The Protector

The Case of the Missing Lifeguard Part 1

Maddie sat on Eleven's bed with Eleven while Max was dancing around the room. "You must be an angel. I can see it in your eyes. Full of wonder and surprise", Max sings out while Maddie and Eleven look through the magazines the two younger girls bought earlier.

"Oh, you found Ralph Macchio", Max stated joining the two girls on the bed. "Macchio?", Eleven asked. "Yeah, he's the karate kid", Maddie replied with a smile. "Hai-yah!", Max shouted while mimicking a karate chop causing all three girls to laugh.

"He's so hot, right? I bet he is an amazing kisser, too", Max stated with a smile. "Hey, uh... is Mike a good kisser?", Max added with a smirk on her face. "I don't know. He's my first boyfriend", Eleven said with a chuckle. "Ex-boyfriend", Max said with a wink.

"I remember my first kiss. Fourteen-year-old Maddie went to her first school dance all happy. I finally got to dance with the guy I liked and after our dance he kissed me. It was going so great, and then he tried to eat my face off with his mouth", Maddie stated causing all three girls to laugh before Eleven looked down upset.

"Hey, don't worry about it, okay?", Maddie told Eleven. "He'll come crawling back to you in no time, begging for forgiveness. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are, like, totally wallowing in self-pity and misery right now. They're like "Oh, I hope they take us back". God, what I wouldn't give to see their stupid faces", Max said with a chuckle causing Maddie and Eleven to look at each other with smirks on their faces. "What is it?", Max questioned with a smile.

Eleven wrapped a blindfold around her eyes while the radio was crackling in the background. "Is this really gonna work?", Max asked causing Maddie and Eleven to nod. "Holy shit, this is insane", Max stated with a smile. "Max", Eleven stated causing Max to quickly say, "Yeah, quiet. I'm sorry". "I see them", Eleven told the girls. "What are they doing?", Max questioned.

"Eating", Eleven stated causing Maddie to chuckle softly. "They say we are "species"", Eleven said confused. "What?", Max asked confused. "Emotion, not logic", Eleven added causing Max to say, "What?", angrily.

After a moment, Eleven ripped the blindfold off quickly. "What happened?", Maddie questioned concerned. Eleven starts to giggle before Max asked, "What? What happened?". The three girls all started to laugh until they heard a car approaching.

"Hey!", Maddie heard Hopper yell from the front door. "Hey! When I say three inches, three-", Hopper started before opening the door to see the three girls laying down on the floor with magazines in their hands.

"Do you knock? Jeez!", Max exclaimed dramatically. "Yeah! Jeez!", Eleven said following Max. Maddie tried very hard to suppress her grin after looking at Hopper's face. "Oh, hey. I'm sorry. I thought that-uh", Hopper started. "Mike's not here", Max stated dismissing Hopper's original thought. "Max wanted to have... a sleepover. Is that... okay?", Eleven questioned softly.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Your parents know about this?", Hopper asked Max. "Yup", Max said with a nod. "Uh, yeah, it's cool. Yeah, That's- That's really cool", Hopper responded. After a moment of silence, Max questioned, "Did you need something?". "No, no. Uh, I'll leave. I'll just let you... I'll leave you", Hopper stated before shutting the door behind him.

Maddie looked towards the newly closed door with a sigh before slowly getting off of the floor. "I'll be right back", Maddie told the girls. "Where are you going?", Eleven asked Maddie. "I have to check on something. I'll only be a minute", Maddie said with a smile.

Maddie exited the room before walking into the small living room to see Hopper reclined on a chair. "Hey, Hop", Maddie said with a small smile while sitting down on the couch across from him. "Hey, Mads", Hopper sighed out.

"What happened to you? You look way to sophisticated", Maddie joked causing Hopper to chuckle lightly. "I tried to go on a date", Hopper told Maddie with another sigh. "Tried?", Maddie questioned confused.

"Well, I sat down at a table at Enzo's and ordered a drink for myself while waiting. I was supposed to meet with my date at 7:00", Hopper started off. "After waiting for a very long time, I decided to leave", Hopper stated casually.

"You just left? And she didn't show up?", Maddie asked confused. "Well I did take this lovely bottle of wine with me after kinda making a rather large scene in the restaurant", Hopper mumbled out causing Maddie to sigh.

"Hop. Your date is missing out big time. I don't think she did it intentionally. Maybe she just forgot", Maddie suggested trying to make Hopper feel better.

"It was supposed to be your Mom", Hopper said quietly. "My Mom?", Maddie questioned shocked. "I did not see that one coming", Maddie said causing Hopper to look down embarrassed before Maddie added, "But I kinda like it".

Maddie smiled in a teasingly way before adding, "She probably just forgot. Or she had other problems to deal with. She has three kids, you know". "I know, I just don't know", Hopper stated making Maddie smile.

"She'll come apologize tomorrow. But for now", Maddie started before standing up and grabbing the bottle of wine from Hopper causing him to complain. "This gets put away and you get some rest", Maddie finished.

"Fine", Hopper said after slightly glaring at the teenager. "Good night Hop", Maddie said with a smile. "Good night kid", Hopper stated before pulling Maddie into a hug. "Thank you", Hopper mumbled to Maddie causing her to smile while squeezing Hopper tightly before letting go and walking back to Eleven's room.

"Holy shit, I can't believe we're really doing this", Max said while she finished setting up the name cards for spin the bottle. "Ready?", Max questioned the other two girls. "Ready", both Eleven and Maddie said at the same time.

Eleven spun the bottle only for it to land on Mr. Wheeler causing the girls to complain about him being too boring. "Spin again", Maddie told Eleven with a smile. "Against the rules?", Eleven asked the other two girls.

"We make our own rules", Max replied causing all three girls to laugh before Eleven spun the bottle again. The bottle landed on Billy causing Maddie's eyes to widen.

"Okay, look, I should just warn you, if he's doing something gross to himself, just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life", Max warned Eleven before grabbing the radio and the blindfold. "Max!", Maddie exclaimed.

"No, I'm just saying, I'm serious. He's really gross", Max stated again. "Max!", Maddie and Eleven exclaimed at the same time. "Okay, shutting up now", Max responded while turning the radio on.

After a moment of silence, Eleven said, "I found him". "What's he doing?", Max questioned. "I don't know", Eleven told the girls causing Maddie's eyes to widen in confusion.

"He's... on the floor... talking to someone", Eleven stated. "Who is it?", Maddie asked trying to get the details about her boyfriend. Before Eleven answers she gasped and removed her blindfold. "What happened?", both Maddie and Max asked concerned. Eleven didn't say anything and continued to look at the girls breathing heavily causing Maddie's worry to increase significantly.

A/N: So I'm definitely writing another chapter tonight! Do we like the girl bonding? Or the relationship with Hoper? Please feel free to comment, I would love to hear your opinions! As always I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to vote. Love from the author, over and out!