our story 💫 (jopper fanfic) COMPLETED

M I S S I N G

november 1983

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november 7, 1983. it was just another day for jim hopper. little did he know that this day was going to change his life forever. oh, he had no idea.

he rolled out of bed, took a shower, and arrived to work at the police department, late of course, as always. he was the chief of police in hawkins. he moved out of hawkins in 1965 to live in california, but came back to hawkins just a few years ago. a few months before moving to california, he married diane morris, a girl whom he had started dating in college. him and diane had a daughter together, sarah elizabeth hopper, named after hopper's grandmother. sarah suffered from cancer. it broke hopper's heart. after sarah passed away, he divorced diane and went into a state of alcohol and drugs. it was the worst stage of his life. that's when he decided to move back to hawkins and bring his life back to normal.

nothing really happens in hawkins. it's a quiet town, always has been, ever since he moved there in 3rd grade. but even though it was quiet, and there wasn't much to do as a cop, it was hopper's favorite place in the world. he felt so at home in hawkins.

he pulled up to the police department and walked inside to see officer callahan, officer powell, and his secretary, flo. "good of you to show." said flo rolling her eyes. "oh hey morning flo! morning everybody!" hopper said sleepily. "damn, you look like hell, chief." said callahan. "your wife looked worse when i left her." hopper said back. powell laughed. flo walked up to hopper and reported a bunch of things, most of them hopper didn't listen too. except one. "on a more pressing matter, joyce byers can't find her son this morning." flo said. when he heard her name, his heart dropped. joyce byers. joyce byers. his best friend. his girl.

even though hawkins is a very small town, he barely saw her, let alone hear her name. he'd seen her around occasionally, sometimes they would have a conversation, and other times they would just say hi or hello. they were really distant from each other. neither knew why. ever since the last day of high school, things have been weird between them. he barely knew anything about her now. they always prayed that wouldn't happen to their friendship. but sadly, it did.i mean, he knew some things about her. he knew she worked at melvald's general store in hawkins square. he knew that unfortunately, she was struggling financially. 

he knew she had two boys. jonathon and will. he knew she was divorced, from lonnie byers. lonnie byers. he hated lonnie byers with every bone in his body. he was at joyce and lonnie's wedding. it was one of the worst days of his life. he hated seeing his dream girl being swept away right before his very eyes. and then, she changed her last name to byers. he hates her last name. fucking lonnie byers. 

the only reason she kept byers after she divorced lonnie was because of her kids. man, she was a great mom. he even knew that, despite barely seeing her. he's heard all the things people have said about her, how great of a mom and friend she is, and how trustworthy she is. he wish he could talk to her. but for some reason, he didn't have the courage to. and he didn't have any clue why.

"yeah alright, i'll give her a call. just give me a minute-" he said (acting like he didn't care) before flo cut him off. "chief, joyce is very upset and-" hopper turned around to flo. "what have we talked about? mornings are for coffee and contemplation!" "chief, she's-" "coffee and contemplation flo!" hopper shouted, heading up to his office. when he opened the door to his office, he saw joyce staring at him. she looked a mess, but gosh, she was still beautiful."i've been waiting an hour, hop-" she said as hopper typed in "m i s s i n g" into his typewriter. "and i apologize again-" he said. "an hour-" she said with frustration. "i understand. but a boy his age, he's most likely playing hookey." hopper said, trying to reassure her.

"not my will, no. he wouldn't do that. he's not like that." she said with tears in her eyes. he hated seeing her like this. joyce told hopper all about will, and how nervous she was about his disappearance. he tried to reassure her by saying that nothing ever happens in hawkins, but she still didn't believe him. joyce was tough like that. she always fought for what she believed, not what other people did.

"i'll call lonnie. he'll talk to me before he talks to a-" joyce began to say. "pig?" hopper joked. "a cop." joyce said. she took a pause, then sat down and put her cigarette in an ashtray. her eyes looked red and she looked so tired and scared. you could tell that she was loosing her mind. any mother would. her hands where shaking and her breathing was heavy. she took a breath, and hit the table. "just find my son, hop. find him." she said before walking out the door.

she still called him hop.

a/n: this is just to start their relationship as adults! this scene is from the first episode and all credit for the dialogue goes to stranger things and it's writers. :)