Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

The Sound of Goodbye

"The Sound of Goodbye"

We can talk of the weather

We can talk of the news

We can talk of the talk of the town

- Crystal Gayle

Joyce pulled up at the Wheelers', thinking of how many times over the years that the boys had been friends she had driven to this house ... and now maybe she'd only drive here a few more. Strange that both of her sons had found people they loved in this house, and that now it was the Byers boys, the ones the town had given up on before they were born, the ones no one in Hawkins had ever expected to have a future, who would be leaving the Wheelers behind in Hawkins and setting out on a new adventure.

It was probably petty of Joyce to feel like she was winning, and in all fairness, Karen Wheeler had never intentionally made her feel out-of-place or inadequate—but for all that, Joyce couldn't help feeling a bit of pride that she was the one getting out of Hawkins. She didn't know yet what she would do in California, but that was beside the point. She was going to get there, thanks to Hopper and thanks to Owens and thanks to the people who were buying her house. Developers, she thought. When she came back, her property might well be a subdivision. That bothered her a little ... but not enough to stay here.

She rang the doorbell and was greeted by Karen Wheeler's stiff smile. "Joyce! Is it time for Will and ... Jane to go already?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I think they're not quite done down there, judging from the noise. You want to step in for a cup of coffee?"

"Sure. Thanks." Joyce followed Karen inside, hearing the groans and shouts of someone rolling either well or badly in the basement. It was sometimes hard to tell the difference. "They sound like they're having a good time."

"They do." Karen reached cups down from the cupboard and filled them with coffee. "Mike—it's like he's back to being himself again, these past six months. No more fighting, his grades have gone up ..." She placed the cups on the table and sat down across from Joyce. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

"I worry that once you've gone, he'll go back to ... that." There were lines in Karen's face that hadn't been there before. Joyce tended to forget what the Wheelers had gone through with Mike when he thought El was dead, but she could see it all in Karen's face.

"I wouldn't worry. Mike's grown up a lot. And we're always on the other end of the phone, he knows that. So does Nancy."

Karen smiled. "I think they're a little jealous of your boys for going so far away on an adventure. What made you decide on California?"

"We didn't want to shovel anymore. Sun, sand, surf ... everything that Hawkins isn't."

"That does sound nice."

"What about you, Karen? Do you ever want to get out of Hawkins?"

A strange, almost guilty look crossed Karen's face. "I did, for a while. I almost— I really did. But now ... I'm happy here. This is where I want to be."

"I'm glad."

"Joyce, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Joyce hoped it was one she could answer. She didn't think she could tell any secrets to Karen without the kids' okay.

"I hope this isn't ... indelicate, but—I thought Jim Hopper's daughter had died of cancer, years ago, before he came home. And now this girl—"

She hesitated, and Joyce could see what she was thinking. Had Hop kept Eleven locked up in his grandfather's hunting cabin all those years? Given how he had acted when he first came to town, most of Hawkins was likely to believe he was capable of anything. This, at least, she could clear up.

"She did," Joyce confirmed. "It broke him up; that was why he came back to Hawkins. Jane was ... an orphan he found in the course of an ... investigation, and he took her in."

"And the kids knew about this?"

This was getting into territory Joyce wasn't so sure she should expand on. She turned her head sharply in the direction of the basement. "Oh, are they ready to go? Sounds like they might be." She lifted the coffee cup. "Thanks for the coffee, Karen."

"Oh. Yes, my pleasure," Karen said, standing up as Joyce did. "Good luck, Joyce."

"Thanks."