Everything is Going to be Okay.

day one

She had done it. She made it back. Joyce was back to the day after Hopper had gotten severely beaten by the strange man at the lab and he was asleep on the couch.
Joyce hadn't figured out her plan exactly but she thought that if she could start back a few days before the explosion so she could tell him sooner her feelings and possibly save him from the explosion.
If the worst happened then at least he'd go out knowing how she felt about him which was a terrible way to look at it but she had to make him realize what she'd been going through.
This all still didn't seem real. It was like she was still dreaming. She even pinched herself to make sure.
Hopper was stirring on the couch and was beginning to wake.
"Joyce?" Hopper asked totally confused since she wasn't sitting right there next to him like she remembered. Instead she was standing by the counter in the kitchen trying to gather her thoughts, but once she heard and saw him for the first time in what felt like years..she ran over to him and grabbed his face and made sure he was okay.
"Hey, hey how are you feeling? Any better?" She asked so sweetly.
"I don't know..are you okay?" He asked with genuine concern.
"What..what do mean?" Confused she asked him.
"Well. Whoever that was he didn't see you right? I mean I know I told you stay there but there's no way you listened and I thought he came after you too." Hopper looked at her caring even though he felt like someone crushed his stomach and back it hurt so badly.
"No he didn't. I saw him take off on a motorcycle when I found you but I actually need to talk to you about something really impor-"
"A motorcycle??" Hopper got up to put some clothes on and totally ignored Joyce who was still trying to talk.
He walked to his room, shut the curtain and started talking to himself while getting dressed.
Joyce began to get frustrated as Hopper went on talking about how they wouldn't be able to get his license plates even if they had them since it would take weeks but then he got the idea to go and take a trip to Mayor Clines office.
"Where are you going??" Joyce yelled as Hopper now fully clothed was gesturing for her to come on.
"I think I know who might have some information on our little friend.." he said starting the engine to his blazer.
"Right Larry.." Joyce said under breath.
"How did you know that?" He asked as he was pulling out of his driveway.
"Guess great minds think alike." She said half smiling.
The trip to Larry's office was just about the same: Hopper beat his ass, Joyce pulled the phone cord out, they went to Larry's house and soon they were on their way to Hess Farm.
It all happened so fast. It's like those movies where you see people stuck reliving the same day over and over until they learn the lesson they were supposed to but Joyce couldn't complain since this was all self inflicted.
The drive to Hess Farm was quite long and Joyce found herself tired so she rested her head in her hand on the window. As she dosed off she began to see memories of Bob dying all over again and she woke up as she found she was going to break any second now.
She looked around her to make sure she was still in the car and she was. Joyce was okay.
Hopper however was skeptical.
"You doin ok over there?" He asked glancing over every now and then to see her face as he drove.
"I..." Joyce couldn't finish her sentence or maybe she finished it in her head and nothing came out of her mouth either way. She couldn't play pretend anymore.
Joyce couldn't tell him she was from the future but she could tell him her feelings and how much she needed him right now.
"Joyce?" He asked softly. Hopper had put the car in park off the side of the road and was looking at her.
"Please tell me what's wrong." He said.
"It's just. Every time I close my eyes I-I see him and I remember everything so clearly and I feel it all over again like this feeling of not being able to breathe and I'm not even scared of it anymore.. it's like it's a part of me and it's waiting to take me and push me over the edge just like it wants and I don't want it to happen. I..I need you..I need you so badly right now. And I can't keep acting like everything is ok, I can't. There will be days when it doesn't hurt so much but then there's other days where I just wish it would take me too and I can't- I can't do this on my own. Please I.." She began to cry in her hands as her words trailed off.
Hopper opened his door, ran to her side, opened the door and held her face in his hands.
"Hey, hey..Joyce look at me. I'm not going anywhere okay? I'm always here and I'm never leaving. I could never leave you alone." He pulled her into a hug where she cried into his arms while he stroked her hair reassuring her he was here and didn't plan on leaving.
Hopper finally knew what had been eating her up inside these past 6 months. He knew there was something going on but he never wanted to ask because he thought it wasn't his place to say anything on the matter but the fact that she had been hiding it from him this long made him shed a few tears himself.
How could someone keep all of this bottled up so long? He never knew.

They finally got around to driving the rest of the way to Hess Farm and it was now 12am. They didn't know what they'd find in there but after reassuring her again with a look, they walked in facing the danger only one of them was aware of.