𝐽𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

Post-S5 Vol 1. Jopper OneShot

⚠️ TV-14 crude language, slight smut, but mostly suggestive
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"Joyce." Hopper spoke firmly. Finally, she looked at him. "Are you mad at me or something?" His eyebrows were furrowed. "These past couple of days you haven't gone near me or talked to me, you barely even looked at me." His voice was desperate.

"El told me." She bit the inside of her lip.

"Told you what exactly?" An anxious twist began in his stomach. He watched her cheeks flush out of anger.

"I can't talk about it." She moved to walk away, and he grabbed her wrist.

"No, we need to talk about it. I don't want to fight with you." He did his best to get her eyes to meet his.

"She knew you wouldn't tell me yourself, so she told me. About what you did, your plan. Your 'fail safe.'" She spat the last words out like they were venom.

"Shit, Joyce." He sighed, rubbing his hands along his face. He glanced to the couch feet away where El and Will were playing card games. "Let's go somewhere more private." He nodded towards the bedroom, and she went ahead of him, sitting on his bed and grabbing a pillow to hold in her lap. Softly, he closed the door behind them. He sat at the edge of the bed in front of her, resting a hand on her ankle. "What all did El tell you?"

"She told me what she saw strapped to you, that you said it was your fail safe."

"That's all?" He asked. She nodded.

"But I don't understand why. That was never what any of us discussed when we went over the crawls." As she spoke, she progressively got angrier.

"I know. I'll tell you what I told El. If I die, I'm making sure he's dying with me."

"You'd be killing yourself, Hop!"

"Fail safe, Joyce. I wouldn't have just set it off for no reason. It meant that if I came across him, and I knew that he was in a state where he could kill me, I would make sure that when he does, he dies too." Jim explained, watching as her mouth opened and closed, betrayal all over her face. "What?" The word was quiet.

"You lied to me. Straight to my face." She choked out, shaking her head.

"Honey..." He didn't get the chance to say anything else before she spoke again.

"What the hell happened to running?!" Now, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Running isn't going to end this, Joy." He shook his head sadly, his voice calm compared to hers.

"But you're fine with not running ending you?" She stared a moment, waiting for a response that he didn't give. Instead, his thumb simply rubbed back and forth on her skin. "I told you, Hopper, I'm not having another funeral." She scolded.

"I know, baby."

"No, I don't think you do." Her jaw clenched. "Jane stuck to my side for so long because she thought I'd leave her too, and she didn't want to be alone. She never watched Miami vice while you were gone, even though it was her favorite. She didn't eat eggos for months, either. And me? I damn near cried myself to sleep every night for six months. I kept one of your uniforms in my closet so I could feel like you were near me. The guilt might've been the worst part. I regretted everything. Standing you up, turning that key, hell even how I didn't try to reconnect with you as soon as you came back from the military. So, no, Jim. I don't think you understood when I told you I wasn't having another funeral."

As soon as the momentum from speaking was gone, the only thing that could come out of her mouth were cries. In a swift move, Hopper moved to the headboard next to her, tugging her to his side. He wasn't exactly expecting it with the way she seemed so angry, but she hugged him back. Tight. She buried her face in his chest, muffling the sound of her cries. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, burying his nose in her hair, kissing her head.