Chapter Text
elmax + hopper fic
Hopper had actually been, as a shock to himself and everyone else, enjoying life recently.
He found a good friend and confidant in Joyce (though he wished they could be more than that), there weren’t any active life threatening dangers, and Eleven hadn’t brought Mike over in at least a few weeks now.
His mornings were filled with coffee and contemplation, his days were filled with paperwork and no life threatening dangers, and his nights were filled with watching TV with his daughter.
It was a perfect life.
Right now he was posted up on the couch reading the newspaper during the ads on TV, waiting for whichever sitcom that was airing to come back on.
When the theme to 60 Minutes started playing instead, he knew it was time to start getting dinner ready for El and her friend Max, who was sleeping over tonight before Christmas in two days.
He set the newspaper down on the coffee table and made his way to the kitchen. He could heat them up some frozen dinners, maybe make sausages…
Hopper sighed and pulled the pizza delivery coupon from under the fridge magnet.
He began dialling the number as he walked toward El’s room. He tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pushed open the door.
“Hey girls, I was going to order-”
The words died in his throat as he saw El and Max pull away from each other’s lips, red in the face and panting slightly.
Okay.
Cool.
His daughter was kissing a girl.
That’s fine.
Hopper turned without a word and exited the room. He set the phone and coupon on the table and exited the house.
He got in his car and began to drive.
-
“El, he saw us!” Max cried, hands in her hair.
El nodded. “Yes, but he’ll be over it soon. He never cared that much when me and Mike kissed.”
Max wasn’t reassured. “Yeah but that’s different. He didn’t see you and Mike kissing, he saw us kissing.”
El furrowed her brow. “What do you mean by us?”
Max shifted uncomfortably. “I mean like, we’re both girls.”
“What does that have to do with us kissing?”
Max was confused for a moment until she realised, El was raised in captivity, she wouldn’t understand the concept of being gay or straight. Meaning she also wouldn’t understand the concept of homophobia.
Max swiped at the tears forming in the corner of her eye.
“Some people,” she began, shakily, “think that only boys and girls should kiss, and that it’s wrong for boys to kiss boys and for girls to kiss girls.”
El frowned. “Why?”
Max thought for a moment, because she didn’t really know why either. “They’re… stupid, I suppose. There isn’t anything actually wrong with it, but some people think it’s like… against God or whatever.”
El scooted closer to Max so their knees were touching each other. “Is… Hop like that?”
Max shook her head. “I don’t know. But… my family is. And if he tells them, tells Billy, I’ll probably be kicked out. Or something.”
El looked affronted. “Kicked out? For kissing a girl?”
Max nodded.
“Mouth-breathers.” El spat, offended.
“Yeah, mouth-breathers.” Max agreed.
El put her arm around Max’s shoulder and pulled her against her side. “If you get kicked out, you stay with me. And if Hop kicks me out, we run away together.”
Max tucked her head in the crook of El’s neck.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
-
Hopper didn’t have a destination in mind when he set out, but he found himself pulling into Joyce’s driveway anyway.
He crossed the path from the car to to the door with quick long strides.
He knocked.
He waited.
The door cracked open to the sight of a flour-covered Joyce.
“Oh, hey, Hop, come on in. I’m just baking some treats for Christmas while the boys are out.” She greeted, already disappearing back into the kitchen.
Hopper followed, sitting down at the dining table. “Can I talk to you about something, Joyce?”
Joyce was mixing something in a bowl on the counter. It smelt good.
“Sure. What’s up?”
Hopper huffed. “I saw El… ah, fuck, I saw El, um, doing something… God, I’m no good at this.”
Joyce turned around with her eyebrow raised. “What’s going on, is it serious?”
“…It’s not life ending.” Hopper sighed.
Joyce nodded, turning back to her baking. “So it’s about your emotions then.”
“I guess.” Hopper grumbled.
There was a beat of silence before Hopper realised he should continue talking.
“Max is sleeping over tonight. And… I saw her and El… kissing.”
Joyce faltered in her movements for a second before continuing faster.
“I didn’t know what to do. Or say. I just left and came here. They had the door closed, too.” Hopper groaned, letting his head fall back.
“Well… what do you want to do, Hop?” Joyce asked, voice meek. “Like, kick her out?”
Hopper affronted. “What? God, no, I’d never do that! I’m not- I’m not like that.”
“Well then, what are you like?”
Hopper sighed, scratching at the table with his nail. “I don’t know. If I was my dad, El would've been kicked to the curb already. Probably with a belt lashing or two.”
Joyce hummed. “It’s a good thing you aren’t your dad then.”
Hopper sighed. “Yeah. But at least he knows how he feels.” That’s the first time he’s ever praised his dad for something.
“And you don’t know how you feel?”
“No, I don’t.”
There was a beat of silence before Joyce spoke up again.
“Do you feel bad about it? Bad about El?”
Hopper’s head fell into his hands. “I don’t know. My initial feeling was… bad. But I don’t want to feel like that, and I know that’s not how I think.”
Joyce sighed. “It’s just hard to reject the opinion that’s been fed to you your whole life, I get it.”
Hopper groaned. He didn’t like dealing with emotions. “It’s just that… I don’t want to feel bad about it. I want El to be loved and supported, but I just don’t know how to do that. It’s never really been in my nature.”
Joyce turned around to face him. “It’s always been in your nature, Hop.”
Hopper snorted. “I doubt that.”
Joyce tilted her head. “Okay.”
Another beat of silence.
“What if it was Sarah?”
Hopper sat up straight. “…That’s not fair.”
“Why not?”
Hopper closed his eyes, rubbing his hand over his forehead. “If- if Sarah was alive today, I’d love her no matter what.”
Joyce smiled. “Is that not the way you feel about El?”
He realised it with a jolt. That was exactly how he felt about El.
“…Can you help me figure out what to say?”
-
El and Max were both waiting nervously for Hopper to come home. It felt like waiting for a judge to deliver a verdict after a particularly rigorous trial.
Max had calmed down since the initial situation, but for every minute he didn’t show up, she found herself growing more and more anxious.
El had stopped her from just packing her things and leaving numerous times, and now they were just laying on the bed together, unread comics resting on their chests.
The sound of a key turning in the door startled them both.
Max reached for El’s hand.
They heard Hopper walk in, mumbling to himself, and the door close behind him.
Silence.
The rustling of paper.
His footsteps began to approach. He pushed the door open softly.
“Just… remember to keep the door open 3 inches.”