Jopper : You make my heart skip a beat

Chapter 20

Hopper smirked at her then looked to Joyce, raising an eyebrow. "You wish!" He said. El saw his hand reaching under the table. Ooohhh! Probably to hold Joyce's hand! I wish they would just kiss and then we could all be a family! Why is it so hard for them to admit their feelings? And me and Will are going to win, thank you very much!

El never saw either of their hands move, so she assumed that they were still holding hands. El started drawing furiously across her page as Will started to guess. "A fish!?" He guessed wildly as El never stopped her marker from flying across the page. Why does he think my cat is a fish!? It's obvious!

While Will continued to guess random things, out of the corner of her eye, El saw Hopper and Joyce lean in close to each other. Hopper whispered something in her ear, making Joyce smile. A happy smile. I love it when Hopper and Joyce smile at each other. They look so in love. And happy. And they don't even see it! How can they not? It's so obvious they love each other. Everyone else knows they're in love. So why don't they?

"A dog?" Will asked uncertainly. El drew the last of her cat and just in time, Will said, "A cat!" El smiled brightly and smirked at Hopper and Joyce. "We win that round." Hopper leaned away from Joyce before Will could see them and chuckled. "Ok kid, our turn." Hopper seemed almost reluctant to lift his hand from under the table, but he did. 

Joyce grabbed a page and a marker and started to draw. Hopper got it after one guess, only 10 seconds in. "And that's what I like to call...victory!" Joyce and Hopper both laughed at the pouting kids opposite them.

I'm upset that they did better than us, but I must admit they make a perfect team. They're so cute together."Ok, ok you win then." Will said. El didn't want the game to end now. If the game ends, then Hopper and Joyce might not realise that they make such a good team. And then they might not say their feelings out loud.

"Can we play another round. Will and I need our revenge!" She asked happily and Joyce only chuckled. 

"Yeah, sure kid, if we need to prove we can beat you every time, then so be it!" Hopper teased, earning a playful smack on the arm from Joyce. "What?" He asked innocently. "You know what." Joyce laughed, smiling the biggest and brightest smile at Hopper. 

They're so cute together. They're perfect for each other. They understand one another. They comfort each other. They respect each other. They protect each other. They'd risk their lives for each other. And they both know all of this. But the one thing that they don't realise they both feel...is love for one another. They know they make a great team fighting monsters, but they don't know that they love each other? How can they not? "You're on!" Will shouted as he reached for more pages to draw on. 

The game continued with shouting out guesses. Cries of frustration. Laughs from the other teams. Gloating when their team won. Making up excuses of why their team didn't win. It went on and on.

 Hopper and Joyce won almost every time. They've known each other for too long! That hardly seems fair! They can basically read each other's minds when it comes to a game of Pictionary, but can't see the other person loves them? It makes no sense to me. But at least we're together and they're happy together.

After the last round, El had an idea. "Hey, Joyce?" She asked across the table, tidying up the mess they had made. "Yes, sweetheart?" Joyce looked up from her gaze on Hopper and smiled at the girl. "Can you help me pick out a new game, please?" El asked politely, gathering up the remains of paper scattered across the wooden table. "Yeah sure." Joyce replied. Joyce and Hopper both lifted their hands from under the table at the same time, before Joyce stood up.

El had to stop and remind herself that she couldn't squeal out loud. 

They were holding hands again! I wonder if they are going to share their feelings with each other? Or if they already have!? They could have when we were in here, setting up the game. Or when we they were in the kitchen and we were on the couch. But...no. They would have said something. And they'd be doing more than just holding hands.

El was confident in their feeling towards each other and had an idea. She was going to ask Joyce how she felt about Hopper. I know Joyce loves him. I just need her to admit it.

They went back into the living room finding the stack of games still in the same place by the fire. "Which game do you want to play?" Joyce asked kindly, walking over to the variety of games. "I don't know, let's look and see what's here." El replied, reaching to shuffle around the games until she found one she was sure everyone would like. 

"Joyce, can I ask you a question?" El enquired, nervous that Joyce would get mad at her for assuming her feelings for Hop. What if she doesn't want me involved. Hopper seems ok with me and Will knowing that he loves Joyce. But what if Joyce isn't the same?

"Yes, honey, ask me anything." Joyce said turning to smile at El. El wasn't sure how to ask Joyce, so she just said the most obvious option. 

"Do you love Hopper?" Joyce looked very taken aback by El's sudden question. She doesn't look angry. I hope she lets me tell her how much Hopper really loves her.

"W-what. What do you mean?" Joyce stumbled weakly through the sentence, her nerves clear as day. "Do you love Hopper?" El asked again, a little more confident in her theory. She does love him. I can see it in her eyes. The way she smiles at him. She loves him. She just needs to realise it.

"I-It's not that simple, El." Joyce said sadly, El could see the pain and uncertainty in her brown eyes. Joyce turned away from the door, fidgeting with the nearest box. "It is simple, do you feel happy around him? Do you light up around him? Does your heart skip a beat when you think about him? That's how I feel about Mike and I love him. It can be simple...you're just overthinking it. He loves you too, you know." El told her firmly, confidence never wavering.

"Um... El... I-I... I do...I love him." Joyce stuttered. Picking at her fingers nervously, Joyce asked uncertainly, "Is that ok...with you?" El smiles widely and rushed in to hug Joyce tightly. "Of course it's ok!" El exclaimed still firmly attached to Joyce in a hug. "It's more than ok. It's perfect!" She said.

It is perfect. We might be a family. We will be a family.

El looked up to smile at Joyce, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone she had not expected to see. Someone who wasn't meant to hear this conversation. What if everything's messed up now!? Have I ruined it? Have I ruined the one chance I got to have a real family filled with love.

The smile they gave her as reassurance made her realise she was just overthinking. They were trying to tell El not to say anything to Joyce. Joyce couldn't know they heard the entire conversation. She couldn't know. That could ruin everything.

El nodded briefly at the person who was standing, smiling by the door. They turned to leave. El smiled again looking up at Joyce, who suspected nothing.

They know how Joyce feels now. Hopper knows Joyce loves him back!