𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐬

ONE: byers-hopper.

     

     JAMES HOPPER JR. did not go to college to become an English teacher just to come back here, no, he did not. But yet, here he was, on the front step of the Byers-Hoppers home in Hawkins, Indiana, clutching his backpack in one hand and his suitcase in the other as he contemplates ringing the doorbell. The rooms could be full, Hell, they probably gave his away to one of the three kids still living under their roof as Jonathan was also away, probably being a big hot shot in New York and living it up big with his boyfriend, Argyle.

But then he did it, the bell chiming and hearing a faint I got it coming from inside the home, only for three young teens, the smiles on the seventeen year olds teens' falling. "Wow, don't look too excited..." He says and El sighs. "You were here for Spring, so it's not that exciting." She says and he rolls his eyes as Sara Hopper pushed the two out of the way, smiling widely. "Hi!" She swung her arms around her brother who tightly hugs her back.

He kept her in his arms for a bit longer, rubbing her back gently before pulling back. "At least someone in this house loves me." He says as El and Will simultaneously roll their eyes and give him side-hugs before they entered the home together. "Kids, who was at the door?" Joyce appears from the kitchen.

"Jamie!" She squealed and came running to the tall Hopper boy who laughed and hugged her tiny frame. "Hop! Guess who's home?" She called out as James pointed, "is he in the basement again?" He asked and she nods. "Rearranging stuff to make his den." She rolled her eyes and he chuckled.

"James!" Jim Hopper is smiling widely at the sight of his son, rushing over to give him the biggest hug. Afterwards, the twenty-one year old caught up with El, Sara and Will, one of his younger sisters explaining the reason they got excited to open up the front door was because Will got together with Mike and El was together with Max now, which made James look at his younger siblings with a goofy grin on his face because it was so unexpected.

El use to be with Mike as Max was with Lucas in middle school, but deep down, James had an inkling it wouldn't stay like that for any longer, and turns out he was right. The two Byers-Hoppers in question are bright red in the face at the mentions of their partners making James chuckle. "And what about you? What got you so excited to open the door?" James asked and Sara shrugged lightly.

"Figured it was you. I keep mental notes of your schedule." She says and he just chuckles as she cuddled into his side, smiling widely. "I missed you so much." She says and he smiles, kissing the top of her head. "Me too, kid." He said and kept his face there as El just smiles softly, before standing up.

"We should do a Byers-Hopper movie night like old times!" She says excitedly and James looks up at her. "Yeah, that'd be fun. I'm just gonna go get settled in and check my e-mails, I sort of saw a job online here in Hawkins, I applied last week." He says and the three younger nod and then all three almost instantly got to planning the movie night down to a T.

Big mattress out in the livingroom, pillows, blankets, snacks, pizza, ice cream and any movie they wanna watch, they figure they'd just chose when they open up the tv and scroll through Netflix or something. As for James, he's surprised to see his old room wasn't taken. The house has four bedrooms, Joyce and Hopper share one, El had her own, Will and Jonathan use to share and then James would have his own. And when Sara moved in back when the kids were in eighth grade, she shared with El, getting bunk beds.

And then Jonathan moved away, then so did James, he figured they'd just, claim his room. Much to his surprise, everything is the same as he drops his bags gently, smiling. Joyce appears in the doorway, smiling softly. "Sara sometimes sleeps in here. She didn't wanna change anything, insisted on it as a matter of fact." She says and he just chuckles.

"She could've claimed it, made it her own." He says and she just shrugged. "I think she liked it better this way." She says and he smiles, glancing away. "Supper is ready soon." She informs him and he just nods, grabbing his backpack. "Just gonna check if I got the job or not." He informs her and she nods, knowing all about Scoops Ahoy and how he applied to work there for the summer.

"You know, I heard, uh, your friend from high school? Eddie Munson is also back from college. I ran into his uncle at the store." At the mention of Eddie, James' ears perk up as he glanced over. "Oh, yeah?" He said as he looks back at his computer and she just grins. "It'd be nice to see you two hanging out again..." She told him and he just hums.

"He wasn't just a friend, mom." He glanced up and she just raised her brows. "Oh." She said and he glanced down. "Anyway, we kinda ended things badly, probably for the best I steer clear of Eddie and his Munson doctrine drama shit." He says and she just sighs. "Okay, well, I'll text you when supper's ready."

He hums in response as he logged into his email fairly quickly, his password was literally just his dad's last name and his mom's last name with the number 14. The age he met Eddie. He's never brothered to change it since, and it sucks even now at the mention of the Munson, he feels... weird.

The memories flash back in his mind every single time and it makes him wonder why they didn't just work out. It was one of those first loves that have you wondering where everything went wrong. Because that was the case with Eddie, they liked each other. A lot. They got serious in Sophomore year and spent more time together, they even said they loved each other in Junior year, Senior year was where it all sort of went... to shit basically.

James still wouldn't trade those three and a half years of being with Eddie for anything. Yeah. He definitely needs to change his password. Soon too. Cause everyone knows if you speak of Eddie the Freak Munson enough, he may as well show up right before your own eyes. Like a mantra to summon him.

A lot would confirm this.

 

 

authors note
i'm living for the past jeddie relationship bc i love them so much but it kind of makes me wanna cry at the same time

+ anyways hi guys there's a severe thunderstorm warning for my town and my friend is on the road home atm. so i'm kind of jittery and hopefully updating this helps