49. I heart you (Hopper and El)

A/N: Hey, everyone. I want to start this with an apology because I've been away for far too long. Some of you already know this because you reached out and PMd me, but for those of you who kept wondering where the hell is this bitch at? Well, I've been home. Literally, without doing shit. The excuse is my mother.

I mentioned previously that writing is a huge ass secret because my mom caught me reading smut when I was younger, so Fanfiction to her is literally written porn. I'm on summer break from school and that would've typically given me all day to write (as I initially thought), but she's on vacation too, and having her around the house does not allow me to have the time to write. I'm so sorry, but my hands are tied *insert crying emoji* and I'm posting this because she went out to run some errands so I have like an hour to fix any mistakes on this and to update the story.

I'm still around, I'm still reading and messaging some of you, leaving comments on stories, and I still manage to squeeze a Prompt or small scene on my iNotes (hence how this chapter gained life).

What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for not posting in months, and that I can't promise that changing at least for a few weeks. I go back to school a week after my mom goes back to work, so I'll write from dawn till dusk (jk, she works from 8:30 to 1 pm. FML, right?) until I manage to get back on track with the Prompts list.

Now that I've gotten that out, DiD YoU gUys SeE thE TEasEr?! Lord, I never knew I needed a Mall as much as Hawkins' Starcourt. Steve with his little sailor outfit gaahhh. And our first glimpse at Maya. I swooned. Anyway, Scoops Ahoy birthed this along with two particular Prompts that I had on the list. Sorry tomatoxketchup, instead of her finals I made them celebrate El passing the grade level test.

Also, what the heck? You guys let me down! Nobody fucking guessed the easiest song ever! Last chapter was inspired by The Only Exception by Paramore, which is a classic and you guys are the worst. Shoutout to the Guest who kind of guessed it. You should trust your gut, Guest!

Enjoy your reading, my loves! Until next time! Remember that your comments always keep me alive and that I read every single one of them.

PROMPT: Hopper saying I love you for the first time, by Middrock /El and Hopper celebrating her passing finals with ice cream, by tomatoxketchup

"It's that good, huh?" Hopper asked with a chuckle, watching her take another bite with eagerness. "Thought you'd like that one."

"Yours is boring," El said with her mouth full of cold dessert. After he gave her a look, she waited until she swallowed to explain. "You always drink coffee. Your ice cream is... predictable."

Hopper raised his eyebrows slightly, momentarily caught off ward by her word choice, but then he smirked and laughed approvingly.

He really shouldn't be surprised she was using big words in sentences now. After all, that was the whole reason they were in Scoops Ahoy. Also because he wanted to tease the shit out of Harrington when he took their order, but that was a second thought.

She had literally aced her test.

Days of long, hard studying and hours of private tutoring by friends and family had proved to be positive in paper results, because she passed the test that would eventually let her in High School. She had a few struggles with certain subjects (Math and Chemistry— which had annoyed him, because that's why Wheeler had been the one tutoring her on those and it was obvious that they did more than study on their solo time, but okay, she'd passed), but she was ready.

To say he was proud would be an understatement.

"What now?" El asked curiously while licking her spoon, eyes wandering through the different people that passed the Ice Cream parlor.

"Now we enroll you in High School." He answered, taking a bite of his coffee flavored ice cream and nodding appreciatively at the taste. "We just have to wait for a few papers that Owens will send, just to make sure you have a school record of sorts, and then—"

"And then I'm in?" Her eyes brightened, a smile tugging at the end of her Salted Caramel-covered lips.

"Yeah, kiddo," he smiled back. "You're in."

She sighed happily, looking down at her ice cream cup before she met his gaze again. "I'm excited. I will be with Mike and the boys every day."

"As if you're not doing that now." He snorted, licking his lips after taking another bite.

"Yeah," she said slowly, scooping more ice cream on her plastic spoon. "But it will be different, right?"

"Yes, El, it'll be different. Also, you'll have more responsibilities. Homework, more studying, tests... yeah?" He explained with care, staring back as she looked at him with full attention. "The boys will be there but I don't want you to be distracted by them. You need to pay attention in school. Especially if Mike is going to be there."

He tried to keep his smirk from blooming out as she blushed lightly, shoving the spoon inside her mouth to keep herself busy.

"They're smart," she replied after swallowing, giving him a smile. "They will help with homework and studying."

He sighed, leaning back in his seat as he finished his ice cream. "I know, kid."

And he did know. They may be a pain in the ass to be around, and they had more sass in them that a normal adult probably did and more than he could endure, but Hopper knew they were damn smart.

"I'm proud of you, you know?" He confessed with a grin. "You've accomplished so much in such a short time."

She gave him that lopsided smile, the one where she hunched her shoulders, lowered her head and looked at him through her eyelashes. The one that made him want to mess up her hair fondly and hug her, just because he could and because she deserved the gesture.

So he did. He reached an arm out and curled it around her slender neck, her chair scraping against the floor as she moved to hug him back. The soft curls of her hair reached past his arm, and he fingered the ends with a smile. It was longer, the fluffy crown of curls that had grown while she was hidden now a pretty cascade that almost reached her shoulders.

"You did so good," he murmured against the red ribbon on her head, rubbing his thumb on the exposed skin of her arm. "So good, El."

"Thank you." She answered, smiling against his chest.

"I love you, kid." He said off-handedly, pressing his lips to her head before letting her go.

He was about to urge her to eat the rest of her ice cream when he noticed the expression on her face. And then he realized what he had said.

I love you, kid.

It was the first time he ever said that to her.

"Really?" El whispered, eyes wide and serious as she slowly leaned back on her seat.

He was frozen, glued to his seat as he stared back.

I love you, kid.

El had come into his life unexpectedly. And unwanted, really. He never wished to have another kid after everything that happened with Sara. But he had taken her in with as much care as he was capable of at that time. She needed protection and a safe place, and he gave both to her. Her situation was delicate and unheard of and it never failed to infuriate him every time he had to meet with those people to receive more papers of her or to put pressure on the legal action against some of the bigger fish in the program.

El was hotheaded and impulsive and had a streak of tantrums that ended with some broken things and tears down her face while he made her clean the mess up. But she also had a record of hot chocolate talks after their fights were she apologized and listened to what he said, moments where she said something surprisingly funny that made him laugh because, Jesus, was she gaining his sense of humor, nights of holding his hand while he read her bed time stories or nights of her asking if they could share the bed when it was storming outside, and panicked phone calls to the station to ask if he was alright after she couldn't reach his radio when he was late for dinner.

El was caring and sweet, stubborn and snappy, with mind powers that had nearly harmed him more than once and soft smiles with bright eyes reserved for him.

And he loved her.

Because she was the daughter he never got the chance to have and the one he didn't ask for, but, god, did he love her now.

"Yeah," he finally breathed out, a wobbly smile tugging his mouth up in the corners before it turned into a full-on grin that made his eye-sight blurry. "Really, kid. I love you."

Her eyes shone with affection, the smile on her face more than enough to tug at his heart, and then she was hugging him again.

"I love you too." She said thickly, because she knew what love meant, Mike had explained it with red cheeks and recently-kissed lips, and she had read it on the dictionary and searched about it in the library and had watched more than enough soaps to know that here was more than one kind of love. And this one was the family kind.

Family. Because Hopper was her family. Not only because the papers said so, or because he fit into the dictionary description of the word ('the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children; also:any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family, 'a single-parent family'), but because he was her warm home; because he was her dad, and he loved her and made her feel safe and cared for, and she loved him too.

"— your ice cream is melting."

"What?" Her mind finally registered that Hopper was talking to her, and she gasped when she heard the end of his sentence. "Oh, no!" She returned to her seat, not even aware that she had stood up, and shoved the remains of the delicious dessert in her mouth.

Her father chuckled, running a hand down his thick beard to smooth the hairs down while he watched her slurp the melted ice cream from the cup, some sticky drops staining her chin.

"You have some... on your face. Go ask Harrington for a napkin." He gestured to his own chin, pointing a finger in the direction of the counter where the surly ex-High schooler was resting his crossed arms on.

El walked to him, her pretty hair bouncing with every step she took until she reached the blue countertop and called for Steve's attention.

Hopper watched the exchange, smiling at the way Harrington brightened up when he realized it was El.

Then she said something he couldn't hear, but he guessed some teasing was involved because Steve threw his head back and groaned so loud that some people noticed.

She swaggered back to the table with a light smirk on her face and a crumpled napkin in her hand, the sound of Hopper's booming laughter a soundtrack in the background.

Damn, he loved his kid.