something_incredible | (no subject)

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beverly

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From the time he'd made the decision about all this, Hopper has been working step by step to get his shit together enough that it just might work. He'd gotten a job, gone back to work for at least a month so there's evidence of a proper income going into his bank account, he'd cleaned up the apartment bit by bit, made it less like some shitty place where someone just crashed on the couch and more like a home. He'd bought one of those new Blu-ray players and a few movies, plus some books and board games to go with the turntable and records he already owns.

Even when Beverly had just been staying with him some of the time, Hopper had made sure to get her nice, fresh sheets and towels, things that could be just hers, and part of his plan is to get her other things to make her room feel more like a place where she can be happy. He'd picked up a small desk a week back, a chair to go with it, a lamp to put on top, then one of those laptop computers like he already has and almost never uses.

He's been planning all the steps toward getting Beverly living with him full time that he's sort of put off the one major step that's required before he gets into the legal stuff. Asking her.

It's probably dumb to be nervous, but he's nervous anyway. He texts her one Sunday, asking if she's staying the night, because she usually does on Sundays, they usually watch some stupid movie on TV, only this time he's got real movies they can choose from and he tells her so. Then he says he'll pick up fried chicken for dinner, because everyone likes fried chicken.

The rest of the day drags by. He feels like an idiot, but he just wants her to be somewhere she'll be safe and happy. Somewhere she can call a real home, even if it's only for a little while, before one or both of them disappear.

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"Yeah," he says as he turns off the car and then nods for her to get out with him. They'll go place their order, pick up their food, and have an otherwise completely normal night, which is the sort of thing Hopper feels neither of them have had enough of.

"I figured once you were already staying with me, it just made sense. I got you a desk and a lamp and uh, one of those laptops." He mostly ignores his, which he knows can't last forever, but she's a kid and she'll need it to do her homework and stuff like that. Hopper knows he might not be the perfect father by any means, but he's going to make sure she gets all her homework done and passes all her class. All the important stuff he knows he might not have done right himself.

"I like having you there," he says with a shrug. As if it's not a big deal at all.

"I mean, I'd kind of hope you do," Beverly says, likewise far more casual than the situation really is. "You know, since you're asking me to move in and all." Just the fact that he's been so willing to have her around so often, including giving her a key to come and go as she pleases, speaks to that. There's a big difference, though, between an occasional guest and this. He's not just helping her out or doing her a favor; it's more significant than that. It is, she lets herself think, however naïvely, probably the way things are supposed to be. He wants her around without any ulterior motive, he does things for her just because, he planned this without her having to bring it up first or offer any input.

It's a nice feeling, being wanted like that.

Following him out of the car, she shoots him a quick smile. "I kinda like being there, too."

"Yeah?" he asks, holding open the restaurant door. "Good. At least I got you having a good time before you move in officially and I change all the rules. You're gonna have a curfew and you'll have to do your homework before you can watch TV and if I find out you're sneaking out, you're gonna get grounded."

He's serious, at least to a certain extent, but he's smiling as he says it. This is the normal sort of shit he thinks they both need a little more of. Hopper feels the most like himself when he's being a parent, even if he's not all that great at it some of the time, even if he knows they're going to end up in more than one screaming match. That's just life.

All in, he's kind of looking forward to it. Even the rough parts.

"I think I can live with that," Beverly says, smiling too. Eventually, she's sure it will prove frustrating, but right now, it's hard to care. It's still better than the Home; she'll have less reason to sneak out than she had there, too. It's definitely better than what she left behind in Derry. Rules and a curfew and having to do her homework before she watches TV isn't bad at all, and the risk of getting grounded is nothing compared to what she's used to. It all seems kind of refreshingly normal in the same way that staying with Hopper has from the start. "None of that sounds too outlandish."

She's spent enough time with him to be pretty sure that it wouldn't be, anyway. It'll be different now that she's not just visiting, but even so, she's gotten a good idea of what it will be like to live with him.

"Order for Hopper," he says when the man behind the counter in the restaurant comes up to them. He nods, tells them it'll still be a few minutes, and Hopper moves to the side with Beverly.

"Just wait until I get the chores involved," he continues, trying to think up the most outlandish things he can. "All the toilets, those will be your responsibility." There's only one bathroom in the apartment, only one toilet, but even then he wouldn't make her clean it.

"Repainting all the cupboards," he says. "And laying down new flooring in the kitchen. Maybe new grout in the bathroom, we'll have to take a look at it once we're home." Home. That feels pretty damn good to say.

There's an odd sort of juxtaposition in the humor of what he's saying and the way it feels to hear him call his apartment home and know that it will be hers, too. She's spent plenty of time there over these past few months, become more comfortable than she's used to being just about anywhere, but she'd pretty much assumed upon arrival that she would be stuck at the Home until she aged out, a daunting prospect. This is better, something she's vaguely wanted for longer than she can remember but never actually thought she would have.

So she gives herself just a moment to take that in and savor it, and then she grins.

"Okay, but just so you know, that's gonna be a great way to ruin the kitchen floor," she says, only just barely managing not to laugh. "The grout might be doable, but no way I don't mess up tile."

"You're not a professional contractor?" Hopper asks as their food comes out and he takes out his wallet to pay. "Shit, kid, that was half the reason I thought to ask you to live with me in the first place."

The little smile he's wearing as he hands over his credit card says otherwise and he won't quite meet Beverly's gaze at first, doing his best to keep up the joke. Even if it were legitimately half the reason -- and it sure as hell isn't -- the other half is significant, too. He wants her to live with him because he thinks it's better there for her than the Home. And it's better for him, too. The two of them will just be better together, of that he's got no doubt, even if he's not always the best sort of father figure he'd like to be.

With the bag under his arm, he nods back toward the door and the car. "I guess we'll have to figure out some other kind of arrangement," he decides. "Like you go to school and do your homework. Shit like that."

"You drive a hard bargain," Beverly says, biting back a grin as she follows him out towards the car again. "But that, I think I can manage." School is easier than it was back in Derry, anyway, or at least it was last year. Starting high school might be more difficult. Even then, she has friends now, which she never did back home, and that's bound to help somewhat. Again, she thinks that she'll have to tell Eddie about this turn of events, but it doesn't have to happen tonight. She'll find some time tomorrow to sit down with him and let him know that she'll be moving out. Nothing will have to change too drastically. It's not like she spends a lot of her free time around the Home anyway.

"So, school and homework, no flooring. Got it."

"Sounds pretty good, huh?" he asks as he puts the food in the back seat, then opens the doors for them to get in again. Maybe it wasn't the best way to ask, maybe he's being a little stupid, telling her she'll be doing all the renovations on an apartment he doesn't have any intention of renovating, but when it comes to the big things, Hopper's always worked best trying to make things lighter than they really are.

At least this is a happy event. At least he's not downplaying some awful thing that's happened.

"You can check out the new stuff I got for your room when we get back," he says. "And if you don't like anything, we can exchange it or take it back."

"I'm sure it'll all be fine," Beverly says, ducking her head a little as she grins. Even just the fact that he thought to buy her stuff before asking her to move in seems weirdly thoughtful, the sort of thing she wouldn't have expected or asked for. She's gotten plenty comfortable at Hopper's place, but it still hasn't been hers, and the Home hasn't exactly offered a lot of privacy, meaning she hasn't accrued much in the way of belongings. Just clothes and essential school supplies, mostly, and a few other miscellaneous but not hugely important things.

"Plus it's not like I'm gonna get picky about a laptop. The ones they had at home were like four times the size of the ones they have here."

It's nice, he realizes, knowing Beverly is from approximately the same time he is, knowing she's about as well versed in computers as he was when he'd come to Darrow. It means he's only going to feel the regular amount of behind when she starts to talk about school and trends and all the other things he doesn't get because he's too old.

"Like I said, there's some paperwork, stuff I have to sign, but we can pick your stuff up from the Home whenever you want," he says. "I, uh, sorta figured you might wanna talk to Eddie first. Tell him about this before you just move out."

And he's okay with that. He can wait a little while longer. Eddie is important to Beverly and the kid seems like kind of a disaster, but Hopper likes him well enough.

"Yeah, I definitely want to do that," Beverly says, the smile she shoots him a little softer, appreciative. Eddie was already one of the best and only friends she had before this place, but he's become something more like family since then. It's not a matter of just moving away from a friend. She likes some of the other kids at the Home, but she wouldn't go out of her way to talk to them before leaving. With Eddie, though, she doesn't want him to feel like she's abandoning him, though she doubts he would.

It's not like it will take her long to move, anyway. Delaying it for a day or two won't make any real difference when it isn't going to be some huge undertaking to move her stuff over.

"But once I do that... There's nothing else I need to stick around for. And not a lot to move."

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