My heart is finally starting to heal

5-2=3

Hopper had no idea when Joyce actually fell asleep. He himself would not be able to fall asleep until he got a drink of water, since his mouth felt like the fucking Sahara desert.

He gently moved his arm out from under her, careful not to wake her, and slowly stood up from the bed. The floor squeaked under his feet as he walked down the stairs. The house was completely pitch dark aside from the street lights shining in through the windows.

"Fucks sake" he mumbled, stubbing his toe. He felt along the wall for the light switch. He finally found it, flipping it on. He was startled to see El already standing in the kitchen. "Jesus Christ, kid, you scared me shitless!" He yelled in a whisper. "Why aren't you in bed?" The girl shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. And then I heard mom yelling" she spoke quietly.

"She was yelling? At who?" Jim urged. "I don't really know, but I think it was Jonathan" he nodded, starting to put the pieces together. "Did you hear anything that they were saying?" He was almost certain that's what had Joyce upset. El shook her head. "no"

~next morning~

Joyce awoke in Hoppers arms, due to the sun shining directly in her face. She glanced over at the clock. 8:40am. She sighed, getting up and walking over to the bathroom.

She turned on the shower and got undressed. She stepped in, letting the warm water hit her face. She didn't care that the water bill would go up since shes been showering like 10 times a week now. It was truly the only time she got to herself.

She was brought back to reality at the feeling of arms wrap around her waist. She tilted her head back to see Hopper standing behind her. He kissed at her neck and shoulders, causing her head to fall back against his shoulder. "Hop" she moaned softly. "Mmm" he hummed, spinning her around and pressing a kiss to her lips.

The two stepped out of the shower, drying themselves off. They walked into the bedroom to get dressed. "I can't wait to work with you" Hopper chirped happily. She smiled widely. "Me too"

He moved the hair out of her face and behind her ear. "I know I've told you this a thousand times, but you can talk to me, tell me anything" Joyce nodded and looked down. "Thank you, hop" she turned to walk downstairs. He followed close behind her.

"You wanna do something today?" Hopper asked. Joyce shrugged and started to answer but stopped when she saw Jonathan was already in the living room. She tried to look down to avoid eye contact, but saw him look up at her out of the corner of her eye. They made eye contact for a half second before she turned and followed Hopper into the kitchen.

"I have to send these to the post office if you wanna come with me" he said holding up a pile of envelopes. "I'll stay here with El" she said.
"Okay. I should be back in an hour or so. I love you" he said, bending down to kiss her and the baby. "Love you too"

It was about a half hour later, Joyce was finishing the last of the dishes when she heard the front door open. She turned off the water and peaked her head around the corner. No one was there. "Did you hear that too?" She asked El who was helping Joyce by drying the dishes. "Yeah" the front door was still open so Joyce went to close it.

She walked back over to the kitchen where her and El had both been, but El wasn't there anymore.
"El?" Joyce called out. Where did she go? She heard a scream come from by the front door. Els scream. She was about to move but was grabbed and carried outside to a van. A van that she recognized. They both knew exactly where they were going.

Jonathon heard the ruckus from downstairs and went to go check everything out. He caught the van as it drove away and quickly realized what was happening. He didn't know what to do or who to call. So he waited for Hopper to get home.

It didn't take longer than 15 minutes for Hopper to walk through the front door. He set his stuff down and walked to the kitchen to see a panicked Jonathan. "What's wrong?" He asked. "They were taken. Some people came and took mom and El" Jonathan stuttered. "What!? When!?" Hopper bolted towards the front door. "I don't know! They just came in and took them! I was in my room and heard loud noises but I was too late"