𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

August

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her adorable, half-naked boyfriend, Hopper.
Ahh, he was so hot
After a few minutes, his ocean blue eyes began to flutter open
"Morning beautiful." He kissed her on the lips, the way he would do every morning, which would always make her blush
"Morning Hop." She kissed back. It had been a month since they had started sleeping together, and GOD was it amazing. They weren't doing anything, but it was comforting that someone was right at her side. Also, his body was good for snuggles
"Nice hair." He joked since most of the time her hair looked like a mess in the morning
"Oh shut up." She kissed him on the cheek "You aren't any better."
"True, true." He admitted, holding her hand, "God, why are you always so gorgeous?"
"Why are you always flirting?" She smirked
"Because you're perfect." He simply said, smiling
She felt her face get warm, "H-Hop..."
"Should we check if the kids are awake?" Hopper asked
"Ehh...In a minute." She kissed him again, not pulling away and wrapping her arms around his body
"Okay." Hopper agreed, kissing back. After making out for a little, they heard a knock on the door
"Mom? Hop? You guys awake?" Will knocked on the door
"Y-Yeah!" She blushed brightly "We're getting up!"
When she looked back at Hopper, he was smiling at her, and she asked "What ya smiling at, dork?"
"You're so cute when you're blushing." He smiled lovingly, kissing her on the cheek
"S-Shut up." She muttered, blushing even brighter
"See? There it is again!" He teased
"Oh-" She slapped his arm playfully "Stop it!"
"Never." He stood up, smirking
"I'm gonna get you!" She chased Hopper, catching him from behind
"Umm...Mom?" Only then did she realize they were in the kitchen, and the kids were right in front of them.
"Right. Sorry..." She muttered, then slapped Hopper on the arm playfully
"God, you guys act like children." Jonathan muttered
She chuckled, "What do you guys want for breakfast?"
"Already done." Jonathan handed both of them a plate of food
"Thanks!" She smiled, and her and Hop began to eat. She noticed Hopper nervously fidgeting and looking at the kids then back at his lap. She would definitely ask him about that later.
"Hey, I have a late shift, can you look after the kids?" She asked Hop, squeezing his hand
"Yeah, sure." He smiled
Worthless
Oh no. Another episode.
"I-Uh-Have to pee." She quickly said, then rushed to the bathroom, trying to calm herself down
Hopper will never love you. No one loves you Her brain told her
No, he loves you. He loves you She told herself
"Joyce?" Hopper came into the bathroom, sat down next to her, and hugged her tightly "I love you. We love you. You're my everything."
He's lying
"You are perfect." Hopper whispered in her ear, which fizzled the voice out
"H-Hop..." She tried not to cry
"Another 'episode'?"
"I think so." She muttered, "It's okay"
"Are you sure? I've never seen-"
Knowing what he was going to say, she said, "I hid it from you. I didn't want you to worry, but now we basically live together, so...."
"Just-This isn't like, you having some big mental problem, right?"
"No, I probably just forgot my anxiety meds."
"Okay." Hopper kissed her on the forehead, running his fingers through her hair
"Mom?" She heard Jonathan and the kids come in "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled, wiping her eyes
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." She smiled again, then got up "I-probably should be heading to work."
"We're gonna head to Mike's house." El said
"Okay."
After getting changed, Hopper drove her to work, still fidgeting
"Hey, are you okay? You're fidgety." She asked him
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." He muttered
"What's wrong?" She asked again, hoping he would give her a clear answer
"I'm just-still nervous that Will and Jonathan don't like me." Hopper admitted
"Hop, that's not true! They love you!"
"I don't know..."
"Trust me." She kissed him on the cheek
"I hope you're right." He muttered
"I know I am." She smiled, squeezing his hand
Eventually, though, she had to go to work
"See ya, Hop." She said, giving him a kiss on the lips
"Love you, Joycie."
"Love you too."
After one more kiss, she headed inside, and started her long shift. Luckily, after an hour or so, the door opened, and who else would it be besides her dazzling chief of police?
"Hop!" She smiled "What are you doing here? I thought you had work."
"Eh. Just a little paperwork. I'll finish it later." He said as he sat down on the counter she was working at
"Hop." She scolded him
"It's fine." He kissed her cheek "I just want to make sure you don't get bored."
She blushed "But you have work."
"I can finish that up this afternoon, don't worry." He told her
She teasingly lightly shoved him, "You're lucky I'm not busy. My boss would kick you out."
"God since when are you such a rule-follower?" Hopper teased her, smirking
She rolled her eyes, "You're lucky I love you."
"Yes, I'm very lucky you love me." Hopper said, becoming sappy again and kissing her on the lips
"Since when are you so sappy?" She joked
"Since you fell madly in love with me." He joked back
"I don't remember you being this sappy in high school." She smirked, knowing she had taken him down
"I-I-Wh-Yo-I-"
She kissed him on the cheek "Love ya. Now can you help me tag stuff? No one else is around."
"Sure. I don't mind." He kissed her quickly on the cheek
After tagging all of the things they sold, Hopper sadly had to go back to work.
"I'll see you later." He kissed her on the cheek
"My shift ends at 9:00. Can you pick me up?"
"Yeah, totally." Hopper kissed her again, the cutest smile on his face "Love ya."
"Love ya too." She smiled back as he left.

(Hopper's POV)

As he did his paperwork he had put aside since he wanted to see Joyce, he continued to think. He hoped she was right about the kids liking him, but he wasn't sure. Neither Will nor Jonathan had ever called him dad or done anything like that. He loved all of them, and he knew it would be hard for them after Bob and Lonnie, but he really hoped one day they would love him too.
He noticed it was five and realized he should be heading home. El and Will were still at the Wheeler's house, so it would just be him and Jonathan. To be honest, Jonathan made him more nervous than Will. He felt like he knew both of them pretty well, but Jonathan would always protect his mom, which is one thing they knew they both agreed on: Keeping Joyce, Will, and El safe
He quickly finished his paperwork, grabbed his hat, and picked up the camera he wanted to show Jonathan. He knew Jonathan liked photography, and recently, the Police Department had started using Minolta Maxxum 7000, which were very expensive but very high-quality cameras, which he knew Jonathan would like, so he had the idea to show him his. Yes, he was kinda trying to impress him, but did it really matter?
He started to think about Joyce's episode that had happened that morning. He knew that things like that sometimes happened to most of their family, but it had seemed odd. It wasn't like the episodes where Will or El would have flashbacks, it was more like she was stuck listening to some voice in her head. He was pretty sure it was just part of her anxiety, but he was still worried, since she had also been having a lot of nightmares, and that's coming from someone who was stuck in the Upside Down for a week. He knew he shouldn't worry too much, since she herself had said she had just forgotten to take her meds, but still.
When he arrived home and saw Jonathan's car in the driveway, he got that nervous feeling again. He wasn't sure why, it just happened.
"Hey." He smiled at Jonathan when he walked in
"Hey Hop." Jonathan smiled back, then noticed the camera "What's that?"
"Oh! This- is something I wanted to show you." He pulled out the camera
"Is that a Minolta Maxxum 7000?" Jonathan jumped out of seat to come admire the camera
"Yeah, the Police Department just started using them, I thought you might wanna use mine."
"How does it work?"
As he began to show Jonathan how the camera worked, he got nervous again. He really wanted the kids to like him, but maybe he was trying too hard?
Before he could think about what he was saying, he asked "Jonathan, what do think about me and your mom? Be honest."
"Hop, I love you two being together. I know you might be a little stressed, but don't worry. Both me and Will really do love you."
Trying not to cry, he hugged Jonathan, "Thanks. I was just worried you guys didn't like me."
"Don't worry, Ho-Dad." Jonathan corrected himself
He almost started crying again, but he kept himself together
After finishing showing Jonathan how the camera worked, then went outside to try and get a good picture of anything. After a few minutes of failing to take any photos cause it was so dark, El and Will came home from their friends
"Hey guys!" Jonathan smiled at El and Will when they came in, him being busy making food.
"Hey! Nice camera!" Will said
"Thanks! Dad brought it home."
After the kids messed with the camera a little (Thank god they didn't drop it), they had a pretty nice meal. It was weird without Joyce, but still nice.
After that, they just watched a movie, but the best part of the night was when Will and El fell asleep on him
"See?" Jonathan smiled at him, "They love you."
He chuckled quietly and made sure not to move so the kids wouldn't wake.
Eventually, he realized he had to pick Joyce up, so he got the kids to bed, and then drove back to Melvands
"Hey!" Joyce smiled as she got into the car, then stared at his chest, blushing
"W-What?" He quickly started to panic that his shirt was messed up or something
"Nothing-that's just my favorite shirt of yours. God, you look cute in it." Joyce muttered
"Thanks." He kissed her, which made her blush even brighter
"A-Are the kids okay?"
"Yeah, we had dinner, watched a movie, and before I left, they were getting ready for bed."
"Thanks." Joyce kissed him on the cheek, now making it his turn to blush
When they got home, the house was...surprisingly quiet. Luckily, the kids were asleep, not dead
The second that they noticed the kids were already asleep, Joyce smashed her lips onto his, almost knocking him over
"Joyce!" His surprised yelp was suppressed by her lips
"Shh! You're gonna wake the kids up!" She said as they stumbled into their bedroom
As they began to make out, he thought 'How did I get so lucky?'
He had everything he ever dreamed of. A nice job, a family, amazing kids, and of course, the perfect girlfriend.
"Hop? You okay? You were just staring off." Joyce asked
"Yeah," He turned all his attention back to her, "I'm okay."
After a while of making out, they ended up snuggling, him shirtless
"I love you, Hop." Joyce muttered
"Love you too."

(Joyce's POV)

When she woke up in Hopper's arms, she had the most genius idea ever. She probably had to cover another late shift, so that would mean leaving Hop at home with the kids...hence more time for Will and
Jonathan to start to love him! She knew that Jonathan had called him dad last night, which made her more excited than ever, but she hoped that Will and Hopper would bond
She looked up and noticed that Hopper was already awake.
"Morning cutie." He smiled, his warm bare chest basically still her pillow
"Morning." She quickly kissed him
After getting the kids up and having breakfast, she and Hopper drove to work, her still thinking about her plan
"You're smiling. You're planning something, aren't you?" Hopper asked, smirking
"No, just thinking." She muttered, then said, "Hey, I have another late shift. Can you take care of the kids?"
"Sure." Hopper thankfully didn't question why she had another late shift
When she got to Melvands, her boss didn't question why she was asking to work the late shift, but since someone would take the morning shift, then she would do the afternoon and night, she decided to visit Hopper
"Wher-"
"Office." She didn't even have to finish what she was saying for Flo to know what she was asking
When she opened the door to his office, she found him deep in work, papers surrounding him
"You okay?" She asked, closing and locking the door just in case
"Remind me to kill our mayor."
"You already tried that, remember?" She joked
"Yeah, I guess." He chuckled "Any reason you're here?"
"Nope. Shift hadn't started yet, and I wanted to see you. Simple as that"
She saw him blush brightly at the end, "Oh-So-What do you wanna-?"
She didn't even let him finish, just pushed his work aside, and kissed him
"I'm closing the blinds for this." Quickly, Hopper closed the blinds, and had her pinned to the floor, which she loved
"Oh, this is WAY better than doing paperwork" Hopper chuckled and began sucking on her neck
"Shh. The others will here." She whispered to him
He nodded, pulled their shirts off, and began to kiss every inch of her exposed skin until someone knocked on the door
"Chief? You okay in there?" Flo asked
"Yeah!" Hopper called back to her, trying to sound like they hadn't been caught like two teenagers making out in a bathroom stall
After Flo walked away, both of them tried to repress their giggles as they put their clothes back on
"W-Well, I should head to work. My shift's starting soon." She giggled at how red Hopper's face still was
"O-Okay. When should I pick you up?"
"Same time." She said, kissed him on the cheek, then left his office
"You two were making out, weren't you?" Flo joked "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"Maybe...." She chuckled, then left

(Hopper's POV)

After droning through paperwork for literally the entire day, he realized he had to go pick up the kids, who were playing basketball with their friends, which wasn't like them. Probably their friends idea.
So, after driving for god knows how long, he eventually found the kids
"Hey. Did you guys have a good time?" God, he had no idea how to start conversations
"Yeah." Will muttered, fidgeting as he and El got in
"Are you okay?" If he knew one thing, it was that the Byers family fidgeted when something was wrong
"Y-Yeah." Will said, then shot El a look that said, 'Don't say anything'. El hated lying, so Will doing that meant he was lying, but he didn't want to pressure him, so he stayed quiet
"Is mom working a late shift?"
"Yeah, and Jonathan's spending the night with Nancy."
The drive home was nice, but a little awkward. They listened to the radio, Will teaching El his favorite songs, but the fact that he knew Will lied made him feel weird. The only time Will had ever lied (that he knows of) was when the whole shadow monster thing happened. But what was he lying about? Had something happened?
When they got home, he made them food, then they had an a awkward dinner, where Will barely said anything. He was really worried about Will, and he was sure it had to do with something that had happened that day. He was acting normal this morning, now he wouldn't talk.
"Did you guys have a fun time today?" He asked nervously, trying to strike up a conversation, which he was able to do, but El was the only one speaking. He was really worried, but he didn't bring it up. After watching a movie, they went to bed, but he wasn't able to sleep. He was too stressed out about Will. He knew Will was shy and quiet, but this was odd.
As he laid there, trying to think of what was wrong, he heard someone crying.
Instinctively, he quickly shot up, and tried to figure out if it was El or Will crying, which didn't take long to figure out. He found Will sobbing in the dark, lying on his bed
"Will? Are you okay?" He came into Will's room
"Go away." Will told him. His heart broke a bit, but he knew that Will didn't mean that
He sat down on his bed, "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but- do you want a hug?"
The second he asked that, Will threw himself in his arms, and he laid down, trying to comfort Will
"Why don't people care about me?" Will sobbed
"Will, th-that's not tr-"
"Yes it is! Mike has El, Lucas has Max, Dustin has Suzie, Jonathan has Nancy, and mom has you! Who do I have? No one!" Will yelled, crying
He felt terrible. He had basically stolen Will's mom from him
"I-I'm so sorry..." He apologized
"It's fine..." Will muttered, though he could tell nothing was fine
"Did something happen today?" He asked
"Y-Yeah. Mike and Lucas were trying to get me to play basketball, and when I said I didn't want to, they said that I wasn't going to survive high school, that I'd never get a girlfriend if I kept acting like this..."
He wasn't sure if anything else happened, because Will began to cry again
"Don't listen to those idiots, that's not true. But if they're treating you like that, maybe-Maybe they're not who they used to be."
"But-I don't want anything to change!" Will exclaimed
He sighed. He knew what he had to do
"Will, has your mom ever told you about Sarah?" He asked Will, nervous about talking about this topic again
"No, who's Sarah?"
He sighed, "After coming back from the Vietnam War, me and my wife had a little girl named Sarah, but she-she died when she was only 7 from cancer."
"Oh..." Will muttered, "I-I'm sorry."
"It's okay-it was a long time ago." He said, then continued, "Back then, I didn't want anything to change. But, if everything had stayed the same, then I would've never come back to Hawkins, and I wouldn't have you, or your brother, or your mom, or El. Things changing aren't always that bad."
"Maybe you're right..." Will muttered, then nervously looked up at him "Dad, can I tell you something?"
Smiling at the fact Will called him dad, he said, "Of course. You can tell me anything."
Will took a deep breath in, and said, "D-Dad, I-I'm gay."
He wasn't really shocked. He had a feeling that Will wasn't straight for a long time. And even though most people in Hawkins weren't really big on people being gay, he didn't care
He smiled, and hugged Will, which surprised Will
"I'm glad you told me. Have you told your mom yet?"
"No...."
"You should. Don't worry, I completely support you." He reassured Will, "I love you, Will, no matter what."
"Thanks dad." Will smiled, beginning to cry tears of happiness
"Now, you should get some rest before your mom yells at me for keeping you up too late."
Will chuckled, then muttered as he began to leave his room, "Night dad. Love you."
When he stepped out of Will's bedroom, he found Joyce waiting for him
"Did Will just call you dad? And say that he loves you?"
"Yes!" He exclaimed, letting out all the happiness. No, he wasn't going to tell Joyce what Will told him. He would wait for Will to be ready to come out
"Hop! That's amazing!"
As him and Joyce snuggled in bed, he said, "I know you love me, and I love you, but we need to make sure the kids don't feel ignored."
"Why do you say that?" Joyce asked
"Will-Will told me he feels like no one cares about him."
"Oh god. You're right." Joyce gave him a quick kiss on the cheek
Then, he asked, "How did you get home?"
"Oh, it's fine, Jonathan drove me home."
He quickly smiled at her, and kissed her, "Love you, Joycie."
"Love you too, Hop." Joyce muttered, then they fell into a deep sleep

(Joyce's POV)

When Joyce woke up in the morning, she felt the warmness of Hopper's chest as usual. God, she was madly in love with him
When Hopper opened his eyes from his deep slumber, the blue ocean in them shimmered as he laid his eyes on her
"Morning beautiful." He smiled
"Morning." She pulled him into a sizzling kiss
"Joyce-the kids." He reminded her after a few minutes. Hopper had told her last night that Will told him that he felt like no one cared about him, which really broke her heart. Now, she wanted to make sure that while she and Hopper dated, that the kids were still happy
"Right." She kissed him one last time, threw her clothes back on, and went to the kitchen to start breakfast with the help of Hopper
"Morning mom." When the kids got up, she noticed Will was fidgety
"Will, are you okay?" She asked her youngest son
"Yeah-there's just something I want to tell you guys."
Hopper shot Will a smile, and said, "Yeah?"
"Guys-I-I'm gay."
She tightly hugged Will, crying tears of happiness. She always knew that he probably wasn't straight, but she couldn't be prouder of him saying it.
"I love you no matter what." She told Will, still hugging him
After finally letting him go, Jonathan just said, "I'm proud of you, buddy"
Will chuckled, "Thanks."
"What's gay?" El asked. She completely forgot El didn't know what gay meant
"Gay, or being homosexual, is when a boy likes boys, or a girl likes girls."
"So, that means Will likes boys? Why does it matter who someone likes?" Oh god. That question.
"Well, El," Thank god Hopper decided to explain. She would remember to kiss him later, "A lot of people don't like it when a boy likes boys, or when a girl likes girls. They think it's wrong, which is completely bullshit."
"Jim!" She scolded him
"What? It is."
"Okay, I'll let you off this one time." She warned him, then chuckled
"Thank you guys. I was really worried." Will admitted
"Hop, did you-?"
"Yeah, I told him before." Will admitted
"How did you find out?" El asked
"I don't really know, one day I just simply realized I liked guys instead of girls. Once, I caught myself thinking about a cute guy in one of my classes, and it made me realize who I was."
Jonathan then hugged Will, smiling, "We all love and support you, no matter what. Always remember that."
She smiled at Will, proud and happy.

(A/N: Does anyone know why this story's ranking suddenly dropped for no reason??? Like, it went from #26 in jopper to #398 or something. If anyone knows why, please comment.)