The ride home was quiet, Hopper afraid to make a sound as Joyce struggled to not puke in his floorboards. She was curled up in the seat against his side, her knees drawn to her chest with her forehead flat against the top of them. His hand gently caressed up and down her right arm, trying to ease her pain the only way he could while still holding onto the steering wheel.
Carefully avoiding the potholes throughout the gravel driveway to the house, Hopper kissed her temple and parked in his normal spot beside his mother's car. He jumped slightly when Joyce quickly moved from his arms and out of the passenger door to throw up in a bush beside the front porch.
Hopper left their bags in his truck and moved to stand behind her, his hand going for her hair to move it out of her face. A sob suddenly left her lips as she leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees to throw up again. He'd see her sick before because of her headaches, but never to the point it had made her start crying and it broke his heart to see her that way.
"Joyce?" He called, rubbing her back with his free hand. "Let's go inside so you can lay down."
Joyce roughly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her coat and pulled away from his touch, frustrated that her headaches weren't getting any better and frustrated that she'd gotten hurt again when she'd been almost completely healed from when Travis had beaten her. Now her ribs were screaming with every move she made and she didn't want Hopper to worry if he noticed the amount of pain she was in.
Steadily making her way inside, Joyce kicked her shoes off by the front door and silently headed toward the living room to lay down on the couch, Hopper following close behind. She grabbed a blanket that was slung over the arm and pulled it over her head to block out the light in the room, along with hiding her face as she continued to cry. Joyce never asked for anything, always accepting what life threw her way, but right then she was begging any higher power to just bring her a bit of peace. One would think she'd grown used to the constant pain she felt growing up, that she was used to the rejection of society since she brushed it off any chance she got, but that was far from the truth. It still hurt. She was still a human being and she still had very real feelings. No one ever gets 'used' to constant pain or rejection, they just learn a different way of living to get through to the next day, and right then the weight she carried most of her life was taking its toll and she hadn't meant to be short with Hopper when he'd only been trying to help. She just needed a minute to cry out the stress she was currently feeling, along with the frustrating headache that was making her want to roll over and die just to ease the tension at the base of her skull.
Hopper stood quietly beside the couch as he watched Joyce's small body start shaking, feeling completely helpless. "What do you want me to do sweetheart?" Making sure to keep his voice low, he carefully touched her side, only to pull his hand away when she groaned and placed her own over the same spot.
"Just leave me alone," Joyce mumbled through the blanket that was still over her head.
Hopper frowned but didn't take her rejection personal. He knew she didn't feel good and his hovering would only make it worse if he kept pestering her. With a sigh, he went into the kitchen and opened the cabinet where they kept her extra bottle of pills. Filling a glass with water he made his way back into the living room and placed the glass and bottle on the coffee table beside the couch.
"At least take your medicine so you can start feeling better." Hopper watched as she uncovered herself with an irritated look and quickly swallowed the pill. As she buried her face against the back of the couch, Hopper went to close the blinds and turned off the lamp that always stayed lit in the corner of the room before taking the pill bottle back into the kitchen.
The sound of footsteps approaching alerted Hopper that he wasn't alone anymore. The footsteps were too heavy to be Joyce's, but too light to belong to his father. That left one person besides himself in the house.
"Oh good, you're home from practice honey. I was going to ask if you could... Jim, what the hell happened?" Mary's voice raised in alarm as she crossed the kitchen and placed her hands on her son's cheeks, trying to get a better look at the damage over their height difference.
"It's nothing mom, just had a small fight at school." Hopper sighed, trying to remove his face from her hold and make his way up the stairs.
"James Kenneth Hopper you sit down right now and let me look at your face!" Mary practically shouts from her spot in front of him. The use of his full name, along with the tone of her voice made him stop in his tracks and grumble.
"Alright, alright keep your voice down though, Joyce has a migraine." Hopper grudgingly walks over to the kitchen table where he pulls a chair out and flops down into the seat. Mary's hands are back on his face in seconds trying to gauge the damage that was done.
"You have dried blood everywhere Jim." She sighed. Hopper hung his head back as he listened to the sound of a drawer being opened, followed by the sound of running water. Once the water is off, she's back in front of him wiping at his busted lip with a wet washcloth. Hopper does his best not to wince at the sting that's coming from the cut and his mother's prodding.
"You going to tell me what happened or do I have to drag it out of you?" Mary asked, folding the washcloth as she tried to find a place that wasn't already covered in dry blood.
"It's nothing mom."
"Yeah, you said the same thing when we asked you about Travis. So why don't you tell me how much of nothing it really is?" Mary snapped as she none too gently moved to wipe at the cut threading through Hopper's eyebrow
"I was going to meet Joyce after practice at her locker and when I got there I found Benny on top of her holding her down."
"Benny, as in your friend Benny?" She questioned, moving to the sink to rinse the blood from the cloth.
"Ex-friend. He had her pinned to the ground and she was screaming for him to get off of her. I just snapped."
"Why was he pinning her on the ground?" Mary questioned, alarm once again sounding in her voice.
"Something about wanting to know how she got me to fall in love with her and how she was the reason I had abandoned all my other friends or some shit." Hopper stated, ready for the scolding he was going to get for cursing in the house. Mary looked down at him, but let the scolding die in her throat at the sight of his swollen eye.
"He didn't hit her did he?" Mary asked, unable to hold back the worry in her voice this time.
"I'm not sure, she hasn't said much with her head acting the way it is. Honestly, all I know is that he was on top of her and it made me so mad I couldn't see straight. I wanted to tear his arms off of his body and shove them down his throat."
Hopper didn't miss the smile that crossed his mother's lips at the mention of ripping off Benny's arms.
"What's so funny?"
"The fact that you're ready to dismember someone in order to protect Joyce. It's just shows how much she means to you"
"Of course she means a lot to me, I love her." He met her eyes when she stopped wiping at his face.
"I know you do honey and It doesn't look like he got too many hits in." She commented, the feeling of pride flaring up in her chest at the thought of her son protecting what was his.
"Pfft, he got like maybe two in. I don't even know how many times I hit him. If Joyce hadn't of pulled me off, I don't know what would have happened."
Hopper reached out for the washcloth in Mary's hands, wanting to wipe Benny's blood from his knuckles.
"Well I'm proud of you for sticking up for her. And don't worry about what your dad is going to think because I know he's going to say the same thing. Now, finish cleaning your hands while I go make sure she's okay." Mary placed two light smacks to Jim's cheeks and giggled internally as he slightly winced. Her boy was a fighter that was for sure. Just like his father.
Mary quietly made her way into the dark living room. Judging the space by memory, so she wouldn't have to turn on a light, or stub her toe in the process. Joyce was still on the couch, her back to the room. The blanket she had been hiding under had ridden down to let the top of her head peek out from its cotton confines and Mary noted her slow, and even breathing, along with the glass of water still on the coffee table. Her meds had hopefully kicked in and knocked her out for the next few hours at least.
Mary watched Joyce with a fascination only a mother could have. Counting her breaths, listening to the way she exhaled, even glancing at her foot when it twitched every so often. She knew the girl on the couch was the baby girl she had always wanted. Even if Joyce hadn't come from her body, she knew she was hers and the thought of Linda trying to take her girl away from her left a sour, dry, taste in Mary's mouth. Hell, what would happen to Jim if Linda was able to miraculously obtain custody? If they thought Jim was protective of Joyce now, there would be no holding him back from what he may do when Linda showed up to take Joyce towns away.
Shaking the thought out of her head for now, Mary reached down and covered Joyce's shoulders with the blanket. She knew Joyce was going to be out for the next several hours and would have Jim carry her upstairs and put her to bed once they had finished supper. Walking back toward the hallway, Mary gave Joyce one last look over her shoulders, before softly closing the door, and hiding her second child in a blanket of darkness.
The sounds of talking caught Mary's attention as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Greg was standing beside Jim, patting him on the back with a mischievous grin on his face.
"You did the right thing son, showed that asshole not to mess with the two of you." Mary heard him chuckle. When Greg looked up at the sound of her footsteps, he smiled and moved to place a kiss on her lips.
"Hey, honey. How was your day?" Mary questioned as her hands found their way around the back of Greg's neck.
"Same thing, different day. How about you darlin'? Anything I can help you with for supper?" Greg asked as his hands found his wife's hips.
"I was just thinking we could grab something from the diner tonight, we've all had a busy day and I'm just ready to relax." Mary suggested, her hands moving down to Greg's chest.
"Well alrighty then, I'm going to go take a shower. Mom, can you get my usual, please? And I guess, holler when you get back from picking it up Chief." Hopper emphasized the last word, making little moans of joy as he walked away.
"Guess we were a little loud the other night." Mary giggled as she placed her head on Greg's chest.
" He'll be alright, wait until their kids hear them nakie rasslin'." Greg rubbed his hips against Mary's making her laugh out loud.
"You mean the horizontal tango?"
"The Hanky Panky?"
Greg and Mary both erupted in laughter until they couldn't breathe.
"Come on cowboy, I'm hungry and I'm sure Patsy's is going to be busy." Mary instructed, grabbing a menu out of one of the many drawers in the kitchen.
The smell of the boy's locker room felt like it was choking Hopper as he sat in front of Coach Erickson. Benny was sitting beside him on the right. Neither of them had spoken a word since the coach had called a meeting with them after the first period of the day. Now he stood in front of them, hands on his hips, waiting for the two teens to explain themselves.
"Either of you two shit heads going to talk or do I have to make you do laps until your legs fall off?"
"Benny was touching what didn't belong to him so I had to set him straight." Was all the information Hopper would give up. Jim knew that Benny could be an asshole, especially when he didn't get his way, but he was a good kid, and he didn't want to say anything that could jeopardize the wrestling scholarship he had to Indiana State University in the fall.
"That true Hammond?"
Benny hung his head, not wanting the coach to see how much of a beating he had taken from Jim. "Yes, Sir."
"Well, I expect you to keep your hands to yourself from now on. As for the both of you, I don't give a flying monkey's ass about your personal beef with each other. But until that championship match passes next Friday you two will be the best of friends, is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Both Hopper and Benny said in unison.
"What did your coach say?" Joyce questioned as Hopper sat down beside her at the lunch table, kicking his feet up across the bars under it.
"Pretty much what I expected him to say, for us to get our shit together until after the match, then we can go back to hating each other. He also told Benny to keep his hands to himself so that's a plus. But how are you? You feeling any better?"
"Slightly, my head doesn't feel like a drum in the marching band at the moment if that's what you mean."
"Good, I'm glad you meds are working." Hopper sat up straight in his seat, wanting to feel her close to him. He reached out, placing his hand on her side and pulled her towards him. The painful gasp she let out caught not only his attention, but the attention of the students sitting close to their table and quickly let her go.
"Joyce whats wrong?" He whispered, not wanting to give the nosey teenagers close to them fuel for their gossip fires.
"It's nothing Hop. my ribs just hurt from-"
"Where Benny was holding you down?" He finished her sentence, a look of pure anger on his face.
"It's really nothing Hop, please just leave it." Joyce begged, pulling away from him to sit up straight once more.
"I'm going to look at it when we get home and if I think it needs to be wrapped promise you'll let me." He begged, not moving his gaze from her face. When he gave her those puppy dog eyes she couldn't deny him anything.
"I promise, let's just make it through the rest of the day and as soon as we get home you can look okay?"
This seemed to make Hopper relax slightly. Turning so his stomach brushed the lunch table, he dug into his backpack for the brown paper bag filled with food he knew he needed to eat, but felt like he couldn't. She had been hurt once again because of him and it felt like a never ending cycle with them. He promised to keep her safe and sound, and he kept breaking that promise. Joyce's hand on his thigh brought him out of his dark thoughts and he gently wrapped his much larger hand around hers as they both attempted to eat their lunch.
Mary had no clue what she was doing. She had driven the two hours from the farm to a small town, which was saying something when you grew up in Hawkins Indiana. The downtown area consisted of a post office, grocery store, hair salon, a garage, and a church. Beyond those few buildings it was nothing but fields upon fields of crops, with a house scattered here and there. She knew she probably shouldn't be here, be doing this, but dammit she felt useless when it came to everything that was going on with the trial, and Mary Hopper isn't someone who was used to feeling useless.
Pulling in front of the rather luxurious house, she was baffled about how a small town preacher could afford something like this. He must have impeccable credit, or he came from family money she thought to herself as she grabbed her rearview mirror to check her hair and minimal makeup once again. She wasn't wearing what she thought they would approve of, just her normal jeans and a nice top she had stashed in her closet for important events. Climbing out of her car, Mary straightened her outfit once more before making her way down the sidewalk that sat between the pristinely manicured lawn. The front porch of the home dawned small snowman nic nacs left over from the holidays. If she didn't have a distaste for the woman, she would have even said that her home was adorable. However, Mary wasn't here to discuss home management and the weather. She was here to talk about her daughter.
Knocking three times on the front door, Mary took a step back, making sure her breathing was even and confident, something Joyce had taught her to do when she was feeling overwhelmed when a recipe wasn't turning out like she had planned. The door opening brought her out of her head and Mary was looking into the face of a kind man around Greg's age.
"Hello, how can I help you miss?" The man asked, smiling down at Mary as if this sort of thing happened all the time.
"Hello, My name is Mary Hopper and I was wanting to speak to Linda please." She answered sweetly.
The man looked her up and down and then smiled, opening the front door of his house to usher her inside.
"Of course, Linda is in the kitchen. Thats where she usually is when the boys are in school. I'm David by the way, David Carmichael, Linda's husband. It's so nice to meet you." He held out his hand to Mary, who took it quickly in hers. His hands were soft she noted, not like her husband's or her son's who were rough with work from both the station and the farm. She didn't like the way his palms felt against hers so she quickly let go as he turned to lead her through the house.
The walls were painted a bright yellow color, allowing the natural light from the windows to brighten up the home. She followed David down a long hallway which turned into a big, open, kitchen. Linda was standing at the sink, elbow deep in dish soap as she washed whatever dishes had been left from that afternoon's lunch. David cleared his throat, getting Linda's attention. She turned toward the sound of her husband, a smile on her face until her eyes focused on Mary standing behind him.
"Linda, you have a guest, this is Mary Hopper, I assumed she was the new member of the garden club you had spoken about the past few weeks." David smiled, looking between his wife and their guest. Mary noticed the quick flash of worry that shot through Linda's eyes which the woman schooled within seconds. Ahh that old habit of bullshitting just kicked in Mary thought as she approached Linda, reaching for her bubble covered fingers.
"I'm so happy to finally meet you in person Linda! I felt bad for missing the last meeting, but you know how it is, I had to take care of my daughter, she was really sick and needed her mama." Mary laughed, moving her hands from Linda's and wiping them on the thighs of her jeans.
"Oh not a problem darlin', I know how it is taking care of a sick child. Would you like something to drink? We can sit for a bit and talk about what you missed at the meeting." Linda smiled, reaching for a dish towel to dry her own hands on. Content that the pleasantries were out of the way, David stepped toward Linda, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"I'll be working on my sermon in the study if you two ladies need anything. Mary, it was a pleasure meeting you. I can't wait to see how your garden turns out this spring." He smiled and turned toward the hallway, disappearing from sight. Linda waited until she heard the door of David's study close before she planted her eyes on Mary once more.
"What in God's name are you doing here!?" She hissed, throwing her dish towel on the counter behind her.
"We need to talk about Joyce." Mary deadpanned, tired of the fakeness that seemed to be overflowing from this house and from Linda herself.
"There is nothing to discuss! I am filing for custody over my daughter and she will be moved from that horrible town and into our house were she will be brought into the light of the lord and away from the trash that has been bestowed upon her." Linda snapped, going to the counter and grabbing two glasses from within. Mary watched as she filled them both with tea from the fridge before sitting them down on the table. She's making sure everything looks right incase David comes back. Smart.
"There is more to it and you know it Linda. Joyce is her own woman and she always has been. Do you honestly think that if you get custody over her that she is going to stay here with you? You abandoned her, left her with Travis who abused her for years, tried to rape her. She would be on the run the moment you go to sleep the first night. Not to mention, what in the hell are you planning on telling David? That she's just some troubled teen runaway that you feel the Lord put in your path to try and help?" Mary accused, standing up to her full height of 5'6, standing at least four inches taller than Linda. Well we know where Joyce's smallness came from.
"That's exactly what I'm going to tell him, because that's the truth! She is a helpless teenager who has come back into my path because she needs me!"
"No she needed you when she was six. She needed you when Travis knocked one of her baby teeth out of her mouth, or when he broke her nose, beat her with a belt until her ribs fractured. She needed you to be the protective mother you should have been, but she doesn't need you now because she has me. She has Greg, and most of all she has my son." Mary tried to control the anger that was rising in her stomach. Never in her life had she met such an insufferable woman.
"Your son is only going to defile her if it hasn't happened already." Linda snapped, pointing her finger at Mary. "You let them run around as if they are soul mates that have been together for years!"
"They are soul mates, they have been since they were three. You don't see it because you weren't there to watch them grow! You didn't see Joyce cheering him on at his softball games, you didn't see Jim putting bandaids on the palms of her hands when she fell and scraped them. You didn't see them falling in love like I did Linda because you weren't there! You were here, playing house with your preacher husband and taking care of your sons instead of being there for your daughter. You abandoned her like she was a diseased calf and i'm not going to let it happen to her again!" Mary reached into her back pocket, drawing out several folded pieces of paper, and handed them to Linda.
"You're not the only one who has friends in high places. These are custody papers. For Greg and I to gain full custody over Joyce until she turns 18. You sign these and I get back in my car, go back to Hawkins and you don't hear another word from me for as long as I live."
Linda looked down at the papers in her hands, anger flashing in her eyes.
"And what if i refuse? You don't have a leg to stand on." She hissed.
"You see that's where you're wrong Linda. I know every dark little secret you've ever had. My husband is the chief of police remember? He has all the records of your possession charges, shoplifting, and of course who can forget that mustang you hijacked?" Mary reached into the purse that was slung over her shoulder, bringing out a folded manilla folder about two inches thick.
"I have proof of everything you did before leaving Hawkins, the shit you did out in Vegas before you found God and met David. I have everything to do with the case with Joyce. It's all right here in black and white about how you left your daughter with a man who had not only beat you, but had hit her as well. How you left in a drugged out haze and never came back for her. How do you think David is going to feel when the woman who he worships is just another drugged out whore who now thinks her ticket into heaven is dependent on her getting the daughter she abandoned to find god? Sign the damn papers. It grants us full custody over Joyce until she is 18. It says that you will not have any contact with her until she is a legal adult and is actually willing to talk to you. You sign those papers and this little folder here gets put back in Greg's gun safe at the house. You don't, and they go right down the hallway to David's hands."
The two women stood at a stand still, Mary with her hands securely on the folder that was Joyce's livelihood, and Linda with her hands full of her ticket out. Tired of waiting, Mary took a step toward the hallway. Her feet hadn't left the linilium of the kitchen before she felt Linda's touch on her elbow.
"You know you're a real bitch right?" Linda angrily whispered as she moved toward the table in the kitchen.
"Takes one to know one Linda." Mary snipped, handing the women across from her a pen.
"Sign where everything is marked and I will be out of here in seconds."
Linda didn't even read what she was signing, just scribbled her name down and dated. When the last page had been signed, she practically threw the papers at Mary who caught them with ease. Glancing over them to make sure all the I's were dotted, Mary finally looked up at the whore by her side and gave her shit eating grin.
"Thank you for your cooperation Linda. And by the way, you're watering your houseplants too much, that's why they are the light brown color instead of bright green."
"Get the fuck out of my house!" Linda snarled as she followed Mary down the hallway and out onto the front porch. Mary laughed at the sound of a slamming door as she climbed into the driver's seat of her car, a feeling of triumph radiating off of her. Looking down at the clock she saw it was nearly five thirty. Hopefully her small family could survive without her for the next few hours while she fought traffic to get home.
As soon as Hopper set his school books on top of his dresser he was making his way over to Joyce who was sitting on the edge of their bed pulling off her socks. "Lift your shirt."
Joyce huffed at his impatience and tossed her socks across the room toward the hamper by the closet, missing one and making the other. "I promise you it's not a big deal Hop."
"Then prove it." When Hopper stood directly in front of her and placed his hands on his hips Joyce rolled her eyes and lifted her shirt to where it stopped just below her bra. Since they had to leave the bedroom door open now she didn't feel comfortable completely removing her shirt.
Joyce hadn't said much about Benny since the incident, which wasn't out of the ordinary when it came to her and sharing a traumatic event in her life, and had she not been suffering from a migraine right after it happened, Hopper would have remembered to make sure she was alright before going to sleep that night. There's no telling how long she would have kept it hidden had he not grabbed her at lunch.
Crouching to get a better look when her side was finally exposed, Hopper reached out to lightly drift his fingertips across a very faint bruise near the lower part of her ribs to make sure nothing was broken. "It doesn't look too bad, but I still want to wrap them just in case, okay?" The break from Travis had only just healed and he was afraid she may have damaged more than he could tell just from touching her.
Joyce grumbled under her breath and watched him go retrieve the wrap she had previously been wearing a few weeks ago.
"Did Benny hit you?" Hopper suddenly asked when he returned to stand in front of her again, trying his best to keep his voice level so she wouldn't pick up on the anger he was still feeling over the entire thing.
Joyce continued to hold her shirt up so he could stretch the cotton and carefully start pulling the wrap around her. "He just grabbed me. This is from when he shoved me away and I tripped."
Being reminded of what that bastard did just pissed him off more and he rubbed his hands over the thighs of his jeans to stay calm. "You promise you're not hurt anywhere else?"
Joyce watched as he grew more agitated and reached out to take his hand, pulling him to sit beside her on the bed. "I promise. Really I'm okay." Her headaches were more upsetting to her than some bully she'd been dealing with for years. The pain in her ribs didn't even compare to the frustration her migraines caused.
"I'm sorry." Hopper started before placing a hand on her cheek. "I just wish I could do more. I'm tired of people always hurting you."
"You do more than you think." She assured him, lifting her head slightly to give him a quick kiss. The fact that he loved her was more than she could ever ask for.
"Hop, where are we going?" Joyce questioned as he ushered her into the cab of his truck. He hands her a thermos of Hot Chocolate before closing her door and rushing around to the driver's side.
"It's a surprise, but I promise you're going to love it." He laughed, cranking the truck and backing out of his parking spot. Instead of heading toward the main road however, he turns his truck to the right, heading down one of the many work trails that are used when they are working out in the horse pastures. The trip is slightly rough, causing Joyce to bounce around the cab. She's thankful that the lid to the thermos is sealed, otherwise she would have a lap full of hot chocolate. It's dark out in the field, the only lights coming from Hopper's headlights, and the stars in the sky. When he stops and puts the truck in park, Joyce is looking out her window.
"Hopper, we're in the middle of the east pasture. What the hell are we doing out here?" Joyce once again questioned, glancing at the excited man beside her.
"Just give me a few minutes and I promise I'll explain everything, just close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you." Joyce makes a show of covering her eyes with the sleeves of her oversized sweater and listens for him to move. He's out of the truck in seconds, and once he closes his door, she can't hear anything outside of the cab with the exception of the tailgate lowering on the truck. She sits in the cab for what seems like forever until he finally opens her door.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now." He says, holding his right hand out to her, while his left is holding a flashlight.
"Hop, you know I don't like being out in the dark like this." She whines, trying not to let the uneasiness she feels in her chest get the best of her.
"I'm right here honey, nothing is going to happen to you." He laughs, placing his hand at the small of her back and guiding her to the bed of his truck. Hopper picks her up and can't help but smile when she lets out a startled shriek before he sits her down on his tailgate.
"Look behind you Joy." He instructs, as he moves to stand by her side. Turning around, Joyce is met with a truck bed full of pillows, one massive sleeping bag, and she doesn't even know how many blankets.
"So there is supposed to be this huge meteor shower tonight and I thought that maybe you would like to watch it with me." The sentence wasn't even out of his mouth before Joyce was crawling further into the bed of the truck, her ass swaying in front of him. He watched as she adjusted pillows behind her back and started bringing blankets on top of her.
"Well come on!" She laughs patting the empty spot beside her.
"Hold on, we left the hot chocolate in the cab." He runs to the driver side, grabs the thermos and turns off the headlights before he's climbing on the tire and throwing his leg over the edge of the truck. Finally, he is snuggled in beside Joyce, careful of her newly wrapped ribs. When she placed her head on his shoulder, Hopper let out a content sigh.
Even with the cold chill of the wind, the two teens were warm and secure within the confines of the sleeping bags and blankets.
The stars had already started rocketing across the sky, leaving quick trails of receding light through the darkness. It was peaceful for both of them. Just having Joyce at his side calmed a wake of aggression that Hopper couldn't seem to find a way out of these past few days. Nothing he did seemed to be good enough for anyone, excluding Joyce. She practically worshipped the ground he walked on.
"I'm sorry about all the girls at school. I don't know why they can't understand that I don't want anything to do with them. That you and I are going to be together until the world ends."
"Yeah I know Hop. It's like unless they see some kind of brand on you, they think you're fair game."
Joyce snuggled back into his side and breathed in the scent of his cologne. It was something she had always found solace in. The smell of him meant safety, warmth, and love. Her mind wandered into far off places as they watched the stars shoot out across the sky and out of nowhere a thought filled Joyce's head. She hurriedly threw the blankets off of her, exposing herself to the cold and quickly placed her legs on either side of Hopper's thighs, sitting perfectly on top of him.
"Joyce be careful, your ribs-"
"They will be perfectly fine. I know my limitations Jim." The sound of her using his real name sent goosebumps down his arms and when she gently nudged his jaw upwards, Hopper happily complied. His hands soon found the curve of her hips, his thumbs tracing small circles where they could reach. The feel of her tongue lapping against his throat was making all the blood in his body travel south and he couldn't help the moan that escaped his throat when she gently bit down on his neck.
"Joy...You're killing me..." He called, pushing her hips so her center ground down onto him. He wanted nothing more than to be inside her when a moan of her own escaped her lips. Hopper gasped as she began to suck at his neck hard enough to bring what little blood he had left not flooding his erection to the surface of his skin. He knew she was marking him. Setting a claim to anyone and everyone that he was hers. Joyce's hands threaded into his hair, taking away what little control Hopper had left as she gave his neck one last bite before pulling away.
"You're mine James Hopper." She voiced looking down into his lust blown eyes.
"I'm yours Joyce. Only yours."
