Someone speaking pulls Hopper from a deep sleep and he groans in irritation, slowly opening his eyes. Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, he sees it's barely three in the morning and Joyce is still curled up beside him with her back against his chest, just how she'd been when they had fallen asleep.

"117, no, yes, 5'2." Joyce suddenly mumbles to someone in her dream, a doctor or nurse he assumes. When a few minutes pass and nothing more is said, Hopper pulls the comforter over his shoulder and drops his head back to his pillow, the smell of honeysuckles instantly assaulting his nose. They really needed bigger pillows, Joyce may not be that big of a girl, but her hair seemed to be everywhere.

"Mom...Where's my mom? Mary? Mary?!" Joyce yells just as Hopper starts to drift off again and the loud noise makes him shoot upright, his heart hammering against his chest.

"No...I don't want to...Go get my mom!" Joyce pleads and kicks a leg out from under the covers.

Hopper carefully reaches for her even though he knows it's dangerous, especially in the middle of a dream. His nose still ached when he blew it sometimes, but the need to help her outweighed his fear of getting hit. Gently gripping her shoulder, he rubs a calming pattern into her skin with his thumb and manages to ease some of her twitching.

"Shh Joy, it's okay, no one is going to hurt you. I'm right here. I've got you." He soothes, and surprisingly she starts to settle under the weight of his hand, her feet now unmoving at the foot of the bed.

"Jim..." She whispers before completely relaxing back into the warmth of their sheets.

"I got you honey, nothing's going to happen to you ever again." He promises and places a light kiss to her shoulder that happened to slip out from under her sleep shirt. Once again he pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her protectively in hopes of warding off any more bad dreams for the rest of the night, and every night in the future if he could help it.

00000

A gentle shaking stirs Hopper awake hours later. Last night was rough. After he got Joyce back to sleep, he had trouble finding it himself. What if she had another bad dream? or woke up panicking? He needed to be there for her no matter how bad his body wanted to sink into the bed and never move again.

"Hop, honey come on you have to get up." Joyce says softly from beside him.

"What time is it?" He mumbles and rolls over, looking for the clock.

"Almost seven fifty. I've let you sleep as long as I can."

Hopper groans and finally sits up to see Joyce fully dressed and ready to go.

"You okay? You look like you didn't get much sleep." She scoots closer to him and threads their fingers together.

"Do you remember what you were dreaming about last night?" He asks, stroking his thumb across the back of her hand.

"I don't think I had a dream last night." She watches as he slides his free hand over his chin then across the back of his neck.

"You don't remember anything? Calling out for mom? Saying my name? None of it?"

Now Joyce was really confused. "I was talking in my sleep?"

"Yeah, you were telling someone your weight and height, then started freaking out calling for mom. Saying you needed her. That's when I woke up and tried to get you to calm down without getting the shit knocked out of me again." He attempts to joke, even though the entire situation still had him a little on edge.

Joyce just shrugs and squeezes his hand. "The only thing I can remember is a smudged painting of a rainbow and a bunch of sunflowers, but I don't see why I would call out for mom because of that. I'm also not even sure if that's something I dreamed about last night or a few days ago."

"Maybe you were just really tired from the appointment yesterday and you slept deeper than you thought."

"Either way, it's done and over with. Come on, Moms already got breakfast made and we can't be late."

Carefully getting to her feet, Joyce leans down and places a kiss to Hopper's forehead before making her way out of the room. If the man had one secret weakness, it was forehead kisses and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

00000

Pancakes and bacon grease were two of Hopper's favorite smells, especially coming from the kitchen he knew his mother, dad, and Joyce currently occupied. He was in the process of buttoning his flannel when he made his way down the steps and over to the table still half asleep.

"Jesus son, did you even brush your hair this morning?" Greg laughs, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I think I did, might just be time for a haircut." He replies and grabs a slice of bacon from the plate on the table, stuffing the entire thing into his mouth.

"Joyce, here honey, the first pill of your new medication. You'll need to drink that whole glass of water before you get any orange juice though. I'm not going to risk you getting dehydrated." Mary insists as Joyce swallows the pill and takes three deep drinks from her glass. Hopper is stabbing a few pancakes from the shared plate onto his own when his mom sits down beside his dad and places a hand on his arm. Greg clears his throat just as Joyce reaches for the syrup, beating Hopper to the sugary topping that gave her life on pancake Tuesdays.

"Um Joyce, this is for you darlin'."

Hopper looks up from his plate to see his dad sliding what appears to be a checkbook across the table to her.

"What's that?" Joyce questions, licking the syrup off her finger before reaching for the leather bound rectangle in front of her.

"When Linda's parents were alive they set up a trust fund for you. Something to either pay for you to go to college or to start a family, whichever you preferred. When we were granted custody of you, we were informed of the funds. They're supposed to be given to you once you turn eighteen, but Mary and I both decided that you're responsible enough to use them now if you'd like. Maybe go get some new clothes or go out to a movie with Jim one night." Greg concludes, taking yet another sip of his coffee.

"How much money is it?" Joyce asks, flipping the numerous pages of the book between her thumb and pointer finger.

"Around ten thousand I believe." Greg states. The sound of metal clattering on ceramic shoots through the now silent kitchen and Hopper quickly snatches his fork off his plate, sitting still as a statue. Joyce doesn't move at first and he's not even sure if she's breathing.

"Joy, you okay honey?" Hopper asks, keeping his voice low to not startle her or his parents.

The Hoppers watch as Joyce slides the checkbook back across the table, before she resumes eating her pancakes. "You keep it." She says with her mouth full, not at all surprised when Mary replies to her statement without a moment's hesitation.

"Absolutely not, young lady. That's your money and we aren't going to take a cent of it."

"Mom, Dad." Joyce looks between Greg and Mary. "The two of you have been taking care of me for years. You've fed me, clothed me, you even built me a tree house for the nights I was ashamed to come ask for help. You've bought me birthday gifts, school supplies, and god knows what else when you didn't have to. Please, for once, let me do something nice for the two of you. Take the money. Pay off a bill, or go out of town for a week. Just something to make me feel like I've helped you as much as you've helped me."

Greg stands and walks over to Joyce's side where he crouches down and the soft sound of his knees popping fill the small kitchen. Hopper watches as his mother reaches across the table and takes Joyce's hand in her own.

"Joyce honey, what we did wasn't something we did because we thought you would pay us back one day. We took care of you because you're the daughter we didn't get to have. When Jim was born, I had some complications and the chances of those complications being worse with my next pregnancy ruined any future I had of having a little girl. The first time you came home with Jim, I knew that you would have a special place in this family. So no, we won't take that money. It will sit in that account until you use it." Mary insists, giving Joyce's hand a squeeze, Greg doing the same to her knee.

"We appreciate the thought darlin', we really do, but we're fine. Save that money if you don't want to use it now. One day you're going to need a house for the family you and Jim are sure to make, so don't waste it on us."

00000

Two days had passed since the Hopper family heart to heart in the kitchen. Two wonderful, stress and headache free days. Joyce could hardly believe it, matter less Hopper. She hadn't felt this carefree and relaxed outside of the tree house ever in her life. She wasn't as stressed in her classes anymore and her grades were back up now that she could actually concentrate on her work without wanting to roll over and die. It took an hour or so on Thursday morning for her to realize that the emotion she was feeling was peace and it was the most amazing thing she'd ever experienced. That was until she left second period and a voice she had been avoiding called out for her as she crossed the classroom doorway.

"Joyce! Joyce, wait a second!" Lonnie yelled, causing her to sigh. She knew this moment would happen sooner or later.

"What do you want Lonnie?" Joyce asked over her shoulder, not slowing her pace as she made her way down the hall.

"Will you-" He grunted, getting cut off by a group of girls who were crowding around a locker with a mirror taped to the inside of the door. "Joyce, come on, two minutes, thats all I'm asking." Lonnie pleaded as he finally weaseled his way into the hallway traffic and caught up with her outside of the library. Joyce turned on her heel, placing her back against the bulletin board that advertised yearbook sales and the prom theme competition. She raised her hand in front of her, halting Lonnie in his tracks.

"I don't know how I can make the following statement any clearer to you, I have a boyfriend. You know, Jim Hopper, tall, handsome big foot sized dude who walks around school like he owns the place? Ring any bells?"

Lonnie quietly stood in front of her with his mouth hanging open like a fish gasping for air.

"I don't even know why I'm talking to you, because there's nothing you can say to justify what you did. So why are you wasting my time?"

Lonnie flinched as if Joyce physically slapped him and the small movement made her heart ache.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I know you have Jim, and you love him, it's just that...I don't know. You were the first friend I made here. You treated me like an actual person and not like the weird new kid, ya know? You actually cared about me, about if I passed my classes, and I just got caught up in that feeling of being treated as an equal for once. I really like you Joyce, I don't want one stupid hormone driven mistake to ruin the friendship we had."

Joyce sighed and brushed an unruly strand of hair behind her ear. "That's the thing Lonnie, you and I both know that we could never just be friends. I'm always going to think that you have some ulterior motive to talk to me, and you will eventually get hurt emotionally or physically by Jim if you can't control your urges."

"I'm not going to have urges Joyce, I know you don't have any feelings beyond friendship, if you even have that at the moment. I just want things to go back to the way they were before that stupid kiss."

Joyce stared at Lonnie long enough that he started to kick at some imaginary specks of dirt on the tile floor. She felt like he was being sincere. Like he really did only just want her as a friend, and eventually, the soft heart Joyce tried so hard to keep hidden from anyone other than the Hoppers wrestlers itself free from its cage. Sighing, she finally looked away from him.

"Fine, we can go back to being friends. But only friends and I mean it. No funny business whatsoever or I'm not even going to try and stop Jim from destroying you, got it?"

A slight grin caught the corner of Lonnie's mouth as he pulled Joyce into a quick and friendly hug that she halfheartedly returned. "You won't regret this Joyce I prom-"

"What the hell is going on?" Hopper's familiar growl broke the moment and Lonnie quickly pulled away from Joyce.

"Everything's fine Hop, we were just having a quick chat." Joyce paused at the look he was giving her. "Are you okay?"

The redness rising from Hopper's neck to his jaw was a clear indication that he wasn't. "I was great until I came to find you and see this asshole hugging all over you. I thought I made myself clear, stay away from my girlfriend." Letting his book bag fall from his shoulders, it hit the floor with a loud thud.

"Hopper it's okay, I have it under control." Joyce stated, trying to keep herself between him and Lonnie.

"I was just apologizing for everythi-"

"I don't remember asking your opinion on anything Byers." Hopper reached out and shoved Lonnie's shoulder.

"James Kenneth Hopper you stop right this instant! I said I had it under control! You need to start trusting that I can take care of myself!" Joyce yells, catching the attention of both males who looked like they were ready to kill each other.

"Joyce I was-"

"I don't want to hear it. Go and wait for me at the truck. I'll be there shortly."

"I don't-"

"Just go!"

Her words have a tone of finality to them and for once in his life, Jim Hopper is speechless. Leaning down to grab his backpack, he quickly shoulders it before making his way down the hall, his head held incredibly high against the height of his peers. Joyce and Lonnie both watch the crowd until he disappears down the stairwell.

Joyce turned back to face Lonnie who had a worried expression on his face. "He seems pretty pissed. He wouldn't...he wouldn't hurt you right?"

A small laugh escaped Joyce's lips and she reached out to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Trust me, he would be the last person in the world to lay a finger on me out of anger. Don't worry okay? I'll see you later, I need to go try and fix this."

00000

The parking lot had emptied significantly when the sight of the familiar blue truck came into Joyce's view. Hopper was leaning against the front fender, a cigarette clenched between his teeth, and she wondered how many he had already smoked since leaving the crowded hallway. Not saying a word as she approached, Joyce simply walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. It took a moment, but he finally reached down to hold her, exhaling smoke from his lungs. They stood in silence with nothing but the sound of his heartbeat filling her ear and the dull thud of his cigarette hitting the ground.

When he slightly pulled away, Joyce took one last breath and looked up. "Nothing was going on Hop. He was apologizing for being an ass that day in the library and I accepted it. I know you're used to being my knight in shining armor, you always have been, but the dragon is gone now honey. You saved me, and now it's time for me to take on the smaller ones by myself."

"Joyce darlin', it doesn't matter how big or how small those dragons are, I'm going to want to protect you. And since we're still speaking in metaphors, it doesn't matter if it's a dragon or a bewitched toad you're going up against, I'm going to be there to defend you. You're my queen and it's my job to protect you. No matter what the costs. Yes, I should let you try and fight them off yourself first, and I promise I'll start working on that, but just know that the first tiny dragon who burns you will be mounted over the fireplace in our castle. Okay?"

Joyce couldn't help but giggle and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. "I think that's fair." Hopper smiled and cupped her cheeks, kissing her slow and deep until she was moaning into his mouth and pressing her body against him in a way that made his skin tingle. Her hands fisted the front of his flannel and she jerked him forward, her teeth grabbing a hold of his lower lip hard enough to make him growl and pull away from her. He licked across the sensitive skin to make sure he wasn't bleeding and narrowed his eyes down at her. The bite hadn't hurt, if anything it only turned him on more, he was just trying to understand why she was suddenly undoing his belt in the middle of the school parking lot. Joyce was rarely aggressive with him, but when she got that way, he knew she meant business and it took every bit of his will power to stay level headed.

"Whoa, whoa, honey hold on." Hopper hissed as Joyce's tongue licked down his newly exposed stomach. Her left hand was still curled into the cotton of his shirt, holding the hem of it just above his sternum while her other continued to fumble with getting his belt out of it's metal clasp. "We can't do this here." His voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes darting around the parking lot to make sure no one was watching them.

Joyce just grinned up at him and kissed the skin near his hip. "And why not?"

Squeezing his eyes shut to try and think with his brain instead of his dick, Hopper grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his belt, bringing it up to his mouth to brush his lips across her knuckles. All it took was one more look around and Joyce was letting his shirt go with a huff, knowing he was right.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd love to have my way with you right here, right now, but it's not worth getting caught." He admitted before buckling his belt and righting his clothes. When he moved to open the passenger door of his truck for her, he had a thought and paused, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Was it the fight?"

Joyce turned to face him and furrowed her brows. "What?"

"The fight, was that what got you going? Because if so, maybe we should do it more often." He chuckled.

"Oh, no." Joyce laughed and pushed on his chest playfully at the fact he would even think that. "I don't know why, but you've been on my mind all day and I just really wanted to kiss you. After that, I'm not sure what happened. Guess I got a little carried away."

The cutest damn smile spread across her face and Hopper couldn't help but kiss her again. Finally getting the door open, he slapped her ass as she climbed inside the cab and he quickly made his way around the front of the truck to join her. A sense of calm washed over him as he cranked the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, a huge difference from how he'd been feeling fifteen minutes ago. It gave him hope for their future, that they could conquer anything together. Even if that anything was currently a slimy toad he couldn't stand the sight of.

00000

Chores should have never taken this long. Usually they could knock out feeding the horses, brushing them, and cleaning out their stalls within an hour, but Joyce was struggling to finish even the simplest of tasks and she could tell Hopper was getting slightly irritated. Maybe if he didn't look good enough to eat at the moment she could stop staring at him and finishing laying the hay she had clutched in her hands. With that thought she paused again, what did she mean looked good enough to eat? He was sweaty and dirty, having just shoveled shit, yet she wanted to lick away the drop of sweat she could see dripping down the side of his face.

"Honey, please hurry up." Hopper pouted as he started packing up the pitchfork and shovels. "I'm tired and want to take a shower before dinner."

Joyce swallowed and closed her eyes, trying to shake away the sudden image she had of him getting frustrated and pushing her up against the side of the barn to have his way with her. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" She whispered to herself when she felt that familiar ache between her legs. Quickly laying the rest of the hay, Joyce gathered her tools and shoved her previous thought far into the back of her mind.

True to his word, Hopper headed upstairs to shower as soon as he kicked off his boots, and Joyce washed up the best she could at the kitchen sink before joining everyone at the table. Images of Hopper in the shower, covered in soap filled Joyce's mind as she attempted to get a jump start on her English project. Was he thinking about her as much as she was thinking about him? What if he was hard right now and she was just sitting there not taking advantage of a perfect opportunity? Trying to shake the image of him out of her head, Joyce gave up on her project and instead, talked with Mary and Greg, hoping she didn't start day dreaming about all the things she wanted to do to their son. Dinner went by in a blur of conversation as Greg and Mary discussed random things going on at the station and church, and by the time Joyce had stuffed herself full, she was more than ready for a shower of her own and a smoke before bed.

00000

Hopper had been in the process of checking the pockets of his dirty jeans when Joyce returned to the room in nothing more than a towel, her hair still slightly dripping onto her shoulders. He tossed the jeans back into the hamper when he came up empty handed and eyed Joyce from across the room as she got dressed. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" She asked confused.

"My lighter? And don't you dare deny taking it either missy." He laughed and walked over to her side of the bed to open the drawer on her nightstand. The amount of lighters littering the inside of the drawer actually surprised him, but what really caught him off guard was the box of condoms laying front and center staring back at him. "You took the condoms I got too? You do know we share these right?" He chuckled.

Now Joyce was really confused. "That you got? What?" She took the box from him and looked it over. "Mom got these after my doctor's appointment the other day." At least she thought they were the same ones, they certainly looked like them.

"Wait…mom bought us condoms? Why?" He questioned as she tossed the box back in the drawer and grabbed a lighter before shutting it.

"Apparently she has some kind of sixth sense that tells her when people are having sex." She joked with a sigh. "I don't know, Hop. She said she didn't want you to be embarrassed about buying them so she got us some. Which honestly seems more embarrassing than us just getting them."

Hopper couldn't help but grin at the slight blush forming on her cheeks. If he had to sit through his dad giving him the talk, it only seemed fair that Joyce got a talk of her own.

"And when did you manage to buy some anyway?" Joyce asked, crawling across the bed on her knees to where he was standing.

"During my free period a few days after our first time." He dipped his head to press his lips against hers softly when she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You just assumed we'd do it again?" She grinned and Hopper nipped her chin before giving her another quick kiss.

"Can't blame me for being hopeful." He teased and dug his fingers into her hair when she practically shoved her tongue down his throat. His hands found their way to the backs of her thighs and he lifted her slightly to lay her on the bed where he continued to assault her with his mouth.

The need to breathe pulled Joyce from his lips a few minutes later and she looked up at him lovingly, her thumb stroking against his cheek. So much for trying to ignore her lust filled fantasies. "Still wanna go smoke?" Hopper saw his lighter out of the corner of his eye and took it from her, tossing it to the end of the bed.

"I'd rather keep doing this." At his words she roughly jerked him back to her without warning and kissed him senseless, her right leg hooking over his hip to bring him closer. "God I love you." He panted as his lips skimmed across her throat and his hand found its way under her shirt, his thumb brushing the soft skin just below her breast. A soft whimper filled the air when she arched her back and his hard on rubbed against her with the perfect amount of friction.

"Joyce honey, don't forget to tak-" Joyce had just reached for the strings on Hopper's sweat pants when Mary came barging into the room and caused both teens to jump apart. Hopper quickly scooted to the top of the bed with his knees bent to keep his obvious erection hidden, while Joyce shot upright, crossed her legs and struggled to pull her shirt back down over her stomach.

"Jesus Christ you two." Mary pinched the bridge of her nose and gave them a second to compose themselves before she looked over at Joyce who was purposely avoiding eye contact with her. "Take your medicine before you go to sleep." Mary tossed the bottle of pills onto the bed and turned to leave, mumbling something about the condoms she had gotten them as she pulled the door shut behind her, leaving it cracked three inches.

Hopper sighed when they were once again alone and slid his body down the bed so his head was resting on his pillow. His dick was still strained against his boxers and he quickly readjusted himself before rolling onto his side. "I think I could go for that smoke now."

Joyce cracked a smile and flopped down onto her back beside him. "I can't wait until we have a place of our own."