𝐽𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

☕︎𝑇𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟❀

Hopper was sleeping peacefully on his side at about 2 in the morning, but the shaking beside him woke him up. He rubbed at his eyes, listening for Joyce. She was sniffling and her breathing was unsteady. He cursed, fumbling for the lamp to turn on. He knew it will startle her, but he had to get her out of it, so he tapped her shoulder. His heart was pounding in his chest. He'd only ever seen her having a horrible nightmare a couple times.
"Joyce? Babe, it's me, Hop. I need you to get up." He said, mouth close enough to her ear for her to hear. She quickly sat up, burying her face in her hands as she began to sob. "Joy? Honey, it was just a nightmare. You're okay. Can I give you a hug?" She nodded, gasping. Hopper scoot up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, his head on hers. She was still hysterical. "Shhhhhh, you're okay. I promise. I got you. You're safe." He whispered gently, rubbing her arms. Her sobs stopped until it was just tears streaming down her face and the occasional sniffle. Hopper moved his face down by hers, pressing his lips to her cheek while he mumbled, "you wanna tell me about it?" She shook her head in response. "That's okay, you don't have to. Maybe later." He brushed hair from her face, kissing the top of her head. Joyce scoot her body closer to hoppers, her grip tighter. "Do you need anything, Joy? Want me to get you some water or something?"

"No, it's okay... Just stay with me." She sighed against him. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, Jim rubbing Joyce's back and placing the occasional kiss on her head. "Hop...?" Joyce asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" He asked back, stroking her hair.

"It was one about... Lonnie. It felt like I was back there. Stuck with... him. I screamed for help, but no one came," Joyce sniffled. "And it just didn't stop. Until you woke me up." She sighed, wiping at her tears.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry." Jim had a deep frown displayed on his face. Which turned into pure confusion when Joyce smiled wide and let out a huge sigh, almost like a laugh. "What?"

"I'm just SO relieved. That I'm not trapped with him anymore. That I have YOU." Joyce's eyes glossed over. "I. Have. YOU. The strongest yet sweetest man on the face of this planet. The most loving and caring person I know. And you chose ME. I get to have YOU instead of HIM. I'm free. Free and happy. Thank you. Thank you so much. I love you." Hopper smiled at her small speech.

"I love you too. I should be thanking YOU. Not the other way around." His smile faded slightly. "You're not the only one who's been traumatized. Over and over again. I'm not as strong as you think. I almost gave up in there. And I mean I got CLOSE, almost no hope at all. And I saw YOU up there. You came for me. I hated myself for sending for you. But you fought your way to me. And now we're home. Together. Alive. So thank you." He chuckled a bit. "Don't thank ME. Thank yourself."

"That's not true. It took two, Hop. We both put a h3ll  of a lot of work into us."

"So we're just like... broken and traumatized... together?"

"Exactly." They both let out a small chuckle, huddled together, although neither were physically cold.