Will you quit it?" She seethes. "Throw the cup away if you're not gonna drink it."

"I'm waiting until we get home to drink it." Hopper replies.

"I'm staying at Fallon's tonight." Gus murmurs.

"That didn't sound like a question." Hopper says.

Gus turns to him once again and raises her brows. "I'm glad you have some comprehension skills."

Sofía and Will look at the father and daughter. Then they look back at each other, knowing another argument was brewing.

"You've been staying at her house everyday." Hopper says. "Don't you feel homesick? What about Hedwig and..." the Chief trails off, almost revealing Eleven's whereabouts. "...your other bunny."

"You have another bunny?" Sofía asks. "Since when?"

"Since...February." Gus answers, obviously knowing Hopper was referring to the young girl. "Her name is L-Lego."

"You named your bunny Lego?" Will raises his brows

"Yup." Gus blinks. "That's my Lego..."

"Don't you miss Hedwig and Lego?" Hopper asks.

Gus looks at her father. "I go home and check on them everyday." She shrugs. "Besides, Lego understands why I'm gone."

"Because of me—"

"Bingo." Gus points at the man.

Hopper squints his eyes, "You're staying home."

Gus pulls her brows together. Sofía and Will tense.

"Dude—"

"If you want to treat me like I'm some bad guy for protecting you, Gus. Fine do that. But you don't call bad guys 'dude'. That's for sure." Hopper says in a gruff tone.

Gus raises her brows. "Oh, real mature." She inhales. "I've lost my appetite."

"Yeah, I think, it's time for us to head home." Sofía starts to put her stuff back into her bag. "I've got homework."

"Yeah, thanks for the smoothies." Will says. "We'll be in the car.

Gus' mouth slightly opens, watching the now quiet kids walk to the truck. "Guys, I'm sorry!" She calls out.

The kids get into the truck and sit in silence. Guilt rises in the girl and she sighs. "Fuck—"

"Watch your mouth—"

"Do you know that those two have been around fighting their entire lives?" Gus asks. "And they have had to keep fighting in the Upside Down?" Her throat tightens. "Each day they are poked, prodded, and questioned. And all we did today is argue and tell them to eat something healthy."

Hopper's eyes shift to the disappointed kids in the truck. "All they wanted was some ice cream."

"And we ruined that for them." Gus sinks in her seat and covers her face.

Hopper let's out a breath. "No, we can turn this around—let's go." He stands up and walks toward the truck.

Gus raises her brows, but she she follows after the Chief. Hopper and Gus get into the front seats and Hopper turns to the two kids. "We're taking you guys for ice cream."

Sofía and Will look from their windows and at the man.

"Uh, that's nice of you, Chief. But we just had smoothies." Sofía shrugs.

Gus let's out a breath. "Got any other ideas, genius?"

Hopper slightly opens his mouth. "That was actually my only one."

"It's fine, guys. Really." Will speaks.

Gus turns to the kids with a soft expression. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been arguing in front of you guys. That wasn't cool." She presses her lips into a line. "Maybe, I can take you guys to the arcade and ice cream tomorrow?"

Sofía and Will both smile.

"Really?!" Will exclaims.

Gus laughs softly, "Yeah! Why not? Fridays should be celebrated, right?"

"Definitely!" Sofía bunches her shoulders with excitement.

"We can invite the boys if you guys want." Gus suggests.

"Oh, My God!" Sofía turns to Will. "Did you hear about the new game they're putting in?!"

"No?!"

Gus looks at the two kids talking and she smiles softly. The girl turns forward. She then looks at Hopper and he smirks.

"Nice job."

A smile forms in Gus' lips. Her body then freezes and her smile lessens. "Yeah—thanks." She brushes him off and looks out the window.

Hopper's smirk drops and he lets out a defeated breath, before driving off.

☆

The door opens, revealing the brunette.

"Castillo-Hopper." He spots the shirt she was wearing and smirks. "Nice shirt.

Gus smiles, "Wore it just for you."

Eddie quirks a brow, "How sweet!" He touches his chest. "What can I help you with today?"

"Drugs. I need dru..." Gus trails off her sentence, seeing the man walking in the background. "Hugs—I said hugs, Mr. Munson!"

"Nice to see you too, Gus." He waves. The man stops and points at her. "Heard you punched a girls lights out a few weeks ago."

Gus nods her head. "Yeah, that wasn't cool of me."

"Did she deserve it?" Wayne questions.

"I mean, violence is never the answer—"

"She deserved it." Eddie answers. "Slut-shaming always deserves a good smacking."

"Well, I didn't smack her." Gus folds her arms. "I broke her nose."

Eddie looks at the ceiling and frowns. "Oh, yeah. Well, you know that big camera the AV club has? The one they use to record all sport events?" He steps aside and let's the brunette in.

Gus frowns, "Yeah, what about—Nooooo!" She turns to him, her hand over her mouth.

Eddie was scratching the corner of his mouth and nodding. "Mmhmm—yeah."

"The whole thing?"

"The whole thing?"

"How do you know?" Gus raises her brows.

Eddie blinks, "Hellfire and AV club are practically family. We share everything."

"Even sex toys?"

"And I'm out." Wayne stands up and walks toward the door of the trailer. "I'm going to the store."

"Can you bring me back some licorice?" Gus calls out.

Wayne looks at the brunette and she frowns.

"...Kit Kat?"

Wayne keeps a stone cold expression and Gus presses her lips into an awkward smile. The man couldn't contain his cold expression. He ends up cracking a smirk and rolls his eyes. "I'll get you your licorice."

Gus smiles, "Thank you, Mr. Munson."

Wayne waves at the two teens. "Don't do anything in here or I swear—"

"We won't!" Gus and Eddie chorus.

Wayne squints his eyes at the teenagers before he leaves the trailer. As soon as the trailer door closes Eddie raises his brows. "Sooo...wanna make out?"

Gus looks at Eddie and let's out a laugh. "Shut up." She bumps her hip into his, causing him to laugh.

"If you would kindly, follow me into my humble abode..." Eddie trots toward his room. Gus follows the boy and leans against the doorframe as he rummages through his drawers.

"So, do you have some kind of special occasion for these 'hugs'?" Eddie teases the girl.

Gus rolls her eyes, "Mock me all you want. It was a good save."

"It would've been a good save, if you hadn't have said drugs twice." Eddie grabs the bag and walks over to the brunette. "But, seriously, August."

Gus raises her brows. "Uh-oh. You're using my full name..." she scrunches her lips together.

"You've been getting high a lot." Eddie says, tilting his head. "And I hate to be the one to damper your fun, but...don't you think you should slow down?"

"Don't you think you should graduate?"

Eddie's mouth hangs open. Gus grabs the bag from his hand and sends him a playful smile. "Ouch!"

"Sorry." Gus bunches her shoulders.

"This is my year, Guster."

Gus purses her lips and nods her head. "Uh-huh. Yeah..." she looks up at the boy and presses her lips together.

"We both have to graduate, Gus." Eddie says.

Gus' smile lessens and she looks at the ground. "Yeah, I know." She plays with the bag. "I'm trying...at least I was."

"Well, keep trying." Eddie grips her arms and starts to shake her back and forth. Gus squeezes her eyes shut and quietly laughs.

"You're doing Summer School, right? Who even convinced you to do that?" Eddie stops shaking the girl.

Gus stumbles for a bit and Eddie grabs her arm, to keep her steady. "Uh...Jonathan."

Eddie raises his brows. "Not Harrington?"

Gus rolls her eyes, "Who?"

Eddie cranes his neck forward. "Drama. Wanna chat about it?"

Gus looks at her watch. "Yeah, I can fit you into my busy schedule."

"You can make time for little ol' me?" Eddie lets out a soft gasp.

Gus squints her eyes. "I swear. I have the same acting skills as you..."

"So, does that mean I'm good?" Eddie asks.

"Actually, everyone says I'm a terrible actor." Gus folds her arms.

Eddie's cocky smile drops.

"But, who cares what everyone says, right?" Gus holds her arms out.

Eddie's smile returns and he points at the girl. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you."

☆

"Nancy..."

"I just think you guys need to talk. That's all." Nancy holds her hands out. "Me and Gus talked to each other and we're better than ever."

"Yeah, well...I've screwed Gus over thousands of times." Steve closes his locker. "Sucks. But, I get why she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."

Nancy lets out a soft breath. Her eyes trail behind Steve and she pulls her brows together. "Huh...that's new."

"What? What's new?" Steve turns around and spots Jonathan and Gus standing in front of each other, talking. Steve raises his brows, "I don't get it...what's wrong?"

Nancy looks at Steve. "Are you...you're serious?" She points at Gus and Jonathan's feet. "Look at their shoes."

Steve wrinkles his nose. "Why?—"

"Steve."

"Okay, okay—jeez..." Steve trails off. The tips of Gus' vans were touching the tips of Jonathan's boots. They were closer than normal.

"Do you think they're together?" Nancy asks.

Steve pulls his brows together and his chest tightens. He couldn't even answer Nancy's question, because he was already thinking about that. There was this tight knot in his stomach, to the point he thought he was going to fall to the ground in pain. Steve instantly realized this feeling.

Jealousy.

He was jealous seeing Gus so close to Jonathan. Steve wanted to ask himself why he was so jealous. Then he watched as Gus slightly tilts her head back and laughs. Like genuinely laugh. All the stress slipped away from her face and she was just a teenage girl, who was having one of the best conversations of her life.

Gus looked beautiful.

Steve wanted to know what the girl was laughing at. He wanted to know, so he was able to make her laugh that hard. He wants to be the one to distract Gus from all the pain. Steve wanted to sit with Gus for hours and listen to her talk. Whether it was about something bothering her or just about something that she was passionate about. He wanted August. Steve's heart drops into his stomach when he finally realizes his. He fucking knew and that made him connect the dots to his past heart beat accelerations and sweaty palms whenever he was around Gus.

Steve liked August.

It felt like he had been hit in the head with a baseball bat. Of course, he did. It made so much sense. Steve's face starts to get hot as he thinks about the short-haired brunette. Steve didn't know whether he wanted to hit himself over the head or dance up and down the hall now that he finally realized. It felt like he had just put on the right prescription of glasses. Everything was so clear to him now, it made a smile form on his lips.

"Nancy, hey." Fallon walks over to the brunette.

Nancy turns to Fallon and smiles. "Hey. You have summer school too?"

"Oh no, I was just here for band practice." Fallon snorts. "What about you?"

"I wanted to get a few hours in on the newspaper today." Nancy shrugs.

Fallon nods her head. "Steve failed something?"

"English." Nancy winces.

Fallon nods her head, "I've heard English is actually one of the most difficult languages to learn."

Nancy frowns, "I think that's for people who's first language isn't English."

Fallon winces. "I know. I was just trying to make him feel better."

A soft chuckle escapes Nancy's lips. Fallon pulls her brows together. "What's up with your boy toy?" She points at him.

Nancy turns back to Steve, who was still staring at Gus and Jonathan. "He's trying to comprehend Gus and Jonathan."

Fallon's jaw goes slack. "Wh-what about them—"

"Fallon, you don't have to lie. We know." Nancy says. "Their shoes are touching."

Fallon shifts her gaze to Gus and Jonathan and raises her brows. "Very discreet, you two..." she rolls her eyes and looks at Nancy.

"How long has that been going on?" Nancy asks.

Fallon bunches her shoulders. "I...don't. Know..."

"You are such a terrible liar." Nancy exhales.

Fallon sighs, "Look, it's not my place to say. Why don't you just ask them?"

"What? We can't do that!" Steve exclaims, turning to the girls.

Fallon and Nancy shift their eyes to Steve.

"Look who's finally talking!" Fallon exclaims. "Welcome back, Hair-bear."

"That would be weird. Asking them about that, right?" Steve asks.

"It would be weird for you. Since your relationships with the two are a bit...rocky." Fallon tilts her head side to side.

Steve presses his lips into a firm line and exhales through his nose. Nancy looks back at Gus and Jonathan and she taps her fingers against her binders. "Well...they're laughing." She shrugs a shoulder. "Whatever those two have going on, they seem happy."

Steve's face scrunches with frustration. Then his eyes soften. He was the one that pushed Gus away. All she was doing was moving on. Steve couldn't be mad at that. "Yeah. I'm happy for them." He manages to get out.

Fallon looks at Steve and purses her lips. "Right...I left something in the band room. I'll catch you guys later."

Nancy waves at Fallon before she leaves. The brunette turns to Steve and notices his eyes still on the two. She tilts her head to the side, seeing that he wasn't looking at Jonathan and Gus.

He was only looking at Gus.

"So, I'll see you at the cafe later?" Gus readjusts her bag.

Jonathan nods, "Yeah, of course." a timid smile forms on his lips.

Gus' smile brightens. "Cool."

"Very cool." Jonathan chuckles softly.

Gus presses her lips together and walks out of the school. Jonathan watches Gus walk away with a smile on his lips.

"So!"

Jonathan jumps and turns to Nancy and Steve. He relaxes and lets out a soft breath. "Hey, guys."

"When were you going to tell us?"

Jonathan blinks, "Tell you what?"

Nancy cocks her head to the side. "About you and Gus!" She raises her brows.

"Wh-what about—"

"We saw your shoes touching." Steve speaks.

Jonathan looks at Steve and pulls his brows together. "I don't understand..."

"Are you guys together?" Nancy asks. "Dating?"

Jonathan's jaw goes slack and his face gets hot. "What? No."

Steve and Nancy deadpan and Jonathan's eyes widen.

"I'm serious! We're not dating." Jonathan shrugs. "We're just...friends."

Nancy squints her eyes and slowly nods her head. "Okay, okay, Jonathan." She frowns. "Suuure."

Jonathan couldn't handle keeping secrets. But he didn't know who Gus wanted to tell about their deal. Jonathan suspected that the brunette definitely didn't want Steve knowing. And Jonathan felt weird talking to Nancy about it.

...

Sofía sits on the curb with her hands over her face. She quietly cries into her hands, her entire body trembling. The girl had been sitting there for hours before she finally decided to call someone. Sofía felt embarrassed. She felt guilty.

"Sofía?"

The girl takes her face out of her hands and looks at the boy. "Dustin, you came."

"Yeah, of course I did." He sets his bag down and sits on the curb next to her. "You're crying."

Sofía nods her head, "I am."

"Well, are you okay?" Dustin asks.

"I...ran away."

Dustin raises his brows. "From Ms. Gretchen's?"

Sofía shifts her red rimmed eyes to her yellow converse. She then nods.

"Why?"

"I hurt someone."

Dustin's eyes widen, but he stays silent.

"I was taking a nap and my bunkmate, Tori, went to wake me up..." A lump forms in Sofía's throat. "...I was having a nightmare and...I don't know—then I opened my eyes and heard screaming."

Sofía scratches the side of her neck. "I h-hurt her..." her voice starts to shake again. "Tori's eye was bleeding bad. They took her to the infirmary and I left while they did."

"So, you don't know how Tori's doing right now?" Dustin inquires.

Sofía shakes her head, "No. Tori's better off without me there."

"But, you're her bunkmate. You're her family—"

"Family doesn't hurt each other." Sofía quickly says, looking at the boy.

"But, family does hurt each other, Sof."

The girl scrunches her brows together. Dustin slightly opens his mouth. "Families argue and sometimes they hurt each other. But, the reason you guys are a family is because you guys have been through so much and you're still strong." He keeps his eyes on Sofia's glassy dark brown ones. "Families are there for each other no matter what."

"Just like friends?" Sofía asks.

Dustin nods his head, "Hell yeah! That's why I'm here now. With you." He smiles. A small smile forms on Sofía's lips.

"So, you're not afraid of me? For what I did?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" He pulls his face back. "Sofía Alvarez, you could never scare me, all right? Never."

Sofía stays silent for a moment and stares at Dustin. Ever since she's been back from the Upside Down, the kids at school and at the orphanage had fear in their eyes when they were near the girl. But whenever she was with The Party it was different. They made her feel wanted. They made her feel like a normal kid who was able to have fun. And in this moment, Dustin made Sofia feel like there was nothing wrong with her. She was Sofía Alvarez. The same Sofíathat would help a hurt bug back into the grass. The same Sofía who would comfort a crying stranger (if that's what they wanted, of course).

"Thanks, Dustin."

Dustin smiles, "Anything for you, Sof." he hands her a tissue and the girl laughs softly before accepting it. "Wanna get some pizza?" he stands up and holds his hand out to the girl.

Sofía raises her brows, "Uh, yeah! Is that even a question?" she accepts his hand and stands up.

"Nice, my treat," Dustin pronounces. His eyes shift to his hand still interlocked with Sofía's. The boy slightly opens his mouth and pulls his hand out of Sofía's. Sofía chuckles and Dustin nervously joins.

☆

The door opens, and Gus walks into the cabin. She makes a beeline for the room. The brunette grabs the door handle and pushes the door open. Suddenly, the door slams shut. Gus raises her brows and goes to push the door open again. It doesn't budge.

"You're here."

Gus jumps from the sudden voice. She turns to the young girl and leans against the door. "Jesus!" The teen exhales a chuckle. "El, you scared the—"

"Where were you?"

Gus closes her mouth and exhales through her nose. "I stayed over at Fallon's, then I went to Summer school."

"Why?"

Gus sputters her lips. "Needed some space."

"From who?"

Gus pulls her brows together, noticing Eleven's frustration growing. The teen knew what Eleven was hinting at. But Gus knew this was something that they had to talk about. "El..." she sets her bag down. "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

Eleven curls her hands into fist and Gus shifts her eyes to the girl's hands. Gus shifts her eyes back to Eleven's anger filled eyes.

But with a flip of a switch, Eleven's eye lids slightly fall, and her shoulders sag.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Gus raises her brows. "What?—"

"You have not been here, August." Eleven glues her eyes to the ground and Gus' eyes soften. "You have been avoiding Hopper. You have..." a lump forms in Eleven's throat and her hands start to tremble. "...you have been avoiding me."

"El—"

"And Hopper is always at work and now you are gone!" Eleven's eyes start to sting with tears. "I don't want you to be gone!—I-I can't have you be gone!"

Gus quickly walks over to the crying girl. "Hey, hey..." she crouches in front of Eleven and touches her arms. "I'm not gone, okay? I'm right here."

Eleven shakes her head. "No—"

Gus wraps her arms around Eleven and pulls her into a warm embrace. She touches the back of Eleven's head as the young girl starts to cry even harder. Gus' eyes start to burn with tears as Eleven continues to cry.

"I'm not going anywhere, El. I promise." Gus shakily whispers. Guilt swells in Gus' heart. She should've knew that something like this would happen. Eleven didn't want to be alone—she never wanted to be alone. Especially, after losing Mike. She wasn't able to see her friends anymore and was forced to be trapped in the cabin all day. As soon as she and Eleven got close, suddenly the teenager disappeared. Gus was angry at Hopper and wanted to avoid him.  But she ended up hurting Eleven in the process.

"We were just...beginning to become sisters..." Eleven softly cries.

Gus slowly nods her head. "I'm sorry..." she pulls Eleven from her hug. "I was trying to take my anger out on Hopper, but I ended up hurting you too."

"I was being selfish." Gus wipes the tears from Eleven's eyes. "We are sisters." She keeps her hazel green eyes on El's glassy brown ones. "And I'm sorry I forgot that."

A sad smile forms on Gus' lips. "I am so sorry." She pulls Eleven into a hug once again. Eleven wraps her arms around Gus.

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author's note.

Gus and Eleven are one of the best relationships in this book! I swearrr!!!

Also, Steve finally realizing his feelings for Gus 🫶 I love that Steve wasn't even near Gus and he realized his feelings for her. LMFAO why am I taking like I didn't write it—BYE

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