somewhere only we know

she'll wake you to make love in the middle of the night

Joyce resists the urge to wake up when he does, giving him the option to wake her up if he needs her. She already knew he had stirred awake from a nightmare, having been all too familiar with the movements in bed when he had a bad dream. He would usually toss and turn a couple of times, paired with some groans of discomfort before he finally shot up, alert as the sun once was in the now gloomy town. She used to immediately wake up so that she could give him her full, undivided attention, but Hopper had expressed to her how burdensome he felt when she'd be woken up from a blissful sleep. Now, he's healed enough for her to let him reach out if he feels he can't shoulder the trauma alone. She had told him, time and time again, that it was always okay to ask her to help carry the pain. Truthfully, unless he was at ease, there were very few days a week, maybe a month, where she got a whole night's rest. She knew the road to recovery for the both of them would be an agonizing, enlightening, and lengthy journey, but she would ride this current for the rest of her life if it meant he was safe in her arms.

This day hadn't exactly been a dream come true.

Joyce couldn't remember the last time they fooled around since the Upside Down further opened itself and spread like wildfire into their small town. The monsters were closing in on them, and they knew that any day now, the cabin they put so much love into could be in shambles. It gave them a harsh reality check, even if it wasn't an order that the town is evacuated immediately, so they didn't hesitate to begin searching through the housing ads in the paper. It wasn't ideal, but nothing in their lives had ever been even close to ideal. After a few days with nothing very remarkable and lots of bickering with each other, the both of them felt like they were at an impasse - a complete standstill in where they would go from here. Despite his previous disdain for leaving Indiana, she and Hopper ultimately decided it would be best to partner with a real estate agent for options out of state. It was the safest, quickest option to get their children and themselves away from the danger zone Hawkins was becoming.

Though most of her memories in her hometown were the furthest thing from happy, the good ones that she did have all involved her boys... including Hopper. Leaving Hawkins behind had already once cut a deep wound inside her, and now, she felt that same wound opening back up, knowing she'd also be leaving behind the physical remnants of their entire history. There were the bleachers of their high school where they'd sneak off during their lunch breaks to taste each other's lips, teeth, and tongues clashing with the cigarette smoke that lingered in both their mouths. Sattler Quarry was another popular spot for their little rendezvous and pot-smoking affairs, especially once Hopper had finally earned his driver's license and bought a car. The cliff was always abandoned at night, and the sound of the rushing water and the bright view of the moon had always set the perfect tone for more intimate acts, even if those acts we're still performed in the uncomfortable seats of a vehicle. There was a time when they were ballsy enough, or just too belligerently high to care, where they had stripped out of their suffocating clothing to opt for a skinny-dipping experience. The height had petrified her, and her lover was just a colossal idiot that convinced her this was a good idea.

Any promise of getting him naked was worth suffering through her acrophobia... sometimes.

The brunette waited and waited and waited for Hopper to ask for her, but instead, she felt his sinking weight leave the bed, the mattress slowly rising back up as he padded out of the bedroom. The old wooden floors squealed silently with every step he took, because despite his best attempts to be invisible at times, he was a difficult man to miss. She kept her eyes closed but focused in on everything she was hearing around her, listening as her boyfriend opened a door that she assumed was to the bathroom. Maybe she was feeling a little needy compared to usual, because she was almost offended that he hadn't woken her up. The next sound she heard was the creaky turning of the faucet, and then there was a pounding stream of water against the tile. She opened her eyes to the blank, wooden ceiling above her, the fan slowly spinning and pushing a comfortable gust of cool air around the room. Joyce turned on her side towards the door he'd left cracked open, which led to the bathroom, greeted and surrounded by the maple-pine colored wooden walls that lined the entirety of the room. The warmth of their room brought peace, and serenity... she felt zen when she didn't know that she could ever be capable of such a sensation. She hadn't felt a moment of tranquility in her entire life. Nothing about her or what happened around her family was calm and easy-going, and it never once had been... not until this very sliver of a moment.