My heart is finally starting to heal

Its definitely not okay

  "You're marrying me, not the ring ya know" Hopper commented with a chuckle as Joyce sat at her desk, her eyes not leaving the diamond.

It was her first day working with Jim as the new detective. It wasn't a busy day, but they had been sent dozens of unsolved cases. But one case in particular stood out to Joyce.

"Yeah, but it's perfect" she responded with a grin.

"Not as perfect as you" he said, bending down to press a kiss to her cheek.

"You don't have to keep saying that" she told him. She was right, he didn't have to keep saying it. But he was going to until she believed him. Even if it took years.

"I know. But why would I stop" he replied with a smirk. "You're insane, Jim Hopper" she shook her head. "Doesn't make me wrong" he stated matter of factly.

"Have you seen this one?" She asked, pointing at one of the new case files. He rolled his chair over next to hers and bent down to look at the file.
"I heard about that guy awhile back, he's dangerous" Hopper said, moving back to his desk. Joyce rolled her eyes and set the paper down.

"That's the whole point. If he weren't dangerous then they wouldn't have sent this to us." She argued. "Yes but joyce.... I can't put you in danger"

"I want to go see this man, I would be able to leave in a few hours and still make it back before nighttime"

"No. Absolutely not. Im not gonna let you get hurt. I don't care if you get upset with me over this."

There was clear fury in her eyes and he could tell he'd struck a nerve. She put the case back in the file and threw it across her desk aggressively. "Why do you get to do all the fun stuff?" When he didn't respond or look up from his file, she got up and walked over to his desk, ripping it out of his hand.

"Why are you being like this" he asked.

"Why am i being like this? You're the one who's gatekeeping all these cases and telling me, an adult, what I can and can't do!" She snapped.

"Hey, I'm sorry. If you really want to go talk to him, then go do it. But I'll be going with you." He explained. He leaned back in his chair, setting his hands in his lap.

Later that day

"How much further?" Joyce asked. Hopper glanced at his watch. "Still at least an hour until we get there" he could feel her impatience kicking in. She had never been one for long car rides. It was always the same 50/50, either she gets car sick or she gets annoyed with the other people. It was a lose-lose for everyone.

Jim placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay" he told her. Her eyes met his. "I know" she said in voice barely above a whisper.

"Hop...."

"Yeah, baby?"

"I've already talked to this man. He's only 22. Their punishments are too harsh." She explains, not looking at him. "What do you mean you've been talking to him?" He questioned carefully. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again

"Before I even got this job I spoke with him both on the phone and in person" she finally looked at him. Though she couldn't read the expression on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because I knew you'd make a big deal about it" she snapped. He slapped his hand against the steering wheel. "Well obviously I would! It is a big deal! This dude is a criminal and you were speaking to him without my knowledge. If something happened to you, I would have know idea!"

She didn't bother to say anything else to him. She was already pissed off before they left, this was just feeding the fire.

Eventually, they pulled into the parking lot of the Orange County jail. Hopper walking around to Joyce's side to help her out of the car.

The two of them approached the very first desk they saw. "We're here to see Oliver Massey" Jim told the lady. She gave him and Joyce a stare and shook her head. "Well you're a little late here..." she looked at his badge. "...Chief"

He looked at Joyce confused. Joyce just shrugged. "What do you mean we're late, ma'am?" Jim asked. The lady paused a second and rested her chin on her fists. "They just sent him to the chair" she finally told them.

There was a long silence before Joyce thanked her quietly and walked out to the car. She couldn't help the tears that slipped out of her eyes. Once hopper was pulling out of the parking lot he noticed her crying.

"Hey" he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay"

"Stop! Just stop! You don't understand, Hop. He was innocent, and they sent him off to get killed before we even got there. So no, it's not gonna be okay this time!"

Her voice was shaky and she was out of breath. Her face was buried in her hands as she cried.

They drove till the sun was down until they finally reached the house at around 10pm. Joyce was asleep, the side of her face resting against the car door.

Hopper walked around and carefully opened her door, picking her up and carrying her inside. He laid her down gently on her side of the bed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Only then did he realize how oddly still she was. She didn't move at all.

He assumed it was from the amount of stress from today so he didn't think much about it and went to go get in the shower. But as he was showering, something in him kept telling him to go check on her. Telling him that he needed to go make sure everything's okay....