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“I can’t thank you enough for paying close enough attention to Jane to get a Christmas list together. I guess I completely spaced,” Jim Hopper murmured as he and Joyce walked out of the mall in South Bend, arms laden with shopping bags.
“Not a problem. It helps that she loves watching commercials and saying ‘I want that’ after almost every single one. Thanks for letting me ride along; I hope I get that stupid car figured out soon.”
Jim shook his head. “Let me look at it before you waste money on a mechanic. I can do that tonight after we unload the truck.”
Joyce frowned and paused, giving a slow, meaningful look up and around–It was becoming frigid and windy, with ribbons of snow and sleet whipping and stinging Joyce’s face as she scrutinized a sky that was growing thick with battleship-gray storm clouds.
“Are you so sure about that?”
Jim followed her gaze and groaned deeply. “I can at least make sure you have a ride to and from work tomorrow.”
“Mmm… let’s just focus on getting home in one piece.” she pretended not to notice the small smile and the delighted twinkle in Jim’s eyes at the mention of ‘home’–as though it was a singular place that they both resided in. It might have been a trick of light and snow for all she knew.
The snow and wind picked up with vigor by the time Jim managed to get the Blazer out of the packed parking lot. Traffic leading out of South Bend was at an unbearable crawl, which Joyce supposed she ought to have been thankful for–winter driving always made her unbearable anxious, especially when she was not in the driver’s seat.
“I can barely see the car in front of us, can you?” Joyce asked breathlessly, as she gnawed at her thumbnail, leaning forward in her seat with wide, searching eyes.
“Not really.” Jim glanced at the clock radio. “It’s probably going to get worse the darker it gets.”
Joyce exhaled. “It would have been an hour and a half drive in normal conditions, we’ll never get home at this rate.” she turned her head and narrowed her dark eyes in the direction of the passing signs; restaurants, gas stations and a Cozy Inn. An idea occurred to her.
“Maybe we ought to get a room and wait it out.”
“Huh?”
“Take the next exit. It’s not safe to drive home in this–we ought to just stay in a motel for the night.” Joyce felt her stomach flutter at her own suggestion, even though she thought she was just offering a practical alternative to braving the wintry conditions. She shifted her eyes towards Jim, gauging his reaction. There was a definite color in his cheeks as he swallowed hard and nodded.
“No, you’re right. That way we can call the kids and make sure they’re safe.” Jane was currently at the Byers’s house with the boys, undoubtedly watching the weather report with the same sense of dread plaguing Joyce’s insides.
The Cozy Inn, contrary to its promising name, was nothing more than a decaying roadside motel situated alongside a portage road. The stucco facade was a faded eggshell blue, but the lobby was clean, even if it did give off a rather stale aroma.
All the place had to offer was a single room. One king-sized bed.
Joyce and Jim left the presents in the Blazer, and stepped into the small, dark room. The first thing Joyce noticed was how frigid it was inside–her breaths came out in wispy little puffs as she explored her surroundings.
“Let’s get some heat going in here,” Jim announced with a shiver. When he discovered the means of controlling the temperature, and worked to turn it on, the room filled with a thick, unpleasant rotting scent followed by an incessant banging noise from the radiator. After ten minutes, the sound persisted, the scent lingered, but the temperature failed to rise.
“Turn it off!” Joyce complained, pressing her hands against her ears as she sat at the edge of the bed, next to Jim–neither of them had moved to remove their jackets. He immediately sprang into action, and Joyce–despite her discomfort–cracked open the window and turned on the ceiling fan. The scent was simply, stomach-churningly unbearable.
When the stench lifted, Joyce shut the windows, switched off the fan, and called home. Jane and the boys were safe, and happy that she and Jim were taking the proper precautions. The conditions outside had only worsened. After hanging up, Jim immediately called the front desk to complain about the heat. He hung up with a soft curse, his heavy brow furrowed and one corner of his lips curled up in annoyance.
“Well, there’s nothing that can be done tonight, and there’s no other room. The old bird at the front desk was pretty resistant to a discount, but I’m thinking about flashing my badge in the morning.”
Joyce snorted and fell back onto the mattress. “I don’t think they’ll recognize your authority out here in Bumblefuck Nowhere. You’d have better luck flashing your dick.”
Jim let out a short bark of laughter at her bawdy dig, and belly-flopped onto the bed–the impact causing her to bounce with a delighted shriek before landing half on top of Jim, her arm thrown over his chest, her face buried in the crook of his neck to stifle her giggles. He gave a mock-sneeze before shoving her hair away from his face.
“So what are we going to do? We can’t keep driving, but I’m pretty sure we’ll freeze to death in here,” Joyce sighed, unable to stop herself from melting into his touch as he anchored her to his side with gentle, but firm hold.
While they hadn’t exactly crossed that invisible line since the events of early November, their friendship had deepened. Joyce had made herself available to the Hoppers; emotional support and parenting advice Jim, educational resources and much-needed mothering for Jane. Both Hoppers had repaid her kind attentiveness with house repairs, deep loyalty, and movie nights. As a result of this new arrangement, Jim and Joyce had become more demonstrative in their affection; subtle touches, lingering embraces, and forehead kisses–but nothing beyond that, even though the idea of something more had Joyce waking in the middle of the night aching for him–much to her immense guilt. If only he hadn’t been so damn charming and comforting that night in the school parking lot…
Or every other time they were alone together for the past two years, really. Her heated musings hadn’t started the night of Snowball; hadn’t stopped when Bob was alive, nor slowed with his passing.
“Well, I was going to be a gentleman and take the floor, but it might make more sense to generate heat by sharing the bed.” Jim mumbled against the top of her head, his breath hot against her scalp as he spoke. He took her involuntary shiver for a response to the air and not his words, and pulled her closer.
“Okay,” she agreed, before pulling herself into a sitting position and unbuttoning her coat. After throwing it towards the armchair near the bed, she began to tug her sweater and t-shirt over her head, she heard his sharp intake of breath before she noticed his pale, wide-eyed expression.
“Skin-to-skin is better,” she informed him, trying to keep her expression neutral, despite the intense burn creeping up her neck and cheeks. She slid off the side of the bed, to stand on the floor and started to wriggle out of her jeans.
“Stop gawking at my tits and get naked, Hop,” she teased as she climbed back into bed, desperate to keep the mood light as she found herself sharing a bed with her high school sweetheart, wearing nothing but an ugly bra panties set and socks that didn’t match. He wasn’t actually staring at her chest, on the contrary, his eyes seemed to be drawn to absolutely everything in the room, save for her.
Jim blinked several times before exhaling shakily, his face crimson. “Sorry, I was… yeah, that makes sense… skin-to-skin. We’ll freeze in here, otherwise.” he pulled himself to a sitting position, and began removing layers of clothing, his broad back facing her. When he was down to his boxers, he maneuvered quickly, darting under the comforter before she could get so much as a glimpse of his bare shoulders as he settled onto his side, still not facing Joyce.
“Jim?”
“Mmm?” he inquired with a yawn–feigning sleepiness, despite the fact that it was only 6:00 PM.
“Am I going to be your rocket pack?”
“What?” his query was sharp, but verging on laughter. When he finally turned to face her, she pulled a face; her eyes crossed and her cheeks puffed out–this time he did laugh, and pulled her close against his chest, his arms wrapped around her slight frame. Joyce hummed with delight and nestled her face into the crook of his neck.
“You’re so warm,” she murmured against his neck. Joyce couldn’t help the little thrill of satisfaction she received when she felt a little tremble course through Jim’s body at her words. His body was like a furnace against hers “Cold?”
“No. I’m just… can I turn around? You can be big spoon, or rocket pack, whatever, I just…” he trailed off as his face went even more scarlet.
“Hop?” Joyce frowned as she searched his face for answers. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
“I’m just having a-uh-natural reaction to our… proximity.”
Realization dawned on Joyce, and she expressed her understanding with a soft gasp before scooting back slightly. His ‘reaction had been brushing her knee for a while, and she simply hadn’t noticed until he hesitantly brought it up.
“Oh. Oh, hell, I’m s-sorry–“
Jim buried his face in his hands. “Please, don’t apologize. Of all the things… just don’t, okay?” his voice was soft, muffled, and dripping with embarrassment.
“But it’s natural, right? Just the closeness, and the… the lack of clothes. It could happen with anyone, right?” she inquired, anxiously.
“Umm…”
“Because, I’m not mad or offended or anything–And I would be weirdly flattered except it’s kind of involuntary, isn’t it?”
Jim’s eyebrows shot up his forehead as he gasped at her. “Huh?”
“I’m saying I could be Flo in this situation and something like this could potentially happen.”
“Never mind, we can go back to cuddling; it’s suddenly not a problem anymore, Joyce.”