"And that's how I escaped" I say, my eyes sore and watery.

The red haired hair moves over to me and rubs my back gently. I try to hold back the tears, I don't wanna cry in front of everyone. I run my hands over my arms and Will looks at me. I look at him and smile and he smiles back. He looks at the ground and stands up, everyone watching him walk out of the room. It is awkward silence for a while until we hear footsteps of Will entering the room again.

He walks in with a navy Hawkins High School Hoodie and he stops in front of me and hands me the hoodie. I smile at him and take the sweater and put it on. It was warm and I had the best smell. It has a strong cologne smell and it was soft and bigger on me. Every girl's dream pair of clothing.

Will sits back down on the sofa and he rubs his hands together.

"I'm sorry I've probably ruined your plans for the afternoon and I'm sorry I made everything hard and awkward." I start to stand up and a 'force' pulled me down again. I look up and see Elevens nose starting to bleed slightly.

"No"

I gulp and fiddle with my fingers.

"I was you 3 years ago. I ran away from the lab and then I bumped into Mike and the boys. I want to help."

I look at her with my watery eyes and I sigh looking down at my bare feet.

"I don't want to get you guys into trouble."

"Well I don't care." I look up and see Will smiling at me.

I could look at his smile 25/8 and not complain.

"My mom will get home at around 5 so you can sleep in my room or the lounge. I have a spare mattress under my bed so you can take that. You can also take my hoodie." Will looks at me and smiles. The rest of the group is silent and they are looking at me.

"Okay I'm hungry." Dustin claps his hands together and stands up. He walks out of the room and Lucas and the red haired girl start talking and the Tall Boy starts rubbing Elevens back gently.

"I'm sorry but what are your names?" I look at the red haired girl and the Tall Boy.

The red haired girl straightens up and puts out her hand. "I'm Max"

I shake her hand and look at Tall Boy.

"I'm Mike." I smile and take a quick glance at Will. His soft brown eyes are looking at his gentle hands and he just looks so precious and innocent and it makes me want to hug him all day long.

Mike clears his throat, "So, um, when we meet El, her vocabulary wasn't very...her vocabulary wasn't as large? How do you know a lot of English?"

I look at him, "I was taken away from my family when I was 12, so I'm not completely oblivious."

Dustin comes back into the room with fruit, potato chips and some cans of soda. He places them on the island table and everyone starts to lean in and grab a can as well as a hand full of chips. I just sit there and look at the food. I haven't had this kind of food in years, I've always had processed food which I don't even know if it is even food. Dustin looks at me with a mouth full of chips.

"You can have something to eat"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," he smiles "dig in."

I take one chip and a can and sit back on the floor uncomfortably. I feel awkward, taking other peoples food and just living in their house. But they said I could stay with them so I guess it's alright. Will chuckles,

"You can take more you know. You can have as much food as you want."

"I feel rude just taking all of your food."

"You aren't. Dustin is probably gonna take most of the food as you are okay." Will chuckles again. I softly giggle and take a little bit of food and lean my back up against the sofa that Will is sitting on. I snuggle my neck into his hoodie and just listen to the rest of the group talk out their day and what happened at lunch. I smile and I actually start to feel normal, hanging out with a group of friends and just sitting and eating. Talking about each other's day. It was this moment where I felt like I belong and that I am just a normal kid. I never wanted this moment to end.