"Hey, kid," a voice sounded above Lili. She turned, hopefully to find Hopper standing before her, but it was just an EMT. Her shoulders visibly slumped and she resumed her gloomy state. The EMT sighed and stood closer to her.

The mall was on fire, or so the news says. Doctor Sam Owens had came with backup a minute too late. Billy's dead body laid inside that mall, cold and alone. Lili's had shook, the Saint Christopher necklace dangling and shaking from her grip. Her lips were parted as she muttered something incoherently.

"Please..." her lips moved quickly, as if she was reciting a spell. The EMT just looked at her, flipping over pages on his clipboard. His eyebrows raised when he read that she was pregnant.

"Do you feel any pain?" He asked her. She looked up at him and found that his eyes were blue. His hair was a little long and wavy and she couldn't help but think of Billy. Tears welled in her eyes as she continued to stare deep in the EMT's eyes.

"Can I have a different EMT, please?" She whispered. The EMT looked at her in surprise, but stepped away and grabbed a blonde EMT, whispering something in her ear. The blonde stepped forward and grabbed the clipboard from the other EMT.

"Do you have any abdominal pain?"

"No," Lili hoarsely.

"Any bleeding?"

"No."

"Any pain?" The EMT looked at Lili expectantly. Her body shook as flashes of Billy being impaled went through her mind.

"Only in my heart," Lili said to herself.

"I'm sorry?" The EMT leaned in closer. Lili finally looked at the blonde and realized that she was still there.

"Um, no," Lili coughed. The EMT nodded and set the clipboard down, assessing to Lili's facial wounds and the scrapes on her arm.

"I read that you're pregnant..." the EMT tried to make small talk, but Lili wasn't listening to her. "Congratulations..."

Soon, her voice was complete gone and Lili was stuck looking at the firefighters trying to put out Billy's car. The flames died down and one of them walked over to Max who was sitting in another EMT van. They were talking and the firefighter held a pale pink paper and tried to give it to Max, but she pushed it away and pointed to Lili who sat in her own van, staring out into the distance.

The firefighter walked up to Lili with the pink paper in hand. He gave her a weak smile and fidgeted with the fire-licked paper.

"Are you Lili Hopper?" The firefighter asked. Lili looked up and tears formed again when she heard her last name.

"Yes," Lili said plainly.

"Here," the firefighter pushed the paper to her. She looked at him and grabbed it, skimming its contents.

On the header, it read; OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATION. Her eyes traveled down to read the rest;

OWNER: WILLIAM HARGROVE

SIGNED OVER TO: LILIANA HOPPER

DATE SIGNED: DECEMBER 12, 1984

"I need your signature if you want the car," the man said with his pen out. Lili took it and messily scrawled her signature which was just a big cursive L and then a scribble at the end.

"The car's yours," the firefighter looked at the paper, leaving Lili looking at the half-burned camaro in the parking lot. "Do you need a key made?"

"No," Lili grasped the brass key around her neck that was tied to a string. The fireman left, leaving Lili alone.

El walked up to her sister who was wrapped in a gray blanket. Lili saw her and her eyes lit up a little. Only a little.

"El," Lili cried, holding her sister close. El squeezed Lili close, crying into her blanket. Lili sighed, patting El's matted hair. Across the parking lot, Lili saw Will run to his mother.

Maybe Joyce knows about Hopper.

Lili detached herself from El, looking into her eyes. "Come on." Lili grasped her sister's hand and they both started to slowly make their way over to Joyce. El was looking around frantically for Hopper, but he wasn't there.

"Don't let go," El breathed.

"I won't," Lili looked at El. "I promise." Lili held El's hand tighter when Joyce made eye contact with her. From it, Joyce hugged Will closer and started to cry.

And Lili knew. She wish she didn't, but she finally knew. That ripple through her chest moments ago wasn't from the loss of Billy. It was from the loss of Hopper.

"No..." El sobbed, dropping to her knees. She pulled Lili down with her and Lili wrapped her sister in a tight hug as the two cried. Everything was crumbling around Lili. The love of her life, dead. Her father, dead. Everything, dead.

El clutched Lili tighter and sobbed into her shirt. Lili cried as she crushed El's head to her chest. El was all Lili had left and she was going to make sure that she'd never lose her again.

Sam Owens approached Lili who was huddled with her sister. He had his right hand over his heart and his left clutched something in it. He had a solemn look on his face as he watched the two sisters cry the life out of their eyes.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Owens said. His hand was outstretched with a medal. It was a gold heart with a purple ribbon from below. "Jim was a good man. I hope you find comfort in knowing that he's in a better place."

Lili stared at the Purple Heart in her hands. She shook violently from the sobs that erupted within her. "I thought..." she sobbed. "I thought that this was given to... soldiers."

"It is," Owens nodded. "But I sent in a special request for the family of Jim Hopper. He deserves it. You deserve it."

Lili looked at Sam Owens with a small, painful smile. "Thank you."

As Sam walked away, Lili looked at the medal as El continued to cry into her chest. The more she looked at it and memorized it, the more of a revelation she came to;

Hopper was dead.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Someone knocked furiously on the front door of the cabin. Lili slowly got up and out of bed, ignoring the freezing cold air since she hadn't found time to fix the roof since the... incident.

Lili unlocked all of the deadbolts of the door before opening it, coming face-to-face with Max.

"Max?"

"Hi," Max waved shyly. She had a blanket and a duffle bag over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Lili asked. She looked behind Max to see if anyone else was here, but found no one.

"I couldn't sleep," Max said.

"So you come through the woods in the middle of the night?" Lili asked, concerned that Max could've gotten hurt.

"Sorry," Max blushed. "It's just that... you're the only one who understands." Max looked at Lili who stared blankly back at the girl.

"You get them too, don't you?" Max whispered. "The nightmares?"

Lili remembered the nightmares of Billy being impaled, stabbed, mind controlled. She would wake up in a sweaty mess, already crying. She's stay up all night so that she wouldn't have to revisit the nightmares.

"Yes," Lili nodded. "But why come here? Why can't you talk to Susan?"

"She doesn't care," Max laughed dryly. "Neither does Neil. They think he was reckless and caught the mall on fire. They're honestly glad he's dead. I'm the only reason why Neil doesn't burn the rest of Billy's stuff."

Lili sighed. "Can I just stay here for tonight? And maybe tomorrow night?" Max pleaded.

"Do your parents know?" Lili asked. "I don't want Neil on my ass."

"Yeah, they think it's a spontaneous sleepover with El," Max said. Lili nodded and opened the door wider.

"El isn't here, by the way," Lili said. Max nodded.

"Yeah, I know. How are you holding up?" Max asked as she set her stuff down on hte couch.

"Okay," Lili responded. "I mean, everything has been taken from me. My love, my father, my sister. I guess I'm doing fine."

Max looked down. "Sorry," she murmured.

"No," Lili shook her head and rested her hand on her forehead. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so harsh. It's just been really hard. With the pregnancy being harder now and I'm without Billy or Hopper or even El to help me."

"I can help," Max raised her head. "I'll come over everyday to help you."

"I can't ask you to do that," Lili smiled weakly at the redhead.

"You don't have a choice," Max smiled. "I'm going to be here."

"Okay," Lili smiled and Max hugged her carefully.

"Here," Lili said when they stepped apart. "You can have El's room. I'll be in mine."

***

[ shawn mendes as maité basterexterra ]

Lili was driving over to the auto repair shop to fix Billy's car. They were removing all of the burnt parts and replacing it.

"Hey, Maité," Lili smiled at the boy who was head-deep in a car. He popped his head out and smiled a dazzling smile at the girl.

"Hey, Lili," he said in his thick Basque accent. Maité was Basque, from the Basque Country. He immigrated two years ago with his father and now he owns the auto repair shop. He agreed to help Lili fix the car, seeing that she was pregnant and low on money.

"So what's up?" Lili asked. She received a phone call from him to come in earlier.

"Well," Maité wiped his hands on a red rag. "I want you to work here."

"What?" Lili breathed. She's been having trouble finding work since lifeguard season was over and no one wants a pregnant teen to work for a few months then leave for a year.

"You're amazing at fixing cars and... well, I know you need the money," Maité smiled at her. Lili was taken aback. She almost started yelling at him for thinking that she was some charity case. But she didn't since she realized that she was, in fact, a charity case.

"Thank you," Lili smiled and hugged Maité. "Thank you so much."

***

[ clairo as tammy thompson ]

"Robin," Lili looked at Sue and Steve making out next to her in the movie theater, waiting for the movie to start.

Robin turned to look at Lili. "Gah!" Robin gagged, placing her hands over her eyes once she saw Sue and Steve. "What, Lili?"

"Wanna go get food with me?" Lili asked.

"Yes please," Robin quickly got up and Lili followed her out of the theater. As the pair was waiting in line, Lili grabbed a few bags of candy and was carrying a large cup of soda to share with Robin.

Robin had her gaze fixated behind them, staring at something. Lili didn't notice until she asked Robin if she wanted butter in the popcorn.

"Robin," Lili called for her again. Robin didn't move. "Robin!"

Robin snapped her head back and Lili gave her a look. "What?"

"What were you staring at?" Lili asked, jutting her hip out to the side in annoyance.

"No one," Robin said quickly. No one? So it's a person.

"Okay..." Lili whipped her head so that her hair went over her shudder. "Who were you staring at?"

"No one!" Robin defended. Lili's raised her brow and looked over Robin's shoulder to see a small seventeen year-old talking to a man at a kiosk. She was eating a scone and laughed at something the man said. She was wearing an oversized, dark green sweatshirt and light-washed mom jeans. She had on dirty Converse and a jade necklace on a silver chain.

"Who is that?" Lili asked.

"Just drop it," Robin shook her head. Lili sighed.

"I'm pulling out the grief card," Lili hummed.

"No!" Robin whined.

"I haven't slept in months because everyone in my life is dead!" Lili said to Robin. "Just tell me who she is."

"Fine," Robin grumbled. "Y'know, it's wrong to do that."

"Just say it," Lili rolled her eyes.

"Fine," Robin sighed. "That's Tammy Thompson."

"The Tammy Thompson?" Lili raised her eyebrows. "The one that you wrote a song about?"

"Yes! Her," Robin muttered when Tammy spotted the pair. "Act cool."

Lili rolled her eyes and grabbed a handful of straws. Tammy walked over with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Hi," she said softly. Her voice rolled off her tongue and filled Robin's ear with silver singing bells.

"Hi," Robin said nonchalantly. "Tammy, right?"

Lili rolled her eyes. Robin referred to this girl by her full name just now.

"Yes," Tammy smiled. "I know who you are, Robin Buckley."

Lili heard Robin's breath hitch at the sound of her name coming out of Tammy's tongue. She gave a small smile, but it quickly faded when she remembered what Robin said, randomly.

"He might as well be dead!"

It rang in her mind. Well, he was dead. He being Billy. The tears escaped Lili's tear ducts and rolled down her cheek. She quickly walked away, wiping them off.

***

"Jonathan... STOP!" Lili yelled at the boy who tried to take the big box out of her hands. He jumped back at her outburst.

"Woah," he held his hands up in the air. "A pregnant woman shouldn't be doing any heavy-lifting."

Lili dropped the box and Jonathan cringed when something clattered inside. "Do I look pregnant to you?" Lili snapped as she rested her hands on her hips, showing her pelvis to the boy.

Jonathan gulped, feeling uncomfortable that Lili was being so... provocative. He suddenly was glad that she couldn't read minds because she would definitely kill him if she heard that.

"Just because you aren't really showing doesn't mean that you're not pregnant," Jonathan countered.

"I don't care," Lili snapped. "Stop treating me differently."

Lili walked outside to the moving van with the box, handing it to Joyce who loaded it into the truck. Lili went back inside to get more.

She came across a box that was labeled: HOPPER. Curious, she lifted the lid and found his uniform neatly folded. What was missing was the badge that was usually pinned to it. Lili immediately burst into tears. She fell to her knees and shifted her body so that she sat with her back against the box. She cried up into the air, looking at the ceiling. She silently prayed that Hopper was up there and not in another dimension.

"I... miss you..." Lili barely gasped. Hopefully Hopper heard from above. She missed coming home to him and El and being cared for. She missed their little fights. She took advantage of the time she had with him. But, most of all, she missed having a father. She missed Hopper.

Joyce was coming back from giving El the speech that Hopper wrote for her when she heard crying from another room. She stood by the doorway and say Lili hunched up next to a box that was full of Hopper's things. Joyce pitied Lili and cautiously stepped inside. She crouched down near Lili and sat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I let him down," Lili sniffed. Joyce looked at the girl.

"What? No," Joyce hugged Lili close to her. "No, Hopper would be so proud of you."

Lili looked at Joyce through wet lashes. "He told to be a ray of sunshine. Billy thinks that I'm a ray of sunshine. But I'm not. I pulled the grief card on Robin, I snapped at Jonathan, I've pushed El and Max away."

"Hey," Joyce grabbed the girl's attention. She swiped a hair away from Lili's face and smiled at her. "A couple of nights before the accident," Joyce said and Lili's breath hitched. "We were down in this bunker under a house that Kline bought out. There was this Russian who attacked us. Hopper put his gun to his head and said that he's count to three before shooting him."

"I fail to see how this makes me feel better," Lili said.

"Hold on," Joyce chuckled. "Anyways, the man didn't give Hopper a choice. Hopper counted to three and the man move out of the way, but Hopper shot."

"The point?" Lili raised her brow. She immediately regretted saying that. What is it with her and being a bitch to everyone?

"The point is," Joyce sighed. "Hopper followed through even in the hardest moment."

"Hopper has no problem shooting commies," Lili stated and Joyce laughed.

"Anyways," Joyce said in a whisper. "You can follow through. Shoot that happy, go-lucky feeling in the head."

"Thanks," Lili smiled at Joyce.

"There she is," Joyce said, cupping Lili's cheek and she smiled. Joyce pulled away and reached her hand into her pocket, pulling out Hopper's badge. "Here. You'll need it more than I do."

Lili took it and stared at it. "He's always loved you," Lili said softly, remembering that he was happy whenever he came back from visiting Joyce. "I'm happy he had the chance to love you, even if it was just for five minutes."

"Bye, El," Lili sniffed as she hugged her sister. El clutched onto Lili tightly, not wanting to let go.

"Why can't I stay with you?" El asked.

"Because," Lili pulled away to look at her. "Hopper wanted Joyce to take care of you. He probably thought that I'd be too emotional to take care of anyone on a daily basis. And he's right. I'm sorry, hun."

"But Max?" El asked.

"She's only over on the weekends," Lili explained. "And even then, I'm not raising her as my own."

El looked down. "Hey," Lili smiled softly at El's curious face. "I'll see you for Christmas or Thanksgiving or whatever."

"Can't wait," El smiled, but it faded as she looked at her hands.

"I don't know what happened," Lili said, referring to her abilities that mysteriously disappeared. "But I'm sure that they'll come back. And if not, maybe it's for the best."

"Yeah," El nodded. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you more," Lili hugged El once more and let her run to the moving van. Lili spotted a bowl haircut and called him over.

"Hey, Will!" Lili laughed when Will blushed. "Behave, okay? I'm not going to be there anymore to babysit you."

"You haven't babysat me in a while," Will rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me take away your privileges," Lili laughed when Will groaned. "But I'm going to miss babysitting you."

"I'm going to miss you," Will said, hugging Lili. He knocked the wind out of her and she gasped. "Oh shit, the baby."

Lili smiled and patted her stomach. "He's fine."

"He?" Will asked with raised brows.

"Yeah," Lili laughed. "It's a he."

"Take care," Will said. He bent down so that he was talking to Lili's stomach. "The both of you."

"Bye," Lili waved as the Byers and El started the van and drove away. Lili slung her arm over Max's shoulders as they watched until they couldn't see the van.

"Come on," Lili tugged Max away. "Let's go home."

[UNEDITED]

WAIT. THERES MORE.