Chapter One Hundred-Two: You're Not Real

Once we filled the California Crew in on Max's situation, we loaded up into the cars once again.

Robin, Dustin, and Steve went ahead to the school to drop off the donations, and Nancy and I went with them to the hospital. I gave Eleven my hoodie so that she could hide her hair and avoid any odd looks, seeing as the hospital was so crowded. 

Mike and Will led the way into the room, with Eleven and I coming in after them and Jonathan and Nancy bringing up the back.

"Oh my gosh." Lucas exclaimed, jumping up from his chair and rushing over to hug them. "We've been calling you guys like crazy."

"I know." Mike told him. "We came as soon as we heard."

I rubbed Eleven's back as the boys let go of Lucas, stepping aside so that he could see her. She started crying again as she laid eyes on him, and they crowded into each other's space, pulling each other into a hug. As they did so, I couldn't help but notice the blue hair tie that sat on her wrist, prompting me to run a hand over my own.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, burying her face in his shoulder and glancing over to the bed, where Max was laying. 

She pulled the hood off of her head, slowly walking over to stand beside the hospital bed. Will and Mike followed her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Do they know?" She asked, turning to look at Lucas again, "When she'll wake?"

"No," He replied, "They say she might not."

Eleven turned to look at me and I nodded, wiping away the tears that rolled down my face without realizing it. She turned back, glancing at Mike, and Jonathan wrapped an arm around me, with his hand on my shoulder.

"Her heart stopped," He continued, "For over a minute. She died...I, I mean clinically, but...then she came back. The doctors don't know how. They say its a miracle."

"The same thing happened with Eddie," I said, causing them all to look at me, Eleven's look more knowing than the boys', "Eddie died...but I brought him back to life. My powers brought him back to life, so I assume..." She just looked at me. "You brought Max back...didn't you?"

She shrugged, turning to look at her again before sitting down on the edge of her bed. She slipped her hand into Max's, which was hardly visible due to the casts that covered her arms.

"I'm here, Max." She whispered.

~~~

Once we left the hospital, we decided that the best option for all of us was to head out to the old Cabin. Especially if El was going to be staying in Hawkins, this was the best place for us.

To be honest...I hadn't been back here since Dad. I knew the Mind Flayer had kind of destroyed it, and to be honest, I had no interest in stepping back into that house knowing that I was the only remaining member of the Hopper family. At least, presently there, in Hawkins.

Jonathan pulled the Pizza Van into the front yard, and everyone got out, forging ahead and walking towards the front door. Eleven and I lingered behind, stopping just in front of the van.

"Have you been back here?" She asked, sliding her hand into mine. I shook my head. 

"I didn't really think I could handle that," I admitted, digging my shoe into the ground, "With Dad gone and you in California, I just...I couldn't stand to see it empty." She nodded. 

"I really missed you." She said quietly. "School was not good-"

"I know." I said, wrapping her up in a hug. "I know it wasn't."

"How did you know?" She asked. "I read your letter, you knew that I was lying-"

"Because I know you, babe," I said, leaning back to look at her, "That and our father was a cop."She laughed at this, reaching up and wiping a tear away.  "But it doesn't matter now. It really doesn't, because your here, and I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you leave me ever again."

"Good." She cried, leaning her head on my shoulder. I took a deep breath, looking back at the Cabin again.

"You ready to do this?" I questioned. She nodded, sliding her hand into mine again. She furrowed her eyebrows, holding our hands up so that she could study the matching blue hair tie on my wrist.

"There's another hair tie?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't know either. It was in Dad's shirt." She nodded, smiling at me before leading the way towards the Cabin, pulling me behind her. 

"Oh, geez." I heard Jonathan say as we walked up to the door.

"Holy crap," Mike added, "This place is a total disaster."

"Yeah," Jonathan agreed, pointing up at a giant hole in the ceiling, "Well that's a bit of a problem."

"I mean, I get we gotta hide Supergirl and all, but this isn't exactly the Fortress of Solitude, man," Argyle threw in, "Its more like the Fortress of...grodiness."

"I know it doesn't look like much," I agreed, stepping inside and taking a look around, "But it didn't look like much when we first moved in here either. With a little bit of elbow grease and a broom...I think we can make it a home again."

Eleven and I shared a knowing look, and she smiled, rushing over to the toppled bookshelf and beginning to dig through the rubble until she found Dad's old record player. I chuckled, pushing junk aside until I found the record crate, pulling out You Don't Mess Around With Jim by Jim Croce. Eleven plugged in the record player, setting it up on a pile of boxes, and I put the record on and dropped the needle. 

I began dancing dorkily, just as Dad had when we first came here. El laughed and I grabbed her hand, twirling her around before grabbing a broom from the floor and tossing it to Mike.

~~~

We sent Argyle and the kiddies to work inside, sweeping and cleaning up trash, while Nancy, Jonathan, and I unearthed my old toolbox and headed outside to start patching up the broken windows and monster holes.

"Alright, that's good." Jonathan said as the three of us held a piece of plywood up against the busted window. "Hold it right there."

We each had a hammer and nails, and Nancy held the board in the middle while Jonathan and I started hammering the nails in on each side.

"What's...he doing?" We all turned around at Nancy's question to see Argyle, slowly crouching down in the middle of the woods.

"Looks like he's gathering mushrooms." Jonathan said, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "He's a little on the eccentric side."

"Well, welcome to the club, right?" Nancy asked.

"I for one, am all for it," I said, turning back to the board, "I mean, he got all of you guys here, right?"

"Hey, Nancy?" Jonathan asked, in a tone of voice that told me I should suddenly be very busy hammering. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"Oh. I mean...to be honest, I'm kinda glad you weren't." I cringed. "I just mean, I'm glad you were with Mike. And Will."

"And I'm...I'm glad you were here too." He told her. "Otherwise, who would've been in charge?"

"Uh, hello? I'm standing right here." I said, causing them to look at me. I smiled. "Gee, I never thought I'd be so excited to be third wheeling Nancy and Jonathan again." 

"Oh please, you more than got your revenge when you became friends with Steve," Nancy replied, "Hanging out with you two, it was like the rest of the world ceased to exist."

"That sounds...kind of terrible." I pointed out.

"What? No, no we've talked about this just..." She gestured at Jonathan, "Right people, wrong time. I mean, you and Steve are perfect together, I mean you're pregnant-"

"I'm sorry, what?" Jonathan asked with wide eyes. I shook my head, looking at Nancy.

"My gosh, Wheeler! You just gonna go announcing my business to everybody?" I asked. "I mean, I haven't even told El yet and I already have you dad telling me what good mother I'm gonna be."

"My dad said that?" She asked skeptically. I nodded.

"I was shocked too."

"Do you have any names picked out yet?" She asked with a smile. I nodded.

"Yes, we have three options for each. If its a boy, it will either be Jim, for my Dad," They both nodded, "Robert, for-"

"Bob." They said together. I nodded in agreement.

"Or Sam. And then for the girls, it'll be either Sara, after my little sister, Emma, or...Barbra." Nancy looked at a joyfully sad expression.  "Shortened, it'll either be 'Barb' or-"

"Barbie." They said together with a laugh.

"I can't believe he's still calling you that after all this time." Jonathan said, turning back to the window.

"Right?" Nancy asked. "I mean, they're married now and he still-"

"Nancy!" I exclaimed through a laugh,"Can I have one major live announcement for myself please?!"

"Sorry!" She giggled, shaking her head.

"Congratulations on both things, Riley." Jonathan said. I nodded.

"Thank you, Jonathan. Geez, get your girlfriend under control."

"Right...yeah." He said, suddenly growing serious. "Hey...uh..."

I immediately turned back to the window, tuning out of their conversation.

"Are we ok?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, totally," She said, "Yeah, its...its just...you know, its hard. I feel like...life keeps throwing things in the way of our big plans."

"Yeah, it sure seems like that." Jonathan agreed.

"You think its uh...too late to throw 'saving the world' on your college resume?" I cringed slightly, suddenly remembering the vision I'd had of Jonathan. "Your...your application letter...not that it matters at all anymore, but...did it ever come?"

"No. No uh...not yet."

Nancy nodded, going back to hammering, and Jonathan kept his eyes on her. I looked up, giving him a knowing look over her shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows and I touched a finger to my temple, silently telling him I'd had a vision about him. His eyes widened and I put a finger over my lips before pointing at him, saying that I wouldn't tell her, but he needed to.

'Soon' he mouthed.

I moved to turn back to the window once again, when suddenly the sound of a car driving up sounded in my eyes. I turned around, expecting it to be Steve, Dustin, and Robin back from the school, but was surprised instead to see a black town car with tinted windows. 

I dropped my hammer on the porch, moving up towards the stairs.

"Looks government," I called over my shoulder, glancing back at Jonathan, "You guys get into anything like that?"

"Yeah, kind of." He said. I nodded, holding up a hand, silently telling them to follow my lead.

The door to the back seat opened, and a head popped up over the door, slowly coming into view. As soon as they did, allowing me to fully analyze the face, my heart stopped.

My breathing quickened, and I took a step back, feeling the panic begin to rise up in my chest.

"He's back." I managed, looking at Nancy and Jonathan with wide eyes.

"What?" Nancy asked, looking between me and the car in confusioon. I shook my head, slowly beginning to back up towards the front door of the cabin.

"Vecna," I gasped, "He-he's back, he's messing with me. He's making me see things, I swear he's-"

My foot got caught on our pile of plywood, causing me to trip and fall backwards onto the ground. I began scooting backwards, my breathing quickening until my back hit the wall of the cabin. I put my hands over my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Please no...not that. Anything but that, please."

"Riley..." Nancy said gently, pulling my hands off of my head. I looked at her with wide, terrified eyes. I shook my head.

"I thought we had more time," I sobbed, looking past her at the illusion that was standing on the ground, "I thought we had more time, I'm not strong enough to face him again right now, I'm not..."

"Riley, listen to me," She said gently, putting her hands on my face, "Its not Vecna, ok? Its not an illusion, we..." She glanced back at Jonathan, and then out into the yard before looking at me again, "We can see him too."

"Well then, he must be messing with all of us because that...that's not possible." I said, tears eascaping my eyes and rolling down my cheeks as I looked down into the yard again, just as the front door opened and Will and Mike came rushing out. "He's dead...Nancy, he's dead, he's-"

"Right here, kid." My heart shattered at the sound of his voice, and it was only in that moment that I realized how long it had truly been since I heard it. I shook my head, a sob overtaking me as I stared at him. 

"You're not real." I cried. He nodded slowly, stopping in the center of the yard.

"I am, Riley. I'm real, I'm alive, and I'm standing right in front of you. I promise." He said quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't meet you back at the mall. I kind of got lost."

My sob slowly turned into a laugh as I realized the reality of the situation.

"Its really you?" I asked. He nodded, pausing as he looked past me in the direction of the house. He smiled.

"Are you playing my song?"

I laughed, pushing myself to my feet and jumping over the stairs, running across the yard and colliding with my father's chest so hard, and so suddenly that I almost knocked him off balance. He steadied himself, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off of the ground as I sobbed into his shoulder.

"I thought you died," I sobbed, "I thought I lost you, I told you I would be so ticked off at you if you got yourself killed-"

"I know, Riles," He said, putting me down and tangling a hand on my hair, "I know, and I am so, so sorry."

I pulled away and he put his hands on my face, studying me.

"Where have you been?!" I asked, putting my hands on his wrists as he pushed my tears away. 

"Russia," He said simply, "I survived the blast, but the Russians found me, carted me off to prison." I shook my head, turning around to look at the others.

"Please tell me you can all see him too?" I cried. Mike smiled, nodding and Nancy laughed, folding her hands over his mouth.

"I'm real, kid," He said, drawing my gaze back to him, "I'm as real as it gets."

I broke down again, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his shirt. He hugged me back, leaning his chin on top of my head. 

"I have so much to tell you." I cried. He nodded.

"I know, me too. But first," He pushed me back so that he could look at me, "We gotta go tell your sister."

I nodded in agreement, grabbing his hand and dragging him inside.

Eleven wasn't in the living room, but I heard sounds coming from her bedroom, and noticed taht the door was cracked at least three inches. I turned around, smiling tearfully at my Dad before holding up a hand and slowly pushing the door open into her room.

She was staring down at a glass soda bottle...the very same bottle we had used with Max for our little spying game last year. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. 

"Um...someone is here to see you." I told her. She furrowed her eyebrows and I walked into the bedroom, sitting down on my old bed and waiting for Dad to reveal himself. The door pushed open the rest of the way and he leaned inside, allowing her to finally set eyes on him.

"Hey, kid." He greeted. She burst into tears, and I clapped a hand over my mouth, my own tears flowing all over again.

"Hi." She sobbed. He slowly walked over to stand in front of her, and she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I had. She looked at me as she pressed her face against his shoulder, and I smiled, not even bothering to wipe my tears away anymore. "I kept it open...I kept the door open three inches."

"I know." He said, pulling back and rubbing her arms. He looked at me before grabbing my hand and pulling me up so that he could wrap his arms around both of us.

"I never stopped believing." She said, looking between us. I nodded, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Oh I know, its ok. Its ok, I'm here." He said, laughing as he looked between us. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, rubbing them as we both cried. "I'm here."

"Stop..." I said, putting a hand over my mouth, "I haven't fully accepted that reality yet."

He laughed, pulling us both to sit on Eleven's bed with him sitting between us. He scooted back so that he could look at us both, pulling his hat off to reveal a shaved head. 

"You look..." She trailed off.

"Not fat?" I laughed, wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my head on his shoulder again.

"And your hair." She put a hand on top of his head.

"My hair?" He asked. "Look at your hair." He touched her head too, pulling her towards him so that he could kiss her forehead before leaning the other way and kissing mine. "Yeah...I kinda stole your look kid."

"Um..." They both looked at me and I stood up, moving away from them. "I uh..."

I looked at the floor as the tears started again.

"Riles..." He said softly, reaching out and taking my hand. His eyes travelled down to it, spotting the blue hair tie that was wrapped around it before meeting my eyes again. I nodded, grabbing Eleven's hand and placing it over mine, so that the hair ties were together. 

"I have so much to tell you," I said, my voice breaking, "But I'll start with um...getting engaged."

He smiled, shaking his head.

"That's great, baby. That's terrific." I nodded.

"Then I got married." Eleven looked surprised at this, but smiled nonetheless, standing up and wrapping her arms around my waist. "My name is Hopper-Harrington now."

"I love it." He replied as I leaned my head on top of Eleven's.

"And I'm pregnant." You could barely understand my words through tears, but Eleven leaned away and looked at me with wide eyes and Dad put a hand over his mouth. I nodded, putting my own hand over mine. 

"You're..." I nodded again and he laughed, standing up and crushing us both into a hug. "Holy crap, Riley. That is so incredible. I am so, so happy for you."

I just sobbed into his shirt, relishing in the feeling that I thought I had said goodbye to forever.

"I was so scared of having a baby without you." I whispered.

"Well I'm here now, kid. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere ever again. I love you girls, I love you so much."

"We love you too." Eleven cried. 

We heard more excited voices coming from outside, and Eleven shot him an excited and questioning look. He nodded and we all got up, rushing outside to find Jonathan and Will locked in an embrace with their mother. I laughed, leaning against Dad's side.

"You aren't the only one that didn't stop believing." Dad told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She laid back against his chest, reaching down and grabbing my hand as the Byers' broke their hug, and Joyce laid her eyes on us.

Eleven lifted a hand to wave before rushing over to her, and I looked up at Dad with scared eyes. He shook his head.

"You can go say hi," He said, putting his hand on the back of my head and kissing my forehead again, "I promise I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded, walking down the stairs as Eleven pulled back from her hug.

"I'm happy you went you your...conference." She told Joyce, looking back at our Dad.

"That was quite the experience," She said, turning to look at me, "Riley...oh Honey, I'm so sor-"

I cut her off by pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you," I cried, "For all of it, for taking care of El, for finding my Dad and bringing him home to us, thank you."

"Of course, sweetie." She said, pulling back to look at me. "From what I hear, you didn't waste any time though."

I smiled, shake my head and looking past her to Nancy who just laughed and threw her hands up. My eyes traveled over the others, to Mike hugging my Dad and Argyle just kind of wandering around, until my eyes came to stop on Will.

He had a daunted expression on his face that I had come to recognize, and just as his hand reached up to the back of his neck, I felt my hair stand on end.

I quickly rushed over to stand beside him, both of us looking up as the sky began to go dark. Thunder rolled over us, and suddenly white particles began to fall from the sky, looking a bit like snow.

But it wasn't snow...that much I knew. 

Without communicating it, we all began walking through the trees to get into the field that would lead us back to town. We needed to see if this was happening everywhere.

When we got out of the trees we found the field of Hawkins Spring Flowers that Eleven and I loved so much...but once you reached a certain point, the flowers started dying...decaying and turning black...just like in the Upside Down.

Eleven and I walked forward, staring out over the still smoldering town as we observed the rolling hills of Hawkins beginning to die...and red lightning appeared in the black clouds that erupted from the gates. The Upside Down was leaking into our world in a way that it never had before. On a level that it never had before. 

Nancy and Jonathan stood side-by-side behind us...Mike and Will not far away. Joyce leaned into my father's side, and I reached down, grabbing Eleven's hand in mine so that our matching blue Hair Tie bracelets were rubbing against each other as we shared a look. I had a feeling that this was only the beginning of a battle that we had never faced the likes of before...

and there was no question that it would be up to us to stop it...or to lose at the expense of the entire world. 

~~~END OF PART FOUR~~~

Holy crap guys!!! One Hundred and Two Chapters, Four Seasons of Stranger Things and 300,000 reads! This journey has been unbelievable, and I am so thankful for all the love and support I have gotten on this story! I can't wait for season five, and I'm considering maybe writing an Eddie Munson prequel series with a new character that might appear in Season 5, so please let me know if that's something you'd be interested it. Until next time...

Love you all!