Jopper : You make my heart skip a beat

Chapter 4

Joyce watches as El goes to find Will, they'll be in there for god knows how long. She smiles as she looks back at Hopper. His blue eyes still stare into hers. That same look. That same twinkle in his eyes as they searched hers for something she didn't know of herself.

She suddenly feels nervous and looks down at her feet, hoping he can't see her blush. Breathe. She tells herself as she turns to walk to the couch. She looks over her shoulder to see him glued in the same place. Eyes fixed on her.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" She teased as he caught himself and moved further into the Byers home. She sat on the couch, slowly getting comfortable.

He removed his hat and coat and walked over to the couch and sat beside her. "Need any help with dinner?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "No, I think we'll just order some pizza." She reached for the tv remote as she spoke. "If that's ok with you?" She looks over her shoulder at him, seeing him smile.

"Joyce, that's perfectly fine." He chuckled to himself before adding, "what did you burn this time?" She gave him a death glare but at seeing the humour written across his face, she gave in and let out a laugh. "A casserole." This just made him laugh louder.

 She was sure the kids could hear him, but she knew he didn't care. And they wouldn't care. Would they? They already act like brother and sister. Sharing their inner most thoughts that not even the rest of the Party knows. And what about Jonathan? What does he think about this situation? Oh no, what if he knows? That I have feelings for Hopper. He has always been good at reading people's emotions. But then why wouldn't he say anything? Is it just that he doesn't want to get involved. Or. Or is it that he knows I won't like his opinion.

"What do you want to watch?" Joyce asked while moving back into a comfortable position beside him, trying to clear the raging war going on inside her head. "How about a movie?" She pressed a few buttons and on came one of their favourite movies.

Joyce wasn't paying attention to the movie though. She was just thinking about how close she was to him. The entire left side of his body, was pressed against her side. Why is he so attractive? Yeah we dated in high school but only for a short time. We never said those three fatal words. I love you. And our break up before prom left me with Hawkins number one drunken piece of garbage, Lonnie Byers. So what was this feeling. I felt it back then, but it's stronger now. And what about Bob? How long is it okay to grieve? I feel so guilty about this. Why can't I just move on from Bob. Why can't I just forget about Hopper?

She knew her thoughts would only go down from here, so she stood up. The warmth from his body immediately leaving her side, as she straightened herself. 

A look of concern crossed Hoppers face as he paused the movie. "Are you ok?" He asked clearly worried at her sudden movement. He's so cute when he's worried. No. 

"Um...I was just gonna order the pizza." She moved around the couch to reach the phone on the wall. "Our kids are probably starving." Oh no. I just said our kids. Not the kids, our kids. Shit. What is he going to say to that. But Hopper just chuckled and said, "Yeah they probably are. They eat like animals." This made her laugh and she had to compose herself before ordering. 

When the food was ordered, she told him it would only be twenty minutes tops and sat back down, careful not to snuggle up to him. Hopper put his arm around the back of the couch. If Joyce just inched her head back he would basically have his arm around her. She knew she had to resist. Twenty more minutes of this torture of trying not to shout out how I feel about him.

She slowly took in a breath and focused all of her attention on the movie. Her mind kept on drifting though and she couldn't stay focused. 

After a few minutes, to her relief she heard a knock at the door. Pizzas here. She went to stand up, but at the exact same time Hopper tried to stand too, which resulted in a weird sort of fall or stumble.

Joyce and Hopper somehow ended up a tangle of legs and arms. Joyce just burst out laughing and he joined her. It was only until they calmed that they both seemed to realise the same thing. Joyce was sitting in Hoppers lap. Her legs wrapped loosely around his waist as his hands were on her back. He made her heart skip a beat and her breath hitched. 

He stared deep into her brown eyes, searching. They both slightly moved in, his grip on her back tightened a bit. Their lips a mere inch apart.

A sudden creak of a door opening, jolted them apart as Will and El walked out of his bedroom. Joyce tried to compose herself, avoiding Hopper eyes without trying to raise suspicion. 

"Is the pizza here? We heard a knock at the door." Will asked his mother turning to look at the closed door. Joyce tried to answer as calmly as possible, "Yeah I think it is. I'll go answer."