okay here's the official welcome back to this book! Thanks so much again for all of you, I really love every one of you uwu
Also, I may be tripping cause I always hyper-focus on things, but I saw some parallels from this book into the third season, am I psychic then, maybe who knows???
Anyway, here it is. Hope you like this chapter, its fluffy, goofy, Jim and Nats relationship has really progressed so that's fun to write :)
Not edited, sorry for mistakes, I type too fast.
So, enjoy and get ready to cry.
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Natalie rolled her shoulders as she parked her truck next to Hopper's cruiser outside of the cabin. She winced slightly as the knots in her back tightened with her moving to get out the truck. She sighed, today was terrible, like the absolute worse. She got rammed into a headstall by an angry cow, a dog threw up on her scrubs, and the Hendersons new cat left her with the longest and deepest scratches she has ever gotten from any cat, ever.
With aching limbs and heavy eyelids, she trudged up to the front door and opened it with a groan. Inside she could see Jim lounging on his Lazy-boy, a bag of Tostitos chips in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and jar of salsa between his thighs. Music was blaring from El's room where she could only assume she was most likely making out with Mike-ugh.
Jim sat up a little and gave her a dry smile, "hey, sweetheart."
She rolled her eyes and gave him a small wave, "hey," she said, her voice clipped.
Jim sat up further in his seat and set down his beer, about to get up, "tough day at work?"
Natalie turned to face him with raised eyebrows, "well no shit Sherlock," she snapped as she slipped off her shoes and walked into the kitchen where she saw leftover spaghetti on the stove. Bucky, who was laying on his dog bed ran up to her side with a wagging tail. Their new dog, Sam, a mutt they rescued at the shelter was right on Bucky's heels. Both dogs sat at her feet, mouths open and begging for food.
Natalie dropped a few noodles from her bowl and cooed at her puppies before shoving a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth.
"Hmm, that's attractive," Jim said as he leaned against the fridge and took a drag on his cigarette. His lips curved up into a smirk as he watched her eat.
Natalie swallowed, "oh stuff it, I'm not in the mood," she said and turned away from him to open the microwave to heat up her noodles.
Jim frowned and wrapped his arms around her, snuffing the cigarette out in the ashtray next to him. He placed his chin on her shoulder and kissed her jaw, "anything I can do to help you get out of this mood?" he said quietly.
Natalie opened the microwave and pulled out her steaming spaghetti and she nearly cried, she had never been so happy to see a hot meal. With a small smile, she brought her free hand up to pat Jim's cheek, "nope, all I need is this food."
"Nat, really, what's wrong you've been in a terrible mood for a while," Jim said seriously as he tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear.
She sighed, "I know I've been an absolute ass lately, I'm just really annoyed with everything lately," she turned her head towards El's room and suppressed a groan, "like I love El and I like Mike, but do those two understand the meaning of 'alone time', jeez. Plus, planning a wedding is so hard, like way harder than it should be."
Jim nodded, "If you would let me help you plan it would be easier."
Natalie leaned back into him, "as long as you don't sneak "Don't Mess Around With Jim," onto the playlist more than once," she said with a chuckle.
Jim rolled his eyes playfully, "okay fine, it'll only be played once and yeah, you know I've always had a feeling about that Mike. The damn kid never leaves."
Realization both hit Natalie and Jim as they had just noticed that El's door was nearly shut and the music was much louder than normal.
"Oh shit," Jim said as he released Natalie from his grasp and ran towards the room, "hey! Hey! Three-inch minimum! Leave the door open three inches!"
El's door quickly shut with a bang which resulted in Jim starting to pound on the door and continue shouting. "Open the door right now! El? Open the door!"
The door creaked open and Jim poked his head in and Natalie heard him stammer a few words before awkwardly leaving the kids and quickly walking back to her.
Natalie chuckled, "did you see a ghost, Jim? You're looking a little pale," she teased.
He crinkled his nose at her and scoffed, "haha very funny. How many times have you walked in on them, our daughter, and that 'boy', making out?"
"Zero times," Natalie said as she put another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth and gave him a closed-lipped smile as she chewed.
Hopper scoffed, "yeah zero times, you're lucky. Ugh, it's so gross," he said as he rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah, it's annoying but it's bound to happen. I mean at least you're not walking in on her and Mike, y' know..." she trailed off with raised eyebrows.
Jim groaned and shut his eyes tightly, "oh God, hell no. Not in this household. I'm going to wring that Mike's neck when he saunters out of her room with his little smug, punk, shit eating grin."
Natalie laughed and washed her bowl off in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher, then drying her hands on a dish towel. "okay, okay, why don't you go sulk in our room and I'll kick Mike out for the day?"
Jim sighed deeply and pinched his nose, "yeah, yeah that's good."
Natalie nodded and pecked his lips quickly, "better hurry before Mike comes out and gives you his 'smug' smile, yeah?"
Jim groaned and quickly walked towards their room, the dogs trotting after him with wagging tails.
Natalie smiled and made her way over to El's room and knocked on the door, "hey, it's getting late you two. Mike can come over again tomorrow, okay?"
The door immediately opened and Mike and El were standing in the doorway their hands clasped together. Natalie sidestepped the couple, she watched El walk Mike to the door and kiss his cheek before Mike went out the front door.
Natalie gave El a hug when she got close and ruffled her hair, "night, El. If you go somewhere with Mike tomorrow leave a note on the counter, yeah?"
El nodded, "okay, goodnight Natalie," she said as she walked back in her room and shut the door quietly.
Natalie turned off the living room and kitchen lights before making her way to her and Jim's room. She pulled back the curtain and made a mental note to tell Jim to get an actual door soon. She laughed quietly when she saw Jim trying to push both dogs from their bed and being very unsuccessful at it.
"Boys, get down," she said and snapped her fingers.
Both dogs looked at her and jumped from the bed and laid down on their dog beds at the foot of the bed.
Jim fell back against his pillow and groaned, "no one listens to me around here, they only listen to you. Am I invisible or something?" he said.
"No, they see you, kid and dogs, but they just know who the boss is, and that's me," she said with a wide grin.
Jim raised an eyebrow, "is that so?"
"mhm," she hummed as she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Jim laughed and looked at her with twinkling eyes, "damn, I love you so much."
YOU ARE READING
Smoke -- Jim Hopper
Fanfiction"Jim," Natalie whispered as she clung to his jacket. Specks of who knows what floated around them as they walked deeper into the upside down. She tugged again on his jacket, "Jim." Jim Hopper wrapped a heavy arm around Natalie and pulled her close...
