Steve Harrington x Hopper!OC
part 1?
word count: 6k
Summary: What if Jim Hopper had two daughters? Before Sarah, there was Cecilia, who lost her sister at a young age and had to live back and forth between her mom and dad for her entire childhood, so much so that she doesn't truly spend enough time in one place for people to completely recognize her. That is, until Steve Harrington does remember the girl who followed her dad whenever he had to break up his parties.
Note: Hello there! I've been thinking about this idea that came up of Steve dating the chief's daughter. Idk, seemed cute and funny. I was only thinking about it, and then a whole story formed in my head. But this could be kind of the beginning of the whole thing? I need to watch Stranger Things still (sorry guys, yes, I know, I have no idea why I haven't watched it), but at the moment, I know a good amount of what happens thanks to multiple spoilers, I guess? So if anything seems off from the main storyline, it's definitely because of that. Anyway, here goes nothing i guess :) Oh, and please excuse the writing, English is not my first language!
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2007
Hawkins High was met with the strong sun of the early summer afternoon. Birds chirping and multiple kids just going around, bidding their goodbyes to their friends. Nice-looking cars driven by loud teenagers yearning for the summer and openly expressing it with laughter and screams of joy.
The air smelled like freedom and fun, and the small town looked like it was blooming with a kind of excitement that was hibernating and got released that very hour.
Textbooks and class notes forgoten in the floor, bell ringing for the last time in the semester, getting a rest for a few months before coming back either to haunt or save the students. But for now, the three kids besides the school's double doors were reflecting quite the opposite of what the environment around them reflected.
The oldest of them checked her watch, anxiously. Brown eyes scanned the hour for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. She sighed.
"And you told me I was going to be late." Said the youngest, rolling her eyes, while seated in her lunchbox. She was also a brunette and could be mistaken for her sister from a distance, but her eyes were lighter, and her character was sharper. A big contrast to her sister's polished and mature demeanor. Their hair seemed to adopt their personalities, too. One had it perfect, shiny and impeccable. While the other... the other had it shorter, messier, and free.
And then there was their brother, who was a mix of both. He was like a transition of personalities and hairstyles between the sisters. He, on his part, was often differentiated by his big eyes and freckles that sprinkled across his face. He just listened to his siters quietly, while eating some chips without looking at anything in particular.
The oldest directed a sharp look towards the youngest girl, which immediately turned into a worried one, once again. "We are going to be late." She declared, defeated. "I will officially miss my interview slot-"
"We have a chance." The boy interrupted, not looking up and still eating his chips.
"Depends on who is driving." Added the youngest, as a matter of fact, with crossed arms.
"Please be dad. Please let it be Dad." The oldest murmured to herself, getting on her tiptoes to check the road that entered the school, trying to look for a familiar-looking car. But found nothing. "Please."
"If it's mom, Elle can definitely wave goodbye to her summer job." Continued the youngest, not bothering to help her sister look for the car. "She will go twenty-five in a twenty-five zone, stop at every single sign for one whole minute, very quiet and awkward ride with no music..."
"She should probably teach you how to drive when you turn fifteen, don't you think, Lia? Maybe you won't get caught by Officer Powell while driving a motorcycle with Byers ever again." The boy smiled mockingly at her, but his stare was very serious and quite stern. "You are making Elle more nervous than she already was."
"His dads were out of town, somebody had to take it to the carwash!" Defended the girl, looking annoyed by the memory. "And I am not trying to make her nervous, James. I'm just saying that Mom will not make it on time if she picks us up. Oh, and she will take the main road too, the slow-safe one. Not the fun, shorter road."
Elle was not paying attention to their conversation, looking back at her watch. "We have exactly seventeen minutes. If Dad is driving, we can still make it easily. If mom drives-"
"Goodbye money." Lia sighed.
"Like you are the one earning it."
"Uh, I'm thirteen? I'm a child. I don't want to work in a boring law firm yet."
"You made that sound as if you are referring to us as if we are elders."
"You kind of are-"
"I'm fifteen!" James finally finished his chips while frowning at his younger sister.
"Compassion for the elderly we must have..."
"I literally started high school a year and a half ago."
"You sound like an old man reminiscing about old times, y'know?" Lia rolled her eyes. "My point is: Who wants to work in a lifeless office at seventeen, Elle? That will be our lives in a few years anyway, so why don't you enjoy it while you don't have to do it yet?"
"Mom just wants us to be safe." Elle seemed to ignore the whole conversation once again, still searching for the car. "She is probably the safest ride one could get."
"She's way too careful sometimes, though." James sighed.
"And we don't need careful right now." Lia seemed to finally agree with her brother on something.
"I know." Elle looked defeated, but her eye caught the familiar car she was searching for, approaching on the road behind a line of other cars. She took some steps forward, Lia and James getting up to take a look.
All three kids held their breaths, straightening up, waiting. Hoping.
The car approached them with ease, getting closer and closer, finally abandoning the line that was holding it back and making its way to the three kids.
When it becomes clearer and finally arrives at their side, all three of them lean a little to take a peek at the window in the passenger seat. The window finally comes down.
"Oh my-" Elle almost cries with happiness.
"We are saved!"
"Dan and I will be able to go to the M+M tour!"
"Wait a second, you and Byers are planning to go to those-"
"Fifteen minutes," Elle is already climbing into the passenger seat while her two bickering siblings are climbing into the back. "Interview across town. Can you make it?"
A firm, calm, and confident nod comes from their dad, who is already gripping the wheel, his wedding ring catching the strong sunlight and reflecting it in the dashboard.
The car pulls out of the parking lot. It's not reckless, but not slow either. It is smooth and quick.
The quiet 80's music is filling the atmosphere, and the summer breeze helps Elle to relax a little. She grabs her notebook and her eyes scan once more her practice interviews.
Breeze and music mix together; the whispering in the back is hard to hear or pay attention to.
"So? It's Britney. It will be worth it."
"There is no way Mom will buy you a ticket."
"Dan's dads will, and I will repay them with one of Elle's paychecks. Mom will never even know we went."
"You don't even know if she will get the job."
"She is smart. She basically already has it. We just don't officially know it yet."
"You don't know if she will give you the money."
"I will repay her."
"How exactly?"
The car is going forty in a thirty-five, and Lia only shoots a glare at her brother while opening her own window. "See?" She is not whispering anymore. "Dad drives fast. Told you we are gonna make it, Elle. Just feel that speed."
James shoots her a glare that gets ignored Olympically. He decides to drop the conversation, looking at the dashboard and smiling. "Woah, Dad. You are going like five over." His hair is blowing in all directions because of the wind, which means that the moment he gets out of the car, it will resemble the one his dad used to have when he was his age. "This is awesome."
"Had it been Mom, we would still be pulling out of the parking lot." Lia joked.
Elle finally laughed for the first time. "Probably!"
Behind the wheel, their dad keeps driving with a small smile on his face, watching his kids enjoy the ride. The car changes lanes smoothly, takes turns at normal speed, and goes with the flow of traffic.
When he picks up a little more speed, the excitement in the faces of the three kids is inevitable.
"Wait dad, just one more! Go over one more." James suggested looking at the cars they were passing by.
"Don't encourage him!" Elle looked back at her brother. "This is already really fast. He's already speeding too much."
"This is nothing." Lia joined the plea from her seat now. "Remember when he went ten over? On the highway? That was crazy!"
"Officer Powell called him a speed demon." James nodded. "Some people in my class have seen him drive; they say I'll drive just like him."
"Mom won't be happy to hear that," Elle added.
"Yeah, well, someone has to carry dad's speed demon reputation in Hawkins."
"I'll do it better. Hawkins has never seen anyone as fast as me. You just wait."
"Tickets every month for sure. Mom will be freaking out. Officer Powell's new nightmare." James laughed.
"Yeah, that will be kinda expensive." Elle mocked, and her sister stuck her tongue out. She laughed, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed the reflection of light coming from their dad's wedding ring shift. She turned and saw how his grip got tense on the wheel, and his jaw clenched. A sort of sadness replaced his confident look for a second that she couldn't fully understand. He is looking at the road ahead, but his eyes seem more faraway. And she feels a little uneasy and doesn't enjoy the speed so much anymore once she realizes that his mind is somewhere else but with them.
"Dad?" She called, her voice holding her concern. "You okay?"
Steve Harrington blinks, looking at his daughter for a second, and then ahead at the road again. "Yeah, sweetheart." This time, his eyes are focused; they even pause for a little in the sign that they quickly pass by.
Leaving Hawkins. Come again soon!
"You sure?" Elle doesn't buy it. She never does.
Steve enters the first entrance a few seconds later, and before they know it, they are arriving at their destination.
"Never better." Steve smiles and looks back at her. But his eyes look haunted, as if they are seeing something else. Like they saw someone they haven't seen in a long time. That is not the first time it has happened. Elle is almost certain that sometimes, her dad looks at her and looks like he just saw a ghost. But not in a scary way, but more like in a gut-wrenching way. She gave up asking long ago about it and just accepted that whatever her dad saw, it didn't seem to hurt him, but more like brought a bittersweet look to him. "Just thinking."
But her curiosity got the best of her this time, and since the interview was still in six minutes, she decided to take a bold step this time.
"About?"
_____________________________________________________
1983, Hawkins
Welcome to Hawkins!
The sign is moved aggressively by how strong the force of the air is when a car passes by at full speed with incredibly loud music. It shakes back and forth for a good amount of times, making a metallic noise, before settling once again in the quiet fall afternoon. The road stays quiet once again, welcoming the fresh chill that autumn brings.
Right ahead, that same car, approaching town on the main road, decorates the highway with music and its own breeze.
Inside, the speedometer is climbing rapidly: 45... 50... 55... 60...
All in a thirty-five zone.
All windows are down. The car is a little beaten up. In the dashboard from the passenger seat rest a pair of feet. But they quickly go down, and a hand grabs the doorhandle when a turn approaches, and the car takes it at full speed.
Eddie Munson laughs hysterically, his hair absolutely wild, going in all directions because of the wind. He is also bouncing his head to the rhythm of the music on full blast, which makes the car shake.
In the driver's seat, there, a girl is also laughing uncontrollably. Hair is whipping in all kinds of directions as well. Her grin matches Eddie's, but even more wild in its own way. While one hand barely grabs the wheel, the other is hanging outside the window, lifting her fingers for them to feel the wind around them every now and then.
The song seems to be reaching it's chorous, and both of the teens inside the car seem to notice it, because they look at each other with excitement and seem to understand what is about to happen. The car also seems to pick up even more speed.
Shortly, both kids are singing at the top of their lungs, while Eddie even mimics a guitar on his hands. None of them seems to care. For a second, the girl lifts both hands, and the car drives a little to the side, making both of them bark in laughter and grab the wheel.
Out of nowhere, a curb appears in the corner of the girl's eye, and she seems to take it with the same kind of passion she had for the song both of them are singing. Right in the middle of it, both of them feel how the car shifts a little under the speed and pressure, making the side lift a little from the ground.
Eddie grips the door again and, with his jaw on the floor, turns to look at the girl. "Holy shit! Did we just-?"
She is over the moon. "Did you see that?!" She asks, happiness adorning her face. "We were on two wheels for a second!"
"That was insane! You are insane!" Eddie scoffs with a big smile. "Do it again!"
"Okay, okay. Let me get to the next turn quickly."
The car speeds, the engine protesting against it. They are going fast again, and the car shifts once more, both kids laughing hard. But Eddie is quick to spot the lights from the rear mirror first. "Uh, doll?" He calls, and his laugh dies with a panicked look. "Doll!"
The girl follows his gaze, and her happiness dies a little, also being replaced by a panicked look. "Oh damn it."
The car's breaks squeack a little the moment she slows down suddenly, dropping to the exact speed limit, turning down the music as well. Behind them, the police car that's following them makes a signal for them to pull over, and both kids groan. The girl focuses on who is driving it and recognizes young Officer Powell.
She sighs, and suddenly her face is completely serious and focused. Both hands on the wheel, almost shy. The contrast to the wild girl a few seconds ago is huge, and Eddie barks with laughter for a second. "Oh man. We are so dead. Like, funeral-ready dead. Third ticket this month?"
She grins slightly, despite the situation they are in. "Fourth, actually."
Eddie looks impressed. "Fourth? You are a legend!"
The car comes to a stop, and Powell comes to their window, greeting them with a serious look, too stern for his young age. The girl waves innocently, smiling sweetly. "Hello, Officer Powell! Beautiful day, isn't it?"
Powell doesn't seem to buy it, coffee cup in hand, and some papers in another. "License and registration, please."
She has both already in hand, smiling still, hoping that her charm gets her out. "Is this really necessary? I was only-"
"I clocked you at fifty-eight. In a thirty-five." He wrote something in his citation book and then looked at her. "That's twenty-three over, Cecilia Hopper."
Eddie's eyebrows rise when he hears the full name of his best friend being said sternly, but he is still excited. "Plus, we were definitely on two wheels back there."
Cecilia shot him a glare, sweetness and innocence disappearing for a moment. "Not helping."
Powell seems to be writing a ticket already. "Good point, Munson. And the curve on Maple?" The girl turned a little red. "Yeah, I saw that too. Pretty sure the chief's truck wasn't designed for stunt driving."
He handed her the ticket. Cecilia winced while grabbing it. "Are you calling my dad?"
Powell handed her back her license. "Don't have to. He will see the ticket when he does the monthly report this evening. This is your fourth in a month. Fourth, Cecilia. At this rate, you will lose your license before Christmas."
She shook her head quickly. "It won't happen again."
Powell didn't seem convinced and made a disappointing sound with his tongue. "That's what you said last week. And the week before."
Eddie leaned into her ear and smiled. "To be fair, you did say that, doll."
Powell was done with them, and he started to walk back to his car. "Slow down, Cecilia!" He called over his shoulder. "And Munson? Get better friends! Ones that don't have a death wish! Next time you see a really quiet, innocent, and smarty-pants person, make sure to check how they drive first."
"Where's the fun in that?" Eddie yelled back, happily.
Powell didn't bother to look at them. He just got in his car and started to drive away.
Both Eddie and Cecilia sit in the truck, the latter holding her newest ticket, ready to join the collection. Silence reigns inside the truck while she looks at it. She turns around and is met with Eddie, who seems to be holding back his laughter once again.
The two kids explode in giggles. Cecilia wipes her eyes from the happy tears. "Four tickets. Dad is going to kill me."
"Worth it, though." Eddie is also composing himself. "That curve? Legendary."
"Totally worth it." She agrees, starting the car and driving away. "But I know I won't be sitting in this seat for a long while after today."
"I can imagine you already in the office today, with the pleasant company of all the Hawkins officers as your punishment."
"My dad won't take long until he tries to localize me to take me to the office." She nodded.
"We have to make the most out of the last moments with the beautiful driving privilege, then." Eddie caressed the dashboard as if it were made of precious material, to make clear his point. "Fries with ice cream?"
"Deal." She smiled, pulling up into a tinny dinner that was still twenty minutes away from her house, but it was where she had been working since her freshman year of high school. And their ice cream with fries was worth the distance when she was not at work. "I'll miss this."
Eddie immediately understood what she meant while both of them were getting out of the car, about to enter the dinner. "I still think you should talk with your mom. This whole custody thing and you leaving for entire months to go with her is ridiculous." He also complained while opening the door and greeting everyone inside with a smile, as both of them walked to their usual booth. "You leave next week and come back...?"
"Hopefully, before the year ends. But I think my mom and her husband are planning to keep me until January." That seems to defeat her even more than the ticket did.
"See? That's what I mean!" Eddie sits across from her at the table, both hands extended, flying around while he talks. "Your whole life, it has been like that. You could talk to her and never ever return to Detroit."
"I guess I could, yeah, but-"
"Hello, you two." An older woman came by their side, with a warm smile, looking down at them. "The usual?"
"Dear Diane!" Eddie smiled and grabbed her hand with both of his. "You are a goddess. How did you know what we wanted?"
The lady raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem to eat anything else, Munson." She explained. "And nobody thinks of ordering such a disgusting thing apart from you, too."
"Incredible point made right there."
They both ate their fries with the ice cream, both combined. Making sure to have plans by the time Cecilia came back in January. Eddie still tried to convince her to talk her way out, but she knew it was much more complicated than that.
_____________________________________________________
Eventually, Jim Hopper did go looking for his daughter after calling the diner. He entered the place with a stern look on his face, hand extended towards her, no greeting, no addressing. But Cecilia knew what she had to do, and handed the key to her freedom and happiness of driving to her dad to control it.
Eventually, Eddie got dropped off at his house, and shortly after, Cecilia got her ban on driving, not being allowed to do it until February.
Both father and daughter drove to the police station, since he had work to finish. Luckily, it was not the first time doing that. It was actually part of her routine since she could remember, so naturally, she pulled out her statistics homework from her backpack and started doing it while waiting for her dad.
The hours go by, and she is still immersed in the whole formula thing when her dad walks into the room, Powell hot on his heels.
"I mean it, sir." He is protesting, and Cecilia finally sees a little of the personality that goes along with his young age, instead of the grumpy, serious one he has for a twenty-four-year-old. "I have it under control. It's an easy task. You can trust me, chief."
Officer Callahan appeared in the room as well, and the girl found it amusing how both young men looked like lost puppies following her dad.
"Nah, I got this one." Hopper grabbed his keys and started to look for his hat.
Powell seemed surprised. "Chief, you don't have to deal with a high school party..."
"Yes, we can manage a noise complaint," Callahan added.
"I know you can." Hopper smiled. "But it's been a slow night, might as well have some fun reminding the guy that noise ordinances exist."
Callahan laughed a little. "You just like to watch the kid squirm."
"Kid's got too much confidence." Hopper didn't deny it. "Someone's gotta keep him humble."
He found his hat and walked over to where Cecilia was (kind of) working on her homework, eavesdropping while pretending she was really focused.
"Do you still have to tutor Henderson tonight?" He asked her.
"No, his mom canceled this morning."
"Come on, kiddo." He leaned against her desk and offered her a small smile for the first time that day after the ticket incident. "Road trip."
Cecilia did not look up from her homework, still writing some numbers down. "Harrington house?" She started gathering up her stuff, knowing that they were probably going to head home after breaking up the party.
"Yep." It was not difficult to guess from where the typical noise complaint call was coming. Since Steve Harrington started high school, Hopper had to visit that house at least two times a year for the same reason. Lately, it has been even more times. At this point, he took it as a routine and even examined the house to see the new upgrades the Harringtons had made to the property. New paint layer during the summer, some crops for the spring. Ms. Harrington went absolutely crazy with the fall decorations, but Hopper knew that nothing could beat her Christmas decorations. She added something to the collection every year.
"How many does that make?" Powell asked.
Hopper didn't really care at this point. His daughter grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder, and absently responded for him. "Seven. For the year."
All three of them seemed impressed. "You are keeping count?"
"Hard not to." She grabbed her sweater and looked around to make sure she was not forgetting anything. Powell seemed to catch that, putting the ticket closer to her, earning a little glare. "Same call. Same house. Everyone at school is running around getting ready. They don't need to tell you he is throwing it; you can tell by how annoying people get."
Hopper started to follow her, quite impressed. "Seven times. In ten months."
"That's a party every 1.4 months." She reassured, doing the math while walking out the door. "There was a cluster in September, though. Three parties in two weeks. So that distribution I just did isn't that even."
"You are analyzing the statistics of a teenage boy's party?" Callahan asked from the room, amusingly.
"You asked, I answered." She said while getting into the truck.
Powell ran out of the door with his signature serious look. "Chief, do you want us to take care of anything?"
Hopper started the truck. "Just don't burn anything. I'll see you tomorrow."
__________________________________________________________
"You don't really get invited to these things?" Hopper was looking at the tall and fancy house, which was trembling with the loud music and looked extremely flashy with all the lights. He looked at the lawn, where a lot of cars were parked, and even a part of him hurt for poor Ms. Harrington's roses, which were recently planted the last time he was here, and now were completely destroyed.
"I do, sometimes. If I'm here." Cecilia was holding a lamp with her mouth while writing something on her homework. "And sometimes I don't. Besides, it's not like I know everyone really well here since I'm only half the time in Hawkins and then disappear every other semester. Kinda hard to get to know people well when that happens, you know?"
Guilt flashed in his face, and he started apologizing before he could stop himself. "I'm working on that. I think I found a good lawyer-"
"I know dad." She cut him off gently, with a small smile. "It's fine. I'm used to it. And honestly, Eddie went to some last year, and the stories he told me about every single person when they go to these would keep them very humble if they even remembered."
But it wasn't fine, and both of them knew it. Yet, both of them were very awkward when it came to talking about feelings, so there was a big silence.
"How's Harrington like? In school?" He finally asked, almost feeling like he was giving the kid some spare time to enjoy his party before he ruined it once more.
She was aggressively erasing something in her notebook. "I don't know... Loud?" She concluded. "He has been following Nancy Wheeler for a while now, apparently. They look cute together, actually. Eddie and I saw them last week in the parking lot."
"You ever talk to him?"
She paused, brows furrowing in extreme confusion. "Why would I talk to Harrington?"
"Just asking. You are both in the same class..."
"He is a junior. I'm a sophomore." She corrected, putting her notebook down. "I would be a junior had mom not done the-" She stopped herself.
Somehow, every single conversation seemed to bring them to the same thing. Hopper's jaw tightened at the mention of the time when he tried to keep Cecilia in Hawkins, and as a result, her mom kept her in Detroit for a full semester as punishment, without letting her even go to school despite her protests. "You are doing fine. Better than fine! Top of your class with Wheeler."
"When I'm here." She responded quietly. "When I'm actually allowed to stay in school for more than three months."
Happy yells came from the house, and both of them looked over, just to barely see how a young teen was on the roof in the backyard, and jumped into the pool without hesitation.
Hopper sighed. "Alright. Usual drill. I will be right back."
"I'll wait here."
"You are not curious?" He asked, pausing with an amused smile while getting out of the car. "You know I understand you are in that age, and as long as you are doing it responsibly, you could go to one. And as long as it's not Harrington's."
"Nope." She turned the page of her homework, arching her brow at how suspicious her dad looked, being greeted by even more math to be done. "But I could totally accept you giving me back my license-"
"Not a chance." His smile faded, and closing the door to start walking away. Knocking loudly when he got to the door.
She smirked: Now that was a normal reaction from him. She got back to her homework, catching the lamp in her mouth again.
The front door swung open, and a distracted and shocked Steve Harrington met Hopper with big eyes. His hair looked perfect despite the chaos inside the house, his usual polo shirt, and confident smile that faltered slightly when it was not returned by the older man.
"Chief Hopper!" His voice went an octave higher when seeing him. "Hi. Is there a problem?"
"Music's too loud, Harrington. Got a noise complaint." Hopper crossed his arms.
"Oh. Sorry about that." Steve glanced back, only to be met with a guy chugging a whole can of beer. He tried to stand in front of him, glancing back to Hopper, who didn't even bother to make a comment. "I'll turn it down, chief."
"Where are your parents?"
"Steve's smile got forced. "Business trip. Chicago. Back on Sunday."
Hopper nodded, hearing the same answer as always for the seventh time. "Right, and they know you are throwing parties like that while they are gone?"
"It's not really a party." He lied, really badly. His ears got a little red. "Just a few friends-"
"Uh-huh." Hopper's eyes slowly followed the shirtless guy who was passing behind Steve, stumbling and almost falling on the stairs when he tried to go outside to the backyard. "Turn down the music. Send everyone home, and Harrington?"
"Yes, sir?"
Hopper leaned, even more serious and scary this time. Voice really low. "If I have to come back here tonight, I'm calling your parents. In Chicago. At their hotel. At midnight. Understand?"
Steve's smile dropped completely. "Yes, chief. Understood. It won't happen again."
"It better not. It's the seventh time this year."
"Seventh?" Not even Steve was keeping count.
"My daughter keeps track. She likes statistics and-" Hopper's voice faded when another guy appeared behind Steve with a speaker on full blast. making weird dance moves. The Chief was grateful Cecilia was not inside one of those.
But this time, Steve didn't even try to cover him; his eyes decided to look past the chief's shoulder, to his truck. There, sitting as usual whenever the chief broke his parties, was a girl with a furrowed brow and a flashlight on her mouth. She didn't seem to even care that now the guy behind him was joined by a girl and two other dudes, and how some of the lights of certain houses in the neighborhood started to flicker on because of the noise.
He has seen her before, of course. She was sometimes very early in the morning at school, and sometimes left very late. And she and Munson were attached by the hip most of the time, which was really weird, because he was the extremely loud and nerdy kid, while Steve didn't recall ever hearing her speak. But he didn't really know much more than that. He saw her in the school corridors, yeah, just like any other random kid from school. He would see her the most in these types of situations, when she was waiting for her dad to do his job.
Suddenly, she glanced up. Her expression was either amused or a little annoyed, but it faded the moment she caught him staring. Her eyes went a little big, and she quickly took the flashlight out of her mouth. Steve didn't even register her nervous, quick movements, as he didn't know what to do himself. He just awkwardly waved once, and she responded with a tiny nod before going back to whatever she was writing in her notebook.
Completely oblivious to what just happened, Hopper watched as the little group of teens behind Steve disappeared into the backyard in disbelief, almost certain he saw a familiar girl there. He was about to comment on something, but Steve was faster; this time, though, it wasn't any other excuse or apology. Just curiosity was taking the best of him.
"Is that your daughter?"
He followed Steve's gaze to the car, where Cecilia was frantically writing down in her notebook. That was for a second, though, because he immediately double checked the look in the boy's eyes, and did not like it. At all. "Yeah. Why?"
The tone that the chief used brought Steve's gaze back to him. "No reason. Just... she comes with you on calls, right?"
The older man doesn't like the observation. "She's doing homework, she needs quiet. The station is quiet. And Harrington?"
"Yeah?"
"She's fifteen." His voice was firm, low, and made Steve's skin crawl. "She's smart. She's got better things to do than to waste her time at these things you call parties. We clear?"
Steve's throat went up and down in nervousness, understanding the warning, even though he was never truly even implying anything in the first place. "Crystal clear, sir."
"Good. Music down. Now."
"Yes, chief." Steve nodded, went inside, and the music lowered dramatically within thirty seconds. There were some groans of disappointment coming from the backyard.
Steve's head peeked out of the door, directing a questioning glance to the officer, who nodded approving the amount of volume. Steve nodded back and closed the door behind him.
________________________________________________________
When Hopper started the engine, back in the truck, he noticed that Cecilia found a way to hang the flashlight from the ceiling instead of holding it herself.
"At least he is respectful." He commented. "What are you working on?"
"Statistics."
"Fun Friday night." She responded with a chuckle. "Harrington asked about you." Her smile faltered.
"What? Why?" She looked confused and glanced at the house as they drove away.
"Saw you in the truck. Asked if you were my daughter."
She went back to her notes, finally about to end the entire homework. "Great discovery after me living in this town my entire life."
"Or wondering why a girl is not in one of his early-Halloween parties." He suggested. "Kid's got Nancy Wheeler in there, I think. Maybe he is finally settling down."
"Nancy is nice." She said casually, finally taking the flashlight off the truck's roof after she was done with statistics for the day.
"Yeah, she is a good kid." Her dad agreed. "Hope she knows what she's getting into with Harrington. Her parents better know about it, too."
Cecilia didn't respond to that, since Eddie told her all the Harrington-Wheeler gossip he knew just that morning, and things indicated the exact opposite of what her dad wished. Still, Nancy looked happy in her opinion, and it was nice to see that.
"Or he is probably wondering why my daughter's smarter than his entire guest list combined, except for Wheeler." Her dad went on, and a little smile appeared on her lips.
"That's not a high bar." She looked at him, amused by her dad's awkward way of complimenting.
Hopper also smiled. "No, it's really not." They drove in silence for a little bit, and then he talked again, still worried by the boy's look at his daughter back at the party. "You know, when you are a junior next year, if you are here next year-" He paused, thinking how Cecilia's custody truly stepped in between everything. "Harrington's going to be a senior. Might end up in some of your classes."
"Okay." She seemed unbothered.
"Just saying. You might actually have to talk to the kid at some point. He will try to invite you to those parties of his, maybe."
"After not talking to Harrington for fifteen years, I think I'll easily manage one more." She smiled at him, confident.
"Fair enough." Hopper smiles, more relaxed now. His daughter was safe. No danger in sight. "Seven times in nine months... I can't believe it."
"Think he will make it to ten before the year ends?" She asks, real curiosity in her voice.
"Kid's got three months. One for each. I'd bet on it."
"If he stays on his track, he could have one or two more parties by December. I'll take that bet, actually." She sounded confident, and her dad smiled.
"What are we betting?"
"If he has two or more parties, I will let you watch your TV program instead of mine. If he has one more, you'll give me my license the moment I come back from Detroit instead of February."
Hopper considered it. "You will drive with me, following you, though." She nodded enthusiastically. "Deal. But kid?"
"Yeah?"
"You are gonna lose." He smiled at her. "That Harrington kid lives for parties."
She didn't falter, her confidence growing even higher. "We'll see."
Turns out, Cecilia Hopper was right. Steve Harrington threw one more party before the year ended. In November. Cecilia wasn't there to see it, too far in Detroit, but she probably would have heard of it either way, not only because her dad was called for a noise complaint again, but because Barb disappeared out of thin air before he could arrive, and a chaos that Hawkins had never seen before started to reign, one that wasn't planning to leave the small town alone for a while.
