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Six

Allison crept through the woods as quickly as she could, hoping to make it back to the cabin before anyone could realize she was gone. She put her hand over her mouth and exhaled, cringing at the strong smell of alcohol on her breath. As she looked up at the sky, she spotted the smoke rising from the chimney of the cabin and she used it as a beacon to guide her home. 

She circled around the back of the cabin, and slid her bedroom window open as quietly as she could, sticking one leg in, followed by the rest of her body. As she ducked her head inside, she spotted a disheveled-looking Hopper sitting on the end of her bed.

"Where the hell have you been?", he whispered angrily, getting to his feet. 

"Out for a walk?", she lied, knowing that he would see right through her. She looked past him towards the closed bedroom door, wondering if Eleven was still asleep or waiting on the other side of it. 

"A walk? Is that why you smell like a god damn brewery?", he asked, sniffing the air between them.

"Don't be mad.", she begged, her voice sounding weak from exhaustion.

"Oh, I'm not mad. Mad is what I was at one in the morning when I realized that you weren't here. But after having a few hours to really think about it...now I'm pissed off!", he snapped, beginning to pace along the length of the bedroom, trying to calm himself. "Tell me that nobody recognized you!"

Allison averted her gaze to try and hide the look of guilt on her face, but it didn't go unnoticed by Hopper. He let out a frustrated sigh, before kicking the bedpost hard, letting out a string of curse words. 

"It was just Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan but they won't tell anyone. They know the consequences."

"You think so? They'd better! Otherwise, we are in deep shit! So...are they who you've been with this whole time?"

"No. There was this boy."

"A boy?", he gulped, shooting her a look of disbelief.

"His name is Billy."

"Oh for fucks sake! Not Billy Hargrove?", he questioned her breathlessly, his thoughts loud and impossible for Allison to ignore.

That little asshole. If he touched her, I'll kill him. Maybe I should just kill him before he gets the chance.

"You stay away from him! Do you understand me? As a matter of fact, you won't be seeing anyone for a long time, you're grounded!", he yelled, quickly lowering his voice. "This was stupid! Very stupid! I'd prefer that your sister doesn't find out about this, okay? I don't need her getting any ideas."

"Ideas?", Eleven's voice carried from the now open doorway, looking back and forth between Allison and Hopper.  

Eleven shot Allison a look of knowing, while a visibly flustered Hopper tried to come up with a believable excuse. When he couldn't, he forced a smile and ushered Eleven out of the room, trying to distract her.

"El, I'm sorry about being late last night but I made an Eggo Extravaganza. Hm? How does that sound?", he said cheerfully, looking back over his shoulder at Allison. 

In a huff, she threw off her jacket and sulked towards the kitchen, where a stack of Eggos awaited them. The tension was high as they all sat down, none of them saying a word.  

"You visited him again last night?", Hopper questioned Eleven, gesturing to the extension cord that led to her bedroom. Unlike Allison, she still needed the static of the television and a blindfold to access her ability of remote viewing, and she often used it to check on Mike.