Joyce and Hopper were both on their way grocery shopping the minute Hopper sobered up. They left Steve in charge of El and Will as they always did which made it much more awkward since Jamie was there now.
Steve sat on the couch while Jamie finally showered. El disappeared to Will's room for another session of learning to play Dungeons and Dragons and sat in the middle of the floor.
"I'm on my period", El told him proudly, embracing the fact that Joyce told her a period is nothing to be ashamed about.
Will's jaw dropped to the floor as he sat there feeling not knowing whether to feel uncomfortable or burst out into laughter.
"El... what the fuck", he laughed. He could do nothing but laugh and shake his head at El's innocence.
"What?"
"TMI", Will continued to laugh.
"TM-"
"Too much information. You say that when someone says something that's more than you wanted to know. It's like privacy", he finished.
"But I want you to know that I'm becoming a woman", El replied with a straight face.
El and Will stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out in another laughing fit.
"Wait! So, tell me what happened with... you know", El eagerly asked as she crossed her legs and leaned in towards Will.
"Well", Will smiled shyly. "He likes me too."
"Eeeee!!!", El shrieked causing Will to laugh and lean backwards. "How do you know?! Did he say anything?"
Will folded his lips inward in a failed attempt to hide his ear to ear smile.
"Well?!?!", El asked impatiently.
"He asked me out", Will finally admitted with a toothy grin.
El fell backwards and then bumrushed Will causing him to fall backwards as well.
"Oh my god, finally!! And he's cute too!! Does mom or dad know that you...?", she whispered even though their parents were out of the house.
Will's face dropped as he sighed.
"No... I guess I've been scared to tell them?", he shrugged.
"Will, your mom will love you even if you married a goat. My dad will probably go buy another gun because now he has to deal with three boyfriends" , she laughed which lightened Will's mood.
"Well we've only been officially dating for a few days. It'll be awkward if we breakup like... tomorrow."
"Oh, right. Well, let's hope for the best. I'm pretty sure it's going to be fine", El finished with a sincere smile and laid her hand on Will's knee.
After her shower, Jamie sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket while snuggled into Steve. Steve wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her back as he helped her with her homework.
"Do you get it?", Steve asked after kindly re-explaining the same problem for the third time now.
"Yeah, it's just hard to focus because I keep listening to the tv."
"Oh, I'll turn it down for you", Steve said as he started to get up and reach for the remote.
"I got it", Jamie replied as she nonchalantly turned the volume down without moving a muscle. "So, the answer is 14 because you have to go from left to right, right?", she continued as she looked over the math problem.
Steve sat there speechless after witnessing what just happened. Jamie gave him a weird expression before realizing she accidentally used her powers.
"Oh! Um the remo-", Jamie panicked and started to lie.
"You too?!", Steve whispered in amazement as he quickly shook his head to grasp the idea of having a girlfriend with super powers.
"Wait, what?"
"You have powers just like El?!", he whispered.
"I... don't know what you're ta-"
"Jamie. Cut the shit", Steve chuckled as he wiped the tiniest bit of blood from her nose with the back of his knuckle.
"Wait? You know about that?", Jamie asked surprisingly.
"Girl, I've have seen some shit, okay. More than you could ever imagine", he said causing Jamie to laugh while wiping his knuckle on his pants leg.
Steve looked at Jamie with squinted eyes and pointed his finger.
"My tires... was that you?", he asked.
Jamie's smile disappeared as she looked towards the ground. "Sorry... "
"Jamie?! What the hell?!"
"You must've forgot that you we're being an asshole", Jamie replied as she folded her arms.
Steve scoffed to himself and moved Jamie's homework from his lap to reach in his back pocket for his phone.
"Shh, it's your dad. IT'S HOPPER, EVERYONE ACT NORMAL!", Steve shouted just in case Will and El decided to wreak havoc while he was on the phone.
"Hey Ho-... what?", Steve sat up and furrowed his eyebrows while Jamie watched in confusion.
"Wait, why are you guys at the hospital? Is the baby okay?", he continued as he looked at Jamie who had no idea what was going on.
Steve stood up, placed his fingers on his forehead, and paced the floor.
"She's right here", Steve continued as he looked over at Jamie.
Jamie stood from the couch allowing the blanket to fall to the floor and watched Steve as he went over to the front window, stood to the side, and peeked out the blinds.
"No ,there's no one outside. What happened at the trail-", Steve replied to Hopper who frantically spoke on the other end.
"STEVE JUST FUCKING LISTEN TO WHAT I AM TELLING YOU, JESUS", Jamie heard Hopper shout from the other end.
"Okay", Steve swallowed. "See you there", he quickly hung up.
"What's going on? What did he say?", Jamie asked cluelessly.
"We need to get our shit and go to the cabin, now", Steve said frantically grabbing his bookbag and tossing Jamies homework in there.
"Why? I thought you only go there if-"
"JAMIE!", Steve nearly shouted in frustration. "Please just listen and grab your stuff. We need to go", he continued while fixing his tone.
Jamie ran to the room and grabbed an overnight bag shoving as much as she could fit inside of it. She ran to the closet and grabbed extra toiletries before running back to the living room.
"What's going on?", Will asked with his backpack on his arm and a few other things.
"I'll explain later, we need to get out of here", Steve rushed as he held the door open as everyone headed out and went towards the car.
Everyone jumped in while Steve quickly fumbled with the keys. As he turned around, he slammed on the brakes as El threw the door open and jumped out.
"Wait!", she yelled as she ran back to the house.
"What are you doing?!", Steve and Jamie shouted out the window simultaneously.
"I forgot my pads!", El shouted as she quickly ran in the house.
Steve scrunched his face while Jamie face palmed herself and shook her head attempting not to laugh. Will buried his face in his lap and quietly giggled to himself as El got back into the car. Steve finally sped off to the cabin and arrived a few minutes before Hopper and Joyce.
Hopper honked the horn in the pattern of the secret knock causing everyone to grab groceries from the trunk of the blazer and staring awkwardly at Joyce and Hopper who remained in the front seat with stale looks on their faces.
"What's up with them?", El whispered to Will as they stocked the refrigerator.
Will shrugged his shoulders as he placed the plastic grocery bags inside one another. Jamie and Steve worked on cleaning the dishes that were left in the sink and the rest of the house. After a few minutes figuring that their parents weren't coming in any time soon, the kids went into El's room and started speculating.
Hopper and Joyce finally came into the house 20 minutes later. Hopper kicked the door shut and reached to grab Joyce's arm who purposely walked faster than him.
"Don't touch me, Jim", Joyce fiercely whispered through her gritted teeth as she snatched her arm away.
Hopper sighed and threw his hands to the side. He looked towards El's door which was cracked and then back at Joyce.
"Can we talk in the bedroom, please", he said quietly.
"I just talked to you", Joyce continued with her fiery sassiness as she whispered in anger.
"Baby", Hopper started before Joyce quickly shut him down.
"Dont", she mumbled as she stared into her eyes and pointed a finger at him.
Hopper stood there in silence as his eyes started to water. He swallowed spit as he couldn't find the right words to say. After standing there for a minute, Joyce turned around and walked towards El's room.
"I'm taking my kids", she told him as she knocked on the door and then pushed it open.
Everyone stopped whispering and looked at Joyce who tried to regain her composure with a fake smile.
"Steve, I need you to drive us home. Let's go", Joyce said nodding her head for Will to follow but Jamie and El followed as well.
Hopper looked surprised to see Jamie and El following Joyce, and Joyce turned around to see what he was looking at.
"Oh, guys", Joyce whispered to Jamie and El. "Um... I was just taking Will. For now", she quickly added as Will and Steve walked to the car.
"Where are you going?.... Are you coming back?", Jamie asked with a gloom.
Joyce bit her bottom lip as she looked at Hopper, and then placed her hands on El and Jamie's shoulder.
"I will be back to see you guys. But right now, I have to go", Joyce said with a sharp exhale as she quickly dropped her head to straighten her face then stood up.
As Joyce quickly walked to the door, Hopper followed and closed the door behind him leaving Jamie and El inside.
"Joyce, where are you going?!", he asked for the millionth time.
"Home!", she replied shaking her head as she started to walk down the steps.
Hopper quickly grabbed a hold of her arm which caused her to stop halfway down the steps.
"Jim! Let me go!"
"Why are you leaving?", he asked helplessly.
"I refuse to hide and tip toe around what I have to do all because you chose to make irrational decisions!"
"He fucking raped my daughter! What do you mean irrational decisions?!", Hopper shouted as he slamed his hand on the railing.
"Jim! Y- You have people looking for you and our family! Did you even think about your job, El, and your unborn child for christ's sake?! We just left the hospital!", she shouted back at him.
Hopper huffed and shook his head as he looked off to the side.
"There are certain boundaries you just...don't cross", Joyce flailed her arms thinking of the correct wording. "It seems like you may have forgotten that", she continued.
Hopper continued to stare off into the distance which pissed Joyce off even more.
"And then you dragged Steve into this?! He's a child!", Joyce emphasized as her voice broke.
"You would've done the same...", he interrupted quietly referring to her previous thought as he placed a cigarette between his lips and reached for his lighter.
Joyce snatched the cigarette from his mouth, crumbled it up, and threw it on the ground.
"No, I wouldn't, because I'm not a.... a murderer?!", she quickly responded without thinking.
Hopper stood there in silence as he was shocked by Joyce's choice of words. Joyce immediately felt horrible as she dropped her head, and stumbled on her words.
"I.. I'm sorry. I need to... I need to leave", she said quickly walking down the rest of the steps and getting into Steve's car.
"And quit smoking", she added with a shaking breath.
Hopper stood there and watched as Steve drove away as the cold air blew against the tears that fell down his face. He sat down on the steps and repeatedly hit him self in the head with his palms before burrying his face into his hands.
He would've waited all night for her to come back if Jamie and El hadn't begged him to come inside after being out there for 30 minutes without the proper attire. Hopper finally went inside, ruffled both girls head as he sniffled and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of whiskey before disappearing into his room.
Steve dropped Joyce and Will off at her house and decided to head home. Will immediately headed for his room while Joyce threw her purse down and headed for the kitchen.
"What do you want for din-", she started as she pulled left overs from the fridge.
"I'm not hungry", Will replied as he forcefully shut his room door.
Joyce reheated peas and lasagna and sat on the couch and picked at her food. She attempted to watch everyone's favorite soap, however, it wasn't as interesting as watching it with Hopper and El. Joyce finally decided to throw her plate in the sink before retreating to her room.