It's Always Been You {a jopper story}

Nightmare

The night of December 10th was rather peaceful in the Byers household, that was until 2:43am. Joyce Byers excruciating screams filled the Byers house and woke up her two sons Will and Jonathan. The eldest of the two Jonathan rushed into her room to see her in a frantic state, one of her nightmares! Jonathan ushered his younger brother back into his bedroom and walked over to his mothers bed.

"mom, mom it's me Jonathan please wake up" he whispered shaking her gently. Nothing. Tears were streaming down her face and the screaming got louder. Jonathan kept shaking her and was getting louder each time. Still nothing.

-----------------------------------------------In The Dream---------------------------------------------------------------

They were back in the lab Joyce was waiting for Bob to get back through the doors while Mike and Hopper were watching Will outside. Bob came running throught the doors and closed them. He stood still for a moment and turned to smile at Joyce. Just as he did that the demodogs broke through the door and pounced onto him. Joyce screamed as Hopper shot the demodogs attempting to kill them. Eventually Hopper had to drag Joyce out of the lab. Just before they exited the doors Bob's hand reached out for the last time!

--------------------------------------------Out Of The Dream------------------------------------------------------------

Joyce wasn't waking up. It was useless to carry on trying, but he did. Will was sat in his room colouring and listening to the clash because of his mother's screaming when a sudden thought popped into his mind. Hopper. He always helped Joyce with her nightmares, he was the only one who could calm her down. Not even Bob could when he was alive.

It was nearing 3am now so Will ran out of his room and into the hallway. He picked up the phone and dialed the number for Hopper and El's Cabin. After three rings a tired Hopper picked up. "hello?" he mumbled, "hi cheif i'm sorry for calling but it's my mom-" Hopper cut him off and said "i'll be there in 10" and hung up. Will walked back to his room and carried on drawing.

Hopper picked up some paper and a pen and quickly wrote 'At the Byers should be home in a few hours, hopper x' and placed it on El's bedside table before giving her a kiss on the head. He quickly put his boots on and headed to his Blazer forgetting he was in flannel pj's. He didn't care how fast he was driving or if he was going to get a speeding ticket, all he cared about was Joyce. She was the only thing that mattered right now.

He got to the Byers in a record 6 minutes and knocked on the door frantically. Will opened it and allowed him inside. Joyce's screams echoed throughout the house. "she's in her room with Jonathan, he doesn't know i called you though" Will said looking up at the cheif of police "okay thanks kid" he ruffled Will's hair and walked towards Joyce's room. He knocked on the door quietly. A moment later a confused Jonathan opened the door "what are you doing here cheif?" he asked allowing him in the room" Hop smiled and moved towards Joyce "Will called said it was something about your mom"

Jonathan smiled "thanks for coming to help" Hopper smiled back and sat next to Joyce "no problem, try and get some sleep i'll calm her down" Jonathan left the room and said "thank you" Hopper first tried shaking Joyce . Which didn't work. Then he tried talking to her. Didn't work. He had one other option but would it make her uncomfortable? He didn't care at this point she just needed to wake up.

He lay down next to her and held her in his arms comforting her. A few minutes later she stopped screaming and turned around to face Hopper "hop.." she said barely whispering "hey Joy are you okay?" She broke down in tears at the question and shook her head. "shh, it's okay Joy i've got you" he held her close again and waited for her to calm down slightly. He was just about to leave the room when Joyce said "it was about Bob" he turned around to face her "i know Joy, do you want to talk about it?" he asked walking back towards her "no but can you just stay here please" she asked with puppy dog eyes "but i have to get back to El" she replied with "just a few hours please Hop."

He couldn't say no to her "fine but just for you" she smiled a weak smile and said "thank you hop" before drifting off to sleep in his arms. Not long after Hopper also fell asleep his head resting on Joyce's. Joyce slept peacefully through the night suprisingly no nightmares and Hopper slept well too.

At 7am Joyce's alarm startled the two who were still sleeping. "shit, shit, shit i have to go and check on El i'm so sorry Joy" she smiled "no problem Hop thanks for last night" he walked towards the front door and said "it's fine Joy anytime and tell the boys to call me if you have another nightmare" she opened the door and said "okay i will, remember it's movie night tonight be over for 5:30pm with El" he walked out of the door to his blazer "we'll be here." They waved goodbye and Hopper drove off as Joyce walked inside. 

Jonathan was sat at the kitchen table staring at Joyce with a confused look. "he stayed the night?" Jonathan asked confused "yes, i don't see why its a big deal i had a damn nightmare" she said bluntly walking to the fridge to grab breakfast "okay well i'm going to hang out with Nancy and some friends later so i won't be here for the movie" Joyce smiled at her son "okay just call if you stay out okay?" he laughed "okay mom." Will woke up and the Byers ate breakfast as a family but it didn't feel like a complete family to Joyce. 

Hopper knocked on the cabin door with the special knock only he uses. He heard the locks click open and the door flung open infront of him. "hey kid" he walked over to the kitchen and began making an eggo extravaganza. "why did you go to the Byers?" the curly haired teen asked confused. "it was Joyce she had a nightmare about Bob" El sat down at the table "bob?" Hopper sighed "Joyce's ex boyfriend the one who passed" El's look turned sad "is she okay?" Hopper smiled at his daughters caring gaze.

"she should be okay" he said placing the tower of eggos on the table "movie night?" El asked "i need to talk to Will" Hopper nodded "yes we have to be there for 5:30 so get ready to leave at 5:15 okay?" she smiled and repeated "five, one, five okay." Hopper's look turned confused as he remembered what the teen said before. "why do you need to talk to Will?" she giggled cutting into the eggos. "that's a secret" Hopper sighed and cut into the eggos too.

----------------------------------------------5:15PM That Night----------------------------------------------------------