The Learning Curve - Jim Hopper x Reader

i. Trouble

It's a little too late for that.

Holly laughed nervously, rubbing one of her hands subconsciously up and down her dress-covered thigh. She looked up at him with cautious eyes, her breath catching in her throat when she discovered his gaze settled on the locket dangling between her breasts.

"That's...my daughter, I, uh, I gave her the same necklace for Christmas a few years ago," he smiling, pointing at the crescent-shaped medallion over her chest, his fingers inches away from her cleavage. "She loves astronomy, it's actually what she's planning on studying next year."

"I love astronomy," Holly smiled brightly, her ears perking up at the mention of him being a father. She looked over his hands diligently.

No wedding ring.

"Perhaps you should explore that as an option," he advised, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed his hands up and down his upper thighs.

"Oh, no," she chuckled, waving her hand. "Me and science? We're mortal enemies."

"Ah," he sighed, smiling knowingly at her. "You and I are cut from the same cloth, then."

Holly let out a breathy chuckle, leaning forward in earnest desire to know more about him, "That so?"

"I actually burned down a section of my high school chemistry lab back in the day," he chuckled, biting his lip nervously. "But...that was a long, long time ago."

"I'm sure it wasn't that long ago," Holly teased, folding the marked-up course sheet into a square before sliding it in her pocket.

"I was a junior, so that was..." he looked up, invisible mathematical equations formulating in his mind. "Oh, Jesus. Twenty eight years ago?"

Holly blushed, looking over his strong neck, her mouth watering at the idea of kissing the hollow of his throat. He cleared his throat, causing her to look up at him with large, doe-like eyes, "Y-You don't look like it was twenty eight years ago."

Hopper blushed, biting the inside of his cheek, "So, I have a schedule of your classes here. I know you already scheduled them in the spring, but, just in case you wanted a hard copy. The library is a little intimidating, so I figured one less trip to the printer, right?"

She smiled sweetly at him, taking the hard copy from his hands before blushing at the contact between their fingers once more.

"I really appreciate you meeting with me, Professor. Especially since you didn't need to come in until tomorrow," she nodded her head, sliding the schedule into her pocket alongside the tracking sheet.

"Trust me, the pleasure is all mine," he cooed, resting a hand over his chest. "It looks like you've decided to take my history class, so I'm excited to get to know you a little better, Holly."

Her breath hitched in her throat, her ears beginning to ring. Wait, what?

"I-I'm taking your class?" she arched her eyebrow, searching his face for more information.

"I teach almost all of the modern history requirements, so..." he smirked, turning his attention to his computer as he side-eyed her. "You definitely chose a great class. I have a really big penchant for World War II. I did my thesis on it back in graduate school."

"The entire war?" she chuckled, tilting her head.

"Oh, no," he laughed, his perfectly-straight teeth baring themselves to her. "Propaganda and smear tactics."

"Of course," she smiled, remembering that it was the focus of the class she decided to choose.

A part of her grew fearful at how the semester would play out, especially with Jim being the instructor of one of her classes. She already found it difficult to pay attention in history, and with him at the front of the class, she was sure that it would prove to be even more difficult. She already had problems concentrating now, his blue eyes damn-near hypnotic as he looked at her.

"Looking forward to it, professor," she smirked, standing up before walking to the door.

"Oh, and Miss DelMonica?" he asked, prompting her to turn around with wide eyes.

"Don't forget your books," he winked, returning his attention to the computer as she melted from his actions.

She giggled nervously, shaking her head as she left the room, closing the door and leaning against the wood.

I'm in so much trouble.

⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺

Holly walked back into her room, stars clouding her vision as she waltzed over and flopped down onto her bed. Robin was sitting on her own, flipping through the worn pages of a novel on her pajama-clad lap, before she looked up at her with narrowed eyes.

"Someone's a little chipper for an advisor meeting," she smiled, tossing her book on her nightstand before directing her entire attention to her new friend. "Okay, spill."

"What?" Holly chuckled, her cheeks stained red. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I might not know you that well, but I know what being bit by the love bug looks like," Robin smirked, looking at her expectantly. "Trust me. I've seen it with Steve many, many times."

"So I saw an incredibly attractive man? What's the big deal?" she feigned innocence, rolling her eyes as she began to gather her items for a shower.

"That's it?" Robin deadpanned. "Yeah, I'm sure that's all."

"Oh, hush," she blushed, side-eyeing her before walking back into the hallway, braving herself for the first of many communal showers of the school year.

⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺⟺

The next day, Holly met up with Steve in the residential quad. Both of them, she had discovered, shared very similar schedules. Though Steve had more options than she did, he wanted to get all of his core classes out of the way; thus, the both of them had a lot of overlap in classes. Holly looked down at her watch, fidgeting at the hands clicking closer to the start of class.

"I heard the professor's a real dick," Steve sighed, putting his sunglasses on as the both of them walked across campus. "Asshole's got tenure, so there's no need for him to play nice with us."

"I don't think he's going to be an asshole," Holly smiled, clutching her history book over her chest. "He's my advisor, actually...I met him yesterday."

"Oh?" he asked with a chuckle. "Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I had my advisor as a professor last semester. Needless to say, that dipshit isn't my advisor anymore."

"He seems really genuine, though," she smirked, looking over at Steve in an attempt to formulate the right words. "He's just really smart and funny and-"

"Oh, you think he's hot," he replied in an ah-ha moment, suddenly realizing her true intentions and why she was dressed the way she was. "That would explain why you're wearing that top."

"What's wrong with my top?" she asked, suddenly worried as she looked down at her red, off-the-shoulder top which clung over her breasts like a glove. "It's too much, isn't it? Shit, I don't have time to go and change."

"It looks good," Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "It's just a far cry from the dress you wore yesterday, that's all."

Holly sighed in relief as Steve continued, "Well, it probably won't last. I give this crush one to two weeks tops."

She rolled her eyes, quickly switching the subject of their conversation to a conspiracy video she had watched the night before. The both of them quickly approached the history and philosophy complex before walking up the stairs, continuously discussing whether or not Chuck E. Cheese did, in fact, reuse leftover pizza slices.

Holly slid into the seat closest to the desk at the center of the room, hoping that she would get the perfect view of the star of the show. Steve continued to yap on and on about a new Mandela Effect he heard about last week on twitter, but Holly's attention now lay somewhere else.

What would he look like today? How would he act? Is he really an asshole, like Steve said?

All of her anxieties seemed to build to an impossible climax, her thoughts vanishing into thin air when a familiar figure walked into the classroom, snatching Holly's breath out of her lungs.

Oh, yeah. Definitely in trouble.