𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

September

 (Joyce's POV)

She woke up thanks to Hopper bumping into the bed.
"Sorry, Joycie." He shot her a quick apology before going on with whatever he was doing.
She sat up, trying to comb down the hairstyle her pillow had given her. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for the keys. Do you think you might know where they are?"
She didn't want to actually get up. It was still the summer, but the mornings were still cold, so she needed the blanket. She just aimlessly motioned to the door. "They're usually stuck in the couch. Sometimes they fall out of pockets."
"Thanks." He smiles, and she thought he would go downstairs to look for them, but he walked back over to the bed and kissed the top of her forehead. "I love you."
She giggled. "Hop, aren't you going to go look for the keys?"
"Yeah, but I don't want to leave without giving you a good wake-up." He grinned, and laid back down next to her. "Good morning, my love."
"Good morning, Hop." She placed a soft kiss on the bridge of his nose
He ran his fingers through his own hair, combing it back. "You ready for work?"
"No." She was honest at least. She was not excited for work.
Ever since Connor's parents caused hell, two things had been happening-one, Connor had been spending day and night at their house while social services attempted to find them a foster home near or in Hawkins, and two-the police office had been complete chaos. Despite the fact that everyone there said that it wasn't her fault they were getting sued, it still felt like it was her fault. A good amount of time, she was behind the desk, doing paperwork instead of doing actual detective work, not because Hopper had stuck her there, but because she didn't trust herself out in the field.
Hopper let out a sigh, "Joycie-"
"I know, I know. I know what you're gonna say." She had heard this spiel a million times. "That it's not my fault."
"It really isn't, babe." Hopper insisted.
"You're just saying that cause you're my boyfriend." She felt the guilt surrounding her heart, caging it. She forced her head into her hands. "I should've just stayed at Melvands."
"No!" Hopper's loudness surprised her, almost as much as him ripping her hands from her face, then beginning to rub them with his thumbs. "Joycie, don't do this to yourself. You are an amazing detective. Stop torturing yourself, please."
She looked away from him. Jesus Christ, why could he read her so well? It made it really hard to lie to his face.
Hopper seemed to just be on a roll, so he kept going. "I know what you're doing, Joyce. I'm not stupid. Did you not think I would notice you basically handcuffing yourself to your desk?"
She wanted to tell him everything. How she was so sure that if she worked on another case, she would screw that up and get fired, even if it was something small. How she felt like a disappointment to him. How she was so sure she had just given up a steady job for a job she wasn't good at. But she stayed quiet.
"Please, Joyce, just-" Hopper sighed again, "We have some field work today with a case. Please, come with us. All my guys are stupid as hell; you're the only smart one in that office, and that's including me."
She chuckled, and blinked away tears that had come from his little speech. "I'll try, I'm just...not sure."
"Okay." Hopper, oddly enough, given that he had been doing it for the last five minutes, didn't push any farther. "Just...Remember that I love you, okay?"
"Okay." She allowed him to give a kiss on her cheek. Then a kiss on the other cheek. And within seconds, she was done, skin pressed against the fabric covering the cushion. "Jim!"
"Oh! S-Sorry." Hop began to pull his hands off her arms, blushing.
She pulled them back to her sides. "No, no, don't stop, I was just surprised."
"You're so cute." He chuckled, and pressed a kiss on her cheek. "I love you so much. Please don't listen to that voice in your head."
She bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything about the topic. "Just-more kisses."
Hopper ignored her deliberate attempt to change the topic, and did as she asked, until the two of them were out of breath and his uniform was wrinkled.
Hopper tried to catch his breath as he spoke. "We-We need-to get-the kids-up."
"Yeah-I-I still need my uniform." Despite the fact she felt unworthy of wearing that blue button up shirt and pants, along with the golden star badge, she knew she had to still wear it.
As she closed the last button, she turned towards Hopper, who gave her a big grin and reached for her hand, "You look as beautiful as ever, Joycie."
She allowed him to take her hand, "You're just saying that."
"I'm saying it because it's true." He insisted, "Ready to go downstairs?"
She nodded, and followed him out of their bedroom and into the kitchen.
"If you find the keys and start breakfast, I'll wake the kids?" She suggested to Hop and he searched the couch.
"Good idea!" He said, then made a sound of happiness, "Oh, already found the keys!"
She giggled, and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You're so cute."
She left him grinning and searching for the proper ingredients to make breakfast. She climbed the stairs for the second time in the last two minutes, reaching El's room first.
She opened the door, trying to keep the creaking to a minimum. "El?"
In the darkened room, she could just barely make out the shape of the furniture and El's body. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up."
"Ugh..." El hid under her green quilt
"It's Eggo Extravaganza Wednesday." She spoke in a singsong voice
El jumped out of the bed. "Okay! I'll be down in a sec."
She laughed, "Should I turn the lights on?"
"Oh god, please, no-"
She flipped the lights on, and El hissed.
"El, you're not a vampire." She told her daughter, "I'm gonna go wake Will up, in case you need help."
"I know how to dress myself." El had gained the classic teen sarcasm, but she knew she still enjoyed her helping her get ready in the morning.
She chuckled, and left El to pick clothes out, moving to the next room, where Will and Connor was sleeping, at least for now.
Given that their parents were suing the Police Department, Connor and Zoe needed somewhere else to stay, so they had made an agreement-Connor would stay with them, and Zoe's boyfriend's family would take her in. Despite the fact Zoe and her boyfriend, Stephen, gave Danny and Sandy from Grease vibes, his family was surprisingly wholesome. And though Hopper had his worries, Will insisted that Connor stayed in his bedroom-neither of them could get pregnant, Will had said. So while Connor had to sleep on an air-mattress, he was allowed to stay in Will's room.
"Oh lovebirds..." She flipped the lights on. "Wake up..."
"Oh come on!"
"Seriously!"
"Get up sleepyheads!" This is why she became a parent. "This is what you get for not letting me sleep for five years."
"Ugh...." Connor, given that his bed was so low, rolled straight on to the floor. "Will....!"
"Hey!" Will's exclamation was muffled by his pillow, "It's not my fault!"
"Amore mio, this is the definition of 'your fault'." Smart move on Connor's part. People are a sucker for other languages. Which is weird, if you think about it-you can't understand the person, so is it romantic not to understand your partner?
The rest of the early morning went on without a hitch. The kids happily ate their breakfast, along with her and Hopper, the latter of the pairing being the one who was focused on what was going on, and wasn't stuck in their head. While Hop was smiling and eating his eggs, she was fidgeting and eating her lip. She knew if she told Hopper, all she would get more of the same positive comments, and she shouldn't put that kind of worry on the kids, especially given that they had a guest and a lawsuit to worry about.
Hopper chuckled at a joke made by El, and as he wrapped his arm across her back, his hand inched for the edge of the table down to her thigh, where her hand lied, and he whispered into her ear. "Are you okay? You're fidgeting."
"Yeah, just..." She was unsure how to answer without either causing a scene or making her boyfriend sad. "tired."
"You're in your head again?" He asked, and before she could answer, placed a kiss on her cheek. "Remember, I love you, and it wasn't your fault."
She blushed, enjoying but not fully believing the compliment. Not the part about him loving her, though that was beginning to shift due to just her anxiety. It was gonna take a lot of convincing to get herself to believe that she couldn't have done anything differently, that she couldn't have fixed the situation, to keep her family safe.
The kids soon finished their plates, and all piled into the car, school bags in hand. Hopper turned the keys, and began to drive. She sat next to him, unconsciously still fidgeting, but this time with her nametag and not her fingers.
Detective Joyce H. Byers. She just kept reading that small sentence over, and over, and over again, maybe hundreds of times. Back at Melvands, her name was written in white text and printed on plastic made to look like wood. It was simple-not flashy, and it didn't accompany a golden badge. It did its job, telling people her name so they could argue with her about the price of toilet paper or whatever while acting like her best friend by calling her Joyce.
The new tag wasn't much different. At least, it appeared that way to everyone else. Same text font and color, same faux wood, same name, just with 'Detective' slapped on at the end. It was heavier, though, better quality than the one she had before. It didn't help, though, that the gold trimming along the edge of the tag matched her badge. That thing was like a fucking eyesore to her. It felt like she had stolen Hopper's uniform and was teasing him by wearing it. But no, unlike his, hers was blue and had her fucking name on it. It felt like a waste of fabric.
"Joycie?" Hop shook her out of her daydreaming, squeezing her hand. "We're here."
"Oh, thanks." She smiles, and goes to click her seatbelt, but instead of getting out, turns to Hopper and kiss him.
Hop's eyes widen in surprise, but melts into her lips. "Wha-?"
"You still love me, right?" She asked breathlessly. She knew the answer-he tells her it every single day. But she needed to hear it again. She needed him to tell her that, despite everything she had caused, and despite that she would be told by herself that he was lying, he still cared. "Be honest."
"Joyce. I love you more than anyone in this world." He caressed her cheek. "And yes, it will make us late, but I kinda wanna kiss you, like a lot, so can I-?"
She giggled at his nervousness, and nodded.
"Okay." Hop chuckled, and began pressing his lips anywhere he could-cheeks, lips, forehead, earlobes, neck, collar bone-you get the point.
"Hop." As soon as she pipes up, Hopper pulls away and looks back up to meet her eyes.
"Yes, Joycie?" He asks softly
She runs her fingers through the edges of his hair, "Aren't you worried we're gonna get caught?"
He shook her head. "I've caught them doing worse, they don't really get tease us."
She tries to brush her worries away and throws herself into another kiss with Hop. Though kissing him is always an amazing experience-it always feels like fireworks-she can't really ignore her thoughts.
Hopper, whose eyes had remained open to take notice of her features, saw this on her face, and pulled away. "We can go inside if you don't want to do this anymore. It's okay."
She let out a sigh. "Yeah. I don't want to disappoint you-"
"Joyce, you could never disappoint me. Never." He rubbed her arm up and down. "You don't need to give a reason, just-if you want to stop, we'll stop."
"You're such a good person." She chuckled. "Lonnie wouldn't stop, you know?"
She didn't like saying the L world, but instead of acting angry at the mere mention of the man he so despised, Hopper laughed quietly. "Well, I do pride myself on being the exact opposite of him."
She chuckles, which fades into a sigh. It really is true, Hopper really is the complete opposite of Lonnie. Sweet and caring instead of cold and distant. Trusting and loving instead of possessive and abusive. And much, much better looking. "I am so glad you do. Now, we should probably leave before the Hawkins Post shoves a camera in our faces and makes up some headline about us having sex in public or some shit."
"Yeesh, that does sound like them." Hopper sat back up, but before doing so, placed on last tender kiss on her lips, which in itself set off butterflies in her stomach. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. Was that okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Now come on, we're already late." If he had been unbuckled, she could've just pulled him from his seat into hers then stand up, so their hands would have left each other's grasp, but instead, they had to be normal and only hold hands when they were walking into the building.
Which immediately felt like a bad decision. Not the holding hands part, no, but walking into the building. As Hopper greeted Flo, Powell, and Callahan, she felt like their eyes were burning into her skull-like they were staring with...resentment, maybe? Anger at her getting them sued, or perhaps annoyance that it was eight in the morning and they already had to deal with her and Hop holding hands and being all lovey-dovey. It was most likely the last one, she knew that truly, she just had to try and convince the rest of her that it was the truth.
"Are we heading back to the Adams' place?" Powell piped up as she took her own seat and Hopper was about to enter his office
"Yeah, just have to grab the file." Hopper's eyes moved from the pair of men to her, "Detective Byers, are you coming?"
Her head dipped down, having to stare at her desk to avoid his piercing blue eyes. God, the sound of his voice was sexy when he called her Detective Byers. Or when he talked. "No, I'll stay here."
He sighed, trying to keep it not too loud. "Okay."
She flinched, but didn't chance her choice. He was disappointed, it was loud and clear. She hated disappointing him, but it was better to disappoint him a little than make a fool of both of them, and the entire police department.
The three men left to work the case, leaving it just her and Flo in the main room, with probably a good few officers that hadn't gone with them somewhere in the building.
She picked up the pen and starting scribbling out words onto the paper, not looking up when Flo sat down next to her.
"You okay, honey?" Flo asked her
"Yep."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Her eyes continued to stay on the paper, not lingering up to the woman next to her.
Flo sighed, much like Hopper did a minute ago. "Sweetie, I saw you flinch earlier. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm-" She had said 'I'm fine' about a million times, and honestly, she was sick of it. She set her pen down and met Flo's gaze. "Okay, you know what? I'm not. I'm not okay."
"I can tell." Flo placed her hand on hers. It felt almost like her grandmother talking to her after her parents had grounded her, telling her that they were just being dramatic. "You've stuck yourself behind a desk all month."
"If I stay here, I can't screw up again." She blurted out, then pulled her hands away from Flo and began fidgeting. "It's my fault we're getting sued, and I know everyone is pissed at me, so if I'm just not there, everything's better."
"Joyce." Flo grabbed her hands back. "Listen to me, please."
She complied, looking back to the old woman
"When I was your age, maybe a little younger, I had a husband and a kid. We were in love, my husband and I. Then, while driving to my kid's school, we got into a car crash. I survived, obviously, but he didn't. I blamed myself for years, even though I hadn't even been driving. I blamed myself for something I didn't do." She rubbed her palm, waiting for her to make the connection
"But I did do this." She insisted
"Ah!" Flo pointed, "That's your guilt talking. You didn't actually do anything wrong. Hell, you got a poor boy and girl out of a toxic and abusive household, and now their mom's being a ass about it. Does that sound like something bad?"
"Yeah, but..."
"And don't say that you had anything to do with the fact we're getting sued. That is just that woman's attempt to seem like she's the innocent one." Flo said, "So please, for the love of god, get back out there because if Callahan touches one more piece of evidence without wearing gloves I'm pretty sure Hopper is going to kill him."
She chuckled, and stood up. "Yeah, I'm gonna do that. Problem, he took the car."
Flo tossed her a walkie-talkie. "That's why we have these."
She laughed, and turned the dial to the designated Police Department channel, which was currently radio silent
"Chief?" She asked
In a matter of seconds, Hopper picked up. "Yes, Detective Byers?"
"Is anyone on this channel?"
"No...?"
"Then you don't need to call me Detective, Hop." She flirted
The man on the other side laughed, "Okay, Joycie, what do you need?"
"I nee you to come pick me up." She hesitated with the next part, "I'm coming to help."
"Oh thank god." Hop sighed, chuckling, "These guys are terrible."
"Hey!" She could hear someone, either Callahan or Powell, exclaim from the background.
Hopper just ignored them and went on, "I'll be right there. Over."
After that, he went silent, so she sat the radio down on the desk besides her, just in case he spoke again, and continued working until the bell above the door rang
"Ho-" She looked up, expecting her boyfriend to be there, but no, it was just a mailman delivering a package. She didn't even bother to stand up-Flo was already signing the paperwork, so there was no point.
She had returned to her papers, and given that the last time the door had opened it had been a mailman, did not look up when the bell rang again.
She should've, though, or she wouldn't have been scared when two large hands were placed on her shoulders, causing her to jump before she recognized the touch
"Hi Joycie!" Hopper placed a kiss on her cheek. "Are you really-?"
"Yep." She spun her swivel chair to face her boyfriend. "God, you're cute."
Hopper chuckled, eyeing her. "Are you flirting with me, at work? So scandalous."
"Shut up." She pressed her hand on his chest. "Now, can I have that file? I would like to not be completely clueless about this case before just walking in."
"Of course." Hop turned ever-so-slightly to pick up the manilla folder labeled 'Adams Case'. "Here you go."
She scanned the basics. Lauren Adams, her age, was jumped, had her possessions stolen, then was beaten up.
"Can I ask why-" She closed the folder. Lauren Adams seemed like a familiar name to her, but she ignored her own thoughts. "-we're taking special interest in this case?"
"Well, we believe that this guy has several acts of assault, but most of the girls were intoxicated. Luckily, Adams wasn't, and it was a much less intense act of assault." Hopper explained
She nodded, and stood up, snatching up the file. "Well, I'm ready to go."
Hopper grinned, and took her unoccupied hand. They had made it outside and he was about to unlock the car, when he asked, "What made you change your mind?"
"Well, I won't go into detail, but you owe Flo a thank you." She chuckled at her vague statement before opening her now-openable door and climbing in.
"Okay, I will make sure," Hop started, then sat down next to her and placed a kiss on her lips, "to do that."
"You're so cute." She chuckled, then allowed her eyes to become glued to the file once more, reading more about Lauren Adams and her past as Hopper drove.
Full name, Lauren Jessica Adams. Age, 40. Birthday, May 13th 1946. Job, chemist. Family, none. Degrees, Masters and PHD in chemistry. Was out at a bar and was followed back to her apartment, was almost raped but her roommate interrupted and called the cops. It was dark, but they were able to see his face, though hadn't been told his name.
Soon, they arrived at Lauren's home, located on the northwest side of Hawkins. It was small, but nice. It was in a long strip of similar-looking apartment buildings, and the only reason why she was able to identify which building was where Lauren lived was because it was surrounded by yellow tape and police cars.
Hopper parked near the other cars, and ducked under the tape. She mimicked his actions, passing by other police men.
"Officer Hudson?" Hopper asked one of the many blue-outfitted police men, "Which floor is Adams on?"
"Four, sir." He answered, then looked away quickly. He seemed scared of Hopper, which almost made her laugh out loud. To the people who he was in charge of, he was a terrifying monster who could hurt them in an instant. To her, he was her teddy bear, her giant, fluffy teddy bear who didn't want anything but hugs and kisses.
They made their way to the elevator, or at least the room where the elevators lived. There were a constant flow of police men and other people who lived in that building, and though she might've been able to shuffle into the stream of humans thanks to her small structure, but that would mean leaving Hopper's side. Which she would have been fine with, if this wasn't an unfamiliar building and she had no idea where she was going.
"God damn it." Hopper sighed, "Where did all these people come from?"
She shrugged. "Maybe they're looking for DNA, or talking to neighbors?"
"Whatever it is," He looked from the crowd to her, "it looks like we're walking."
"Four flights of stairs. Great." She sighed.
He took her hand, "Just remember, we walked god knows how many miles in summer with some random dude we kidnapped, so stairs aren't too bad."
"Fine, fine..." She gave in, and walked a few steps to where the stairs started.
She tried to prepare herself, but it must've looked like she was resisting, because Hop tugged on her. "Come on, standing here isn't gonna make the stairs any shorter."
"Fine...."
By the third flight until they got to the correct floor, Hopper was practically pulling her instead of them both walking.
"Joyce, we're almost there." He encouraged her, somehow still smiling.
"Can't you just use those big, strong arms of those to carry me...?" She ran a single finger down his triceps.
"Flattery won't work on me, Joyce." Hop grinned, and looked down at her lingering finger. "Though that does feel nice."
"This isn't fair...!" She whined.
"How exactly is this not fair?" Hopper asked, "No, I want to know. How is this not fair?"
She stalled by climbing a few more steps, then was able to come up with the answer, "You have longer legs."
Hopper looked down at his legs, then at hers, then said, "Okay, maybe, but we're almost there! Just a few more steps-see? There's the door!"
Hopper pointed up to the stop in the stairs. No door was visible, but it was much like the other stops where doors had been earlier.
"Fine." She sighed, but added, "If it hadn't been too far away, I would be making you carry me to that damn door."
"I love you." He said
"I love you too." She replied, then stared at the stairs as she was forced to conquer each step.
But, she made it. She finally got up to that floor, where it was just as chaotic as downstairs, filled with people coming in and out of the building. Some of them clearly were police officers, but there were more people who were, in a state of panic, running amuck the hallways.
"Jesus." Hopper sighed, and took her hand.
She began to be pulled through the crowd, Hopper pushing past strangers, yelling, "HAWKINS POLICE, MAKE WAY" any time he could.
"Chief!" One of the officers amongst the small group surrounding one door called out for him.
"Yes, Officer Waybray?" He forced through the last stretch of people who lived there, and managed to get to the cops
"This is the room, Adams and her roommate should be in there. Sir."
Hopper nodded, and, still holding her hand, walked into the apartment, door unlocked and opened.
Though the apartment was obviously much smaller than the cul-de-sac houses she had seemed and lived for a long time in her life, it had the same feel. It had white walling with wood lining where the walls met the ceiling, and furniture matching. It had the same warm feeling she always got when she stepped into one of Will's friends' homes, but they often had bright yellow or had a (sorry Karen!) obnoxious flower pattern that seemed to be everywhere. Here, the only hints of flowers were the plotted plants they had along the fire place and hanging from the ceilings.
The house was cluttered too-random pens, papers, books, clothes, and knickknacks laid on every surface they could be on. It wasn't a complete mess, but she could tell that whoever lived her didn't have a lot of time to clean, which would line up with her job.
"Why can't we have the door closed again?" She heard a woman complain loudly to someone before walking into the kitchen. Unlike Lauren, who she knew very little, but some about, this lady was a complete stranger
"Jessie, they need it open so that police can get in and out!" A purple-haired woman responded, following Jessie, then turning to look out the door and saw them instead. "Police who are here right now. Hi."
"Hi." Hopper grinned, though his eyes showed nervousness. "Sorry for barging in, I'm-"
"The chief, I assume?" Lauren asked
"Uh, yeah." He said, "And-and this is Detective Byers. We're here to help."
"Finally." Jessie scoffed. "A woman."
She felt her face burning, and looked down at her feet. She should have been here earlier. The halls were filled with men; she was the only person there who could give some sort of comfort to Lauren and Jessie without it feeling fake.
"Um, Jessie, will you be okay coming with me and the forensic sketch artist?" Hop asked
Jessie looked at Lauren, and when her friend nodded to her, she replied, "Yeah, I guess."
Hopper called one of the guys into the room, then took him and Jessie into another room, leaving her and Lauren alone in the living room.
"Would you like something to drink, Detective Byers? Coffee, tea?" Lauren offered, motioning to her to take a seat next to her on the couch.
"No, thank you." She gave the woman in a hoddie a soft smile.
"'Byers'. I feel like I recognize that name." Lauren said
"It's actually my ex-husband's name. My maiden name's Horowitz." She explained, "Maybe you knew him, Lonnie Byers?"
"'Horowitz'? I had a friend in elementary school with your name." Lauren pondered
Elementary school. Lauren Adams. She felt as if the dots were almost connecting, like she had almost finished a puzzle, but was just missing a few massively important pieces.
She examined her face, searching and searching until her eyes fell upon a small line of birthmarks lining her left eye.
"Wait, I remember you!" She grinned. "We were friends in first grade; I-I remember me standing up to bullies for you."
Lauren blinked as she took in this new information, then smiled back. "Joyce? It's been years! I like what you did with your hair."
She laughed, and fiddled with a strain of hair. "Yeah. Got mistaken for a boy the first day of middle school, and my parents didn't like that, so they made me grow it out. I just grew attached to it, I guess."
Lauren chuckled, then asked, "How'd you end up with Lonnie Byers?"
"Just made a lot of bad choices at 18." She sighed, and shook her head. "But that asshole's in the past. My new boyfriend is a gem, and I have kids now."
"Kids? That's awesome, Joyce." Lauren smiled, "What're their names?"
"Jonathan and Will." She answered, "What about you?"
"Ah," Lauren chuckled, "never was one for kids. Or husbands. I spend too much time at work."
"Oh, where do you work?" She asked
"Indianapolis. I work as a chemist up there." Lauren explained, pulling her hair up and tying it in a bun with a hairband that had been living on her wrist.
"You always were the smarter one." She joked
"Joyce," Lauren shook her head, though smiling, "you act like you aren't smart. Just look at you! You're a detective! That is seriously awesome."
"Yeah..." She began biting her lip, ripping off a patch of skin in the corner of her mouth. Even after Flo's pep-talk/heart-to-heart, she still had her fair share of nerves about her job. Maybe she should have studied harder to learn more about how to do her job, or gone to a academy, or something, something that would give her actual proof that she was ready and worthy enough for this job. You know, something besides the words of her boyfriend.
"You good?" Lauren asked, moss green eyes staring into hers.
"Yeah, yeah." She tried to wave it off, but Lauren wouldn't give in so easily. "No. It's kinda complicated."
Lauren crisscrossed her legs. "You can tell me, if you want. We're probably gonna be here for a while, anyway."
"Well..." Her lips continued to bleed as she tried to think of how to phrase this. She had been friends with her in the past, so she couldn't be too bad, but you never knew who in this town was homophobic or not, so to try and avoid outing the two teen boys, she said, "One of my son's friends ran away from home. Turns out, his parents were abusive, so Hop and I got him and his sister out of the house, but now his mom and dad are suing us."
Lauren seemed confused. "You can sue the police?"
She sighed, and shrugged. "I guess? I don't know. It's just-I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting those kids and my son, but I screwed so much up."
"Joyce-"
She interrupted her friend with a laugh. "I don't deserve this job. You know, I didn't even go to school? Yeah. I just took a goddamn test, and suddenly they were handing me a uniform and a badge."
"Joyce." Lauren took her hand, shutting her up. "You did the right thing. You got those kids out of there, and my bet is that their mom's just pissed off she got exposed as a asshole."
She chuckled again, but this time, not out of anger. "She was a asshole. Sexist, too, homophobic too."
"Ugh, I hate homophobes." Lauren's words took some weight off her chest. There were only two reactions to what she had said, and that was the one she was hoping for.
The two women share a look, and Lauren opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a loud slam of a door.
"Okay," Hopper came back into the room, following Jessie, who rushed to Lauren's side, "Adams, can you come next?"
"Are you okay?" She was close enough on the couch to pick up on the two women's whispers
"I'm okay, ba-Laur."
"Careful, Detective Byers might hear you."
"Adams?" Hop, clearly not having heard the conversation, spoke again.
Lauren cleared her throat, and stood, leaving it just Jessie and herself on the couch. "Can they...Can they come too? I don't want to be alone."
She looked back to her friends, "As long as you guys are okay with that?"
"Yeah, of course." Jessie was the next off the sofa, standing and taking her roommate's hand.
"Same." She added, a shiver going down her spine, telling her she just made things awkward.
A beat of silence, then Hopper said, "Well, then, you two come with me, please. Detective Byers, you too."
She nodded, and stood up, the last of the group to do so (besides Hopper, he had been standing the entire time). Hop led them in to the room she assumed Jessie had been in earlier. It was a nice bedroom-white walls with shag carpeting, fairy lights, posters covering almost an entire wall, and a single king sized bed with an orange, white, and pick duvet kicked to the footboard.
Jessie and Lauren sat on the mattress, and Hopper already had the chair from the desk in the corner, so she sat crisscrossed on the floor.
"Okay, Miss Adams," Hop looked down at a clipboard with some papers. "Can you tell me what happened last night? We just want to confirm."
"Yeah, yeah." With encouragement from Jessie, Lauren began to talk. "I was out with my co-workers for drinks last night. I left around nine-ish, and I think he followed me from the bar. I didn't even notice until I was pinned against my apartment door. He-He-"
Lauren began to cry into her friend's shoulder. Jessie rubbed her back and rested her head on Lauren's head. "It's okay. Do you want me to tell them?"
Lauren nodded, sniffling.
Jessie took a breath, then began to talk. "The man tried to kiss Lauren, and touch her...chest, but-um-I had heard her being shoved against the door, so I was able to get him away from her.
"Can you tell me what he looked like?" He asked Lauren, who seemed to be calm now
She nodded. "He-he had blonde-blonde hair-short hair-and a tan, and-and I noticed a birthmark on his wrist when he-when he grabbed me..."
The last sentence drove Lauren to tears, and once again, Jessie had her in her arms.
"Shh, it's gonna be okay babe, I promise." The use of the nickname is what made her sure that was supposed to be whispered, but instead, both her and Hop heard Jessie.
"Babe?" Hop asked, leaning forward
"Uh...." Jessie's eyes darted in a circle-first her, then Hop, the Lauren
"Shit." Lauren mumbled into her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Neither of you are homophobic, right?" Jessie asked, voice shaking just like Lauren's
"No, no. We're not." She assured the two
"Our son's actually gay, so..." Hop added
"Oh thank god." Jessie exhaled, "That would've been a nightmare if you were."
"Well, don't you worry, you're safe with us." She assured the two women
"Yeah." One awkward beat later, Hopper taps his clipboard, "Well, thank you two for that, we will take that and the sketch and start looking."
"Thank you so much, officers." Lauren smiled through tears.
"Of course, Miss Adams." She nodded, and stood up as Hop did. "Call anytime."
With that, they left the two women in their bedroom, crying.
"'Call anytime'?" Hop asked as they walked to the elevator; this time they were actually able to get to them.
"Oh, yeah, funny story." She chuckled as she pressed the button to call the elevator, "turn out...she's an old friend from elementary school."
"Oh, that's cool you got to reconnect." He smiled, then went silent as the elevator doors opened.
She was confused at the quiet, "What?"
"Oh! Nothing." He assured her, squeezing her hand now that they were all alone for half a minute, "Just trying to thing about how to work the court case."
"That makes sense, I could be biased." She thought for a second, then suggested, "If I'm not there when, or if, we catch the guy, then there wouldn't be a reason to be called to give a statement."
"True, true." He nodded, then asked, "Hey, your lunch break is in a bit, right?"
"In 30 minutes, yeah. Wait, shouldn't you know this? You are my boss." She pointed out
"Probably, but whatever." He changed topics quickly, "So, do you wanna have your lunch break with me? No work, I just want to go for a walk to the park and eat our lunch together."
"We eat our lunches together every day, Jim," She smirked, then went on, "but a nice park date sounds nice. Even if it's short."
"Yeah, and I know we should be working on this case as much as possible, but," He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips, the first of the hour. "I want to spend time with you, is that a crime?"
"Not at all." She smiled, and muttered against his lips, "You should let go though, we're almost there."
"Yeah, probably." Hopper stole one last kiss before letting her go, just in time for the elevator to ding and automatically open its doors to the ground floor.
They pushed through the wall of people that had forced them to take the stairs an hour ago-yes, those same people seemed to not have moved-and walked out of the crowded building as quick as they could, give the fact that they had to push through a sea of people where no one seems to be able to hear their cries for them to move.
She let out a loud sigh as soon as the sun hit her face. Hop didn't say anything, allowing her to soak in the few precious seconds of fresh air before she had to climb back into the car.
Despite the fact they had just been on a crime scene, when a romantic song started playing out of the radio, Hopper began singing out loud, quite obviously to her.
"Hop!" She blushed, even though no one was around
"Oh come on!" He exclaimed, grinning. "You love it."
He wasn't wrong, all she wanted was for him to sing love ballads to her for the rest of their life, but her anxiety kept making her feel like people were staring at her, and for that reason, she was gratful when the car was parked in front of the police station and Hop stopped singing. Even if she could listen to his angelic alto tone forever.
Hop's ever-so-slightly raspy voice spoke as they both stepped back out onto the pavement. "I'll grab out lunches, you tell Flo we're taking our lunch break."
"Will do, Chief." She shot him a wink and walked into the station before him, either the knowledge he was staring at her, his mind taking a few seconds to register what just happened before being able to work again
"Hi Flo." She greeted the older woman as she entered. "Hop and I are gonna take our lunch break if that's alright."
"Of course." Flo smiled, "You seem much happier now than you were before."
She glanced over to Hopper, who had only now come in and was heading for his office. "Yeah. Bring out got me out of my own head."
"Well, you're welcome for that."
"Joycie?" Hopper interrupted, "I got our lunches, are you ready to go?"
"Yep." She nodded, then turned back to Flo, "We're gonna head out."
"Have fun you too!" Flo called after them as they walked out the door.
As they stepped upon the pavement once more, Hop asked her, "Where would you like to go?"
"Well," She thought, "There's that nice park that surrounds Lover's Lake."
"Uh-huh. Lover's Lake." Hopper raised his eyebrows, which earned him a light slap on the shoulder.
"Shut up." She smiled, but climbed into the car with him nevertheless. "It's a nice park!"
"Yeah, a nice park for snogging." Hop grinned as he did a cheesy British accent
"Hop, please," She snorted, covering his mouth with her hand, "just stop."
She felt something warm press against her fingers, which caused her to jerk them away "Jim! Ew, did you lick my hand?"
"Oh come on, I've done much worse." He winked at her, causing her to blush.
The short drive to the park that surrounded Lover's Lake was pleasant, if not quiet, but that wasn't exactly unwanted after a chaotic first half of the day.
Since there was no parking area, Hopper pulled over and stopped the car on the side of the road.
Grabbing the brown paper bags that held their food, Hop said, "Come on, Joycie! We got thirty minutes for this picnic!"
"Coming!" Smiling, she jumped out of the car, and alongside Hopper, started running.
"Joyce!" She only stopped once they got to where the grass and trees met the sand and shells, which gave her a moment to breathe before turning to see why her boyfriend had called after her. When she did, she noticed he was much farther behind than she thought, and had taken a break to steady his breath. "Why are you so fast?!"
"I guess I'm just better at running than you are." She shot back
"No!" He protested, slowly making his way towards her. "You're smaller, and I have to carry our stuff. That adds weight."
"Jim it's two sandwiches and a bottle of water." She deadpanned
"It's still stuff!"
She shook her head as he arrived at her side. "Let's just eat, ya palooka."
He sat down, crisscrossing his legs as she did the same, and pulled out their sandwiches-both grilled cheese-and handed one to her.
She unwrapped hers and bit in. It was cold after having sat on Hopper's desk for hours, but it still tasted good.
Her eyes met Hop's as she glanced over to see him finished with his first bite. "I love you."
It too her brain a beat to register the words. Was it uncommon for Hopper to express his feelings towards her, and vice-versa? No, not at all. But it didn't come out of the blue so often
"I love you too, but where come from?"
He shrugged. "Can't I just tell my amazing girlfriend I love her?"
"I mean, I don't mind it." She felt her face turn warm, "I was just wondering."
They continued with their food, holding hands and admiring each other. At least, until Hop's eyes started to wander.
"Joyce." He managed to whisper with childlike wonder. "Ducks."
What he had just said was so confusing and sounding so unlike him that she was sure she had misheard him. "Did you just say 'ducks'?"
"Yeah." Hop said with a 'duh' tone, then pointed, "Look."
She followed his finger, and saw a small flock of white ducks.
"Cute." She smiled, then noticed Hopper was smiling more than she expected he would. "Do you like ducks?"
"Yeah! Of course. Who wouldn't?" He answered, then explained, "When I was a kid, most of my friends liked dinosaurs or unicorns, I had a fascination with weirdly angry birds."
"How did I only learn this now?" She asked, giggling at the thought of five-year-old Hopper chasing after Mallards at the park.
"Guess I'm just a very complicated person." He feigned seriousness
"Yes, yes you are." She deadpanned, then added, "Before you ask, my favorite was horses."
"Oh my god you were a horse girl?" He teased
"You, at the age of 44, just got excited about ducks, you don't get to tease me. It was very cute, to be fair, but still."
"Speaking of which," He ripped one of the bread pieces off from the other and scrapped the cheese off it, "do you want to feed the ducks?"
She desperately wanted to make a joke about how only old people fed ducks, but on the other hand, the idea of feeding cute birds bread with the love of her life made her heart race.
"Yeah, why not?" She sat up, allowing her bag to fall, though thanks to the apple left in it, it didn't fly away.
They walked until they were just close enough to feed the birds, but far enough so their shoes didn't get wet.
"Here, babe." He ripped the piece of bread in half and handed her one of the halves.
They watched the ducks swim and quack at each other until a few of them got close enough for her to toss a small chunk of bead into the water and for it to grab it and swallow it in its beak. And, she would take this to her grave, it smiled back at her, filling her heart with the same happiness as when Will would smile while drawing or when Jonathan would get excited over a good photo.
Hop watched her and the animal smile and broke the silence, saying, "See? That's why I love ducks. Even if it's a little out of character for me."
"I think it's adorable." She placed a kiss on his cheek as he fed another duck that had approached them some bread.
It went on like this until they ran out of bread, which is when they said goodbye to their new duck acquaintances and dragged themselves back to the car.
"Do we really have to go back to work?" Hop whined, reluctantly climbing into the driver's seat.
"Yes, Jim. We have work to do." She shot back, and watched him sigh and turn the car on. "Hey, it's just going through files, right? At least that'll just be you and me."
"Yeah, fair." He nodded, and placed his hand on top of hers.
Soon after, they began driving back to work, where, once they got past the teasing they got from their colleagues for going on a romantic sorta-date, they worked tirelessly, going through every report of this guy attacking other women and every man they had on file. Given that all these assaults had happened in Hawkins, they were sure it had to be someone who lived nearby. They found a few candidates, but that was for tomorrow.
Right now, it was time to go home to their kids, and Connor. El and Will had had A.V. club after school, and Connor had been volunteering at the school library, so they hadn't needed to be picked up.
Ever since her conversation with Lauren, she felt like a weight had been taken off her chest, and now she could finally breathe. No more lying awake at night with constant painful thoughts echoing. No more fidgeting with the end of her sleeve anytime she felt like the people at the police station were ignoring her. No more of dreading if Hopper, too, had newfound distain towards her.
Hopefully. Realistically, all of these would continue to taunt her, but maybe she could fight back. With some help and her meds, of course.
"Hey Joyce?" Hop's voice managed to break though the noise in her head, and he got her to look at him as they stopped at a red light before continuing, "I love you."
She chuckled awkwardly, looking down at his shirt instead of his piercing, all knowing blue eyes. "Wow, being a bit romantic today, are we?"
"I love you." She knew he could see past her attempt at making a joke to cover her tracks, but she was hoping she could hold up her façade long enough so she wouldn't have to talk about it. But, like always, he knew what was going on inside her head. "I love you. We all love you. You are an amazing person, and you make me want to be a better person every single day. You, and don't tell the kids I said this, are my entire world."
She had to look away from him and toward their surroundings, because if she looked at that damn police uniform for one more second, she would begin to cry. Still, she tried to keep cool. "W-Where'd all-Where'd all that come-come from?"
"It's always been here. I could just tell you needed to hear it." She could see the reflection of Hopper's smile beaming down on her. "Joyce?"
She finally turned to face him, tears still brimming at the edges of her eyes. "Uh-huh?"
"Hi." He simply said
"Hi." She smiled, feeling a small tear fall upon her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.
The second they were in the door, Hop went straight for the kitchen, after saying hello to the kids. Since she was banned from the kitchen, she got to talk with her kids about their day and hear them ramble about their art projects or how they finally understood a math equation.
"How about you, Mom?" El asked, "How was your day?"
"Oh, good." She smiled, "Yeah, we had a case today."
She rambled on about what they did that day, mainly explaining the case, but also mentioning their lunch.
That was when Connor had asked, "Why didn't you steal a duck?"
"Connor." Will sighed, mirroring her whenever Hopper would say something stupid just a little too much, "You can't steal a duck."
"Why not!? No one owns the ducks-"
The two boys began bickering, and she, alongside El, sat there, watching the couple argue. They were so loud she didn't hear Hopper creep up behind her.
"Kids after our own hearts, aren't they?" He chuckled, rubbing her back before planting a kiss on the skin just below her ear.
"When's dinner?" El asked, attempting to ignore her brother and his boyfriend
"Soon, I'd say ten more minutes."
"Can I go call Max?" El asked, eyes flickering towards Will and Connor, who continued to debate whether or not you could take a wild duck home. Technically, there was a law against the capture of wild animals, but she didn't want to break the boy's spirit.
"Sure, sweetie." She nodded.
As soon as El received permission to leave, she bolted out of her seat and upstairs, leaving the two couples in the living room.
"Can I come help with dinner?" She knew his answer just from his raised eyebrows. She replied by whispering, "Don't worry, I won't actually do anything, I just think these two need some alone time."
Hopper looked subtly at Will and Connor, who still hadn't moved past the ducks. "Are you sure? Usually when we bicker, it ends with us making out."
She giggled, and answered, "No, it's less bickering now and more debating. If they were gonna start kissing, they would've already done it."
"Fair point." He nodded, "Well, in that case..."
With that, she got up and went to the kitchen, Hopper copying her by doing the same. Neither of them had to say anything else, but somehow, they were now both sitting together at their dining table, watching the oven.
"What are you making?" She finally asked
"Chicken casserole." He answered, then lifted his eyes from the food to her. "You're so pretty."
He kept giving her whiplash with all these compliments. "What?"
"I said you're pretty."
"Yeah, I know. Why?"
"Because you're pretty. Because you always look pretty and I love you in your uniform." He inched closer to kiss her cheek.
She pressed her hand to his chest, "Now you know how I felt every time you'd walk into Melvands with this damn thing on."
"Good thing it did its job." He shot back
"And those sunglasses," She grinned, "God..."
"Hey Mom!" Thank God Will had begun to speak before he and Connor had entered the room. By then, her and Hopper were practically on top of each other, and she could see just by the look in his eyes that Hop had been seconds away from pulling her on to his hips. It gave them enough time to separate before the kids found them about five seconds away from leaving the kitchen and running straight to the bedroom.
"Uh...Hey guys!" She forced a smile, eyes jumping from the kids to Hop, who also seemed to be sweating bullets.
"Is dinner ready?" She was sure that at least Will had noticed the weird tension surrounding his parents, but he ignored it and asked her that question.
"Uh..." She looked over towards the oven and read the time off it. "A few more minutes."
"Mrs. Byers?" Connor interjects, "Can we help set the table?"
"Of course, sweetheart." She grinned and stood up with Hop to allow the boys to start placing forks and plates down.
As they watched the young couple from the hall, Hop muttered to her, "they're a pretty cute couple, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they are." She smiled as Will handed Connor a spoon. "They're kinda like us, in a way."
"How so?" He could already see what she was talking about, but he still wanted to know her opinion. He always valued what she said, he told her as much, and it made her have to fight off a blush that would rush to her cheeks anytime he did this sweet gesture.
She explained, "High school love, they make each other better people, cute bickering, getting arrested...need I say more?"
"Fair."
For the rest of the night, she, Hop, and the kids spent the time watching Jaws 2 and talking about Halloween costumes. Will and Connor were discussing going as Seymore and Audrey II from Little Shop, El planned to dress up with Max as Janey and Lynne from Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and she was still trying to rope Hopper into a couple's costume with her.
"We don't even trick-or-treat." Was his main point
"And?" She had shot back. After that, though he did put up a fight, Hop agreed to dress up.
"Only for you, though." He had added, sending another wave of butterflies crashing into her stomach. God, sometimes that smile, and that hair, and those eyes, and everything about him put together was just too much for her heart to deal with.
A few hours passed, and she was walking from the hallway bathroom after brushing her teeth to the bedroom. She arrived at the doorway entrance, and watched her boyfriend, who was smiling and reading one of her books. Glancing at the cover, she recognized the cover art of The Handmaids Tale.
"What'cha reading there, Jim?" She grinned, making her presence known
He spotted her, and answered, "Handmaids Tale. It's actually pretty good."
"Glad you're enjoying my book." She giggled, and slid under the blanket next to Hop.
"Mmh." He hummed as he helped her pull her shirt off. "Warm enough?"
"It's still summer." She said, "Of course."
"Just checking. May I?" He nodded towards her neck. She mumbled a yes, letting him bite at the skin.
"God..." She leaned her head against his. "Jim, we have to sleep."
"In a minute." He responded, and broke the kiss to look up. "I love you so much."
"I love you more." She planted a kiss on his now-exposed lips.
He finished planting a hickey or two on her neck, then laid back down on her pillow. This allowed her to place her head on his chest.
"Goodnight, my love." He whispered in her ear as the sounds of his heart echoed in the other.
"Goodnight, babe." She replied, earning her a kiss on the head before they both went still, laying in each other's embrace until, together, they fell asleep.

A/N: Hey gals, guys, and non-binary pals! Sorry I haven't updated since...January? I think? Again, sorry about that. I've just had a lot going on in my life, and between homework during the school year, my sleep schedule going off the rails, losing my main friend group, a bunch of theatre productions, and the multiple WIPs I have in progress that I haven't published, I haven't had a lot of time to write. I told myself I would at least publish one chapter before the summer ended. I will warm you, I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out. My schedule this year will probably be even more unpredictable, but I will try to keep chapters coming out. 

Thank you all for supporting this story!

-scoopstroop2020