Some Strange Love

Broken Peace

Hopper woke up next to Joyce again. It was the best thing in the world, he never wanted it another way. This was where Hop belonged. Waking up next to Joyce Horrowitz, as she muttered tenderly about himself and Will in her sleep.

He couldn't help but stare. Her breathing was steady and calm. She always lied on her side, facing Hopper. She slept on the right side of the bed, the one farthest from the door. This was a security thing. Never have your back exposed to an unlocked door.

Joyce's nose would scrunch the smallest bit when she said Hopper's name. It was like she was smiling with her nose.

Sometimes one of her hands would end up right on the edge of Hopper's pillow, as if she were about to touch his face in the night, but she never stayed awake long enough.

Hopper wished he could be closer to Joyce. As if they weren't close enough. Their legs were intertwined, ancoring themselves to each other. Their bodies were inches away from each other. But Hopper wanted to be closer to Joyce. He just felt like he could never get enough of her.

Hopper tried to close his eyes and catch a little extra sleep. No matter how much he wanted to keep watching his angel sleep, he was exhausted. He really did need sleep after yesterday and last night. But then a loud "THUMP THUMP THUMP" could be heard down the hall. Joyce's eyes practically flew open at the sound.

It was the front door. Joyce had become attuned to the sound after many near-sleepless nights waiting for news on Will. Joyce had even made Jonathan knock on it while she was asleep so she could learn the noise by heart. She never wanted to miss a knock. Thinking she had possibly lost Will to creatures beyond her and even that stupid lab's control had really made Joyce go batshit crazy.

Joyce sat up with a groan. Her damn nightmare made her exhausted. She pulled on some  pants, still wearing Hopper's huge t-shirt. Hopper sat up beside her. "Right behind ya." He said with a yawn.

Joyce padded sleepily into the front room. There was still loud thumping coming from the front door "Okay OKAY. I'm coming." Hopper walked into the room, wiping sleep from his eyes. "Who the hell is that?" The thumping continued, getting louder. "Jesus Christ." Joyce muttered.

Joyce unlocked the door and flung it open, faced with a man in a suit.

"It's-" Joyce squinted at her wall clock "7:37 a.m. I don't want whatever the hell you're selling." Joyce began to close the door, but the man caught it. "Ms.Byers-" Joyce blinked "What?" She spat out. She hated that she and her boys still shared a last name with that scum.

Hopper stood behind Joyce, his hands light on her shoulders. Joyce sighed and opened the door all the way.

The man held out a few folded-over, blue sheets of paper. Joyce was about to snatch the papers from him, but she resisted and gently took them from him.

Joyce opened the papers and her eyes widened. "Lonnie is.." Joyce shook slightly. "Lonnie is saying I'm unfit to take care of the boys." Tears welled in her eyes. "After this?!" Joyce pointed to her now dark purple and blue eye. "And after he threw me against the wall like that?! I'm unfit?!" Joyce began partly hyperventilating. Hopper carefully took the papers from her hands, set them on a table and slammed the door in the lawyer's face.

"Joyce. Hey... He can't take them from you." Hopper carefully walked her to the battered old couch, his arm around her. Joyce shook her head. "He's.. he's gonna use shit like me losing Will last year as an excuse." She sat down slowly, crumpling slightly as she connected with the cushion.

Hopper hugged her tightly as she cried into his chest again.

Suddenly Joyce pulled back from the hug, gently pushing Hopper away. "What is it Joy..?"

She shot up from the couch and sprinted towards the bathroom. Things clicked in Hopper's brain and he quickly stood up from the couch and ran after Joyce.

Hopper held her hair back as Joyce bent over the toilet bowl, throwing up the dinner leftovers she had eaten.

Joyce sighed and muttered a weak "Thank you." As she laid her face on her hand on the rim of the bowl. Hopper helped her up.

"You think I'd be at least a little used to the morning sickness after years of anxiety and two kids. But no. It still sucks ass." Joyce muttered as she braced herself on the sink. The hormones seemed to be making Joyce irritable. Pregnancy was hitting her hard so far. Maybe to make up for the weeks when her symptoms were non-existent except for the occasional bout of nausea. She had once again accounted this to anxiety.

Joyce turned on the tap, and rinsed out her mouth, Hopper shadowing her. "Hop, I'm not gonna break, I promise." She dabbed off her mouth with a washcloth. Hopper shook his head. "I know Joy. I just... I worry sometimes. I know you're not a China Doll. But... Seeing you lying in the bed after your nightmare. You looked so... Small. Like I could just blink and you'd disappear forever." His voice came out soft and dense with emotion. Joyce was practically his everything.

Joyce sighed softly. "I promise I'm here to stay, Hop." She stood up on her tip-toes to kiss him. Hopper wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her slightly, bending down himself to kiss her properly.

                         ~~~

Joyce chuckled as she watched Will and Jane make up conspiracy theories for the whatever show they were watching. Joyce honestly couldn't recall the title in her brain. Nor did she understand a word out of either of her kid's mouths, so she just watched from the sidelines as they argued and swapped theories.

Joyce was putting Eggos down to toast, watching and listening to the heated debate as she waited for them pop. Hopper was getting the fixin's for a grand "Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganza". Basically whatever sugary crap he could find. Jonathan was quietly studying in the living room. He wanted to do perfectly on his tests. It was important. To help him get into NYU

Luckily, it would be Thanksgiving Break soon. Then he could stop worrying for a bit. He was giving Joyce second-hand stress because of all the obesessing he did.

Joyce plated the Eggos and handed them to Hopper, who created the first few parts of 8,000 calorie breakfast. He dealt with the construction, the whipped cream between each Eggo, and the syrup. Joyce topped it with the candy pieces and chocolate chips.

Once everyone was sitting at the table, the debate over which conspiracy theory just had to be right was quickly ended, faces being stuffed with waffles, chocolate chips, Mike 'n Ikes, and Reese's Pieces.

Joyce giggled a bit as she dug into her own mountain of sugar. She felt like a kid again, with candy and whipped cream, and even chocolate syrup on her waffles. Then again, her family hadn't been able to afford waffles with butter and syrup each week. She had reveled in the times she got waffles with all of the toppings she could. Now things were better. Joyce was glad she was able to give her kids a little more than what she had when she was a kid.

Hopper glanced at Joyce, did a double-take, and began chuckling. Joyce looked at him, puzzled. Will and Jane also looked up and began giggling. Jonathan, the last to look up, he was very zoned-out this morning when he wasn't studying, saw his mom and joined the family's loud laughter. "What is so funny?!" Joyce nearly yelled.

"You...." Hopper wheezed with a smile "You've got whipped cream on your nose, Joyce." Joyce scoffed, and Hopper began laughing again. Hopper smirked and leaned over, looking into her brown eyes. He licked the whipped cream off her nose quickly, causing Joyce to become a bright red, and eliciting "Eww!"s from everyone else.

"Mmm." Hopper said teasingly. Joyce glared at him and kicked his shin under the table. Hopper yelped, his leg shooting up, which caused his knee to bang on the table. This caused the kids to begin laughing again, even more than last time. Joyce gave a small smirk as she speared her Eggos with her fork. "Revenge." She winked.

                          ~~~

It was both finally and unfourtunatley the day of Lonnie's trial. Joyce was probably as nervous as she's ever been. Hopper had taken pictures of her back and face about a week ago, the day after Lonnie had attacked her, and the supposed miscarriage.

Joyce took a deep breath as she got ready to face Lonnie and his lawyer.

A/N: This is meant to come after "True Terror". I'm not sure how to re-arrange the chapters. Sorry!