Summer 1985 - Mileven/Jopper/Lumax

Chapter 12: New Friends

The next morning was sunny and clear, the ground muddy and damp from the ten solid hours of rain and wind the day prior. Everyone was up and feeling at ease, despite their stressful Monopoly escapades that kept them up until past midnight.

"No shit though, Hopper was definitely cheating last night!" Lucas says, remembering the thousands of dollars the man had acquired throughout the evening.

"He's right," Dustin agrees, "it's obvious he's corrupted his daughter into cheating for him!"

Eleven, who was sat next to the curly haired boy, harshly pokes his side. "No," she says firmly, her eyebrows knitted together, "you're just bad."

Everyone bursts out laughing, Will high fiving the smirking girl before he goes over to Joyce and Hopper. "Hey guys," he says softly, "need any help?"

Ruffling her son's hair, Joyce shakes her head, "think we're about done, I always have to spend extra time cleaning up you know whose area," she says mockingly, squinting her eyes at the one particularly messy culprit.

Will lets out a cute chuckle before watching his mom go over to the picnic table where his friends are still smiling and laughing. There's an awkward silence between him and Hopper, Will still looking towards the picnic table while Hopper unconsciously cracks his knuckles.

"So," the chief says reluctantly, "what are you guys gonna do today? There are only a few days left."

Turning his head to make eye-contact with the man, the small boy shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not sure, maybe go to the lake."

"Yeah, it's really nice today after all that rain," he responds before internally cursing at himself for bringing up the damn weather.

It takes a few awkward moments of silence for Will to build up the courage despite his slight uncomfortableness. "Look, Hopper, I've always liked you and I know you were there for my mom when I was gone," he says quietly, "but...please, don't hurt her."

Hopper's heart soared at the love this teenager had for his mother. He doesn't know how many 14-year-old boys would approach the man seen kissing and cuddling his mom, let alone express his feelings and warn him to not harm her.

"Don't worry kid," he reassures, "I could never hurt your mom." After a brief second, he adds, "did you know we went to high school together?"

The boy nods his head.

"I liked her back then too, she was so nice and different and unique," he smiles, remembering Joyce with her baggy pants and grungy makeup opposed to the 1960s pastel skirts and poofy dress trends most of the girls in their class were wearing. "But then she met your dad," he continues, "and I kinda...lost my chance so believe me, kid, I don't plan on messing this up."

He gives Will a reassuring nod with a look the boy detected as genuine. "Okay, good," Will says with a sweet smile, already accepting of the chief. Hopper throws his arm around the much smaller boy before meeting everyone at the picnic table a few yards away.

Max had just been observing her surroundings, never have been camping before, or on any family vacation for that matter, when she noticed a group of kids around their age by the lake. Will had come back with Hopper and caught sight of Max's discovery, ecstatic to finally see some people around their age.

"Guys! Look, we can finally make some friends!"

The red-head girl somewhat deflated. It's not like she was antisocial, she didn't mind meeting other people. It just took some time for her to warm up to people, whether it be kids around her own age or even a parent. She did, however, consider Eleven, Lucas, Mike, Dustin, and Will the people she was most comfortable with so maybe, with them around her, this wouldn't be a complete disaster.