DESOLATION [ 1 ] ↠ STRANGER THINGS

3. ONE PHOTOGRAPH

Hopper's eyes caught sight of Colleen walking into the room, she had both her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes were all puffy from the lack of sleep and all the crying she'd been doing. He knew how hard this had to be for both of them, the not knowing. The mystery. He looked back over to Joyce, "I'm not saying that you're making it up. All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you."

Joyce fought back a few tears, "And you think I don't know my own son's breathing?" Colleen watched as Hopper's mouth dropped open a bit when he heard that, and that made Colleen bite down on her bottom lip. She swallowed hard, knowing everything that happened to Hopper's daughter... To Sarah. She knew about her last breath, and her last words. Joyce continued, "Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?"

Hopper turned away from them and took a few steps away, making Joyce bury her face in her hands. Colleen took a step forward, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor. She could tell that Joyce had hit a spot that never finished healing, and she knew that he was probably about to lash out. This was why Hopper and Chris worked well together. Because Chris knew when to stay level-headed when dealing with issues, whereas Hopper would usually be punch first, ask question later. Colleen cleared her throat as she moved closer to Hopper, wanting to check on him but that's when the Byers' took notice to the unfamiliar girl in their living room. She clenched her jaw, "Hopper."

Hopper turned around to look over at Joyce and there was something different in his eyes. A pissed off glint, "You hear from— uh, Lonnie yet?"

Joyce sniffled, "No."

"It's been long enough. I'm having him checked out," And without another word, he placed his hat back on his head and headed towards the front door. The brunette widened her eyes slightly as he walked by her, "Come on. Let's go, Colleen."

Hopper ignored all the shouts and pleas from Joyce as he stormed out of the house and made his way down the driveway to where he parked his truck. Colleen was trailing behind him, silently, but she heard footsteps coming behind them. She looked over her shoulder to find that Jonathan was running after them shooting, "Hopper! Hey, Hopper. Let me go... To Lonnie's."

Hopper dug into his shirt pocket for his pack of cigarettes and lit one up as Jonathan explained his case. "You know, if Will's there, it means he ran away. And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble. And he'll— He'll hide." Jonathan stammered, "You know, he's good at hiding."

Hopper took a step forward and grabbed his arms, making Jonathan look up at him. While Colleen stood back and watched by the car. "Well, cops are good at finding. Okay? Stay here with your mom." Hopper lightly punched Jonathan's shoulder before taking a step away from him, "She needs you."

The radio buzzed over the intercom, "Chief Hopper. We need you down at the Station."

Hopper turned around to look at his truck when Colleen licked her lips, "I can just walk to school, Hop. It sounds pretty urgent."

Hopper let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, before nodding his head. He knew that Colleen was capable of getting to school on her own, and she was more than capable of handling herself but he still worried about her. And he worried even more since her dad was missing. He felt responsible for her, mainly because he knew that Chris would kick his ass if anything bad happened to his daughter. He turned around and pointed in her direction as he stepped closer to her. "Be safe. Okay? I love you, kiddo."

She smiled, "I love you too."

Colleen watched as Hopper climbed into his police truck and drove off down the street towards the station. She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets and started to walk down the driveway but Jonathan called out for her, "Hey, um. Do you, uh— did you want me to drop you off at school?"