AFTER ROBIN told them what the message was behind the code, the four of them were up on the roof. They watched a truck back up to the loading dock that two men were guarding. "Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes." Robin told Dustin who was holding the binoculars.
James spots a man in a yellow raincoat take a stack of boxes into the building. "They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock." Dustin says to Robin. "What do you think's in there?" Steve spoke and James looks at him to see that the rain bothered his boyfriend's eyes and face so he sighed and took off his cap to put it on him before looking back.
"Guns, bombs?" Dustin said, not exactly knowing. "Chemical weapons?" Robin says. "Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth." Dustin says and James sighed. "Great. That's great." Steve nodded. "Hey, what's in there?" James asked when he saw the man swipe a card and two doors open.
"It's just more boxes." Dustin quickly answered and James furrowed his brows. "Let me check it out." Steve reached over but Dustin refused. "No, I'm still looking." He says to Steve who still tried to take them. "Lemme see it." He says and James sighed as the two suddenly let go and it made a loud thud, the guards drawing their guns.
"Duck!" Dustin shouted to the older teens and they all quickly dug, Steve holding onto James' upper arm tightly. Back inside the buidling, the four walked down the hall together. "Well, I think we found your Russians." Robin said as she walked with Dustin behind James and Steve.
That night, Steve ended up going to James' but they mostly just laid side by side. "This is just all... a bit crazy. What if we find like something that's gonna destroy Hawkins, and possibly the country?" James asked and Steve opened his eyes, he was nearly falling asleep. He looks at James, "hmm?" He hummed and James sighs.
"Russians? Steve, we might die." James said and Steve sighs, moving to lay on his side. "Stevie, this might just..." Steve put a hand to James' chest, "hey, relax... We'll figure this out and when we do, we'll know how to stop it. For now, let's just sleep okay? We gotta try and find a way into that room tomorrow." He said and James looks at him. "But what if, we like—" "hey..." Steve said, now putting his hand to the side of James' face.
He chuckled and smiled down at his boyfriend, "we'll get through it together... right?" He said and James put his hand over Steve's. "Yeah..." He whispered and Steve smiled more. "A demogorgon... Got through that together. The Minflayer and the army of demo-dogs, we also, oh, wow, got through that together. If we can get through creatures from another dimension, then Russians are a piece of cake." He said and James just nodded softly.
"I—" "James!" The taller of the two quickly got up, pulling on his shirt. He opened the door and nearly ran into Joyce. "Woah, woah, hey, what's wrong?" He asked and she pointed. "Hop, your dad, he—" "where is he? Is he okay?" Joyce showed him to his dad's car where he was in the backseat.
As James carried Jim inside with Steve's help, Joyce was rambling on and on about how they went to the Hawkins Lab and about a mysterious man who was the reason why Jim was unconscious, that he attacked Jim. "Christ," James sighed and put his dad down onto the couch.
"J-J-Just take his clothes off, they're wet," Joyce said and James looks at her. "You want me to strip my unconscious dad naked? Joyce—" "Just do it, okay? I'll go look for a change of clothes." She says before walking away. James sighed, starting to take off his dad's clothes before making him lay down and putting a blanket over him.
"Done?" Steve asked and James sighs. "Wouldn't be the first of the Hopper men you see naked," he whispered and Steve turns to him. "James—" "okay, I couldn't find anything..." Joyce said as she walked out and James nodded. "Because he never wears anything else other than that stupid uniform, oh, wait, there is... Nevermind, uh, Steve and I are gonna... go to my room. We have work in the morning. Goodnight Joyce." He says before walking over to his room, Steve following.
In James' room, he felt Steve starting to kiss his neck. "Stevie, we have work tomorrow and Joyce is right outside in the livingroom..." He whispered and Steve just kept kissing his neck. "I love you, James," Steve mumbled and he smiled. "And I love you..." He whispered and rubbed Steve's back before he looked down. Steve leaned up and connected their lips together. James kissed back but then he pulled away, "we need to sleep." He says.
He brushed Steve's hair out of his way, smiling before pulling him closer. The teens relaxed in one another's arms and fell asleep just like that. It was around seven in the morning when James woke up and got dressed, putting on jeans and a white shirt to tuck into it. He was gonna wear his work vest over it anyway so it didn't really matter.
He walked out and saw Joyce was making something. Breakfast? He walked in with his brows furrowed, "I-I made eggs, I figured you and Steve would be hungry... can't go to work with an empty stomach." She chuckled softly.
"Thanks, Mrs. Byers..." He smiled, grabbing the plate with eggs and some bacon on it. He glanced over to his dad, "he's still not waking up?" He asked as he sat down at the table. "No. Just sometimes but even then he just falls right back asleep." She explains and he looked over at her right away.
"Why were you guys at the Lab?" He asked and she paused. She glanced over, "I was worried it was back... The magnets weren't working, and..." She sighed and he nodded. He gets what she means, about the Upside Down and everything else in between with the bad guys.
He worried about El too, so he understood how she must feel, about Will. "Anyway, are you going to college?" She changed the subject as she grabbed the jug of orange juice and a cup. "Yeah..." He smiled at her, "NYU." He added shortly after. "Have you told him? Hop?" She asked curiously.
"No... he would just make it a big deal." He says, looking down at his plate. "He'd be super proud of you, James..." She says and he sighed. "Steve?" He called out and the brunette walked out, rubbing his eyes. "Morning." He said and looked at the food. He points, "f-for me?" He asked.
Joyce nods, "yup." She smiled and Steve grabbed a plate, joining James at the table. After they finished eating, James and Steve left the cabin and got into James' car. "So... you didn't tell your dad?" Steve looked at James and the blue eyed boy sighed, glancing out the window.
"He doesn't need to know... alright? He's busy and... I-I just don't know how to tell him. I've known for a while and yet I can't just... tell him, you know? Ever since Sara died... He's always relied on me, I would cook dinner and stuff... What's he gonna do without me?" He asked and Steve sighs. "James, he's a grown man... he'll be fine. He's like what? Fourty? Probably older... and besides he has El." He smiled and James felt a little reassurance.
authors note steve everytime he sees james:
+ i remember watching st3 with my parents and my dad talking about the way robin was sitting on the counter and how it wasn't professional and i was like Let The Lesbian Be This Is Homophobic