SIX MONTHS had passed since the night that Steve and James got together, six months since the night of the Snowball and seven months since James went on that little trip with El, seven months since Will was possessed and they got it out of him.
After the winter break they mostly spent together, Steve and James went back to pretending they were just friends. Which sucked. Like a lot. But then Valentines' day came and James opened his locker to find a Hershey's kiss in his locker. The same happened when he opened his locker for the rest of the day. It made him sad to think of graduating and going off to college, leaving Steve.
And even after Valentines' day, even when the dead silence came again where they pretended they were just friends, it was still nice. The nights on the weekend they would spend together, under the sheets of Steve Harrington's bed when they knew they won't be disrupted by his parents because of some out of town business trip his dad would have his mom had to go on with him.
And then his eighteenth birthday came right before summer. Steve had rented a room at a motel and told him to meet him there at ten-thirty that evening after James had his birthday supper with his dad and El. He blew out the candles of his cake and ate it with the other two, well mostly Hopper. El just sat there and was grumpy she didn't get to spend that time with Mike. James understood and just told her to call Mike, which she did excitedly because it wasn't too late, still not his curfew.
His dad gave him a stern look but he just shrugged. It gave him more time to get ready for going to the motel, he'd have to lie however about where he was going. And he did, he said he was gonna sleepover at Jonathan's place for the night and said goodnight to his dad, and then to El before leaving the cabin and getting into his car, driving off.
He drove all the way to the motel where he walked up to the door of the room, knocking. The door opened and a hand pulled him into the dark room, Steve saying hi with an excited voice and kissing him instantly. Steve gave him a birthday gift he knows he'll remember forever.
And then summer came. Steve had to get a job and so did James, so he started working at Waldenbooks whereas Steve got a job at Scoops Ahoy. James did wanna go work with him, but he didn't know how that would work out, spending so much time together. What if Steve got bored of him? And annoyed? He didn't want that.
Working at Waldenbooks wasn't so bad, he just had to fix the books in display, make sure they were all in the right section. The year was 1985, the 28th of June when James was getting home from his shift, it was around five because he mostly worked three hours in the morning and then another three hours in the afternoon, 10 am to 1 pm, and an hour lunch break before going back at 2 pm and finishing around 5 pm. When he got home, it was the same time El walked in, he smiles.
"El, wanna..." He paused when he saw Mike walk in after the girl. "Hey Wheeler..." He said and looked away, turning around and sitting with a sigh. "Hi James," Mike says as El sighs. "Mike and I were just gonna hang out in my room..." She says and James raised his brows. "Shocker, just like every other day since the Snowball." He mumbles.
"Huh?" She says and he looks up at her. "Nothing... I'm gonna go and write." He says as he grabs his things. "Okay... Have fun." She says as she grabbed Mike's hand and lead him to her bedroom. James exits the cabin, knowing he wouldn't be able to focus if El blasts music from her tiny yellow radio. Which was a gift that James got her for Christmas, something he now regrets.
He sat on the hood of his car and opened the book, writing down plot ideas he had and then suddenly his mind became blank. He looked up and stared out into the woods. What changed in him? He use to write everyday and come up with various ideas for numerous books. And now he can't.
He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows. Christ. How fast he went from the loner who wrote every second of every day to the dude who has no personality and has a telekinetic adoptive sister. He felt like he couldn't write. He sighs and closed his book. And not to mention, he had a boyfriend now. Maybe he was too wrapped up in fiction before and now he can't even write it because of how fast everything changed since 1983.
He still had the idea to write about everything that happened, Will going missing and El coming into their lives, he'd add a bit of a fictional twist to it and change names but overall write it.
It was a dumb idea, Jim shot it down the minute he told him because El needs to be safe, protected and James just nodded and listened.
He glanced up when he saw Luna Hansen walking over. "Hey Loony, run into any wolves?" He smirked and she rolls her eyes. "No, I'm just here to say that... I missed you." She smiled widely and he raised his eyebrows. "How's college treating you?" He asked and she walked over, sighing as she leans against the car next to him.
"Kind of great... I made new friends and hey! I'm no longer Loony or the girl that cried wolf." She smiled and he smiled widely. "Well, I'm happy for you." He says before looking away. "What about you? How was graduation, are you going to college?" She asked and he sighed, glancing away.
"Uh, it was nice, super cheesy and mushy, and... I-I got accepted into NYU." He said as he looked at her and she smiled widely instantly. "Dude, that's great!" She says and he shrugs, looking away. "I guess... only El knows and she doesn't care, all she ever wants to do is make out with her boyfriend." He says and sighed, looking at the brunette.
"What about you? How's it going with lover boy?" She grinned and he looks away, smiling. "It's going okay... He refuses to talk about college though, everytime I bring it up, he says he doesn't wanna talk about it and kisses me to make me stop talking." He shrugged softly and she frowns.
"Well, just try and get him to talk at least before the summer ends." She offered her advice and he nods, looking at her. "I'm going over to his place tonight, after his shift at Scoops," he smiles and she smiled right back at him. "You sly dog." She says.
authors note i missed loony
+ also i forgot that james is the same age as steve and in the same grade but you know what? i'm gonna block that from my mind and he did graduate in the year '85 so yes he is a graduate, i mean i'll go with the flow of him being the same age as nancy and jonathan so like he turned 18 not 19, the age that steve is in season three
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Fanfiction✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* steve harrington being the chief's son, james hopper didn't really have much to do, he would mostly sit outside and write, half of the time his dad would get drunk, leaving him to fend for himself but then gets caught up in the mess that...
