By My Side : Steve Harrington

Chapter Three

1974

Casey Hopper swears she misheard the words that left her father's mouth. There was no way he said what she thought. It was impossible—it had to be.
Hazel eyes bore into the couple in front of her, both smiling happily up to their eyes. It's not like Casey didn't like the blonde woman, with sparking blue eyes. She was very beautiful, kind, and funny just like her father her told her almost a year ago. But that was the thing, it hadn't been a year and they were going to get married?

"Casey?"

Words hung from her lips, but she couldn't say them. She was frozen, like a deer in headlights—the news being the car that was coming straight for her.
A soft hand encased her own, "Casey, sweetheart? Isn't this great?"

Diane sounded desperate—her father looked ill. Say something, anything.

"Yeah, it's great." She faked enthusiasm, and it wasn't at all convincing. Diane bought it somehow, sighing in relief and squeezing the young girl's hand tight. But Casey knew her father hadn't just by the expression on his features.

The young brunette ducked her head to hide her face. She felt embarrassed that she wasn't as happy as she knows she probably should be. But this was all happening too fast. Too much was changing.

"That's not the only set of news we have," Diane added, and Casey's gaze was back up in a flash. An unease settled in the pit of her tummy that made her feel sick. "Your father and I have put a lot of thought into this, and we think..." The blonde paused, stealing a glance at Jim before continuing causing Casey to dig her fingernails into her palm from the suspense. "We have decided it would be best if we moved..."

The world around her went dead silent as her heart sank. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Diane's mouth moved, but nothing came out. She met her father's eyes. Ashamed. How could he do this to her? Pull her away from her home, school, her friends. This wasn't fair and he knew it.

The young girl stood up from the chair and stormed into her bedroom, slamming the door closed behind her. Voices followed after her, but she ignored them. Collapsing onto her bed as a wave of sadness crashed onto her. Tears spilled from her eyes as she sobbed into her pillow, clutching onto it with all her strength.

Why did they have to move into the city? Why did they have to be the ones to uproot their lives?

Hawkins wasn't good enough for Diane, so that meant she had to be the one to leave her life behind.

Three small knocks came at the door, "Munchkin?"

"Go away!" She cried at her father.

"Casey, please. Let's talk."

"Leave me alone, dad."

Her door creaked open anyway. She remained the way she was with her back to the outside of the room. She buried her face in into her pillow as much as she could in attempts to hide.

The bed dipped as he sat down on the edge. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, just listened to his daughter's muffled cries. Casey wanted him to feel bad and he did, there was no doubt about it.

"I know this isn't easy. I—I didn't want to leave either..."

"Then why?! Why are we leaving?" Casey shot up from her position to yell at her dad, pain in her voice.

"I am in love with Diane, Casey. I love her, do you understand that? And sometimes, when you love someone so much, you are willing to do anything for them. Even if that means leaving something behind."

The brunette stared at her father, because frankly she didn't understand. Did that mean he loved Diane more than her? Was she going to be forgotten about by her own father?

"What about me? I don't want to leave Hawkins. My school, my friends!"

Jim reached over and brought his daughter into his chest. She resisted at first, but then relaxed into his hold on her. A mixture of tears and snot stained his shirt, but Hopper didn't mind. He rested his chin atop her head and drew invisible circles on her arms with his fingers to comfort her.

"It's not like you'll never see him again."

Casey sniffled and her brows furrowed, "What?"

Her dad smirked, and his shoulders moved as if he laughed. "Steve," he clarified, "we'll come visit." There was a beat, "Or he can come to New York."

She dragged her finger under nose to collect the moisture there trying to comprehend how her dad could have known. "You two can write and call each other. Just because we're moving to another city doesn't mean you have to say good-bye to your best friend forever."

"How am I gonna tell him?" She asked, imagining he won't take the news too well. He might act exactly how she was now. Steve could be a little dramatic sometimes.

Hop shrugged with a frown, "You just...tell him the truth. He'll understand."

"What if he hates me?"

The arose a genuine chuckle out of the father, "He won't hate you, Casey. I promise."

Her head tilted up to look at her dad, concern lacing through her tone, "How do you know?"

He meets her gaze, "Cause I'm your dad, and I know everything." Casey smiled at that—her first smile since the life altering news, "Just like I know you'll like the city." And there went her smile, gone as quickly as it appeared, "I'm serious, Case. They got a real good school. You'll make plenty of new friends."

She didn't need new friends. She had all the friends she needed.

"I've already secured a job at the city police station. Diane and I found a nice house." 

I like our house, she thought while twiddling her thumbs.

"Hey," a finger gently tapped her chin and she looked up. "Will you trust your poor old dad?"
Did she have much of a choice? Not really. Her dad's mind was all made up. They were leaving Hawkins behind and moving into the city. A new house, a new school, new friends—a new mom.

Casey nodded, "I guess so."

"You guess so, huh?" Hopper repeated humorously making her giggle in response, "I guess I deserve that."

Yes, you do, she concluded in her mind before asking, "Can I go see him, dad?"

"Sure. Get your shoes, I'll drive you over."

She hopped out of her dad's arms faster than lightning. The entire drive, she thought about how she would tell her best friend she would be moving and by the time she stood in front of the door to his house, she still didn't know.

Mrs.Harrington was the one who answered the door, "Oh, hello, Jim. Casey. What a nice surprise. Please come in." The door widened and the father daughter duo entered, "Casey, Steve is upstairs."

"Thanks, Mrs.Harrington." The young brunette raced up the steps to her friend's room. Steve noticed her right away, a smile brightening up his face.

"Case—" She practically crashed into him, almost knocking him to the ground. "Ow, Case, you're hurting me!" She didn't care. In fact, she hugged him tighter, "What's your problem?"

"I'm moving," she blurted out, on the brink of tears. Not exactly how she planned it in her head.

"What are you talking about?" Steve questioned, his voice going up in pitch. He pried her arms off his body, so that he could look at her.

She met chocolate brown eyes, and swallowed thickly, "My dad and Diane are getting married. They told me today. We're moving to New York."

The boy's face fell, sadness in his eyes, "You're leaving?" She nodded solemnly, and a couple seconds passed by before Steve wrapped his arms around her.

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