Chapter Thirty-Four

Mashed Potatoes

Veronica looked around the small bedroom that Eleven had pulled her toward soon after she walked through the front door. When Eleven pushed open the door she was welcomed to bright green walls with a double bed sitting beneath the window. There were a few posters on the wall, along with a shelf sitting on the other side of the bed. It was filled with books. Veronica instantly felt comfortable in the small room. Her eyes moved around the room slowly before settling on a smiling Eleven.

"Do you like it?" Eleven spoke, "Mike gave me some of the pictures on the wall...uh...n-not sure where they are from. But I like them."

"It's nice, El," Veronica spoke hesitantly.

El watched as her sister walked further into the room and could feel the unease that was coming off of her. It was an emotion she wasn't fully familiar with when it came to Veronica. Her smile slowly fell from her face as she stood there.

"Why are you...angry?" El asked

Veronica's dark brows pulled together tightly in confusion as she turned around to face Eleven, "Angry? I'm not angry."

Eleven took a few small steps toward the older girl and reached a gentle hand up and caressed her face. Veronica's lips turned up slightly before her hand reached and rested on top of El's.

"What's wrong?" Eleven asked

"It's not your fault," Veronica grabbed her hand tightly, giving it a small squeeze before letting it go. "Nothing for you to worry about."

"If you're sad..." Eleven started to speak.

"Dinner is ready girls," Hopper's head popped in, interrupting the two of them.

He didn't notice the slight tension that was growing in the small room, instead slipping out just as quickly as he came in. Veronica moved past El quickly and followed after her father toward the small table that was pressed against the wall right outside the kitchen. Hopper kind of went a little overboard with dinner, instead of the usual TV dinner, he actually cooked for the three of them. Veronica saw the array of chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies.

"Everything looks good," Veronica spoke as she pulled out a chair and sat down quickly. "Thanks."

Hopper proudly smiled as they all took a seat and began to fill their plates with food. The cabin filled with a type of silence that was only interrupted by the sound of forks hitting plates and a slight cough from Hopper. Hopper was unsure of what to say, along with Eleven, and Veronica was stewing in her own jealousy that she was afraid to speak.

"H-How is school going so far?" Hopper asked, his eyes moving across the table to look at Veronica.

She paused for a moment, a bite of chicken frozen midair, "Uh...y-yeah...schools good. I mean...outside of what I told you. But they don't really bother me much."

"Making any new friends?"

Veronica couldn't understand why suddenly she was feeling awkward speaking with her own father. "Yeah, a girl, Robin Buckley. We have a few classes together."

"Good, good," Hopper spoke, before grabbing his beer bottle and taking a long drink.

"Why are you guys being weird?" Eleven asked after another long pause passed over the three of them.

"Weird? We're not being weird." Hopper answered quickly.

"Lie." Eleven spoke shaking her head, glaring slightly at Hopper.

"It's pretty obvious this is all weird, dad," Veronica spoke "I mean..." She sighed heavily and set her fork down, "I-I...don't know if this was a good idea."

"What?" Hopper looked at her confused, "W-Why would you think that?"

"Because I...I'm..." Veronica opened her mouth a few times, but she felt like words couldn't form correctly.

Hopper softened as he watched her struggle for a moment.

"Because you're still hurt."

It wasn't a question, but a statement, of a truth she was too afraid to speak on.

"I am." Veronica nodded "Coming here...seeing everything...I'm angry. I'm jealous"

Eleven looked between the two of them as Veronica spoke.

"I wanted this. I want this. And I'm so happy that Eleven is with you, and you're taking care of her...but I want this...I want..." Veronica dropped her head and looked down towards her lap, feeling the burn of tears in her eyes.

Eleven reached over quickly and placed her hand on top of Veronica's, lacing their fingers together so she was able to tighten her grip. Veronica looked up slightly and gave a tearful smile as she felt the calm come over her, knowing it was coming from Eleven.

"I wanna work on this with you, Veronica. I hurt you deeply and I regret that." Hopper spoke sincerely. "I wanna be your dad, really try and repair this so we can move forward."

Veronica sniffled lightly and reached to wipe the few stray tears that fell down her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You're allowed to feel how you feel...just gonna take us a little time." Hopper smile hopefully as he reached across the small table, placing her larger hand on top of hers.

Veronica nodded her head and the rest of the dinner went without incident. With each passing moment, Veronica was able to relax more, even at times laughing as her father told stories about his time in high school.

"If you had a big crush on my mom during high school, why didn't you date her? Marry her?" Veronica asked, helping clear off the table from all the empty dishes.

"I was too scared." Hopper spoke with a shrug, "I thought she was out of my league. Regret not making a move back then, but it all worked out."

Veronica smiled slightly and nodded her head, "I guess...I came out of it."

"You did, and I had never seen your mom happier than those Sundays we spent together," Hopper spoke, clearing off the last of the plates, staring down at Veronica and clearly seeing Lauren in her features. "There was a moment she was gonna leave...him. But we never got to that. We never got our happy ending."

Veronica frowned, "I don't remember much of my other...dad? I-I don't know what to call him now that I know the truth. But what I do remember is all the yelling and screaming at night. Never liked him."

Hopper frowned and reached over to gently rub her shoulder in a sign of comfort. "You don't have to worry about that ever again."

Veronica nodded before leaning to wrap her arms around Hopper's broad frame. Her head barely came to his chest any time she nuzzled into his chest. Finding comfort in the familiar scent of Irish Spring, cigarettes, and something warm and musky. Hopper couldn't stop the smile that came across his lips as he bent down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, rubbing his hand along her back.

"So dinner went well?" Robin asked as he sat across from Veronica at one of the tables in the lunch room.

The loud sound of other conversations filled the cafeteria. Veronica's eyes moved across the room and saw the random groups of students eating together. Her eyes landed at the table where Steve sat with a few of his friends, seeing some of the bruises from the fight before were starting to heal and fade.

"Uh...yeah, went ok." Veronica shrugged her shoulders. "Just a normal family dinner."

"Still must be a little weird," Robin spoke, picking at the food that was on her tray.

"Only a little. I got to learn more about my mom, which is cool. Since I don't really remember much about her," Veronica spoke.

Before Robin could speak again the sound of a commotion could be heard from behind the two of them. Veronica quickly turned toward the noise and glared at the group that she saw. Tommy and Billy, along with others from the basketball team, were laughing as they looked down at someone. From the dark curls and denim jacket with a large patch on the back, Veronica recognized who it was. Eddie Munson was in her last-period history class and was a double senior, repeating from the year before. She didn't really know him, he kept to himself mostly except for a few other kids. But what she had noticed was that not only did Tommy H and Billy like to pick on her, but other students did as well. Eddie was one of those students.

"Why don't you fucking watch where you're going freak." Tommy sneered

Veronica glared at Tommy as he kicked at Eddie's legs, purposefully not missing him as he stepped over. She tilted her head to the side slightly causing a chair to move out into Tommy's path, causing him to trip over it. He crashed to the ground with his food splattering around him. There was a pause before the entire cafeteria erupted into laughter. Veronica smirked as she watched him scrap mashed potatoes from his face. Veronica looked over to Robin who, like the rest of the room, was in a fit of laughter.

"Oh, Ronnie," She spoke, "You've got a nosebleed."

Veronica reached up quickly and wiped the small bit of blood at the bottom of her nose. When she pulled her hand away, a trail of blood was left on the back of her hand. She grabbed her things and stood quickly before heading towards the girl's room. She knew it was most likely not wise to use her powers in a public space. But it felt good to give Tommy a bit of what he does to others. After cleaning up her face, Veronica headed back out of the hallway, fully prepared to head back to her table. But she stopped quickly when she saw Steve leaning against the wall outside the girl's room.

"I saw what you did," He smirked, tilting his head to the side.

"Saw what?" She quirked her brow, looking at either end of the hallway to make sure they were alone.

"Slick," Steve pushed off the walk and walked closer to her, "Could've gotten caught though."

Veronica sighed, "No one noticed. Too focused on watching Tommy being a dick before karma came back and dished it right back. That's all anyone needs to know."

"Really had to help, Freak Munson?" Steve asked

"Hey, don't...don't do that." Veronica rolled her eyes and turned to head down the hall, "Sound just like the rest of the assholes here."

"I'm only saying the truth."

"Eddie is someone who decided not to be like everyone else. That doesn't make him a freak." Veronica defended him, "I know freaks, I'm one of them. He's a normal guy."

"Didn't realize you two were friends," Steve frowned slightly, hating that he felt jealous over the fact you defended someone else.

"We're not. We have O'Donald's together," Veronica shrugged "And Eddie wasn't the full reason for what I did." Veronica looked at Steve quickly with a smirk before looking down slightly. A soft blush came up over her cheeks. "Might've been another reason...that I might've wanted him to wear his lunch."

Steve chuckled and lightened up slightly, shaking his head, "Wanna come over again for a movie night tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"My parents are out of town again. I can drive us both back to school." Steve shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Veronica bit her lip slightly, "I did have fun last time...y-yeah. I'll have Jonathan drop me off on his way to work. That ok?"

"Perfect," Steve smiled before the two of them walked back into the chaos of the lunch room.

AN: Please leave your thoughts. Hopper and Veronica are finally good, and now the focus is going to turn more to Steve and Veronica building their relationship. Ready for more of the sweet innocence that happens when two people like each other. Good Ole' Friends to Lovers.