Jopper: one shots

I thought you were different 1/2

"So?! You couldve died. She couldve died. Hell we all couldve died!" Joyce screamed in Hoppers face. She bit the inside of her lip squinting waiting for an answer.
"Joyce I had it under control! Nothing was going to happen, especially to El, or your family! Jeez why dont you trust me?" Hopper said as he inched towards her, backing her into a corner of the house.
"I-I do trust you. I just-" She says as he lifts his hand.
"Just what Joyce."
"Jim, your, your scaring me." Her bottom lip trembling. She backed even farther into the corner. She put her hands on her head preparing for a hit to the head. He raised his hands higher.
"Jim, your really scaring me stop!" She jammed herself between the wall and his leg.

Joyce ran through her halls, fitting between her bedroom door, closing it behind her. She covers her mouth letting tears fall quietly.
"Joyce open the fucking door."
"Go the hell home Jim!" She screamed falling more onto the door.
"God dammit Joyce." She hears him mutter as his footsteps fade out the door. She brings her knees to her chest, resting her elbows crying into her fists. She shivers reaching for the nearest blanket.

What had happened that turned him into something so terrible and scary. She had never seen him act like that. Act like Lonnie. She hadnt even done anything. She was just worried.

NEXT DAY

The morning came. Joyce still unsure of what happened last night wasnt sure if she should bring lunch to Hop. She decided it would be best if she didnt. She didnt want to annoy him more or turn him into whatever that meltdown was. To be honest she was scared. Scared of what he would do to her. She never thought of him as someone who would hit her, or any woman. As she got ready she couldnt stop thinking about what couldve angered him like that.

After checking a customer out she decied to read. She sat at the chair waiting for customers. The bell above the door rang loudly.
"Welcome in." She said continuing to read her book.
"Joyce." Hopper said as he walked up to the register.
"J-Jim. I dont want to see you right now. Im sorry but Im gonna have to ask you to leave sir." Joyce said backing away from the belt.
"Joyce Im really sorry. I- I dont know what got into me that night. I dont want you to feel scared around me. You know how I feel since I went to Russia." He says resting his elbow near the register.
"I cant talk to you right now. Do you remeber what Ive been through. I knew you got angry sometimes but not that angry. I understand youve changed since being in Russia, but I just don't see how you could even want to hit me. You dont understand how much that scared me. It brought me back to my dark places." Joyce says while using her hands to talk, her eyes slowly getting glossier.
"Im sorry Joyce. I want you to feel safe with me I dont know what else to do."
"Your supposed to promise me. And you promised me, you would never hurt me."
"I didnt hurt you."
"Yes you did! Do you understand what its like to be abused? Im sorry Jim, I think its best if we end things I am too afraid. I thought you would be different."
Hopper just stares in despair. His throat tightened.
"I am different, I-"
"Just go. Go away Jim." Hoppers mouth opens wide, she wont even call her Hop or Hopper. his eyes fill with tears and he ealks to the exit. Joyce sniffles and sobs as he walks out. The guy who she had always loved had turned his back on her. "Hop..." she says in shambles. Her sobs fill the store. She gets off work early. No one comes to Melvalds anymore anyway.

LATER

A ring from the phone brings Joyce up from the couch.
"Joyce?"
"Jim."
"Joyce, I just want to talk, okay?"
"Well I dont." She slams the phone into the wall. God she hated him, she hated how scared that made her, but she loved him. She loved whenever he was a soft caring person. But she hated how scared that made her.

He showed up knocking at the door just 10 minutes later.
"Want to have a cigarette with me?" He asks pointing the the front porch.
"Not really." Her face shown with no emotion at all. Hop grabs her arm as she flinches at his touch. His eyes soften.
"Im sorry I didnt mean to scare you." He says noticing her sudden movements.

Her eyes tear up as they sit on her front porch.
"Do you even know what Ive gone through Jim?" She asks breaking the bitter eye contact between them.
"I do." He says reaching for her hand.
"You clearly dont. You almost hit me Hop! It reminded me of Lonnie. It scared me. I dont even know what I did to deserve that. And I do, did trust you."
"Did?" His eyes swell, continuing the bitter eye contact. "I love you Joyce. I do. I dont know what got into me last night. There is no excuse for how I acted, but how can you forgive me?"
"Do you know how I cried myself to sleep last night. I ignored all those rumors about you being abusive and then you threaten to hit me? Were those rumors right?"

"Rumors?"

.