Author's Note: Here's the final chapter! This was super fun to write, and I'm so happy you're all enjoying this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you so much for all the favorites and follows, and the lovely reviews! They mean so much to me!

Until the next fic!

-LizzySong

It didn't take long for the kids to set up pillows and blankets on the floor, and to get ready for bed.

Joyce had found what she was looking for in the kitchen and went back to the teenager curled up on the couch, handing him a small medicine cup filled with liquid cold medicine. He sat up a little, taking the cup from her. He looked at it skeptically and then back at her, making her smile a little, "It'll help, I promise."

He nodded and swallowed it as quickly as he could, like he was doing a shot of tequila, shuddering involuntarily at the taste. Joyce took the empty cup from him when he'd finished, and placed it on the side table that was half-way between the armchair and the sofa. "Now just try and get some sleep, okay?"

Steve nodded again and laid back down. The mother gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze, then pulled the blanket closer around his shoulders with a slightly sad smile, "Good."

After a short while Steve and all the kids were asleep, and Joyce was sitting in the armchair, reading a book she'd found on the bookshelf.

At around midnight there was a knock at the door -- the one that meant it was safe to open it. Joyce stood up and made her way to the door, careful not to step on any of the children on the way.

She shushed Hopper as he walked in, and he looked around the room with an expression mixed with confusion and irritation. "Joyce, what the hell is--" he started, but Joyce cut him off. "He's sick," she said.

"Who's sick?"

"Steve. He has the flu -- it's pretty bad."

"And that means he has to spend the night on my couch?"

"He doesn't have anybody to take care of him at home, Hop."

Hopper sighed. He knew that Joyce felt responsible for the boy -- whenever she saw someone who she thought needed mothering, she didn't shy away from the task. She'd always been that way; it was one of the things he loved about her. ...But it could be a bit annoying at times

"...And the kids?" he asked, referring to Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max -- he was expecting Will to be there. "They didn't want to leave him," she said. Jim nodded a little, and headed for the kitchen, followed by Joyce. He grabbed two cans of beer out of the fridge, handing one to Joyce who took it with a smile.

By the time Steve woke up the next morning, all the kids -- except for El of course -- were already gone. He groaned a little and put a hand to his head, feeling even worse than he had last night.

As he took in his surroundings he noticed that the tv was on and that Eleven was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, watching it.

The teen sighed and slowly sat up, then suddenly bent forward letting out a violent sneeze, which made El jump. "Sorry," he said with a sniffle, and the girl shook her head. "It's okay," she said, and handed him a box of tissues which he took gratefully, "Thanks."

Joyce came over to the two, she'd been sitting at the table near the kitchen for the past couple hours, having taken the kids to school earlier that morning.

She sat next to Steve on the couch and handed him a glass of water. "...What time is it?" he asked, taking a sip of water. "Ten... four... five," Eleven said, looking up at him from her spot on the floor.

Steve choked on his water, which lead to a coughing fit. "Shit," he said between coughs, "I'm so late..."

"Don't worry," Joyce said, placing a reassuring hand on boy's back, "I called the school and told them you won't be coming in for a few days." Steve looked at her with surprise, "Y-you did...?" Joyce smiled a little and nodded, "Of course I did." Steve returned the smile, "...Thank you."

They sat and watched TV with Eleven for a while before Steve left to go home, insisting that he didn't want to be a bother. Joyce tried to convince him to stay, but he wouldn't hear it, and eventually she compromised, sending him home with a bottle of cold medicine and making him promise not to go to school until he felt better.

By the time four o'clock came around, Steve was curled up on his own couch, in his own home, fast asleep. His parents were out of town -- for the second time in the last three months -- so he'd decided to camp out in the living room instead of hiding in his bedroom until he was better like he normally would.

He was harshly woken up by the loud ring of the doorbell. "Yeah... yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming..." he groaned as he stood up and stumbled to the door.

When he opened it he was surprised at who he saw standing in front of him. "Nancy?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

She seemed a little uncomfortable and she wasn't meeting his eyes. "...The kids told me you were sick," she said, looking behind her at her car. Following her gaze, Steve could see that Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max were getting out of her car, clearly arguing about something.

"They wanted to see you," she continued, "I hope that's okay..." Steve smiled and nodded a little, "Yeah... Yeah, it's fine."

The kids came up to the door, crowding around Steve, chattering away the same way they always did when he picked them up from school. The boys were asking him to settle a debate about something that happened in AV club, while Max was trying to tell them to "Shut the hell up!"

Steve looked at the boys with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment, "I have absolutely no idea what the hell any of that means, so if you want me to settle this for you, then you're gonna have to settle it my way."

"What?" Mike said, "With basketball or something?" Steve nodded, "Yeah, that's right. If you don't shut up about whatever this is, then I'm gonna make you three play basketball to settle it." The boys immediately stopped arguing and headed into the house and toward the kitchen, making both Max and Steve laugh.

"Your brother's a nerd," said Steve with a smile, turning back to Nancy, who laughed slightly, "Believe me, I know."

They stood in awkward silence for a minute before Nancy spoke again, "Steve, are you... okay?"

"I mean, I've felt better..."

"No, that's not-- I didn't mean because of the flu... I meant... I mean, we didn't really get the chance to talk about what happened and I--"

"Nance, it's okay. Really. I'm fine. I'm... I'm glad your happy." He gave her a small, but reassuring smile, "--Did you wanna come in? Or just leave me alone, in charge of four kids while I'm at death's door?" he teased, and Nancy shook her head a little. "I can't. I have..." she trailed off and Steve nodded, "Gotcha."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. You don't have anything to be sorry about."

She smiled slightly, "...I'll come get the kids around nine, okay?"

"Sounds good."

She nodded once and started walking back to her car, but stopped half-way and turned around when she heard a, "Hey, Nance?" come from the doorway. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Have fun, okay?"

She smiled and called back, "You, too. ...And Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't over dose on cough medicine like last time, okay?"

He laughed a little, "Yeah, okay."

The next week went something like this, with someone coming to check on him at least once a day.

Sometimes it was the kids after school on their way to the cabin; sometimes it was Joyce -- usually checking to make sure he was getting enough rest, and ironically waking him up by coming to check on him a couple times.

One time it was Jonathan, sent by Joyce to drop off Steve's homework when she found out no one had done so already. They both were sure that this was the most awkward five minutes of their lives.

And a few times it was Nancy, insisting that she help him catch up on the growing mountain of homework he'd been ignoring, because she hated the thought of him not graduating just because he'd been sick -- which he was grateful for, even though he thought she was over exaggerating.

And by the next Monday, he was ready to get back to his life, maybe with a little less vigor -- and a little less hairspray -- than normal, but ready non-the-less.

He picked the kids up and took them to El's like he always did on Mondays, and surprised them all by suggesting they play in the woods for a while.

Eleven looked up at him with excitement and apprehension, and asked, "Why?"

"Because I just spent the last week doing pretty much nothing but watch TV, and if that was my life for a whole year, I think I'd go insane. So go run around for a while and get some fresh air. Just stay where I can see you, and-"

"--Don't tell Hopper," she said with a smile, and hugged him as tightly as she could.

Steve hugged her back and smiled, he finally understood her -- to some extent at least -- and he wanted to help her however he could. And if that meant letting the kid run around the woods for a couple hours with her friends, then so be it.

...He just hoped Hopper wouldn't find out, because he wasn't sure he would be able to survive that.