The Showman [Jopper fanfic] |•|FINISHED|•|

Part 6

The few next days went pretty well. Hopper visited Joyce until Friday, learning Chester new things everyday. Joyce went to see Hoppers show in Friday, too, and she really enjoyed it.

But something was off with Jim. His acting was slightly different from Tuesday, but Joyce didn't know what exactly was the thing that bothered him. He became more quiet, unsure of things and sometimes he wasn't even listening, it seemed like he was lost in his thoughts. 

When Joyce told Karen about it, she just waved her hand and said that he is maybe just tired, so she believed it. Yet, she wasn't so sure as she watched him on a stage. So when the show ended, she left Karen and her new boyfriend and crawled into Hoppers apartment. She came there even before he did, which made her slightly comfortable. She never was in his apartment alone, never had the rights to expose it a bit, to explore.

 She started with his small kitchen, releazing that maybe she should suggest him to have dinner with her every single day, because his fridge looked very poor at the moment. Then she moved into his small living room that she actually knew from earlier, so there wasn't much that she wanted to explore. Then, her legs took her in front of his bedroom. She breathed in and out, looking at his front door. Then she turned back at his bedroom doors and opened them wildly.

She walked in with a weird feeling of guilt. She never saw his bedroom before, and, actually she could have releazed that since he lives alone, his bedroom would be really messy. She let out a small chuckle when she saw his boxers that laid on his chair. He really needed a woman to take care of him. And something small inside her already burned the knot, the want to be this woman. No, the want to be his woman, that is correct. 

Then her eyes laid on a small piece of paper that was laying on his bed. She looked back again, hoping that he wouldn't come inside his apartment any soon, and she quickly grabbed that piece of paper. On the first side, there was nothing and on the other side, there was something written by his hand. She looked closely and suddenly her eyes widened.

''Somehow get one million dollars till Tuesday, or facing death''

Joyce didn't know what it meant, but something in her head told her that it was nothing good. Was Hopper just a thief? Would he grab one million dollars from bank and then leave? No, that sounded horrible, he would never.....would he?

She put the paper back and slowly backed away from his bedroom, closing the doors behind her shakingly. When she turned away she screamed.

''What were you doing there..?'', Hopper asked with raised eyebrow. His arms were crossed, and his face expression didn't seem angry or evil, more like worried.

''I- uh- I um- uhm-'', Joyce backed away, bumping into his bedroom doors.

''Joyce. What were you doing here?'', he asked again, patiently waiting. She gulped and looked down with embarassment.

''I....wanted to e-explore y-your house! I just wanted to explore your room I d-didn't know about the paper!-'', she stuttered but she was stopped by Hopper, who walked to her and grabbed her face with his hand.

''What....paper?'', he said, his voice full of urgency. His eyes were wide open, that it made her shiver.

''The....the one that you have on your bed'', she whispered quietly.

Hopper was watching her for a while, then he let out a heavy sigh and walked to a wall next to her, bumping his head against the wall hardly. It made Joyce worried even more. Not like she cared why he needed the money, she was more worried about him, his health and his life. When he didn't look like he would stop hurting his head any soon, she hurried to him and took him by his arm.