Magic between us || Fillie

Danger Zone

'Guys, everything we shoot today will be done as a time-lapse, so any dialog your characters have will probably be muted, so don't worry much about it. If we do end up changing our minds when we edit it all together, we'll just re-shoot', Shawn explained to the actors gathered around him as they were figuring out where to put the marks down for the first scene of the day.

'Can we afford to leave that much time for re-shoots? Given how much time we've already lost', asked Winona.

'Well, filming's been going smoothly so far. At this rate we'll be done with everything by the end of November, so December would be left for all the possible re-shoots', said Shawn.

'So hopefully, we can stick to this schedule. It'd be amazing', Ross added excitedly.

'The plan is to do two episodes per month, right?', asked Charlie.

'Yeah', Ross started with a shrug, 'We'll see though, it might change. Today is the last day of filming the second episode. But this one was easy cause we had most of it filmed already, so two weeks might not be enough for future episodes.'

'Lets not think about that now. We got work to do', Shawn said clapping his hands, 'We take it day by day. Just keep in mind that it's in all of our best interests to wrap by the end of the year.'

***

The moment she saw El that morning, before she even told them they had to go to Hawkins, Joyce knew what was coming, she didn't even have to ask. She never accepted that Hopper was gone for good, she knew, deep inside, that he was still out there. And, having noticed El's strange behavior lately, she could tell it was only a matter of time before the girl found him, or at least found out for sure that he was alive.

Nobody dared question El's words, they all simply went to their respective rooms and packed up all of the essentials.

They were going back to Hawkins.

***

Even though the front seat next to Joyce was available, Mike decided to sit in the back with El. He was worried about her and didn't want to leave her side. Plus, he was hoping to get some answers to the questions that were itching to burst out of him.

Joyce was hoping to get some answers as well, so when they were figuring out who's gonna ride with Jonathan and who'll go with her, she silently hinted to her older son that he better take Will with him.

As they were slowly driving towards what felt like home no matter how many bad things happened there, Joyce would look in her rear-view mirror from time to time, to sneak a peek at the young couple holding hands in the back seat.

El was leaning her head on Mike's shoulder and staring at their conjoined hands, caressing his hand gently with her thumb. Mike caught Joyce's gaze in the mirror and softly nodded, knowing what was going through her mind right away.

He bowed towards his girlfriend, kissing the top of her head before asking her to tell them what was happening, to let them know everything they needed to know.

As the radio in Joyce's car continued to play the songs from that year's Billboard Hits list, El told her story from the very beginning. All of her failed attempts to access the void, her dreams, the nose bleeds she'd get after every dream even though her powers weren't really back. Everything. All the way to her run-in with Hopper the night before.

The car was slowly approaching the 'Hawkins' sign as El was sharing the final details she could remember. All the while a song that was playing in the background was emanating a sort of warning: