Jopper OS (English Vers.)

It broke me twice

Context:

- All the events of S1 have taken place

- This OS is situated at the beginning of S2

Enjoy the read !

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Spring 1984

Hopper rushed home, slamming the door behind him with a little more force than necessary. A small silhouette came around the corner, telling him in a reproachful tone:

"You scared me."

He contained himself in order to not shout at her. He didn't want to talk, but he didn't want to take out this strange resentment that was clouding his judgement on the young girl.

"I've had a bad day, Jane, sorry." he whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it ?"

"Oh... it's not that important." Facing Jane's reproachful look, he added:

"I promise it doesn't concern you, and it's nothing bad. It's just that there are days when I'd prefer to be at home with you. The world can be crazy..."

He went to barricade himself in his room, making a mental note to thank her for not asking to go out for the umpteenth time.

It was a little bit more than two months since he found her in the woods, on one of the last snowy mornings. Still today, he couldn't explain the certainty he felt when he saw this silhouette coming out from the woods. He suddenly knew that welcoming her in his home was the right thing to do.

At the beginning, things had been complicated. Jane showed a cold thankfulness, but they didn't manage to build a true relationship. And still today, she seemed guarded. However, little by little... A night spent eating Chantilly waffles, buying a lot DVDs and playing board games seemed to encourage her to spend more time with him. Sometimes, she would even ask for these moments together.

But even if he had made a lot of concessions, he stayed firm on one point: she couldn't go out, and nobody, not even her friends could know she was here. This would often lead to violent outbursts, when they would both barricade themselves separately... again.

********************************************

It was early in the morning, so the store was still empty. He had decided to come and see Joyce. Her genuine smile was back. And Hopper and her seemed to be rekindling a friendship that had weakened since he left Hawkins. Only now that he got to see her beautiful smile everyday did he realise how much he had missed it these last few years.

They say the strongest friendships are indestructible. He didn't really believe in that anymore. Truthfully, he learnt a long time ago that everything, whether good or bad, could shatter into pieces at any given moment. And sometimes, even when we fight our hardest to keep everything together, our life shatters into pieces.

So he was going to fight harder. He will fight to put their friendship back on track, he will fight to live a normal life again, but not like before... he wanted to live life to the fullest ! If he didn't, he'd be better off dying immediately.

He went in and the bell rang.

Joyce was checking the contents of the till. Apparently, she had just arrived. He heard her curse under her breath, throwing a discouraged look at the stuff piled on the desk. However, she pulled herself together when she saw him coming in.

"Hey Hopper ! How are you ?"

He faked an annoyed tone.

"I'll be better when there will be problems to solve."