Hopper pulled into the parking lot of the court house and got out of the car to stretch after sitting down from hours of driving. He absentmindedly placed a cigarette between his lips and reached for his lighter before Joyce came over and smacked it from his lips.
"What the hell are you doing?", she asked and gave him a stick of gum from her purse.
"Sorry", he mumbled and held out his hand for El to grab as she got out of the car with Sammy and looked around nervously.
"C'mon. We're gonna be late. I know your dad doesn't understand what that is", Joyce scolded everyone as she adjusted her watch and walked inside the court house in search of whatever attorney Hopper hired.
Jamie nervously followed closely behind Joyce and Hopper as she attempted to hide the nervousness on her face. Hopper spotted the familiar, partially bald, black haired man pacing the hallway outside of the court room and gasped.
"Ah! There he is!", he told everyone as he quickly made his way over to the man while his family picked up their pace behind him.
"It's 9:56 Jim! Could you be any later?!", the man said as he angrily tapped the face of his wristwatch.
"Murray?!", Joyce exclaimed unexpectedly, failing to hide the disappointment on her face.
"Nice to see you again, Mrs. B— Hopper", Murray replied as he held up Joyce's hand and looked at her ring. "And you must be Jamie", he continued as he quickly smiled at Jamie and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't", Hopper replied as Jamie ducked behind him and nervously scratched her shoulder. "She's uh...", Hopper whispered as he couldn't find the right words and nodded his head towards Sammy who sported his service dog vest.
Murray looked at the dog, and then back at Hopper.
"Anxiety? PTSD?", he whispered questioningly.
Hopper and Joyce nodded simultaneously causing Murray to clap loudly gaining the attention of others around them.
"Perfect!", he exclaimed. "Just follow my lead", he continued as he led them in the court room and showed them where to sit. While the girls sat on the benches, Hopper sat next to Murray at the table only a few feet ahead.
As everyone stood while the judge entered the room, Jamie nervously looked over her shoulder at the few other people in the room. She saw Diane standing on the opposite side of the room and pulled at her collar then took a deep breath. Jamie nudged Joyce's arm with her elbow and attempted to whisper in her ear before Joyce shushed her.
El leaned forward and looked across Joyce's belly at Jamie as they sat down.
"Are you okay?", she mouthed to Jamie who looked as if she'd bolt out of there in an instant.
Jamie shrugged and looked back at Diane and her attorney, and then at her dad and Murray. She started to run out of things to do in order to distract herself and absentmindedly started picking at the healed scars on her wrist.
Joyce smacked Jamie's hand causing it to sting a bit. Hopper turned around in his seat embarassed and watched Joyce pass Jamie and El a piece of gum.
"Ouch", Jamie whispered as she rubbed her hand and looked at Joyce and then her dad. Hopper shot his children a look that could kill right before Murray stood and started speaking.
"Your honor, my client is asking for full custody of his daughter Jamie", Murray said as he saw the shock on Diane and her attorney's face.
"The paper here says that both parties were agreeing on joint custody", the Judge replied with a perplexed look.
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Trauma - Hopper Fan fiction
Fanfiction15 year old Jamie Hopper has had enough living with her mom and her abusive step dad. She decides to run away to her father after her mother had forbidden her from keeping in contact with him for nearly 5 years. It isn't until Jamie runs away to Ha...
