Now or Never (a Jopper fanfic)

Morning

Something was different, Joyce couldn't put a finger on it, but somehow the other three people in the cabin changed overnight. Almost like they knew something and she didn't. Joyce wanted to ask and just get the awkwardness over with, but couldn't seem to for some reason. So she stayed silent while drinking her coffee.

Hopper spent most of the morning outside in his pjs, smoking, his emotion switching with every cigarette. He loved that his daughter cared about him enough to set him up with Joyce, yet she used her powers somehow (Hopper was still a little confused on that part) to get what she wanted. There had to be consequences for her actions, he just didn't know what they would be. And then, there was Joyce. Should he tell her what Jane did? Maybe Jane was manipulating her too? In that case did Joyce even want to be with him?

The second Jane saw her father that morning she knew he heard her and Will's conversation. She winced every time she saw him look at her, preparing for the raging monster he tended to be when she did something wrong. When Hopper announced he was going outside, she knew that he was waiting for Joyce and Will to leave so they could talk. She was both nervous and happy all at the same time. "He knows," Jane whispered to Will, both staring at their cereal bowls.

Keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone else. This is just between you and me bud. All his life Will had been keeping secrets. Secrets for his father, for his brother, for his friends,  for the mind fyler, and for himself. Sometimes he felt more like a file cabinet stocked with secrets than a real person. He hated it, but the biggest secret of all was his and until he felt brave enough to share it, he would just remain a filing cabinet.

All eyes were on Hopper when he walked in the door. "You want one?" he asked Joyce, while holding up his pack of cigarettes. She nodded and followed him out the door. "What's going on?" She asked, when they got to the farside of the porch. Looking out at the trees before him Hopper sighed. "I don't know if I can tell you because honestly I don't know myself," he continued with a chuckle. "But, the kid and I need to talk." Confused, Joyce replied, "Oh, do you want us to leave?" "No, no, not just yet," Hopper said, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. As much as he needed to talk to Jane, he needed to be close to Joyce, to touch her one last time before she inevitably decided to break off their impending relationship. Why would she ever want to be with me. With that he kissed her head.

After their goodbyes on the porch Jane, quickly, made the way to her room and shut the door, scared for what was about to come. Hopper could sense that she was scared, and tried to get rid of all the venom in his voice before he stepped into the cabin. "Hey kid, we need to talk. Can you let me in?" He asked, quietly knocking on her door. There was no answer, but the door did crack open slightly. When Hopper walked in he saw Jane sitting on the bed with her knees all the way up to her face and she was silently crying. Once he sat on the bed she whispered, "I'm sorry, I just wanted you to be happy." With a sigh Hopper spoke, "I know you did kid, come'er." He then tried to get her to sit on his lap so he could hug her tight and let her know that he wasn't angry. He held her until there were no tears left, he even let some fall as well.

"You good?" Hopper asked, once he heard Jane's breathing become normal. She nodded and moved off his lap. "Ok then let's talk and I promise I won't yell. I just want to know what you've been up to," he said, in a comforting, but serious tone. Jane took a breath,

Ok, it started right after you grounded me last. I was mad and knew I couldn't do anything about it or you would ground me more, but I just had to do something. Then the next night you told me we were going to have dinner at Will's. I was confused at first. Why were we going somewhere when I was grounded? Then I watched you and Joyce, the way you two look, talk, and act around each other is a lot like how Mike and I act towards each other. Then I realized you love each other and neither of you had a clue or just didn't want to admit it. So that night I tried something I hadn't done before. I focused really hard and tried to see if I could make your feelings for Joyce stronger in a dream. It took a couple tries, but I could tell I was getting through. But as the days went on I could feel myself getting tired and when my period came I was just exhausted. That's how I got sick.

Hopper was silent the whole time during Jane's confession, taking every word in and forming his own. All those restless nights he's been having for no reason, showing up late and exhausted to work, taking quick snoozes at his desk, all because his little girl, with abilities, wanted him off her back. However, that did lead him to Joyce's porch, confessing his love for her. So yeah, part of Jane's plan was to get what she wanted, but she did truly love her father and Joyce, who as far as Jane was concerned, was her mother.

When Hopper didn't speak for a while Jane asked, "So what's my punishment?" "Woha, slow down, we're not even to that part yet." Honestly, he didn't know what to ground her from this time. "First you gotta listen to what I have to say, then we'll get to that m'k?" Jane nodded.

Listen I know you're heart was sort of in the right place in this and you feel bad for manipulating the situation. But do you understand that using your power like that is almost how Papa [he cringed saying his name] and Kali wanted to use your powers? To get what they wanted for what they thought was the better good. With power, any kind of power, comes responsibility. Take me for instance, I'm the Chief, I have a gun and the ability to put people in jail, but that doesn't mean I can just go shoot someone that I think is bad or go throw someone in jail for no reason. You understand?

"Yes," Jane said, in a whisper and she did. She didn’t necessarily like being compared to Papa or Kali, but she got it. "Okay, now your punishment." Hopper thought he had a pretty good idea of how he wanted to go about grounding her. "Y...You have to tell Joyce what you've been up to and accept any punishment she may give you." He took one look at his little girl and could see that she sincerely felt awful about the whole thing, there was no point in grounding her and it might even make her retaliate.

"Really? That's it?" Jane asked, hugging her father. She was prepared for Hopper to say the usual grounding sentence, but it didn't come. However, the thought of telling Joyce of the past events made her sick to her stomach. What if she got mad? What if she took back everything nice she said to her? What if she had nothing to do with them after this? Little did Jane know those same thoughts were is Hopper's head as well.