Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

Cheers

"Cheers"

Making your way in the world today

Takes everything you've got

Taking a break from all your worries

Sure would help a lot

- Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo

"Hey, guys, I'm home!" Joyce called as she shut the door behind her. She tossed her keys on the table and hung up her purse. "Guys? Hello?"

As her voice echoed back to her again, she accepted that the house was empty. Jonathan was at work, or with Nancy, she hoped somewhere nice. And Will was out. Her initial response, even now, was a chill of fear, before she forced herself to relax and be happy that he was somewhere having fun with his friends. It was hard to remember back two years ago when he'd be gone all day, wandering around Hawkins with the other boys, and she never thought twice about it.

Still, here she was, alone.

There had been a time when she dreamed of a silent house—when the boys were young and they needed her every second they were awake, when Lonnie still lived here and every minute was spent gauging his mood and catering to his needs. But now it just seemed ...

She drew her mind away from the image of her house silent and still in the Upside Down. This wasn't that, she told herself firmly. This quiet meant her boys were growing up, that they were happy and had friends and people they cared about in their lives.

So what did it mean for her, then?

Scrounging the fridge for leftovers, to begin with. She was proud that there were some—she had come a long way as a cook in the last year or so, learning to make food that actually tasted good. She forked the last piece of lasagna and a serving of peas onto a plate and stuck it into the microwave. Genius invention, this thing. So much easier and faster than sticking the plate in the oven and figuring out how hot it should be and how long to leave it in for, and ending up with the food still cold in the middle, or overheated and rubbery. Bob had been right when he told her she had no idea how it would change her life. She glanced affectionately at the picture on the refrigerator.

While the food was reheating, Joyce popped the cork on a bottle of wine, feeling a little bit guilty that she wasn't drinking wine with Hopper right now. One of these days she was either going to have to say yes when he asked her out, or shut him down once and for all. But she couldn't say yes, not yet, maybe not ever, and she didn't really want to say a hard no and see the light die out of his blue eyes. He had come so far, healed so much—Joyce didn't want to be the person to hurt him all over again.

She settled down on the couch with her food, clicking on the TV. Bob had encouraged her to get the TV with the remote, telling her that someday TVs would come with no buttons at all, and everything would be done with the remote. That still sounded crazy to Joyce, but she had to admit it was handy not to have to get up and walk across the room to change the channel.

Cheers was on; it was as good as anything else to watch, she decided. But the canned laughter was thin, fake, and all she could think about was sitting here on this couch, with Bob's arm around her, laughing with him at the constant arguing of Sam and Diane. Her lips trembled, and she fought against the tears that stung the back of her eyes. She missed him so much. She missed who she had been with him—the lightest and most free she had ever felt. The most cared for, the most treasured. She had never doubted for a minute that Bob loved her; she had never feared he would hurt her. In Joyce's life, that was incredibly rare.

It was true that she had never doubted for a minute that Hopper cared for her, either. Not since high school. When Will went missing, when she had to tell someone that he was in the lights, she had gone to Hopper, knowing he would be there for her, knowing that even if he thought she was crazy, he would still help. But she also knew that Hopper could hurt her. Not physically—he was a physical guy, but he had never once raised a hand to her, even when he was angry. No, Hopper hurt the people he loved because he didn't trust them, because he pulled away when there was a possibility that someone might see who he really was and try to love him for it. Even if Joyce were ready to move on from Bob, to find someone else, she knew that couldn't be Hopper. Not yet. He thought he knew what he wanted, but she felt sure that if she were to say yes, if she were to let something get started between them, he would backpedal just when things were working. It was what he did.

She'd been watching him with Eleven, wondering if that would happen there, especially now that Mike was entering the picture and changing their relationship. If he could really sit down and have a heart-to-heart with the kids, really open up and treat them as people, then maybe ... maybe she could start to trust him.

Joyce cut into the lasagna, looking back at the TV, at Sam and Diane, and forced herself to smile this time. Bob wouldn't want the memory of him to make her sad. He would want her to laugh, to be happy—to live. And to love.

Well, today she would laugh. And someday she would be ready for the rest of it.