so invested in prism steve + hopper
go read it if you haven't @thorniest-rose and @azrielgreen made such a dark and beautiful fucked up steddie/harringrove universe
I wrote a little something ⭐⭐⭐
since he's the sheriff and it was big news for such a small town, hopper heard about when they moved into town. the boy who walked like he perfected not cutting himself on the ice and sharp things he was stuffed with but whose smile and kind words could melt the biggest glacier. and his parents who liked to pull the disappearing act. who was gone more than not.
the 14 year old retired model and his parents who must be so proud to have such a hard working and over achieving kid.
he thought, 'well they're gonna be trouble.' and the first time he got called to an out of control house party he was proven right. but he wishes he wasn't. jim hopper would do anything to not have been right about Steve Harrington.
he pulled up to the house and that's all he had to do for the kids to book it. beer bottles were forgotten, thrown. blunts were swallowed and kicked on. if you didn't know it was a bunch of teenage kids who should be too young to make such a noise, you'd think it was a herd of elephants running from the house as fast as their thick new born legs can.
hopper waited for most of them to clear out. there's no point in chasing after them, hes known most of these kids all their lives. he's not gonna waste his energy.
after it seems like most of them cleared out, hopper makes his way up to the house and that's when he steps out.
he looks confused, a little lost.
hoppers not gonna let his soft little boy face play with his emotions the way the kid is probably trying for.
and before he could even say anything the kid asks 'whats going on?'
like it's not obvious. all those big hollywood parties probably made him feel invincible and like he could get away with anything. its gonna be one hell of a shock that he can't get away with it anymore here in hoppers town.
'hi, steve right?' a nod. 'im the county sheriff, jim hopper. im not sure how they do it where youre from but here things like drugs and underage drinking are illegal.'
'illegal?' the kid asks, as if he didn't know drugs and underage drinking is illegal. as if he doesn't know the word illegal exsists. that has hopper pause. and now that he stops to collect and pack in his indignation, hopper sees that the kid looks sleep rumpled. hair smashed at one side, eyes squinting and crusted in the corners, sleep pants and tshirt hanging off one skinny shoulder.
too skinny of a shoulder.
'yeah, I got a complaint from the neighbors. said they smelled pot, said they could see everything from the sidewalk. you gotta at least try to keep a low profile if youre gonna be having these types of parties in this neighborhood.'
'oh.' steve nods his head like he understands but his eyes still look confused, a little glassy.
'no. just woke up.' hopper thought so but it still surprises him.
'you were sleeping? during your own house party?'
'the noise is nice.' and hopper shouldn't fall for it. he's a rich hollywood kid and could probably act his ass off for anything. but then he remembers steve's files.
he still looks like he could use a couple hours of sleep and a nice hot meal.
steve's looking at hopper like he's waiting to be told what to do and like he needs it.
'well where are your parents?'
steve tilts his head like the question makes no sense, as if it's normal for his parents to not be around and it's common knowledge.
'ok how about this, is everyone cleared out?'
'well wait here, im gonna go make sure.' hopper does. Its a big empty house like he expected. he heads back out and says to steve 'all good, you go inside now, lock the doors and go back to sleep. you got one hell of a clean up in the morning, kid.' the boy gives a soft sad sigh, but nods his head and starts to turn towards the house. 'and no more crazy house parties ok? or at least keep them drug free and quiet, or you're gonna end up seeing a lot of me.' another nod - the bobble head interpretation would be funny if there wasn't something so heart breaking about it - and he does what he's told.
hopper takes a look around the yard. it's trashed and the inside was even worse. empty fridge, unlocked liquor cabinets, full pill bottles of the good prescribed stuff that just so happens to be left home and probably refilled when they magically disappear in between each 'work trip'.
he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. after 5 hours of deep cleaning the yard, an excuse to the office about a personal emergency, hopper makes sure the front and back doors are locked.
and from that point forward he gets a call from the same neighbor about the raging house party a sleeping boy is hosting and needs controlled at least twice a month.
sometimes more but that's what hoppers here for. god knows no one else is.
the office let's him make his half ass excuses when he disappears after each call out and sometimes he wishes they wouldnt. what if he wasn't helping the kid out? what if he was someone like Forty?
but he's not and he tells himself he won't let someone like that back into steve's life again.
it hurts like a fucking bitch when he can't keep his own promise to himself.
