Right Side Up - A Stranger Things Season 4 Fanfic (incomplete)

Chapter 12

The party's trip had come to an end, and everyone was exhausted. Since Joyce couldn't drive with one hand, the kids were taken to Hawkins by none other than Steve Harrington; that kid was a real lifesaver. And as for the others, Dr. Owens had sent his team to take them home.

As soon as they had reached their home, the children went to their room, depserate to get some well needed rest.

Hopper was looking around the new home, when his gaze fell on the pictures Joyce had placed on top of the fireplace in the living room. He slowly made his way to the fireplace, and gently took one of the pictures in his hands.

The picture showed Joyce with Will and El huddled around her, outside of a fair, with bright smiles on their faces. He assumed Jonathan had taken it, since he wasnt in the picture. His fingers trailed along the glass, and stopped where El's face was. A small grin formed across his lips, seeing his daughter smile after 5 months, even if it was in a picture. His eyes landed on Joyce in the picture, and upon closer inspection, he noticed that the lines that formed under her eyes when she smiled weren't there.

That small detail broke his heart and his grin left his lips, as he realized that her smile was fake, and in reality, she was in unbearable pain, because of his death. He furrowed his brows, as he struggled to hold his tears back.

"What are you looking at?" Joyce chirped, as she approached him.
Hop quickly wiped the sad expression off his face, and turned to look at her.

Joyce noticed the picture in his hand, and gently took it from him to look at it.
"Jonathan took this, almost 3 weeks after we moved." she said with a sad smile on her face.

"The kids were so excited to go to the fair, and I figured it would be good for them to take their minds off of.."
She suddenly stopped, and put the picture back on the fireplace, while whispering something about dust to herself.

"So.. uhm" Joyce cleared her throat, "Do you want to sit outside?"

"Uh.. sure." Hopper replied, avoiding to look at her, afraid he might notice more details in her expressions, more lines he wasn't there to see them form.

He followed Joyce at the house's back porch, and sat next to her on the oudoor couch.

The pair sat in silence. They didn't care though, because the awkward tension that had formed between them in Russia had turned into a comforting silence, despite the awkward interaction they had with eachother in the house, as if no words needed to be spoken, just each other's presence alone could make up for all of the things that needed to be said.

But they both knew it was only temporary. Eventually, the truth had to be spoken, and it had to happen fast, or else the silence would eat away at the both of them.

"Joyce.." he said without thinking, and instantly glued his eyes shut and lowered his head, realizing he wasn't ready to have this conversation yet. He hoped that by doing so, his voice wouldn't reach the woman's ears.

But unfortunately, it did.

"Yeah, Hop?" she turned to him, tilting her head to meet his gaze.

There was no turning back now.

"Your uh..." he said hesitantly.
"Your wrist.. does it hurt?"

A small grin crept onto her lips, as he finally lifted his head to look at her.

"You've used that one before." she chuckled, and placed her hand on his arm. As soon as her hand touched his arm, she felt his muscles instantly relax. It was as if she had this effect on him, everytime she touched him, he felt safe, and protected.