Royal Pain || Stranger Things

fourteen || closegate

"Just be careful, alright? I can't lose you again."

Hopper and Tatum sidestepped the emotional conversation between El and Mike, loading what supplies they could grab into the station wagon including a cricket bat that desperately needed to be cleaned.

   "Do you know how to shoot a gun?" Hopper asked her, breaking the silence of the car as they waited in the front seats, lighting a fresh cigarette.

Pulled from her own thoughts, she cleared her throat lightly. "Yes, I do."

Hopper's brows lifted, genuinely surprised.

"They have some guns in England, you know," she told him, lacking the sass that comment would normally have. "My dad took me to a range a few times for what he called book research. I'm a better shot than I thought I would be."

"Good. We'll need it." Hopper groaned lightly as he watched El begin to lean in to Mike, poking his head out the open window. "El, come on, let's go. It's time." He flicked the barely burned cigarette out the window as El circled around to Tatum's side, the teen hopping out so El could slide into the middle seat.

Jonathan, Nancy and Joyce left first, Hopper following only for the two vehicles to part as they reached the main road.

Although the ride started out in silence, Hopper couldn't help himself.

"So, what, we're just not gonna talk about it, huh?" he asked, making Tatum wish she had stayed behind.

"About what?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm just curious, you know, why all of a sudden you look like some kind of MTV punk."

El rolled her eyes, averting her attention out the window.

"I'm not mad, kid. I just want to know where you've been. That's all."

"To see Mama."

Hopper's brows shot up. "Okay. How'd you get there?"

"A truck."

"A truck?" asked Hopper, voice getting louder.

"A big truck."

"A big truck? Whose truck was it?"

"A man's."

"A man's?"

Tatum pinched the bridge of her nose, doing her best to fade out of the conversation that seemed to only be repetition.

"A nice man."

"Okay," Hopper said. "So let me get this straight in my head. So a nice man in a big truck, he drove you to your mama's, and then what? Your Aunt Becky gave you those clothes and that makeup?"

"I...I shouldn't have left," El told him.

Hopper hummed softly. "No. No, this isn't on you, kid. I should've been there. I should never have lied to you about your mom. Or about when you could leave. A lot of things I shouldn't have done. Sometimes I feel like I'm..." He took in a deep breath, letting it out slow. "Like I'm just some kind of black hole or something."

"A black hole?"

"Yeah, it's a...you know, it's this thing in outer space. It's like, it sucks everything towards it and destroys it. Sarah had a picture book about outer space. She loved it."

"Who's Sarah?"

Even Tatum knew who Sarah was.

"Sarah?" Hopper asked quietly. "Sarah's my girl. She's my little girl."