𝐽𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

Heart to Heart

It had been a fun Friday night, the 5 had played games and then watched a movie, they had family night every Friday. Hopper and Joyce were in bed, Hopper practically knocked out, but Joyce was still awake. She sat up when she heard the door creak open. "Mom?" A shaky, feminine voice called out softly.

"El?" The brunette woman replied. "What are you doing up?" She started getting out of bed, making sure Hopper was still sleeping.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked, sniffling.

"Yeah, of course, let's go downstairs." Joyce met up to Jane and rubbed her back, closed the bedroom door, and made her way downstairs to the living room. They both sat on the couch, opposite sides, facing each other. "Whats wrong?"

"I... I really miss Max." Jane fiddled with her thumbs and sniffled. "I really miss her. I want her back."

"Oh... honey, I guarantee she misses you a lot too. She's still with you."

"What do you mean? Where?" El sat up quickly and looked around, for a physical sign of Max.

"You can't see her, sweetheart. But she's right here," Joyce pointed to Jane's heart. "She's with you. Her memory lives on through YOU. And she's watching over you. She remembers and cherishes all the good times the two of you shared. She's proud of you for coming to me when you needed to talk, because she wants you to take care of yourself." As Joyce spoke, Eleven's eyes got glossier and glossier until a sob broke lose from her throat and she grabbed onto her mother, fingers gripping her shirt while she sobbed. Joyce rubbed her back, frowning. She kissed her hair, gently rocking the girl back and forth.

"I'm tired." Jane mumbled.

"Did you want to go back to bed?"

"No." She responded quickly. She didn't want to BE alone in this moment because it made her FEEL alone. And Joyce understood that.

"What if you slept in the bed with me and your dad? We can make a sandwich." Joyce smiled a bit at Jane who smiled back and nodded. Hand in hand, the two climbed the stairs. They opened the door quietly, and Joyce shut the door behind her while Eleven climbed into bed beside Hopper. Joyce then joined, on the other side of Eleven. Hopper rolled over and ended up facing the two. He opened his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. Holding out an arm, he felt a slightly buzzed head.

"El?"

"Goodnight, Dad." Hopper sat up a bit.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh huh."

"Where's Your Mom?"

"Shes next to me." Eleven answered. Jim yawned, reaching out for Jane, who snuggled into his side. She also reached for Joyce to come by her as well, and she gladly accepted.  Soon enough, all 3 of them were sound asleep. But for Joyce, that only lasted so long. It may have been a Saturday morning, but she still woke up at the time she would for work. She only got maybe 4 hours of sleep. She stared up at the ceiling, doing nothing but breathing, blinking, and thinking. She didn't even notice that Jim woke up.

"Baby?" He whispered, and when she turned to him, he was looking at her.

"Hey." She replied.

"You okay?"

"Mhm."

"What happened last night?" He sat up.

"El wanted to talk. She really misses Max, shes grieving, the poor girl. It comes and goes in waves and I guess it just hit her pretty hard. We had a heart to heart, and she slept here." Joyce frowned, sitting up too, tugging the blanket higher up on her daughter who was tucked between her and her lover. She hated grieving herself, and she hated it even more for the teenage girl.

"Wanna go downstairs so we can talk and stuff?" Joyce nodded and gently tapped Jane who blinked her eyes open.

"We're going downstairs, okay?" Eleven nodded and went straight back to bed. Joyce and Hopper made their way downstairs.

"Joy?"

"Hm?" Joyce hummed back, taking out two coffee cups from the cupboard.

"Whats wrong? Not with El, I know that, but YOU?"

"I'm not the one who was trapped in a prison for 8 months! Stop asking me what's wrong, I'm fine!"

"Well, while I was there, you were grieving, and I guarantee you had that last moment replaying over and over again in that pretty little head of yours. We're supposed to support each other. Pick each other up when were down. So let me help you." He explained while she poured two cups of coffee.

"Exactly. I can't do that again. I can't watch you die again. And sometimes, when I'm asleep, my mind loves to taunt me with that- with you... actually dying this time. So sometimes I can't sleep, so I'm sorry for being cranky with you." She replied, pouring cream into her cup and setting it on the fable for his use.

"You don't have to be sorry. I didn't know you weren't sleeping. If you have these, let me know after, like I do with you, and we'll get through it."

"Speaking of which, did you have any nightmares last night?" She asked, sipping from her coffee cup.

"No, if I did then I don't remember." He poured cream into his own cup and put the container back in the fridge. As soon as she set her cup back down he tucked his thumb under her chin and leaned down a bit. She smiled and he placed his lips to hers, smile against smile. They separated for a hug, both his arms around her torso, hers around his waist. He rested his chin on her head.

"I love you, Hop." Joyce mumbled,

"I love you too." Jim responded, pressing a small kiss to her head.