𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

May

(Hopper's POV)

"Babe? Babe?"
He was woken up by Joyce shaking him up out of another nightmare
"Hey." He smiled, faking it to make her think he was fine
"Hop, are you okay?" Joyce squeezed his hand under the blanket
"I'm okay. Really."
It had been almost 2 months since the first 'incident' with Belle, and she had not let up. It had only gotten worse, and it scared him so much, but he couldn't stop it. His family was happy, he couldn't screw that up.
"Okay, it just seemed like you were having a nightmare. You promise?" Joyce pushed his hair out of his eyes and off of his forehead
"I promise." He said, and kissed her on the lips
Once they were up, he pulled on his uniform, and left their bedroom to let Joyce change. He was actually a little grateful to be alone, stop faking it for a second and cry. His tears were inaudible thanks to the running water that washed them away, so no one could figure out why he was in there for so long.
"Hey, you good? You were in there for a while." Joyce asked when he came down, at that moment in the middle of making breakfast for the kids, who were awake and waiting at the dining table
"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied
He tried to talk enough so that no one would ask why wasn't he talking , but besides that, he was quiet. He felt wrong even just being there, with such amazing people, he didn't desurve it. But he tried to push that all aside just so that everything would seem normal
Once they'd dropped off the kids at school, it was just him and Joyce. Before, they would've talked or even kissed, but now, even though they were still holding hands, and though he pretended it wasn't, there was awkward silence in the car, and they only spoke when she was getting out of the car.
"Bye Hop!" Joyce said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Love you!"
"I love you too!" At that moment, he decided to stop avoiding her kisses. It was getting too suspicious, and if they found out what was going on, or what Belle would tell them was going on, since he had a feeling she wasn't going to keep up her promise for very much longer, they'd leave him, and he wanted something to remember. He loved Joyce, he loved her kisses, he loved everything about her. And he knew it was wrong, but he wanted to be with her until she wouldn't let him be with her.
Work, once again, was hell. Not the actual work was hell, they were working on an case for the first time in what felt like forever, but he could feel Belle staring at him, occasionally touching him. He had no idea what torture she had come up for him for later that day, so when he went off to lunch with Joyce, he knew the inevitable: he would have to come back and let her do whatever she wanted. Those were the rules, and he had to follow them.
"Joyce!" He smiled as he stepped into Melvands, the bell above the door ringing, and saw Joyce on the register, with no customers
"Hop!" She smiled back, and he sat himself up on the counter where she was working
"Are you on your lunch break?" He asked, then gave her a kiss on the lips. He hated himself for lying to her, but at the same time, he had to.
"Actually, yes I am." She blushed from the kiss, "Wanna eat lunch?"
He chuckled and tried to keep it from turning into a giggle or even a sob, "Sure."
They sat at their usual bench, and each pulled out their lunch that they had made for themselves earlier, and though Joyce was obviously much happier now that he was here, he couldn't help but feel anxious. It felt like Belle was watching him, waiting for the right moment to pounce, like a tiger or something. He didn't think it was too obvious, but Joyce must've somehow picked up on it
"Hey, you okay? You seem off." Joyce asked, a hand on his shoulder
"I'm fine." He said probably too quickly, then added, "Really. I'm okay, don't worry."
Joyce titled her head to the side, "Are you sure? You've been off for months."
He lied, "I'm sure, Joycie. I love you."
Joyce grinned, pleased with that answer for at least now, "I love you too."
She plopped a kiss on his lips before biting into her BLT and asking, with a mouth full of lettuce, "How's work been?"
"Um-Good. We're working on a case." That was all he could say without there being some detail he couldn't say, like Belle slapping him in the butt when no one was looking
"Ooh, what case?" Joyce asked, resting her head on one of her hands while she used the other to continue to eat
"Just some robbery. Rich dude got some family heirloom stolen, really pissed." He chuckled at the last part
Joyce smiled, and though he knew he shouldn't, he thought about how cute her smile was. She was gonna leave him once Belle tells her, but damn her smile made him feel so warm and fuzzy, it was like a really heavy, fluffy blanket
"Well, I hope you get that family airloom back to him." Joyce giggled, mispronouncing the word on purpose.
"I hope so too." He smiled, and fluffed her hair
He tried to stay in the safe place that was Melvands, with Joyce there to keep his thoughts away from darkness, but when Joyce's boss got mad at him for staying around and not buying anything, he walked back to the Police Department at a leisurely pace, but the feeling was like walking to your own death, completely knowing what lied ahead, but unable to stop it, no matter what you did.
Since Powell and Callahan had already taken up the work they had to do for the case, he was left to do the paperwork, and, like the blade of the guillotine falling onto someone's head, eventually, Belle came in, locking the door behind her.
He sighed, "Just- do it quick. I have work."
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you the one in charge?" Belle asked sarcastically
He shook his head
'No, no you are not. I am. So I will take all the time I want." Belle said, and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He knew from doing the same move with Joyce what was coming, and sure enough, a few minutes later, he was strapped to his chair with the cuffs around both his wrists and bottom of the chair, with Belle once again kissing him. In an attempt not to feel miserable, and try and get through Belle's torture, he tried to pretend Belle was instead Joyce, but their styles were so different, mainly meaning that he hated even how Belle kissed him. She didn't know right where to touch, didn't have the perfect lips, didn't make his heart pound, and most certainly didn't make him want more. This were all things Joyce's kissing did have or did do. And that's all the problems involving her kissing, that was completely ignoring the fact she was raping him.
But, like every day, he got through it. He reminded himself it was for Joyce and the kids, and, soon enough, she stopped.
He let out a sigh, thinking that it was all over and she would let him go. But, when she not only didn't undo the handcuffs, but also got up but didn't leave, he knew there was more.
"You know," Belle finally said, "I'm starting to get bored of us just making out in your office."
"So you're letting me go?!" He asked hopefully, and probably too loudly.
Belle laughed, "Aw hell no! You're so close to dumping that stupid whore for me, and, plus, this is fun, you doing whatever I say."
"I do it for my family, not you. He growled
"Well," Belle clicked her tongue, and got back down, straddling on him, "If you wanna keep them happy, then meet me at my house. 10 PM, you and me, doing 'paperwork'." She put air quotes around the word paperwork. Belle got back up off him, and was finally gonna leave when she added, "Don't be late, but I know you're excited, so you won't be."
Once the door was shut, it took all his willpower not to throw something against the wall in rage. She had him on a string, in complete control of him, and he hated it. He wanted to tell someone, anyone, but, at the end of the day, all he could do was go and do whatever she wanted, and keep his family safe. Thank god it was finally five. Since the kids had gone home with their friends, he and Joyce had been able to stay at work a little bit longer. He rushed out of his office and out of the police station, slamming close the door and letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been keeping in. He had no idea how he was going to sneak out without Joyce noticing. He would have to lie and tell her that he had to go into work, but what if she didn't belive him? He would be screwed then, but it didn't matter. He had to at least try. If he didn't, he'd truly be screwed.
He'd been so deep in thought that he'd almost forgotten that he still had to pick up Joyce. He got back out of the car, and went back over to Melvands, prepared to put on his act again.
"Joyce!" He called out to her as he swung open the door
"Hey Hop!" Joyce rushed from behind the counter to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek, "I just got off my shift, let me grab my bag."
"Okay." He agreed, and watched her go into the room marked Employees Only to grab her bag. Of course, now with him stuck in almost a forced affair, he was noticing how cute she was, with her hair still perfect even when running. He would kiss her and tell her this, but he decided against it, consitering the circumstances.
"Okay, got it!" Joyce returned from the room with her bag, back to his side and giving him a kiss, "We can go now."
"Alright, Joycie." Even using her nickname made him feel guilty.
The drive home wasn't awkward for Joyce, seeing that she was enjoying herself, but he felt that pang of sadness in his heart, knowing what he was doing
Soon enough, though after hours of uncomfortable silence, it's almost time to meet up with Belle. He's still not quite sure how he's gonna do this, but they're in the bedroom when he decides it's fine to leave, getting up and putting on his police uniform, just to make it even clearer that he was going to work, not being forced to go to some girl's house for the sake of the family
"Where are you going?" Joyce asked, and sat up
"I have to go to work." He said, and his eyes then met Joyce's when he turned around
"You're lying."
Well, that wasn't the response he was expecting, even though it was true. He was screwed.
"Joyce-Wait-" He put his hands out in front of him, but it was no use. Joyce had already gotten up off the bed
"You're cheating on me with Belle, aren't you?!" Joyce tried not to scream too loudly, not wanting to wake the kids, but already crying. This was it. This was when he lost the only good people in his life
"H-Hop?" He hadn't noticed the tears coming on, and no the idea of losing them left him full on crying
"I-I can't do it anymore. I can't..." He choked, legs giving in and falling to the floor in misery. He prayed Joyce didn't see this as an act to try and get her to stay
"Hop. Please, look at me." When he looked up from the ground to find Joyce's eyes, he found that she was kneeling next to him, "What's going on? What can't you do anymore?"
"She-I can't-"
"Who? Who is she?" Joyce begged for an answer, "And whatever she's doing, I can help."
"Belle-She-She hurts-me." He got out, before returning to crying
"How? Hop, please, how?" Joyce took his hand. Usually, this wouldn't be much, but tonight, he was gratful for it, it showed that she still loved him.
"She-She makes me do these things."
"What things?" Joyce pressed on
"Like-kiss her. Or-Or let her do whatever she wants. She-She wanted me to go to her house tonight-she's been telling me if I didn't do as she wanted, she'd tell you that I'd made her my mistress." He spoke quickly, to get it all out before the next sob, and before he could think more on what he'd said
"Oh Hop..." Joyce looked at him in what he could only describe as the look you'd give a sad, abandoned puppy, and gave him a tight hug, while tears fell from his tears onto her shoulders, "You're okay. You're okay now. I have you."
They stayed like that for a beat, then he asked her, not pulling away, "What are you gonna do? Kill her?"
Joyce chuckled, "No, not kill her. I have a plan."
He now looked her in the eyes, his head no longer resting on her, "What's your plan?"
Joyce began to run her fingers through his hair, soothing him "Well, you said she wanted you to come to her house tonight?"
"Yeah, at 10." He said, not quite yet sure where she was going with this
"Well, my plan is you go there, do whatever she wants, but I'll be outside, filming everything. Then, in the morning, we can take the tape to the police station as evidence."
"You think that'll work?" He asked, hopeful but not fully convinced that that'd work more than Belle's words, which seemed to be able to woo anyone into believing her
"It's the best we got." Joyce let out a sound that almost, but not exactly, sounded like a sigh while getting up off the floor, "So, I'll go grab Jonathan's camera, you finish getting dressed, and then we can go."
"What if he asks you what you need it for?" He did the same as Joyce and got up, wiping the tears off his face and clothes, praying to god he didn't stain his uniform too badly
"I'll just say I'm helping you with work." She pecked his cheek, then headed out of the room, telling him, "I'll be back in a moment."
When Joyce left, he did as she had instructed him, and though there wasn't any more of his uniform to put on, he still had to grab his hat and shoes. As he did this, he couldn't help but feel giddy and relived at the same time. Joyce belived him, and tonight, they were putting an end to her. He just had to ge through it one last time, and he'd be free to kiss Joyce without any guilt
"You ready to go?" Joyce joined him at the door, carrying Jonathan's camera in her arms. They both knew that they had to be careful, both with the camera and with what they were doing. If Jonathan found out that they had broken the camera in any way, he'd probably flip; and if the kids found out about their parents sneaking out, they'd have a million questions he didn't ever want to answer.
They started to drive to the address Belle had given him, and though they had no reason to, his anxieties crept back in. He knew that they probably wouldn't, but what if Joyce got caught filming? What if everyone else in Hawkins didn't belive them? What if the kids didn't belive them? What if Joyce didn't actually belive him?
Okay, that last one was pretty easy to disprove. Joyce wouldn't be doing this if she didn't belive him. But what about the others?
Interrupting the silence, he asked, "What if the police don't belive us?"
"Well, we'll probably get some damn good evidence here, something even that rat couldn't disprove." Looking up at him, she continued, "And, if they don't belive us, I'll keep fighting for you till someone does."
"Really? You'd do that for me?" He looked at her, almost amazed at how much she was willing to do for him
"Of course. I love you." Joyce shrugged her shoulders, as if it was nothing, when to him, it meant a lot
"I love you too."
As Joyce was parking a little down the street from Belle's house, he was surprised at how small the houses in the neighborhood were, probably meaning that Belle's house was also small. He always pictured Belle living in some huge mansion or something fancy, but her house only had one floor.
"Perfect." Joyce grinned as they approached the house on foot.
"What?" He asked her, turning his head
"You see that window?" Joyce pointed to one of the two windows on the right side of the house, "That seems to be the window to the bedroom. Get her to take you there and I'll film."
He nodded, "What do I do if something happens?"
"Make sure the door's unlocked." He was now at the door, Joyce a little bit behind him, prepared to run into position, "You ready?"
He turned his head back to her and smiled, "Don't worry, Joycie. I got this."
She nodded and smiled back before rushing off to the side of the house, leaving him to take a slow, steady breath before knocking on the dark oak door.
Belle, in a white robe, opened the door and smiled, "Finally, you're here."
Seeing the fiery look in her eyes, he begged again, "Please don't make me do this."
"Shut up, it's a turn off." Belle rolled her eyes at his plea, and pulled him by the wrist inside. Her house reminded him of his parent's house, oddly enough, though she was probably 30. With a bright yellow and white kitchen and living room, the only rooms he could see while being dragged through the house, it all almost looked like a lemon. But Belle's bedroom changed the theme, being dark red and black everywhere. Through the window and red see through curtains, he could see Joyce, filming. He just hoped she was picking up the audio.
"There we go." Belle muttered under her breath as she shoved him down onto the bed and started taking his clothes off
"Why are you even doing this?" He asked, genuinely wanting an answer.
"Ugh, because I want to! You and I can become the it-couple of the town, all I have to do is get you to leave that Byers woman."
"I'm not going to leave Joyce!" He came close to screaming, "I love her, and you doing all of this isn't going to change that!"
"Well, how about I change the rules, huh?" Belle tossed his shirt aside, and straddled on his hips, leaning in, finger on his chin, "If you don't leave her, I'll tell her you made me your mistress. Then you'll have no reason not to date me."
"No!" He sat up just enough to meet her eyes, "Please. I'm only letting you do this because I love them. You swore you wouldn't hurt them."
"Well, again, who makes the rules in this?" Belle asked, "Oh right, me. So you'll do as I say, or I'll do much worse. I can ruin you and your little family, Jim Hopper, if you don't do as I'll say."
Then, like how her house made her seem, she switched to her innocent mode, saying, "I'm only doing this for you. I know you love me, you just feel bad for her so you don't want to leave her."
"No-"
Belle put a finger to his lips, forcing him quiet, as her other hand made its way down his pants to the zipper on his jeans
"Please, no. I-I'll do anything, just please. Don't." He looked back to her eyes, searching for any decency or sympathy that would spear him from sex. Nothing. He knew Joyce was filming outside, he knew this wouldn't be in vain, but it still hurt.
"You're just scared you'll like it." Belle responded before returning to his zipper, pulling it down enough to see a small bit of his underwear
"Please-" He began to beg again, then heard footsteps, footsteps that Belle didn't hear. Seems like Joyce had gotten enough of watching her boyfriend cry
"Shut up!" Belle spat right before Joyce, camera still in hand and probably still filming, swung open the door.
"WHAT THE HELL?" Belle screamed in a high pitched tone, not even bothering to put her shirt and pants back on before jumping up off the bed to confront Joyce, first yelling at him, "You told me-"
"Oh cut the bull crap, Belle, I know what's going on. I saw everything." Joyce yelled back at Belle, getting her attention
"Give me that, you little-" Belle grabbed for the camera, only for Joyce to swipe it away
"Come on, Hop." He was more than delighted to do as she asked, pulling on his clothes and joined her at her side
"No one will believe you." Belle threatened as they started their walk out of the house
"I don't care if they don't believe us. You're going down either way, and you won't be dragging my family down with you." He slammed the door after speaking, and ran to his police car, Joyce following behind, camera safe in her hands
Joyce slammed her door closed, took a breath, then turned to him, "Are you okay?!"
"I-I'm-" He was about to try and convince her and himself that he was okay, but then he took a look down at his shaking hands, and knew there was no way he was gonna be able to do that. Instead, he just let himself cry into her legs.
"Oh Hop..." Joyce ran her fingers through his hair, and put her other hand on his cheek, "I'm sorry you had to do that. But we're gonna take her down, I promise."
"Promise-Promise?" He looked up from his puddle of tears to look up at her face, which, from his angle, looked like an angel looking over him
"Yes." She nodded, and laid a kiss on his forehead, "Let's go home now. I'll drive."
Usually, the gentlemen part of him would make him argue that he should drive, but he was just too tired to put up a fight, so he just switched seats with Joyce and stared out the window on the way home, an attempt not to cry. That, along with Joyce's hand holding onto his, got his eyes to dry up just in time for them to arrive home, in case the kids were awake and they needed to lie about where they were. He just prayed he'd be able to do that.
"Hop?" His view finally turned from th view fie window when he heard Joyce, in a soft and almost angelic voice, speak from the right. He saw her, standing outside the car, his door already opened, "We're here."
He took the hand she was holding out and got up out of the car. He'd been stuck in a trance for the last few minutes, and Joyce's voice only broke it for a few seconds.
"Come on, Hop." Joyce tugged on his hand, and got him to walk to the door
Joyce pulled out her keys, but before unlocking the door, reminded him, "Hop, it's gonna be okay. I'm here."
He smiled, with the trance he'd been in for what felt like forever, but was only 20 minutes, now going away, letting him think again. But in his case, thinking at that moment wasn't quite what he wanted, and he was back to trying to keep tears from running down his face and turning him into a sobbing mess, at least until they were sure the kids were still asleep.
Once they'd snuck back up to their room and shut the door, he couldn't hold it back anymore. He just laid down on the bed and cried. With every thought possible running through his head, he barely even noticed when Joyce laid down next to him and took him in her arms, shushing him in an attempt to soothe him.
"Everything's gonna be okay, Hop." She whispered to him
"I'm so scared Joyce. I'm so scared-" His choke-filled sentence was cut off by more tears
"I know, I know. But it's over. I won't let her hurt you ever again, I promise. Tomorrow, we'll take the footage to the police, they'll do something, I promise. She won't hurt you again,, Hop." She tilted his face up with her hands getting him to look into her eyes, "I love you, Hop. You're one of the most important people in my life. I love you so much."
She pulled him back into another hug, a hug they both stayed in until someone spoke
"Who's she?"
Though, with his blurry vision, he couldn't see him well, he could see that Jonathan was standing in the doorway, probably having heard all or most of their conversation
"Oh, hey." Joyce sat up, as if this was a normal situation to find your parents in, your dad crying while your mom having to promise to keep him safe, "We were just-um-we were talking about-"
"Don't say work, Mom. I didn't belive it when you said you needed my camera for it, and I won't belive you now." Jonathan then sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Joyce, "What's going on?"
"Um...Well..."
To save Joyce the time it would take her to come up with a believable response, he choked out, "Tell him.
"Are you sure?" Joyce looked to him for approval, and when he nodded, looked back to Jonathan and told him, "Your dad-he- he was raped."
Jonathan didn't speak for a few seconds, looking between him and Joyce, but when he finally did something, he hugged him.
"Dad, I-I don't-I don't know what to say. I'm so, so sorry." He felt a tear from Jonathan falling onto his shoulder
"Hey, it's okay." He rubbed his son's back, holding back tears of his own, "I'm okay now."
"Dad." Jonathan looked at him, almost desperately, wanting the truth
He let more tears fall, "I'm okay now, I promise. It just-"
"I get it." Jonathan saved him from speaking any more on the topic
They stayed like that for a few more moments before pulling away, and he asked, "Can you just not tell the kids? I don't want to rope them in unless we absolutely have to."
"Of course, Dad." Jonathan smiled, then got back up, "Well, I should be going to bed. Night Mom, night Dad."
"Night sweetie." Joyce smiled and nodded to Jonathan, then once Jonathan was gone, turned back to him, "Want to sleep? We probably should wake up early tomorrow."
"Yeah." He agreed, and laid down next to Joyce, covering both of them with the blanket, "Do you really think they'll belive us?"
"If they don't, I won't stop until someone does. I'm gonna avenge you, no matter what." Joyce promised with a kiss, "Now, sleep."
"Agreed." He smiled, getting Joyce to laugh.
Ah, music to his ears. He was gratful that the night was ending with Joyce's smile instead of all the gloom that hovered over them after what had happened barely an hour earlier.
"I love you, Joycie." He said with a truthful grin. He was glad the guilt he would have come over him when he used her nickname during everything with Belle was gone.
"I love you too, Hop." Joyce kissed him on the lips. But, when what he thought was going to be a small peck turning many, many more kisses, he realized they were either about to make out or she was trying to do something.
"What are you doing?" He asked during one of the brief moments when their lips weren't touching, "Not that I mind it, I was just wondering."
"Trying to get that horrible Belle taste of your lips." Joyce answered, "Seriously though, it's as if Satan was a taste."
He held back a snicker, "Alright, but only a few more minutes! You said it yourself, we're gonna need sleep tomorrow, and it'll probably take at least a month to get that taste off."
"Fine. I regret saying the thing about sleep." Joyce mumbled the last part, then returned to her normal tone, "Five more minutes?"
He nodded, giving her permission to continued to practically attack him with kisses. He missed this, the not feeling guilty every time Joyce kissed him or they made out, and the fact that now if he didn't want kisses (which was so rare, that he'd probably reach 100 before that happened), he could just say no. Joyce didn't force him to ever do anything; she asked for consent. Unlike someone.
After five minutes and after making his lips wetter than his clothes that one time left them out to dry and it rained, Joyce snuggled into his chest
"I love you." Joyce muttered, already drifting to sleep
"I love you too." He responded. Once Joyce was asleep, it still took him at least an hour to fall asleep, and he used that time he was stuck awake to prepare and brace himself for the nightmares that would come

(Joyce's POV)

She woke up happy that morning, something someone in a situation like this wouldn't do. Today, they were finally putting Belle behind bars, one way or another!
Her brief happiness ended as quickly as it ahead started, since Hopper, who was kicking the blankets and thrashing in his sleep thanks to his nightmares, caught her attention
"No-No-Please!" Hopper called out in his sleep
"Hop! Hop!" She shook him as hard as she could until he came to his senses, "It's just a dream."
"Belle-Belle-She was-" Hopper was shaken from his nightmare, tears already starting to fall
"Hey." She shushed him, "It's alright. Today, it all ends, and we can go back to being a happy family, alright?"
That got him to smile, "Alright."
Once they were up, they didn't waste time on breakfast or even waking up the kids. They got into the car and drove straight to the police station, Joyce holding onto the camera that still had the tape in it.
When they walked into the police station, Flo, Powell, and Callahan were all at their usual places, doing work, with no sign of Belle. Good. She wasn't here to try and lie her way out of this.
"Hey chief! Hey Mrs. Byers!" Powell smiled at them, "What'cha doing here? What's with the camera?"
"You need to see this." She pulled the tape out of the camera, asking Hop, "Do you have a VHS player?"
"Yeah, I'll get it."
As Hopper left the room to grab the TV, the others started asking her a million questions, all of which she ignored, more stressed about if they would belive her.
"Here we go." Hopper muttered under his breath as he pulled a huge TV on a rolling, small, black table into the room
She, still ignoring all of the questions being thrown at her, put the VHS tape in and it started rolling, showing when she stared filming right outside Belle's bedroom window.
She didn't want to have to re-live what had happened to her only just last night, so she shielded her eyes in Hopper's chest and covered her ears until the muffled audio stopped and the tape popped back out.
"Oh-Oh god, chief. What-I'm so-"
"Yep. Look, don't make a fuss about it, okay?" Hopper returned to his usual, no nonsense boss state, though she was sure everyone could tell something was off, "Just get her in here and arrest her. We have the evidence."
"What's going on here?" With perfect timing, Belle walked in through the front door, having no idea that she was about to be taken down. She couldn't help but let out a small but very smug smile.
"Belle Stark, you are under arrest for rape." Callahan declared, pulling out a pair of handcuffs off his belt and putting them on Belle
"What-You have no evidence! I didn't do it, they're framing me!" Belle lied
"Oh shut up Belle." She snapped at her and got one last good, angry, slightly smug look at her before they threw her into the interrogation room.
"I'll be back in a bit, we have to go home and get the kids." Hopper told Flo as they were halfway out the door. Flo's answer was inaudible by the time she responded, them already out the door.
Before they started their drive back home, Hopper and she shared a smile, saying we did it as much as words would've.
When they arrived home, they expected the kids to still be asleep in their beds, or at least be just waking up. Nope. The kids, all wide awake and wearing their actual clothes (not pajamas), were all sitting in the living room, looking like they were about to stage an intervention.
"Oh hey guys. What's up?" Hop asked casually, obviously knowing something was wrong
"Jonathan told us about...What happened." Will said in a surprisingly calm tone
She looked at Jonathan, "You told them?"
"They wanted to know where you guys were and I felt bad about lying."
"Look, guys-" Hopper began to speak, but didn't get to finish before El and Will brought him and her into a bug hug, Jonathan joining soon after
"We love you, dad. No matter what." El said
She shared a glace with Hop, who was starting to get teary-eyed, before embracing the hug. It really was finally over.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in like, three months or something. Ever since school started back up, I've had like ten tests and a ton of homework, and I haven't been able to update. I promise I'll be posting more, but I hope y'all liked this chapter! I thought that you guys would enjoy something with a (sorta) happy ending, so here! 

-scoopstroop2020