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"But for now...I need you to try and get some sleep. And tomorrow,I promise you we'll get back to it okay?" He reassured her,warm fingers brushing away the tears that were running down her face.
"Can you do that for me,please?"
She nodded in response and looked deep in his eyes. After all those years,he was still the one to provide protection for her. Even after everything he'd seen her go through,he never left her side,never denied helping.
"Okay come on lets take you to bed, it's freezing in here." He said looking to the direction of the wall she had just tore down.
/She's out of her damn mind Chief. The boy is dead/.
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He needed to stay strong for her. Someone had to stay strong for her.
He helped get in bed, tucked her in and then sat on a chair next to her. She was sitting upwards,with a pillow behind her back to keep her steady and she was biting her nails.
He gently brushed his hand over her's, slowly forcing it away from her mouth.
"Please,try and get some sleep for me. You need to rest. I know it is not something that you can just take off of your mind because someone asked you to do so, but it's going to be okay."
"No...you don't know how it is like Hop." She wept.
Right then and there,she knew she had screwed up.
"Right...I don't."
He stood up,giving her a pat on the back and putting his coat back on.
"I uh, I'll be outside if you need me okay?"
"Okay..." She sniveled
Before he even got the chance to turn around,she spoke again.
"Hop."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"Uh, don't worry about it. But please just don't forget that I understand your pain. I've been through this shit too,you know? I'm with you Joyce I'm not against you."
"Okay...thank you."
He gave her an understanding nodd and walked himself out of her house and towards his blazer, leaning against it. He sighed and reached into his pocket to grab his pack of cigarettes.
"Wherever you are kid,I swear I'm going to bring you home." He grumbled into the emptiness.
The searches where about to stop. The boy was officially pronounced dead. But Joyce had this aching feeling deep inside of her that he was alive. She knew he was alive and she was trying to warn them that the vanishing of her son wasn't random.
He wouldn't stop looking until he found the truth himself. Being the Chief of police he could do anything he damn pleased. What would they do? Call the cops on him?
He had lost many people in his life. He had lost his whole life actually. After his daughter's death and his breakup with Diane he had nothing left to keep him going except from that bottle of pills that he's now thrown into the trash,his cigarettes,and whiskey. He'd get himself drunk out of his mind in order to forget about his pain,forget about his past. He wanted, no he needed to let go of it,erase it all. But he realised that giving up was not an option even though he tried making it one. He found out that doing all of those horrible things to himself was going to be no good. He knew it wasn't helping him but he couldn't stop it.
And then it hit him. From the moment he started working for Joyce his life started to have a meaning again. He realised that he wasn't alone in this world,that there were people out there that needed him. There were people struggling just like he was. People he's known for years,people he's loved for years, people who get hurt and it shatters him to see. People like Joyce.
He looked up in the sky, gazing at the stars. She used to love the stars. He knew she was in there somewhere. His precious little princess was in there somewhere, looking after him.
Meanwhile, Joyce was in her room, clearly struggling. She had left the windows open,letting the cold breeze fly into the room as it made chills run down her spine. She needed to get some sleep,had to get some rest but there was one thing on her mind that she couldn't really seem to let go of. Hopper
She stood up and quickly paced out of her room and to her parking lot where he was standing.
"Hopper?" Joyce's muffled cry echoed in the woods.
He cleaned his face off of the tears using the back of his hand and took a deep breath before answering to her.
"Yeah Joy? Is uh...is everything okay?"
"No, nothing is okay right now." She shook her head and continued. "Please just come inside you're going to freeze out here."
She grabbed his arm and urged him inside. She needed him and they both knew it. He needed her as well.
"I just...I don't know Hop. I need you here. I understand if you need to leave but I-"
"I'll stay okay? Just promise me you'll rest and stop worrying about me. I'm okay. Start focusing on yourself for God's sake."
He sat on the couch, removed his hat and leaned back but she didn't leave. She sat there staring at him wanting to say something but being too scared to do so.
"No." She announced.
"What?"
"You're not sleeping on the couch. It's not like we met yesterday Hop, I've known you for thirty plus years." She said reaching her hand out for him and he held it softly. He needed her too.
She led him to her bedroom and layed down on her bed as he stood there, watching.
"Are you sure you-"
"Get in Hopper,please..."
He sat next to her and tucked her under the covers. She placed her head on his shoulder, seeking comfort. She needed to feel loved,needed someone to show her what true love was like.
It was like he was reading her thoughts, because as soon as her head fell onto his shoulder,he wrapped both of his arms around her petite frame and held her close. Safe. She fumbled with her hands underneath the blanket trying to hold onto his. He got the message and he clasped her palm in his, tracing soft circles with his thumb on top of it. He was her protection,the one she could always rely on,her shoulder to cry on,a friend through the highs and the lows.
He was nothing like her shit of an ex husband.
"You know...Lonnie never held me like this. She admitted
He looked down at her and placed a small and tender kiss atop her head while his fingers brushed through her brown locks.
"He didn't deserve you honey. He never did."
She blushed at him calling her honey and was once again unable to hide the laugh that escaped her lips. It was true,Lonnie didn't deserve her. She never really saw him around the house anyway,since he was always out drinking and screwing with any other woman he found. When he was home all he did was complain,yell and hit.
Hopper would never hurt me. She thought to herself
"You make me feel so safe. It's like nothing can hurt me while you're here looking after me."
"That's because even though I'm not so good at showing it,I care about you Joyce. I still do."
She let a couple of tears slide down her face, hearing his heartfelt confession.
"Shhh it's okay, it's okay. It's going to get better,I promise." He comforted her as he caressed her back softly.
"Does it? Will I ever see my boy again?"
"Yeah,it does. Trust me it does." He sighed. "I'll find him Joyce. I promised you I'd never stop looking for him. It's just as important to me that we find him as it is to you. I'm not giving up on him,not yet. Just like I never gave up on Sara."
She looked up at him and said. "You're stronger than I'll ever be,you know that right?"
"We both are. You should be proud of yourself."
The tension between them became unbearable. She could feel his heart beating faster than usual as her's did the same. Their bodies were laying flat against each other,their faces were inches apart,their hands were intertwined underneath the blanket,they both knew they needed each other no matter in what way.
Moments like this between them made them realise that they were made for one another.
She looked up at him with her eyes glowing.
He looked down at her with a lovestruck smile.
She leaned closer and he did the same. She could almost feel his breath on her face. They both blushed, squeezing their hands together underneath the covers.
In no time,her lips had found his and they brushed together tentatively for the first time. Hopper tangled his fingers into her hair as she wrapped both of her hands around his neck. Butterflies danced around in his stomach as she leaned into the kiss,her lips impossibly soft against his own. She could feel him smile and her breath hitched at the realization of kissing him. They were both so in love with each other,and all of it showed at this moment. His hands were running up and down her body, wanting to hold her for life,as her's found his cheeks,only wanting to pull him closer. Neither of them seemed to want to let go of this moment. He wanted to kiss her until his lungs gave out and so did she.
They pulled away,both out of breath. He brushed her hair off of her face and gave her a soft peck on the forehead,to remind her of how much he loved her. She smiled at him with watery eyes,now fully aware of how much he meant to her. She layed there,on top of him,her face buried in the crook of his neck as he took her in his arms again.
"You're my hero." She breathed
He squeezed her as tightly as he could,not wanting to ever let go of this moment,not wanting to ever let go of her.
"I love you." They mumbled at the same time.
She could feel him smile,and she let out a laugh.
It was true,they had both been hurt before. Neither of them had experienced true love before. But in the middle of their chaos,they still had each other. They had loved each other for years but life needed to challenge them to keep that love alive and eventually make it stronger. Make them stronger.
Joyce finally slept that night, after a week of spending her nights alone, crying in the cold. And Hopper...Hopper finally let go of his past and prepared himself for a new beginning.
They were both happy after a long time.
Their love saved them...again.