It seems to be a fandom wide accepted thing that Joyce's maiden name is Horowitz, I'm assuming because Winona's legal last name is Horowitz? Anyways, if that's something that isn't supposed to be for the whole fandom to use, please let me know, and I will change it. Also, a thank you for moonyloveschocolate on ao3 for the first line of this chapter lmao. I had originally had it as just "it was not only a first date" but their comment sounded better to me for the whole tone of the story. So thank you for that!
It was, in fact, not only a first date.
Months passed, in which Joyce went on multiple dates with Lonnie. It got to the point that she was honestly spending more time with him than she was with her friends, something none of them were happy about. And yet, she couldn't quite bring herself to turn Lonnie down whenever he suggested another date.
He was charming, that was the problem. He was charming and handsome, and he was interested in her. She'd never thought she would find anyone who was interested in her beyond a few drunken fumbles with Hop in the backseat of his dad's old truck. And Lonnie was what every girl in the school seemed to want. Who was she to turn him down?
"You're fuckin' Joyce Horowitz." Hopper said once she was finished with her rambling explanation of why she was once again blowing him and their friends off to go out with Lonnie. "Just fuckin' tell him no."
"You don't get it, Hop." Joyce sighed, shoving her books into her locker with a little more force than was strictly necessary before slamming it shut and taking off down the hall, Hopper hot on her heels.
"No, I don't get it. You've been blowing us off for months, Joy. It's getting annoying."
"Oh, so it's fine when you wanna blow off plans to go fuck some random girl or when Sue and Charles want to go out on their own date night, but I can't go out with Lonnie?!" she snapped.
"We don't blow each other off every fucking weekend, Joyce! Every time we try to go to the drive-in or go to the woods or do anything , you've always got an excuse now!"
"Because I have a guy who likes me now! For fuck's sake, is that so hard to understand?! For the first time in my life, I have a guy who likes me! Me ! So if I have to blow off a few hang out sessions to go out to dinner or some stupid party, I fucking will! Deal with it!" she snapped back.
"Unbelievable." Hopper scoffed as they made it to the one class they shared with the rest of their friends, who gave them questioning looks when they both stormed in and sat down at their desks in a flurry of anger. Karen tried to get Joyce's attention as their teacher came in, but she ignored the other girl, too annoyed with all of them for not even trying to understand why she was spending so much time with Lonnie.
She spent the rest of their class together avoiding her friends' eyes, gathering her stuff and bolting out of the classroom. It was a scramble to get to her locker, get her stuff out, and make her way out front to where Lonnie was waiting in his old station wagon without the others catching up to her, but she managed by sheer force of will, refusing to be pestered with questions about her fight with Hop. So, she got into the passenger's seat of Lonnie's car, kissed him hello, and looked out the window as he drove her home to get ready for whatever party he planned on crashing and dragging her along to.
She hated parties, but she pulled on some tight fitting jeans and a far more risque blouse than she ever typically wore and shoved her feet into the least ratty looking sneakers she owned, all while Lonnie lounged on her bed.
"Is this good enough?" she finally asked, turning so he could look her over.
"Looks fine." Lonnie replied, barely glancing away from the random magazine he'd picked up off her bedroom floor.
"You barely even looked." she protested, hands falling to her hips.
"Joyce, it's fine. Can we go now?" he asked, a tinge of impatience coloring his tone. She sighed, picking up a hair tie and hastily throwing her hair into a ponytail.
"Yeah, fine. Let's go."
The party was loud and smelled of cheap alcohol and stale cigarette smoke when Joyce got out of the car. Music seemed to be blasting from every corner of the property, and there were people pressed together in throngs, sweaty and drunk and more than likely high. It was exactly the opposite of her idea of a good time, and yet, she found herself following Lonnie through the throng of people to the back door that more people spilled out of. She followed him into the kitchen and let him press a cup of some dark liquor into her hand, drinking it almost mechanically.
By the third cup, she couldn't even remember why this wasn't her scene. She drank and danced without abandon, barely noticing the passage of time until a hand enclosed around her wrist, pulling her from the dance floor.
"Hop!" she cried in delight, her own eyes bright with all the alcohol she'd drank as they met a pair of familiar blues.
"How much have you had to drink, Joy?" Hopper asked, concern clear in his voice as Karen and Claudia looked on worriedly from behind him. Joyce let out a joyful laugh, her hands falling to her friend's forearms.
"I lost count!" she laughed again, squeezing his arms. "Come dance!" She tried to drag him towards the throng of people practically grinding against each other in the center of the room, but he resisted with a strong arm around her waist.
"I don't think so, sweetheart." he told her, far more gently than she'd ever known him to be with anyone else. "I think we should get you home."
"Home? But why? I'm having fun!" Joyce pouted, trying and failing to push his arm off.
"Joyce, honey, you've never drank this much." Karen piped up from behind Hopper, though now that Joyce thought about it, the other girl was blurry, more a colorful shape than an actual person in her vision. "We're worried."
"'m fine!" Joyce protested.
"No, you're not." Hopper denied. "You've had enough, and we're takin' you home. I'll fireman carry you if I have to."
"What's goin' on here?" a voice came from behind them all, pulling an annoyed groan from the man still holding Joyce in place.
"Fuck off, Byers." he snapped, even as Joyce began to squirm in his hold.
"Pretty sure the lady said she's fine, Hopper." Lonnie drawled, stepping past Karen and Claudia and around Hopper to stand next to Joyce. "Let her go."
"She's fucking plastered. She needs some water and to get some sleep." Hopper nearly growled back.
"Babe, you wanna go home and go to bed?" Lonnie asked, addressing Joyce, who shook her head vigorously.
"No! 'M having fun!" she giggled, finally managing to squirm and duck her way out of Hopper's hold.
"Well, you heard her, ladies and gents." Lonnie smirked, tossing an arm around Joyce's shoulders. "Crawl back to the hole you all crawled out of and let us continue having our fun."
"Dance with me!" Joyce requested, latching onto Lonnie's wrist where it dangled over her shoulder.
"Joy-" Hopper began again, only to be cut off by his best friend's squeal when another song came on.
"Let's go!" she squealed again, slipping out from Lonnie's arm and dragging him toward the dance floor by his wrist. Her friends could only watch as the boy threw a smug look at them over his shoulder before pulling Joyce close to him as they danced.
She lost sight of them after that. Her vision was blurred, everything sounded somehow loud and muffled at the same time, and her body was practically buzzing as she let Lonnie's hands wander further than she typically did. At one point, she briefly wondered if it was possible that he'd slipped something into one of her drinks or if she really was simply far more drunk than she'd ever been before, but those thoughts were forgotten once he started kissing her.
Things began to pass in a blur. One minute they were dancing and kissing in the middle of the crowd, and the next, Lonnie was backing her towards the stairs, still kissing her. She vaguely thought she heard someone calling her name, but the blend of alcohol in her system and the overwhelming presence of Lonnie in her space made it hard to focus on anything but not falling as they went up the stairs. Once they made it up, they stumbled into a room she assumed he had opened the door to, his jacket coming off as he shut the door with his foot.
It felt like she merely blinked, and they were against a counter, far less dressed than they had been when they'd gotten into the room her brain finally registered as a bathroom. Things were progressing farther than they had in the last six months since she had first agreed to go out with him, and while Joyce was somewhat excited, she was also nervous beyond belief. She'd never gone much farther than second base with Hop a few times, never further. And yet, she didn't quite know how to tell Lonnie they should maybe slow down.
And so, she let him take her virginity, there against the bathroom counter of a person she didn't even know, wondering if she perhaps should've gone home with her friends after all.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Just from what they showed us about their present day relationship in the show, I don't imagine Joyce and Lonnie having some great romance even in their early days, so I kinda wanted to showcase that here. Let me know your thoughts and anything you might wanna see in future chapters!