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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING! ( the gate part 1 )
Ben couldn't help but feel jealous as he watched Mike practically skip over to the girl, who Ben guessed was Eleven, and bring her into a tight embrace. His chest tightened and he tore his eyes away from the... whatever they were. Ben trudged away to the bathroom, not wanting to listen to Mike talk sweetly to the girl he used to have feelings for.
Ben shut the door and locked it, before taking a seat on the closed toilet lid. He sucked in a long, deep breath as his eyes fell shut. Soon, Ben heard yelling, coming from Hopper and Mike in a room not far away. The Newby boy stood up and hovered by the bathroom door, waiting for the yelling to cease. When it did, he opened the door, and Mike was storming out of Will's room, his cheeks stained with tears.
Mike caught Ben's gaze for a moment, before he cast his eyes down to the floor and trudged back to the living room. Hopper came out of the room next, a tired sigh falling from his lips. The older man looked to Ben, "How you holdin' up, kid?"
Ben shrugged, looking down to the carpet floor, "Im... holding up, I guess." Hopper tilted his head into a nod, offering the boy a small, understanding smile. "I get it. Listen," Hopper started, and Ben looked up at him, "I know we're not close, but if you need to talk to an adult, I'm here. Joyce is here. We're here, okay? You're not alone." The older man said sincerely, Ben had never heard him talk in such a way. Ben's lips quirked up into the tiniest smile, and Hopper smiled back before reaching over to squeeze the boy's shoulder.
"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot," Hopper started explaining with a heavy sigh, Ben was standing in between Jonathan and Max, Dylan stood behind him with a hand resting on his shoulder, "and, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs–"
"Demo-dogs," Dustin corrected. Everyone glared at the boy in annoyance. Hopper sighed, "I'm sorry, what?"
Dustin cleared his throat, "I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass–"
"How is this important right now?" Hopper questioned, his face pinched together in frustration. "It's not. I'm sorry," Dustin mumbled before turning back to the table. Ben sighed through his nose, he was getting antsy. He wanted to talk to Mike, but he felt awkward now that Eleven was back.
Speaking of the girl, she looked up from the table to Hopper, "I can do it," she said confidently. The older man shook his head, "You're not hearing me."
"I'm hearing you," Eleven sassed, "I can do it." She sounded even more confident when she said it the second time, and Ben admired her confidence. Mike pulled his lips into a thin line, "Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies."
