#ellewritesandrants

[ellewritesandrants]

I don’t know why but the idea of a soulmate AU between Billy, Steve and Eddie captivates me, especially with the idea that Billy unknowingly gets Steve and Eddie to find out that they’re soulmates. Either in a modern AU where Billy’s a big fan of Corroded Coffin and Steve just managed to get a free ticket or something or in a canon AU where Billy and Steve are friends who want to smoke a little something so they buy from Eddie or Steve picks up the kids from Hellfire and one of them notices the marks match, I don’t really care how but I just want to explore the hurt and comfort of that.

Can you imagine Billy pining away, forever in love with the idea of his soulmate being the one who’ll save him from his situation given that’s what happened to his mom and he finds out that his crush is his soulmate but doesn’t want to tell him yet until he’s made something out of himself, until he’s deserving of love and all of a sudden, he finds out that his soulmate found his soulmate and it wasn’t Billy?

Imagine Steve happily dragging Eddie with him who already looks besotted with Steve and they show Billy the mark that he’s memorized from seeing it in the mirror thousands of times and as soon as he sees the smiles on their faces and the look of wonder in their eyes, he knows for a fact he can’t ruin their happiness. He isn’t selfish enough to do it even others would say he was and all he could do was pretend to be happy and smile at the happy couple.

Imagine Billy pulling away, either out of fear he’d inadvertently ruin their relationship or because he couldn’t stand being surrounded by what he couldn’t have and the kids weirdly enough noticing and trying to figure out what’s wrong. It doesn’t help that Neil’s always been bitter about soulmates and he loved rubbing it in Billy’s face how worthless everything regarding soulmates and soulmarks was. Billy used to be able to ignore it in the hopes of finding his soulmate but now, he knew the truth.

The kids come to a different conclusion, not realizing it was something regarding soulmates but instead, about Neil’s treatment of Billy. If canon, it would be El spying on Billy and seeing him being beaten into a pulp by his dad but in a modern AU, it would the aftermath wherein Max would ask Steve to come visit Billy and he drags Eddie along with him.

Either way, Steve and Eddie find out about the abuse that Billy’s been suffering through and the guilt that Steve felt was immeasurable for not seeing what his best friend was going through, too busy with being in love with his soulmate. With Hopper’s help, they get Neil behind bars but Billy’s a wreck and he needs people to take care of him.

Steve refused to leave Billy alone in the trailer while Max went to school and Susan went to work so he offered to have Billy move in with him and Eddie so they could take care of him. Since Steve only worked part-time and Eddie was in the same year as Billy and could drive them to and from school, it made a lot more sense than leaving him to his own devices.

Billy thinks he’s in a new level of hell as time goes by because getting to know Eddie and seeing everything he can’t have was absolutely painful and heartbreaking on another level. Being surrounded by their care and affection when he’s barely known it his entire life hurts on another level he can’t exactly describe but it’s a pain that hurts so good that he can’t exactly say no to it. His only saving grace is that his mark was casted over due to Neil’s last temper tantrum and there was no way that the boys would get to see it.

Months pass of Billy falling more and more in love with his soulmates who are already in love with each other and it hurts so good. Steve and Eddie never make him feel like an outsider the entire time he’s there but sometimes, his touch starvation reminds him of just how much he’d love to be squeezed in between them in any way possible.

Graduation comes and goes and Billy refused to let his father take his achievements away so he graduated valedictorian, dragging Eddie kicking and screaming past the finish line to graduate. Billy gets to make his speech, loudly supported by everyone and he makes sure to thank his newfound family for all of the support they’ve given him.

Of course, graduation wouldn’t be complete without a graduation party so they all get drunk and party in Steve’s house to celebrate six graduations especially Billy and Nancy who graduated valedictorian and salutatorian respectively. Both Jonathan and Nancy planned to go to the same college in Chicago while Robin and her girlfriend, Heather were heading to California soon. Billy had also gotten into the same college but he wasn’t sure about going because he’d be leaving so much behind, including his soulmates.

By now, Billy was in love with both of his soulmates and unbeknownst to him, they were both plently enamored with him and they’d been trying to build up the courage to ask him out. The party had been slightly delayed because Billy was getting his casts off about a week after graduation and they wanted to do shots, something that really wasn’t advisable with a cast.

Billy had planned to initially conceal his mark using makeup but a large part of him knew that it didn’t matter since Steve and Eddie were happy anyway so he didn’t bother. After all, both Steve and Eddie loved to show off their marks at every opportunity and no one gave a shit about Billy. Somehow, Billy had managed to keep his mark a secret from everyone but he knew Heather had some suspicions.

After some time, the drinking games start and somehow, Billy’s mark is revealed either in a dared striptease or by accident during a dare and it quickly sobers him up. He doesn’t notice at first but then Robin drunkenly pointed out that they had matching marks and the sober gaze of Eddie was too sharp for Billy to meet, instead choosing to run away, stumble to his car and hit the gas to the quarry.

It’s only there that he allows himself to breakdown and to mourn the end of what was a good friendship he had going on with his soulmates because he was sure they would want nothing to do with him now. He’s only just begun to run out of tears when he hears the telltale sound of Eddie’s van, meant to drive Nancy, Jonathan, Heather and Robin home later but was most likely currenly holding the last people Billy wanted to see.

For a moment, he considers running again but his Mama didn’t raise no coward, so he wipes his tears and stands his ground. Steve was a lot drunker than Billy was when Billy had left but it seemed he’d sobered up during the ride because he was clear-eyed when he was grabbing Billy and making sure that the blond wouldn’t run away.

Steve and Eddie trapped Billy in between them, in what seemed like a mockery of his fantasies only to have them play out right in front of him. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that his soulmates would tell him that they wanted him, that they loved him and wanted to take care of him and love him. Sure, it was after an argument about why Billy felt the need to hide but he had expected rejection or at the very least a mutual ignorance of his mark. He’d never considered it a possibility but the two were convinced to try and convince him to give them a chance.

After more than a few tears and attempts to get them to realize they were better off without Billy and his baggage, Steve and Eddie stubbornly managed to convince Billy to try with them. A few kisses convinced Billy to leave his car behind so that they could get it in the morning but for now, Steve and Eddie wanted him in Eddie’s van so they were sure he wouldn’t run.

The entire ride, Billy’s mind was trying to convince him that Steve and Eddie were better off without him, that he didn’t deserve this and that he was a fraud ruining a perfectly happy couple but Steve instinctively knew something was up and he’d had Billy laid across his lap with his hair being stroked to keep the bad thoughts away while Steve affirmed Billy of all of their feelings towards him.

Halfway through the ride home, Billy was asleep and Steve had no problem carrying the younger boy into their bed so that they could finally hold him the way they wanted to. Billy had long since told them of how lonely he felt in his room but as much as they had wanted to invite Billy to literally sleep with them, they hadn’t wanted to cross any boundaries.

Tonight though, all Steve and Eddie wanted to do was to fall asleep holding their newly found soulmate. Billy awoke to Steve’s warmth cocooning him and Eddie coming in to wake him with breakfast in bed. After a hearty meal, Steve and Eddie asked if they could court Billy to show him how serious they were about their feelings for him and Billy found that much like before, he couldn’t say no to his soulmates.

Months passed with Steve and Eddie constantly trying to prove their love of Billy who eventually concedes and moves in with them in the master bedroom. It isn’t long until having Billy in between Steve and Eddie is a norm and no longer a fantasy for Billy and he realizes just how much he didn’t let himself have when he hated himself. With Steve and Eddie’s love, they helped Billy realize he was always worthy of love, care and devotion and that they were ready to spend the rest of their lives together reminding him of that fact.

[every-dayiwakeup]

For the most part, Jon is quiet. If Billy's being honest with himself, it unnerves him. He doesn't trust that serenity, because his father is ten times scarier when he's not yelling in his face.

But Jon hasn't forced Billy to retreat into his shell.

Not yet, anyway.

***

Tagging the only byergrove shippers I'm aware of 🥺🙏🏼:

@officialjoekeery

@bowiebond

@ellewritesandrants

@heartbuckley

[starkstruck27]

🎶✨ when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask/tag 10 of your favourite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)✨🎶

@thissortofsorcery so glad you tagged me!! I love sharing my music so this is great!!

🎵 Far Too Young To Die - Panic! At The Disco

🎵 Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles

🎵 Porkies - Don Broco

🎵 Damn These Vampires - The Mountain Goats

🎵 Lullaby - The Cure

I'm gonna tag @half-oz-eddie , @not-a-historian , @highpittsie , @ellewritesandrants , @chronicoverachiever , @ineffablebooklover , @happy-rascal , @captainsolocide , @riricitaa , and @yourebuckingkiddingme . Also if you just see this and want to do it, feel free to consider yourself tagged!

[symbioticsimplicity]

This post by @ellewritesandrants got me thinking about Will and Billy bonding, which is something I don't see often enough.

I think it would be really awkward to start. Honestly I think Billy bonding with any of the Party members would be incredibly awkward to start with. But Will and Billy have a lot of common ground tbh. Finding their way to it would just be...hard.

In an Billy Lives AU I'm imagining El and Max are the most likely to visit him in the hospital. Max learned how much she actually cares about him when she nearly lost him, and El has seen some of the deepest parts of his mind and knows hes more like a kicked dog than an actually horrible person.

They go keep him company almost every afternoon, to the point where one if the others, probably Mike makes a comment about it. Something something why are you wasting your time on Billy Hargrove of all people something something He's really not that bad when someone isn't constantly attacking him something something.

It gets brought up, probably by Dustin, that technically he killed a bunch of people, almost including them. That's when Will chimes in, because hey no Mindflayer murders shouldn't count against the Flayed. Dustin realizes his mistake and tries to backpedal, while maintaining that Will was different since Will was fighting it, obviously.

This does not have the intended effect. If anything Will seems more upset because how do you know he wasn't fighting it??? Fighting a mindflayer looks like your body sitting in place for hours while you're scratching at the walls of your own mind, screaming and trying to get back to yourself. None of them knew Billy well enough to know if he had just given in to the mindflayer. Or in Max's case, she hadn’t been home enough to know.

Someone, probably Lucas (which from his perspective is absolutely justified, btw, wanna be very clear on that), mutters that given what he was like before, he can't really picture Billy fighting being evil.

That pisses off Max, El, and Will.

Max snaps about how none of them knew what it was like for him at their house, for either of them for that matter. While he was a dick, yeah, he wasn’t just like that. He isn't evil any more than Max herself is, even though she can be a little much sometimes.

El is frowning when she explains what she actually did to get him to break the mindflayer's control, and it was essentially just reminding him that someone has cared about him at one point in his life. Reaching out to show him the smallest bit of kindness had been enough to let him break the mental hold of a creature that El herself had had trouble fighting.

And Will. Will storms out of the house, now determined to actually ask Billy himself because he's starting to get the sense that no one really ever has.

Billy is surprised to see Will when he gets there, having not ever really talked to the kid. From what he'd seen, he was shy and soft spoken, non-confrontational. It was almost alarming to see him roll up with a fire in his eyes.

His voice is still soft when he talks though, when he apologizes for storming in and asks if he can ask him some things. Billy is bored out of his mind and decides, what the hell, lets see where this goes.

So they talk.

It starts off just being about mindflayer stuff, given that they're really the only two people who can understand what that's like. Will never realized how...good?? It would feel to have someone to really talk to about it?? Billy is obviously still a little gun shy about it, but hearing that that's what happened to Will when he went missing, that he had to go through an experience that horrific at such a young age, immediately vaults him over a lot of Billy's walls. Its the worst kind of common ground, the kind found between vets after a war has ended.

Will attempts to place a hand over Billy's, which garners a flinch, and another piece of common ground is unearthed. Will knows that reaction, has seen Jonathan do it, has done it himself, knows his mom makes an effort to keep her own flinches under wraps.

He wants to hug him, if he's honest. Knows he could probably use it, but also knows that now isn't exactly the time.

Will doesn't mention the flinch and Billy doesn't either, but Will files it away for later.

After that, Will starts joining the girls when they go to visit Billy. They talk more, and for longer as Billy starts getting his energy back. Its weird to Billy, who's not had anything resembling an actual family, but he starts to develop affection for these kids who keep choosing to spend time with him.

He's still slow to truly trust, especially people who he should be able to trust like family, but hes learning. Its slow and its made of small steps like a newborn fawn learning to walk, but Billy starts to open up to them.

He tells El how he misses his Mom, but at the same time he thinks he hates her. El tells him how she feels about her own parents, and how she's still not fully sure about it.

He finally tells Max what Neil did to him when she asks. Little bits and pieces, never anything graphic, but enough that she can understand why he acted the way he did. He apologizes again, and this time when she hugs him and tells him she forgives him, its not with the looming knowledge that he's about to die hanging above them.

He tells Will how scared he's always been about someone catching him looking at his friends for just a little too long. Will hadn’t told him how he feels about Mike, but Billy isn't stupid. He could hear it in the way he talked about him, the way he smiled. He takes the leap first since Will took the leap to get close in the first place. Billy ends up being the first person Will properly comes out to, and Will cries for a good ten minutes because its as relieving as it is terrifying. Billy swears to take the secret to his grave. Its the first time Will hasn't felt like a freak because of something about himself that he can't change, and its the first time Billy hasn't either.

Just....Billy and Will being really ride or die for each other.

[bigdumbbambieyes]

Anything @ellewritesandrants or @eddiebillysteve write I have to read and reread it over and over!! So amazing!! Much love <3 sending good vibes to them and all writers!

oh this is such a lovely message!! having your fics reread again and again is such a touching honor as a writer! thank you for sharing the love, anon!! 🤍🤍

i’m inviting people to give shout-outs to their favourite fic writers, send me an ask (anon or not)!

[giurochedadomani]

Tagged by @robthegoodfellow (thanks!! 😊😊)

relationship status: single

favourite color: wine red

favourite foods: currently the tuna poke bowl from a place near my work place

song stuck in head: la posada de los muertos by mago de oz (Spanish hard rock band)

last thing i googled: the price of the shitty public transport pass in my shitty city whose shitty current government is going to raise

current time: Midnight (GMT +1)

dream trip: Egypt

something i want: a bass. Or to learn how to play drums

In case you wanna join in the fun: @adukeofspook @ferrame @bowie-starss @scarypp @ellewritesandrants

[ellewritesandrants]

Let’s be honest. The reason why Joyce and Jonathan don’t interact with Billy in the series is because they would clock his abuse the second they talked to him and the reason why Hopper has an intense dislike of Billy is because he used to be just like Billy and he hates the reminder of it. I like to think that in another universe, Jonathan befriends Billy before he becomes popular and Joyce realizes what’s going on when Jonathan invites him for dinner. She gives him the first motherly hug he’s gotten since his mom left him and she tells him that she’ll handle it. She then proceeds to ream Hopper out because he promised her that he wouldn’t let any more abusers slip through the cracks when he became Sheriff and he deals with Neil before properly combing Hawkins out for other abusers and getting rid of them.

Billy’s practically adopted by Joyce and he helps them realize that Will is acting weird thus preventing the trap from being set. Imagine Jonathan bringing Billy along with him whenever he went anywhere with Nancy and Billy being hated by Nancy since he took her place as top student in their year which infuriates her endlessly. They tell him all about the Upside Down and he helps the team at the lab with keeping everyone alive. He is extremely surprised to see Max with the other kids and while they fight, it’s only because they care about each other. Billy doesn’t meet Steve Harrington properly until that night and he doesn’t get how everything is connected until Jonathan tells him what happened and he laughs at the image of Steve being beaten in a fight by Jonathan before helping them with a monster called the Demogorgon. He’s a lot more chill with Jonathan’s influence so it’ll be so fun for him to literally whale on the demodogs as a form of anger management. He also doesn’t really dislike the kids since he knows for a fact that they’re Will’s friends so they must be somewhat okay since Will was okay.

Unsurprisingly, Billy and El get along like a house on fire after everything that happened which forces Hopper to change his opinion on Billy rather quickly. With either Billy or Max taking up her time, she doesn’t have time for Mike who the siblings both dislike. Billy and Max convince her that she could do better and much to Hopper’s delight, dumps his ass. Billy’s also a lot more comfortable talking to Joyce about what he went through so when the middle-aged mom brigade starts staring at him for too long, practically objectifying him, he’s willing to tell Joyce who tears into them with fervor. The kids spend equal amounts of time bothering Billy at the pool and begging Steve for free samples which Billy complains about to Jonathan who tells him that he signed up for it so he needs to just deal with it.

The events of season 3 still happen with the mindflayer but weirdly enough, it’s with Tommy and Carol who were heading to the motel to have some fun. They immediately target Steve when coming back and he realizes that the mind flayer has Tommy pretty fast and he gets El to take care of it with Billy’s help in holding Carol back without killing her. Later on, Billy helps Steve with the Russians too and he manages to distract the guards well enough for them to escape untortured so they could get back up in the form of Hopper and El.

Weirdly enough, Steve starts to see Billy in a new light while Jonathan has been slowly falling for his new best friend for a while now. Billy’s had crushes on both boys at different times but he’s pretty sure they’re both straight and into Nancy so he doesn’t bother. Cue The Byer-Hoppers deciding to move to California for a new start and Jonathan inviting Billy to come with them with the promise of bringing Max and Susan too if he wanted. Steve tries to convince him to stay. Billy doesn’t know how to choose between the temptation of freedom and a newfound familiarity.

[ellewritesandrants]

What about a modern AU with roommates Steve, Eddie and Robin who have Billy move into the apartment next door with Max?

What if Steve and Eddie had been dating and Robin had confessed and subsequently been rejected by Vickie so they decided to fuck Hawkins and go to California after the Byers? Maybe, Eddie and his band had managed to get more success in California, having regular night gigs and doing well enough that Eddie could stop dealing on the side while Steve and Robin did what they did best and worked in retail together.

Maybe, a few months after the honeymoon stage has passed and they both started to get busy and to see other options available there, Steve and Eddie realized they weren’t working out so well and they decided to break up amicably, still remaining good friends and even wingmanning for the other when needed. It just didn’t work between them since they both had a tendency to dominate and even if they were willing to take turns, here in California there were a lot more people out and about that they could be with that could satisfy their needs too.

After a year or two of peaceful cohabilitation between the trio, they get a new neighbor and lo and behold, it’s a boy their age and his little sister. Imagine Steve and Eddie’s surprise when they see a blue Camaro park outside their building with a blond Adonis behind the wheel who ends up moving into the apartment next door. Imagine Robin’s surprise when she and the boys see a fiesty redhead trailing after the blond who introduces himself as Billy and his little sister, Max as the their new next-door neighbors.

Imagine Eddie instantly spotting the black handkerchief tucked into the boy’s back pocket, immediately telling Eddie that he had a chance and that they might actually work well together in bed if his handkerchief was any indication. Imagine Steve drooling over Billy doing laps in neaby community pool where he also swam, practically almost falling all over himself to introduce himself to the blond who flirts back and invites Steve to shoot some hoops sometimes.

Imagine both Eddie and Steve deciding they want to pursue Billy only to realize that the other is also planning to do the same. Imagine the absolute confusion they would have because it’s the first time their tastes have overlapped since they dated and neither of them are willing to back down so they just decide to let the best man win.

While Eddie and Steve were having a weeks-long mini war trying to figure things out, Robin had already befriended the siblings, happily inviting Max to her yoga classes and being surprised when both brother and sister joined her. Apparently, it had been one of their first bonding activities after Billy had gotten custody since a friend of theirs ran a studio and gave them free passes.

Robin was quickly made aware during lunch that Max was a budding baby lesbian like her while Billy was an out and proud gay man since they hadn’t wanted to deal with any more bigots after having escaped their own version of the house of horrors. Robin easily cut the tension by telling the siblings that she was a lesbian herself and her two roommates were pan and bi respectively. Billy had gotten curious over how they had gotten into that living situation so Robin detailed how they had left Hawkins after a few rejections and near disownments to have a fresh start.

Billy then shared how he and Max had ended up there after his dad had been jailed and Max’s mom succumbed to her alcoholism. It’s been Billy and Max against the world for more than three years and they’d learned how to care and love each other as siblings throughout that period. Billy had managed to finish his double major in Psychology and Social Services in UC Berkeley with a full ride thanks to his valedictorian status and a sports scholarship he got playing basketball. Max had finished up her high school and was now studying in the university nearby so Billy had decided it was time for them to move.

Billy had applied to be a social worker for the local office while he was working on his master’s in psychology so he could eventually be a psychologist to help abused children like he was which of course, made Eddie and Steve want to be with him more. For all of the fighting between Eddie and Steve behind the scenes, it was actually Robin who introduced those two dinguses to the supposed love of their lives.

Billy was charmed by both Eddie and Steve but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship so he initially stayed away until the two boys decided to corner Billy and tell him about their agreement in dating him. Billy found it so ridiculous that these two boys really made rules to protect their friendship while they pursued the same guy that he couldn’t help but give them a chance.

Billy starts going out on dates with them individually with him not realizing the boys were constantly trying to one-up each other on dates just so they could steal him away. A few months in, he ends up confiding to Robin about how great dating both Steve and Eddie is and how he finds it so hard to choose between them. Robin accidentally reveals they used to be together but that they eventually split because they weren’t all that sexually compatible but everything else worked out well between them.

It gives Billy the great idea to try and rekindle their romance so he doesn’t have to pick between them so he orchestrates more and more group dates between them. Movie nights become the three of them cuddled together on the couch with Billy in the middle. Eventually, they move movie nights into Steve’s room which used to be Steve and Eddie’s room and suprisingly, the three of them fit comfortably well in the California King with Billy in the middle.

The first time he kisses either of themon their first monthsary , the two boys play rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first. The first time he makes out with either of them two weeks later, Billy ends up trapped between the two in Steve’s bed, trading partners every so often. Billy ends up telling them two boys 6 months later that he really wants his first time with them to be together and neither Steve nor Eddie can say no to him when he shows off the flexibility that yoga gave him.

It soon becomes a common enough thing for all three of them to fuck and then smoke weed in bed together and they shotgun kisses to get high because Billy becomes remarkably clingy when high and Steve does too a little bit. It’s after one of those fucks that Steve kisses Eddie for the first time in literal years and they end up making out in front of Billy. Eddie eventually realizes that they don’t know how Billy would react to them kissing since it wasn’t part of the deal but when they turn to look at him, their pretty little blond baby is wide-eyed and turned on and he’s not even trying to hide it.

After their first night as a throuple, the next morning brings actual conversations about relationship boundaries and they explain all sides of the story, including Billy’s machinations to get them back together again. Of course, the two boys have to punish their baby boy for tricking them but Billy enjoys their punishment. The three of them become an official throuple that morning and on their unofficial anniversary, they move into the boy’s apartment while Robin moves in with Max who had her girlfriend, El move in too.

Billy likes to say he’s the one who really won because he has two amazing boyfriends who love to spoil him and take care of him but Steve and Eddie know that it’s really them who won because Billy was the missing piece they needed in their puzzle and they’d be damned if they ever gave him a reason to want to go.

[ellewritesandrants]

What about a Mixed! Billy AU where Argyle is his cousin and instead of moving to Hawkins, he runs away to his other family?

Okay but imagine Billy so sick and tired of being beaten and about to be taken away from the only family he’s ever really known even if he hasn’t talked to most of them in years because of Neil.

Imagine him deciding to just fuck it, and run straight back to the old family compound that Neil never deigned himself low enough to enter, bringing all of his belongings in the car that he painstakingly built for himself in secret with his Tio Felix’s help.

Imagine him running straight to his cousin Argyle’s house where they call an early family meeting to figure out how to pretend that he wasn’t there even if his car was in the front yard.

Tio Felix drives it to his garage for safe keeping and the guest room that they kept for him after all of these years was very quickly fixed up by his literal dozen of cousins.

The adults figure out the story they’ll spin for Neil all while Billy’s abuela stands by the telephone, ready to call the nice policeman neighbor who might be the only one willing to help them if Neil ever came.

Much to Billy’s expectations and to the family’s anger and surprise, two weeks of tension passed by with not a single visit from Neil and the only thing telling Billy that they had arrived in Hawkins was a shitty letter Max had sent him telling him that she missed him but she understood why he left now.

He was half tempted to drive down to Hawkins to get her out because he was worried Neil was beating her instead but thankfully, the letter talked about the tantrum Neil threw at him leaving.

Neil wasn’t stupid enough to get physical with either of them because bruises on girls were much more scrutinized by the public but Susan had talked to Max about divorcing Neil once she had saved up enough.

Billy was able to graduate high school top of his class with an MVP and trophy for basketball with his family's support all while working part-time at his uncle's garage, learning all he could so he could use it on the mechanical engineering degree he was planning to pursue in UCLA on full scholarship to be the first member of his family to graduate from university in the USA.

He had kept up communication with his little sister and that's why he was so shocked when out of the blue, the summer he graduated, Max called him up to tell him that Neil and Susan had died.

He had immediately driven down, bringing his best friend and favorite cousin, Argyle for support because he wasn't sure how he'd react if he went by himself.

When they got there, Max told them that Neil and Susan had died in the mall fire with 27 other people and that they'd managed to get Max and her friends out but they weren't able to make it out.

Billy immediately asked who she was staying with and who he could talk to about taking custody of her. The police station was in shambles because their chief had also died in the fire but thankfully, Billy arrived just in time for him to talk to the CPS officer who came down from Indiana.

Since Billy was not only of age and working, had a place to live with and multiple relatives to help him, the officer was more than happy to file the paperwork to get it over with since more than a few kids lost their parents in the fire.

Max had stayed with her best friend, Jane who had been taken in by Mrs. Byers who was a single mom who had lost her boyfriend, the Chief in the fire. Mrs. Byers had her own handful with two sons but she had opened her doors to two daughters who needed a mom and Billy couldn't be more thankful.

This was why when Mrs. Byers (Call me Joyce!) had confided in him that she was planning to move out of Hawkins for good after all of this, that Billy had instantly suggested she move out to California where his family was.

He had been planning to take Max back to California and he'd already told her about it and she'd agreed but Billy had allowed her to have the last two weeks in Hawkins to say goodbye.

His family had understood and they'd started to make arrangements for where Max would sleep and how they'd get her to acclimate to everything after her loss.

Billy had managed to convince Joyce about moving up to California so two weeks after Billy, Max and Argyle had returned home, they were greeting their new neighbors, the Byers with the addition of Jane Hopper, who had been adopted by Joyce.

It had been really difficult for both girls to leave behind Hawkins and subsequently, their boyfriends behind but with each other literally across the street, their friendship blossomed into a sisterhood that everyone around them kind of expected.

Billy had done his absolute best to help the Byers get acclimated to living in California, teaching them basic Spanish to help them get bonus points from the neighbors and even using his leftover reputation to smooth things out for the teens about to enter high school, making it absolutely clear that he won't allow anyone to mess with his little sister and her friends.

Joyce had been basically adopted into the family by Billy's abuela who knew the struggle of raising multiple kids as a single mother due to losing her husband too early and the Byers found themselves quickly folded into the Molina family.

Jonathan very quickly became one of Billy's best friends since he got along really well with Argyle and Billy and Jonathan were able to have deep conversations revolving around their abusive fathers and to have someone understand that kind of experience.

Of course, at the first sign of trouble in Hawkins, Billy was more than willing to drive them in a van he borrowed from his Tio Felix cross country back to Hawkins, driving like an absolute madman to avoid the bastards trying to steal his sister's best friend, all while trying to make sense of the fact that they were dealing with alternate dimensions and powers.

It had been an absolute surprise for Billy to be thrust into the world of the Upside Down but with Billy behind the wheel, they managed to make good time, even being able to help with the actual Battle with Vecna and they'd managed to make a pitstop at Chicago to get Jane's sister, Kali.

It was Billy's first time to meet the people that Jonathan had told him about. He finally got to meet Nancy, Jonathan's on and off girlfriend who seemed like they were back on since they were kissing as soon as they saw each other.

He also got to meet Steve whom Jonathan said was a hot ex-asshole who turned over a new leaf and he'd even saved a cool-looking stranger named Eddie who riffed the new Master of Puppets track by Metallica which got not only Billy's respect but also his interest.

With the rest of the teens on hand to help deal with this Vecna bastard, they were able to finally defeat him. Billy had been completely blindsided by the sudden attack on his psyche and the sight of his abusive father back in the flesh but he had powered through and he had gotten his closure at being able to punch the lights out of his father.

When he came out of his weird trance, he woke up surrounded by his family and the friends of his little sister plus the new friends he'd made along the way.

The biggest surprise of the night was the fact that Chief Hopper was, in fact, still alive and held prisoner by the Russians and that after that experience, he had no more interest in dealing with crime, choosing instead to retire with Joyce in California to finally be able to relax.

Surprisingly, both Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson wanted to go with them to California, being completely sure that they had no more things keeping them at Hawkins and they both wanted a fresh start.

it had been exceedingly jarring for Billy to go back to college and to his regular life but he managed with his new friends and his family by his side.

Of course, it didn't help that there was some weird kind of competition going on between his new friends, Steve and Eddie for his attention while they were also flirting through their fighting.

After a few months of having to watch them all painfully interact, Nancy, who had changed colleges to be closer to Jonathan, finally had enough and she staged an intervention with Argyle and with Steve's best friend, Robin.

Billy left the intervention with two new boyfriends who were also dating each other and once again, he was thankful that he had made the decision to run away from his father because there would have been no way he could have had this had he not had the bravery to leave.

[ellewritesandrants]

I was inspired to write some Billy and Max wingmanning for each other because of this post from @11willgrahamseyes11 because why not?

Imagine it’s post S3 where Billy survived and Max just found out that Neil had left Hawkins. She heads to the hospital to tell her brother, because that’s what he was, that his dad had just skipped town to avoid paying medical bills he wasn’t even going to be charged for.

“Neil left?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Billy.”

“Figures he got sick of having a queer disabled freak for a son.” Billy scoffed.

Max slapped his shoulder, confident enough to do so after months of proper communication, bonding and actually getting to be siblings and not each other’s burdens to bear.

“Hey! Don’t talk about my brother that way, asshole. And anyway, Neil would have eventually realized he had two queer kids and he’d probably have run even faster.”

Billy eyes snapped to hers.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

A peaceful moment of silence passed before Billy broke it.

“Is it that psychic chick, the one that’s dating Wheeler?”

Max immediately bristled.

“How’d you know?”

“Let’s just say I know what it feels like to pine after someone who’s in love with a Wheeler.”

Max took a good minute to think before it finally clicked.

“Steve? You like Steve?”

“Don’t be so loud, Maxie! But, yeah, I like Steve. Anything wrong with that?”

“A lot. Steve’s a dumbass, Billy.”

“Hey! I think it’s cute. Anyway, that El girl isn’t the most talkative girl in the world.”

“But I like that about her.”

“Well, I guess we’re both saps for people who’ll never like us back.”

“I don’t know. I think I might have a chance if I can convince her to break up with her boyfriend.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Lucas? I broke up with him months ago after he didn’t even try to give you a chance to apologize. If he wanted to get me back, he knew what he should have done and if he doesn’t want to, then good riddance.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. After all, it’s me and you against the world, right, Kill Bill?”

“It’s me and you against the world, Mad Max.”

Since Billy wanted at least one of them to get their happy ending, he gets Max to ask El if she was willing to visit Billy so they could talk about the memories she’s seen and of course, El agrees.

Billy hasn't really had any visitors outside of Max ever since he was admitted into the hospital due to him being in the PICU for the first three months and only allowing a limited number of people inside to visit him. It's been another three months since he was moved to a regular room and the doctors had just cleared Billy to receive more visitors but to keep them to 2-4 people to avoid overcrowding.

None of his so-called friends actually visited but he had somewhat expected it. Tommy had promised to visit after sending a letter checking in but he and Carol were busy at the college their dads bought them into so it left the basketball team who stopped by after practice once to tell him how badly they were doing without him and how they couldn't wait to have him on the court again.

None of Max's friends have been by either but Billy heard from Max about a big fight they'd had regarding Billy and how the boys refused to think that Billy was anything but evil, forcing Max, El and Will to branch away because Will was hurt since he'd also been possessed and therefore, just as evil and El hated how they treated Billy as a monster when he was just as much a victim as she was.

Hopper doesn't really trust Billy but after he allows it on the condition that Max stays in the room which Billy doesn't fight. They have a nice chat about the memories, most of which Max wasn't aware of but it actually helps them since Billy's willing to trust Max enough to bare his soul to her willingly.

After they have an emotional talk about bad fathers who need to be kept out of their lives as well as absent mothers who tried, Billy shifts the conversation more to school because he's been helping Max keep on top of her classes so he offered the same to El.

Max quickly corrects Billy and tells him that El was homeschooled due to her not being allowed to study because of the lab. Billy has the bright idea of tutoring El during the day since he wasn't really doing anything and he was bored out of his mind and running out of books to read that Max would borrow from the library for him.

It would not only give him something to do but also a way to see if Max actually had a chance that didn't involve Max getting hurt. He could also help El who seemed like she really did need help, just like he did.

Of course, they ran it past Hopper who initially wanted nothing to do with Billy Hargrove until Max told him the truth about Neil. Hopper was eventually worn down by El who was tired of being stuck at the cabin with no one to talk to and he agreed under the condition that he'd be there during the first few sessions.

Once Hopper was there, he took the sessions as a chance to confirm what El said and when he really, truly looked at Billy, he saw a reflection of the kid he used to be, abused and alone and he realized why El had wanted to get to know Billy and to be his friend.

It also didn't hurt that Billy was an honors student who used to tutor in California during the weekdays for extra cash and he was used to being a tutor and helping students with their studies.

Hopper worked out a deal with Billy that El would come over three times a week when she was supposed to have school and he would help her for a daily rate.

She progressed in leaps and bounds under someone who was used to working around certain hang-ups and Billy was able to help El, whom he commonly called Jane or Janie to find a way of studying that worked for her that wasn't just reading books and answering worksheets.

Her progress astounded the newly together Joyce and Hopper, leading to her asking if Billy could do the same for Will since he wasn't really talking to the other boys.

Soon, Billy's hospital room became the trio's common hang-out spot after school, with Will and Max either biking, skating or walking together so that they could get help on their homework from Billy after he and El were done with their lessons for the day.

The entire time that Billy had been tutoring the kids, he'd been observing the interactions between El and Max and it really did seem like his little sister had a chance. Of course, there was still the tiny hang-up in the form of Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair who apparently still didn't get the hint that their respective relationships were over.

Since El, Max and Will were all comfortable with Billy, once they were done with their homework and lessons, they usually talked about anything under the sun to help El be more familiar with popular culture and how the world worked so one day, Billy slyly got the conversation to head towards gender expression and sexuality.

He'd learned a lot in California that he couldn't really put into practice in Hawkins but he was reasonably sure that these three kids in particular would be able to accept him and would actually benefit from what he said.

Billy had ended up coming out of the closet to the kids who swore to keep it a secret and he answered any and all questions they had. El was surprised that women could be with other women and men could be with other men or with multiple people because all Hopper and Mike had ever told her was that boys went with girls and vice versa.

This led to Will and El to question their sexualities and to realize that maybe they weren't as straight as they assumed. Will was definitely getting a case of hero worship for the older teen and it showed when he got home, enough that Joyce was able to paint a clear picture of Billy's life which she didn't like.

She came to visit him once without El to confirm her assumptions and she made sure to tell him that he was always welcome at their house after everything he's done for them. Billy had teared up and he'd gotten his first hug from a mom in months since Susan had ended up falling into a pit of alcoholism again.

Joyce had reamed Hopper afterwards for not being able to help Billy beforehand and how Hopper would have to make things up to Billy after he was discharged. Joyce would keep visiting Billy, often bringing food to share and occasionally, bringing Hopper along with her to help the bigger man to see Billy as she saw him, a lonely kid in need of parental guidance.

Almost a whole school year passed with an increase in the tension between Max and El but no action on either side of the pair. Will was El's confidant and he was slowly going crazy about how El ranted and raved about how pretty and smart Max was without doing anything about it.

Billy, on the other hand, was tired about hearing all about how cute and adorable El was from his little sister and while he had partially caused this to happen, he also didn't want to keep hearing about it.

So, Billy made plans. He was getting discharged pretty soon and his physical therapy was going pretty well, enough that he was looking to be in shape and back to peak condition in a few months and that he was being allowed behind the wheel.

Truth be told, Billy had fully recovered by the time he started tutoring the kids but the doctors and scientists still couldn't understand why he was still alive and how he had survived. The past few months were heavily focused on physical and mental therapy to help him get over the ordeal and to be able to live a normal life.

Billy would be forced to take his senior year a year late but he didn't mind since it would allow him to be able to watch the kids for their first year in high school, enough to at least protect them from the worst of it after hearing how badly Will had been bullied before.

The first thing Billy did after getting out of the hospital was to get Hopper to take him to his fully repaired car so he could get over the mental block of being behind the wheel and actually being in control.

After going around town with Joyce in the front seat, cheering him on, he went to pick up the kids on their last day of middle school so they could celebrate.

The entirety of Hawkins was shocked to find Billy Hargrove driving his signature Camaro, thinner and more lithe than before but happier than they had ever seen him, picking up his little sister and spinning her in a hug and immediately pulling Will "the Fairy" Byers into an other hug after.

The rest of the party watched in awe and shock at the scene, not knowing that Will had even talked to Billy after everything. Steve was also equally in shock but it also felt like the first time he had ever seen Billy Hargrove.

After, Billy stopped by the new Byers-Hopper house to pick up El and he invited Jonathan to come with them for dinner at the diner where Joyce and Hopper would meet them. He and Jonathan had had a few conversations since he'd come to the hospital to pick up and drop off Will, El or both of the teens and they'd come to bond over shitty fathers and the small overlap of the musicians they liked.

Weirdly enough, it was the exact same diner that Steve had brought the other boys to celebrate their last day of school since it was beside the arcade. Billy had been half tempted to leave but having Max by his side made him brave enough to brave the stares that followed him.

He hadn't let their glares get in the way of his first real meal outside of the hospital and he enjoyed dinner for the first time in a long time surrounded by people who cared about him.

After he paid using some of the government’s compensation, Max managed to convince him to show El the ropes in the arcade because he had been the one who had taught her most of the tricks that she used to get the high score.

The boys and Steve couldn't help their curiosity once Billy and the rest of the kids entered the arcade and they watched from a distance as Billy blew all of the high scores on all of the machines out of the water without even breaking a sweat.

Max saw this as the perfect time to set her brother up with his crush so she tricked Steve into agreeing into a competition on the basketball shooting game with Billy. Having them play side-by-side ignited the adrenaline rush that Steve used to feel when he was playing against Billy but this time, he was happy and excited and not angry.

By the end of 5 rounds, Billy had trounced him completely but Steve took his defeat graciously, even offering a rematch in swimming in his heated pool.

While the boys were having their friendly competition, the rest of the party, namely Dustin, Lucas and Mike were apologizing to Will, Max and El about not believing them when it came to Billy. It was obvious to see that he had changed a lot from the person he used to be and they wanted their friends back.

Max and subsequently El refused to accept their apology until Billy accepted their apology but Will quickly forgave his childhood best friends. Will had missed playing D&D with his friends and being able to talk them and not just to his family, including his new sister and her crush.

As soon as the friendly competition between Billy and Steve was over, the boys apologized to Billy who decided to be the bigger person and accept it while also apologizing for how he used to be.

Billy's made leaps and bounds of progress in therapy as to why he was the way he was and he was well on his way to become the person he wanted to be which meant forgiveness and understanding on both sides of the party.

The next weekend, Billy got permission from Joyce and Hopper to take El and Max to the mall in the next town over so he could finally get them to go on a date. Of course, Max hijacked his plans by subtly inviting Will to get the boys to watch a movie and of course, have Steve drive them.

While the boys were watching a movie, Steve was wandering aimlessly just as Billy was and in a small mall in Indiana, they were bound to cross paths. Steve couldn't help but want to get to know this new Billy so they ate a snack together at the food court and they passed a few hours getting to know each other.

The mall trip was a success on both ends because Max was finally brave enough to ask El to be her girlfriend while Steve was brave enough to set a date on the swimming rematch they planned to have.

It took a few months of summer loving before Steve finally worked the courage to kiss Billy and ask him to be his boyfriend but he eventually got there even if he had needed the intervention of the party because they were tired of his pining.

The Mayfield-Hargrove siblings were good wingmen to each other and they had a 100% success rate in stealing partners from the Wheelers.

[ellewritesandrants]

What about a Post Season 3 AU where Billy lives and he’s wracked with guilt over surviving while so many others died by his hands and he ends up bonding with Will because of it?

Somehow, during his recovery, Steve had been a constant by his side, initially becoming his best friend and later on, becoming more on Steve's insistence after having a bisexual crisis resolved by Robin.

Billy and Steve had been happy in the beginning but not everyone was supportive of their relationship. Everyone distrusted him and basically told him that he doesn’t deserve Steve.

Almost everyone threatens him, including Nancy who threatens to shoot him point blank the way she should have and Hopper who threatens to arrest Billy if he ever hurts Steve again.

He only has the girls who support him and try to change everyone else’s minds about him. It gets so bad that Billy ends up doing the breaking up for them and Steve confronts the party about what they said to Billy that caused him to break them up.

It causes a rift in the party since El and Max want nothing to do with the guys while they consider Billy to be the devil while Will is conflicted because if they consider Billy to be evil, that must mean he’s evil too.

It all comes to a head during the fight after Mike says that Billy deserved to die for all the people he killed and Will asks if he thinks the same about Will after the trap he’d unwittingly set for the people at the laboratory.

Will runs off and everyone goes to find him but he ends up going to Billy who he’s talked to a little bit about the mindflayer. He ends up crying to Billy about the guilt of causing deaths but doing it under the influence and he rants about how unfair it was that they all forgave him but that they couldn’t forgive Billy.

Billy explains that Will is beloved while Billy is hated. The deaths only confirmed that he was a bad person in their eyes while Will was never changed.

Will argues that Billy’s a good person too but Billy just laughs and tells him about almost running them over when they first got there. Will argues that he’s changed and that he isn’t the same person just like Will isn’t the same as he was pre-possession.

Billy says it doesn’t matter if they don’t want to see that and I can’t force them. The only thing keeping him here was Steve and Max and he’d ruined his relationship with Steve so as soon as he got the okay from the doctors, he’d work on convincing Max to go back with him.

Will asks about stories about California so Billy tells him all about sand, sea, beach and boys and when Will asks if being queer was more accepted there, Billy is realistic in explaining hate will always be there but they’re more tolerant there.

Billy dares ask about Mike and Will bitterly tells Billy all about it and how he doesn’t blame El but he doesn’t know how to feel.

Billy jokes about creating a Lonely and Possessed Williams Club and Will jokingly offers Castle Byers as a base. Billy’s curious about where and what it is so he gets Will to take him there.

It’s a lot more rundown without proper upkeep but Billy sees the potential and he asks Will if he can update Castle Byers and if wants to learn how to build as a side project, partially because Billy wants to know how it feels to create instead of destroy. Will immediately catches on and he runs to ask his mom if he can, who immediately agrees.

Joyce had heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her son running towards her after hearing from the other boys that he had run away during an argument.

Will tells her that he doesn’t want anything to do with the boys so she respects his wishes and tells them that he’s home but he’s tired from all of the running.

Will manages to drag Billy inside for dinner, surprising both Joyce and Jonathan but for some reason, Will is a lot more animated so they just go with it.

Joyce asks how Billy planned to rebuild Castle Byers on his own and Billy ended up telling them about how, when he was little and his mom had left, Neil would force him to go to whatever construction site he worked on to help speed things up by helping after school.

Billy had known how to build treehouses, houses and buildings as well as how to handle power tools well before he started puberty and he’d only stopped when Susan and Max came into their lives because Billy was then made Max’s babysitter instead.

It also allowed him to be able to use all of the power tools his dad had often threatened him with and left in the garage after he’d ran off after finding out Billy had a possibility of being crippled which he’d thankfully managed to avoid.

They had managed to keep the house after the government paid off the mortgage to keep Max and Billy quiet about the true reason of his injuries as well as repairing the Camaro and taking care of Billy’s hospital bills.

Billy however, had been saddled with mandatory therapy sessions which led to him getting a service dog a few months in after his therapist noticed how badly he’d reacted to touch.

He’d gotten this pretty big service dog who was good at noticing when his anxiety spiked and when his PTSD was triggered. Having Ace there to ground him and get his attention was a big help for Billy and it helped that Ace loved cuddles which helped stave off the touch-starvation he was diagnosed with.

Billy, Will and Ace spend a lot of their afternoons and weekends building Castle Byers while avoiding everyone else, except for the girls who knew what they were doing.

They had even requested an expansion of Castle Byers that would allow them to have their own space and Will had graciously allowed them to have it, drawing out the new plans for Castle Byers with all of their help.

Joyce is the only adult who looked at Billy as if he was still a child and she cared for him as if he was her own son. She loved how Will came out of his shell under Billy’s gentle guidance and how Billy was teaching Will important life skills without pressuring him to be masculine like Will’s father had done.

Billy had come out to her after a few building sessions and she had only pulled him into a warm hug and told him that he was welcome here whenever he wanted.

In helping Will, Billy ended up helping himself with physical labor, processing the possession and everything. He had started to take small steps in fixing his relationship with Max and forging a brotherly relationship with El who was genuinely nice girl if a bit naive about the world.

Will had started to become like his little brother, to the point where Will asked him for homework help instead of Jonathan because Billy had been an honor student before the incident and would return as one, determined to graduate top of their class so he could get into a good college.

Steve had wanted to chase after Billy to beg him to take him back but no amount of begging changed Billy’s mind and he still believed that Steve would be happier if Billy was out of his life.

He noticed that Billy was usually gone during the weekends and Steve thought that Billy had moved on so he gave him space. It was only when he had visited the Byers that he saw Billy again after a few months and he was well on his way to returning to how he used to be.

He’d asked Joyce what Billy was doing here and she set the record straight about Billy’s whereabouts and how the friendship between Will and Billy had definitely helped them both recover.

Steve peeks at his ex, patiently helping Will build a sanctuary they could hide in and he remembers why he fell in love with Billy. It renews his want to get his boyfriend back and this time, he manages to enlist Max and El’s help.

The two girls get Will to help them too and they devise a plan to have Steve waiting for Billy in Castle Byers just as soon as the door is in place and to have El lock the door and for Max to have the key.

Everything goes as planned and Steve's there with flowers, chocolates and a picnic basket he'd packed to match the beautiful picnic set-up that the girls and Will had left for them.

Steve doesn't give him the option to decline their second first date and by then end of it, Billy's confessing his insecurities and anxieties with their relationship to try and push Steve away.

Steve takes it all as the cry for help that it should be and he promises to Billy that he isn't going anywhere and that Billy was the first thing since the Upside Down happened that truly made him happy.

Reunion kisses are had and the trio of teens interrupt before it can get any further than PG-13. The next weekend has the group putting the finishing touches on Castle Byers, with the girls dragging Billy to the Mall to buy furniture for their room in Castle Byers.

As soon as they were in the finishing stages of the build, Will hadn't really felt motivated to finish it because it was something he'd made with his friends in mind, of them having a proper place to play D&D in and for him to be able to draw and work in.

Billy could sense it and so could the girls so Billy had Steve confront the boys about how they really felt about Will. Mike had been completely distraught at losing Will, to the point of realizing his feelings for Will which made things a lot easier.

Since Billy had wanted to make up with the kids and to surprise Will for his birthday, he had Steve chaperone them as they all went shopping to furnish the newly renovated Castle Byers.

The boys had been amazed at the work Billy had done and they apologized for being unfair and mean to him. Steve had told them under no circumstances were they allowed to try and ruin his relationship with Billy again because he would always choose the blond over them if it came down to it after everything that happened.

The boys missed their friend and their babysitter so they found a way to move on and let bygones be bygones the way Billy had. They helped Billy figure out how to decorate Castle Byers just in time for a surprise birthday party for Will.

His friends had kept apologizing via letters and notes and they had upped the ante leading up to his birthday. Mike had even made a sign that said "I'm an idiot but I miss you. Please forgive me?" on it.

Will had already agreed to forgive them as long as Billy had forgiven them and Billy had told Will over the weekend that the boys had come up to him to apologize so he was just milking it.

He sent invitations to them for his birthday party as the ultimate sign of forgiveness and he was surprised by what they did with Castle Byers in the best way possible. It was just like how he'd imagined it, largely thanks to Mike who remembered every detail about how Will had wanted it to be if he'd had the time and money to make it perfect.

Mike and El had long since broken up for good and Mike had been transparent about his feelings for El and for Will for once which made things easier for the trio to work around. El had already given Mike her blessing to ask her new brother out a month after the birthday party but Mike wanted it to be a grand gesture.

After terrifyingly enlisting Billy's help, Mike asks Will on a date just before Winter break started. Neither of them had gone to the Winter Formal that year because the entire Party had decided to stay in Castle Byer's warm and cozy walls and have a D&D campaign instead.

Come the new year, both Billy and Will had found boyfriends who had fought to be the men they wanted and needed and who wouldn't take their love for granted after everything they've been through.

The gay Williams found success and happiness after realizing they did deserve it regardless of what they've been through.

[ellewritesandrants]

I was kind of inspired by a post of @officialjoekeery about pre-byergroveton but I wanted to have some slight Billy angst and some Christmas festivities so here’s my take on it.

Imagine instead of Jonathan getting together with Nancy, he ends up together with Steve after the whole demogorgon beat down and Billy comes riding into town, with his eyes set on Steve only to find out he’s already taken by the town creep. Billy can’t understand what’s so amazing about this guy until he ends up partnered with him an English project, forcing him to get to know Jonathan and to end up falling for him too.

Steve was all charm and wit and admittedly, looks while Jonathan was heart and understanding and kindness. Billy knew deep down he didn’t deserve anything as good as either of them so he was resigned to just lonely pining for the rest of his time at Hawkins before he moved back to California. To add to his pain and suffering, Jonathan took their tentative working relationship as a sign of friendship and Billy had a permanent spot at their table and he was often dragged into their shenanigans like shooting the shit by Lover’s Lake or smoking by the quarry.

As Billy fell deeper and seemingly hopelessly more in love with the two, Jonathan was growing more and more concerned over the bruises and scars Billy liked to hide. It didn’t make any sense, the frequency of his injuries and the stories he told and Jonathan knew what it was like to cover up for an abuser. Since Joyce was dating Hopper, he brought it up one dinner only to have his mom share the same suspicions, forcing Hopper to look into things.

Hopper’s uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time paid off once again because the first time he patrolled past the house and snuck a glance through the windows, he saw Neil Hargrove with a belt in his hands and a tapestry of scars and wounds laid open on Billy Hargrove’s back. Hopper didn’t hesitate before rushing through the front door to arrest that son of a bitch who started raving on and on about beating respect and responsibility into his bastard of a son who should have died instead. Since Billy was still a minor, Hopper was able to get Neil away long enough for both Max and Billy to be legal adults and he was able to spin it into a premeditated murder case so he would be long gone.

While Neil was taken away in handcuffs, an ambulance had been sent to the scene and Billy Hargrove had been carted out and witnessed by the neighbors, bruised to hell and back, looking every inch the battered and bruised 16 year old that he was. It became the talk of the town over Thanksgiving weekend, especially since no one had expected that at all.

Joyce immediately went over to help Susan, knowing exactly what that woman had gone through and more than willing to help Susan figure out how to make things right with Billy since her inaction had inadvertently hurt Billy. Joyce had been the one to convince Susan to testify in Billy’s favor and to stop living in fear of Neil.

Jonathan had very quickly volunteered to get Billy’s homework and bring it to the hospital for the week or so that he was kept in the hospital. Jonathan had given Billy a safe space to confess about all of the horrors his father had put him through because Billy knew that Jonathan would understand. The slightly older and definitely taller boy had nothing but kind listening ears for Billy and a warm hand to hold onto to ground himself.

Of course, as soon as Steve heard, he was there with Jonathan, bringing all sorts of gifts for people recovering from injuries brought forth by an irrational guilt of not noticing how badly the younger boy had been hurting. Steve had silently resolved to protect the smaller boy the first time he saw him dwarfed in a hospital gown, asleep and for once looking his actual age.

When Billy had returned, he didn’t bother with showboating anymore because that had been to keep himself safe from being hurt in the obvious places unless he’d really messed up and gotten his dad really angry. Billy had returned a quiet shell of his former self, focused on just making it through high school complete with a broken wrist and ankle from them being stomped on by Neil Hargrove upon being arrested as well.

Jonathan and Steve were his perpetual guard dogs in protecting the smaller blond, not letting anyone badmouth him and helping him with his day to day things since he wasn’t able to drive for a while, leaving him reliant on Jonathan and Steve for rides because he was unable to walk the mile to school. The boys were more than happy to help Billy since he not only helped them with their classes but because he’d slowly carved out a place in their hearts as well.

Steve had been the one to broach the conversation about it, telling Jonathan in no nonsense terms that he loves Jonathan but that he also grew to love Billy as well. It had been a huge relief to find out that Jonathan had felt the same about the younger blond and they decided to see if Billy would be receptive of their advances so that they could all be together.

Max had been the first to threaten the two if they ever hurt her brother after she had noticed them starting to be more obvious with their flirting to their purposefully oblivious brother. Max had grown incredibly close to Billy in his hospitalization, finally learning the truth about his punishments for her actions and how Neil had pitted them against each other from the start. She had promised to be a better sister while Billy had promised to be a better brother in return. They’d spent afternoons playing like they hadn’t done since they left California and post-hospitalization, Max was Billy’s biggest crutch since she’d guessed about his feelings for Steve and Jonathan and he told her about how he felt he’d never be good enough for either of them.

It had taken a lot of begging and pleading for Max to let Steve and Jonathan anywhere near Billy as she monopolized his time after school asking for help with homework or in figuring out a new dish since Max was learning how to cook while Billy was injured. It had also taken a greater amount of begging, pleading and bribery before she helped them in getting together with her brother.

She’d been the one to give Billy some of Steve’s old sweaters in preparation for the winter after the two had noticed Billy didn’t have any proper winter clothes since they knew that Billy wouldn’t accept any charity from Steve but would happily accept a gift from his sister who’d won them in a bet. Neither Steve nor Jonathan were prepared for how absolutely adorable Billy looked dwarfed in Steve’s old oversized sweaters.

It also didn’t help that they were there to witness the blond’s reaction to seeing his first real snowfall and the absolute child-like wonder that crossed his face was permanently burned into their retinas. As days passed, they literally couldn’t stop themselves from falling deeper and deeper in love with the blond who was slowly learning to allow himself to just be himself and not have to be the man that Neil wanted him to be.

It all comes to a head when the boys trap Billy at a Christmas Party/Welcoming Party to the Mayfield-Hargrove’s new home, right beside the Byers. They’d connived with Max to place some mistletoe all over the house, allowing them to trap Billy under the mistletoe between them. After an initial kiss for both boys, Steve and Jonathan clarified their intentions with Billy, making the younger blond blush at the praise heaped on him and the care he felt radiating from the boys.

They end up spending most of the Christmas party in Billy’s room, not even doing anything too wild but just enjoying each other’s company and proving their feelings to the blond who still couldn’t believe that the boys he loved loved him back. Max had already told the rest of the people in the house about what was going on and everyone just felt happy that for once, things were going great for Billy Hargrove.

[ellewritesandrants]

This is going to be mildly controversial but here’s me subverting some of the tropes I’ve seen involving Dacre, Joe and Joseph and pushing it onto Billy, Steve and Eddie.

Steve is a famous musician who catapults Eddie’s band into fame after they do a tour together and people start shipping them together. They neither confirm nor deny any allegations which makes the rumors a lot worse but fast forward to maybe a year after the tour has finished and Steve’s doing press of his new album while Corroded Coffins just got done with their last tour stop at a sold-out Madison Square Garden Concert.

Imagine the rest of the band deciding to do something nice for Billy who was their first ever manager/back up player who was instrumental to the rise of Corroded Coffins. He had even managed to take over as the drummer on his birthday because Gareth was an idiot who sprained his wrist from a bad landing doing some skateboard tricks for some fans pre-show. They decided to make a thank-you post on their official Instagram, not realizing that Billy and Eddie’s five year long relationship wasn’t public yet.

The internet basically explodes in anger over this supposed random stranger being called Corroded Coffin’s number 1 fan and for being with the boy a lot of fans loved. It also didn’t help that there were a lot of Steddie fans who bashed him for being the reason their favorite couple wasn’t together.

Steve was doing press for his new album so, during his next interview, he was blindsided about the issue. When asked about his opinion on the topic, he laughs at the thought of him and Eddie together because he’s good for a short time but not a long time.

He ends up saying he’d rather want Billy because not only is the man shredded but he has a heart of gold. He basically fanboys over Billy the entire interview, even going so far as to tell the interviewer he’d warned Eddie that if he fucked up with Billy, that Steve would be there waiting in the wings to nab Billy.

Everyone is even more confused and the internet basically implodes this time around, with majority of the fans wondering what was so good about Billy and this is when the Billy stans start coming out, the ones who’d known about his existence in Corroded Coffins and loved getting any chance of seeing him.

They share all sorts of anecdotes, some personal and some from the members of Corroded Coffins as to the type of person Billy was. They share stories of him essentially being the parent whenever Corroded Coffins did a tour, cooking healthy meals whenever possible and making sure that everything was going alright even if it technically wasn’t his job anymore.

The entire time, Billy and Eddie had been on their way to California for a well-deserved week-long birthday celebration for Billy to be spent with their found family. Eddie was alerted of the drama but Billy wasn’t that big on social media so Eddie didn’t tell him in fear of ruining his birthday celebrations.

Instead, Eddie trolled all of his followers by spamming his stories all week with Billy shirtless on the beach, playing with his siblings, surfing and just generally being either hot or adorable. A lot of thirsty fans suddenly pop up because Billy is definitely as built as Steve said he was and seeing pics of him with family and volunteering at animal centers made more than a few girls and guys melt.

Steve was in LA for the interview and after Eddie watched said interview, he got the bright idea that there might be a way for everyone to get what they wanted because Billy’s already confessed that he had a crush on Steve before he’d met Eddie which didn't really go away.

Eddie invites Steve over for dinner and he straight up tells Steve that they are open to polyamory if Steve’s willing to give it a go. They then spend the next nine months trolling social media and the paparazzi by going out in pairs or all together for dates until a brave fan dared to ask Eddie if they’re all dating and he basically confirms it.

[ellewritesandrants]

I was inspired to write some insecure Billy and Steve afraid that the other would leave so here you go!

Billy’s just so used to being left behind or abandoned that he expects it which is why it’s odd for him that Steve sometimes looks at Billy as if he’s the one who’ll be leaving. Sometimes, Steve gets into these moods where he just pulls Billy into his arms and drags them either to the couch or their bed, clinging onto the blond so tightly almost as if he was begging the blond not to go.

Billy was bewildered because, if anything, it should be Steve who should want to go. Billy was a mess, even before this whole thing with the Mindflayer and that just made it all so much worse. Before, Billy could hide behind muscles and charisma and now, he was a shell of his former self, spooked at the weirdest things and incapable of looking at himself in the mirror.

It had been a wonder for Billy to wake up in a hospital bed, with Steve’s hand tightly gripping his not only because he’d thought he was going to die when he faced that monster but because he’d thought Steve had replaced him with Robin before he found out that Robin was a lesbian. Billy had fought, not only for his sister and her friends but also to protect Steve because he didn’t ever want to hurt Steve again after that awful night at the Byers where his paternal trauma was triggered.

When Billy had woken up, it was Steve’s hand that kept him grounded. It was Steve’s stories that filled his day. It was Steve’s presence that made him want to keep living so it didn’t make any sense why Steve would even worry about Billy leaving. Didn’t he know that Billy was sure thing for him but that he was too good for Billy?

Not only did Steve open up his heart and also his home to Billy but the brunet had taken care of him, dealt with him through the ups and downs of his recovery. Even through the moments he’d wished he’d died, Steve had been his rock keeping him grounded. Sure, Billy was recovered now according to the hospital but he could never go back to being the same person he used to be.

Billy hadn’t even been able to get behind the wheel of his baby yet. It had been fully restored months ago, just waiting for him to make the engine purr but even just being inside the car stirred up memories of the monster that controlled him and he hasn’t been able to get himself to move past it, relying on Steve mostly for rides if not walking to build up the stamina he’s lost. He could never stay out too late or go anywhere near Brimborn or the Holloway’s house. It brought up bad memories and sent him spiralling.

Even the thought of touching a person had reviled him for a long time after waking up, with Steve and El being the only ones he didn’t hate touching. Max was the first one he forced himself to familiarize with again, after promising his little sister that he would take this second chance to be a better brother. He’d eventually forced himself to do the same to Max’s friends and Susan since he didn’t want anything to do with the Billy who killed dozens of innocent people and he wanted to at least try to be someone Steve deserved.

Steve often told him that he was surprised by how insecure Billy really was and how amazing he was to have recovered so quickly but Billy didn’t really think he was all that amazing. If he was, he wouldn’t have killed all of those innocent people. He wouldn’t have had his father killed after the government scientists realized Neil was abusive and therefore, a threat to extinguish in order to keep their new subject. If he was as amazing as Steve thought he was, there might even still be a chance he deserved Steve.

The truth however, would always hurt. Billy didn’t deserve Steve. Steve deserved happiness. Steve deserved love. Steve deserved everything good in the world and there was absolutely no was Billy could ever give that to him, even before he became the wreck he was today. Steve deserved someone whole who could give him the big family he’s always wanted and someone he truly loved. Steve deserved better than him and while Nancy Wheeler wasn’t all that better because she cheated on Steve, Steve loves her and Steve deserves the opportunity to love who he really wants without the baggage of Billy.

That was why Billy had jumped on Mrs. Byer’s offer to take him with them when they moved to California. It would allow Steve to pursue the person he really wants while giving Billy enough space to lick his wounds. It wasn’t Billy leaving Steve. It was Billy giving Steve the chance to be happy and that’s why he didn’t get why this argument was even taking place.

“You’re going with the Byers to California? Why, Billy? I thought you were happy here.”

“I am!”

“Then why are you leaving?”

Billy wanted to lie and make up some excuse about him needing space or sunlight to recover but he couldn’t do that, not to Steve.

“Because you’re not happy with me here.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, baby?”

“You didn’t think I’d notice? Stevie, you only really ever smile and laugh around your friends. You make jokes with them and you play around and you get to be a teenager with them. The minute you’re with me, you’re stuck taking care of me.”

“Because I want to, baby. Don’t you realize that?”

Steve tried to reach out but Billy only moved further away. Billy scoffed.

“You’re just saying that. Look, Steve, you deserve to be happy and I think you’d be happier without me here.”

“What? That’s complete and utter bullshit.”

“No, it’s not. I’m a mess, Stevie. I’m a shell of my former self. I weigh probably 140 pounds soaking wet, I’m covered with scars and I get triggered by the simplest things. I’m dead weight, extra baggage. I didn’t deserve you back then and I definitely don’t deserve you now. You deserve someone who’ll make you happy.”

“And that’s you, baby.”

“Don’t lie to me. Everyone and their mother knows that it’s Nancy.”

“Nancy? Where the hell did you get that from?”

“I saw you and her the other day and I know she’s the first person you ever loved. She can give you the big family you want and don’t even try to tell me that you don’t want that. With me gone, you can get her back and be happy.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before he took Billy’s hands in his.

“Fuck, darling, you’ve got it all wrong, okay? Nancy wanted to meet up because she wanted to say goodbye. She’s going with the Byers too since she got into the same college as Jonathan. And as for the big family, yes I won’t lie, I do want that but the 6 shitheads we’re usually in charge of are more than enough for me right now. I do want to eventually adopt some kids or even have some of my own but I can do that with you.”

“But you don’t have to!”

“Why not, sweetheart? I want to do it with you.”

“I don’t deserve you, Steve.”

“Stop trying to tell me what I deserve. Why are you trying so hard to leave me?”

Billy couldn���t stop the tears from falling.

“Because I don’t want you to regret me. I don’t want you to waste the next how many years taking care of me and eventually getting sick of me before you finally realize you deserve better than me.”

I don’t want you to leave me like my mother did.

“Fuck, baby, if anything, you deserve better than me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Steve?”

“I lied to you and hit you first that night. Everything could have probably been avoided had I told you the truth earlier. Our fight, your posession, everything. It’s all my fault for not telling you. Hell, I was the one who wanted to keep us a secret from everyone until you were possessed by the Mindflayer and that’s why I didn’t know what was happening until I saw you at the mall. You deserve better than my fuck ups.”

It was Billy’s turn to hold Steve’s hands in his.

“Fuck, Stevie, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know about my dad back then and we don’t know if my knowing would have changed anything. You were the only reason I bothered to live when I woke up. Every single part of me hurt but the look of relief on your face kept me motivated to keep going because I wanted to keep seeing you even if it would be the last time. You take care of me better than I take care of myself and you’re so patient and understanding with me. It’s not your fault, babe. I didn’t even know you blamed yourself for this, Stevie. It’s not your fault.”

“If you say so. Y-You do know I didn’t date you out of some misplaced sense of guilt, right? I’m here because I want to be, because I love waking up in the morning holding you. I love messing around in the kitchen with you. I love being able to take care of you and spoil you the way you deserve. I love you, Billy and I know I don’t say it enough but I love you.”

“I love you too, Stevie.”

“Does that mean you’ll stay?”

Steve looked so hopeful that Billy didn’t have it in him to leave. If Steve wanted him here, Steve would have him. As long as Billy was wanted by Steve, Billy was willing to fight the voices in his head that told him he wasn’t enough.

“I guess so. I’m sorry for trying to leave, Stevie. I promise I didn’t want to. It’s just, I thought you needed me to.”

Steve pulled Billy in for an all encompassing hug and Billy melted into his lover’s embrace.

“Don’t ever try to leave for my sake again. Now you know that I both need and want you in my life and as long as you’re willing to stay, I’m willing to have you here with me.”

Billy couldn’t help himself.

“Even if it means forever?”

“Even if it means forever. You’ve got me whipped, Hargrove and I don’t ever want to be free.”

Billy groaned.

“You’re such a sap, Harrington.”

“Ah, but I’m your sap.”

[ellewritesandrants]

I’ve had this idea for a while too but imagine momma’s boy Billy who left with his mom and still ended up with Max as his little sister since her dad was decent and their other parents got married. Imagine him being extremely overprotective of the women of his life, being exceedingly dedicated to his family and being the perfect son that Neil never thought he could be. Imagine them moving to Hawkins after their dad got a new job opportunity and Billy making sure that his sister was adjusting well to the move, taking her out to the arcade to beat the high scores together on the machines and even going out to the skate park to show Max a few moves. Imagine a Billy so good that Max grew up idolizing her older brother who loved spending time with her and included her in everything when possible, teaching her how to surf, skate and even planning to teach her how to drive.

Imagine Steve meeting this literal embodiment of the boy his parents wanted him to be, the religious sports star with an effortless 4.0 GPA and a loving relationship with his sister that put him to shame. Imagine him stewing in jealousy up until Billy saves Max and Lucas and thereby Dustin and Steve at the junkyard having come with Max because she was worried about her stalkers. Imagine Steve learning about how Billy saved Bob from dying and how he’d managed to be a hero for everyone at the lab. Imagine Steve crushing on Billy, not knowing that the other had been crushing on him since he first met him.

Then, imagine Billy helping Steve with his classes after Nancy broke up with him because bros before hoes, right? Imagine Billy spending so much time at the Harrington House that even Mr. And Mrs. Harrington have met him and love him. Imagine Billy and Steve being a monstrous duo on the court, even better than Steve and Tommy who’s been stewing in his jealousy at being replaced. Imagine Steve gathering the courage to kiss Billy after finding out he had gotten into college with a sports scholarship and that leads to them having a relationship. Steve decides to have a gap year all on his own so he can go to college with Billy. The two of them are the unofficial babysitters of the Party, with Steve as the Mom and Billy as the Dad because Billy can help with homework while Steve makes them snacks.

[ellewritesandrants]

 Billy gets a decent Family AU

Joyce knows when she sees Billy what’s going on and she doesn’t dare stop for a moment before calling Hopper to come right down to Melvald’s to help the poor boy out. This is pre-first day because Billy still has a few bruises so he quickly buys a few things like concealer, bandages, first aid stuff and all of that and Joyce knows intimately why he would need that. She stalls while Billy is at the counter, asking if he needs anything and asking him how Hawkins has welcomed him. Hopper arrives just after Joyce tells him that she knows he wasn’t in a fight because I’ve had those bruises before.  Joyce convinces him to come to backroom with her and Jim and she gets him to show her everything. Billy’s ribs were still wrapped from the beatdown going to Hawkins and there was a lot of purpling happening in his thighs, back and ribs. Hopper was horrified that he didn’t think to even consider it but it had taken Joyce barely a minute to see the signs.

They deal with Neil Hargrove and they give Billy the option to stay with Susan and Max or to recover first with Joyce or Hopper. He decides to stay with Susan and Max if only for Max. Neil is arrested in front of Susan and Max and when Max sees Billy again, wrapped up in Mrs. Byer’s blanket and actually looking 16 for the first time in a long time, all she can do is hug him and apologize for not noticing things sooner. Susan follows it up with a promise to do better and they soon find a nice little rhythm. It becomes the talk of the town how the Neil Hargrove was arrested for child abuse and how his son has born the majority of it all. He’d walked in, stared at by most of the kids until Jonathan ended up making the crowds stop staring at him because he’d been there once.

Billy doesn’t bother with the king of the school bullshit because as a child abuse survivor he doesn’t want to call any more unwanted attention onto him. Girls sympathize for him and find him attractive while most of the boys just stare at him from far away. Johnathan actually ends up being his best friend and they share a lot of music between them. Johnathan also introduces Billy to Steve and Nancy. Nancy and Billy immediately become study buddies once they realize that they’re in the same classes and Nancy was more than willing to glare at all of the people staring at her new friend. Steve kind of took Billy under his wing in the basketball department, telling him to try out once he’s healed since the team needs some fresh blood. Max is immediately welcomed by Will who had been encouraged by Mrs. Byers to check in on the kids and see how they were. The rest of the Party accepted her with open arms except for Mike who was still bitter about El.

The rest of the events still happen with Steve and Nancy breaking up but Nancy and Jonathan don’t sleep with each other out of respect for Steve and because Johnathan doesn’t want to end up like Lonnie who was abusive and a cheat. They end up getting together with Steve’s blessing though. Throughout everything, Joyce constantly keeps in contact with Billy and Hopper feels bad about misjudging Billy so he checks in a lot too. When he finds Billy injured by a demodog after protecting Steve and the kids, he goes equally ballistic. Since Billy has a good support system, he feels free to be more vulnerable and open with everything. He eventually opens up to Joyce about the abuse he endured at his father’s hands after Johnathan invites him over for dinner a few too many times. Hopper ends up taking care of more than a few misdemeanors where some kids tried to bully Billy and Johnathan. Will had seen it going down and he radioed Hopper since he knew that while Billy could defend himself very well, he didn’t need to anymore.

Billy fixes his relationship with Max, skateboarding with her again and helping her with hair, nails and makeup that she knows Susan doesn’t have time to show her. He also comes out to Susan who admits to having known he was gay and doesn’t care about it because he’s family to her and Max. She used to be homophobic but then, she saw the atrocities Neil did because of it and she couldn’t condone it. It didn’t matter who he loved because she still loved him. Billy steps up at home and finally takes over in the kitchen because he’s always loved cooking but his father told him it was a woman’s job. He was banned ever since Susan came into their lives. Susan encouraged Billy to cook and even learns from him whenever she has the time. He’s a really good cook and he takes over grocery shopping and cooking in order to lighten the load from Susan. She really appreciates it. Max also loves it because Billy’s cooking is at least 10x better than her mom’s and she loves using Billy’s baked goods as bribes for her friends or as extra income since he stress bakes but calorie counts so he doesn’t know what to do with the excess. Joyce is absolutely enthusiastic whenever Billy offers to help in the kitchen because he’s a better cook than she is and she loves learning from him.

The housewives still attempt to watch Billy when he takes up the lifeguard position but he feels comfortable enough to tell Susan and Joyce about it who shame the women so badly that they apologize to Billy for their actions. When Hopper finds out, he’s pissed enough to want to take the women into custody but Joyce and Susan tell him that they’d already handled it. This is the blurb I posted here.

Billy also becomes very close to Will and El. Billy becomes Will’s gay mentor of sorts and they have this inside joke of calling each other William. Billy protects Will from all of his old bullies and makes sure to praise the kid for his art. Billy and El also bond over bad fathers but she eventually becomes like a second little sister. Max and El are very close too from the start. El doesn’t feel ostracized when she realizes that Max is Billy’s sister and they end up bonding over a lot of girl stuff. They usually invite Will and Billy with them whenever they’re doing activities because Billy’s good at protecting them while also helping them figure out if something was cute or not. Eventually, Robin joins the group but Nancy is still up for debate, especially after she and Johnathan break up.

Steve and Billy become a really good pair on the court and they eventually get scouted for sports scholarships. Billy also helps Steve in studying once Nancy and Steve break up. Even though Steve is a whole year above Billy, he has no problem helping Steve and even managed to get his grade point average up from a B- to A- which made Steve’s parents very happy for the first time in a while. Billy is universally loved and doted upon by all of the parents because he’s polite and loves to help out around the houses whenever he can. The Sinclairs love him because he teaches Lucas with basketball and he supports Erica’s dreams of becoming a scientist. Mrs. Henderson trades recipes with him and she loves when he visits since her pets love him. The Wheelers avoid him because of what happened but strangely enough, little Holly Wheeler prefers Billy as her babysitter and not Steve.

Billy becomes the second babysitter of the gang and he happens to be one more loved by the parents than the kids. The kids prefer Steve since he gives them junk food and allows them to do their own thing while Billy usually cooks a healthy meal for them and forces them to do their homework which he checks over before allowing them to go wild and have fun. Surprisingly, none of them find out that Billy knows how to play D&D until he gives a throwaway comment when passing out snacks during one of their campaigns. He mentions something about needing to roll a 13 if they wanted to have a chance of surviving and that basically catapults him into their favorite spot, making Steve feel very jealous.

Dustin loves debating Sci-Fi and mystery thrillers with Billy and since Billy’s very academically inclined, all of the nerds come to him for help on their homework on the rare occasions they need it. They also managed to rope him into DMing a campaign after he reveals he used to DM back in California when he was younger. It was one of the best ones they’d had and no one could complain. He helps Will come up with his campaigns whenever Will asks for help. Steve feels like he was replaced because he was the original babysitter but Billy loves spending time with Steve and he actually lowkey has a crush on Steve so he does it all to impress Steve.

During S3, Billy doesn’t end up getting possessed since he has no reason at all to go Brimborn. Instead, it’s one of the police officers and Jim quickly cottons on to one of his men being possessed so he, Joyce and El team up to get the situation fixed before it escalates. Thankfully, there were no casualties and it was resolved pretty quickly. Dustin still finds out about the Russians so, Steve, Billy and Robin are there with Erica and Dustin. They manage to avoid getting caught, drugged and tortured by the Russians since Billy’s smart and decides to actually tell Hopper about the Russians before they do anything. They manage to prepare before going down the elevator so somehow they managed to get the blueprints and get out. They get the blueprints to Hopper who calls in military reinforcements because Russians and the kids all stay out of the ensuing chaos, minus El who had to come with them to close the gate. It’s resolved without too much damage but the mall was still closed down since Russians had invaded it. Hopper gets out alive and no one of importance dies. The Byers don’t move to California because there was no reason to since Hopper was alive. They instead moved to a bigger house and made sure Billy could share with Johnathan and Max with El.

It gets even worse the next year because Steve graduates and decides to take a gap year so he and all of his friends can start Uni together. He hears secondhand how the kids decide to join the Hellfire club, headed by Eddie and how the kids all like him. They manage to con Billy into occasionally joining in but he’s usually busy with Basketball at that time with Lucas who made the team. Eddie and Billy apparently become good friends since Billy’s tutoring Eddie so he can finally graduate.

Love Triangle Time! Billy notices the hanky and alerts Eddie that he’s queer. Eddie wants to pursue Billy. Billy still likes Steve but he’s kind of losing hope about it and Eddie is very persistent but still a gentleman about it. Steve is jealous of Eddie for spending so much time with his best friend but once he gets to know Eddie a bit more, they bond better. Each one thinks that something is definitely happening between the other two but because Steve and Billy are emotionally constipated and Eddie isn’t as bad, he’s the one who confronts them about it and they eventually decide to throuple.

Vecna and everything still happens but with Billy alive, Eddie didn’t die and they managed to kill him properly with Billy there to change the fate of a lot of things. He ends up partnered with Chrissy during his first year in Hawkins for a project and he notices her ED, slowly helping her overcome it with his food which Chrissy can never refuse. He also notices Patrick’s bruises and he gets Hopper to resolve it too long before Vecna starts his ritual. Billy’s pretty smart and they manage to overpower Vecna together and come out of the other side, scarred but otherwise alive.