Work Text:
“Mom, hurry up the movie’s starting,” Will called out from the living room.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Joyce called back as she finished dumping popcorn into three bowls lined up on the counter.
She scooped up the bowls and hurried into the living room. She put one bowl on the coffee table for Will and El, who were laying on the floor in front of the TV and handed one off to Jonathan in the armchair before dropping onto the couch beside Hopper.
“I’ll take that,” he whispered, taking the bowl from her hands.
Joyce narrowed her eyes and snatched the bowl back. “Go make your own.”
El and Will whipped their heads around simultaneously, glaring at the two of them before shushing them.
Joyce covered her mouth with her hand to hold in her laughter. Hopper just chuckled and scooted closer to her, throwing his arm over the back of the couch. She placed the bowl in his lap and took a handful.
“What is this movie supposed to be about?” he asked in a whisper, leaning close to whisper in her ear.
Joyce just shrugged, eyes focused on the screen. “I let the kids pick it out.”
He hummed his understanding, but otherwise stayed quiet as he focused on the movie. Joyce leaned against his side, resting her head against him. She found herself getting caught up in the plot of the movie, the suspense of it. She briefly wondered if she should have supervised the movie selection a little closer when she noticed Will and El clutching each other, even Jonathan was watching from between his fingertips.
The only one who wasn’t effected was Hopper, who just sat there eating popcorn looking bored. She even caught him yawning a few times out of the corner of her eye.
By the time the movie was reaching it’s climax, Joyce was fully invested. The scene grew quiet, no noise outside of the main character’s breathing and footsteps. Jonathan was on the edge of of his seat, popcorn bowl balanced precariously on his knee. El and Will had drifted closer to the television throughout the movie and had their faces all but pressed against the screen at this point. But Joyce didn’t have it in her to tell them to back up. Joyce herself was clutching Hopper’s arm that had drifted from the back of the couch to her shoulders a while ago.
The movie’s music started up again and Joyce prepared herself for the scare that was coming. Just as the music crescendoed, a loud noise echoed through the house, causing them all to jump. Jonathan screamed and Will and El scrambled back toward the couch.
But the sound hadn’t come from the TV, Joyce realized as her heart rate returned to normal. It came from Hopper. His head was leaned against the back of the couch with his mouth hanging open. Another snore thundered through the house and Joyce couldn’t help but laugh.
El giggled as she climbed up onto the couch, right in Hopper’s face.
“He ruined the best part,” Will grumbled, leaned back against Joyce’s legs.
Still laughing, Joyce ruffled his hair. “We can rewind it.”
Whatever he grumbled under his breath was drowned out by the sound of another snore. Joyce watched El poke her dad in the chest a few times. His only response was to swat her hand away with a sleepy grunt.
“Hop,” Joyce tried, nudging his side with her elbow. “Wake up.”
No response.
She nudged him again, harder this time. “Hopper.”
Nothing.
“Jim, wake up!” Joyce all but yelled, tossing his arm from her shoulders so that it slapped against his chest.
That seemed to do the trick and Hopper’s head shot up from the back of the couch. All three kids burst out laughing while he looked utterly confused, glancing between them all with wide eyes.
“What’d I miss?” he asked gruffly, looking over at Joyce.
“About half the movie,” Joyce deadpanned. “The neighbors could probably hear you snoring.”
He chuckled and shifted his arm back around her shoulders as El slid back to the floor with Will who already had the movie rewound and ready to hit play again.
“Sorry,” he said to the room as Will started up the movie again.
“Can’t even make it through movie night anymore,” Hopper whispered to Joyce with a breathy laugh.
“You’ve been working too hard,” Joyce muttered back, looking up at him.
He snorted at that. “Sure.”
“Or you’re just getting old,” she teased with a cheeky grin.
Hopper opened his mouth to say something, but was immediately silenced by the death glare El shot back at them. He bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing as she turned back around.
He moved his arm from her shoulders and Joyce’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment before his arm snaked around her waist. He pulled her closer to him, practically into his lap and leaned close to her ear.
“I’ll show you who’s getting old,” he muttered against the shell of her ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down her spine.
Joyce bit her bottom lip and felt his hand squeeze her hip where it rested. She tried focusing back on the movie, but Hopper’s thumb stroking her side under her t-shirt was too distracting.
And if she was counting down the minutes until the movie was over, who could blame her.