When Jim left Amelia's, he was on top of the world. But once he got to the Town Hall, he had a feeling this was going to ruin his day. Outside, nearly the whole town was standing in front of the building, waving signs, yelling obscenities and chanting, 'Kine's a swine.' Jim actually agrees with the crowd but what can he do? The mayor was his boss. He parks his truck, grabs his hat, and walks up towards the doors, avoiding the protesters and signs. Anxiously, Jim waits to be seen by Mayor Kline. He really did not want to be there right now. He wanted to get ready for his date. He was so excited. At last, after so long, he was taking his girl out for a nice dinner. Wine her and dine her, treat her like a queen.

He happily exhales a cloud as he enjoys a cigarette in the small hall, sitting in a chair as he waits for Kline to be done with whoever was in his office. Suddenly, heavy footsteps echo down the hallway, and he sees a tall, rugged man walk by. The guy was huge, like muscled huge. First thing that came to Jim's mind was 'Terminator Stunt-double.' The guy was carrying a black motorcycle helmet. Jim didn't pay much attention to man's face, but he was impressed with the motorcycle helmet. He wondered what the bike looked like. When he was younger, he wanted a Harley, but never got the chance. He would love to take Amelia for a motorcycle ride.

"Jim?"

Jim snaps out of his thoughts at the call of his name.

"Mayor Kline is ready for you." Kline's assistant says.

"Great." He mutters and leans over a chair to reach the ashtray. He grunts and gets to his feet, following the woman to Kline's office. "Thank you." He gives her a polite smile, but it drops as he walks inside the mayor's office. Greeted at the sight of Kline reading a newspaper.

Lowering the paper away from his face, their sat Kline with that shit-eating, fake smile of his. The same smile he gives to all of his voters when he wants something from them. His professionally done haircut makes his blonde hair, which Jim suspects it's not his natual color, basically shines in the sunlight that casted from his blinds.

"Jim." Kline says with a happy chuckle as he gets from his chair and walks towards him, shaking his hand in greeting, "Thanks for coming by. How are you and Amelia? You're such a lucky guy. to have quite a catch like her."

Jim chuckles sarcastically with his ass-kissing, "I'm not doing it, Larry."

Kline simply laughs it off, "Calm down, now. You don't even know what I want." He scoffs and moves to sit back in his chair.

"You don't like your fan club; you want me to shut 'em down. Sound about right?" Jim says the obvious.

Kline laughs and scoffs at Jim's attitude, "When'd you get so serious?" He snorts, "I would have thought you would be more...laid back. I mean, people have been raving about much you have changed since you've started dating again. I was expecting a more mellow version, but not this." He chuckles and gestures out a chair in front of his desk, "Take a seat."

Jim sighs and moves to sit down, picking up a paperweight of gold coins displayed while they could hear the protestors cheering outside as their leader shouts out a speech. Jim clears his throat dramatically and grunts as he sits and studies the paperweight more than Kline's bullshit.

"My fan club, as you call them, now, you know why they're out there, don't ya?" Kline asks, as if Jim was a dumbass but being polite about.

"They're not actually fans?" Jim asks sarcastically.

Kline simply chuckles at him, "They lost their jobs to the mall and blame me for helping make that happen." He scoffs. "Now, you go ask anyone else in this town. They all love the mall. It's helped our economy grow, brought in new jobs, and just some incredible new stores. Which is why they all stopped shopping at their, uh, mom-and-pops." He rolls his eyes as he grabs a cigar from his box, "Now, that's not me, Jim."

"Mm-hmm?" Jim moves around in his chair, trying to get comfortable, but sitting through this...no way he was gonna get comfortable. He picks up Kline's name plate.

"Uh-uh. That's just, uh, good old fashioned American capitalism." Kline smirks as he uses his cigar cutter to cut the tip of his cigar, slapping his hand on the handle.

"Well, Larry, I think that they're just exercising their good old fashioned American right to protest." He slaps the name plate down and grunts as he gets up to leave.

"I agree." Kline nods and lights up his cigar.

"Yeah." Jim mutters and reaches for the knob, but Kline stops him in his tracks.

"If. If they had a permit." Kline smirks, "Now, correct me if I'm wrong here, Jim, but, uh I don't believe they secured a permit from your office, did they?" He grins at Jim, knowing he was right.

Looking away, Jim rolls his eyes at this cocky bastard. Amelia was right, what a hot dog, "Not that I'm aware of." He mutters.

"Then I do believe it's within my right to get rid of them." Kline happily smokes his cigar.

"Larry, I'm not a politics guy, but I think if you force those people out of here without provocation, I don't think that's a good look for your re-election campaign." Jim scoffs.

Kline just simply continues to smoke and gets up to look out the window as America the Beautiful plays in the background.

"You know what's in four days, Jim?" Kline asks.

Sighing heavily, not in the mood for this, "Independence Day?" Jim asks.

Kline turns, "That's right. And I'm gonna throw this town the biggest bash it's ever seen. Fireworks, music, activities, you name it." He says as he makes his way to stand a foot away from Jim but making sure he had his complete attention and knew how important this was to him. "I'm gonna pull out all the stops. You know why? 'Cause at the end of the day, that's all the voters will remember." He begins to frown and taps the side of his head, "But I can't think, much less plan, with all that racket going on out there." He turns towards the door and opens it for Jim, giving him a warning look, "So, if you don't mind, please just do your job. Flash your little gold badge and get rid of them." He places his cigar back in his mouth with a grin and pats Jim's shoulder.

Jim gives him a fake but bitter smile, "Right away." He says sarcastically and leaves the office. He looks over his shoulder and watches the door shut. "Definitely Ken doll." He snorts and leaves to 'do his job'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Parking her car near the fairgrounds, Amelia sighs heavily as she sits in her car. Feeling extremely uncomfortable. She really did not want to be here. Theo meows as he hops out of the backseat and rests his paws on her shoulder as he gazes all around their surrounds, meowing in questions.

"Yeah, this is called the Fair. Humans from time to time during certain holidays, like Fourth of July, all gather around and go on rides, pig out, and shoot fireworks." Meow... "'What the point of noisy firecrackers '?" She looks over her shoulder and scoffs at him, "Theo, you remember all those Fourth of Julys we went through together. Didn't you say how pretty they looked?" Meow... Amelia rolls her eyes, "I realize they're noisy. I'm sorry they hurt your ears. But you survived gunshots, bombs, knifes, swords, and a javelin. Yet you can't handle a little firecracker?" She snorts. Grrrrr....yowl! Theo's ears flatten in annoyance, "Okay, okay!" Amelia holds her hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry. That was very rude of me...you crybaby." She snorts and gets out of the car as he hisses at her. "You kissed your mother with that mouth?" She scoffs as she leaves the door open for him to follow her.

As she gets closer, she sees several workers getting the rides set up and the booths were being moved around and decorated. Kline was chattering with a tall man with a leather jacket. She couldn't see the man's face, but Kline's face looked scared, yet annoyed. She frowns as she studies them both. The man turns, and leaves, his face still hidden from her. One thing she noticed; the man carried a black biker helmet. Kline sighs deeply and quickly placed a pleased grin. When he looks over, he sees Amelia and his grin grows.

"Miss Holloway! So glad you could make it." He holds out a hand for her.

"Mayor Kline." She politely smiles and takes his hand, but grunts as he brings her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles and cradling her hand.

"Oh, why so formative? Please, call me Larry. May I call you Amelia?" He asks as he gently lets her go, but places his arm around her shoulders, holding her closer.

"Uh..." She stutters, uncomfortable with being close against him, wiping her hand discreetly on her shorts, hiding her disgust behind a fake smile.

Meow...

Kline looks down and laughs, "Well, hello, Mr. Theo. Can't stray away from you, can he?" He chuckles.

Amelia laughs uneasily, "Well, he's very clingily, you could say."

Theo growls annoyingly but follows them as Kline simply chuckles as she guides Amelia towards the booth that he had set up for her.

"I really hope you can reconsider about having your own booth, right here at the entrance of the food section of the fair. Imagine, the whole town being welcomed by your magnificent treats. I can see children stuffing their faces with your cakes and pies. Raving to the world how we have such a... talented baker. I believe you could be the one who can keep this town alive."

Amelia frowns, "Me?"

"Yes, you are indeed. I have spoken to everyone in this town, and they all say the same thing. 'Amelia's Sweet Talk Bakery makes our life better'. And I have tried your treats. I must say..." He stops and chuckles. "I never tasted anything like it." He grins down at her. "Not even the bakery in the mall is getting enough customers because they say..." He taps her chin, "'It's not Amelia's'." He lets her go and moves towards the booth. "Imagine: Your name in lights as bright as the heavens and the sweet aroma..." He pretends to smell something delicious, "Mmm! It could even bring in the next state." He turns and smiles at her. "What do you say, Amelia? With your booth, it could open many doors for you."

"Mayor, I appreciate your offer, and I am dedicated to this town and its people. But it's not me who keeps this town alive. It's the people. If you listen...truly listen to them...you may just gain more voters if you see their point of views. You never know what you'll find." She smiles with a knowing look and looks over the booth, "As for the booth, I'm sorry, Mayor. My 'treats' are not made to 'sell'. They're made for more than making money." She turns to leave, but Kline stops her by rushing around her to stop her from moving.

"Wait-wait-wait. Now, Miss Holloway. You are completely right. It's the people who keeps this town alive, but don't we need to keep them all happy? Your creations have brought such happiness and awe to all. Please...consider this. I'll even open up your own place in my mall. Forget the Starcourt bakery. Let's make Sweet Talk a chain."

"Mayor..." She sighs, but he holds a hand up to stop her.

"At least...consider this..." He moves closer and gives her a serious look, "I plan to make this the biggest bash of all. Bigger than the Texas State Fair." His eyes light up in determination as he carries a very fake smile while his teeth grinds. "Having you there will open so many doors for the both of us. Now...correct me if I'm wrong..." He places a finger over his lips as he pretends to think, "You and Chief Jim Hopper are dating, isn't' that right? So, if you want Jim to still have a job, you'll do a lot more than just 'thinking it over'." He states.

Amelia arches a brow at him and chuckles, "Well, you certainly made me really think about your offer. I'll let you know as soon as possible." She moves away to head for her car.

"Please do, Amelia. I'll listen out for your call by the end of the day." Kline calls out.

Amelia looks over her shoulder and gives him a polite smile, but she wasn't smiling at him, she was smiling at the fact that Theo just pissed on his shoe. She waves him goodbye.

"Come on, Theo." She calls out.

Theo meows and rushes to catch up with her. Amelia giggles and covers her mouth, "Nice one." She snickers and holds a hand up. Theo jumps and brushes his paws over her hand.

Meow..."I know! Total hot dog." Meow.... "And Ken doll." She giggles and starts up her car to meet up with Joyce. Not missing the image of Kline in her rearview mirror of him grimacing in anger at the cat piss stain on his shoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce shouts as she snaps up from her nap when the doorbell of Melvald's chime loudly. Amelia walks into the store and was greeted by the sight of Joyce surrounded by science books. Joyce sighs deeply and rubs her tired face.

"Oh, my god. Someone went to the library." Amelia frowns as she walks towards the counter.

Cradling her head, Joyce gives her a pathetic look, "I don't know how Will understands this stuff. I didn't even pay attention to this when I was in school." She scoffs. She felt like her brain was about to explode.

"I thought you wanted to go see Scott Clark. You're drowning yourself before you can learn." Amelia says and looks at her watch, "Look, it's after 5 already, how about closing up early and we'll go see Clark now."

Joyce sighs and nods, "Okay. Let's take some books though."

"You never know." Amelia shrugs and helps her carry all the books she took from the library and drives off towards Scott Clarks house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cuffing the last protestor, Jim drags Henry, a man Jim knows well, towards his car. He wasn't happy that he had to arrest several people he knew just because they wanted justice. But...again...what can he do when it's his boss?

"He raised my property taxes, Jim. Forced me off my land." Henry yells; completely pissed off.

"You can protest all you want, Henry, you've just gotta go through the proper channels first." Jim grunts as he holds on to Henry tight.

"Nothing proper about what that man did to us! To our town!" Henry shouts.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Jim mutters and shoves him in the back of the patrol car, making him squeeze with two other protestors and slams the door shut.

Jim sighs heavily and rubs his sweaty head, it was getting hotter by the hour. He looks up as he hears a voice calling out.

"Special delivery!" Flo says as she holds up a bag from JC Penney.

Jim rushes to grab the bag, "Ooh, yeah." he laughs and pulls out a shirt he asked Flo to get for him. He pulls out a pink-and-green Hawaiian floral shirt that was very similar to what Tom Selleck would wear in Magnum P.I. Jim grins big in triumph as he holds it up.

"That the right one?" Flo asks.

"Yeah. Yeah!" Jim chuckles with a big smile.

"Good lord, Hopper, I never seen you excited over a shirt." She teases.

Hopper grins at her and Powell, "Well..." He chuckles, "I was going to keep this a secret, but..." He pulls out the velvet box, "This is the real reason why I'm excited."

Flo shrieks and jumps to pull him down for a big hug as Powell looks at him in shock, "You're going to do it? Tonight?" He asks.

Grunting in Flo's arms, trying to hold on to his hat, "Yeah..." He grunts. "Flo...you're hurting me!"

Flo lets go and covers her mouth in shock, "Let me see it." She asks and lets him open the box. Jim coughs as he groans from the tight hold that she had on him. With a sigh, he opens the box, showing off his engagement for Amelia. She gasps in awe at the sight of the diamond ring.

"Ohhh, Amelia is going to love it! Simple yet so sweet! Just like her." She coos, smiling so big. "Oh, I can't believe it!" She laughs.

"But you really want to propose to Amelia...wearing that?" Powell frowns as he gestures at the shirt, "I mean...That's a lot of color for you, Chief."

Jim shrugs, "It's cutting-edge stuff, all right?" He turns and heads to his truck, "It's cutting-edge!" He shouts over his shoulder and turns to head back to the station to get ready. He assumes that Amelia must be getting dolled at home, probably being so cute and girly with Eleven. He chuckles to himself as he thinks how this night was going to end. The best night of his life! He whoops as he speeds off in his truck.

At 7:00 on the dot, Jim arrives at Enzo's. Dressed in a sharp light gray dinner jacket, in that floral shirt, and light blue jeans. His hair was combed to the side and his mustache was smoothed out. He wanted this to be perfect for his woman. He walks up to the maître 'd with a big grin.

"Hi, uh, reservations under Hopper for two." He says.

He was shown to a table that gave him a perfect view of the door. Right in the middle of the restaurant. He looks over the menu and scans the drinks.

"I'll start off with a Scotch, you can make that a double." He says.

"Very good, sir." The waiter smiles and nods.

"And I think we'll have a bottle of red, as well."

"Very good, sir."

"And how's your 'chee-anti'?" Jim asks, totally mispronouncing the word, making the waiter frown at him.

"Our Chianti is quite good." The waiter says.

Jim nods, "Chianti." He tries to remember that.

"Medium-bodied, with just a hint of cherry." The waiter says, describing the wine.

"Great. Women love cherries, huh? All right, we'll have that and two...two glasses, please, one for, uh, me and one for the lady."

The waiter nods with a grin, "Ooh. Very good, sir." He takes the menu from him and goes on towards the back for his order.

Jim sighs anxiously as he eyes the door, looking at his watch. It was a little after 7:00 but that's normal. Women need time to get ready to look perfect. He crosses his legs to get comfy, placing the red handkerchief over his knee. He was ready. He sighs deeply and grunts as he reaches into this coat pocket, looking at the box. He opens it and smiles crookedly at the diamonds. He knew Amelia was going to love it and...there was no doubt that she'll accept. He strongly believes that. Then...after dinner...or...he stops and chuckles. Maybe they'll need a to-go box because he knows this night is definitely going to end right in the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After arriving at Scott Clark's house, Joyce immediately tells him about the issue with the magnets. At first, Scott was appalled but there was a logical explanation for it. So, for the past few hours of being in the garage with Scott Clark, he builds a working model of an electromagnetic field.

"And what is this again?" Joyce asks as she watches him wrap a copper coil around a battery that was in the shape of a fisherman's tackle box.

"This is a solenoid. It's a coil, wrapped around a metallic core, and when electricity passes through it."

"It creates an electromagnetic field." Joyce remembers that from the books.

"Exactamundo. Now for the fun part. Shall we?" Scott says as he grins. He always found fun in science talk.

"Yeah." "Let's." Joyce and Amelia says.

Flipping the switch, they could hear a loud electrical hum. Joyce frowns, expecting more than just noise. He begins to place several of the magnets on the transmitter, they stuck with no problem.

"I...I don't see anything." She stutters as she waves her hand over the transmitter.

"Nope. You can't see it, but it's there, I assure you. Our very own Clarke-Byers- Holloway Electromagnetic Field. Pretty neato, huh?"

Amelia smiles, "Very." She chuckles.

Joyce stammers, trying to be nice, "Yeah."

"And this field affects any charged object in its vicinity." Scott explains.

"Just like my magnets."

"Just like your magnets."

"Okay, why is nothing happening?" Amelia asks.

"Oh, because our field is stable. But, if we reduce the current..." Scott says and turns the knob down. Once he does that, all the magnets fall of.

Joyce gasps, "How..." She tries sticking them back on, but nothing.

"The magnetic dipoles tried to orient according to the field, but..."

"No, no, no, I mean, how is this happening at my house?" Joyce asks.

"You want my honest opinion? One of your kiddos got up in the middle of the night, bumped into the fridge, and knocked the suckers loose." Scott shrugs.

"And the magnets at Melvald's?" Joyce asks.

"My shop?" Amelia asks.

"Apophenia." Scott says.

Joyce frowns, "Apo-what-o-whah?" She stutters.

"Apophenia. Uh...You're seeing patterns that aren't there. Coincidence." He shrugs.

"But what if it's not?" Amelia frowns, crossing her arms.

Scott turns as he thinks, "Well...Theoretically-speaking, I suppose some large version of this AC transformer could exist." He turns back to face them both, "A machine of some kind."

"A machine?" Joyce frowns.

"But, in order to reach your house and downtown, gosh, that would take billions of volts of electricity and cost tens of millions of dollars." Scott says.

"But it is possible." Joyce says.

"We cured polio in '53. Landed on the moon in '69. As I tell my students, once you open up that curiosity door, anything is possible." Scott states with a smile.

Joyce and Amelia shared a worried look, "Do you think...?" Joyce asks softly.

"It can't be." Amelia whispers and shakes her head. She looks up at Scott who eyes them both with curiously, "What about animals? Can a magnetic field affect wildlife?"

"Yes. Animals can sense the magnetic field better than humans can. Marine life basically relies on it for migration."

"What about rats?" Amelia asks.

"Well, rats can be affected as well. It can alter their learning and behavior abilities." Scott says.

Amelia frowns, "Could it make them seem rabid?"

Scott shrugs, "It can be possible. But animals aren't exactly my field. You may have to ask the vet." He perks up as his watch alarm beeps. "Oop, I'm going have to cut this short, it's almost 9:00 already. "

Amelia snaps her head up, "Did you say 9:00?"

Scott nods, "Yup. It's 8:55."

Amelia looks at her watch and moans in despair, "Oh, no! Jim is gonna kill me!" She exclaims and sends Scott an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, but I really have to go. Thank you so much for helping us with this issue."

Scott nods and smiles, "Anytime. Come back if you ladies have any more questions."

"We will!" Amelia says as she helps Joyce gather up her books and rushes out the door.

"Why are we running?" Joyce asks as they rush towards Joyce's car.

"I was supposed to meet Jim at Enzo's 2 hours ago." Amelia and shoves the books in the back seat.

Joyce's eyes widen in realization, the proposal! She couldn't believe she forgot about Jim's proposal! He wasn't gonna kill Amelia. He was gonna kill her!

"Oh, god. I can't imagine what he's thinking right now." Amelia covers her face in shame as Joyce quickly starts up the car and speeds off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Practically burning a hole in the door with his eyes, Jim slurps down another glass of wine as he continues to wait, but he was starting to give up hope. He couldn't believe that Amelia just stood him up. She wouldn't. There had to be an explanation. Maybe that dickhead Kline held her up. Maybe Eleven did something again with Mike. Whatever happened...it didn't change the fact...that he was pissed off! And hurt. He watches the loving couples around him. Laughing and feeding each other. He wanted that with Amelia.

But here he was...throwing back several glasses of 'Chee-anti' and eating breadsticks. The waiter was getting impatient with Jim. He already suspected that his date wasn't coming but he either wanted him to order something or get out.

The waiter clears his throat as he stands next to Jim's table, "Would you like to order your entrée, sir?"

Downing more wine, Jim's voice begins to slur, "You know what, Enzo?"

"My name is not Enzo."

Jim gets his wallet, takes out a few bills, "I just lost my appetite, all right? So, here you go." He slaps his money on the table, "You can keep the change." He gets up and makes a grab for the bottle, knocking it over along with the dishes. Startling several people in the restaurant.

The waiter tried to stop him but Jim snatches the wine back into his hand, "Sir! I'm afraid no alcohol is allowed off the premises."

Jim simply blows a raspberry, "I can do anything I want. I'm the chief of police." He mutters and stumbles to get out. Bumping into several people... including a very familiar motorcycle owner with the fancy helmet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia grunts as Joyce slams on her breaks in front on Enzo's.

"You can't go in there looking like that." Joyce says.

"I'm not." Amelia says and snaps her fingers.

Before Joyce could blink, Amelia's clothes changed from comfy clothes to a beautiful black draped dress.

She even had matching shoes. Her hair was down and styled, draped over her shoulder and her make up was perfect.

"How do I look?" Amelia asks.

Joyce was speechless at first, "Wow, if Hopper doesn't forgive you in that..." She chuckles.

"I got a backup plan." Amelia winks and chuckles as she gets out and heads for the door.

Joyce watches her head inside and talk to the maître 'd. She waits for her to give her the okay to leave, but she frowns when Amelia walks out with a very sad look. She slowly walks towards the car and gets back in.

Joyce sighs, feeling so bad for making Amelia late.

Amelia covers her face as an overwhelming feeling of disappointment and sadness takes over. She just had the urge to cry. Joyce pulls her close and holds her as she cries softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopper burps as he pulls up in front of the cabin. He grunts as he gets out of his truck and stumbles a few times towards the door. He falls on the door, making it slam open. Depressed, angry, and sad...and embarrassed, he sighs deeply as shuts the door behind him.

"Babe? You home?" He slurs out, dying to give her an earful and make her feel guilty. He hiccups as he heads to the bedroom, but he was surprised that she wasn't there. "Lia?" He calls out, thinking she was in the bathroom but when he walks towards the door and opens it, empty.

He frowns, thinking where could she be? Suddenly, he realizes music was playing in El's room. He grits his teeth as he assumes that Mike came back while he was gone and he sees her door was shut.

"Hey! Hey! When I say three inches, three..." He stomps into her room but he was surprised to see Max was there and no Mike. The two girls laid on their stomachs on the floor, looking over a magazine.

"Do you knock? Jeez!" Max exclaims.

"Yeah! Jeez!" Eleven mimics Max's exclaim.

Stutters in surprise, "Oh, hey. I'm sorry. I thought that, uh..."

"Mike's not here. Max wanted to have a sleepover. Is that okay?" Eleven asks.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Your parents know about it?" Jim asks.

"Yup." Max says.

"Uh, did you ask your mom?" He asks El.

"Mom hasn't been home all day. She went to meet the hot dog guy." Eleven says.

Max frowns at her, "Hot dog guy?"

"Uh, Kline. She means Kline. So she didn't come home?" He frowns.

Max and Eleven both shake their heads.

"Okay. Uh, yeah, it's cool. You can sleepover. Yeah. That's...That's really cool." Jim nods, his voice still slurring.

"Did you need something?" Max looks at him weirdly.

Jim shakes his head, "No, no. Uh, I'll leave." He shuts the door and leaves them alone. Smiling as he hears the girls giggling. That's what should be in her room. Girls her age. Having fun and bonding.

He falls back into his chair, holding the bottle of wine and some food. Using his toes to slip out of his shoes, he gets comfy and turns on Magnum P.I. Sure, this was great that Mike wasn't here. But neither was Amelia. He was growing worried. Where could she be?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia slowly opens the door and peeks inside. She sighs as she sees Jim sitting in front of the TV, watching his show. She winces with guilt as she walks inside, shutting the door behind her. She walks towards him and jumps when she hears a snort. She frowns and moves closer. He was out cold and hugged a wine bottle.

Sighing softly, feeling so guilty, "Oh, Jim." She sits on the arm rest and runs her fingers through his hair, looking at the new clothes he wore. He really tried to impress her. She leans down and kisses his cheek softly as he continues to snore. "I'm sorry." She whispers.

She looks up as she hears music and giggling in Eleven's room.

She walks and knocks on the door, "Starshine, can I come in?"

Eleven uses her powers to open the door for her, "Hi, mom." She double takes. Both her and Max exclaims at the sight of her.

"Woah, you look hot!" Max says.

"Yeah, hot!" El smiles.

"Hmmph, wish I had the chance to show your dad." Amelia scoffs and sighs, "You girls having fun?" She smiles at them both.

"Yes." "Yes, ma'am." They say.

"Hopper says it's okay for Max to sleepover." Eleven says.

Amelia smiles, "And it's fine with me."

Eleven frowns at her, "Mom, are you okay?"

Amelia sighs, "Yeah. It's just...I really messed up tonight. Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow. Don't stay up too late and don't wake your dad up. Doubt you can." She scoffs. "If you get hungry, there's plenty of food."

She frowns as she looks at Theo, who sat between them, wearing fake lashes, make up, and little blue ballerina outfit.

"Why is Theo dressed up like a girl?"

Max and Eleven begin to giggle, "We wanted to make him pretty." Max says

Meow..."Help me." Theo's voice echoes in her head as he gives her a very annoyed look.

"What did he say?" Max asks.

Amelia presses her lips together, stifling her laughter, "He says, 'I feel pretty'. Hee hee hee. Good night, girls. Hee hee hee!" She closes the door and leaves them alone.

Sighing softly, she looks over at Jim and grabs the blanket off the couch. Tucking him in, she makes sure he was comfy and takes the wine out of his hands. Leaving him to sleep, she heads into the bedroom, changes out of her clothes, and goes to bed but cannot sleep without Jim next to her. She hopes Jim will forgive her in the morning, once she explains her reason.