^^^^^
' Damn, Harrington. New bitch looks just like you. '
^^^^^
Hopper strode forward to look at the girl he considered a daughter, quickly taking in her appearance as he went. He placed as hand on her shoulder, Mike glaring at the man.
'The hell is this?' The man asked; 'Where you been?'
'Where have you been?' Eleven shot back.
Hopper smile slightly as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his chest. Eden smile slightly at the sight, leaning into Billy's side once more.
'You've been hiding her,' Mike stated before he shoved the man; 'You've been hiding her this whole time!'
Hopper spun around and grabbed him by his collar, 'Hey! Let's talk. Alone.'
He shoved the boy to the side, striding after him. They could hear Mike's yelling as the door clicked shut, before their voices were muffled behind the door.
'You ok?' Eden whispered as she looked up at her boyfriend.
He nodded with a hard look on his face, his eyes set upon the dead demodog. She sighed and grabbed his hand, leading him into the kitchen so they could talk properly. She held both his hands as she turned to face him, meeting his blue eyes.
'You can tell the truth,' She stated softly.
Billy let out a long sigh, 'What the fuck just happened?'
'I tried to keep you out of this-'
'No, I don't care about that. I want to know what the fuck just happened? Who's the girl? What the fuck is the slimy shit on the ground in the next room?'
'It's everything I told you. It's all true. That girl, that's Eleven. The creature, is a demodog. She's the only one that can kill them. It's all true. Every. Word.'
Billy took one of his hands back, running it through his hair and over his face; a long breath leaving his lips. And when he met Eden's eyes again, they were so full of fear it was like a punch to her gut. She had never seen the emotion on the ever so confident boy. She propped herself up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck, letting out a shaky breath.
'It'll be ok,' She whispered; 'I'm right here.'
The boy didn't reply, merely holding her closer. She turned her head to kiss his cheek, placing multiple before she turned away. Billy was the first to move away, quickly wiping at his eyes as he went. She played with the air on the back of his neck, slowly lowering her arms. He wrapped an arm around her back, slipping a hand into the back pocket of her jeans.
They wandered into the lounge room once more, watching as Max offered her hand to Eleven. But the little girl's gaze came to land upon her, before she strode forward to meet her. Eleven wrapped her arms around her, soft sobs leaving her mouth as the reality set in that she had hurt her best girl friend. Eden held her tight, running her hand over her hair.
'I'm sorry, Eden,' The girl cried.
'Hey, it's ok,' She muttered in reply; 'I'm ok.'
'But... I hurt you.'
'And I forgive you.'
She watched as Eleven's eyes searched her own before she nodded, her eyes moving over her shoulder before she walked away.
'Hey, Max,' Eden called as the defeated red head turned around; 'Don't worry about it, kid. She didn't like me too much when we first met either.'
Max nodded with a small smile, lowering her gaze.
'I can't believe you know El,' Lucas stated.
'Yeh, what the fuck?' Dustin asked.
She shrugged, 'I guess I can thank Hopper for letting me know her.'
'And you didn't bother to let us know?'
'I wasn't allowed to tell you. It was safe.'
'True.'
She chuckled as she looked up at Billy with a smile, it only growing when she saw his slight one. Though as she went to look back at the kids, they were gone; grouping together in the entrance of the kitchen with Jonathan, Nancy and Steve. Everyone gathered in the kitchen as Hopper and Mike walked in, all of them standing around the dining table.
'It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot,' Hopper sighed after Joyce told him about Eleven closing the gate; 'And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.'
'Demo-dogs,' Dustin corrected.
'I'm sorry, what?'
'I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass-'
'How is this important right now?'
'It's not. I'm sorry.'
Eden huffed in amusement as Billy did, watching as the curly haired boy spun back around.
'I can do it,' Eleven stated.
'You're not hearing me,' Hopper shook his head.
'I'm hearing you. I can do it.'
'Even if El can, there's still another problem,' Mike informed them; 'If the brain dies, the body dies.'
'I thought that was the whole point,' Max retorted.
'It is, but if we're really right about this I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army...'
'Will's a part of that army,' Lucas finished
'Closing the gate will kill him.'
It went silent. No one knew where to go from there. Eden looked toward the hall where Will's room lie, the little boy inside. Her brows furrowed when Joyce started up the hallway, before she followed her into Will's room; watching as she looked around as the rest of the large group joined them.
'He likes it cold,' Joyce muttered.
'What?' Hopper asked.
'It's what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold. We keep giving it what it wants.'
'If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then,' Nancy started.
'Then we need to make the host uninhabitable,' Jonathan finished.
'So we burn it out?' Eden suggested; 'If he likes it cold, we do the opposite.'
'We have to do it somewhere he doesn't know this time,' Mike stated.
'Yeah, somewhere far away,' Dustin agreed.
'I have a place,' Hopper nodded.
They moved into action then, wrapping Will in a blanket before he chucked the little boy over Hopper's shoulder; the man spitting instructions as he went. Joyce and Jonathan followed after him closely as they left the room, exiting the house; leaving the remainder of the group waiting on the porch as Steve and Nancy headed out the back. Eden stepped out of Billy's arms and walked out of the house, heading straight for Jonathan.
'Hey,' She called.
He turned to looked at her with stress decorating his face, 'Hey.'
'You can save him. Just don't back down. It's not Will talking.'
'I know.'
'Stay safe.'
He nodded, turning away before he looked back at her; 'Do you think your Dad's gonna do it again?'
'I hope not... I'll see you later.'
She turned away and jogged back to the house, grabbing Eleven before she could leave.
'Don't you dare die on me,' She stated firmly; 'I can't loose my sister again.'
'Sister?' Eleven queried.
'Yeh. If you want to be. You and me.'
'I'd like that.'
'Good.'
She hugged the little girl, placing a kiss to her hair before she let her go; continuing on her way to the kitchen. Eden went through the cupboards looking for food, pulling a bag of chips from the shelf before ripping them open. She stuffed a heap into her mouth, glaring at Billy as he chuckled at her from where he leant on the doorframe. She pouted as she continued to chew away, eventually throwing the bag onto the bench.
'What's up?' The blonde asked as he approached her.
'I'm out of smokes,' She sighed.
'There's more in my car.'
'Fuck, yes.'
She pulled the keys from his pocket of his jeans, smirking as his eyes shut.
'You know,' He stated; 'That drives me insane.'
'In a good way?' She suggested.
'Yeh.'
'Good.'
She skipped through the house and out the car, ripping his door open before she began to search for the packet of cigarettes; a cheer leaving her mouth when she found them. She stood up, placing one between her lips before she pulled her lighter out; lighting it. She pulled in a long breath, closing her eyes as she let the smoke out. The girl chucked the box to her boyfriend, pulling in another drag some her smoke.
Once Billy had his own cigarette, she dragged him back inside; paranoid about the demodogs coming back. But as they stepped in the door, she found Dustin completely ripping the inside out of the fridge. Upon further investigating, she choked on a laugh when she found Steve with the dead demodog in his arms wrapped in a blanket.
'Damn, Harrington. New bitch looks just like you,' She laughed.
'Yeh, hilarious, Lawson,' He stated deadpan.
'Alright. It should fit now,' Dustin stated as he motioned to the now empty fridge.
'Is this really necessary?'
'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.'
'All right, all right, all right. But you're explaining this to Mrs. Byers, all right?'
Eden laughed when the boy tried to stuff the creature into the fridge, but failed. He called out to Dustin to help him, the boy questioning him. They eventually slammed the door shut, the demodog safely inside. The girl blew another round of smoke into the air, letting it mingle with Billy's as he did the same; the calmness around them uncomfortable.