Jim Hopper (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
something_incredible) wrote2020-08-29 06:39 pm
something_incredible) wrote2020-08-29 06:39 pm
(no subject)
Having a few days off in a row is a rare thing for Hopper, rare enough that he isn't entirely sure what to do with himself when a four day stretch without work rolls around and he finds himself with nothing to fill his days. Beverly is preparing to go back to school, work doesn't need him, though he's told them to call if they do, and when his chief tells him to consider it a vacation, all Hopper can do is scowl and head off home where he drinks a beer and calls it an early night. He and Beverly watch a movie, he makes sure she's done everything she can for when school starts on Thursday, then he falls asleep in front of the television, the shadows of some old movie flickering over his features.
The first day isn't so bad. He takes the opportunity to do some things around the apartment he probably should have done a long time ago. The doorjamb in the bathroom has swollen, making the door hard to close, so he fixes that. Then he installs a sweep on the front door. With the colder months coming around again, he figures every little bit helps. He takes Ellie for a long walk in the park and even though she's a hell of a lot bigger now, around sixty pounds, just like the woman at the shelter had told him she would be, she still acts like a puppy and gets plenty of attention in the park.
He makes it all the way until seven in the evening before he opens a beer to have with dinner.
The next day is a little tougher. There isn't anything left for him to do in the apartment, so he tries to watch TV and finds himself bored within minutes. Briefly, he considers a beer, realizes it's still before noon, and makes himself get out of the apartment. He picks up groceries, even though he'd just gotten some a few days earlier, then stops by a bakery for some cupcakes, not for any particular reason, just for the hell of it. Another long walk with the dog takes him all the way to four in the afternoon before he has a beer and by dinner he's had another two.
The third day is the worst. That's the day he decides to go to the library. Not for any particular reason, mostly for something to do, and he's scanning book titles, trying to pick something he thinks Beverly might like, when he sees the familiar spine wedged between two larger volumes. It's a tight fit and he has to get his finger between the books in order to get it out. Anne of Green Gables. The same edition he used to read to Sara.
It doesn't strike him as something to be sad about and instead Hopper finds he's smiling very faintly as he flips the book over to read the back cover. There's a little tear down on the lower left corner, his thumb brushes up against it and his stomach does a sickening flip as some old memory surfaces. It's his thumb doing that very thing, only the book is new and the gesture causes the tear, and Sara's eyes fill with tears because she thinks he's ruined her favourite book. It had taken Diane explaining to their daughter that books with tears and folds only get better, because it means they're loved before she would stop crying.
Hopper's heart thunders in his chest and he feels as if his hands are moving on their own as he opens the front cover of the book. There, just inside, is a little name tag sticker with a drawing of Peter Rabbit. This book belongs to... Sara Hopper.
He nearly throws up right there in the library. For a few heart pounding moments he has to stand completely still and focus on breathing. Then he turns, the book clenched in his fist, and he makes for the door. Someone calls after him, presumably about the book, but he doesn't stop, doesn't hear what they say. He makes it half a block from the library before he has to turn down an alley where he finds a trash can in which to be sick. His stomach heaves, clenching tight over and over until long after he's thrown up everything in his stomach and all he can taste is burning bile.
Then he straightens, turns back to the road, and walks until he finds the nearest bar.
The first day isn't so bad. He takes the opportunity to do some things around the apartment he probably should have done a long time ago. The doorjamb in the bathroom has swollen, making the door hard to close, so he fixes that. Then he installs a sweep on the front door. With the colder months coming around again, he figures every little bit helps. He takes Ellie for a long walk in the park and even though she's a hell of a lot bigger now, around sixty pounds, just like the woman at the shelter had told him she would be, she still acts like a puppy and gets plenty of attention in the park.
He makes it all the way until seven in the evening before he opens a beer to have with dinner.
The next day is a little tougher. There isn't anything left for him to do in the apartment, so he tries to watch TV and finds himself bored within minutes. Briefly, he considers a beer, realizes it's still before noon, and makes himself get out of the apartment. He picks up groceries, even though he'd just gotten some a few days earlier, then stops by a bakery for some cupcakes, not for any particular reason, just for the hell of it. Another long walk with the dog takes him all the way to four in the afternoon before he has a beer and by dinner he's had another two.
The third day is the worst. That's the day he decides to go to the library. Not for any particular reason, mostly for something to do, and he's scanning book titles, trying to pick something he thinks Beverly might like, when he sees the familiar spine wedged between two larger volumes. It's a tight fit and he has to get his finger between the books in order to get it out. Anne of Green Gables. The same edition he used to read to Sara.
It doesn't strike him as something to be sad about and instead Hopper finds he's smiling very faintly as he flips the book over to read the back cover. There's a little tear down on the lower left corner, his thumb brushes up against it and his stomach does a sickening flip as some old memory surfaces. It's his thumb doing that very thing, only the book is new and the gesture causes the tear, and Sara's eyes fill with tears because she thinks he's ruined her favourite book. It had taken Diane explaining to their daughter that books with tears and folds only get better, because it means they're loved before she would stop crying.
Hopper's heart thunders in his chest and he feels as if his hands are moving on their own as he opens the front cover of the book. There, just inside, is a little name tag sticker with a drawing of Peter Rabbit. This book belongs to... Sara Hopper.
He nearly throws up right there in the library. For a few heart pounding moments he has to stand completely still and focus on breathing. Then he turns, the book clenched in his fist, and he makes for the door. Someone calls after him, presumably about the book, but he doesn't stop, doesn't hear what they say. He makes it half a block from the library before he has to turn down an alley where he finds a trash can in which to be sick. His stomach heaves, clenching tight over and over until long after he's thrown up everything in his stomach and all he can taste is burning bile.
Then he straightens, turns back to the road, and walks until he finds the nearest bar.