CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

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Judy, El and Hopper sit at the fountain in the center of the mall

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Judy, El and Hopper sit at the fountain in the center of the mall. Hopper holds Els' head, and Judy lets her rest her leg on top of her lap. At some point during Mike explaining everything to the freshly appeared adults, Steve walked up to Judy, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, giving him a tight lipped smile and holding his hand slightly.

"Hey, Steve," Hopper said in his booming voice. "Let's talk."

Steve looked scared shitless. Judy did too. So much so that El laughed in her face for it, making Judy only nozzle her harshly, laughing next to the teasing girl.

Judy watched patiently as Hopper gave Steve an interrogation.

"So you and my daughter, huh?" Hopper questioned, standing with his chest poked out in intimidation. Not that it was necessary since Steve was already scared of Jim Hopper. He'd been too close to being caught smoking weed to not be scared of the Chief.

"It's very new, sir. Like, a couple hours new," Steve confessed nervously, glancing over at Judy for a little pep. She was a bit too busy trying to cheer up El to see him sweating from every poor of his body.

"Ya' like Chinese food?"

"Yes, sir," Steve answered like a soldier, standing up straight, but still avoiding Hoppers eyes. The burly man smiled on the inside, finding comfort that the young boy was visibly shaking. "I actually never got the chance to thank you for all the nights you fed me... sir."

"Uh, huh," Hopper played it cool. "How 'bout when this is all over, you come by the cabin and we can have dinner. I can set some boundaries with you and Judy."

"Boundaries... that's- yes, sir."

Hopper smiled genuinely and forced his hand into Steve's arm, patting him playfully. "I'm just messin' with you, kid."

Steve laughed nervously as he rubbed the pain out of his forearm. Just as his nerves were settling, Hopper's face fell stone cold again, sending Steve into soldier mode once again. "But I'm really not, Steve Harrington. Judy is everything to me and I will stop at nothing to bring her justice if you hurt her."

"She's everything to me too, sir," Steve spoke with such blatant truth that even Hopper knew it was true, no matter how hard he wanted to find something wrong with Steve. "I won't hurt her. I love her."

"I can tell." Hopper stuck out his hand for Steve to hold on to. The two shook hands and went separate ways. Steve walked over to Dustin who was talking to Lucas and Max, and Hopper sat back down with El and Judy.

When Judy matched her fathers gaze, he looked amused, giving her a not so subtle 'I'm okay with him' kind of look. She smiled a bit bigger and nodded slowly, excited for that next chapter and the fact that her father was okay with it.

Slowly, the group drifted closer to El, looking for another witness to the monster.

"The Mind Flayer. It built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world."

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