something_incredible | (no subject)

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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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."