Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Jim Hopper X Reader - Next To You

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Next To Me by Imagine Dragons. I hope you all enjoy it.

You took a deep breath as you stared at the wooden door in front of you, steadying yourself for what was about to come. In all honesty, you hadn't ever been a big fan of crowds, especially not when they all had their attention firmly focused on you. But today was going to be an exception. You had reminded yourself of that at least once every ten minutes since you woke up this morning. 

Today, you were just going to forget that everyone was looking at you. You were going to keep your head and just enjoy the day. You were going to get to marry your favourite person in the world and appreciate that you had him back. I mean, after the last couple of years you had suffered through, you more than deserved to have the perfect day. 

"Y/N?" a voice murmured, drawing your laser focus away from the door and down to El, smiling softly in your direction. Hell, she had been the only thing that had kept you sane whilst Hopper had been gone and right now, she was doing a lot more to soothe your nerves than she would ever know.  "Are you ready? Everyone's waiting," she pressed on, watching as your lips tipped up into one of the most gentle smiles she had ever seen before you nodded your answer, holding out your hand for her to take. 

It hadn't been a hard choice to make when Hopper had proposed. You had known your answer before he'd even finished asking the question. He was the love of your life, years in the making. He'd been your high school sweetheart, and sure, you'd drifted apart when you'd gone to college and he'd signed up for the army, but deep down, there had always been a longing for him to come back. And then, you'd come back to Hawkins with your new job, and by the time you'd bumped into him again, he was single again and so were you. The rest had been history. 8 years of dating and a Hell of a lot of unpredictable life events later, and here you were, getting ready to walk down the aisle to him with your daughter at your side. 

When the doors opened, your eyes had landed on him immediately, finding him already watching you, a smile slowly spreading across his face as you locked eyes. And then, you were moving towards him, the thoughts of the crowd sitting watching the two of you, completely gone from your mind. 

"Hi," he hummed softly, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek as he helped you up the step to the alter. "You look-" his words trailed off, his head shaking as he let himself look you over properly. "Wow," he finished, listening intently to the snort of laughter you let out, your fingers linking through his. 

"Yeah, well you look pretty wow yourself," you teased gently, grinning when he chuckled at your comment. 

It wasn't until you reached the vows that the teasing had finally slipped away. You'd gotten through yours pretty effortlessly, with the addition of a couple of quotes from your favourite novels, the ones that Hopper had patiently listened to you read aloud over the years, despite his lack of interest in the classics. 

And then, Hopper had cleared his throat and straightened out the page in his hands, his eyes focused on the paper. 

"I have been in awe of you from the moment I first met you," he started, his voice softer than you had been expecting. "From the second I set eyes on you, you were just right there, in the back of my mind, no matter where I was or what I was doing. No matter that you'd headed off to New York and made yourself a life out there. No matter that you weren't mine anymore." He paused for a moment, clearing his throat again. "So, you can imagine my surprise when one day I was sitting in Benny's diner and you came waltzing back in as if you'd never been gone at all." 

A soft chuckle slipped out of you at his comment. Hopper really had been surprised seeing you again. Hell, almost 20 years had passed since he'd last seen you in person and you hadn't changed a bit. You were still as beautiful as you had been when you dated in high school. And when you'd spotted him, you'd been grinning so brightly that it had turned his entire world upside down. 

"I know that I'm not easy to live with," he pressed on. "I'm grouchy and I act on stupid impulses and, Shit Baby, I've got a hell of a lot of baggage. But you have always been there loving me anyway. And I know I'm not appreciative enough of how good you are to me, but I love you, Baby. I love you so damn much and I'm going to spend the rest of my life loving you."

He reached out, taking your hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Just in case you ever foolishly forget," he pressed on. "I'm never not thinking of you."

You swallowed down the lump in your throat. "Virginia Woolf," you uttered, watching as his smile grew. He'd known you would recognise it. Hell, you'd been the one who had read it to him. You'd loved the quote so much and here he was, repeating it back to you word for word and meaning every single syllable of it.

"Virginia Woolf," he confirmed quietly. "I love you," he reminded you again, feeling your grip on his fingers tighten ever so slightly. 

"I love you too," you hummed, knowing that no matter how many times you said it, you could never put it better than the great writers could: "I wish not any companion in the world but you."

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