"Okay, Jenna, be honest with us. Who are you gonna miss the most?"

Jenna playfully rolled her eyes at Natalie Stokes, then glanced at the rest of her friends sitting across from her as they sat in the food court. "You know I can't pick between you guys!"

"Sure you can," Payton Sawyer, another friend of hers, grinned. "And we all know the correct answer is me."

"That's bullshit," Dennis Baldwin chimed in. "It's definitely me that she's gonna miss the most."

"Oh, please, you're probably the last person she'll miss," Payton retorted.

"Or we can all agree that she'll miss all of us," Claire, Jenna's cousin, spoke up next to her.

Jenna smiled at her friends and cousin, finishing up what was left of her New Coke. Claire had taken her into the city for one last trip to the mall with her new friends that she had made while she was here in Nashville for the last six months. Tomorrow, Jenna would be heading back to Hawkins, which she was sad, excited, and nervous all at once to go back after being away for so long.

Natalie gave her a sad look. "Do you really have to go back to that small town of yours? It sounds boring from what you've told us."

Jenna sighed. "Yeah, I have to, especially since I ditched my plans of going back for spring break at the last minute." Pausing, she thought about the day she called her mom to tell her that she wasn't coming home for spring break, explaining that she was enjoying her time here so much and she wasn't sure about leaving to come to Hawkins for a week. While she knew her mom, along with her other friends that expected her back that week, would be disappointed, she understood why Jenna changed her mind, happy that she was having fun in Nashville. Still, Jenna felt guilty for not visiting Hawkins, and she told her mom that when she came to her high school graduation. But her mom insisted that it was okay.

"You think your other friends back home will be pissed at you over it?" Payton asked.

Jenna shrugged in response. "I don't know. Maybe they've gotten over it by now." Despite saying those words, she had doubts in her mind that any of her friends back home would actually let it go.

"Well, I guess you'll find out tomorrow, then," Natalie said. "We're really gonna miss you, Jenna."

Jenna gave her, along with her other friends, a sad smile. "I'm gonna miss all of you guys, too," she stated. "You've made these last six months super fun. I'll never forget it."

The four of them stood up from the table, making a circle for one last group hug before Jenna and Claire had to leave and head back to the house. Claire signaled Jenna by pointing at the watch on her wrist that it was time to go, causing Jenna to pull away from the others. While Natalie and Payton waved goodbye and took a few steps back, Dennis remained close.

"Look, Jenna, there's something I want to tell you," he confessed, his expression turning nervous.

She let out a sigh. "If this is about what happened after prom--"

"Yeah, it is," he cut her off. "I feel bad for what happened. I shouldn't have come onto you like that, especially since I don't think that either one of us were ready to...you know..."

"Right," she said, knowing what he was referring to.

"Anyway, I still feel guilty about it, and I just want to say that I'm sorry for running out on you like that."

Jenna gave him a sad smile. "It's okay, Dennis, really. I'm sorry for not mentioning my episodes before." None of her friends here knew about her powers, trying her best to keep them under control, even with a few small episodes occurring every now and then.

"It's okay," he told her. "Like I told you before, you don't have to feel embarrassed about them."

"Well, it's kind of complicated when it comes to my episodes," she added, chuckling.

Dennis laughed some as well in response. "Fair enough." He nodded his head, sighing. "So this is really goodbye, huh? You're really not coming back?"

"I wouldn't say that," she stated. "I mean, my college plans fell through, so I'll have more time to work and maybe drive down here for a visit or two."

"I'd like that," he said, grinning. "Just give me a call whenever you're back in the city."

"Yeah, I definitely will," she replied. "I'll see you soon, Dennis."

He gave her a small wave as he began to walk backwards. "See you soon, Jenna." With that, he turned around and joined Natalie and Payton, where the three of them began to walk out of the food court.

"Ready to go?" Claire called out.

Jenna turned towards her cousin and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The two were quiet on the way out of the mall and back to the car. Jenna thought about her friends, seeing the way they were sad to see her go, wondering what plans they had for the rest of the summer before heading off to college. That led Jenna to thinking about her plans for work once she got back to Hawkins now that she wasn't going to the University of Kentucky in the fall due to not being able to afford it, even with the small amount of money her parents left for her once she turned eighteen. After some talking with her mom and aunt, they all decided that deferring for a year was the best option for Jenna. At first, she was upset that she wouldn't be able to go to college like everyone else her age, but then she figured she could work a lot in this gap year like she did during the six months here in Nashville. She was sure that she could find something in Hawkins, like Melvald's or Leslie's.

"You're very quiet now," Claire commented. "Everything okay?"

Jenna glanced her way, nodding her head. "Yeah," she told her. "Now, can you tell me why you and your parents have been acting weird all day?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied, a smirk coming across her face that indicated her teasing.

"Cut the bullshit, Claire. Just tell me what it is you guys are hiding."

"No, we're almost home. You'll find out then."

"But I need to know what you're keeping from me now!"

"Relax, it's nothing bad."

Rolling her eyes, Jenna huffed a sigh as she leaned back in the seat. "Come on, Claire. The suspension is killing me."

Claire let out a laugh. "You're so impatient, Jenna."

Jenna grinned, looking out at the road ahead of them as Claire was driving back to the house, where Aunt Judith and Uncle Travis were waiting for them, though she had no idea why any of them were being so secretive all day. While it was a fun day, it made her a little suspicious as to what everyone was up to, especially with her aunt and uncle acting just as weird as Claire was, along with them having gone shopping for Jenna on her birthday just three days ago. At this point, she was getting impatient with what they were hiding.

The anticipation was growing as they turned into the neighborhood, feeling her heart beating fast when Claire was driving down the street, seeing both Judith and Travis' cars in the driveway from a distance. Once Claire made it to the house, pulling into the driveway, Jenna was the first to hop out of the car, heading for the front door.

"Jenna, you gotta wait for me!" Claire called out, following her up the porch with keys in hand.

"Well, hurry up!" Jenna told her. "We can't waste any more time."

Chuckling, Claire put the key inside the lock, turning it and opening the door once it clicked. She was the first to enter inside, with Jenna following suit. "Mom! Dad! We're home!"

"In the kitchen!" Uncle Travis's voice echoed through the hall.

Jenna rushed down the hall and into the kitchen, smelling a chocolate scent, along with finding the table all set up with a large pot of what looked like chicken and pastry, a new favorite meal of hers, in the center, plus some balloons spelling out FAREWELL JENNA hanging from each end of the screen door that led to the back patio. Her aunt and uncle were standing at the end of the table, with grins on their faces.

"What's all this?" Jenna asked.

"Well, because it's your last night with us, we wanted to do something special for you," Aunt Judith explained. "So we made chicken and pastry, and there's some brownies in the oven for later."

Before replying, she took another look at everything. "You guys did all this for me?"

"Of course we did," Claire said from behind me.

"We've enjoyed you staying with us these last six months," Uncle Travis stated.

"And we're gonna miss you," Aunt Judith added.

Jenna smiled a little, letting out a small laugh as she shook her head. "Wow. I don't know what to say."

"How about we just go ahead and eat, then?" Uncle Travis suggested.

So the four took their seats, filling their bowls with chicken and pastry and their cups with pop. Sitting around the table for a while, they talked and laughed while eating, continuing to do so once they each had a few brownies not too long after being done with supper. As Jenna glanced around at her aunt, uncle, and cousin, she couldn't help but feel sad that this was her last night with them. Even though she wondered how much Hawkins had changed since she left, she didn't want to worry about it right now. Instead, she wanted to soak up her final hours in Nashville with the family in front of her.

Clearing her throat, Jenna stood up from her chair as she got everyone's attention. "So, uh, I have some things that I'd like to say." She paused for a moment, fidgeting with her hands as she looked down at the others. "I'll be honest, I was against the idea of finding my relatives, mainly because I didn't think any of them would accept me after everything that's happened in my life. But then I came here six months ago, and you guys welcomed me with open arms, which was something I needed. I also think I needed a change of...well, everything." She let out a chuckle before continuing on. "Anyway, I just want to say thank you for all that you've done for me these last six months. I'm really gonna miss you guys."

The three of them gave Jenna sad smiles, to which she did the same.

"We're happy that you came to stay with us, Jenna," Uncle Travis spoke up. "It'll be strange without you around the house, but you're welcome here anytime."

Jenna nodded her head. "Thanks, Uncle Travis."

The four stayed at the table for the rest of the evening, chatting about everything that happened while Jenna was here, ranging from the road trips they took in Tennessee to the school events such as prom and graduation. They talked about Dorothy and how happy she was to see Jenna get her diploma, along with how disappointing it was that she couldn't drive down for her eighteenth birthday because of work. Then, once the conversation moved to the subject of Jenna's friends, she could only nod and agree with what her aunt and uncle said about being excited to see them again, though she wasn't sure they would feel the same way about her, seeing as she hadn't talked to any of them since leaving Hawkins.

As the night fell upon them, everyone all agreed that it was time to clean up the kitchen and let Jenna finish packing. She emptied out the rest of her dresser, then moved towards gathering everything from the bathroom, leaving a pile on the bed for her to organize once she got around to putting everything in her suitcase. The more she was cleaning out my room, taking down pictures of her and her new friends, she couldn't help but feel sad that she was leaving this room behind. While it was just a guest room, Jenna still loved it as her own bedroom during her stay here. She was going to miss the cream-colored theme the room had, with the walls that she would often look at whenever she had trouble sleeping, along with the full-sized bed that was always comfortable whenever she got in it. The room became her safe space, a sense of security, and she was going to miss that.

Another spot Jenna liked to go to was the roof that she could climb out to through the window. She enjoyed sitting out there sometimes to be alone, which led her to be on the roof for hours on some days and nights. It was a nice way to relax, though she was sure Aunt Judith was concerned Jenna would fall if she knew about it. She decided to go on the roof and sit outside, wanting to take it all in one last time before her departure tomorrow. Sighing, she settled on the roof, bringing her knees closer so that she could rest her chin. As she was listening to the crickets around her, Jenna could feel her body getting hot, despite the cool breeze blowing her way. For the most part, she had done well with controlling her abilities the last six months, but there were moments where she thought a little episode was coming along and she had to find a way to prevent it from escalating, which often meant cooling down, something she taught herself to do, becoming helpful during what happened between her and Dennis a couple of months ago. Closing her eyes, Jenna took a deep breath and focused on her body going back to its normal temperature. Slowly but surely, she started to feel the heat coming off her, followed by some relief. By the time she felt better, she opened her eyes and sighed again, wiping the small amount of blood that was running out of her nose.

"I thought I'd find you out here." Spinning around, Jenna looked to see Claire climbing out, with a smirk on her face and a carton of cigarettes and a lighter in her hands. "Taking a break from packing?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I feel like I have a lot to get done."

Claire let out a chuckle in response. "I was the same way when I left for college." She sat next to Jenna, pulling out a cigarette and offering it to her. "Want one?"

"I'm good," she said. "Trying to quit, remember?"

"Ah, right," she stated, lighting the cigarette up. "I tried to quit a few times, but college became stressful so quickly. Just remember that when you go next year."

Jenna laughed a little. "Thanks for the heads up." Pausing, she leaned back against the house, stretching her legs. "And thanks for today. I had a great time."

Claire smiled back. "I'm glad. I figured you wanted one last day with your friends and favorite cousin before you leave tomorrow."

She playfully rolled her eyes. "You're my only cousin, Claire."

"Which makes me your favorite," she pointed out.

"Even if it's only by default?"

"I'll still take it."

Shaking her head, Jenna chuckled. "I don't think I could've asked for a better cousin."

Still grinning, Claire continued smoking her cigarette. "You know you can call me whenever you need anything or if you just wanna talk, right?"

"Yeah, I know," she said, nodding.

"Okay, just making sure. I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me stuff."

Jenna shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing else to tell, really," she lied.

When Claire took Jenna to get her hair done to a lighter brown color over spring break, they talked about her life back in Hawkins, though she left out some important details such as her time at the lab (as her aunt, uncle, and cousin already knew some things regarding the place and didn't really ask Jenna much about her experience there), along with her powers and fighting monsters like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer. She did, however, talk about her mom and social life a lot, complaining about her ex-boyfriend, Craig, who probably didn't notice when Jenna wasn't at school when everyone went back after winter break, and the rest of her friends like Janet, Carter, and Dana. She even mentioned Eleven, feeling bad about not calling her much since she came to Nashville. But like her other friends, she never called Jenna, either.

"Oh, really?" Claire raised her eyebrows. "So there's nothing else to say about your goodbye with Dennis, then?"

"He just felt bad about what happened after prom at that party," Jenna explained. "And to be honest, I felt bad about it, too."

"It's because of that boy you told me about, wasn't it?" she inquired. "What's his name again? Stanley?"

"Steve," Jenna corrected her. She had mentioned Steve to Claire many times, more than she'd like to admit. "Yeah, that was the reason I stopped it with Dennis that night." She paused, letting out a sigh. "I thought I was over him after all the shit that went down between us before I left." Jenna scoffed, shaking her head. "God, I tried so hard to get over it, and I thought meeting a nice guy like Dennis would help me with that."

"But all it did was make you feel worse about the whole thing," Claire commented.

Jenna nodded in agreement. "Exactly."

Jenna and Dennis attended the afterparty that Natalie hosted at her house on prom night, both of them tipsy after drinking beer and throwing back a few shots. She was in the hallway, on her way to getting more drunk, when she ran into Dennis, where he kissed her that led to them making out in the nearby bathroom. They were in there for a while, enjoying each other's embrace, until Jenna thought about Steve, which brought on an episode as her emotions ran high from it. She remembered stopping abruptly, and Dennis ran out before either one of them could say anything else. They spoke of it the next day, then didn't say anything else about it until this afternoon.

"So you never told Dennis it was about Steve," Claire stated.

"I mean, I couldn't just tell him what--or who, actually--caused that episode." Shaking her head, Jenna let out another sigh. "Was I supposed to tell him that there was someone else who has nothing to do with me anymore back at home?"

"You don't really think that about Steve, do you?"

Jenna scoffed. "He made that perfectly clear the last time we saw each other." She paused again, shaking her head. "He didn't even show up at my house to say goodbye, and I haven't heard from him since I've been here."

"You also haven't heard from your other friends," Claire pointed out.

"Steve's different. We were almost more than friends."

"And is that what you want when you get back to Hawkins?"

"I...I don't know." To be honest, Jenna wasn't sure what was going to happen once she got back home. Obviously, things couldn't go back to the way they were. That was something she and so many others learned after the disappearance of Will Byers almost two years ago.

"Well, how about you just take everything one step at a time?" Claire suggested as she finished what was left of her cigarette. "Look, it was one hell of an adjustment when you came here to stay with my parents, and it's gonna be the same way when you go back to your hometown and your old life. So just take some time to re-figure everything out with your friends and mom before you jump back into things, especially things with Steve."

Jenna raised her eyebrows. "You really think that'll work?"

Claire shrugged. "Unless you want some catastrophic event to speed up the process, then yeah, I do." She paused, exhaling loudly. "Jenna, life's too short and precious to put things off. You gotta live in the moment. Otherwise, shit's gonna hit the fan and that's when it'll be too late to say or do anything about it."

Biting her lip, Jenna thought about what Claire was telling her. She knew she was right about her having to slowly work her way back into things with everyone in Hawkins, especially with the feeling that everything was going to be tense once she got back. No matter what, she had to face it all eventually, which she hoped it all worked out in the end with everything, specifically, like Claire had mentioned, things with Steve after their big fallout. They had to clean up the mess that was made, seeing that it had been put off for far too long. After all, none of it would get fixed by itself.

But of course, returning to Hawkins was going to be complicated in general. Stepping back into the town that had been nothing but trouble for Jenna and so many others in the last almost couple of years, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, everything. Absolutely everything.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Yay, chapter one is here! In the words of CELESTIELS, we are here for the Jenna (and eventually Stenna) agenda.

What do y'all think? What are y'all most excited for?

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A