Stonathan ❤️

31

NOT MINE!!

all credits go to NeroAnne on ao3

His soft snores echoed around the small office. It was quiet today, the phone hadn't rung a single time and it was already early noon, so why not take advantage? His legs were crossed at the ankle, the heavy black boots perched on top of the shiny desk littered with several notes, pens, and a disposable coffee cup or two.

Flo hadn't come in yet, which was odd since the woman was usually the first one to arrive. He let himself in and did his usual routine of following up on any leads but there was nothing new. The morning had been uneventful. Completely fucking boring.

THWAP

The sound of something smacking onto his desk woke Steve up from his afternoon nap. He nearly toppled backwards from his chair as he struggled to lower his legs from said desk, and he grumbled in annoyance, flipping the brim of his hat above his forehead so that he could rub the sleep away from his eyes.

"Damn it, Flo, did you have to-"

"Open your eyes, Harrington."

Steve blinked his eyes open at the low grunt. He stared up into the man's unamused frown and he smiled sheepishly, reaching out to rub the back of his neck. "Heh. Sorry, chief. I figured you weren't going to be in today." He pulled his hat off, tossing it onto this desk and running his fingers through his thick hair.

Hopper snorted, crossing his arms as he stared down at his newest officer. "I'm not giving you enough work? You have time to sleep on the job?" he stared down at Steve's work space, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh, bite me," Steve groaned, "You know as well as I do that you give me all the scrub work. I'm so bored of going down to Patsy's just to drive away those damn raccoons from her garbage cans. Or going over to Walter's just so that I can tell Jimmy Harris to keep away from his bench, which, by the way, is ridiculous. Walter should just have it removed if he doesn't want people sitting on it-"

"Harrington, shut up," Hopper pointed to the papers, "since you seem to have all the free time in the world, alphabetize these reports and put them away in the cabinet."

"Isn't that Flo's job?" Steve asked, getting up anyway, stretching languidly and ignoring Hopper's evil eye.

"She's in Bloomington for her kid's graduation. Get to it." Hopper said as he turned to leave.

Steve sighed, looking down at the high stack of papers with a pout. He did a double-take, staring at the a letter that was at the very top of the pile. "No way!" he snatched it, ripping it open with an excited grin. He read through the letter quickly and then let out a laugh, looking up at Hopper.

The man chuckled as he leaned against the wall, shoving his hands into the pockets of his uniform, "Figured you'd react that way." His eyes were warm as he stared at the letter, his smile unusually soft. "Two weeks from today. It'll be small, just the family in some old church Karen picked out."

"About time!" Steve said, grinning, "You've been engaged forever now!"

"Two years," Hopper corrected, snorting, "I've been with her for five years, engaged for two."

"Whatever," Steve waved a hand around, smiling down at the little picture of Joyce Byers and Hopper. They were both smiling, holding hands and staring directly at the camera. It was a very nice picture; Steve knew instantly who took it. A wedding date, time, and location were written in fancy cursive, a nice wine-colored text that paired well with the stark white of the invitation.