Love Will Always Find A Way | Jopper

2

Joyce's POV

"So that's that" I say as I've finished giving Hopper a tour and how to make a few simple drinks. I don't really want to talk to him about what happened in the past, but I can tell by his face that he does.

"Any questions" I ask "About work"
"No... I got it. I just wanna say that it's nice to see you again"
"Yeah"
"So... you just moved back to Hawkins or..."
"No. I've lived here the whole time. It's a town of 30,000 people Hop. You can choose if you want to be known or not. And I don't want to be"
"So you've lived here the whole time and never told me"
"I called you"
"5 years ago"
"Look, I can't talk about this right know"
"Fine"
"Yeah, I know it is"

Dave walks in, and I'm pretty sure he's heard everything and has figured out that we know each other.

"So I guess you guys have history" Dave states
"It's complicated" I say quickly before Hopper can say anything.
"Anyways" Dave changes the topic "The timings have changed now that Jim has joined. So Joyce you can work from 9am till 3pm then you can go home, but only if you're back by 8pm. And you can have Sundays off"
"Thank you so much, but has my pay gone down?"
"No, you need it. You're still on full pay"
"Oh my god! You don't know what this means to me!"
"Jim, you agreed to work the whole day, you still okay with that?"
"Yeah it's cool"

Dave leaves us alone, and it's awkwardly quiet until Hopper breaks the silence.

"I know it's personal, but have you been living on your own the whole time?"
"No..." I decide to talk to him properly, just not about Elliot at the moment "You know Karen, she's my roommate"
"So you both dropped out together or..."
"No, I dropped out she went to a school out of town. Her parents thought she would meet some rich ass guy there, but turns out she didn't. Or if she did she was never gonna date him"
"Why'd you drop out"
"I don't have to answer your questions"
"I'm sorry"
"Ok"
"I just have one question that I want answered"
"Depends what it is"
"I think it was around 5 months after you left... or I thought you left. You called me. Why?"
"I don't know. I guess I just did"

But that was a lie, I called him because I needed to hear his voice and I wanted him so bad but I couldn't bring myself to say the right words.

5 YEARS AGO

I'm lying in the hospital bed holding my baby boy. I named him Elliot. When I was pregnant with him I didn't want him at all, but when I held him in my arms for the first time, I knew that I would protect him with my life. Karen walks into the room.

"Joyce" she says "I got the phone. You wanna call him?"
"Ummm... ok" I say "Can you hold him for me please?"
"Sure"

I pass Elliot over to Karen and hold the phone in my hands. I dial the number and let it ring. It answers and I'm greeted by Hoppers voice

"Hey its Jim, who is this?"
"Hi Hop. It's Joyce"
"Oh um.. how are you? What happened. Where are you?"
"I'm alright. Please don't worry"
"So why did you call? Are you coming back?"
"I don't know, maybe we can talk tomorrow"
"Sounds good"
"Bye"
"Bye"

"Seriously? What was that?" Karen says
"I have no idea" I replied.