THE PROJECT.
#Vance Hopper x Reader
PAIRING/PAIRINGS : Vance Hopper x Fem! Reader.
FORMAT : Series.
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER : After a long and boring day at school, just as you were about to go home and get rid of these clothes with some new ones and wander outside, you remembered something. But what is it? Oh, right..
♺ TW ! : Mentions of fighting, cuss words, bruises, wounds, brusies, scars, blood, threats, abuse, kidnappings, and more.
AUTHORS NOTE ! : Oh my God it’s been so long since I updated this series. I’ve been scrapping off every version of chapter two since the start of 2025. But finally it is time for me to consistently update this fanfic. Thank you guys so much for the support on this, I even lost motivation at one point but seeing people like chapter one made me so happy and get me going. Love you guys!
CHAPTERS : I. II.
Enjoy your stay ! :)
CHAPTER II - Seriously?
NORTH DENVER, COLORADO - 02.06.1977
School nowadays sucked for you ever since the Grab ‘N Go fight with those three girls that you now know the names of. And it wasn’t because of them - thinking that with a glare from their nasty formed faces would make you tremble away. It was because of whispers the moment you walked into a classroom, conversations quieting down when you walk by, even if you smile at them as if they hung the moon and acted normal. And now you even caught the attention of your more.. abnormal peers. The nasty ones.
Now, it's not like you're saying that you're better than them, but you were a tad bit more normal. Especially if we’re talking about manners and personality.
Unfortunately, your thoughts quickly got swept away from the mention of your name. Looking around your shoulder, you saw a boy and a girl around your age, whispering to eachother next to the lockers, looking away as soon as you caught their eye. Staying quiet, you mentally sighed. Because of that stupid fight that happened at the Grab 'N Go people wouldnt keep shut their mouths. It's not even your fault for the damage done on both sides. Yes, you and Maya were injured, but hey, maybe those shits maybe wouldn't mess with her anymore.
Going towards your locker, from the side of your eye you caught your best friend talking to some boy - Kit.
Kit isn't a bad guy, not at all. He's smart, very upbeat, charming and all those positive traits. Thats why she liked him. But the thing was that just by looking at him, you felt that something was off about him. You didn't know what it was, but it was there.
Watching them interact for a second with a slight smile, you turned your attention back to your locker, searching for your needed books. As you digged through your locker, you felt a tap on your shoulder that almost pulled you away from your search. "Yes?" Acknowledging the unknown person, you turned around after a moment - facing them.
Oh. It was just Finney Blake. "Hi, Finney! Whatcha doing, dude?" You inquired with a smile, going in for a hug. "There and there, you?" He answered with a slight sigh. You pulled away, continuing to dig in your locker, ignoring his question.
"Buzz and his little dogs bothering you again? Didn't they get suspension last time?" You sneered, glancing at him with narrowed eyes. "Well, yeah, but -" "But what? They're that fucking stupid that they don't understand their native language or?" You cut him off, laughing out sourly. "Dunno, guess they are." He chuckled out sourly, leaning against the locker next to yours. "Yeah, no shit, Finney." You sighed out, shaking your head as you finally took the books that you needed.
"Anyways, what class you’ve got?" You asked, leaning against your locker after shutting it. "Biology." He let out an exasperated sigh, making it known that he would not be enjoying his next lesson. "Oh, yikes. With Mrs. Sanders or Mr. Snyder?" "Snyder."
"Oh, yikes Finney. Again." You joked, pushing your body off the locker, nudging his side with your elbow. He looked at you with lips pressed into a thin line, that made you clear your throat before changing the topic. "Okay, sorry, sorry. But anyways, you and Gwen up to something this weekend? Tought we could go you know - to that music festival that's coming up." You proposed, shifting nervously as you raised your brows, waiting for an answer.
"Don't know.. I'll see if anything you know, comes up and let you know if we can." He answered, giving you half a smile as he fixed his backpack straps. The corners of your lips slowly started going upwards, a beaming smile now plastered on your lips. "That's basically a yes, Finney!" You exclaimed, your arms going to his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Knowing how.. drunk your shitty-" "Don't." He cut you off, slightly glaring at you. "I'm just saying, Finney. And you know I'm right." You looked at him with sympathy, searching for his eyes as he looked everywhere but you.
He sighed out, looking at the ground. "I know, it's just that.. I don't," He stopped mid sentence, thinking of what to say, or rather how to describe his father. "really want to say it out loud." He muttered, finally looking up at you.
You kept silent, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, dude." You apologized after seconds of silence, pulling him into a hug, resulting in him slowly doing the same. "It's okay, no need to even apologize." He muttered, pulling back with a small smile. "But you will be if I'm late to Snyder's class." He flatly added, looking at you with a blank expression, but his eyes were smiling.
Your eyes widened, whipping your head towards the clock on the wall above the lockers. "Holy shit, I have to go, I have with Mr. Reid." You hissed out, already running towards the classroom you had to be in minutes ago, not sparing Finney a glance.
The bell rang through the halls of the school, signaling the end of all classes before lunch break. You didn't even start packing your stuff before hearing voices outside of your classroom.
"Don't forget to do the assignments, so you can be prepared for the pop quiz on Thursday!" Mr. Reid shouted through the laughter of your peers in the classroom, trying to get a grain of attention from any of you. But that didn't work out for him too much since most have already went, their chairs messily left scattered in different directions. Or others, too busy talking while quickly packing their notebooks and supplies just to leave.
As you threw your backpack over your shoulder and exited the classroom, you accidentally bumped shoulders with some kids who where cutting off your path towards the loud cafeteria.
Which one of was the infamous Vance Hopper.
"Watch where you're going, twat." He turned to look at you with narrowed eyes, his nostrils flaring. He pushed you hard enough to make you stumble back, which you would absolutely not let slide. "Fuck off, Hopper." You hissed back at him, pushing him a bit harder. Just as you were about to turn around, he put a foot up in front of you from behind, resulting in you tripping and almost falling down on the dirty school floor. "Fuck you say to me, bitch?" He snapped at you with a gruff voice, coming towards you.
"I said-"
"Woah, woah, woah!" A boy rushed over, blocking Vance as he shoved forward, trying to get to you. "Vance, chill out dude!" He thinly continued, pulling him away from you. "Get the hell out my way, Andy." Hopper grumbled, glaring at you, trying to yank himself free from the boy's hold.
You snort at the sight, hand going to your mouth, covering it. God, he looked absolutely pathetic and desperate for a fight. Your laughter only fueled him, as he kept on shoving harder and harder, earning a yelp from Andy. At this point, a lot of people were now staring quietly, or whispering to eachother, eager to see where this childish act would lead to.
Deciding that it was better for you to leave only because Andy was suffering from his tantrum, and for the sake of your dignity, you turned on your heels, going towards the entrance of the cafeteria. Vance's shouting began to fade into laughter from your peers that were scattered in the cafeteria. Looking around, you saw the Blake siblings with Robin Arellano.
Robin Arellano.
He's cool. He protects Finney from Buzz and the others that keep on bullying him. And you thanked him for that to which he responded with a nod, saying that he did it because Finn's his friend. He even teached you some techniques for fighting at a lake near the park. And to be fair, you might've developed a teeny-tiny crush on him.
Walking over to the table, you waved at Gwen, hugging her tight from behind. "Hey, Gwenny." You squealed into her ear, making her yelp a bit. "Don't scream into my ear, idiot! You'll burst my eardrums!" She groaned out, a playful tone lacing her voice. You shook your head, chuckling as you went next to Finney, high-fiving him.
Looking forward, you saw Robin waving to you with a soft smile. You grinned at him, giving him a small wave in return. "Hey, Robin, your bandana is a bit crooked." You informed him, making him bring his hands to his head. "Thanks, dude." He chirped out, tying his bandana back on after undoing it.
Nodding, you looked at Finney, picking at his food with a wobbly plastic fork. Your eyes darted to the canteen menu on the tray infront of him before you gagged slightly, your hand flying to your mouth.
"Hell is that? Looks like something a cat would throw up." You cringed, glancing at him before looking at the food again, earning a chuckled from Finney. "Food apparently." Gwen chimed in, staring at the so called lunch with you. "Right." You muttered quietly, looking away for the sake of your appetite. Your eyes started darting around the cafeteria before landing on a table full of teachers. A slight scowl crawled on your lips as you squinted onto the flat surface which they were all focused on. "The hell are they doing?" You nudged Gwen, looking at her for an answer.
Tests. And not just any tests, tests that were being graded right now. Red ink covering the white paper, full of distressed answers from teens. "Oh, gosh.. It's the tests they gave us a week ago." You murmured, rubbing your face with your hands, sighing as you leaned your temple onto your palm. Robin looked at you and Finney before asking. "What'cha think you got?" Finney furrowed his brows, tilting his head for a second. "Got what?" He questioned, fiddling with his fingers. "On your tests, dummy!" Gwen exclaimed, pressing her lips into a thin line, earning a chuckled from Robin.
"B or C." You deadpanned, eyes wandering over the table packed with teachers. And boy, did they look like amish people feasting on fast food for the first time. "Don't know." Finney shrugged, playing with his food. Making a face, you look over to him, blinking twice. "Dude, on a bad day, you're getting an A." You mumbled. "Right!" Robin chirped out, nodding along. "Plus, you'll probably ace it since you were the one who stayed home to study instead of wandering in the neighbourhoods with us." He added, smirking as he flinged a small napkin-crumpled ball towards him.
You hummed out, staring at Arellano before Gwen snapped you out of it by nudging you on your side. Jumping a little, you shook your head to remain cool, but it didn’t really work since the red rushed up onto your neck and cheeks. You cleared your throat, glancing around the table.
"Soo.. Who can come to that festival that's happening?" You asked, looking at Robin a second too long, him catching you before you looked away. "I already told you." Finney spoke up as you rolled a little napkin ball with your palms. You hummed out, nodding as you glanced at him, then at Arellano. "You?" "Oh, well.. Depends which bands are gonna be played." He shrugged, giving you a smirk as he leaned his cheek on his palm. You froze for a second, zoning out for a moment before you resumed back to reality. "Think Led Zeppelin, Queen, Black Sabbath for sure, Deep Purple.. Did I say Queen?" You inquired, tilting your head as you furrowed your brows. "Yes, yo-." Gwen reassured you before she got cut off.
"Then I'm coming!" Robin said excitedly, shifting in his seat. You grinned widely, shoulders tensing up a bit as you heard his confirmation. "Sweet." You sing-songed as you looked down at your food tray, kicking your feet slightly under the table, which wasn't left unnoticed by Gwen as she nudged your foot with hers.
Lunch passed by into a blur, all of you chit-chatting, laughing and arguing before going back to your classes. And now you had Biology. Frog dissecting day, which you absolutely despised. Just by thinking of what you had to do was already making you wanna throw up. Luckily though, you didn’t.
And finally, classes were over and you were ready to get rid of these sweaty clothes you had on and change into something more free so you could go outside with Maya, or maybe Robin. Who knows? Exiting the school grounds, you were met with multiple missing posters of Griffin Stagg an Billy “Paperboy” Showalter.
Paperboy was a sweet kid from what you’ve heard from the neighbourhood grandmas.
Also heard that his dog was wandering around the same street that he apparently got kidnapped on, which absolutely broke your heart.
You didn’t even notice that you were a block or two away from school. Only noticed some black van passing by, some girls from school giggling on the opposite street from you and flying posters, carried by the wind as if they aren’t relevant to anybody.
The kidnappings really did scare more than half of North Denver. Kids were scared to even speak of him, others to even say his name or else he would come for them. When girls thought that they would be safe just because he’s kidnapped only boys for now - it honestly calmed you down a bit.
But life is a strange thing after all.
After some more zoning out, you heard from a distance some commotion around the block. As if someone’s screaming and thrashing around - heavy thuds and flesh hitting flesh. Who even is fighting right after school? Especially in open daylight? Well, a lot, but you get the point.
You were hesitant to round the corner, since it would maybe lead you straight to whatever was happening, or you could just go another route to get home. You wanted to see what was happening, but things could get messy, and considering the fight from like what, a week ago - you really didn’t your body to be even sorer than it already is.
So you quickly went another route towards your block as you crossed the crosswalk that was in Vance’s neighbourhood. Speaking him of him, you felt like you’re forgetting something. But you couldn’t grasp what it was.. You froze for a second near a lamp-post, leaning on it, brows unconsciously knitting together while you get lost in your thoughts.
What could you possibly forget about him? He was unforgettable to be honest. You remember when you two first met - he was eight while you were seven, a few months gap between you. He wasn’t so aggressive. He used to be a tad-bit sweeter and softer, especially when you two were playing in the sand-bin on the playground. You two grew up basically together. You had so much stories to show and tell, but you couldn’t bring yourself to. Now seven years later - here you were because of that fucking-
Holy shit.
That stupid history project.
“Oh fuck.” You muttered as you pushed yourself from the lamp-post, your legs automatically going towards his house. Now, he might scream his brains out at you for being at his front-porch on a what? A fucking Wednesday, two weeks before summer break. And you - now huffing and panting, hands on your knees as you’re taking your breath, are on his front porch steps while looking around for any sign of life in that house.
Finally having taken your breath, you sighed out as you took slow steps up towards his front-door. Now, what if all of this just went wrong, and you two argued like always, get nothing about that project done, make it yourself - even though you know doing it with him would be almost the same thing as doing it alone, and then fail.
You hissed out in pain, touching your raw lips as you continued to unconsciously bite your skin on your lips while removing dead skin from them. Wiping your lip clean with a finger while knowing it would pool red again, you brought yourself to knock on the door before even thinking of how to. Exhaling deeply through your nose, you rocked on your feet as you looked around his front porch. There was evidence of his father drinking and probably passing out from one too many last night since there were two empty bottles of beer next to the rocking chair.
Gosh, is anybody gonna open this goddamn door? Not only are you anxious about even daring on being on his front porch, but the project too, the arguing that would probably add on.. Just too shitty. “Oh my gosh..” You grumbled out, brows furrowed with impatience as your fist went to knock on the wood again. Well, that was before it suddenly opened, your knuckles meeting with the dirty-blond’s flesh. Welp..
“What the fuck?” He groans out roughly, taking a step back as he glares at you, your presence here clearly taking him by surprise. “You came here to get your shit rocked? ‘Cause I’ll blow your way and make that happen in a second.” He asks, crossing his arms over his chest, clearly getting frustrated by your “punch”.
You cock your eyebrow upwards, darting your gaze over his face, trying to see if he’s being for real. “Are you serious?” “Mean it.” “I literally- I grazed your nose bridge with my knuckles, idiot.” You gesture wildly with your hands, looking up at him through your lashes, voice laced with confusion.
His icy-blue eyes darted around your face while his always furrowed brows created a little crease in-between them. His chest slowly going up and down as he breaths, while you huff and pant like a goddamn donkey that walked ten kilometres straight without a stop.
“The fuck are you even doing here?” He gruffly inquired, leaning onto his doorway. Taking a final breath in, you look around, trying to gather your mind, still surprised that he even answered the door. “The project.” You said, putting your hands on your hips. Vance blinks a few times, dumbfounded, as if he’s never heard of that word in his life. “What?”
You stare up at him, arms falling down to your side as you let out a huff of humourless laugh. “Are you serious?” He slowly shakes his head, making a face as if he’s saying ‘Yes, I am?’ before looking at you again. “History?” You try to remind him, shifting on your legs anxiously. It took him a second to process what words came out your mouth before his mouth turned agape, finally warming up. “Ohh yeah..” He nodded slowly, his tongue bumping the inside of his cheek’s side. “Yeah, fuck off I’m not.. doing that, shit stain.” He laughs out, grabbing the door as he’s about to slam it shut.
“Are you sure? Because if you’re not doing anything, neither am I.” You warn him, pushing the door open as much as you can. “I’m not getting used by.. you.” You add, eyeing him up and down with a slight snarl. “So you better let me in so we can start this, or we’re both failing.” You explain - glaring up at him, your leg bouncing slightly with nerves of frustration.
He scoffs, gazing at the road, basically anywhere but you for a moment before he finally looks towards you again, annoyance visible in his eyes. “What-fucking-ever.” He grumbles, moving aside to let you inside. Eyes widening slightly, you freeze for a second, taking a hesitant step forward before finally walking inside.
Stepping on the small carpet, you take off your shoes at the door before looking around, seeing differences in his house - good and bad. Since when haven’t you been here? Two or three years maybe.. Turning your head towards Vance, you see him bouncing his foot impatiently before he scoffed, going up the stairs while skipping a few steps.
Staring up at him for a moment, you sigh out while following so.. bored-like. Well, of course. We’re talking about a project with the boy that more than half of North Denver knows about. And not about sunshine and rainbows, but about gruesome fights, hatred towards everybody and no temper in the nerve system of his.
As you stepped inside his room, you saw a small pile of clothes near his closet - which was slightly opened, showing off his clothes, bland walls covered either with rock bands or small polaroids. his bed was close to his wall, near the window, blackout curtains pulled aside. On the nightstand next to his bed, a small lamp, a framed picture and some rings.
There were other stuff to look around that weren’t here before, but you weren’t here to admire his room as if it’s a museum artifact. Vance walked to his unmade bed, flopping on it, arms going behind his head as he sighed out. Zoning out, you stared off into his floor before he whistled, eyes snapping towards him as he smirked. “God, you’re more idiotic than I thought.” He sighed out as he sat up, leaning his back onto the wall, legs sprawled out on his bed. You glared at him, saying nothing before going to the opposite edge of his bed, putting your bag down.
“So, which part of the project do you want? ‘Cause I have notes of the lessons that were on World War Two and I also have-“ You explained with your hands, leaning down to open your backpack before you got rudely interrupted. “Listen, I don’t know shit, so.. I can maybe, I don’t know. Do my part when I-“ “Yeah, no. I know that trick.” You snorted out, shaking your head while pulling your notebook out.
Best to say, he wasn’t so pleased.
And now? Well while you were searching for something written down, he wasn’t doing his very best to help you or even try to learn something, just laying down playing with an yo-yo - the toy going up and down with a satisfying sound. “Jesus Christ, are you seriously still staring at that textbook? Only thing left is for you to make-out with that shit.” He laughed out, looking somewhere into his wall.
Meanwhile you visibly didn’t look bothered as you ignored him, but God how you wanted to smack the shit out of him like a cassette tape stuck in rewind.
Eyes going over written texts, you straightened up since you thought you found what you needed, but that was soon wiped. Slumping back down a bit with a sigh, Vance groaned as if he was doing anything helpful. “You’ve been reading that same shit with the longest sentences ever for the past five minutes, dickwad.” You snapped your head towards him, just staring at him before firing back at him.
“Do you know what a paragraph is, you stupid fuck?” You asked calmly, innocently tilting your head slightly as if you didn’t just act the total opposite. He wasn’t quiet for a second before straightening up and snarling at you. “Are - are you that-“ “Yeah, keep stuttering.” You grinned at him with cheekiness, leaning back.
He just stared at you, again, before absolutely going ballistic, throwing the most horrendous but creative insults you’ve heard to mankind. And you? You couldn’t keep quiet - of course not. Which soon resulted into a screaming match, and both of you comparing eachother as if that fixed this whole mess.
Now, you were stomping down the stairs towards his, fuelled with anger and frustration, grabbing one of your shoes and struggling to put it on, while Vance was angrily standing at the top of the stairs. When you finished putting on the shoe, you looked up at him. “Don’t just stand there as if you shit your pants and have a dick up your ass.” You hissed out, eyes narrowing. “Says the cock-sucking dipshit.” He barked out, going down the stairs towards you. You scoffed rolling your eyes, fixing your backpack straps on your shoulder. “Don’t start with your goddamn fantasies, Hopper.”
He froze mid-step before his whole demeanour changed for the even worse. “Oh, you little bitch i’ll smack the snot out of your nose once I break it and throw it like a lasso around your throat, ya hear me?” He hissed out, now in front of you in the blink of an eye. You let out a humourless laugh, shaking your head, looking up at him. He wasn’t breathing quite heavily, nostrils flared like the black hole, sucking every little breath left around you. Now, you knew that if you said this, it would be over for you.
So you stooped even lower.
What a great idea.
“Yeah, learn that from your daddy or what?” You inquired bluntly, tilting your head as if you were asking him for the time, or what he was doing tonight or-
“What the fuck did you just say?” He questioned calmly, but his eyes said a different story, which made you regret even coming here in the first place. “You heard me.” You kept your voice steady, which might’ve been not so steady. Oh well.
Vance stated holes through your irises, hell through your whole damn head before, a vein slightly popping out of his neck as he spat onto your face. Speechless as you felt it land, your hand hovered over the saliva covered spot. “Oh my fucking God.” You winced out. “Are you nuts?” You hiss out after a moment of silence, eyes wildly searching a drop of realisation in his.
He shakes his head as he leans down slowly, grabbing your shoe, opening the door. “How about you put your shoes and get the fuck outta here, yeah?” He monotonously stated before charging his arm, throwing your shoe out the door which dragged itself to the pavement on the street, some cars passing by it. One almost even running over the midsole of it.
You watched it all happen, and when you turned to him, gawking with curled hands into fists, all he had was a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as if he just won some competition. And of course, you wouldn’t let him finish whatever the hell this is. Letting out a humourless snort, you grabbed a fistful of the hem of his shirt, pulling towards your face as you wiped his saliva off.
When you finished, you quickly pushed him away from you just as he was about to grab you. Running out the door , you looked behind your shoulder, one foot bare, feeling the texture of the hard, prickly concrete against your skin. And all you could hear was him muttering insults while looking at his shirt before his darkened eyes looked at you. “I’ll fucking kill you, shitty snot-licker!” He roared out furiously, brows knotted so close together that it looked like he had an unibrow for a second.
“Yeah, well fuck you too, Hopper!” You flipped him off as you picked up your shoe, jogging off towards your block, still bare foot and overall shocked by today’s events.
After creating a safe distance, you were left wondering on how the fuck you were gonna get Vance to work on that God forsaken project after this whole mess. Might as well just accept that you’re failing.
Stupid tumbleweed.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ NOTES : Thank YOOUU for all of the support and likes and reblogs of the first chapter ! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas Eve and I wish you a perfect New Year! Love you all guys so much and again thank you from the bottom of my heart for the heartwarming words. I’m so sorry for the inconsistency from my side, and i’ll try to have all chapters done as soon as possible! If you guys have any ideas, tell me down below in the comments! Again, love u all!
© swoofllia
