When Wishes Come Half True

Inner Demons

While everyone else was out of the house it left Joyce and Hopper alone. Joyce didn't know with what to say because of what she found the night before. Lucky for her last night Hopper slept on the couch.
   When Joyce went to go get breakfast, she couldn't help checking on hopper.When she got to the living room, she didn't see Hopper on the couch so she began to worry. What if he had left? She wondered to her self, mentally kicking herself for not looking sooner.Just as she was about to call for him, Hopper came around the corner."Oh hey Joyce, how are you?"
   Joyce's heart stopped racing at the sight of him. " oh I'm fine, you?" She asked, acting casual.
     "Oh I'm as fine as I could be." He looked at her for a bit before saying "Do you mind driving me around town or something similar?" Hopper sighed before continuing. "It's just that I want to get out of the house for a bit,  and I'm guessing it's not the best idea for me to go out by myself."
   Joyce held his gaze a few moments before saying "sure". They ate breakfast, then Hopper went to the bathroom to get changed. Joyce didn't know this though.
   Joyce went to go brush her teeth and obliviously walked in on Hopper Changing. "Oh!" She exclaimed, tearing her eyes away. "I'm so sorry Hop!" She said after closing the door.
    Hopper turned bright red before saying "it's all good" awkwardly. Joyce noticed that Hopper seemed to have lost a ton of weight. It made  sense though because he was in the Upside Down and before that Russia. She sort of wishes that Owens had not told her this. Once they both were finished getting ready, Joyce kept saying sorry over and over again."Joyce it's ok. Shit like that happens all the time." But what Hopper was actually thinking was that he was done with Joyce always doing this. She would do something that might hurt him and always apologize after. He just wants her to treat him like a human not some poor puppy who you could hurt by saying the wrong thing.
  "So where do you want to go Hop?" Joyce asked.
   "I would like to go to the mall or what is left of it, before you say anything I want to go because I think it could help my with memory." Joyce looked at him with guilty eyes."I haven't been there since that night." Joyce goes to look for her car keys while Hopper has look around the house. Once Joyce was back she wrote a note for Will and or Jonathan.  The drive there was quite.
  "So this is the place.?"When Joyce looks at him all she can see in his eyes is fear, not that she could him blame for it.
  "So are their any memories coming back?" Joyce asks with her hands in her jacket pocket. At first nothing was coming to Hopper until...
    Hopper was standing on a platform next to a sparking machine. He can feel his heart beating against his chest. At this point in time he had so much adrenaline he could feel his hands shake, though that could be fear. He knew he might die tonight but he didn't care to much because Joyce and the boys would be safe and so will El. Oh El... He felt bad for leaving her but he knew that this is how it must end. He thought of Sara. At least he could see Sara again. Hopper looked
up at Joyce and just simply smiled at her, telling her it's all going to be okay that he loves her. Joyce managed to turn both keys, but just as she is does Hopper realized that he could jump through the portal. So as the machine exploded he jumped...
      Hopper looks at Joyce then at the mall. It's  1987 now, not 1985. He doesn't know why he is outside. Why is he so scared? He begins to shake with tears falling down his red cheeks. "Jim?!" Joyce begins to worry. What is happening? Why is he so upset? She knew That coming back here would be a mistake. Hopper couldn't think straight. He kept seeing the the platform, the machine, Joyce's face and the portal. The feeling of fear and guilt started to bubble inside of him. Joyce doesn't know what to do, she just stands a few feet behind him. She feels guilty because she has no clue on how to help him. For Hopper it seemed like everything would not stop spinning.
   "Jump just jump." Joyce could hear Hopper whisper this under his breath over and over again. Hopper kept whispering to himself as he kept walking closer to the malls entrance. Even though he could hear Joyce calling his name all he could see was the platform and Joyce being in the control room above him.
   "Hopper!" Joyce could feel tears in the back of her eyes. Oh Hop! Why must you keep going though hell? Joyce starts to run after him, when she finally catches up with him she gently touches his shoulders."Hopper your not in the base." He falls to the ground and puts his hands to his face. Joyce can feel him shacking. She joins him on the ground and hugs him. "Shhhh, everything is okay." Joyce would say if she could take away all of his pain, but, unfortunately, she can't.
     " I-I'm sorry... for all of this." Hopper takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry for putting you through all of this for thinking I died for making you see me like this." Before Joyce can say anything he continues. "This is all my fault! Everything that has happened is my fault!" Hopper finally finishes.
    "Oh Hop!" Joyce says with so much pain in her voice. "Non of this is your fault. Nothing that has happened is because of you." This just makes Hopper worse, he goes into the fetal position on the ground. " Hopper the only person to blame for anything that's happened is that monster Brenner. I know you may not remember who that is but he is to blame. He is at fault for all of this, he is the one who should feel guilty!" Joyce takes a couple of deep breaths. "We should go before someone finds us." Hopper responds by doing a shaky nod.
    In the car, Joyce kept looking over at Hopper, who, was still looking shocked and fearful. "So," She said, approaching with caution " do you remember... everything?"
   "Well... I think so". Hopper said, not really there. He was still stuck looking at Joyce's face before he went into the Upside Down. "How am I supposed to know if I remember everything?" He asked, he felt angry. Joyce didn't know what he was going through!
    "Well, I can ask you a few things to see. Would that help?"
    "Yah, I think".
    "Do you remember what El's favourite food is?" She questioned lightly.
He smiled. "I pretty sure it's eggos."
    "Do you remember the first time El called you dad?" Joyce asked, feeling relief and happiness for him.
    "Yes, it was before some dance and I gave her Sara's hair tie and without thinking she said 'thanks dad'." Hopper said with a small amount of confidence. "I remember that El and Mike are a thing. I remember El asking about Christmas. The smile on his face was replaced with pain. "And I remember something about this place I think the kids called it the upside down, I remember me and you going into it to save Will and that's...that's it."
    "Hop, don't focus to much on those memories yet if you aren't ready. Think of the good ones." Joyce said, patting his arm.
    "Please don't tell them ; I don't want El to get her hopes up." He said softly .
     "Yes, of corse Hop." Joyce squeezes his hand.
    They were silent the rest of the way home until they saw the sky start to go black. It turned from a clear, blue sky to a cloudy, pitch black canvas with purple lightning.
    "What the fuck?!" Hopper said, getting out of the car. Joyce, I'm taking the wheel!" He said. As they made the switch, the wind started to pick up, leaves smacked the windshield with enough force to stay there. It was nearly impossible to close the doors, for they were against the wind.
    As soon as they were in the car, it started to storm . "Where are the kids?" Hopper had to yell over the rain.
    "They went into  town! They said that at one they'll be  on the hill!" Joyce answered, fearfuly. They were both terrified.
    Hopper took off, racing as fast as he could against the growing storm.
Some how it seemed as the strange storm started everyone involved with the upside down had a muterul under standing of "Well fuck, I guess it's back."