𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

July

(Warning: Mention of period, so if you feel uncomfortable with this, maybe skip this chapter)

(Hopper's POV)

Not this again. He thought as his new dream started. He was standing in an oh-so-familiar bunker, blue lighting sparking from the machine. He wasn't surprised he was having this dream again; it was the anniversary of that day. So, while everyone else was setting off fireworks, he would be reliving the trauma that had been last year's fourth of July.
His eyes went from the machine back to Joyce. It was painful how much his stupid brain remembered of this night just so that it could use it to teach him.
Even though he'd been through this a million times, each time he jumped, now with the knowledge of what Joyce would have to go through cause he was gone, it all still hurt, and caused him to wake up screaming.
"Joyce!" He screamed.
He looked around the room, just so he could try and remind himself he wasn't there. He was home. The rational side of his brain knew he was fine, but his heart was still racing.
"Hopper." He only noticed that his screaming had woken up Joyce when he heard her voice.
He turned to see her and wasn't able to hold back his tears. He knew she was fine, but just to see her, sitting upright next to him...it just made everything feel...he didn't even know what.
"Hop, come here." Joyce pulled him into her arms at the sight of tears starting to roll down his cheeks.
Their bedroom, after that, was silent, with Joyce only repeating 'You're safe' anytime he started to sob more. With his head on Joyce's shoulder, he hadn't even heard the kids walk in, and didn't even know they were there. But then he felt four more arms, these much smaller, wrap around him, and the only way that could've happened was if the kids were hugging him, or Joyce grew more arms. He went with the more reasonable answer.
"Are you okay, Dad?" El asked. He pulled his head back up out of Joyce's hug, and look at his daughter. He was 100% sure he wasn't the only one who had nightmares. From the look on El's face, he could tell she'd had also been woken up from cruel dreams.
"Yeah, it was just a nightmare. I'm here, with all of you." That was both an assurance to him and everyone else. He was always better at comforting others than himself.
"Dad, are you okay?" Jonathan peaked his head into the room. "I heard a scream. Nightmare?"
They all nodded in unison.
The eldest sibling joined the hug and ruffled El's hair. "Had a feeling. You guys okay?"
"Yeah." It was Will's turn to respond. He hadn't been there when the Mind Flayer attacked the kids, so he had no idea what their nightmares looked like, or if they'd been even dreaming about that night. All of them, especially El and Will, had been through so much, just cause today was the fourth didn't mean that they were dreaming about it. There were millions of likewise frightening moments that could've crept into their minds while they slept
"Do you guys want breakfast?" Jonathan asked, and broke the silence. Jonathan seemed not to have had any nightmares, which would explain why he seemed to be trying to help them ignore them.
"Yeah, thanks, Jonathan." He spoke for everyone. Jonathan shot him a smile and stood up off the bed. Soon, the rest of the family filed out of the bedroom and downstairs. They split up then, he went into the kitchen to help Jonathan, and the rest sat down in the dining room. He knew this by the creaking of the wooden chairs and the chatter of his family.
"We have some leftover sausage patties from yesterday." He pulled out the wrapped meat and placed it on the counter. "We can probably reheat them."
"Yeah, and I already started on scrambled eggs." He glanced over and saw Jonathan mixing eggs in a plastic bowl.
He did his part to help Jonathan make breakfast by taking out a glass plate, placing enough patties on so each member of the family could have two, pressing the buttons on the microwave for 0:30, and starting it. Then, when the timer went off, he brought the food out and placed it down next to the stove, where Jonathan seemed to be already in the process of scrambling the eggs.
"Do you need any help?" He asked Jonathan over his shoulder, expecting a no since he seemed to be going fine.
"No, I'm okay," Jonathan said.
After a few seconds of silence, he left the kitchen and went into the dining room. There, he found Will and Joyce talking, but El wasn't saying a word. He sat down next to her to get a closer look and saw she was holding her stomach.
"Are you okay?" He wouldn't be surprised if El was feeling a little down today, but he wasn't expecting any physical pain today, just the usual emotional trauma.
"Yeah...my stomach kinda hurts." She spoke in what was practically a whisper.
He looked across to Joyce, who looked as worried as he was.
"Do you need anything?" He asked, an arm around El. She just shook her head. El always seemed to keep whatever was going through her brain that hurt secret until she couldn't handle it anymore. While that wasn't the best idea, it did remind him of himself, so he couldn't blame her.
A few minutes after Jonathan has brought them their food and they'd started eating, Joyce had another idea on how to figure out what was wrong. "Sweetie, can you show me where it hurts?"
El moved her hands to her lower stomach, which, at least for him, gave them nothing to work off of. By then, he was about to pull out the dictionary and try to find anything that might, might be the reason why El felt ill, but Joyce, being the genius that she was, already figured it out. "El, can you come with me?"
El seemed as confused as everyone else, but she followed Joyce into the bathroom. They all shrugged it off and continued eating, at least, until Joyce came back and motioned for him to follow her.
He swallowed the bit of sausage he had been chewing on, got up out of his chair, and followed her into her bedroom. She closed the door behind them, which made him suspicious of what was about to happen.
"Is everything okay?" He asked. "Where's El?"
"She's okay," Joyce assured. "She's in the bathroom."
Joyce turned back to the door to make sure it was still closed, and whispered to him, "She just got her period."
"Ah." He pretended to be calm, to not freak El out, but he was scared. He'd seen Joyce on her period, and it was scary. What would happen to a girl with superpowers? He felt like he should've seen this coming, but with everything that happened over the years, he never really had time to think about El going through normal teenager stuff, like puberty and getting her period.
"She's okay for now. I explained everything, so you wouldn't have to," Joyce added a smirk with that last part, "and gave her my pads to wear."
"Do you think she'll be okay? What's gonna happen with her powers?" He asked in the quiet tone they seemed to continue to use, in case the boys passed by.
"I don't know." Joyce sighed. "I think she'll be okay. She's gonna be with Mike all day, so if they just stay in the basement, they should be fine if anything happens."
Just as Joyce had finished up her little 'Everything's gonna be okay' monologue, a crash came from the bathroom a few feet away, the bathroom he assumed El was in.
They both immediately ran to the bathroom, and found El, looking guiltily at a bottle of shampoo that was now on the floor.
She turned her head to them, "Sorry-I don't know why that happened."
"Hey, it's okay." He kneeled to her level so he could assure her face to face. "Mom explained what's happening?"
"Yeah...does everyone get this?"
"Well, not everyone. Only girls." He explained.
"Why not boys?" While El asked another question he wasn't quite sure how he was gonna answer, he picked up the bottle of soap and put it back in its place.
"Kid, if I had paid attention during school, I'm sure I could answer that for you." Self-depreciation always seemed to get the kids to laugh. "Don't worry, they will teach you everything we don't know in health class. And when they do, please tell me cause I have no idea."
That wasn't entirely true (if it was, he could've never had kids), but keeping El distracted was his only motive at that moment.
El laughed, but only for a second, because the pain seemed to have come back, and it cut off her giggling by making her have to hold her stomach to try and get it to stop.
"Why does it hurt?" The look in El's eyes when she glanced back up at them was so depressing, he wanted to become a scientist just so he could find a cure for period pain.
"Once again, no idea. You can take some Advil once you've eaten a little, that should stop the pain a little."
"Okay."
And just like that, El, though back ever so slightly hunched over to stop the pain, started walking back to the kitchen, after washing her hands, of course.
For some reason, El kept her plans to go over to Mike's house, though he didn't like the idea. Joyce had a different idea, though. She started shoving pads into a spare purse she had.
"And if your stomach starts hurting again, just ask Mrs. Wheeler for some Advil. Remember, one pill." Joyce spoke faster than he could understand, but El seemed to be able to translate it and nod.
"And if anything happens, just call us, okay?" He added on, to both of them, but mainly to El. They both knew the drill by now, to such an extent that Will said, again, "We know, Dad."
"Okay, okay, just saying." He smiled and backed off.
As soon as Joyce finished fretting over El, the two teens left to start their walk to their boyfriends' houses. Finally, alone time.
"Oh, I just hope she'll be okay." Joyce started biting her nails, staring at the door.
"Hey." He pulled her hands away from her mouth and held them, rubbing his thumb against her. "She's smart. She'll be okay."
"I know, I know." Joyce let out a sigh and met his eyes. "So, what are we gonna do today, Hop?"
"I don't know, what do you wanna do?" He grinned
"Well, I still have those old movies we used to watch in high school." Joyce smiled back. "How does a little nostalgic trip sound like?"
"Sounds great, babe. I still have my grandma's hot chocolate recipe somewhere." For years, he and Joyce would spend their winter break together. She'd sneak over to his house anytime his parents were off at work or some conference, and they'd be normal, totally not rebel kids for once, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate, and maybe the occasional vodka or smoke. It was a time they weren't worried about grades or kids or anything. His grandma had come over to spend time with his family when he was 8 or 9, right before she had died, and left her recipe for them. His mom never made it for them, so he put it to use over the years, at first with Joyce, then Sarah, and eventually, El and Will.
"Isn't it summer?" Joyce tilted her head.
"You didn't seem to mind that in 10th grade." He teased.
He got an eye roll as a response and an "Oh, shut up."
Without having to say a word, they both split to get started, Joyce going for the movies, and him searching for the paper the hot chocolate recipe was written on. It had to be in the kitchen somewhere.

(Joyce's POV)

Aha! I knew I still had these. Joyce thought as she found the box labeled 'Old movies'. She started pulling them out but got stuck staring at each tape for at least a good ten minutes, thinking back to the good times, high school. Well, maybe not the best, with Lonnie and everything, but at least she and Hop got to hang out, stress-free.
She could hear Hopper pulling out cups, and a few minutes later, could smell the chocolate bars melting.
An idea popped into her head. She set down the VHS tapes she'd selected in the living room, and walked back into the kitchen. She found Hopper mixing chocolate and humming a little tune to himself. Perfect.
She tried to make her weight as little as possible so she could sneak up behind Hopper and placed her hands over her eyes.
"Guess who?" She giggled.
"Mmh, I wonder who it is..." Hopper pulled her hands down off his face and turned to face her. He only gave her a few seconds of a sly smirk before he grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her onto the counter next to the stove.
"Hop!" She laughed so loud it probably echoed through the house.
Hopper pressed his lips against her cheek. "This is why you don't sneak up on me."
"Why is this a bad thing?" She asked as she received more kisses, now a little lower down her neck. "This seems to be the perfect reason to sneak up on you."
"You're just lucky that I don't have a gun on me." He whispered and nipped at her ear.
"Jim!" She grinned. "You're so naughty."
"Oh yeah, I'm a bad boy," Hopper said in the most sarcastic tone she'd ever heard, with an added roll of his eyes.
She ran her fingers through Hopper's hair and tugged on the ends. "Yeah, a real bad boy."
Hop laid one last kiss on her lips, and pulled away, his hand remaining on top of hers. "I love you. Now can I get back to my hot chocolate? It's probably already melted or burned."
"Fine, fine. Party pooper." She slid herself off the counter and returned to the living room, where she sat reading the names of the movies over and over again since she wasn't quite sure what to do.
"Here darling." Her eleventh reading of all the movie names was cut short when Hop took a seat on the couch cushion next to her, and placed two cups of hot chocolate in front of them, on top of two coasters and still steaming hot. When she leaned over to take a look at the drinks, she saw marshmallows and chunks of chocolate bars in them.
She took the mug that she assumed was for her because it was sitting right in front of her, and slurped back a long sip. She couldn't help but smile as the chocolate mixed with hits of milk hit her tastebuds, and with the chunks added in with the marshmallows, it was all just so perfect.
"Mmh." She muttered. "This is so good, Hop. We haven't had this in forever."
Hop looked pleased "I'm always glad to make you smile."
He shifted his legs, and then asked her, "So, what are we watching first?"
"Well," She picked up two VHS tapes, "we could watch West Side Story or The Horror Of Party Beach."
"How about West Side Story first?" Hopper shrugged, sipping his hot cocoa. "Then we could watch The Parent Trap."
"Ooh, great idea babe." She kissed his cheek. Then she pulled away and spotted the hot chocolate smudge that seemed to be making a mustache. She wiped it away with her thumb, then licked it away.
"Wha-" Hopper started to ask
"You had chocolate on your face." She simply said, before getting up to put the VHS of West Side Story in.
"Oh crap, I did?" Hopper asked as she was ejecting the VHS of Back To The Future that had been put in there last night by the kids. "I didn't look stupid, did I?"
She laughed and stood up from the VCR. "Don't worry, you didn't. Do you know where the remote is?"
After a short rat race for the remote, Hopper pulled it out from behind the couch, along with a candy wrapper.
"How did it end up there?" She asked, "And why is there a Snickers wrapper behind the couch?"
Hoper shrugged and pressed a button that started the movie, then tossed the candy wrapped aside onto the coffee table.
"Hey, wait up! I still gotta sit down." She raced back to her seat and pulled a flower-patterned blanket off the floor. Leaning into Hopper's chest, she pulled the cover over her and Hopper.
They continued sipping on their hot chocolate throughout the movie.
Nearing the end of the movie, though, was when they hit their first bump in the road. Neither she nor Hopper had watched the movie in a long time, so they forgot about Tony dying in the end. So, to anyone else, it'd just look like they were crying over the death of Tony, but to anyone who at least knew that they had never cried because of the death of a fictional character, they'd know something was wrong.
They were both fully awake the other was crying but didn't speak about it until the movie was over and the credits were rolling when she finally paused it and looked over at him.
"Hop..." By then, her tears had dried up, but old memories continued to repeat in her head, like a broken record of trauma. "You're not gonna leave again, right?"
Hopper's face was red just like hers but was still actively crying. Her question just seemed to make him cry even more. She felt guilty for making him sadder but threw that thought away as soon as he brought her into a hug.
"No, Joycie. I'm never leaving ever again." She felt his lips press against her hair, causing her to start to try and mimic his breathing. In, and out. In, and out. In, and out. She had to keep from spiraling somehow.
With her breathing slowly starting to return to normal, she was able to speak again. "I love you, you know that?"
Hopper laughed as he wiped away one of the last remaining tears. "I know, I love you too. Wanna watch the next movie?"
"Yes, I hope it's happier than the last one." She joked.
"Well," Hopper spoke while taking the VHS tape of West Side Story out, "it's about a sea monster, so I don't think it's gonna be exactly a happy-go-lucky movie."
She laughed. "Just start the movie, dingus."
After about three people had already gotten eaten in the first half of the movie, she started to get antsy. She shifted her legs several times and started picking at her nails before Hopper noticed and asked "You good, Joycie?"
"Yeah, just a little antsy." She tried to brush it off.
"Do you wanna take a walk? Get lunch?" Hopper suggested
"Yeah," She patted her legs before standing up, "just as we go nowhere near the mall. That place is crazy busy, especially during the summer."
They both knew inside that the mall being busy wasn't the true reason why she didn't want to go even within 5 feet of the mall, but since Hopper agreed with her, and had similar memories, he didn't mention it. "Sounds good. We can put on clothes then go."

(Hopper's POV)

Both he and Joyce started walking towards the bedroom at the same time, and with that came them accidentally bumping into each other as they both tried to walk into the door at the same time.
"Oh, you can go-"
"No, you can-"
"Oh, no, it's fine, you can-"
"Hop, no, you-"
"Joyce, I can just change out here-"
"How about we just do this." Joyce took his hand, and, with probably an unnecessary amount of dramatic flair to it, spun him so he was standing sideways and just pulled him into the room.
"That was... unnecessarily dramatic." He noted. Joyce wasn't facing him though, instead had turned and opened the closet.
Joyce shrugged. "It was fun. Here."
Joyce tossed him a pair of jeans and a button-up T-shirt with the words 'World's best dad' written across the chest, a gift from El for Father's Day.
He pulled on the clothes, then had to readjust his socks before he took a look back up at Joyce. She was wearing what seemed to be one of his flannel shirts and a pair of baggy sweatpants. He would have never worn sweatpants anywhere outside of his house, in fear of being mocked, but Joyce just didn't care. It was one of the many pieces of her that he loved.
He didn't give her any context for why he suddenly stood and kissed her on the cheek, and when she gave him a quizzical look, he just said, "I'll go start the car."
She giggled. "Okay, Romeo."
He ignored the nickname (didn't Romeo die in the end?), and, after grabbing his usual brown walking shoes and lacing them up, walked out of the house and into the outside. The weather was exactly what you'd expect from July: still occasionally cool, but with the heat that'd arrive in August threatening to hit. It was a pleasant day, at least according to the weather, but definitely not according to him or Joyce or really anyone who knew what happened last year. He suspected that there'd be fireworks later in the evening since it was the town's tradition and this year they didn't have a crazed mayor running the town who wanted there to be a carnival with murderers (thank god he didn't win another election or he might've killed Larry himself).
He, once more pushing all thoughts of last year out of his head, double-checked that he had grabbed his car keys, and when he found them in his pant pocket, pulled them out and unlocked the car. Joyce would be ready soon, but he still had a few minutes so he could get the AC working just in time for her to get in.
And, as if on cue, the door to his right opened and Joyce got in, slamming the door behind her.
"Oh thank god you got the AC already on, I was worried it'd feel like we were sitting on the sun in here." Joyce joked, and asked, "So, where to, mister?"
"Well, I do know a nice sandwich place around here." He said
"Well, then, sandwiches it is!" Joyce said those completely normal words as if they were excited as if going into town was an adventure. They'd just have to remember not to go near Melvands; Joyce had told her boss she was sick. Flo didn't ask why he was taking the day off. She knew, sort of, what happened last year, with him disappearing and then coming back, and he was sure she assumed they were just spending the day together.
They discreetly drove the long way around Melvands, which was hard since all the shops in this town were either in the mall or the center of town, but somehow, they maneuvered the car to stay as far away from their workplaces, or 'where they were supposed to be', and somehow made it to the sandwich shop when it was still at least daylight.
The shop was small and quaint, one of the very few stores that hadn't been shut down thanks to Starcourt since it was a family business and the store just was so nostalgic that people kept coming to it; it was something a restaurant with flashy lights and bright pop music couldn't replicate, with family recipes no one else could get right. Hell, he and Joyce had even been going to it back in high school when Marley, the owner of the restaurant, was just a kid and his parents were running the place. Now, Marley and his wife were running the place, making sandwiches just like his parents and grandparents.
He parked at the side of the curb, and with a turn of the keys, the car went to sleep.
"Oh wait," Joyce spoke as they jumped out and took each other's hands, "let me guess...you're gonna have a BLT, light on the lettuce-"
"-And you're gonna have a roast beef sandwich." He finished her sentence, grinning. "Same as high school."
"Oh, you're so predictable, Jim." Joyce stepped up onto the sideway as she spoke, their arms swinging
"What? Just because I order the same thing every time? You do the same thing!" He exclaimed and caused Joyce to break into laughter
"Dork."
"I'm gonna ignore the fact that you didn't even respond." He, though the two of them continued to once again bicker like an old married couple, opened the door for Joyce. What? He wasn't not going to be a gentleman.
"Fine, fine, just go get our order while I grab a table." With a large number of people coming pouring into the shop already, they both knew that it was gonna get worse and that they couldn't just wait to get their food then grab a table; all the available seats would be gone by then. So, they had to split up. Joyce left to grab a spot while he got in line, going over their order again and again so that he would have it memorized by the time he got to the front of the line and he wouldn't forget or mess something up.
Once he had successfully ordered their sandwiches and had bought a bottle of water for the two of them, he had to scan the room to find Joyce. There was a surprising amount of brown-haired, brown-eyed women in that room, but of course, Joyce stood out from the crown, like a beautiful star shining bright. Oh god, did he just think that? He'd fallen for her by now, hadn't he?
"Hey." He slid into the chair opposite of her and placed the clear bottle of water down on the small, rounded wood table. "They said our food should be ready soon."
"I hope it's still as good as before." Joyce reminisced
"Come on, you know it's always gonna be good." He assured her, and offered the now open water bottle, opened thanks to him. "Want some?"
"Oh yes, I'm thirsty." She grabbed the water out of his hands and started chugging.
"Hey, you know that's for me too, right?" He added
Joyce swallowed the water. "Too late."
"Ha, ha, very funny Byers." He rolled his eyes. "Give me the bottle."
"I'll give it back to you...when the food's ready." Joyce clapped back, and just continued to drink out of the bottle.
"Please, it's July and a million degrees." He was prepared to beg on his knees but remembered that even Joyce had her weaknesses. "I'll give you a kiss."
Joyce pouted "Fine, but only because you're cute."
He grinned as he watched Joyce slide the bottle across the table over to him. "Gotcha."
Joyce just rolled her eyes back. "Yeah, yeah, I'm a sucker for you. Just drink it."
He did so, and quite happily, I might add. A few minutes later, their two sandwiches were ready, and everything seemed to be going normal until a 70-something-year-old lady walked in, wearing a purple floral shirt and a matching skirt. If you haven't guessed by now, it was Flo. All of a sudden, the bread holding their sandwiches together seemed to be very interesting.
"This has a nice-um-what is it called? Crumb structure?"
He snickered at Joyce's attempt to try and make it seem like they were having a normal conversation. Of course, him laughing was the thing that drew Flo to them, so...
"Well, well. Hi Chief." Flo took the table next to theirs but leaned over so it was almost as if she was sitting with them.
"H-Hi Flo. Listen, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation-"
Flo waved it off, literally. "Oh please. Do you think I bought the whole 'I'm sick' act? I haven't seen you sick in over half a decade, and half of that time you were constantly hungover!"
He could feel Joyce's eyes on him, trying not to giggle about the last part. Now he wished Flo wasn't talking so loudly.
"Keep it down." He muttered, blushing out of embarrassment.
"Everyone else just thought you wanted to just spend time with Joyce," Flo continued without acknowledging what he had just said, "but I knew better."
He, and probably Joyce, knew that she was talking about his disappearance last year, and while she didn't know the cause of said disappearance, it'd be crazy if none of them even had a little PTSD from that stupid Fourth of July.
"Anyway, I'll let you two lovebirds be. Happy Fourth of July!" Flo got up and walked to the register. They both watched as the aged woman grabbed her food and left.
"Yeah right, 'happy' Fourth of July." He could hear Joyce talking to herself under her breath.
He grinned. "Come on, let's just eat."
They finished up their sandwiches, and after tossing what was left of their trash into the garbage can, they decided that, since they were already there and since they probably shouldn't spend all day inside, to take a short walk around the town. They put the water bottle in the car, which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since it would make the water warm, then took each other's hand and just started walking with no plan on where they were going besides just not near Melvands.
"Huh." Said Joyce as they walked behind the arcade, the road silent beside them and a few cars, even with houses lining the street. "This is kinda peaceful when you think about it. The whole town, I mean."
Her sentence made him stop and think. Was Hawkins peaceful? It was hard to think of the simple town as peaceful after what had happened over the years, but, at face value, he could see why someone would see that. A small town with a lively center and a 'great' community (he was putting great in-air quotes mainly because of mayor you know who). He could see why someone would enjoy that and would enjoy living there with their family. Oh, but if they only knew about what was going on under that layer of late 1960s nostalgia.
El had mentioned some names while she was talking about her history class. Gilded, wasn't it? Why she mentioned the word didn't come to mind, but he remembered her mentioning it meant a layer of gold hiding a dark reality, or something like that. Probably had to do with America's shitty economic ways of one of the Great Depressions. The reason why he remembered that name was because he had laughed to himself and thought about how on the nose that was for Hawkins, but it was. A tranquil town full of ignorant people was but a cover-up for what happened behind the scenes. Monsters and dangerous criminals were hidden by the fancy mall and suburban houses, with pleasant families living in them. It was Indiana for Christ's sake; no would think to check here for anything. No, they'd go to New York or California or a big state on the map, maybe even other continents, to look for extraterrestrial life. Not freaking Indiana. He had to give it to them, Indiana was a perfect place to test on kids and give them superpowers. It was like they had opened a portal to other dimensions in Oregon: no one would even think to check there for anything cool.
"I guess I can see it. Kinda hard to, though." He finally spoke.
"Yeah, I'll give you that. But anyone who's clueless about that stuff would love it here." Joyce, without even knowing it, repeated what he had just said in his brain.
"Yeah. Or when we were kids." He added on
Joyce chuckled, "I don't think back then we were stopping to smell the roses."
"I'll give you that," He grinned alongside her, "We defiantly weren't."
They shared that glace for a few seconds, then he looked off to the distance at the hills. But, he didn't get to feel happy for that long. No, no, no, Jimmy, was what he felt the world or God or whatever was up there was saying to him, you get to be happy, but I'm gonna give your girlfriend a panic attack! There!
"Joyce?!" His arm was around her the second he realized Joyce's breathing had picked up the pace. "Are you okay?!"
"Heh. Yeah, I'm fine." With the light shining off of them, he was able to spot a good few tears in her eyes, but they have blinked away in a matter of seconds. "Yeah...just-it's been a while, since then, huh?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, it has."
"Just think of all the shit that's happened since then...wow." It seemed to just have come to Joyce's attention that the previously mentioned tears had survived and started to roll down her cheeks, causing her to wipe them away with one movement of her sleeve. "Jesus why am I crying....?"
His instincts told him to take her hand in his and kiss her to make her feel better. And, as he did in most situations, he followed his instincts. Usually, that'd have a fifty/fifty chance of working, but Joyce seemed to be immediately smiling as soon as his lips met hers.
"It's okay." He pulled away to speak and rubbed her thumb with his in a circular motion. "Do you wanna go back home? We can watch more movies."
"But it's sooooo far away!" Joyce wined, playing the 'damsel in distress' act to get him to feel bad. He knew this, and yet he couldn't keep himself from giving in. Hell, Joyce could tell him to jump into a volcano and he'd do it.
He sighed nonetheless. "I know what you're doing, but fine."
With both arms, he swooped her up bridal style and laid a kiss on her cheek before starting on their way back. He had lost the ability to care about what other people thought about him a long time ago, so he didn't care about the people whispering about them or rolling their eyes at his gesture. He loved any opportunity he had to be romantic towards Joyce, and Joyce loved it just the same.
The drive back home was quiet, but right at the moment, he was about to park, something caught the attention of both him and Joyce. Sorry, correction, someone. The mailman put three letters into their mailbox. This usually wouldn't be important; it was almost always just junk mail or bills or something either unimportant or something that'd cause a migraine. But one of the papers neither of them could identify. One was the local newspaper, and the other was an ad for a new restaurant opening in the town right next to them, but the one they couldn't figure out had a thick, rich envelope, colored pure white and royal blue, like velvet. It was defiantly important, but they never got a mail from anyone especially important.
"Oh my god!" Joyce, smaller and the only one that was able to just out of the car cause he was still parking, screamed when she opened the mailbox and looked at the envelope. Okay, maybe not screamed, but it did startle him enough to run over to her.
"What? What's wrong?"
"No, no, it's good! It's a letter from NYU, for Jonathan!" Joyce shoved the still closed envelope into his hands, and they're clearly printed onto the front was the college's logo.
"Should we open it?"
"No, we gotta wait for Jonathan." Joyce insisted. That might've been the better thing to do at that moment, but he was still impatient.
"Fine. Let's just go inside then." He spoke with a purposefully sad tone, trying and succeeding at getting Joyce to laugh.
He didn't enjoy waiting those long hours afterward, and the second he heard a car outside stop, presumably Jonathan's car, he was already up off the couch.
"Hop..." Joyce giggled. "You dork."
"What? Can't I be excited? Ooh, ooh, here they come!" He pointed at the door, which opened seconds later
"Hi, Dad! What'cha-" El started to ask him.
"Where's Jonathan?" He asked frantically, before he realized Jonathan had walked in. "You have a letter! From NYU!"
"Oh god, give it to me." Jonathan's face shifted, but not in the way he expected. He thought Jonathan was gonna be excited, but instead of having a big grin on his face and grabbing the letter as quick as a bullet, Jonathan's hands shook as he went and took the paper from his hands.
"What's wrong?" His hand went to his son in comfort.
"What if they say no? What am I gonna do?" Jonathan rubbed the crease of the paper with his thumb anxiously.
"Hey, there's no way in hell they will." He squeezed his shoulder lovingly "Do you want me to open it?"
"Yes, please." Jonathan shoved the note back into his hand. He hated the thought, but he swore that Jonathan might have a tear in his eyes.
He glanced back towards Joyce, who looked as nervous as Jonathan. It was like it was genetic.
He looked back towards the letter, and split the flap away from the paper with the tip of his thumb, and brought the letter out.
The single piece of paper was hefty, less than earlier when it was enclosed, but the feeling that it was similar to receiving a letter from royalty stayed. The cost of the sheet most likely could've bought a week of groceries, or even more. The gold surrounding the edges glimmered when the light hit them, and he had to peal his eyes away from the lines to read what the letter said.
"'Dear Jonathan Byers, we are pleased to inform you..." His voice went up at the word pleased. "...that you have been accepted into NYU under a need-based scholarship!"
He had never been more grateful to be...let's just say not the best financially. To be fair to the faculty at NYU, they also mentioned how he was chosen not just because of how little his family had, but because of his good grades and hobbies that came along with it. But no one was thinking that, not at that moment. Both parents and siblings of Jonathan were more focused on congratulating him, and trying to stop the tears from pouring down his face. The tears couldn't stop, though, and they hadn't even faded away by dinner time.
"I can't believe it! Me, of all people! And Nancy's gonna be there too!" Jonathan's rambling continued on between bites of casserole.
Joyce grinned. "You should believe you. You deserve this, sweetie. You worked so hard-" Joyce reached over the table to fluff her eldest son's hair. "-and I am so proud of you."
"Thanks mom." Jonathan smiled.

(Joyce's POV)

She couldn't stop smiling. Seeing her son so happy and getting what he wants made her so happy. Hopper, of course, had the same dorky grin on her face, the same grin she assumed she also had plastered across her face, but she didn't care.
With everyone's stomachs now full from dinner, the kids found their way back to the living room and claimed the TV for themselves. Even from where she was standing in the kitchen, she could hear the Galiga startup music.
"Joycie," Hopper said, coming towards her from the side and placing his hand on her shoulder, "I'll take care of the dishes. You go make sure that the kids don't go crazy with power."
Giggling, she placed suds onto his nose. "Okay, Hoppy."
'Hoppy' rolled his eyes at her nickname. "Go, before I tell the kids what you just called me."
"Don't worry, we can hear you. No need to do that, Hoppy." El was somehow able to still tease them while being in a completely different room.
"'Oh Hoppy! Oh Hoppy!'" Will moaned, voice high pitched to make it sound like her voice, I guess...?
She just sighed and flopped on the couch. "You guys can pick the movie if you stop doing that."
"Yay!" Ah yes, the art of manipulation. Sort of.
El and Will soon finished their game, El wiping the floor with her brother, and started playing Ghostbusters on the TV. Jonathan didn't seem to mind. In fact, based on the glossed over look in his eyes, he was most likely not paying attention to anything happening in the world surrounding him. His mind was currently off in some sort of daydream land in New York, studying or going on a date with Nancy. The only thing that surprised her was that the second it was revealed he got into NYU, Jonathan didn't immediately call Nancy, instead putting it off till tomorrow. He seemed to be using self-control, something that if she was in his shoes, she'd have none of. They were good for each other; everyone knew that. Nancy and Jonathan were like a younger version of her and Hopper; and that can be both a good thing, and a curse. There was no war going on to pull them apart, and as long as Steve, their friend and Nancy's ex, didn't do a one eighty and suddenly become Lonnie levels of evil, the only thing that could tear them away from each other and slowly degrade them from the lovey-doves couple they are now was time. Despite everything they'd been through, they were still just teenagers. Teenagers, even if they're smart, do stupid things. It's just in their nature. She did stupid things, Hopper did stupid things, probably everyone did stupid things when they were younger. And once you're out there in the world, everything changes, and sometimes old relationships just can't take that change. She hoped that wasn't the case.
On a different note, Hopper spent most of the night on the phone. With who, she had no idea. Based on his tone and way of speaking, it was indefinitely someone from work. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had left and had to go deal with a case. But no, nothing, but he did seem to make a point of keeping her from hearing whatever he was saying, going silent anytime she passed by him, so what could be happening? Maybe it was just a break in the conversation, or he was talking about her. Oh, please don't let it be the latter. And if it is, please make it positive. He wouldn't be bad-mouthing her, right? Right?
"Hey Hop," She asked while climbing under the covers, "who were you talking to on the phone?"
"Oh! Flo." Hopper said, pulling up his flannel sleep pants. "She was telling me that one of the detectives got moved to another town."
"Oh, really?" She shifted onto her side so she could look him in the eyes. Was he about to suggest what she was thinking? Oh, she was really hoping so. She knew she wasn't exactly qualified, but she had graduated high school at least, and she knew how to shoot a gun. Based on what Hopper told her, she was smarter than his co-workers, so she had that on her side, right?
"Yeah, she asked if I knew anyone that was good for the job." He finished snuggling into his place in the bed, and smiled towards her. "I recommended you."
"Hop, really?" She pretended to not be screaming with joy on the inside. She had to remain calm, in case she didn't get chosen. "Do you think I have enough experience? And don't you have to go through some training?"
"Yes, but I can teach you anything you don't know already!" He moved his hands to her hair, combing through her hair, which continued to be wet from her shower, "And trust me Joycie, you are much smarter than the idiots I work with."
"Jim." She scolded. Not really, but she at least pretended to.
"Oh come on! You know it's true." He pulled her closer, her head now laying against his chest.
"Fine; but do you really think..."
She had a few million options for what she could finish that sentence with. Would people actually respect her since she's a woman, what if she screwed up, what if one of them got killed (that was more of a constant worry, but now it was being brought all the way to the front of her brain instead of the back of her thoughts), what if...well, you get the point by now. But Hopper cut her sentence off by pressing his lips against hers. The pit in her stomach transformed into butterflies, and she smiled.
"Nothing bad will happen Joyce, I promise." He rubbed her side. "Now, sleep. You're gonna need it for the days coming."
She wasn't sure what to feel about that statement, it it was a warning or a promise, but nevertheless, she flipped the switch on her lamp off, and the room turned almost dark, the only light being what was coming from the hallway.
She let her head fall onto Hopper's chest, where it seemed to always go no matter what, and closed her eyes. Sleep didn't come to her immediately, no part of her anxiety would allow such happy ending to a day to occur, but the thoughts, tonight at least, could be easily pushed away and replaced with something better. She ended her day at the thought of Hopper and herself fighting criminals side-by-side, drifting off into sleep at that happy fantasy.

(A/N): So....it's been three months. I apologize for not updating sooner. School's been really busy, and I've been spending most of my time rehearsing for the musical that's going to take place at my school (the Addams Family musical, hence the song). Hopefully I'll be able to update more, and I hope that all of you have been having a good three months. Bye!

-scoopstroop2020