Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
---------------------------------------------
"EL?" MIKE AKSED, SEB'S DEMEANOUR FALLING LIGHTLY. "Mike." El spoke before the two hugged tightly, Seb sighing and climbing in through the window. He was about to stand up straight before Hopper wrapped the boy in a hug, El and Mike talking to each other as Seb hugged Hopper back. "Sorry." The boy whispered, Hopper sighing. "It's alright, Buddy." He spoke, the party looking to Hopper confused. "Are they?" Max asked Lucas, the boy only looking back to the twins. "I wouldn't let her." Hopper interrupted Mike, El looking to him. "Where have you both been?" Hopper asked, Seb standing next to El before they all had a group hug. "You've been hiding her. You've been hiding both of them." Mike spoke in realization. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike yelled, hitting Hopper's back as Seb pulled El back slightly. "Hey!" Hoper spoke, grabbing Mike's collar. "Let's talk. Alone." He spoke, dragging Mike to a room.
El and Seb watched them walk away, the latter cringing. That was before Dustin wrapped the boy in a hug, Lucas hugging El. "We missed you." Lucas spoke, Dustin nodding as Seb hugged Dustin tightly. "We missed you, too." El replied, Dustin and Lucas switching their hugging partners. Seb smiled as he hugged Lucas, El hugging Dustin. "We talked about you both pretty much every day." Dustin informed, Seb snickering in Lucas' arms. The hugs soon broke, the twins facing Lucas and Dustin. "Teeth." El spoke, Seb confused before looking at Dustin. "What-" "You have teeth!" Seb interrupted, Lucas snickering as Seb tried to open Dustin's mouth. "Ow!" The boy let out, Seb surrendering. "Sorry." He spoke quickly as El nodded. "You have teeth." She repeated, Dustin starting to grin proudly. "You like these pearls?" He asked, doing a weird thing that made him purr.
The twins just flinched back, Seb holding onto El. "Never do that again." He spoke, Dustin ignoring him. "Eleven? Seven?" Both twins looked to see a girl coming towards them, a nervous smile on her face. "Hey, um, I'm Max." She introduced herself, Seb cringing as El shoved past her outstretched hand. Max then looked to Seb, him smiling. "You're that guy I bumped into." She spoke, Seb nodding slowly. "What?" Lucas asked, Max turning to him. "At the school, we bumped into each other." She informed, Dustin turning to Seb. "You were at the school?" He asked, Seb going to answer. "I mean, we weren't allowed-" "Seb!" El called, Max yelping as he accidentally hit her shoulder on his way past. He was then caught in another hug by Joyce, El smiling at them. "Hi, sweetie." She spoke, rubbing Seb's back as he smiled. "Hi." He spoke, Joyce smiling as they let go of one another.
"Can we see him?" El asked Joyce, the woman nodding as she led them to Will's room. "He's not doing well." Joyce spoke, the twins crouching ahead of Will's unconscious form. "He's been saying he sees this boy in his episodes and needs to see him again-" "He needs to see me again? Why?" Seb asked, Joyce caught off guard before her face dropped. "You're the boy?" She asked shakily, Seb nodding. "Is that bad-" "Seb, buddy." The three turned to see Hopper in the doorway. "Will you come with me real quick? For a talk?" The man asked, Seb nodding slowly and patting El's shoulder or the way out. "What is this about Will? Why does he need to see me again?" Seb asked as the two walked past the group, ignoring them. "Okay, don't freak out." Hopper spoke, Seb shaking his head. "Now I'm going to freak out!" Seb whispered harshly, Max leaning out of the window to listen with Dustin and Lucas.
