Chapter Text
When a frantic knock is heard from the front door, Joyce all but shot up from the bed, knowing without a glance that Jim was right behind her.
Frantic knocks in the middle of the night usually only meant one thing: trouble.
And by god, the Hopper-Byers had contended with enough trouble in their lives. Living in the outskirts of Hawkins allowed a little peace of mind, no one becoming suspicious of their little family and the oddities surrounding them when the closest neighbor was at least a few good miles away. It was safer that way, both Joyce and Jim agreeing unanimously when they decided to move in together.
However their practically remote location did not stop the couple from always being on the verge of fight or flight on almost all occasions.
Apparently their kids were the same, Will and El standing by their opposite bedroom doors. A second later, Max’s head popped up in the mix, the girl spending the night. Like she did on most nights.
“Stay in your rooms,” Jim ordered when passing by, Joyce barely acknowledging as she carried her feet faster.
Taking the stairs two steps at a time, she made it to the door before her partner, swinging open the door despite the hushed protests.
Standing on their doorstep, eyes rimmed red and a backpack slung over her shoulder, was Steve’s friend Robin. Joyce and Jim knew the girl, she’d been over to their house plenty of times. Over the course of a month, she and Steve were practically a package deal—where he went, she went and vice versa.
So it was strange to see the girl without Harrington by her side.
“Uh—Robin sweetie,” Joyce uttered, still shocked to see it was no harm and just the girl. Feeling the October wind pick up, she hugged her sweater closer to her chest, and stepped to the side to let the girl inside. “What…what are you doing here? It’s almost two in the morning.”
“I…uh,” the girl entered the house, her head ducked down, “I…uh, need somewhere to stay.”
“What happened?” Jim asked as he closed the front door. His voice was groggy with sleep, though becoming clearer the longer he remained awake.
The girl shifted from foot to foot, forcing a pleasant smile as though it would be reassuring to the highly observant pair. “Uh…just needed to get out of the house,” she said tactfully, not giving any real details. She then turned to Joyce, eyes pleading. “I promise, it’s only for night Joyce,” Robin assured her, before glancing over at the less than enthusiastic man beside the matriarch, “…and Chief,” she tacked on as an afterthought. “If I could, I’d go to Harrington’s but he’s kind of out of town at the police academy.”
Everyone was aware Steve was off at the police academy. After hopping from job to job, the kid finally realized he might actually be decent at the whole officer thing rather than slugging on by haplessly. So he worked and made the grade on his assessments, before heading off to complete his training.
Of course that meant his absence was felt. Dustin was down and about at the loss of his best friend, and the kids bemoaned how they didn’t have anyone to drive them around anymore. El was just bumped she lost someone to talk to—she and Steve had oddly became close, the guy explaining some more social skills to the girl than her friends we equipped with.
Jim and Joyce simply missed having another set of eyes on the kids, with Jonathan and Nancy off at college, it meant two less sets of helping hands. Now they were down to just them keeping the kids out of two much trouble, most of the kids not even their own.
However, Joyce never thought how Steve’s departure would have effected Robin.
“We have no problem with you staying here,” Joyce was quick to comfort her, “you are always welcomed here—”
“We just want to know why,” Jim informed the girl sternly, with little room for argument. Joyce understood where he was coming from—he by no means was turning away the girl, he just wanted to know what caused her to suddenly feel unsafe and come banging on their door.
“I—” Robin looked at a loss, eyes watering again, “um…Steve said if anything were to happen between my parents and I, to come here.” The strain in her voice did not go unnoticed by either adult.
“Did they hurt you?” Jim asked quietly, his hackles rising.
The girl’s eyes blew wide. “No—No—God, no!” Her eyes screwed shut. “No, they would never lay a hand on me,” she said. “We just had a disagreement about something important, and I didn’t feel comfortable at home tonight,” she explained, tension straining on her shoulders. “God, I’m sorry—I’ll go. Sorry to have woken you—”
“No, no, no,” Joyce caught her arm, “It’s the middle of the night. We’ll set you up in Jonathan’s room.” She sent a stern look to Jim, “Hon, I got this,” she muttered, staring up at him with imploring eyes.
Reluctant, he nodded, “I’ll go check on the kids,” he mumbled, before heading back upstairs.
Once he was gone, Joyce gave a small smile to the girl. “Come on, Jonathan has the downstairs bedroom, just down the hall,” she told her as she led Robin further into the house. Stopping by the linen closet, Joyce grabbed a couple of blankets before continuing her journey to her son’s room. There wasn’t much in the room, Jonathan moving into the space the summer before college. Most of his belongings went with him, save for his bed, desk, and a few posters of bands she never heard of lining the walls.
Quietly, the two women made the bed, Robins still mum as she followed through the motions.
As she was fluffing a pillow, Joyce thought it best to broach the subject now with her imposing looking husband back in bed. “Sweetie, you don’t have to tell us now…but Hop’s gonna wanna know,” the girl tensed again, “not because he’s upset, his face be damned, but because he cares. A lot,” Joyce added, hugging the pillow to her chest. “He just wants to make sure you are safe and there is nothing to worry about because you matter to Steve, and anyone who matters to Steve matters to us.”
Considering Joyce’s words, Robin sat down on the edge of the bed pensively. Her hands fiddled on her lap, scratching at the chipped black polish on her nails. She looked back up to Joyce, terrified but longing. “If…if I tell you the truth, you won’t hate me?” she asked, her voice small.
Joyce blinked at the girl, surprised by the gravity of the situation taking its toll on her. Sitting beside her, Joyce rested a warm hand on the girl’s fiddling ones. “I won’t hate you,” she assured her, looking dead in the eye. “I promise.”
Robin took a deep breath, hands shaking. “My…my parents found out I don’t like boys...and they weren’t too happy,” she confessed, her words barely above a whisper. Withheld tears began to spill from her eyes, Robin wiping them away with the back of her right hand, Joyce still holding her left steadily. “They didn’t kick me out or anything, but…I could tell by the look in their eyes they didn’t see me as theirs anymore. And it hurt…a lot,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Oh honey,” Joyce pulled the girl into a warm and comforting hug.
While feeling pain for the girl’s situation, she did not have the right words of comfort. She had her own theories on her son, but there was never anything discussed or declared; their family just took what he said as face value. Will declares he won’t ever be in love? Okay, they will let him be. Joyce knew better than trying to control kids emotions and attractions; validating them and being a listening ear was the best she could when they were in distress.
“You can stay as long as you want,” she murmured, feeling the girl nod gratefully into her shoulder.
A faint ‘thank you’ was heard as Robin pulled away from the hug reluctantly. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, a small half smile on her lips.
A half smile was better than nothing.
The moment she slid back into bed, a warm arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.
“Everything fine?” Jim mumbled by her ear.
She patted his arm lightly, before intertwining their fingers. “I…” she sighed deeply, “I think Robin might be staying with us longer than one night,” she confessed, turning a little to glance back at him. “She’s going through somethings with her family and she felt a little unwelcomed there.”
Not exactly what Robin told her, but Joyce read the situation well enough. It was Robin’s decision who she told, Joyce was not going to take that away from her. Not to mention it was evident by her reaction it was an incredibly small circle who knew.
From behind her, she felt him hum in understanding. “She’s a young adult. It happens,” he said, his sympathy for the girl heard.
“I let her know she can stay as long as she wants.”
“Good,” he mumbled, groggy and already falling back asleep, “good. Got keep the kids…”
A distinct snore finished his statement, Joyce rolling her eyes fondly at the sound.
“You’re right, Hop,” she whispered, patting his arm once more, “Gotta keep the kids safe.”