Alone, No More (Harringrove)

Chapter 8//Letter in a Bottle

Chapter 8

Steve awoke Tuesday morning, Hopper's hat still clutched to his chest, in a daze. He had awoken multiple times that night with terrifying nightmares that, when he looked in the mirror, had created dark circles under his eyes. 

He didn't care, though, he didn't plan to go to school that day either. After all, he had one other thing he had to do today.

After stretching a white T over his hair, to which he tucked into the front of his jeans, he bound down the stairs to retrieve an apple from the fruit bowl. The brisk air tickled his bare arms as he made his way to his car, then chucked Hop's hat onto the passenger side seat.  

"Mornin' kid," a darker skinned cop greeted him when he tumbled into the station, not 10 minutes later, his hair a mess atop his head. 

"Hey," Steve said, recognizing the cop, and walked up to him with determination in his eyes. "Have you seen Hopper recently?"

The cop's eyebrow lifted while he slurped from the coffee in his hand. Steve was alarmed at how calm this man was! Especially seeing as his Coworker could be missing. 

"Nah, he had the audacity to go on vacation," He said, his eyes scanning the newspaper in one hand. 

Steve froze, then. 

"W-what?" he said, somewhat dumbfounded. "You're tellin' me he went to friggen Fiji or something?"

The cop laughed at him, then, swirling the cup o' joe in this cup with his hand. Steve really doubted Hopper would just desert them after such event had come about. Especially because Hopper would never leave El alone, let alone with the Wheeler's. 

Steve recalled on many accounts, where Hopper had side-eyed Mike for trying to get near his adopted daughter. Mike would grumble and El would glare at her adopted father. They knew he was just protective of her, but that didn't stop them from being defiant. 

"Guess so," the cop shrugged and sipped his coffee once again. 

"Can I go leave a note in his office?" Steve asked. And when the cop shrugged again, he rushed past him and into the office. 

Steve flicked the light on and deflated when he saw the usually messy desk, cleanly organized. He rounded the desk, checked to see if anyone was watching him, then began looking through his drawers; hoping to find even the smallest of clues. 

But after a suspiciously long time, he hadn't found anything. And once he had decided to give up and write the note he had planned to wright, he plucked the note pad from the top drawer and stopped in his tracks. 

A photo of El had been taped onto the front page of the note pad, so he lifted it, only to reveal a tiny note in Hopper's childlike cursive. 

Hat Pocket  

Lab  

Experiments not done!     -H

"Holy shi-" Steve began, while the door swung open.

"You about done in here, kid?" The cop from before asked, poking his head into the room. He looked from the note pad, to Steve, then back to the pad of paper, mild concern in his eyes. 

Steve nodded, hoping to god the man in the doorway brushed it off, wile pocketing Hopper's note into his jeans. After an awkward moment, the cop nodded then left him alone again, allowing Steve to breathe again.

He left the photo of El on the pad just to make it look normal but kept the note, and set it back in place in the top drawer, then left the station with his head down. Once inside his car, he let all the air out of his lungs, then leaned his head against the steering wheel.