𝐽𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑙

1/1 parts, this is the complete proposal!

Jim sat in his seat at Enzo's. He thought he was going to melt; he was sweating so much. He pulled the long sleeve of his dress shirt up just enough to check the time on his watch. 7:27. Joyce would be here any minute. Hopper swallowed the feeling of a sudden nausea. He took a disposable napkin and wiped his forehead, taking a shaky breath. Then. There she was. Walking through the double doors. He watched as she spoke to the person at the front, who then pointed to him and his table with her pen in hand. Joyce smiled and said what he assumed was a thank you before she made her way over to him. She gave him an even bigger smile than the lady at the front, and his heart fluttered. "This is a nice surprise." Was the first thing she said to him, pecking his lips before she sat down. She didn't want to ignore him in that way, but she also didn't want to get scolded for PDA in a restaurant by anyone.

"Of course." Hopper winced at that, wondering why he would say that.

"Whats wrong? You look sick, babe. Do you need a doctor?" She reached across the table and gently placed her hand over his that was resting there. Hopper chuckled nervously.

"No, no, I'm fine, Joy. It's just hot in here, that's all."

"If you say so." They ordered their food. Hopper wasn't so sure he would be able to eat and keep it down, he was that nervous. "Are you sure you're okay?" Joyce put her fork down and tilted her head to the side to see his face.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." He shook his head once. He almost started to panic when their waiter gave them boxes and took their plates. Just dessert and his proposal. Maybe he should post-pone it...

"What's the occasion? I forgot to ask... It's not our anniversary..."

"I just... wanted to do something special... for us... thats all." He lied. They ordered dessert and he fiddled in his pocket a bit for preparation. The small box would've slipped from his grip if it weren't velvet. Hopper took one last breath, collected himself as best as he could, and gently took Joyce's hand. She turned her head so she was facing him and smiled. "I have something I want to say." His voice shook slightly, and he prayed his lover wouldn't notice.

"Fire away."

"When we were in high school, sharing cigarettes under the bleachers during 5th and 6th hour passing, I fell in love with you." Hopper swallowed and inhaled slightly sharply. "And umm... I never stopped after that. I just suppressed it. Acted like you didn't exist because if I acknowledged it, I would actually have to move on and I didn't want to."

"Hop... it's okay."

"I'm not finished, Joyce." He smiled. "God, we've been through a lot. As soon as you stepped into my office because of Will, I knew I wasn't over you. So instead, I acted like I couldn't stand you. Because really, I'm so in love with you." Hopper blinked rapidly for a minute. "I... I always thought I was... cursed or something." Joyce squeezed his hand. "And then... then I saw you. When I was practically on my death bed in that prison. I thought I was dreaming, but there you were, because of course you found a way. You're brilliant. I never doubted you. I just regretted ever contacting you because I was... I was putting you in danger. And that's all I ever do with people I love. They always end up getting hurt." A singular streak fell from his left eye and traveled down his cheek and Joyce smiled sadly, brushing it away with her thumb. "But you're... such a trooper. And I just don't want to wait anymore. I don't want you to be my girlfriend. It's not enough. Not anymore. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. I want you to have my last name, I want to act like an old married couple with you while actually being married." Joyce and Hopper both chuckled, Joyce now tearing up as well. Jim stood, his chair scooting back against the floor, but the noise was not like nails on a chalkboard, more like... the sound of a broom sweeping the wooden floor; satisfying. With a little struggle since he wasn't as young as they come, Jim Hopper got down one on knee, staring into her eyes. "So... Joyce Horowitz... will you make me the happiest son of a... gun... on this Earth... and be my wife?" He held his breath. Joyce stared down into his eyes, her hands trembling. She chuckled and nodded, tears individually streaming down her face. He smiled, the widest smile she had ever seen from him, and with some struggle since both their hands were shaking, he slid the ring on her finger, and stood. Their arms immediately wrapped around each other, her face buried in his shoulder as they shared one of the most passionate embraces they've ever shared, aside from their first hug when they reunited in Russia, and the many times that they were expected to lose one another. Jim smiled into her hair, squeezing his eyes shut. Neither of them heard the applause coming from surrounding tables.