It took quite a while, but eventually Joyce and Hopper summoned the strength to leave the comfort of Jonathan's bedroom. They walked to the kitchen to find all the kids and teenagers talking to each other. It was nice. Normal. It made Joyce happy to watch.

"What are you kids up to?" she asked them all. She was still in pain but she had so much to be thankful for, so she decided to power through her heart break and anxiety for the sake of these kids, these brave, strong kids.

"Nothing much." Jonathan answered. At this point the big group had divided into smaller groups. Nancy was talking to Will and Max, Jonathan was talking to Mike and Lucas and El and Dustin were having their own conversation.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Joyce asked her eldest child.

"Uhm, sure.." Jonathan could only imagine how his mother was feeling and hoped he would be able to say the right thing.

They walked to the corner of the kitchen so they could have some privacy, leaving Hopper to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Are you ok?" asked Joyce.

"Yeah of course, are you ok?"

"Forget about me Jonathan, it's not your job to worry about me, it's my job to worry about you. Now, are you ok?"

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. He didn't think he would ever stop hearing Will's screams of pure agony in the back of his head.

"I'm sorry about last night, I'm sorry you were there and had to see all that. I know you Jonathan, and I know that you won't be able to stop thinking about what happened in the cabin for a long time. I won't be able to stop thinking about it either, so don't be afraid to come to me to talk about it- or not talk about it if you want to, if you need to. You are my son too. And I know it seems like all I care about is Will and it seems like I forget about you sometimes, but it's only because you're always so dependable. But you don't have to be dependable. You don't have to be some father figure for Will, you're allowed to just be a stupid teenager. And I am here for you."

Joyce hugged her son and felt him cry into her shoulder. She felt herself cry into his shoulder. They stated there for a few minutes like that. They couldn't remember the last time it had been just the two of them.

They finally snapped out of it.

"So, you and Nancy, huh?" she teased, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Whatever" he rolled his eyes as he laughed.

"Really though, I'm happy you two found each other. I'm happy you're happy." She was so proud of her little boy, who was all grown up, not so little anymore.

Jonathan couldn't suppress a smile. Things were truly looking up. Nancy is his girlfriend, Will is safe. There was only one person he was still worried about.

"What about you Mom, are you ok?"

"No. No I'm not." she answered him honestly, tears still streaming down her face. "But I think I will be. Eventually."