Love Like That

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen: Trick or Treat, Freak pt. 1

Third Person POV

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Hopper was standing in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for himself and Eleven. Hopper flipped over the toast in the frying pan and glanced over his shoulder, feeling a presence behind him.

"Oh, Jesus!" Hopper called out in fear as his eyes widened. Eleven was standing behind him silently in a ghost outfit.

"Ghost."

"Yeah, I see that," Hopper admitted after he calmed his heart rate down.

"Halloween," Eleven pointed out as Hopper removed the pan from the stove and walked over to the L-shaped peninsula counter top, sliding the bread onto the plates.

"Sure is," Hopper monotoned muttered. "But right now, it's breakfast, okay? Come on, let's eat."

"They wouldn't see me," Eleven defended herself.

"Who wouldn't see you?" Hopper questioned as he brought the plates over to their kitchen table.

"The bad men," Eleven clarified.

"What are you talking about?"

"Trick or treat," Eleven muttered as she stood in front of a sitting Hopper.

"You want to go trick or treating?" Eleven nodded her head yes underneath the white cloth. "You know the rules."

"Yes, but-."

"Yeah, so you know the answer," Hopper informed the girl as he guided her to her seat.

"No, but they wouldn't see me."

"No, hey, I don't care. Alright, you go out there, ghost or not, it's a risk. We don't take risks, all right. They're stupid and..."

"We're not stupid," Eleven recited back.

"Exactly. Now, you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food's getting cold." Eleven flipped off her cloth and sat down in her seat while Hopper did the same. When Eleven didn't eat her food, even after he poured some syrup on it, "alright, look... how about I get off early tonight and I buy us a bunch of candy and we can sit around and get fay and we watch a scary movie together? How's that for a compromise?"

"Com-compromise?" Eleven stuttered, not knowing what the word meant from her lack of school knowledge.

"C-O-M-promise, compromise," Hopper broke down the word for her. "How about that's your word of the day, yeah? It's something that's kinda in-between. It's like halfway happy."

"By 5-1-5?"

"5:15, yeah, sure," Hopper nodded his head.

"Promise?" Eleven begged with a sad look on her face.

"Yes," Hopper answered, leaning in closer to her. "I promise."

"Halfway happy," Eleven nodded her head before eating her breakfast finally.

"Speaking of halfway happy, I should call and check on someone," Hopper muttered, standing up and walking over to the phone. Hopper punched in the number for Natalie's place while Eleven gave him a confused look on who he was calling.

"Natalie speaking," the ash blonde teen greeted the phone as she rested the phone in-between her shoulder and her ear.

"Hey, kid," Hopper greeted with a smile.

"Is that Nat?" Eleven spoke up, getting excited. Hopper nodded his head yes before putting a finger to his lips to remind her to be silent while he spoke.