Summary:After moving from New York to Hawkins, your life is changed by a handsome police chief, a mysterious girl and a realm that is beyond the boundaries of normality.
Warnings:some swearing
A/N:Sorry it’s been a while since the last update but thank you all for being patient and understanding! I hope you enjoy! ❤️ (plus- bless Steve )
You left the cabin obscenely early the next morning. You had fallen asleep on the chair in El’s room, it was surprisingly comfortable. You left a note for El and another for Jim, although Jim’s note was very short and to the point; ‘Gone back to my brother’s to get organised for work.’ You were still mad at him.
Reaching the house at around half seven in the morning, you headed in for a quick shower to wash off the sweat you had built up while walking back to town. Half an hour later, you were ready and downstairs pouring out a cup of coffee for yourself. You let out a long sigh and plopped yourself down on one of the stools by the kitchen island. “Hello?” You heard a groggy voice called out.
“Just me,” you took a large gulp of coffee and looked over to Steve “No offence but you look like shit.”
“So do you,” Steve dismally replied and placed down his half eaten bowl of dry cereal and his coffee. You reached across and felt the cup, it was cold.
“You want a fresh cup?”
“No,” he bluntly said and sat down across from you and downed what was left in the cup, grimacing when he tasted the bitter grounds at the bottom.
You raised a brow “What’s the matter?” He took a long time to reply, you could see his eyes getting glossy. He mumbled back 'nothing’under his breath. You intervened, you knew how he was feeling “You don’t have to talk about it ,but all I’m saying is eating dry cereal and drinking cold coffee isn’t going to help mend a broken heart.” Steve slowly looked up to you “Trust me, it isn’t a good coping mechanism. Neither is eating a pint of ice cream for that matter.”
Steve sighed and used his finger and thumb to rub away the tears welling in his eyes “She said it was all bullshit…Nancy, she-” he sniffled and wiped away a tear on his cheek with the back of his hand “Sorry,” he apologised.
“Steve, stop, never- and I mean it- never apologise for crying. C'mere,” you opened your arms and he happily accepted the hug “You don’t have to be so tough all the time, sweetie.” He pulled back and nodded tentatively “What time does your first class start?”
“Uhh ten thirty, why?”
“C'mon we’ll go to the diner before your first class starts, my treat! I don’t have classes until this afternoon.” You smiled and ruffled his hair “Go grab your things and we’ll get going.” He grinned and rushed up the stairs and grabbed his schoolbag and jacket. You grabbed your car keys and tossed them to Steve when he came down the stairs “You can even drive old blue out there today.”
“What?!” He ecstatically jumped on the spot “Yes! Thank you, Aunt Y/N!” You smiled and followed him out to the car. The radio was playing but you quickly turned the station when a certain song came on. Steve let out a small snort of laughter under his breath “What? You don’t like Billy Joel?”
“It’s not that I don’t like him, I love that song it’s just…” your words fizzled out and Steve raised a brow. “It’s a special song for Jim and I. We kinda had a fight last night. That’s why I came back so early.” Steve pulled up to the diner and you sent him a small forced smile “Lets eat, buddy!”
You let him get whatever he wanted, you always were a pushover with him. “Mom called last night before I went out. She said they’d be another week or so- Dad is trying to close a deal.”
“Well he’s stubborn enough to stay and get what he wants, regardless of how long it will take.” You took bite out of your waffles, Steve got pancakes with bacon and maple syrup- which he demolished. “So, you wanna talk or…?”
Steve looked up from his cup of coffee to you “You’re so worried about other people that you don’t take a minute for yourself. I should be asking you if you wanna talk.”
You shrugged a shoulder “Because I’m fine.” Steve didn’t look convinced “Really, I am.”
He hummed, unconvinced and continued finishing his breakfast. You mindlessly played with the last remaining crumbs on your plate with your fork. Steve could tell you were upset. He looked around and stood up, you assumed he was just heading to the bathroom but instead he went to the jukebox and picked a song.
Your ears picked up the recognisable tune of 'Old Time Rock and Roll’ and Steve slid back to the table, catching your attention. You raised a brow when he picked up his fork and began singing into it. You let out a loud laugh and the other diners glanced around and smirked at your nephew as he tried to reenact Tom Cruise’s infamous dance routine from Risky Business. He loved that movie. Steve held out his hand and you took it, standing up to dance along with him. The two of you danced around and sang along to the song. When the song finished the four other patrons, the waitress and the cook all clapped and whistled.
“Thank you,” you smiled and put a hand on his arm before extending your arms to give him a hug.
“Do we have to hug?” He asked like he was a kid asked to do a chore.
You tightly smiled and shook your head “Yeah, we do.” You wrapped your arms around him and he let out a loud groan. “I’m gonna hug you for even longer now,” you chuckled in his ear. You eventually pulled back “Come on, you’ve got class soon and I’ve got to get organised for my classes this afternoon.”
Steve drove to the school “You needing a ride home later?” He asked.
“Uhh…I don’t think so. I’ve got paperwork to do. I’ll either head back home or go to Jim’s” You both got out and he grabbed his things. “I’ll call you from a payphone or something and check in.” You knew how much Steve valued his independence, he wanted to prove to your brother that he could be responsible. Unbeknownst to Steve, you always kept Stuart and Deborah in the loop.
“Okay, I gotta go and get changed for gym class. See you later Aunt Y/N, and thanks for breakfast.”
“Anytime kid. Thanks for cheering me up.” you both went your separate ways. You had just made it to the door when you realised you left one of your bags in the trunk of the car so you jogged over to the gym hall and waited for Steve. “I need the keys, I’ll be two minutes! Tops!” Steve sighed and went back to the locker room again. “Sorry about this, coach.” You thinly smiled at the man with a whistle between his lips, it fell out when he smiled back.
“Ah,” he blew a raspberry and waved his hand while walking away to grab a basketball “These things happen.” Steve came back with the keys and you quickly grabbed your things out of the car before going back to the gym and handing your nephew the car keys back.
You heard a low whistle from behind you and you turned on your heel with a raised brow. “Well, well, well…no one told me the king knew a princess…” your face contorted.
“Excuse me?” You glared at the boy with messy hair.
“They call Steve the 'King’,” he clarified, using his fingers as quotation marks when he said the word king.
You rolled your eyes and glanced at Steve “Jesus, I’ve heard it all now…” You moved your bag up your shoulder and pat Steve’s arm “See you later.”
“Maybe you’ll see me later, Miss Harrington. You could teach me a lesson…” the boy blatantly flirted.
You forced a smile “Sorry to disappoint you but I’m way too old for you and already spoken for.”
His brows furrowed “Oh yeah? Well I’ll kick his ass into next week! Who is this asshole?”
“He’s the chief of police,” that put him in his place and the blood drained from his face while shock set it. You walked out the gym hall with a smirk on your face and headed to your classroom to set up for your class.
•••
“Okay, class dismissed. Remember homework is due tomorrow and I’ll need the permission slips for our class trip to the museum next week by the end of this week. Have a great night everyone!” You stood by the class door and smiled at each student. You noticed Dustin almost wrestling with his backpack. “You alright there?”
“Y-yeah!” He forced a smile and quickly walked out.
You raised a suspicious brow before saying bye to Will, who was trailing behind. You noticed him looking quite sheepish “Hey, Will. How are you?”
He nodded “Good, thanks Miss Harrington.” You thinly smiled and watched him and the rest of the group scurry off to the A.V room.
You returned to your desk and got on with some paperwork. A little while later, you heard a knock on the classroom door. Not bothering to look up from the papers you were marking, you called the person in “Can I help yo-” you cut yourself off when you glanced up and saw Jim standing there with a sorry look on his face “Oh…” you returned your eyes back to the papers you were working on “It’s you.”
You could hear his chunky boots approach your desk, his looming figure towering over you. He placed an apple in front of you and you stopped moving your pen for a moment to look at it before continuing with writing. “With me, the chief of police, eating my weight in doughnuts daily and now giving a teacher an apple you could call me a walking cliché, huh?” He tried to crack a joke but failed miserably.
“I could call you lots of things at this moment in time…” you mumbled and kept your eyes firmly on the work in front of you.
Jim sighed “Please don’t be like this…I’m sorry.”
You finally looked up to him, placing your pen down on the table a little harder than you intended, making him flinch at the sharp noise “It’s not me you should be sorry too!” You pinched the bridge of your nose “I can deal with a lot of things, Jim.” His gaze fell to his feet “But El,” his head snapped back up “She’s a young girl. She’s a teenager with hormones and emotions and so many feelings! She’s been through so much. You’ve got to understand that she doesn’t know any better. You’re trying to teach her and I know that, I know you’re doing your best but be patient with her. You know promises are the only thing she relies on and yesterday you said c-o-m-promise. Promise.Key word there, Jim.” You sighed and shook your head “The two of you have a lot to learn.”
Jim let out a huff “Why are you always right?”
“It’s a gift,” the corner of your lip tugged upwards “But seriously, apologise and I know for a fact El will apologise too.”
You stood up and and walked around to Jim, he wrapped his arms around your waist and you leaned up slightly to wrap your arms around the back of his neck and perch your chin on his shoulder “Thank you,” he pulled back slightly to take a good look at your face. Jim leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours once, then twice and then kissed you a little longer the third time. “Listen…I gotta do some stuff later so I might not be back for dinner,” he rubbed your arms “I guess you can bend my rules a little and let El have Eggos before dinner.”
“You trying to sweeten her up?” You raised a brow and he shrugged, biting on his lower lip and bobbing his head from side to side.
“Well….” he drawled out “Eggos could help my cause.”
You smirked and shook your head “Alright, alright…But I’m not the middleman here!” You stood back and pointed your finger at him.
“Course not,” he pressed a light kiss to your forehead “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye…” your eyes followed him out the door “Thanks for the apple…and the view…” you playfully added and Jim walked with a little spring in his step knowing you were checking him out.
“You’re welcome!”
You finished up your marking and headed home for the day. You wandered through the corridors that were leading you to the exit but stopped when you noticed a body whizz passed you at the end of a corridor. You swore it was Lucas. You turned the opposite direction of the exit and eventually made your way to the hall where you could hear voices.
What you saw shocked you.
She was never supposed to leave.
“El?” You quietly called out her name and you could see her freezing like a deer in headlights. She slowly turned around and had a very guilty expression on her face. You didn’t know what to do, you were so taken aback by seeing her outside. Jim would be furious. “Sweetie, we have to go,” you hastily made your way towards her “It’s dangerous.”
“Mike,” she pointed and you glanced up seeing him with Max who was on the floor. You were wondering why the group were still in the school floating around the halls.
“Come with me,” you took her hand and lead her to your classroom. “We can’t stay for long,” you shut over the door and headed to Mike’s desk. You only hoped that he had left what he had been writing. You noticed him scribbling something down during his free time- you assumed it was a note for El. You fished through his books and papers- and bubble gum wrappers. “Yes!” You took out the folded up note and sat down on Mike’s desk. “He wrote this for you…do you want me to read it to you?” El nodded, coming up and standing next to you, lacing her arm with yours. “'Dear, El. I miss you. It’s not the same and it’s super boring. Dustin and Lucas said that I’ll eventually accept not having you around but I don’t think I ever will. I think you’d like our friend Will, I’ve told him all about you. Miss Harrington said I should write to you. I hope I get to show you this letter someday. I miss you, from Mike.’”
You glanced down to the curly haired girl beside you and noticed her eyes becoming glossy. You sighed and wriggled your arm out from hers so you could give her a hug. “Thank you,” she groggily whispered and blinked away her tears.
“You’re welcome, sweetie.” You put back Mike’s note for El “We need to get back, it’s quite a walk but I’m sure you know that now,” you managed to laugh and El cracked a smile. “Let’s get going.”
You walked back to the cabin with El, mainly going through the woods so no one would see you. That meant the journey took longer than usual and by the time you reached the cabin it was dark. The lights were on and there was a small orange glow coming from the tip of a Camel cigarette.
“Oh shit…” you uttered under your breath.
Jim was back before he both of you and he didn’t look happy.
——————
Tags are open! Just let me know if you’d like to be tagged or not!
Summary:After moving from New York to Hawkins, your life is changed by a handsome police chief, a mysterious girl and a realm that is beyond the boundaries of normality.
Warnings:some angst
A/N:Sorry it’s been forever but thank you all for being patient! I hope you enjoy! ❤️
You sauntered into the kitchen “Mmm…smells good,” you tiredly groaned and hugged Jim from behind while he cooked breakfast. He made a start on it while you changed out of your pyjamas and into your clothes for work which today consisted of a black dress, a witch hat and black and purple striped tights. Jim glanced behind to look at you and let out a small snort of laughter at your hat “What?” You took it off and casually tossed it on the couch “I’m just enthusiastic about Halloween!”
Jim hummed and you went to pour out a cup of coffee for you both. “Oh, Jesus!” He softly jumped and you turned around. You smiled seeing El standing with a white bed sheet over her head with eyes cut out.
“Ghost.”
“Yeah,” Jim replied “I see that.”
“I love your costume sweetie! Are we going out trick or treating later?” You asked and she took off the sheet to look at Jim with pleading eyes.
“No,” he replied without a hint of compassion “Go wash your hands for breakfast.” El stormed off huffing and you furrowed your eyebrows while glaring at Jim from behind. He plated up the French toast and took it to the table “What?” He asked when he noticed you glaring.
“Why did you say no to trick or treating?” You asked sitting next to him at the table.
“Because it’s not safe for her to go out,” you opened your mouth to argue that no one would recognise her if she dressed as a ghost but Jim cut in before you had the chance. “Regardless of what she’s wearing.”
“Fine! We can take her to the next town over. It’s like twenty to thirty minutes away in the car. No one would have clue it’s her!” You tried fighting her cause as best as you could but Jim wasn’t having any of it. You loudly sighed “She’s a young girl and kids her age have to socialise and develop people skills- her more than anyone. El needs it. She needs to start living a normal teenage life and start having some sort of childhood. Something she has been denied her whole life.” You gently took his hand and squeezed it pleadingly “Don’t deny her it when she has the chance.”
El joined you both at the table and you let go of Jim’s hand. You all began eating in silence before he spoke up “Hey kid,” You and El slowly looked at Jim “How about I get off early, and I buy us a bunch of candy, and we can sit around and get fat, and we can all watch scary movies?” You took a bit of French toast, pulling the fork from your mouth with a small smile on your lips. “How’s that for a compromise?”
“C-compromise?” El repeated.
“C-o-m-promise. Compromise. How about we make that your word for the day?” You knew he was trying his best to keep her happy. Even if he was tough about it. “It’s kinda like something in-between. It’s like halfway happy.”
“By 5-1-5?” She asked.
“Yeah, 5:15.”
“Promise?” She asked and you glanced up to Jim. You both knew how valuable a promise was to El.
“Yes. I promise.”
She lightly smiled at Jim “Halfway happy.”
Jim leaned over and playfully ruffled her hair that had grew in tight brown curls. “Y/N can be here a little earlier maybe?”
He turned to you and you sent El a smile “Sure! I can be! I get out of school at three, I can pick up some candy too and walk from the store. It will take me like 45 minutes tops and I sure could do with a walk in the fresh air before consuming my body weight in candy,” you joked and El chuckled. “It’s going to be great!” You warmly smiled and gently pinched her cheek.
You felt Jim’s hand on your knee, he gave it a soft squeeze- enough to capture your attention. He looked at you for a sign of approval. You nodded and placed your hand on top of his before finishing breakfast. You and Jim left at the same time, El handed you your pointy witch hat before you left while Jim took your bags out to the car. “Have a nice day,” she said as you gave her a hug before leaving.
“You too! Let me know how you get on with reading the first three chapters of ‘Peter Pan’ and remember write down any words you aren’t sure of and we can go over them.” You gave her a final wave as you stepped out of the cabin. That what you and El did ever since you had first read to her. Whilst reading ’Alice in Wonderland’ she had countless of questions and queries about words so you taught her. You were teacher after all. You taught her everything and anything she wanted to know. “You better keep your promise, Jim.” You warned as he pulled up to the school.
“I will,” he leaned over and captured your lips with his “See you later.”
“5:15!” You warned him again with a pointed finger as you grabbed your bags. He nodded and stuck his thumb up for good measure. He watched you disappear into the school with a small smile on his face.
•••
“Okay everybody! Take a piece of candy from the bucket on the way out and have a great Halloween! I hope you all get lots of goodies!” You shook around the candy in the bucket and each student took a piece with a grin on their face.
“Is this a bribe for us to not egg where you live?” Dustin asked, grabbing a tootsie roll.
You let out a laugh “Kinda…I don’t think my brother would appreciate my students trashing his place.”
“If we can take two pieces it’s a deal,” Will grinned.
“Yeah, two pieces and we’ll just egg Steve instead!” Mike added and you burst into a fit of giggles.
“For that comment alone I feel the need to give you twenty pieces! Love the costumes by the way, Ghostbusters is an awesome film!” You let them choose the rest of their candy and waved them off. You quickly grabbed your things before heading out the classroom. You made your way out to the car park and noticed Steve and Nancy chatting by his car “Hey you two!” You greeted them “Any plans for tonight?”
“Yeah, we’re going to a party as Lana and Joel from Risky Business,” Nancy replied with a smile as she clutched onto her books tightly “We have costumes that are pretty much identical to what they wear in the film!”
“Aww that’s cute!” You gushed and Steve let out an embarrassed groan “Oh shut up Steve. I hope you both have a great time! I’ll be at Jim’s tonight so I’ll see you at some point tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he replied and opened the car door “Mom and dad are out of town until Monday so-”
“-So I’ll be keeping my eye on you! Anyway, have fun tonight, I’ll see you guys later.” You waved them off and made your way to Bradley’s Big Buy and bought a bunch of candy before heading to the pizza place and picking up one for dinner. You’d keep a few slices by for Jim so he could heat them up when he arrived back at the cabin. You walked for miles, building a sweat before eventually arriving at the cabin. You knocked on the door and it opened, El got up off the couch to help you with your bags “Hey sweetie, I picked us up some pizza for dinner. I’ll put it on a plate and after we can start watching some classic Halloween movies!”
“Sounds good,” she replied with a timid smile before gasping when she saw a packet of eggos in your shopping bag.
“I had an idea,” you began and pulled out a few packets of candy “We could have a chocolate fondue!”
“Fondue?” El questioned with a furrowed brow.
“It’s when you take either cheese or chocolate, in this case chocolate, and melt it. Then you can take stuff like eggos or marshmallows and dip it into the chocolate. How does that sound?”
“Can we have it now?” She asked and you loudly laughed.
“Dinner first!” You giggled and served her a few slices of pizza and sat at the table. You grabbed homework you had to grade from your bag and made a start on it while eating dinner. You glanced up and noticed El watching you. You motioned her to sit by you. She brought her plate and placed it beside yours and watched with curious eyes at what you were doing. “I’m showing the person if they have got the questions right or not. If it’s right they get a tick,” you ticked an answer “If it’s wrong they get a cross,” you crossed an answer in red pen and scribbled down why it was wrong. “I write that to tell them what is wrong so they can learn from their mistake.” El watched you with curious eyes as you continued marking the papers. You flipped one over and hesitated seeing the name 'Micheal Wheeler’ scribbled at the top. You glanced down to El and noticed her face light up. “Do you…do you want to put a tick there?” You quietly asked.
She nodded and you handed her the pen. El marked next to the sentence he had written with a tick and a soft smile on her face. You gently grinned as she handed you back the pen and you quickly finished off grading his homework. “Thank you,” El hugged your side as you flipped over Mike’s homework to correct the last paper.
You smiled down at her and ruffled her curly hair “I know you miss him. He misses you too.” You said with a sigh.
When you both finished dinner and once you had put away all the marked homework in your bag with your change of clothes, you melted the chocolate in a bowl and grabbed a few other small bowls, placing candy and pieces of toasted, cut up eggos and fruit in them.
You glanced over to the clock and noticed it was five, Jim would be home soon. You settled on the sofa with El who dived into dipping the eggos into melted chocolate. “Good,” she stuck her thumbs up with chocolate all over her lips.
You chuckled and playfully ruffled her hair before you both settled down to watch a movie. The pair of you were so engrossed watching Ghostbusters that you didn’t realise it was six thirty. Jim was over an hour late. You let out a loud sigh and El caught on, looking at you slightly concerned. Jim promised. “It’s fine, he’s probably on his way right now!” You smiled and El nodded with a crestfallen expression before leaning against your side and getting comfortable for the next movie. You wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gently squeezed it. The movie was playing but your eye was constantly on the clock.
It was well passed nine at night when there was a buzz from the radio. El rushed over to it, referring to the code above it to spell out what Jim was saying. “Late,” she disappointingly huffed and turned back to you “Late.”
You gaze fell to the floor momentarily “I’m sorry, honey. Why don’t I get you tucked into bed and we can read a few chapters of 'Peter Pan’?”
El shifted her gaze from the tv to you “Can I find Mike?”
It took a few seconds for you to reply, El could tell you were internally debating with yourself. Jim discouraged any contact with the gang- especially Mike. You bit the inside of your cheek before eventually giving in “Okay,” you quietly spoke “We can move the tv into your room. We don’t tell Hop about it, okay?” El had a huge grin on her face and wrapped her arms around you before pulling back to let you push the tv into her room. “I’m right here if you need me,” you sat down on the bed and watched her place the blindfold over her eyes. Moments later, a trickle of red blood streamed out her nose.
You jumped and yelped hearing banging on the door followed by Jim’s voice. “I know,” he dismally spoke to the door “I’m late. I’m sorry. Just open up. Is Y/N there?”
El pulled down the blindfold and you let out a huff “I’ll get it.” You stood up and closed over El’s bedroom door, making your way to the front door that was being banged on by Jim. You opened up, instantly sending him a disappointed glare.
“I know I’m a little late-”
You sharply cut him off “A little late?! It’s been hours, Jim!” You didn’t mean to yell so loud and took a deep breath. “El was looking forward to tonight, all of us spending time together and doing something to make up for the fact that she couldn’t go out trick or treating.”
Jim rubbed his face “Where is she? In her room?” You nodded. Jim’s eyes locked on to the wire traveling into her room “You let her find Mike?”
You let out an unamused bark of laughter “Are you for real? It’s the least she deserves! God, Jim! She was so upset!”
“That doesn’t mean you should let her try and find him!” He snapped back.
You held up your hands “I’m not arguing with you,” you headed back to El’s room before stopping in your tracks and turning back to him again “Where did you get the candy?”
“I went to the store!” He threw himself down on the couch. You raised an eyebrow at him and he cracked “Fine!I bribed a kid! But I can-”
Jim was cut off by a door slamming. He let out a loud sigh and began to begrudgingly eat the candy.
He knew he messed up. Big time.
——————
Tags are open! Just let me know if you’d like to be tagged or not!
Summary:After moving from New York to Hawkins, your life is changed by a handsome police chief, a mysterious girl and a realm that is beyond the boundaries of normality.
Warnings:like one swear
A/N:Sorry this part has taken me a little while to post and is a little short but I’d like to thank you all for your responses and lovely comments! ❤️The blocks of italic font are flashbacks! Enjoy!
The soft sound of pencils against paper filled your classroom while you were at the chalkboard writing down pages and questions that corresponded with those pages for your students to do. A knock at the door distracted you and captured the attention of your students. You put down the piece of chalk and went to the door “Principal Coleman,” you greeted him and noticed a girl with hair redder than a raging fire by his side “Hello there!”
“Miss Harrington, this is Maxine Mayfield, a new student here at Hawkins Elementary.” Coleman introduced you to her.
“Hi Maxine, we’re happy to have you here!”
“Just Max- I prefer Max.” She spoke up.
You smiled “Okay, thank you Principal Coleman.” He curtly nodded and walked off “Alright Max, let me introduce you to the class.” You motioned her to go in and you followed behind her “Class,” they all looked up, brows crinkling slightly at the sight of someone new “This is Maxine Mayfield, however, she prefers to be called Max. I’m sure you’ll all make her very welcome here at Hawkins Elementary and help her out should she need any.” You smiled down at her “Here’s a textbook,” you reached across and grabbed one from your desk “The pages are up on the board but if you have any questions- just ask! Take a seat anywhere you’d like.”
She uttered a quiet ‘thanks’ before grabbing a seat at the back of your class. You noticed Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will all look back to her before their heads snapped back around when she caught them looking.
The day flew in and when the bell rang, students were leaping out of their seats to get out the classroom to get home. You watched them leave and shut the door behind you. It was the day before Halloween and you had brought in decorations to decorate the classroom with. You pulled out one of your bags that was under your desk, the other one contained pyjamas, a change of clothes and all your essentials. You were going to stay the night at the cabin with Jim and El, something you did a few nights a week.
•••
“She came back the night she disappeared?” You quietly confirmed with Jim from where you were standing in the kitchenette, El was watching the tv. It had been an hour since you arrived at the cabin.
“That’s what she told me,” he said glancing over to her “She said there was an opening at the school and came back. I found her the night after the Christmas party at the station. I brought her here, I knew she’d be safe here. We established some ground rules and made it like a fortress.”
“She’s been here all this time…” you whispered.
Jim let out a guilty sigh, there was plenty of times he wanted to tell you but just couldn’t. He knew the more people that knew El was back, the more danger she would be in. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just wanted to keep her safe.”
Jim felt your arms wrap around him “I understand,” you mumbled into his uniform. He smiled and hugged you back, placing a soft kiss to your forehead before releasing you.
“Are you staying?” A soft voice appeared from behind you and you turned around.
“Yeah, I can stay a little while before Jim takes me home,” you smiled at El and looked behind your shoulder to Jim “Maybe tomorrow I could bring my pyjamas and stay the night?”
Jim nodded and sent you a wink before El dragged you to her bedroom, almost begging you to read one of the books Jim had stored in the cabin. “Alright,” you tucked her in and pulled over a chair to the bedside “Chapter one- Down the rabbit hole.”
•••
After decorating tables with fake cobwebs and spiders and sticking up decorations on the walls, you grabbed a chair from one of the desks and pulled it to the window to hang a garland from it that had witches and bats dangling down. You stood in the middle and stretched to either side of the frame, just about reaching the left hand side before attempting the right. You completely ignored the fact that your foot was on the very edge of the chair until you came tumbling off it with a shriek.
You braced yourself to land face first on the floor. But you never. You came into contact with something soft. You looked up and saw Jim smirking down at you, his arms holding you up by your armpits while one foot was on the floor and the other was on the chair. “Hoo boy, I knew you fell for me but you don’t have to do it every time I walk into the room!”
“Ha ha, very funny,” you grumbled and stabled yourself on solid ground “Well at least I managed to hang it up,” you pointed to the garland. Jim breathed out a low whistle.
“You’ve went all out decorating the place,” he said admiring your decorative skills.
“Yeah, and I have candy for the kids too. We’re gonna have a fun day tomorrow, do some ghoulish geography and menacing maths,” you playfully wiggled your fingers “before having a little Halloween party. They’ve worked hard and deserve a treat.”
“You’re such a good teacher,” he placed his hands on your waist “The kids are lucky to have you teaching them.” You bashfully smiled and waved off his comment, Jim always said you were too modest. “You got your stuff?” He asked and you nodded. He pecked the side of your head and grabbed your overnight bag while you finished off adding bits and bobs to your desk and quickly drew a ghost on the chalkboard.
You dusted off your hands “Okay, that’s me,” you and Jim walked out together and he opened the car door for you before placing your bag in the back. “I forgot to tell you yesterday, when Steve and I were in the car park heading to his car, this asshole came from out of no where! I think the driver thought they were in a race car.”
Jim’s brows crinkled “Seriously?! Did you get a look at the person or what car it was? Registration number? Anything?”
“No,” you sighed out “I only noticed that it was a blue car before it sped off. I know it’s not much to go on.”
Jim shook his head “It’s alright, I’ll make sure to let the guys know so they can keep an eye out. As long as you’re alright…and Steve.” The corner of your lip tugged upwards. You adored how much he cared. Your hand found his and you tightly held on to it, quickly bringing the back of his hand to your lips before resting it on your lap and placing your other hand over the top of his. “What was that for?” Jim asked, pleasantly surprised by your affectionate actions.
“Does there have to be a reason? Can’t I just adore you and kiss and hold your hand?” You teased ever so slightly. It made Jim blush.
He pulled up near the cabin and grabbed your things for you. You took the lead and knocked on the door. Jim told El that there would only be two people who knew the secret knock- himself and you. After knocking on the door and being let in by El, you engulfed her in a hug. You could hear Jim loudly sigh from behind you “How many times have I got to tell you? No Eggos before dinner.” He spotted one half eaten on the dining table.
You rolled your eyes “Oh Jim! She’s allowed a little afternoon pick me up!”
Jim sent you a deadpanned glare “One- you’re too soft and two-” He went to the freezer and pulled out the box “It’s more than an 'afternoon pick me up’! She’s ate half the box!”
“Well, I will make a start on dinner and while I do that, she’ll build up an appetite,” you smiled and tapped his chest “You can be my sous chef.” Jim followed you to the kitchen and grabbed a beer for both you and himself, he also grabbed El a can of soda while he was in there. You made mac and cheese- a favourite of El’s. Since you saw her a few months ago you had been cooking new things for her to try. She never had much choice when she was in the lab and you wanted to let her try new things. That also included putting a bunch of candy, ice cream and whipped cream on a stack of eggos and almost making the both of you sick. You were pretty sure Jim said 'I told you that would happen’ at least fifty times.
You were halfway through grating the cheese when Jim came up behind you and placed his hands on your waist and placed his chin on your shoulder. You sighed with a smile and relaxed into him a little while still grating, he began humming the tune of 'Uptown Girl’ in your ear while letting his lips dance over your neck. You loved moments like this. You almost felt as if you were a family.
“Jim?” You glanced to the stovetop.
“Hmmm?” He lazily hummed.
“Pot’s boiling over…”
“Oh shit!” He quickly let you go and pulled the pot off the stovetop. “Ah damnit!” He turned down the heat and put it back on the stove “You’re too distracting,” he muttered and you let out a snort of laughter, playfully nudging his arm.
“Do you need any help?” You both looked over and saw ask standing there.
“Why don’t you set the table?” Jim suggested and El happily went to work. “Why are you so smiley?” He asked, you had barely noticed how much you had been smiling.
You shrugged a shoulder “I’m happy.”
Jim leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to your temple “Me too.”
•••
“'Will they reach the nursery in time? If so, how delightful for them, and we shall all breathe a sigh of relief, but there will be no story. On the other hand, if they are not in time, I solemnly promise that it will all come right in the end.’” You glanced down to El and noticed her eyes growing heavy. “'They would have reached the nursery in time had it not been that the little stars were watching them.’” Her eyes shut and then opened again, she was fighting to stay awake to hear the end of the chapter. “'Once again the stars blew the window open, and that smallest star of all called out: 'Cave, Peter!”“ Your voice grew quieter with each word as you gently lulled her into a sleep as you reached the end of chapter three of Peter Pan. ”'Then Peter knew that there was not a moment to lose. 'Come,’ he cried imperiously, and soared out at once into the night, followed by John and Michael and Wendy. Mr. and Mrs. Darling and Nana rushed into the nursery too late. The birds were flown.’“ You looked up to a sleeping El and gently shut over the book, placing a piece of card between the pages to mark your spot.
You looked to the door and noticed Jim leaning against the doorframe of El’s room. You smiled and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead "Sweet dreams,” you whispered, turned off the light and left the room.
Jim softly shut the door behind you “You’re really good with her…” you picked up your pyjamas off the bed and went into the bathroom, Jim followed you in.
You both grabbed your toothbrushes and went to work on brushing your teeth “You’re good with her too,” you looked at him via the mirror “We’re both in this together. We make a great team.”
“I can’t help but feel like we’re good cop/ bad cop- me being the bad cop.” He lowly chuckled “I think it’s because you’d let her have as many eggos as she wants at any time of the day.”
You shrugged a shoulder “Hey, life is short! Now shoo!” You practically kicked him out the bathroom so you could change “I gotta get ready for bed.”
“I could always…” he bit his lower lip and suggestively wiggled his brows “Help you?”
You smirked and shook your head, pushing him back by the chest “No! We both agreed!” You couldn’t help but giggle “Not here! Anyway you have to get ready for bed too.”
He quickly pecked your lips with a boyish grin before shutting the door, trying his luck by leaving a gap- which you clearly noticed and then shut it over completely. When you were changed you emerged from the bathroom with your clothes in your arm. Jim was already in bed, you placed your pile of clothes on top of the bag you had brought with you before climbing in beside Jim and huddling together with him under the duvet. You shut your eyes and felt him run his fingers over your hairline, eventually soothing you to sleep.
——————
Tags are open! Just let me know if you’d like to be tagged or not!
Summary:After moving from New York to Hawkins, your life is changed by a handsome police chief, a mysterious girl and a realm that is beyond the boundaries of normality.
Warnings:none!
A/N:So we are now onto where season two would be in the story! The blocks of italic font are flashbacks! I hope you enjoy! ❤️
“And that’s it for today class! Remember homework is due tomorrow and I will burn every paper I receive that has the ending ‘And then I woke up’ or'It was all a dream’. All of you keep ending your fictitious work like that. Those endings are banned!” You laughed and so did your class “Alright, class dismissed.”
You watched students rush out the door while you sat at your desk. “Have a good night, Miss Harrington,” Dustin and Lucas chimed. You looked up and smiled, Mike was with them staying silent, Will had left an hour before everyone else to go to the lab for an appointment.
“Thanks boys, you too.” You waved them off but called back Mike just before he stepped out the door. “You alright?”
He shrugged a shoulder “Just thinking…”
“About El?”
Mike sighed “Yeah…I miss her.” You knew Mike would feel the impact of not having El by his side. He wasn’t dealing with it as well as the others.
An idea popped into your head “Hey, why don’t you write a letter to her?”
He looked at you with confusion masking his face “Where would I sent it to?”
You softly smiled “You don’t have to send it anywhere. You could leave in your desk, leave it under your pillow. You could write a whole bunch of letters about…oh I don’t know…your day? What you’ve been doing, what you’ve been feeling, if you’ve played any new games recently or got a new toy. Something you’d tell, or would like to tell, El. Write anything.”
He remained silent for a moment “Will she ever read them?” His voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
“I don’t know,” you walked over to him and kneeled to his level, placing a hand on his shoulder “But you should always have hope.”
“Thanks, Miss Harrington. See you tomorrow!” You waved him off with a thin smile. When he shut the door you let out a loud sigh, guilt forking through your veins. You wish you could tell him that she was alright, that she was still in Hawkins but you couldn’t. Not until it was safe.
•••
“I gotta go…” Jim hummed against your skin and pulled back, adjusting himself slightly and running a hand through his tousled hair.
You whined and pulled him back by his open belt “Stay,” you kissed him again “Stu and Deb are out of town, Steve is at a party and then staying at a friends house. We can have some time to ourselves!” You were on the verge of begging. It was late July, the sun was still lighting the sky at ten thirty at night and it was constantly hot. Since you and Jim kissed at Christmas, the two of you had been going steady but he would never stay. At a certain time he’d leave.
“I wish I could, Y/N, but-”
You cut him off with a sigh “-But you need to get home. I know, Jim.” You gently pushed him off you and sat up on the bed and watched him buckle up his belt and put on his shoes. “Do you want me Jim?”
“What?” He was taken aback by what you had said.
“Do you like me? Am I doing something wrong? Do you like someone else?” You rambled.
Jim put his hands up “Hey, hey, hey! Where is all this coming from?” He sat down beside you on the bed and gently clasped your hands “Of course I like you!” He smiled and brushed his thumbs over the tops of your hands “You’re not doing anything wrong and there is certainly isn’t anyone else that I have feelings for.”
You looked up to him with glossy eyes “Then why don’t you stay?”
Jim sighed and pulled you up off the bed as he stood “I’ll show you.” You furrowed your brows and grabbed your shoes as well as you jacket, fingering through your disheveled hair to tame it a bit before following him downstairs to his car, locking the front door before leaving.
“Where are we going?” You asked, stepping into the car. He didn’t say a thing, he just kept driving and driving until he pulled into the wood and stopped the car. “Uh…are you going to kill me?” You joked, making Jim smirk.
“No,” he grabbed a flashlight “Follow me.” You walked over to Jim’s side and he held your hand, helping you through the thick foliage under your feet. “Watch your step,” he shone the light at a tripwire, he kept hold of your hand as you stepped over it. You narrowed your eyes at the cabin in front of you, a soft yellowish glow pouring through the gaps of the curtains.
“What is this place? What happened to your trailer?” You asked following him up the steps.
“Still got the trailer,” he knocked twice, then once, then three times. “This used to be my grandads place,” locks on the other side of the door began to open. “I used to use it for storage but now…” he opened the door and placed his hand on the bottom of your back to lead you in.
You gasped and brought your hands to your mouth “Oh my god…”
El glanced up from where she was lying watching tv on the couch, her face instantly lighting up upon seeing you. “Y/N!” She jumped up off the couch and ran over to you, you kneeled down and engulfed her in a hug.
You glanced up to Jim with watery eyes and whispered; “How did this happen?”
•••
“Hey,” you snapped out your trance and glanced over to the classroom door, Steve was standing there “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” you grabbed your things. It was a regular occurrence that Steve would walk over from the high school and drive you both home. Especially since you still hadn’t got your licence yet. “How was school today?”
“Shi-” he cut himself off when you sent him a glare “Shi-mazing! Shi-mazing…all the kids are saying it these days.”
You smirked and rolled your eyes “Sure they are…” you placed books in your bag and put on your coat “Okay! I’m ready.” You followed Steve out and bumped into principal Coleman on the way out.
“Harrington,” He lightly glared at Steve “Your nephew gave me some amount of grief.”
“He can be an angel sometimes!” You grinned and embarrassed him “Literally! One Christmas when he was five he dressed up as an angel and sang Christmas songs. He was so adorable!”
Steve laughed with out a hint of emotion “Ha ha…yeah…we should be going,” he grabbed your upper arms and practically pushed you out the door. The two of you walked through the car park, chatting away like you usually did. That was until a blue car came zooming passed you both and you pushed Steve back a little so he didn’t get hit by it. “Jesus! Who was that asshole?!” He snapped.
You both watched the car speed off into the distance “I don’t know, doesn’t matter now. Let’s go home.”
“I’m guessing Chief Hopper will be over for dinner tonight?” Steve made conversation while driving.
“Yup, he’ll be over after work. Why? You haven’t been involved in any illegal activity I don’t know about have you?” You joked and Steve let out a snort of laughter “But yeah, Jim will be over.”
“Do you love him?” He asked out the blue and if you were driving the car you would have probably crashed it.
“Do you love Nancy?” You asked.
“Yeah, I think I do…I answered your question but you didn’t answer mine,” he turned and pursed his lips at you almost chidingly.
You smirked “Love at my age and love at your age are two very different concepts. I think you and everyone else that’s in love at your age have this idealism that love is like the stories you’ve had read to you or the movies you’ve watched.”
A moment of silence passed before Steve spoke up “That is such an old person answer!” You turned to face him with a deadly glare “Uhhh…you probably heard that from grandma though. Thanks for that insightful speech.”
You pursed your lips and proudly nodded “Good save.” A beat passed “To kinda answer your question- We’ve been together for a few months but I really like Jim. Really, really, really like him. Neither of us want to rush what we have, we’ll know when the time is right for us.”
Steve nodded “I understand that. I’ll postpone my suit dry-cleaning.” You both let out a laugh before playfully nudging his arm.
•••
You could hear Deb from the kitchen gush over Jim arriving with some wine before she told him that you were in the kitchen. You wiped your hands off your apron and spun around to greet him.
“Hey!” You gave him a small peck “Thanks for coming.”
“Smells good,” he placed his hands on your waist and you placed yours on his shoulders “What’s for dinner anyway?”
“Deb made meatloaf and I’ve done some sides,” You moved your mouth towards his ear and whispered into it “I’ll pack up some leftovers…” you kissed the space between his cheek and ear before you pulled back.
“Thank you,” he gave your waist a light squeeze before leaning in and kissing you. After a few seconds his lips were still on yours, he wasn’t pulling back and you were both encouraging each other to keep kissing for as long as you possibly could. You couldn’t help but let out a small grunt when he picked you back and the bottom of your back hit against the kitchen counter. He smirked and nipped at your lips, you brushed your tongue over his and he let out a breathy groan.
“Jeez can’t I get some soda without the gross PDA?!”
You felt Jim’s lips slowly leave yours, you rolled your lips into a thin line and let out an irritated huff “Jeez I don’t know? Maybe when I stop walking in on you and Nancy practically eating each other’s faces off in the living room then I’ll stop.”
Jim stifled a laugh and Steve let out an embarrassed groan, muttering profanities and curses under his breath. “He’s gonna steal your car keys and drive off with that beaut outside since you don’t drive it.”
You rolled your eyes “Yanno I can drive it! I just don’t have a licence yet.” You spun around and got the stuff out the oven.
“Why don’t you take a seat at the table, Jim?” Deb walked in with a smile on her face “We’ll bring the stuff through.”
“You sure?” He asked “I don’t mind helping.”
Deb waved her hand “You’re our guest! Plus we Harrington women can handle just about anything! Isn’t that right Y/N?”
“Sure is!” You turned and faced Jim again with a small smirk on your face “But he already knew that, didn’t you Jim?”
A large grin formed on his face “I sure did, hon.” He surprised you and himself by giving you a nickname. It was the first time he did something like that since the two of you got together. It was a pleasant surprise and from what Jim saw, he knew he could call you that more often.
After dinner and coffee, you walked Jim outside and stood with him on the porch for a few minutes, tightly wrapping your cardigan around you. “Oh,” you felt something hard against your side “Before I forget.” You placed your copy of 'Peter Pan’ on top of the Tupperware that contained leftovers for him and El. “We’ve now finished Alice in Wonderland so, if you wanna make a start on it tonight you can.”
“I think we can wait until you’re over tomorrow, she prefers it when you read to her, you can teach her a lot better than I can,” he softly smiled “Thank you for this. Everything.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Jim.” You brushed a hand over his cheek and let your lips linger on his for a minute or two. You pulled back and nuzzled your nose against his “You better get going…hon.”
Jim smirked and licked his lips “You say it cuter than I do,” he kissed you again “I’ll see you tomorrow. I can pick you up after school is finished.”
“Sure, see you then,” with one final kiss you watched him get into his car and drive off before going back into the comforting warmth of the house.
Steve was standing there facing you before turning around and roaming his hands up and down his back and waist while making kissing noises- as if he was making out with someone. “Oh Jim!” He put on a dramatic, high-pitched voice to mock you “Oh Jim! Oh hon! Oh I love you, Jim! Kiss me Jim!”
You narrowed your eyes and gritted your teeth together, your jaw squaring slightly. “You have three seconds to get up those stairs before I kick your ass!”
——————
Tags are open! Just let me know if you’d like to be tagged or not!
Back in 2019, I was absolutely obsessed with Hopper, my favorite character in Stranger Things, and now that the new season is almost upon us, I can’t wait to fall in love all over again!
A/N: For anon “ Apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together with Hopper? :3″
Summary:Hopper comes in several nights a week to drink and chat with his favorite bar tender. Some of the patrons bet on whether Hop & Y/N are more than just friends.
Warnings:Flirting, language
WC:2.2K
Hope you enoy it, anonny, thanks for sending in the request!
