Jopper Oneshots

Returning From Hell pt.2

When Joyce opened her eyes, Hopper was sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed up. She got close to him and hugged him from behind him. She knew he needed to be comforted, that he needed love, that he needed peace. She felt hot drips falling over her arms; he was ... crying?

"You okay ?" she tried not to sound worried.

He shook his head softly. She forced him to turn around so she could look at him. Bruises had started to appear on his face and one of his eyes was now soft violet.

"Nightmare ?" she asked quietly.

This time he nodded, and she started thinking she was wrong and that he did have a harder time in there than she thought.

"Just think about El, you'll finally be able to see her and talk to her !" she tried to sound comforting.

He let a shy smile out but she assumed it was still a tiny victory.

"Now come on, we gotta wake up Murray and Enzo... sorry, Dimitri, if we want to arrive at Lenora before night."

He let a small laugh out of his mouth and walked towards the door that separated them from the corridor. He opened it and headed towards the other men's room. A strong smell of... he preferred not to know what invaded his nostrils.

"Uh, guys, it's time to wake up, there's still a long road ahead of us", he said, nearly screaming.

Groans were the only answers he obtained but he was able to perceive movement in the darkness of the room. He sighed loudly and let out a grin as he returned to their room.

"I think they're coming", he said as he entered, "they'd better be."

Joyce was now fully dressed and finishing packing the little she had to.

"Common, let's go and eat quickly before we take the bus," said Joyce smiling.

Hopper finally started to relax, after all, no one would come after them, not anymore. He would finally be able to see El, to hold her close to him. And the others: the bays, the party... god. he had missed them, all of them, even that Wheeler Kid.

They got out of their room and waited downstairs for Murray and Dimitri. They bought some kind of breakfast before taking the bus just as it arrived.

Joyce and Hopper slept most of the then the next stop way, waking up once by Murray telling them the next stop was theirs. It was and they quickly got down, saying goodbye to the two men.

The woman guided him through the city towards the Byers' home.

"Just stay out of sight, for the surprise," she told him before she knocked at the door.

He nodded and did as she said. He was dying by the will to see them but had waited eight months, he could wait a few more seconds.

The kids opened the door and jumped into the woman's arms; Hopper wasn't surprised when El threw herself into her arms as well; seeing them brought tears of joy to his eyes. At one point, he stopped staring and just hugged them as well. They got apart from the woman, intrigued by the unseen new presence. When El saw him, they both stopped breathing in amazement, not believing that what was happening was real. At a moment, he just stopped staring at the girl and grabbed her to him to give her a bear hug. He stopped trying to hold back the tears and held her with all the strength that he had left. She hugged him back, crying as well. They stayed like this for a few minutes and then got apart. Before Hopper could say anything, he got tackled by the two boys who ran to him to hug him; he added new tears to the old ones. He was surprised and hugged them back, looking at Joyce for help. She didn't seem surprised at all. Or if she was, she was hiding it very well. They finally got inside the house, El holding her father with all her strength, afraid he would disappear again if she didn't. They all sat down at a table. Hopper retold them what had happened: from his capture to his liberation, dodging the work and the torture carefully but going through how much he had missed them and how he felt. They ate a lot. The evening finished with a movie. Hopper was sitting on the couch. El was cuddled next to him while Will quietly fell asleep on his shoulder.

*

They were in Joyce's room, the house was quiet and the kids were asleep as it was already 10:30 pm.

"I missed you", said Hopper softly.

"I know, me too", answered Joyce.

They kissed softly; Hopper then went into the bathroom to change into his pajamas.

Pulling his shirt off still hurt his back as well as taking his shoes and socks off. He then carefully took the bandage off his ankle, letting appear the horrible wound. He let out a cry when he stood on it, it may have been broken during the runnings and the fights. It hurt so bad! He didn't want Joyce to know even though she would end up finding out at some point. He felt bad hiding it from the kids but it would just make them worry even more for him than they already did.

He got out with an old shirt and underwear given by Joyce. He got in bed limping as little as possible. 

"Is your ankle alright ?" asked Joyce, sounding worried.

There it was, the ineluctable question coming from the woman. He started to think of a lie quickly but realized that she would be able to tell he was.

"Yeah", he answered simply.

She looked at the wound and grimaced.

"We have to put a bandage back on. Sorry."

"Don't worry it's fine", said Hopper softly.

She smiled as she got up to get new bandages that she started rolling around Hopper's ankle.

They placed the blanket over their frozen bodies and cuddled up against each other.

"I love you", said Joyce, interrupting the silence which had come between them.

"I love you too, and I always will", said Hopper, with a smirk.

A/N. Hey guys, sorry for not updating lately, going back to school and retaking the rhythm after the holidays was hard so ....  Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this story, don't hesitate to give me feedback on it, and if you have any ideas for future one-shots about Jopper, El and Hopper Father-Daughter relationship, Hopper-Byers Family ...