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Danny hates cars with a passion, which is ironic since he works at an auto-shop but he genuinely loves working there. He loves having something that's keeping his hands busy and he also loves fixing things. So that's why when Joyce Byers comes knocking on his door at ten in the morning on his day off, telling him that her car won't start up, that he immediately agrees to help her, grabs his tools, and locks Roxy inside the house.
The walk towards the Byers' house is only filled with Joyce telling him of her problem with her car. She says that she was about to go grocery shopping when her car started refusing to start and that's when she remembered about his offer, so they there were.
It takes them twenty-five minutes to get there and when Danny spots the tiny, dark green car, he's already deep down the hood of the car. He identifies the problem quickly and gets into it immediately. "It's the battery, " he tells her. "It needs a deep clean."
He grabs the necessary things from his bag and starts cleaning the battery. Joyce stays at his side almost all the time, only getting inside to give Danny an iced-tea. It's oddly too hot that morning and Danny feels he's melting right there and the sun shining on his back it's not helping either, so he takes his shirt off and ties his hair up.
It doesn't take too long in cleaning the battery and when he's done, he finds himself propped against the car, next to Joyce and drinking his iced tea.
"So, why'd you move here?" Danny asks and maybe he shouldn't have, because Joyce's face goes slack and her smile disappears for a moment that Danny could swear that she might start crying, but she just smiles back and address him.
"There were some incidents in Hawkins, so I thought that maybe moving would be a good idea." She answers and Danny finds himself wondering what those incidents were. "Where are you from?" She then asks and it makes Danny turn his head to watch her again and she has a playful smile dancing on her lips.
"How'd you know?" He asks surprised and it's then that his southern accent starts coming up again. Joyce just shrugs, still smiling. "Born and raised in Missouri." He answers and does a little bow.
Joyce laughs and Danny might think that it's the most gorgeous sound he's ever listened to. "Missouri. Of course..." She comments and the obviousness in her tone makes Danny open his mouth and look at her playfully like she just insulted him. "You just have that whole cowboy thing going on." She adds and Danny just throws his head back and laughs.
"Well, thank you kindly, ma'am." He jokes, tipping his imaginary cowboy hat, and Joyce laughs again. "We moved here for the wife. She got a job as a teacher." He adds then and he thinks that he probably shouldn't have mentioned his late wife but there's something about Joyce Byers that makes him confide in her.
Joyce perks up at the mention of his wife and there's a twinkle in her eyes that seems too hopeful. "Oh, I don't think I've met her!" She exclaims and Danny's heart stops for a second because he knows now that he shouldn't have mentioned her, now Joyce looks happy that she may have a girl friend and it breaks Danny's heart.
Danny moves in his place uncomfortably and coughs into his closed fist, "Oh- no, uh- she's– uhh..." he cuts himself and coughs again and can see that Joyce it's looking at him with eyebrows furrowed and that makes it difficult for him to continue. "She passed a couple of years ago. Car accident." He finally says and deliberately leaves the part where his other kid was also in the car.
Joyce gasps and puts her hand on her mouth and it makes Danny feel worse because he doesn't really like to talk about his dead wife and kid. He hates that the mood's changed and that now Joyce is going to start to feel sorry for him and he hates it so much.
"I'm so sorry," She says and Danny feels like he's gonna puke, so he just buries his feelings deep down and gives Joyce a tight-lipped smile, and waves her off.
"It's okay," He tells her because it's not her fault at all, it's his fault and the drunk driver's.
So now they're just standing there in silence and Danny feels awful to have brought that up but guesses that if their kids are gonna be friends, she would know sooner or later.
"I've lost people I love too," Joyce says with her eyes trained on the ground, she keeps quiet for a while as if she's contemplating what to say and how to say it. "I'm just saying that if you want to talk... I'm here." She finishes and smiles at him and Danny can see that her eyes are slightly wet and that her hands are trembling a bit so he just smiles back and nods at her gratefully and realizes that if he says anything else he might break down crying.
Joyce pats his shoulder just like only a mother can do and Danny feels at home and it reminds him of Lillian but he feels terrible because Joyce and Lillian are not the same person but he can't stop thinking about the similarities between the two and that makes him feel more awful and now he's just falling down a hole of self-deprecation and guilt that he coughs and steps away from Joyce.
He doesn't dare to look at her so his eyes are stuck on the ground and he puts his shirt back on and says goodbye to her and thanks her for the support and when she insists on paying he just says that it's like a welcoming present and Joyce smiles again and Danny feels just the worst because he's running away from her kindness but he's already walking away and turning around would look weird so he just keeps going.
So the rest of the day he just stays inside the house, only going out to get Marla and Scott from school and to take Roxy on a walk.
And when it's time to sleep and Marla and Scott are already in bed, he finds himself unable to fall asleep.
an
danny is already whipped™ for joyce and tbfi don't blame him im sorry if it's too short and messy!
