I know these chapters aren't very long and probably don't seem like much to anyone else, but I haven't written this much in such a short time in ages, so I'm feeling honestly quite proud of myself. Thank you to everyone who's been reading. It really helps motivate me to continue.

Joyce arrived home without incident, her bag tossed carelessly on the floor of her living room. Her parents thankfully weren't home, so there were no immediate questions regarding the tears streaming down her face or the shaking of her hands as she locked the front door behind her before sinking to sit on the floor with her back against it.

It seemed as though she sat there for hours before there was a loud banging on the door, making the teen jump. Wiping her cheeks quickly, she stood up, her hand on the lock before she even considered who may be on the other side of the door.

"Hop, I'm really not in the mo-" Joyce swung open the door, abruptly falling silent when she found Lonnie staring back at her rather than her friend.

"Is it true?" he asked without giving her a chance to say anything else. "Are you knocked up?"

"I-" she hesitated before sighing, bending to yank her bag off the floor and unzip it. Her hands still shook as she pulled out the pregnancy test, holding it out to him. "Yeah."

"Fuck!" he said, tossing the test to the side. "Jesus Christ, Joyce. Whose is it?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Joyce asked incredulously. "It's yours, you ass!"

"Bullshit! We haven't done anything in months!" Lonnie scoffed.

"No shit, dumbass. Pregnancy symptoms can start as late as four fuckin' months." Joyce snapped. "You know when the last time we had sex was? Four fucking months ago."

"How do I know you didn't fuck some other guy in those four months?!" he demanded.

"Because I'm not you! I don't chase a new fucking guy every week to just to get in his pants!" she fired back.

"This is a fucking disaster." Lonnie growled, pushing past her into the house. "What the fuck are you gonna do?"

"I don't know." she snapped, shutting the front door finally, hoping to God the neighbors hadn't heard all of that. She leaned back against the door, watching as he paced the length of the living room. Now that the whole thing was out, she suddenly felt drained again, all the fight leaving her with only her panic once again. "I can't get rid of it. Not safely, anyway."

"Jesus." he ran a hand through his hair before stopping and facing her. "We have to fucking get married."

"Excuse me?" Joyce stared at him, blinking once.

"You heard me." he replied in annoyance.

"You want to get married ?" she asked anyway. "Neither of us have even graduated high school yet! How the fuck are we supposed to take care of a baby?"

"I don't want to get married." Lonnie snapped. "We have to. And I graduate in a month. I'll get a job."

"Wow, every girl's dream. Getting married out of obligation." she scoffed.

"Not like you have much fuckin' choice, now do you?" he replied. "You gonna get an unlicensed abortion? Probably die in the process? Or give it up to some strangers? Or take care of it yourself?"

Logically, she knew he was right. She didn't trust the sketchy clinics that offered discreet abortions, and the thought of giving her baby up for a stranger to raise was already unthinkable. But she couldn't very well raise her child herself either. She was seventeen years old, still in high school, with no job and no place of her own. And once her parents found out, they would surely kick her out.

"I-fine." she sighed in resignation. "Fine, I guess we're getting married."

"Good." he nodded once, though his tone suggested it was anything but good. "We'll do it after graduation, during the summer. You'll be eighteen then, so we won't need our parents."

"Okay." she agreed flatly, listening as he listed off details and instructions with as much enthusiasm as he gave his math homework.

Finally, after she'd said she understood everything he'd told her, he left. Once he was gone, Joyce locked the front door again, slowly, and almost mechanically, making her way over to the phone hanging from the kitchen wall of her trailer. Struggling to dial, she finally managed to put in a number she knew by heart, leaning against the wall as the line rang. It seemed as though an eternity passed before a familiar voice answered on the other end, making her close her tear filled eyes in something akin to relief.

"Hello?" Hopper answered.

"Hop?" her voice came out nearly as a whisper. "I changed my mind. Please come over. But…don't bring the others."

"What happened?" he asked immediately, and she could hear him already moving.

"I-I just-...I need you." she answered, her voice breaking.

"I'll be right there." he promised before the dial tone buzzed in her ear. With a sniff that she hoped wouldn't turn into full on sobs, Joyce hung the receiver back in the cradle, sliding to sit on the floor again. Resting her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes and didn't move until there was another banging on her front door, though this time, it was welcome. She practically jumped off the floor, unlocking the door and throwing it open.

Seeing Hopper looking so concerned sent her over the edge, and she threw herself at him, sobs wracking her entire body. To his credit, he seemed to have been expecting it, immediately wrapping his arms around her small frame and gently leading her back inside, shutting the door behind them with his foot. He cradled her against his chest, letting cry until she settled into small sniffles.

"What happened, Joy?" he finally ventured to ask, his arms still tightly holding her against him. For a long moment, she didn't answer, though when she finally did, her voice came out small.

"Lonnie knows about the baby."

"What'd he do? Did he hurt you?" Hopper immediately pulled away to frame her face in his hands, assessing her for injuries.

"No, he didn't hurt me." Joyce assured him, lightly gripping his wrists.

"Did he say something stupid? Is he trying to leave you alone with it?" he asked, his eyes showing a new kind of fury towards a boy he'd never liked in the first place.

"No." she denied again, shaking her head. "He…he says we have to get married, actually."

"What? Married?" he frowned. "You're not doing it, right?"

"I…I don't know what else to do." she admitted. "I can't raise a baby by myself, and I-I don't want to get rid of it or give it up for adoption. It's my baby."

"Well, of course it's your baby, Joy, but Jesus Christ, you can't really be considering marrying that asshole." Hopper scoffed. "He drops you like you're nothing every three fuckin' days."

"Yeah, I fucking know that, Hop." she snapped, more tears welling in her eyes as she tried to pull away from him.

"I-fuck, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that." he told her, moving his hands from her face to her hips to stop her from moving. "I just mean you don't have to marry the guy. You're not gonna be alone taking care of a kid, Joy. None of us are gonna leave you alone to do that. I'm not gonna leave you alone."

"Hop…" she sighed. "That's a really nice sentiment, but…all of you have your own lives to live. Your own relationships and kids to work towards. You're not gonna want to help me take care of my kid."

"Joyce-" Hopper tried to interject again.

"Hop." she stopped him, her voice filled with a kind of tiredness he'd never heard from her. "Can you just…can you just hold me right now? You can try to talk me out of the wedding later, but for now…please just hold me."

Faced with how pitiful his best friend looked, Jim could only sigh, kiss her forehead and tightly wrap her in his arms once more.

Given the way their relationship is described in the show, as well as what we were actually shown, I don't see Joyce and Lonnie getting married for any other reason than because she got pregnant honestly, so that is the direction I went in for this. Hope you enjoyed!