𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝||𝐉𝐢𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫

"You're grounded! You know what that means!? No Eggos! And no TV! For a week!"

That's all it took for El to snap. She destroyed the place, making glass fly everywhere, and knocked the shelves over. Jim was furious, enraged even. I tried to stop him from getting so angry, but I couldn't.

There sets El, crying on the floor in her room curled up in a ball. Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about El, but I don't have time to comfort her at the moment. Right now, I'm dealing with Jim.

"Jim, calm the fuck down! She's upset!" I say, defending El.

"You're kidding me, right?" He chuckles. "You've gotta be shittin' me! You're gonna take her side!? Over your own husband's!?" He asks. I roll my eyes. "Don't fucking roll your eyes at me! She put us in danger!"

"You didn't have to keep yelling at her! Yeah, she went out when she wasn't supposed to. She didn't fucking murder someone." I say.

He shakes his head. "You don't. Fucking. Under. Stand. She put us all in danger! And you're gonna take her side? For endangering us? Why? How does that not go into your brain? I just don't understand you sometimes."

"No. Don't you make me out to be the bad guy. I-"

He cuts me off. "I'm not making you out to be the bad guy! I'm trying to make you realize!" He says.

"Realize what? That the world's fucked up? I know that. You can't keep her in here forever."

He stares at me in disbelief. He grabs his jacket and hat. "I'm goin' to work."

"Why the hell do you always do this?" I ask quietly, tears threatening to fall.

"Do what?" He asks harshly.

"Always leave when things get tough. You always leave when you're angry."

He comes over to me. "I don't always leave." He says as tears fall from my eyes.

"I'm sorry." I always cry when we fight, because it feels like the world is ending.

"Y/N." He says, cupping my cheek.

"I'm sorry." I repeat.

"No, no, no. I'm sorry. It's not your fault, sweetie. I shouldn't have yelled." He says. The feelings are overwhelming. He's so bipolar. He yells, then five seconds later he's turning into a big teddy bear?

"I love you, Jim." I say.

"I love you too, Princess. So much." He says.

I kiss him. "Stop crying. Why are you still crying?"

"I don't wanna lose you. Or El, for that matter. You both are very important to me and I love you both."

He holds me. "You're never gonna lose me. I promise."

"I think we should talk to El." I say.

He nods. "She probably hates me." He says.

I shake my head. "She doesn't hate you." I say.

"Let's just... talk to her. Like you said." He says.

We go to her door and I knock on it. "Eleven, sweetie?" I ask quietly. No answer. "El, baby, open the door. Please." She opens the door and hugs me. Jim looks at me with sad eyes.

"El, kid, can we talk to you?" Jim asks her. She shakes her head. "Can Y/N talk to you then?"

"Just Y/N." El confirms. I smile weakly and we go into her room.

I close the door and sit on her bed. "El, do you know why Jim did what he did?" I ask. She nods.

"To keep us safe." She says.

I nod. "That's right. He is only reacting like this because he cares about us." I say. She nods softly. "And it's completely normal for you to be upset, but we are going to punish you, ok? You have to learn that you can't trash the house." I say, brushing her curly hair out of her eyes.

"Sorry." She says.

"It's ok. We forgive you. No TV for a week. I'll talk Jim into letting you have Eggos. I'm off today. While Jim is at work, we're gonna clean up the house." I say.

"Ok." She says.

I smile. "Now we're getting somewhere." I whisper.

"Mad?" El asks.

I shake my head. "No, I'm not mad." I say.

"Promise?"

I stick out my pinkie. "I pinkie promise."

"What is pinkie promise?"

I giggle. "If we hook pinkies, it's called a pinkie promise. And everyone knows, you can't break a pinkie promise."

She smiles. "Pinkie promise." She says as we hook pinkies.

I kiss her forehead. "Do you wanna see Jim before he goes to work?" I ask. She shakes her head.

I leave her be and say my goodbyes to Jim.

"I love you. See you after work." I say.

He nods. "Love you too." He says.

-------------------

Jim's secret knock fills the cabin. I unlock the door and open it. "Hi." He says quietly. I kiss him.

"Hi. Look what El did." I say, moving aside so he could come in.

The house is spotless, no shards of glass on the floor, and not a trinket out of place. "Wow. It looks miraculous. Thank you." He says.

"Don't thank me, thank El. She did most of it. She even helped me board up the windows." I say.

"Come here, kid." He says. He hugs her. "Thank you."

"Welcome." She replies quietly.

"I'm sorry, El. I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's ok."

He smiles. "But you're still grounded." He says, making her smile.

Word count- 916

Inspiration: Season 2, Episode 4

I know, I know. I changed a lot, but I'm sorry. I thought this was cute.

(P.S. Jim Hopper puts of big dick energy. I'm not sorry)

XoXo,
RK