#something something the way susan is with max and the way neil is with billy

[intothedysphoria]

Billy’s therapist probably didn’t mean to be patronising but he very much came off that way. Something about being in a wheelchair now made people think he was simple.

It was CIA appointed or whoever the assholes who’d dragged him into hospital were. The therapist felt like he should have been a part of the Men In Black and Billy half expected that he was going to get his memory erased.

Instead, after Billy signed several NDA’s about the time he was possessed by a fucked up alien thing, he was told to draw. So he drew. He drew his mom bathed in the California sun, Max trailing a muddy skateboard around the house. Heather when she was still alive. Neil covered in bulbous sores, just because. He didn’t draw Steve, even if he wanted to. He wasn’t going to get his boyfriend into more shit than he already was.

The man pursed his lips then asked Billy if he knew why he was there. A sardonic answer almost danced on his tongue until he remembered these guys probably had Max. He shook his head no instead.

“We’re moving you out of Hawkins Billy” came the crisp response. For Billy’s own safety, of course. No cover up here.

They were not moving him back to California, even after Billy threatened to stab a guard. California would be too obvious of a move.

They were dumping him in yet another shithole but this one was in Texas. To live with his maternal grandfather, who Billy hadn’t met since he was three years old.

He didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. All he had were Max and Steve’s house numbers balled up in his fist as he boarded the plane.

His vague memories of “grandpa Patrick” were of a gruff, surprisingly fit old man who scared the shit out of Neil. Memory did not disappoint.

Patrick had served 32 years in the Air Force before working as low level management on an oil rig and retiring soon after. He was a piece of work when it came to bending house rules but it came from a place of genuine caution not the desire of instilling fear.

Since the past months had destroyed any hope of going to college, Patrick signed him up for wheelchair basketball. Under the surname O’Connor, not Hargrove.

Phone usage was limited from 5pm until 6pm every day, because Patrick was perhaps overly concerned about bills and was also convinced that all phones were bugged. Billy tried to call Max and Steve every day. And every day either Susan or Mrs Harrington picked up. It was driving Billy up the fucking wall. What was the point of having a boyfriend or sister if you weren’t allowed to call them?

Billy’s aunt Marie had noticed that he was becoming steadily more despondent by the day, so she gently suggested writing a letter. As long as he didn’t use his old name and wrote with his left hand he should be fine.

Max’s letter took about 10 minutes. They knew each other so well all Billy really needed to establish was that she was safe, she was coping and she wasn’t getting too much shit at school. Billy already knew how she’d be feeling in this situation.

Steve’s letter took much longer. Trying to judge how your boyfriend of a little under a year would react to you suddenly reappearing in his life was a little more complicated. Especially when you had to drop in hints as to who you actually were.

Billy struggled through emphasising that he loved Steve, leaving him had been hell and he’d met several actual cowboys since the move. After that he really just had to wait.

Steve sent him back a letter with tiny butterflies drawn on the front. He was always doodling and on their first date Billy had been told his eyes reminded Steve of butterflies. It was a difference from all his past dates who’d told him they looked like the sea.

It was a long letter for Steve. He was dyslexic and despised writing, would constantly need to be bribed with affection to finish a book report but Steve sent practically a novel. He was bored and lonely in Hawkins, had a job in a video rental space and was working his way up to going to college. There were several paragraphs asking about the rules of wheelchair basketball followed by several more asking if he’d bought a cowboy hat.

He loved Billy more than he could explain and hoped he could come back soon.

Billy felt asleep with the letter tucked into his pocket and resolved to find Steve again.

One day.

For @shieldofiron @dragonflylady77 and also @oopsiedaisiesbaby for giving me the idea of Texan Billy

[ickypuppi3]

something something max not being ‘girly’ enough and billy not being ‘masculine’ enough in the eyes of their parents

[half-oz-eddie]

Are we ever gonna talk about the fact that Billy straight up lied to Neil and Susan about Max's whereabouts, even though he knew full well she was off somewhere with Lucas?

He literally told Karen he went to Lucas's house first because he thought she was there. But he lied to Neil and said he didn't know where she went, even though he had a good idea of where she would be.

Susan's child is missing, she's clearly worried, and he deliberately withheld information.

This is the face of man who is about to lie.

"I'm sure she just, I dunno, went to the arcade or something. I'm sure she's fine."

You know where she is. And you're covering it up.

And he wasn't even concerned. He only got mad because it caused him problems.

I'm sure he was protecting himself and Max at that moment, Not only did he withhold information, he didn't bother to cooperate with Neil and Susan in any way that would help them find Max either.

Why do you think that is

[sadhours]

Pervy Billy please 🤤🤤🤤

okay okay, here’s a teaser of my upcoming series stuck in the middle with you

billy hargrove x pamela oc!mayfield

cw: 18+ minors dni, perv!billy, stepcest, psuedocest, teasing, groping, dry humping and masturbation

🎀🤍🚬🍦

It’s like the little bitch does it on purpose. Those shorts can barely be classified as such, they’re practically just underwear and she’s prancing around the house like she’s trying to get a rise out of Billy. It’s making him pretty damn bricked up, just trying to enjoy his fucking bowl of Wheaties.

They’re alone. Neil and Susan shopping, like they do most Saturday mornings and Billy’s got no idea where Max is nor does he care. Pamela is doing her chores, pale blonde hair bouncing whenever she reaches down to grab miscellaneous clutter. Thanks to the motion, he also notices she’s not wearing a bra; breasts swaying under her thin cotton shirt. God, her legs are long, he thinks as he skates his eyes up and down them.

Billy’s aware he’s staring. Part of him thinks Pamela wants him to. He shovels another spoonful of cereal in his mouth before dropping the bowl in the sink for Pamela to clean. It’s her chore after all.

He’s got his own chores. Lists them off in his head; fix the leaky faucet in the bathroom, organize the garage, mow the lawn, wack all the weeds and take out the garbage. They can wait, he decides as he keeps his place in the kitchen and watches as his step sister continues on with her chores. Chews on his lip as she uses the scrunchie on her wrist to tie her hair up in a bun. She starts by cleaning off the counters, putting everything back in its place before she takes her place at the sink. A smirk spreads across his lips and he crowds behind her, places his hands on the counter to cage her in.

Pamela tilts her head, doesn’t look at him but exposes her neck like she’s expecting something. Billy takes these movements slow and calculated. He doesn’t want to scare her off, but then again, he’s sure Pamela is playing the same game he is. He laughs, soft as he towers over her. His breath fans over her neck and Pamela’s skin pricks with goosebumps as she wets the sponge. Squirts dish liquid on it before she finally speaks up, “Can I help you?”

Billy purses his lips, closes the gap between Pamela’s ass and his crotch as he tells her, “Just making sure you’re doing a good job is all.”

She snorts but continues cleaning the dishes and maybe Billy’s imagining it but he thinks he feels her push her ass back against him. So he grabs her waist, holds her steady and presses his lips against her exposed neck. It’s not a kiss. Just to feel her warm skin. Rolls his hips slow, testing before moving his hands to feel up her sides. Swooping forward and cupping her breasts in his palms.

He kneads them in his hands, shamelessly rolling his hips and Pamela elicits the prettiest little sound. A moan if Billy’s not mistaken and it makes him greedy. Slams his hips forward, grinding against her ass in those tiny shorts while he gropes at her tits. Pamela drops the silverware and sponge, gripping onto the edge of the counter as she pants.

“See what you’re doing to me?” Billy asks against her ear, rocking his hips forward again. Making sure she can feel the way his cocks hard in his basketball shorts. “Walking around in that shit… dressed like a fucking slut,” he pants, “Tryna get my attention, huh?”

“Billy,” she gasps, a whine of a thing.

He pulls her top up, just enough to expose her tits and gets his hands back on them. Pinches her nipples, rutting against her like the pathetic little perv he is.

“Billy.. we— ah, we can’t,” he babbles out, but she’s still grinding back against him.

“We can’t what?” he grunts out, nose bushing against her temple.

“Do this,” Pamela replies, hands moving to reach for his wrists. “It’s wrong.”

Billy knows it’s wrong. That’s part of why he can’t stop thinking about her like this.

But she’s right. This was probably far enough. He pulls away, looks down at her as she turns. Her pretty face all flushed. And he acts kind of like a child, stomping away to his room and slamming his door. Just to lean against it and shove his shorts down, get his cock out and wrap his hand around it.

“Fuck,” he whines, closing his eyes and imagines his step sister on her knees in front of him. “Oh, you slut,” he whispers, lips twisting up as he plays out this fantasy. Fucks his fist hard and fast, cumming with her name on his lips.

[weird-an]

Billy isn't her brother. He's supposed to be, her mom wants him to be because Neil wants him to be, but he isn't and Max doesn't want him to.

No one asked her for this. Most of the time she doesn't even listen when Neil hits him. It's not her business and Billy doesn't want her help. Has told her many times with a puffy eye or a split lip, when she didn't say anything, but just wondered.

Sometimes it's like there are two Billy's. The one that doesn't show up very often, whispering to her how to act towards Neil to get what she wants and teaches her how to skate, always with rolling eyes and a laugh and the one that is there most of the time, closed off and biting and scratching. Full of anger, because that's the only thing Neil Hargrove can teach his son.

She isn't sure how many times it really happens, but she always feels sick when her mom and her visit Aunt Sharon or Granny and they leave them alone.

This time though she sees it. There are no marks on Billy's face, but Neil's belt is on the couch and Neil is so disgustingly happy to see Susan again - and Max, too, or so he says.

Max doesn't know what happened but the next morning Neil drives her to school and Billy doesn't leave his room.

She tries not to think about how there is no fourth plate on the kitchen table and that for one second she fears that that's it, that Billy might never have to drive her to school again - because he can't.

She presses her ear against Billy's door when Neil is busy watching some news and ranting about people that don't look like him. She can't hear anything. Neil is too loud or Billy is too quiet.

Max is about to go to bed, but not tired at all, when there's a knock at her window. She pulls back the curtain.

Steve Harrington looks like he hasn't slept in days. She opens the window.

"What are you doing here?" she whispers.

Steve seems to consider his answer, but then he just sighs.

"He isn't opening his window," he says, rubbing his face in pure exhaustion. "Is he .. ?"

"Billy?" she asks slowly. She didn't know Steve is Billy's friend. She didn't know Billy had any friends at all. Only admirers and rivals - at least here in Hawkins.

"Yeah. He wasn't at school."

"Are you friends?"

"Something like that."

Neil will kill them, if he finds out. But he isn't her father and never will be.

"Come in."

Steve climbs through her window. Nearly stumbles when he walks against the walkie talkie she left on the floor.

Neil must have gone to bed. It's silent.

She opens the door to Billy's room. She can sees his blond curls peeking out from underneath the blankets. Steve is by his side in a second.

Max closes the door. Slow, because she doesn't want to make any noise. Slower, because she is curious. She never gets to see what Billy is really like.

Steve sits next to him on the bed. Strokes his hair and whispers something. Careful, like Lucas does when she's sad, because the whole world is a shit show.

The door is nearly closed when she sees Steve kissing Billy's forehead. Maybe Steve knows a different Billy, too.

She feels light. Relieved in a way she doesn't get. She's glad Billy is not alone, she finds. Even if she didn't expect that.

Billy isn't her brother, but she will keep his secret like a sister would.

[venusjaynie]

Patch Me Up

Billy Hargrove x fem!reader

summary: Billy, your (secret) boyfriend, shows up at your house (which is really Steve's house) after a bad fight with Neil, and Steve has never been more confused.

CW: hurt/comfort, minor injury detail, mentions of abuse (it's very brief!!), lots of fluff, billy is probably OOC but I do not care 🫶🫶, Steve wants to put his and Billy's differences aside for your sake.

Word count: 2k

2:45am

Someone's at the door. They knock once, and you don't make a move to answer. But then the bell rings, and they knock again so, with a groan, you get out of bed and walk past Steve's room to see if he's still asleep, or if he was also woken up by the disturbance from downstairs. Luckily, he's asleep.

You make your way down the stairs of the house and, for safety, you grab Steve's nail bat from its place beside the front door. Slowly, you unlock the door and open it just enough so that you can see whoever is on the other side of it.

It's Billy.

You open the door fully and drop the bat as quietly as you can. Billy looks like he's been dragged to hell and back, to put it simply. For a second, you're confused as to why he's here at 2:45 on a Wednesday morning, but his eyes shine with unshed tears, and the big red mark on his cheek speaks for itself.

"Hey, pretty girl, mind letting me in? I'm dying out here." You nod and step out of the way with nothing but worry for him casting over your features. You notice that he's limping a little, but you don't mention it.

"God, Billy, what the hell happened to you?" You know it was Neil, but Billy had insisted that things with his dad were getting better. He laughs half-heartedly, not meeting your eye.

"I, uh, let Max go over to the Byers to stay over with her friend Ellie or El, or something, 'cause Neil and Susan were supposed to go away for a few nights. But they ended up coming home early, and when he found out he told me to go pick her up. But I told him I didn't want to disturb Mrs byers, and he didn't take to that too kindly." He huffs out another humourless chuckle, but you can hear him choking up as he speaks.

"Oh, babe..." You start, but you're at a loss for words. You've seen Billy a few times after a bad run-in with his dad, but there's blood coming from his nose and he's cradling his right elbow in his hand, and not to mention his left eye is swelling slightly. "C'mere, let me clean you up a bit."

As you go to take Billy's hand to lead him to the downstairs bathroom you can hear Steve's floorboards creak just above you, and his footsteps echo through the hall upstairs.

"Hello?" Steve calls out from the top of the stairs.

"Hey, Stevie, it's just me." You reply.

"Who were you talking to?" You can hear him making his way down the stairs. "Hargrove? Is that you?"

"Don't get too excited, Harrington." Steve rolls his eyes at Billy's sarcasm.

"Why are you in my house, man? What-" He stops himself as he reaches the bottom of the stairs and can see Billy's face in the light, letting out a soft 'oh'.

Neither of them speak for a moment or two, and you take that as your cue to get back to the previous task as hand.

"Billy, let's get you fixed up." He nods silently and follows you to the bathroom. You tell him to sit down on the lid of the toilet, and you open the cupboard under the sink to grab the first aid kit. You rummage around a bit, until you remember that Steve took it last week after Will had fallen off his bike and gashed a pretty nasty cut into his knee.

“I need to run to the living room to grab the first aid kit, okay?” You ask gently, already heading toward the door, but Billy grabs your hand before you can go any further.

“No, please don’t leave.”

“Baby, it’s only for a second. I’ll be right back.” He shakes his head.

“Can’t you just yell for Harrington to get it? I just don’t think I can be alone right now.” He speaks so quietly, more so than you’ve ever heard him do before, and there's something about the rawness and honesty in his eyes that makes you never want to leave him alone again.

“Steve?” You shout, feeling bad about disturbing your friend again.

“Yeah? What’s up?” He quickly walks back down the stairs and comes into view as he stands in the doorframe of the bathroom.

“Could you grab the first aid kit from the living room, please?” He nods without a word, and emerges a few minutes later with the little, green plastic box.

“Thank you. Sorry for waking you up, you can go back to bed now. promise we won’t disturb you again.” Steve just laughs lightly and shakes his head.

“Nah, I’m up now. No chance of me getting back to sleep for at least 2 hours. Might as well do something useful with my time.” He heads in the direction of the kitchen, and you close the door of the bathroom behind him.

Walking back over to billy, who is sat silently on the counter of the bathroom, you’re able to truly take in how beaten up he looks. His left eye is swelling more and more, and the red mark on his cheek has almost turned purple.

“Oh, Billy.” You slowly reach out to touch his face, but he flinches back slightly at the notion of your hand coming into contact with his cheek.

"Shit- sorry." He apologises quickly and takes your outstretched hand in his.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault." You give his hand a reassuring squeeze and get to patching him up. You clean up his bloody nose, which he scrunches up when the alcohol rub you use on his cheek stings a bit, and you apologise quietly. You find a bandage and you fashion a make-shift sling. It's definitely nothing special, but it's better than letting his arm hang free without support.

You catch sight of the shift in his features when he goes to adjust his position on the counter. His hand shoots up to hold onto his chest, and you immediately worry for the state of his bones and internal organs.

"Billy?" He looks up at you. "Can you take your shirt off?" He smirks.

"You tryna get me naked? Could've just said so, baby." He laughs under his breath, and despite the situation, you crack a small smile. He removes his shirt, and you can't help the short intake of breathe of breath that you take. The skin on Billy's chest is red and blue and black and purple and the more you examine it the worse it looks. It's horrible.

"Oh my god." You breathe. You look through the first aid kit for some kind of oil or ointment that you could use to treat the discolouring on his chest, but it was to no avail. "I don't think I have anything that can help that. I'm sorry, Billy. I'm so sorry." You aren't really apologising for your lack of treatment products. You're apologising because this is real. He has to live life like this, and there's nothing you can do about it.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's not your fault. You didn't know I was coming, yeah?" You nod. "And besides, you've done more than enough, sweetheart. More than you ever needed to, alright? I'm okay, I swear." You know he's lying. He's not okay. But for once, you choose to not argue back. You honestly don't have the strength.

The rest of his casualties aren't your forte, unfortunately. Bruises and a potentially sprained ankle- which he promises 'isn't even that bad'- aren't things that you can tend to, but you think some ice to his ankle will do him some good, and maybe provide some pain relief.

"Hey, Billy, let's go to the living room, 'kay?" He nods, and stands up, and you put your arm around his waist to support him. He kisses your temple and starts to limp out of the bathroom to make his way to the living room.

Steve is sitting on the sofa when you enter with Billy, and he makes a move to leave.

"I'll give you guys some privacy." He nods at Billy as he leaves, and you truthfully don't want him to go. He's your best friend, and you could use some grounding after what you've done tonight. You don't say anything in protest to his statement though, however, Billy does.

"Harrington? If you wanna stay down here, I don't mind, really." Billy looks almost as shocked as you do, as if he doesn't register what he's saying until the words have already flown out of his mouth and he can't take them back.

"Oh, uh, okay. You sure, man?" Steve makes a move to re-enter the living room.

"Don't make me change my mind, dude." Steve laughs lightly as Billy's answer, and walks back into the living room, closely followed by you and Billy.

You sit down on the couch, Billy following you, and Steve takes his previous seat. You have to admit, it's a little awkward at first. You're the one making conversation and trying to tie them both in, but it's difficult, what with knowing about their past rivalry and all.

You sigh, before saying,

"Alright look, I know you two have your differences, but I'm just as uncomfortable as you both. So, if we're gonna sit here tonight, is there any chance you could just make up? For my sake at least?"

It's a while before either of them speak, and to no one's surprise, it's Steve.

"Yes, yeah okay. I think I can do that."

"Thank you." You smile at him, and wait hopefully for Billy to agree too.

"Fine." He mumbles after a few minutes. You know you won't get much more out of him than that, so you're just glad he cooperated.

"Thanks, Billy." He nods, not saying anything more. "I'm gonna get you some ice for your ankle." Another nod, this time accompanied by a smile.

You leave the room, cringing internally at the thought of leaving Billy alone with Steve. You just hope they can put their differences aside, because it would make your situation a hell of a lot less difficult.

After retrieving the ice from the bottom drawer of the freezer, which took a great deal of effort because you had to clear out the contents of the drawer and then fit it all back in, you head back to living room, silently praying the 2 boys haven't killed each other in your absence. However, as you walk to the door, you hear them before you see them. Billy's laughing, and so is Steve. 'What the hell?' you think to yourself, bemused to say the least.

"Jesus, Harrington, that's fucking hilarious. You know, you're better company than I thought."

"What's gotten into you two, huh?" You chuckle as you saunter in and retake your seat, leaning forward to set the ice on the coffee table, and then prop Billy's ankle on the bag.

"Nothin', sweetheart. This guy's not too bad to have around. He's funnier than I remember." As you lean back against the sofa, Billy stretches his good arm around your shoulders, and you settle against him.

"It's good that the two of you are getting along, for my sake, anyway." Billy doesn't say much, but hums in acknowledgement, while Steve just nods.

It's quiet for a little while longer, until Steve clears his throat somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh, Hargrove- Billy, even- fuck, that feels weird. Yeah, anyway, um, if you ever need a place to stay whenever, you know, this happens, you can always come here." Steve doesn't look at Billy when he talks, but if he did he'd see the way Billy's eyes soften ever so slightly, the way his shoulders relax into the plush couch behind him, the way his eyes go a little glossy.

"Thanks, Steve." Billy replies, before continuing with, "Yeah, that feels weird as shit, man." earning a laugh from both you and Steve.

After a moment, Billy yawns, and his eyes look droopier than they did a minute ago, so you decide now would be a good time for the two of you to head to bed.

"Alright, Stevie, we're gonna head to bed." You stand up, helping Billy do the same.

"Me too." Steve follows in suit, standing and stretching his arms over his head. The three of you head toward the stairs, with Steve behind you and Billy to make sure he can help if the latter falls.

As you're climbing the stairs, however, Steve has something on his mind.

"Hey, kid, any chance you're making pancakes tomorrow morning?" You turn around to face Steve and you don't think you've ever seen him look more hopeful in your life. "Billy, I swear to God, she makes the best pancakes in the world."

Billy smiles and says, "Well, sweetheart, I gotta try 'em. I'm somewhat of a pancake connoisseur, if you will." You roll your eyes.

"Ugh, fine. Yes, Steve, I will make my famous pancakes." You say, and you swear Steve looks like he could jump for joy. "But, you have to make spaghetti tomorrow night."

"Done."

When you reach the top of you stairs, you bid Steve goodnight, and make your way back to your room, but this time with Billy in tow, and you tell him to sit on the bed. Grabbing him one of his shirts that you stole a month ago, you help him out of his other one, careful not to disturb the fine bandaging you had previously carried out on his arm, and you gently pull the new one over his head, guiding his arms through it too. He opts for no pants, just boxers, and you're too tired to object, not that you mind either way, and the two of you lie back in your bed.

"Thanks for takin' care of me." Billy mumbled into your hair.

"Thanks for letting me." You reply, making Billy smile. And for the first time in a long while, Billy sleeps.

[sweet-villain]

Trying To Make It Make Sense~ B.H

Anonymous asked:

I'm so happy to see you back! I hope things are well :) I do have a request if you are taking then but if not that's totally ok!

My idea was if the reader was dating billy and is friends with Eddie and the whole gang? Maybe just some fluff of them hanging out as a group but billy makes it known he's with the reader through pda and being cuties with her

Note : I don't really see Billy being really an affectionate type around people.

You stared down at your lap and fidget with your fingers as you felt eyes on you.

It felt like the most uncomfortable silence as your friends stare in disbelief in what they were seeing. It wasn’t anything that bad, you thought.

To them, this was a first and a shocker to them all. You had a boyfriend.

His name was Billy Hargrove. The same Billy Hargrove that picked on Steve.

The same Billy Hargrove that called, his step sister Max, shit bird. The very same on that drove the loud Camara. 

  An arm wraps around your shoulder as someone pulls you into them, its familiar arm fills you with comfort. It’s Billy.

He chews the gum in his mouth as he stares down back at Eddie, Dustin, Steve, Max and the rest like they were challenging him. 

“ Is this a joke? Have you done something to her, Hargrove because I swear-” Eddie gets off by you as your head shot up and you shake your head. 

“ Eddie, stop” you stood up from your spot that you were sitting at to stop Eddie who looked like he was ready to throw hands if he needed to. He had his fist by his side as his jaw clenched tight. 

“ I don’t understand why you were with him. I mean, come out. Out of every guy in Hawkins. You pick him” Steve throws his hands up as he shakes his head in disbelief.

He was more shocked that he wasn’t your first choice in this matter. The two of you were close and had moments where the two of you would flirt. 

Steve didn't like this at all.

Billy smirked as he eyed Steve. Steve kept muttering to himself with his hands folded across his chest. 

Max had a feeling the two of you would get together since you kept coming over to tell “ I’m just tutoring Billy. The teacher asked me to, and I was happy to do it.” You had to use that to be around Billy in his room to get past Neil.

He wasn’t too happy about having a girl in Billy’s room. 

The door was to be opened and one day Neil walked by to see the two of you closer than he liked and the studying had to be done in the kitchen.

Susan had turned a liking to you and she would watch some softness come out in Billy when you were around. She didn’t dare to tell Neil. 

Max saw it too. 

“ Did you know anything about this?” Dustin asked, as he looked towards Max for answers. Max simply had a smile on her face as she shrugged. 

“ You two really think they are together?” Steve suddenly asked, coming out of his pouty face and uncrossed his arms as he continued to stare down at Billy with a glare on his face.

“ These two must be playing some game.” 

“ Games are for kids, Harrington. Seems like that more your turf” Billy says. 

Inside Billy was kinda nervous being surrounded by your friends who were staring like they were about to run after him with pitchforks. 

“ Who did you make a bet with, hm?” The question catches you off guard and everyone turns to stare at Eddie who for one second doesn’t believe you are going out with Billy Hargrove.

There was no way. 

“ Did Carver put you up to this?” Eddie continued to ask. “ The two of you seem to chatter like little old ladies from the last time I saw you two.” 

“ What is your business that I talk to my friends about, Munson?” Billy asked.

“ Friends” Steve, snorted. 

Billy turns to Steve hearing him snicker. 

“ You have something to say, Harrington?” Steve shot up from his seat as he put his hands on his hips as he stared down at Billy. “ Why her?” Steve asks. 

Billy’s face changes at the question and Robin swore for a moment she saw it.

There was a wall breaking that he had put up a front like he always does. Her eyes widened a bit as she caught it. She looked around the room to see if anyone else caught it.

No one did as they continued to look at Billy. She felt proud of herself and mentally gave herself a pat on her head.

You glanced up at your boyfriend who still has his arms around you. He felt you staring at the side of his head and turned his head to glance down at you.

His blue eyes met your own and they were shining. 

“ Is that a smile?” Dustin asked. Max swatted his arm. “ Ow! That hurt, no need to get abusive. Jeesus.” 

She only did it because she saw Billy was having a moment as he looked down at you. She never saw him like this. Happy. 

“ Because she makes me feel like I’m not alone, that finally I belong” what Billy really wanted to say was that he loves you but he wasn’t about to say it in front of your friends knowing they were going to use that against him. 

You melted at his words knowing he meant that you made him feel safe. You made him feel wanted. That he mattered. To you. That was enough for him. 

The girls “ awed” at his words and happily sighed seeing the way Billy looked at you and the way you looked at him. 

Your hand came up to cup his cheek, immediately he leaned into your touch feeling it would be a while since you’ll touch him again.

Some of his hair falls into his eyes while he leans in and they sparkle. 

“ Gross” and “ ew” and “ I’m going to throw up” are what interrupted the moment between the two of you. Billy forgot for a moment that other people were in the room with him and you.

Immediately a scold appeared on his face as he turned to your friends. Their eyes widened at his fast reaction and they all gulped. 

“ If any of you use the words I said leave your mouth and I hear you babbling, I will not hesitate to do something about it. Is that clear?” Billy asked with his fist by his sides. 

The gang didn’t get to answer him because your hand reached out to tug his jacket letting him know you wanted his attention. His eyes drop down where your hand is tugging his jacket and his fist unclenches.

“ Sit down, Billy. They won’t. I know them. Right, guys?” you turn to look at your friends. “ I’m really happy with him and I know you guys aren’t happy with me right now. But he cares about me, I care about him and that should be enough for you guys.” 

Billy sits back down as his hand lands on your leg as it rests there with your hand falling on top of him. The sensation of warmth fills him and his heart races as he turns to look at you. The smile returns to his face. 

For the first time everyone is shocked and finds it strange how you softened Billy Hargrove. He was smiling right now crying out loud. 

“ Hargrove” Eddie calls out to Billy, catching his attention. “ I will not hesitate to break your bones or light your car on fire if you ever hurt her” he points his ring finger at Billy.

“ I don’t care if you're sorry or you're going to plead. You hurt her. I will hurt you.” 

Eddie has always been the most protective of you, you were like a little sister to him.

You were always coming over to bring him food, making sure he was fed and looking after him when he’s sick. You would check on Wayne too, make sure he had new clothes to wear too. You were family to the Munson’s. 

“ Eds” you called out to him. He turns his head to glance at you. 

“ Thank you for looking out for me, but I can handle it.” 

“ I’m never going to hurt her, '' Billy says. “ If I do, then shit bird can sell my car, '' he says with a grumble. His car means a lot to him and for him to say that means that he does really care about you. The gang is surprised once again. 

“ Don’t sell it, we can burn it” Mike says. Billy goes up to look like he was going to pounce on Mike but you hold him back, shaking your head. 

“ We’re serious Hargrove,” Steve says. “ You do anything to hurt her, in any way” he points to the gang, “ you better run. Because you are not coming back on your two legs” 

“ She means a lot to us” Nancy says “ she’s our best friend.” 

“ That we do anything for” Lucus says. 

Billy chuckles, “ You don’t scare me peepsqueaks” he looks between Dustin, Lucas and Mike. 

“ We’re serious Billy” Max says to him. “ Even if you're my step brother. You hurt her-” 

“ We hurt you” El finishes. “ But we're happy for you,” she adds as he looks around the group. “ Right?” The group grumbles underneath their breath. 

“ No, say it with me” El claps her hands as he points to you and Billy “ we are happy for them.” 

All you heard were a bunch of groans and “ yeah, yeah” and “ we don’t trust him still” and Robin said, “ he’s more of a dingus than Harrington is.” 

You loved your friends and wouldn’t change them for the world.

Sudden feeling of a peck on your cheek breaks your attention from looking at your friends but at your boyfriend who shrugs like he wasn’t the one who did it.

But he did. He wanted to show some sort of affection, but not too much because he isn’t like that around people. 

You knew he only did that to show that you really were his and he was serious about you to your friends.

Even though he did place his hands on your leg and had his arm around you. He got up the courage to kiss you on the cheek. 

You didn’t ask him to show this type of affection. He did it on his own and you can tell he was proud of himself as he glanced at his lap with his cheeks hinted red. 

“ Okay, there will be none of that around” Dustin says as he points between the two of you. 

“ There will be ground rules if he is going to be around us” Mike says. 

Max rolls her eyes, but she nods a little knowing what was coming. 

“ There will be no kissing,” Dustin says. 

“ No touching like” Mike looks down at himself looking around where. Robin hits him upside the head which he whines about as he rubs the back of his head, glaring at her. 

“ That wasn’t necessary,” he says.

“ Trust me, it was,” Steve says. 

“ But ease down on the public affection. If the two of you want to touch and make out, there is a home were two of you live in and a car which you drive in” Eddie says. 

“ Are you jealous, Munson?” Billy asked as he leaned a bit to inspect Eddie. Eddie scrunched up his nose and shook his head. He felt a shiver run down his spine. 

“ Jealous of what? You two? No way, Y/N is like a sister to me and that would be gross” 

In the middle of this, your hand interlaces with Billys and it doesn’t slide between your friends as the spot it. 

“ awe, they are holding hands' ' El gushes and stares at Mike, hitting his shoulder. “ Why do you not hold my hand anymore?” Mike rubs his shoulder as he looks away from El and looks around asking for help. 

The rest of the conversation between your friends, you block out because you happily stare at your boyfriend as he starts to talk with you friends.

You were hoping they would warm up to him. You squeezed Billy’s hand letting him know you're still there and not going to leave any time soon. 

Billy had the warmest feeling inside, he began to laugh with his friends and teased Steve. 

This felt like home.

[bookshelf-dust]

kids show up, and i get no kisses.

billy hargrove x gn!reader

word count: 1,254

warnings: swearing, suggestive comments, fluffy fluff

a/n: hi!! some billy for you. this is my way of romanticizing a holiday i’m not totally over the moon for, but this is how i wish it’d be. if you don’t celebrate it, you can skip this, or imagine eating a whole bunch of stuff you like, or ignore me as a whole. this is also me encouraging byler. i hope you enjoy it!! <33

————

Billy's palm was warm where it rested on your bare thigh, callouses scratching back and forth from time to time. He'd made himself at home, his legs over yours, sticking where skin met skin. He had on those little green shorts despite the fact that it was freezing outside.

It was one of those days where neither of you had to work, and it was too cold for him to go outside. A day where he insisted on being on top of you the whole time, insisted on being all over you. Not that it bothered you. You did live together after all.

Billy was staring at the television, some rerun of something on. You thought he was paying attention, but his words told you he'd really been off thinking away.

"Are we supposed to, like, do Thanksgiving or somethin'?"

This would be your first major holiday living together, and honestly, you'd thought about it, but you weren't really sure. You certainly didn't want to go home, and that wasn't going to happen for Billy either.

You turned to look at him, light from the tv creating shadows on the slopes and plains of his face. He looked so pretty. "Do you wanna? Like eat together maybe?"

"Hm. Maybe?" Billy rubbed his nose. You reached over him to pull the chain on the lamp, room darkening from the now fully set sun. He set a hand on your back to steady you, but when you moved back he pulled you fully in his lap, setting your forearms on his shoulders.

"Did you celebrate it at home?" You questioned tentatively, swiping a thumb over his freckles and giggling lightly because of how much you liked them. He wouldn't even scold you for your fawning anymore.

"Mom cooked when I was a kid, but clearly that went to shit. Susan fucked something up on accident once and then Neil just made us go out to eat after that, or eat leftovers. I think we might've gone to like a grandparents or something when I was really young? I don't know."

"Why don't we figure something out, yeah? Pick stuff out. Maybe we could have Max over?"

Billy contemplated, dramatically taking your face in his hands. "Okay," he drawled.

————

That's how you found yourself in the grocery store, list in hand as you searched through the potatoes for some that looked promising. You found some just as Billy returned with the peas he'd wanted.

Moving to another section, you looked through the pie crusts before glancing up to ask Billy for help. You caught him in the act of racing down the aisle, body hoisted up on the cart, leg pushing him off of the tile until he reached the end cap and spun around. Clearly he was bored.

He caught your gaze, tossing his head back and laughing because you'd seen him. But you didn't mind when he got like this. Any chance for him to release some of that childhood energy was good. Deserved.

"Need somethin' baby?" He put his hands on his hips, out of breath.

"You want pumpkin or apple pie?"

"Pumpkin."

"Good. Wasn't gonna make apple anyhow."

He grinned at you, fixing the collar on his jacket, brown leather worn in from years of wear. "What else do we need? I can get whatever you want."

He peered over your shoulder at the list, reading the things you hadn't marked off yet. "Milk, eggs, gravy. Come on sweet thing." Billy placed one hand on the cart, reaching the other out to take yours and place it on his belt so you could grab hold. "I'm on it."

————

Billy was finishing deviled eggs when there was a knock at the door followed by, "I'm coming in! Please be decent!"

You laughed over the stove where you were finishing mashed potatoes. Max entered the kitchen along with Lucas and Will.

Billy wiped his hands off. "Hi boys. Hi shitbird." You turned in time to catch their hug—short, but kind, and followed by a yank of Max's pigtail.

Will made his way over to you. "Smells good." He hugged you sweetly and then snuck a roll. Lucas followed, and then Max.

"Are we having macaroni?" She asked, hopeful.

"Your brother made it." You looked over at the timer on the counter. "It's almost done." She laughed in triumph before offering her help, which you declined, telling the three of them to do whatever.

Billy cut up the turkey into thin slices, so that it was "fall-y apart-y" the way you liked, and then the five of you sat on the floor around the coffee table in the living room to eat, the Macy's parade on in the background.

Will sat to the left of you, Billy on your right. You took this as your gateway to breach the question, knowing he recognized your home as a safe space, even though everyone knew now. You turned to him and he looked up, watery doe eyes meeting yours. But apparently, Billy was wondering the same thing as you.

"How's Mike?" He asked, looking around you, beating you to the question.

Will blushed, but smiled nonetheless. "He's good. He's really good. Finished a campaign the other night."

"Yeah? That's good."

You all drifted into varying conversations throughout your meal, Billy and Lucas talking about basketball, while you, Max, and Will critiqued the varying dance groups in the parade or talked about what they were doing on fall break.

Eventually, Billy helped you clean up while the kids set up Monopoly on the table in place of the food.

Standing in front of the fridge, rearranging the Tupperware, Billy wrapped his arms around you, snuck his warm hands under your shirt to rub at the chub of your tummy. His nails grazed your sides, making you laugh.

You shut the fridge, turning around to face him. "Something you need, Mr. Hargrove?"

His smile reached his eyes, and you reached out for his freckles again. He leaned into your touch. "Just you. And I want pie."

"'Course you do. Anything else?"

"Kisses. Kids show up, and I get no kisses, even in my own damn house. Pretty please?" He batted his lashes at you. "I've been so good today."

"Today."

He scoffed. "Rude."

You took his face in your hands and kissed him anyhow, slow and sweet, eliciting a groan from him. You pulled away, but he muttered an "Uh, uh," instead.

This time he ran his tongue along your bottom lip, before slipping it into your mouth. You pulled away this time, making him pout. "B, in case you forgot, there are minors on the premises."

He kissed your forehead. "Yeah, yeah."

Speaking of, said minors joined the two of you in the kitchen and you doled out pie to each of them. Leaving you and Billy alone again, you watched as he spooned out cool whip on either of your slices. He rubbed your nose, ridding his index finger of the creamy substance he'd gotten on it.

He used it as an excuse to lick it off, swiping his tongue over your nose. "Billy!" You giggled—exactly the reaction he'd been hoping for.

The five of you spent the rest of the afternoon talking about everything and nothing, whining over board games, and eating yourselves so full that there was no other choice but for all of you to nap in various locations, splayed out over whatever surface was around.

You couldn't have asked for anything better.

————

please let me know if you liked this! feedback is always appreciated!! comments and reblogs mean more than you know. <33

[billys-pretty-babe]

The Ceremony

Pairing : Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Summary : Six months after your engagement, it's finally time to marry Billy and well, his reaction isn't what you expected whatsoever.

Warnings : Swearing, illusions to smut at the end, one mention of Neil's abuse

Word count : 2,738

A/N : Part 2 to The Proposal

April 1986

The bridal suite was busy, people working around you to do your makeup, your hair already having been in its style since early in the morning. Max huffed and puffed as she fixed her dress. "Why'd I have to be the flower girl?" You glanced at her, "Because Billy wanted you to be." Her face softened, "Oh, never mind, I love the dress, even the itchiness." Everyone in the room laughed.

You looked down at the ring on your finger, different from what Billy proposed with back in October. He had upgraded it, taking more hours at the garage he worked at. Now, it was a two and a half carat princess cut diamond ring with smaller diamonds on the band. You stared at the silver band you had bought for him with a custom engraving of the wedding date along with both of your initials, except your surname was exchanged with an H.

"Ready for the dress," Susan asked from across the room. You were reluctant to let her come to the wedding, but Billy was insistent, she was the only 'mother' figure he had but you held a grudge against her for letting Neil beat his son. You took a deep breath and nodded. Max sat in your chair, picking up the ring box. "Can I look at this?" You nodded, "Just don't take it out of the box." She nodded, studying the ring in the box as Susan helped you with the dress and you looked in the three mirrors, one directly in front of you, and two to the sides of you.

She bent down and fixed the train of the dress as you looked at the dress, seeing the way it clung to you. The dress wasn't over the top, something nice and simple for the intimate ceremony. Max put the ring box down and your mom walked into the room, smiling as she saw you. Mac hugged her and your mom smiled and hugged her back, fixing a piece of her red hair.

"Where's dad?" She smiled, "With Billy." You nodded, "Is he okay?" Your mom nodded. "More than okay, he's ready to get out there." You laughed, twisting your ring. "Getting cold feet?" You shook your head, "What if I put his ring on the wrong finger or I accidentally say I don't, you know I stutter when I get nervous." Your mom rubbed your shoulder. "It'll be okay, I promise." You nodded, pressing a hand to your stomach to calm the butterflies.

"Are you pregnant?" Everyone's eyes moved to Max and Susan gently scolded her. "Maxine, that's not a question you ask." You softly laughed, "I'm just nervous." Max hummed, lips pursed, "So, no niece or nephew yet?" You shook your head, "Not for a while." She nodded, looking in one of the full body mirrors as she fixed her dress.

"He better know I love him if I'm wearing this." Everyone laughed at her and there was a knock on the large wooden door. Your father peaked his head in, "Bridesmaids and maid of honor, the men are ready." They all nodded and left, Max staying with you. You grabbed the white basket and filled it with petals. "Aren't they supposed to be fake?" You shrugged, "All of these came from flowers he's gotten me, that's why they're all different, he's never done repeat flowers." She nodded and you gently mixed them and handed her the basket.

"Hey Max." She hummed and looked at you, "You can keep some if you want." She nodded and picked out a few petals for herself, setting them on the vanity. Your dad peaked his head back inside, "Max, they're ready for you, honey." She nodded and quickly hugged you before leaving the room. You joined your dad and he hooked his elbow with yours.

"Ready?" You nodded, "Don't let me fall." He smiled, "Never." The large doors to the church, the only way Neil would attend, opened and everyone stood up. Your eyes snapped forward to Billy at the front, one of his childhood friends right behind him as his best man, patting his right shoulder. You walked with your dad, keeping at the same pace and the closer you got, you could see the tears on Billy's cheeks.

Your dad placed your hand in Billy's before taking his seat next to your mother. You stood before Billy, smiling at him. "Thought you weren't gonna cry?" He softly laughed, whispering back to you, "I have allergies, dust is in my eyes." You quietly laughed, holding his hand. The priest went through the opening of the wedding and Billy's friend jokingly yawned and he elbowed him, making you quietly laugh, the photographer catching the moment.

The priest looked at Billy before asking him a question. "William, do you take this woman to be your wife, to live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?" Billy looked down at you, a soft smile on his lips, "I do." His old basketball friends cheered in the crowd and he looked over and laughed before looking at you.

The priest looked at you, before asking you the same question and with no hesitation, you answered, "I do." He gently squeezed your hand. "Thank God," he whispered to you and you bit back your laugh. "What? Did you think I was gonna be a runaway bride," you whispered and he shrugged, "Maybe." You both laughed. The priest had you both repeat after him, everyone cheering after each of you recited the few sentences of the pre-made vows.

The priest looked up, "May we have the rings?" Billy's aunt, guided a boy, no older than four, with the pillow with the rings. People in the crowd cooed and she lifted him up and you took Billy's band and he took your band. The boy looked at you, waving his tiny fingers as his mother took him away and Billy softly laughed.

The priest looked at Billy, instructing him to place the band on your finger. He slid your engagement ring off, placing the silver band on you before replacing the engagement ring. "Now repeat after me." He said the phrase as Billy repeated it. "I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love."

The priest looked at you once more, instructing you to place the ring on Billy. Your fingers shook gently and Billy softly talked to you, "It's okay baby, take your time." You slid the ring onto his finger, fixing it. You were instructed to repeat the same phrase as Billy. "I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love."

The priest shut the Bible he was holding. "I would ask you two to join hands but you've been holding hands this entire time." The room was filled with laughter from everyone, including the priest. He looked out before declaring, "By virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife." He looked at Billy before saying, "You may kiss the bride."

Billy smiled, "Apologies to your parents and grandparents," he whispered to you before moving his hands away from yours, using them to dip your body, right hand resting at the back of your hip, his left hand on your cheek as he leaned down and kissed you, your left hand coming up to brace his cheek as you kissed him back. "Jeez," you heard Max exclaim at the back of the church and Billy laughed against your lips, pulling away an inch or two, his blue eyes teary.

"I love you." You smiled, gently stroking his cheek with your thumb, "I love you too, B." He smiled, "Can I kiss you again?" You nodded and he kissed you once more, this kiss was less intense, filled with the same amount of love as the first but it was also shorter. He pulled you back up. "Ready, Missus Hargrove?" You smiled, "Always, Mister Hargrove." He smiled, walking down the aisle with you as everyone stood up, clapping for the two of you.

The reception was hours long, your second bouquet ending up in Max's hands, your garter remaining on, choosing to not put your parents in an uncomfortable position. The first dance was everything you thought it would be. The father-daughter, son-mother dance involved you and your father and Billy and your mother. Tommy chanted for the cake cutting, making everyone laugh as you and Billy made it to the large cake. "Holy shit." You laughed at him. Your mother gave you the knife and Billy placed His hand over yours. "How big of a piece are we cutting?" Billy shrugged, "Big enough that I won't crash later." You nodded and you both cut a big enough slice to feed each other a bite for the pictures and memories.

Instead of using a fork, he cut the small piece with his finger, making you laugh. "Open wide," you snickered, "I've heard that one before." He laughed before taking a piece between his index and his thumb, placing the piece on your tongue. The chocolate practically melted on your tongue, your teeth gently scraping the pads of his fingers and he visibly shivered at the feeling. "Cold," you jokingly questioned and he laughed. "Quite warm, actually. I think I need to take my clothes off." You laughed, gently pinching his side, "Hush, we'll get to that part later." He laughed and you grabbed the other piece of cake. "Open." He opened his mouth and you fed him the piece, wiping the icing from the corner of his lip.

Soon, it was time for the speeches, deciding to save them for the end of the night. Friends and family, besides Neil, gave speeches. Billy grabbed the mic, looking in his blazer as he grabbed a piece of notebook paper that you recognized came out of his journal from the garage. Max snuck over to you, giving you your paper and you quickly thanked her and she went back to her seat. He unfolded the paper and looked out.

"I'm young, I just turned nineteen last month." Tommy cheered and Billy laughed, making you smile. "We met in October 1984, when I arrived in Hawkins and it took me until January 1985 to ask her to be my girlfriend. We actually didn't have a lot in common at first but the more we were around each other, I saw pieces of her in me, and she was the same. I remember the exact night I kissed her, it was after a party, it was a drunken kiss but one to remember nonetheless. I knew I wanted to marry her early on, I had the ring picked out four months into dating and I received it the first week of August. We have a lot of growing to do but at least it will be together from here until our last days together decades from now." He turned to you, putting his paper down, "Thank you for loving me like I deserved, showing me it was okay to be vulnerable, showing me how to love you gently, how to care for you when you needed it most, and most of all, thank you for sticking by my side even through the times it felt like we were in Hell."

You smiled, lower lip quivering and he leaned down and kissed you softly, sweetly and you held his hair gently. "I love you," you murmured against his lips. "I love you more," he murmured back before sitting down and you grabbed the mic. "I remember the first day I saw Billy, it was the first day of school for him. He made this big entrance, the car actually caught my eye first." Everyone laughed and you smiled. "We were polar opposites, I was taught to stay away from the stuff he did but I felt so drawn to him almost instantly and I wasn't sure why. In November 1984, we had our first kiss after one of Tommy's infamous parties." Tommy cheered, "You're welcome!" Everyone laughed again. "Before Billy, there was no one else. He was and always will be my first love, my first everything. I'll admit, we're extremely young but I knew the night he kissed me that I never wanted a day to go where I didn't get to kiss him and so far, it hasn't happened."

You turned to Billy, a soft smile on your face. "My love," you addressed him, "Thank you for loving me like no one else ever will, for being gentle with me when I need it, for giving me the chance to love you, thank you for letting me be there during the hard times, and more importantly thank you for being you because if you would've had that hard ass persona that you had when we met in high school, I don't think we would be here right now. You showed me your true personality, you didn't show me Billy, you showed me who William was and for that, I'll be eternally grateful." You finished your speech and everyone clapped and you looked at Billy, his nostrils flaring, trying to keep himself from crying but nonetheless, two tiny tears fell directly onto his black pants.

Soon, it was nearing midnight and you leaned on Billy. "My feet hurt." He nodded, excusing himself from talking to Tommy's dad, taking your hand and escorting you to the bridal suite at the reception venue. You took your heels off, looking in the mirror at the two of you and Billy did the same, smile on his face. "Wanna leave? I bet they won't even know we're not here." You laughed, "Can we do that?" he pursed his lips, "It's our wedding, of course we can." You nodded. "Okay." You went to put your heels back on and Billy stopped you, picking you up bridal style, taking your heels in his other hand, making sure he had the keys to his Camaro and he left out of a side door and you laughed as you held onto his neck.

He placed you into the car, putting your heels on the floorboard, stealing a quick kiss from you before getting into the driver's side and he drove out of the parking lot. "So, what do you say we get back to the apartment and consummate this marriage?" You laughed, holding his right hand. "I was just about to pitch that idea." He laughed, bringing your hand up and kissing the knuckle of your ring finger.

It wasn't long before he was pulling into the apartment and he parked beside your car, carrying you up the cement stairs carefully as you held onto him, still laughing at him. "See, all those hours at the gym weren't pointless." You hummed, "You work on cars everyday too." He laughed, "Exactly." He unlocked the front door, carrying you over the threshold, shutting the door with his foot, dropping the keys to the ground as he beelined to the bedroom.

He set you down, leaving the room to lock the front door before coming back, blazer off, his shirt partially unbuttoned. He held your hips, looking at you in the full body mirror that was propped near the window. "This dress is pretty, but I do think it would look pretty on the floor too." You laughed, "You can take it off but be gentle, I wanna be able to wear it again when we renew our vows in a decade." He nodded, kissing your neck once before gently unzipping the back of the dress.

The thick shoulder straps fell to your arms as he stripped the dress off of you, leaving a white puddle of fabric at your feet. His jaw dropped as he saw you in the white lingerie, garter on your thigh. "You are in for a very long night, hope you got all of the sleep you wanted last night," and with that, he kept his word, filling your night with love, compassion and a mix of many other things that would leave you incredibly sore the following morning.

[cornflower-cowboy]

The first time Neil does anything that makes Max feel unsafe is three months after Billy's moved back to Cali with the Byers-Hoppers.

She'd just come back from skating with Lucas when she bumps into her step father in the kitchen. He's mad about something, shouting into the phone like the person on the other side is Billy.

She knows it's not, Billy wouldn't call. Hasn't called.

She tries to slink past him, avoid his anger, when he turns around. Before she can even get a word out he cussing at her next.

"Did hanging around those boys make you dumb?" He asks, ignoring what the person on the other end of the line is saying. "Don't you know how to fucking greet anymore, Maxine?"

"I'm sorry," Max says, voice meek and apologetic. Just like Billy had taught her. "Hello Neil."

"Good afternoon to you too Maxine," Neil says back. It's sounds like a taunt, like he's wishing her anything but a good afternoon. "Go to your room and start on your homework."

"Yes sir," it's a slip of tongue, catching Max off guard, and Neil too if the way he freezes is anything to go by, but Max can't take it back. All she can do is slink off to her room as Neil turns back to the phone.

Maybe that was the catalyst, maybe that was the push Neil needed, because a few days later he's chewing her out on being late.

"No Susan," Neil says, lifting up a hand to stop Max's mother from interrupting. "Billy isn't here anymore to drive her around or bring her back from where she goes with those boys. She needs to learn how to be responsible for herself."

Responsibility. Max knows a lot about responsibility from Billy. Knows exactly what Neil means when he says those words. Every time they came up, they were always followed by a slap, or a push, sometimes a punch.

Max idly wonders if Neil would reinforce his words with violence. If the anger thrumming beneath his skin will finally find an outlet. The longest time he'd ever gone without hitting Billy had always been a few days. And now he had no punching bag for months.

Following that thinking, in hindsight, Max should have expected the slap. Neil had been growing angrier and angrier by the day and Susan hadn't been doing much to help calm his nerves.

The eggs were burnt, because Billy was the one who usually made them. The house wasn't as tidy, because Billy was the one who usually cleaned. The laundry wasn't perfectly washed because Billy was the one who'd been doing it for years before Max and her mom had shown up. Because Neil said it was part of Billy's Responsibilities, just like everything else in that damn house.

Billy had warned Max about Neil's reaction to Lucas, and Max should have figured that in a small town like Hawkins, Neil would find out eventually. Hindsight was always 20/20, even as Max found herself on the floor, cheek smarting in a way it had never felt before.

She stayed down, listening to him berate Lucas as one of those dirty people. She stayed down even as he spat obscenities at her, going on about how only whores would go for people like that. She stayed down because that was what Billy had taught her.

Make him believe that he hurt you more than he had. If he uses his feet, curl into a ball and protect your head.

After his tirade, he commanded that she pick herself up off the floor and stay away from those boys. Max did so slowly, apologizing the entire time. She didn't raise her head as he left, didn't utter a peep until she heard the tv switch on.

Only then did she move from her spot in the kitchen, tiptoing upstairs before he found another reason to be mad at her. He'd done that with Billy before. Waited until his guard was down before he started beating on him for something else.

Billy always just took it, because that was the only other option. Max had seen, just like she'd seen when Neil punched the boy hard enough that he crumpled to the floor. Just as she'd seen when Billy tucked his head in his arms, protected by his knees. Just as she'd seen when he apologized over and over, always promising to do better.

She'd learnt a lot from Billy, from fighting to protecting yourself to responsibilities to apologizing to making yourself invisible. But she'd never learnt how to ask for help.

Max didn't know how to ask for help. She'd never seen her brother do it before. She'd only ever seen him take it and take it until he could no more.

But even then, she still found herself downstairs the following morning, when her face was too bruised for her to go to school, phone in her hand. Neil and her mom had left for work, her mom's face pinched tight but her lips still shut. She pulled herself out of bed and to the kitchen and dialed the number that she knew off by heart.

A number she memorized when she'd first seen it.

It took two rings for Billy to pick up, his voice a balm that Max never realized she needed. He was right there, on the other side of the phone.

But Max never learnt how to ask for help.

[ickypuppi3]

something about the way people seem to look at max and billy’s dynamic as that of a parent and child rather than step siblings, something about how people see his behaviour towards her in this light and it skews the whole narrative, something about people thinking there’s a massive power dynamic between them for this reason, something about people comparing billy’s behaviour towards max and neil’s behaviour towards billy, something about how siblings do fight and do argue and do break each other’s possessions but because billy has been pretty much parentified by not only neil and susan but also the audience, people don’t look at their behaviour as that of siblings, something about how this adds to people not seeing billy as his actual age but rather a fully grown adult

[half-oz-eddie]

🎁 ❤️

Max was not supposed to be in Billy’s room. She knew better. 

But it was 7:30 AM and she really wanted to leave something for him on his desk. 

She quietly crept in, sliding her slim frame through the ajar door and tiptoed to his desk to gently place something on it. 

“The hell’re you doing?” A groggy voice startled her. 

She should’ve expected the hyper-vigilant teen to wake up while she was there. 

“I was—I just wanted t-to leave something here for you.” She nervously stammered. 

He narrowed his sleepy eyes at her. “Give it here.” 

Max slowly walked over, handing the surprise to Billy. 

It slowly exchanged hands and Billy examined it closely. 

“I-I know you don’t have a record player but I saw the posters in your room and I thought you’d want to—like—have something to collect. So Steve drove me to a record store to get you a vinyl.”

He stared at the Mötley Crüe vinyl for a few moments, then handed it back to Max. “Put it on my desk.” He said as he laid back down. 

“Y-you don’t like it?” She frowned. 

“Never said I didn’t. I’m just tired.”

Max slowly walked back over to his desk and set the vinyl down. 

“Why’d you buy that for me?” He asked. 

“Don’t you know what today is? It’s your—“

“I know that.” He said in a snippy voice. “I’m asking why the hell you bought me anything. You never cared before.”

“Well, last year, I tried to buy you something with my allowance and my mom said Neil would be mad if I used my money on you, so she wouldn’t take me to the mall.”

“And you said Harrington drove you? Why the hell did he do that?” Billy continued to question.

“We had a long talk about that night at the Byers and we came to a realization of how unfair we were being to you. So I—I didn’t wanna lose you forever. We don’t get along but like, we had our moments, where we’d talk to each other a little bit. Now we don’t speak at all.”

“You stabbed me with a needle.”

“You were gonna kill Steve if I didn’t stop you.” Max sighed. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“You don’t need to be. But whatever, guess I’m sorry too.”

Max smiled.  “I’ll let you sleep. Happy birthday.”

She closed the door behind her upon exiting and went back to her bed.

It was nearly 11AM when Max woke up again. Neil and Susan were already at work. Susan left a note behind with instructions for heating up lunch. 

This year, there was no school on Billy’s birthday, so Max decided to heat up the lunch for both of them. 

She set down two plates just in time, as she heard Billy resurfacing from his room.

He stepped through the quiet house and stopped by the table, glaring at Max.

“Nobody’s home?”

“No. Mom left lunch for us, so I heated it up.”

Billy looked down at the chicken Parmesan. Susan normally only made it for holidays, but Easter wasn’t until Sunday. 

Max figured it was Susan’s subtle way of giving Billy a little something special for his birthday.

“There were some breadsticks too.” Max mentioned, grabbing them out of the toaster oven. “I put some of that garlic and herb stuff on them because I remembered that you like it.”

Billy glared at Max as she started eating. 

“What?” She asked with her mouth half full.

Billy shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Nothin’. Forget it.” 

They ate in complete silence. Billy finished first and got up from the table without a word.

Max didn’t expect much conversation from Billy, but he wasn’t as unpleasant as he could’ve been, so it was fine.

She washed the dishes and sat back down at the table reading a magazine when Billy returned once more with his jacket on.

“C’mon.”

“Where’re we going?”

“Somewhere. I can’t leave you here by yourself. Susan and dad would bitch about it.”

Max grabbed her jacket and slipped on some shoes, then followed Billy to his car.

The drive was brief and they stopped at the quarry.

To Max’s surprise, Billy invited her to sit on the hood of his car. He offered her a soda and cracked open a beer for himself.

They clinked their cans together and drank as they quietly watched the early afternoon scenery. 

“It’s surprisingly warm today.” Max initiated small talk. 

“I think the groundhog saw its shadow—or didn’t see its shadow—or whichever meant a late winter.”

“It’s…when he sees his shadow.” She paused. “I think.”

Billy snorted. “Why are we listening to a big ass rodent about the weather anyway?”

Max softly giggled. “Tradition, I guess.”

“Yeah, well, it’s stupid.” He mumbled in response as he brought the beer can to his lips.

Silence returned again, and Billy glanced over at Max.

“So y’said Harrington drove you to the record store. That’s like…across town.”

“I wasn’t alone with him, if that’s what you’re worried about. Dustin and Lucas went too.”

Billy quickly responded with a scoff. “What’s so great about Harrington anyway? You defended him over me that night—“

“Is that what made you so upset?”

“No. But you defended him and I’m asking about it.”

“Well, he’s really nice. He looks after all my friends, everyone around town knows him and his family—“

“So he’s just the opposite of me.”

“W—I—I mean, you’re nice sometimes. You’ve been nice to me 4 times and I remember them all.”

Billy shrugged. “Yeah. Anyway, thanks for the gift, shitbird.”

“You better get me something nice for my birthday too!”

“When is it again? April…may…tember…”

“July.” She snapped.

Billy laughed. “I know when your birthday is, don’t be such a baby.”

“I’m not.” She fired back. “You’re just a jerk.”

“And?”

Max scoffed. “You’re so lucky it’s your birthday or I’d—“

“You’d what?”

Max chugged her soda and tossed the empty can at Billy.

“You piece of shit. You’re dead!”

Max jumped off the hood of Billy’s car and ran off laughing, with Billy not too far behind. 

When Billy finally caught up to Max, he chugged his beer and tossed the can at Max.

The out of breath siblings glared at one another, before their expressions softened and they began to laugh.

“Hey, d’you wanna go to the movies or something?” Max offered. “I’ll buy you popcorn.”

“And I get to pick the movie?”

Max groaned. “Fine.”

“You know I pick better movies than you do, anyway.”

“Bullshit! Your movie choices suck ass!”

The two bickered all the way back to Billy’s car. Sure, this was a nice day, but Billy couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t stop thinking about Steve Harrington driving his little sister across town to get him a gift.

‘Maybe I should thank him too…’

[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

Harringroveson Bones and All

For @now-showing-at-the-hawk-events Day 7 (and technically 9) Romance Movie/Horror Movie, Bones and All (2022)

Billy Hargrove always knew he was different from most people. His father never let him forget it. There was something *wrong* with him. Something he couldn't control. Billy was nine when he realized why his father looked at him like he was a monster.

It was a boy on his little league team. Joey Sandavol. They were walking home together when the other boy fell on the sidewalk and scraped his knee. Billy could smell the blood before he saw it. He watched the boy wince as he brought his leg up to his chest with a pained groan. That's when he felt it. An overwhelming hunger. Billy couldn't stop himself, his body lunging at the other boy as he buried his teeth in Joey's leg. He screamed, but Billy didn't care as he ripped into flesh and pulled. Blood was everywhere as things began to blur.

When he came to again, Billy was home. He sat on the couch in the living room as he heard his parents arguing in the kitchen. Looking down, Billy saw he was still covered in blood.

"-Neil, please, it's not his fault. He didn't know better!"

"Know better? Damn it, Cheryl, he almost killed that kid!" The sound of a fist hitting the wall made Billy instinctively jump. "God fucking damnit, if I'd known what you were, I would've never married you."

The fight devolved into screaming as Billy retreated into the bathroom and locked himself in, crying as he tried to wash the blood away. He was confused more than anything, but his mother disappeared into the night before he could ask any questions. He tried asking Neil questions about that day but stopped after the man backhanded him, telling him never to mention it again. For seven years, Billy was a normal boy again despite the constant hunger he felt. Then he met Duncan Wilson.

Duncan was funny. He always found a way to make Billy laugh, even on the bad days. When he asked to come over for a "study session," Billy was more than happy to agree. His father left with Susan for night which meant they had the house to themselves. Duncan made it easy to forget about his shitty dad and his shitty new wife as they kissed each other on Billy's mattress. The blonde's eyes were closed as the boy on top of him pressed closer to him when it hit him. The smell. God, the smell. A hunger stirred in Billy, and he felt it. The same feeling from years ago overwhelmed him as the kissing stopped when Billy bit into the other boy's lip.

Duncan screamed. The bite was hard enough to draw blood, only inciting the hunger more as things began to blur together. He remembered all of the blood. His teeth were tearing into flesh as the hunger was satiated for the first time in years. The bliss was overwhelming until he was snapped out of the trance by a new voice screaming at him. Billy's eyes focused again to see the bloody mess of viscera left on the floor. Looking up, he saw Max standing in the doorway. She was the one screaming. He'd completely forgotten about her.

It was a struggle, but Billy managed to stop himself from attacking his stepsister. Instead, he jumped out a window and began to run. Away from his family. His home. Himself.

That was almost a year ago, and Billy was still running. State to state, town to town, he ran away from everything. At eighteen years old, Billy had no goals except for making sure that his father couldn't find him. Billy knew if Neil Hargrove found him again, he would kill him. For his part, Billy thought he was doing a pretty good job of running, considering he was now in the middle of Bumfuck, Indiana. It was a small dive bar called "The Hideout." He was dressed in black skinny jeans and a loose fitting tank top. Easy bait for some creep to start hitting on him. The guy would ask to go to his car. And like that, Billy would get a meal and a ride to wherever the hell came next.

"Hey." A voice called out as they took a seat next to Billy at the bar top. "You're new here." The blonde turned, ready to up the charm when it hit him. The stranger didn't smell like everyone else. Billy blinked as he looked the man over. He seemed to be around the same age as the teen. The man's long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, showing off a band t-shirt that read Corroded Coffin. "The name's Eddie." He stuck a hand out. Billy was hesitant to take it.

"You're....like me." Was all that could come out.

"Sure am." Eddie grinned as he put the hand down. "Let me guess, you've never met anyone else like you."

"...ugh, yeah." Billy watched as an excited look crossed Eddie's face.

"That's fine. Just means you have a lot to learn." Eddie turned his barstool around to point at the dance floor. Specifically, another boy. He was dancing with an older balding man who looked almost completely wasted. "That's Steve. We come here to hunt every couple of weeks. Easy prey. We bring them back to his place for easy cleanup. Saves us having to move around all the time. Maybe you'd be interested." Eddie said as he leaned closer to Billy. "You look tired. We can help make things a lot easier for you, stranger." Billy made a face, thinking for a moment before speaking

"Billy."

"Hm?"

"My name's Billy."

"Well, Billy, how'd you like a free dinner?" Eddie asked as Billy's stomach growled, almost on cue. That...sounded nice...

[weird-an]

Neil took all the air away and Billy can't breathe.

Susan is driving the Camaro and Billy sits in Neil's truck, on the passenger's side. The radio isn't working and Billy's fingernails dig into the ball of his hand whenever he sees the Camaro in the rearview mirror taking a bump in the road a little too hard.

It's a chance, Neil told him, when they crossed the border to Indiana. Billy chews on his cheek, because a chance doesn't mean a choice.

Welcome to Hawkins the sign says. Hell just has another name.

It smells like pine trees and prejudices and all wrong. No salty breezes, no waves crashing into the shore in the distance.

Cherry Lane doesn't have any cherries, only a messy backyard and room that's way too close to Neil's. Max puts seashells in a glass and Billy wants to crush them, because they don't belong here.

He doesn't belong here.

Highschool is all the same in the worst ways, full of demons and a hierarchy Billy climbs up with ease. The first circle of hell holds its advantages. Boys are still pretty and Billy has to pretend not to see it, steps up his act, fucks all the girls that think California is something out of a fairytale and don't know the meaning behind his ear ring.

He lies through his teeth, no matter how much his tongue is bleeding.

It's torture. Doesn't help that his not- a- sister Max hangs out with a bunch of nerds, of boys and somehow Billy ends up driving her to Steve fucking Harrington's place one day.

Steve Harrington with his dangerous pretty face, who doesn't seem to care for Billy's bullshit. Billy wants to punch him, because otherwise he might kiss him.

Harrington waves at him from the door, after Max is already inside.

He smiles, cutting Billy wide and open. The sun doesn't shine in hell, but it sure feels like it.

Billy stays in the car. He can't breathe and now his heart stops, too.

He drives away.

Steve smiles at him at school, too. Billy turns around whenever he sees him. Maybe angels exist and they wear polo shirts and designer shoes and bitch about English class.

Billy wonders if there might be a chance here that Neil doesn't know about.

It's the first day of spring and Steve smiles at him in the parking lot.

Billy smiles back.

[strangerqueerthings]

Billy hates the rain.

In San Diego, it rarely rains. The climate there is often called "American Mediterranean," due to the warmer winters and cooler summers, with only 40 days or so of rain a year.

Billy hates the rain because it means being stuck inside. It means not being able to escape Neil, being stuck in the house with him- or later, being stuck inside with him, Susan, and Max. He can only play his music so loud without being yelled out, and it's never loud enough to drown out the screaming between Neil and Susan, and it's always loud enough to bring down Neil's wrath.

It rains a lot more in Hawkins. Not a lot, compared to other places, if you ask around, but it's a lot more than Billy's used to, and he hates it, because it's more time under the same roof as Neil.

Which is why he finds himself in the woods, sitting in the back of Eddie Munson's van, the doors open to let in fresh air as they smoke and share a beer.

He'd just wanted to buy some weed, then drive to an isolated place to smoke in his car and ride out the rain, sober up, then drive home in time to crash, avoiding Neil altogether.

Eddie had surprised him, though.

When Billy had asked for indica, Eddie had lifted a brow.

Everyone asks him for sativa- they want the mind high, the giddiness and the "everything is funny," kind of high that makes them feel good without making them want to faceplant into the floor.

Yet here's Billy Hargrove, the newest bad boy, the new King of Hawkins High, standing in the rain, asking for indica, wanting the full-body stone that makes one sleepy, content, and agreeable before sliding into a well needed sleep.

And he wants to smoke some, sleep it off, then go home.

"Have you ever smoked indica?" Eddie asks.

"It makes you drowsy," Billy shrugs. "I've always had sativa, but I want something a bit more mellow."

"Yeah, sorry, man. I don't know if I can give you a strain you've never smoked- especially if you're gonna drive somewhere by yourself, when you don't know how you're gonna react to it," Eddie replies with a frown.

Billy wants to punch him. He's taking a risk, coming out to buy weed, and from what everyone says about Munson, the less time spent around him, the better. But he sure as hell doesn't want to drive away empty handed- and he sure as fuck doesn't want to go home, or be sober.

When Billy sets his jaw, the tendons in his neck going taut, Eddie expects a swing at his face, but it doesn't come. Billy simply shoves his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and turns to go back to his car.

"Hey," Eddie says. "Hold up."

Billy glances over his shoulder at him, and when his hair falls off his cheek, Eddie sees the barest hint of a faded bruise, and it clicks.

Hargrove hasn't gotten into a fight- not yet. It'd be all over school if he had- especially since everyone knew Tommy Hagan was the first one to talk about any fights.

"What?" Billy asks, his voice tight.

At that moment, he looks like a sad, wet stray dog afraid of getting kicked, and Eddie can't stand it. He might be a hard ass, but he looks so pathetic, despite the clenched jaw and hard eyes, that Eddie can't send him away. Eddie motions for him to come over, patting the blanket he's spread over the back of his van. "Come on. Free sample, see if you react to it alright. If you do, I'll sell you some, and you can be on your way. How's that sound?"

He can't really say no to that, and sharing a joint with Eddie Munson is better than going home.

So here he is, feeling the tension drain from his body as he leans against the inside of the van, watching the rain fall outside as he and Eddie pass the joint back and forth in companionable silence.

Eddie doesn't ask any questions, doesn't even make small talk, and Billy appreciates it- especially since he can see that Eddie is full of curiosity.

He's also glad Eddie let him have a free try- indica hits him like a sledgehammer. He's not about to fall asleep- his natural anxiety is too strong for that- but he's so relaxed, his limbs so heavy, that the thought of getting up seems like such an insurmountable task that he can't even fathom driving home.

But for the first time in a while, he feels relaxed enough that he can unclench his jaw, lie back against the panel of the van, and just listen to the rain pattering on the metal roof.

Eddie moves to the front of the van and puts the engine in accessory, the tape deck crackling to life. Metallica fills the air, and Billy hums in appreciation as he recognizes the Ride the Lightning album.

"Sorry, was a bit too quiet for my liking," Eddie says, settling back into his spot beside Billy- close enough to pass the joint, but not close enough to touch.

"No, I like it," Billy replies. "Love Metallica."

Eddie gives him a small half grin, and rummages in a cooler beside him. He pulls out a beer and cracks it open, handing it to Billy, who blinks, surprised, but takes it with a soft murmured "Thanks," and he takes a long quaff. It's cold, and smooth, and tastes even better with the indica coursing through his veins.

He and Eddie sip their beer in silence, listening to the rain and Metallica, watching the world start to darken as the sun the sets behind the clouds.

For the first time, Billy doesn't mind the rain.

[billlydear]

pairing: billy hargrove x steve harrington / WC: 4501

summary: based on this post by @ariesbilly (i was anon), el shops rather creatively for billy's birthday and steve has some things to say about his new look

this will be crossposted on AO3 as soon as i've got the time to set up a new account there. i hope you enjoy, and please consider leaving some feedback! also, i've got a harringroveson spidey/venom au in the works, so please let me know if you'd like to see that :-)

Billy’s genuinely, truly concerned when Jim pulls him aside at his little birthday dinner, and not just because he’s still a tiny bit wary around the man. He hasn’t done anything awful yet, so far there’s not a bone in his body that resembles his dad’s, but Billy’s lived with Neil all his life, and Jim only a few months. He’s getting better, but he’s not there yet.

“Listen,” Jim murmurs, taking the hand he’d used to usher Billy into the kitchen off of his arm. Billy appreciates it, it’s like Jim knows he doesn’t like being grabbed; like he pays attention to Billy’s comfort.

“She’s come a long way,” Jim praises El, “-but gift giving for anyone but Max is… hard. She just shops for herself, it’s like-” Jim rubs an exasperated hand over the scruff on his chin, leaned up against the kitchen counter while Billy leans in slightly to hear his low voice, “It’s like she finds something she likes. And since she likes the person she’s giving it to, she equates the two. ‘Thinks that whatever she likes, they’ll like too. That’s why I drink out of that glittery cup every morning,” Jim gestures to the tumbler currently drying on the rack, ‘BFF’ written in white loopy letters on the plastic, “She’s got the spirit, just not the know-how. And I was really trying to get her to branch out for you, I took her to the mall but she beelined for Claire’s, and-” Jim sighs, shooting a cautious glance back to the living room where the girls are waiting with their gifts, “Just- please act like you like ‘em. If you want, I’ll give you the receipt, and you can return them for cash, just- humor her. Please.”

“Okay,” Is all Billy says, really all he can think of saying, and Jim reaches out to pat his bicep.

“Thanks,” His shoulders slump in relief, “Alright, birthday boy, let’s get going.”

Billy’s used to birthday gifts, but not nice ones. If he was lucky, he’d get gas money for the week from his dad, but that’s only because Susan insisted on acknowledging the day. Gifts have always been an obligation, never a gesture, so sitting on the couch in front of three tissue-paper-stuffed bags is a bit daunting for the man.

“Mine first,” Max demands, pushing her bag forward. Billy sends her what he hopes she perceives as a smile, a small twitch at the corners of his lips. They’ve gotten a lot better with each other now that Neil’s not goading Billy anymore, and Billy’s glad for it.

Inside there’s a gift card to a surf shop he’d worked at one summer back in California. He doesn’t even know if there’s anything on it - for all he knows, she found it in a box of his old stuff - but just seeing the logo of the place makes him nostalgic, and his barely-smile blooms into an unbridled one. The gift of memory is one he didn’t know he’d appreciate this much.

“Damn,” He huffs out a laugh, plucking the thin plastic out of the tissue, “Where’d you find this?”

“I wrote to my grandma,” Max confesses, “There’s 50 bucks on there, but for the record, all I sent her to put on there was 20.”

Billy remembers Max’s grandma; they’d visited her once. She was awesome, but the kind of awesome that made parents distrust her, and contact was lost after the move to Hawkins. The old lady had crammed Billy and Max into the back of her cluttered bug to get ice cream after Neil and Susan had gone to bed, and it was nice for Billy to hear she was still doing well.

“Thanks,” Billy laughs, almost a scoff as he reaches out to ruffle her hair. She pretends to hate it, maybe she does a little, but she lets him, which is like another birthday gift: Annoying Privileges.

He sees a flash of black as he puts the gift card back in the tissue, and it explains why the tiny plastic was wrapped so excessively.

Don’t show Hopper, the note reads, with an arrow down, so he discretely peels away the paper to find three cartons of cigarettes beneath it. He’ll worry about how she got them later, for now he shoots her a smirk that she returns.

“Alright, mine’s kinda-” Jim fumbles for his bag, “-tied into hers. Here, kid.”

The tissue crinkles under Billy’s fingers, and he peers down into the blue bag to see a paper.

He pulls it out, squinting at the fine print.

It’s a hotel booking. A hotel in California, shit, right by the beach.

“I already called you off of work,” Jim smiles at Billy, “It’s about a month from now. Only condition is you take the girls with you, they’ve got their own room and we’ll send ‘em with gas money.”

Max’s grin is bright, and Billy knows this is just as much of a gift for her as it is for him. His chest feels tight, like each word on the page had sucked air out of his lungs until there was none left, and now he’s struggling to breathe. He’s wanted to go back since the moment he left, but his dad never would have let him, and moving in with Jim and El then immediately fleeing the state seemed rude, so he’s grateful for the push. He doesn’t even know how to begin thanking Jim, so he starts with the words themselves.

“Thank you,” Billy croaks, trying not to let a gush of emotions overwhelm him. “Seriously, I-” His voice wavers and he clamps his mouth shut, looking down and pinching his fingers along the folded crease of the paper to thin it down even more, “Thank you, Jim.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jim reaches out again, gives him that little pat pat to the bicep instead of trying to hug him. Billy thinks just for that, he will let Jim hug him next time.

Once Billy’s regained his composure and only let one gruff sniffle slip, El is handing over her bag.

“Mine was not as much money as theirs,” She looks serious, like Billy’s going to backhand her for not renting them an RV for the trip, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Jim starts, ready to console her and teach her an etiquette lesson, but Billy lets out a weak chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it, El.” He tugs at the tissue paper, “One time I wrote I.O.U. on a piece of paper for Max’s birthday.”

El’s brows furrow at the unfamiliar phrase, and Max leans in, “It means I owe you, like, ‘I owe you one’. He didn’t get me anything.”

“I offered you something,” Billy gripes, pausing in his unwrapping efforts, “Not my fault you chucked it out.”

“Oh, no,” Max laughs, “I still have it. But I wasn’t gonna waste it on arcade tokens. I’m gonna make it count, you’re gonna bail me out of a bad party or lie to the cops about-”

She reconsiders, looking at Hopper who’s stiffened slightly, his eyes narrowed at her, “-Nothing. Lying to cops is bad.”

“Nice save,” Billy deadpans, ducking his head back down towards the bag. The tissue inside is messy, he can tell El did it herself. 

Beneath the first layer of tissue, the stuff crumpled up to give the present volume, there’s six individually wrapped packages. Billy’s stomach does a little flip; call it nerves, call it endearment, but whatever it is, he reaches for the first package without paying it any mind.

His fingers peel at the tape sticking it all together, and his strong grip rips the tissue. He goes with it, tearing into the gift, and a purple plastic card falls into his hand. It’s punched in two places near the middle, and inside each hole is an earring. They’re- not his style.

They’re studs, little balls of gel in rainbow colors with squishy spikes sticking out of them. They honestly look like something a kindergartener would make with a hot glue gun, but there’s an expectant smile on El’s face and Billy finds himself smiling back at her, genuinely so.

“Thanks, El,” He flips the package over, price tag ripped off messily and silver backings staring at him, “These are cool.”

“I know you like earrings. There’s more,” She prompts him, the section of her hair that she’s tied up bouncing as she leans forward enthusiastically, “Open them.”

“Okay,” He laughs, setting the earrings aside. The second package yields another pair, this time two pieces of bread with little smiley faces on them, one painted brown for peanut butter and the other purple for jelly.

“That’s cute,” Billy laughs breathily, “That’ll go good with my purple button up.”

“Mhm,” El nods, hair once again bouncing, “That’s what I thought.”

As Billy expects, each package contains a pair of earrings. He gets tiny springs, a gradient of pink to purple to blue covering the curved metal, and they look like they’d be permanently damaged if he stretched them out even once. Then a pair of jellyfish-inspired ones, a clay head with a smile on its face connected by metal rings to all of the tentacles dangling below. Next are lollipops, stiff sticks leading into plastic that’s swirled in design and shaped like a bear’s head with yet another smiley face. Each little black curve on the earrings’ faces only makes his own grow. The fifth pair are meant to look like goldfish, suspended in resin that fills the bowl to make it look like they’re swimming in water. It’s the most intricate pair of earrings he’s ever seen, he’ll give Claire that. The final pair is much bigger than the others, and when he unwraps it, a pom-pom sticks out.

They’re big puffballs, tie-dyed pink and purple, connected to a peace sign stud that goes through his ear. They’re obnoxious, something you’d only see on a child whose grandparents had bought the biggest pair of earrings they could find because their vision was too poor to appreciate any smaller designs. Nevertheless, Billy pops the squishy backing off of one of them, and sticks it between his teeth. He slips his own earring out of his ear, and tucks it into the breast pocket of the shirt he’s wearing. He sticks the puffball into his ear right then and there, and El’s grin is almost unbearably wide.

“It looks pretty,” She gushes, and Billy laughs.

“Thank you, El.” He gives her the obligatory brotherly hair ruffle as well, but she looks honored compared to Max’s exasperation. In leaning forwards to reach her, the metal point of the second earring digs into Billy’s palm where he’s holding the card still, and he glances down at it thoughtfully.

“Here,” He thinks fast, plucking the backing off of it and handing it to El, “Let’s match.”

She looks at it wide-eyed, caught off guard, “You want me to wear the other one?”

“Duh,” He nods, hand still outstretched, “How else are people gonna know who bought them for me?”

She’s more than happy to snatch the second earring from him, sliding it into her own pierced ear and shivering slightly at the feeling of the fluff brushing against her skin. 

“Alright,” Jim claps, a loud, striking sound, “You guys look great. Cake time?”

“Cake time,” Max agrees, already rising to her knees to stand and head for the kitchen, “Chocolate, Billy, your favorite.”

Billy’s all Thank you’d out. Not because he’s not thankful for this, because he’s more than that, but because he’s said it so many times today that the words are starting to lose their meaning, and he doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to be insincere, so he’ll save the ‘Thank you’s for when they really count.

Max and El settle on the floor in front of the tv to watch the movie they’ve picked out, clearly one that Jim hadn’t seen until now.

“Oh, not Terminator,” He reaches for the television to shut it off, but both girls scramble to fight him off, “It’s rated R, girls!”

“It’s Billy’s favorite,” Max huffs, and that’s not true, but he knows nothing in the movie will shock her, and El grew up being bounced around dimensions, so she probably won’t lose any sleep over a bit of blood.

“It’s true,” Billy drawls settling back on the couch with his cake and his beer (that Jim only reluctantly handed him because it’s his birthday), “But it’s fine, Jim, we don’t have to watch what I want, they can turn on My Little Pony or some shit.”

Jim wonders briefly how he’s been outsmarted by two tweens and a teenager. If he says no, he’s the asshole that ruins Billy’s birthday. If he says yes, the girls are going to see gratuitous shots of naked Arnold Schwarzenegger that he’d rather them not witness.

“You cover your eyes for the first scene,” Jim finally concedes, narrowing his eyes at Max and El, “I mean it, no peeking or I’ll do it for you.”

“Okay,” They agree, already far too amused for Jim’s liking, and Max turns to grin mischievously at Billy. It’s nice, he thinks, to do dumb shit with her. Like real siblings.

The movie starts, and Jim’s a bit too preoccupied eagle-eyeing the girls to make sure they’re not seeing anything raunchy to notice that Billy’s paying more attention than he ought to be. But once the man straightens back up so does Billy, mentally so, and turns his attention to Jim when he leans over towards Billy.

“Hey,” Jim’s whisper is gruff, but El doesn’t hear, “Thanks for that. She’s really happy.”

“No problem,” Billy admits, “They’re… different, but they’re kinda cool.”

Jim laughs, and Billy gets the sense that Jim doesn’t think he’s being sincere, but really, he is. The earrings themselves aren’t kinda cool, a year ago he’d rather have pitched himself into the quarry than wear rainbow-colored springs dangling from his ears, or a smiley piece of peanut butter toast, but what’s kinda cool is that someone gave them to him because they thought he’d like them; because they like him. 

What’s kinda cool is love, Billy figures out that night, and his cake tastes a little sweeter because of it.

--

El doesn’t usually accompany Billy to work at the auto shop, but that’s only because he leaves too early for her to be awake yet. She’s recently discovered sleeping in, and sometimes she’s not awake before two in the afternoon. Now, though, she’s bursting with excitement for the California trip, even though it’s not for another month. Billy hadn’t slept with the puffball earring in, but he’d put it right back on this morning, and so had El. They’re sitting behind the counter now, planning an itinerary for the trip he’s not too stressed about, because he knows El will lose the paper before they leave in a month.

“And we have to go to In-n-Out,” She decides, “I know those are in California.”

“Yeah,” Billy laughs, “They’re not that good. I mean, I like ‘em, but there’s good burger places everywhere. They have these palm trees though,” He moves  his hands to cross over each other, “They cross like an ‘x’, it’s pretty cool. My friend tried to climb one once, we got kicked out.”

El giggles, and her eyes wrinkle at the corners with the expression. Billy likes it, he wonders if his own eyes scrunch when he laughs. But he doesn’t do it very often, and especially not in front of a mirror, so he might never know.

She excuses herself to go to the bathroom, so Billy turns his attention to their customer log instead. There’s a man coming by in two hours to pick up his car, but the repairs are complete, so Billy doesn’t have to do anything about it. And there’s another customer coming at five for an oil change, but it’s only eight in the morning. He hears the scrape of wheels on gravel, and he cranes his neck to see over the reception desk and out the door.

Fuck. It’s a red beemer, one he knows almost better than his own car because of how frequently he’d crammed his camaro in beside it in the high school parking lot. It’s Steve Harrington’s car, and that means Steve Harrington came with it.

Billy tugs on the hem of his tank, tightening the shirt over his chest. It’s not that he wants to look good for Steve, it’s just- well, no, that’s it. The banter he’d shared with Steve over their time at Hawkins High was the most tension he’d felt in his entire life, and it came at a time when he sought thrill and excitement the most; apparently being sweat-covered, shirtless opponents on the basketball court does things to a man’s head. He’s not naive enough to think he’s gonna be able to sweep the guy off of his feet with one suave remark, not when just last week Max had somehow convinced the man to give her a ride back home from Jim’s place after a sleepover, and Steve had seen Billy bleary-eyed, messy-haired, and pajama-clad. He’d tried to own it, leaned back on the couch with his legs spread, one arm up on the back of the couch and exposed by the shirt he was wearing as he nodded with a lazy grin at Steve, ‘Morning, Harrington’. If he’d squinted, he could see a bit of pink coloring Steve’s cheeks. But a success or not, the experience was embarrassing, and he’s glad that he’s a little more put together today. 

Billy forgets just how put together he is today. He feels the soft brush of the fuzzy earring against his neck right as Steve starts towards the store, and his stomach drops.

He has a very important choice to make.

He can take the earring out, giving him a better chance at this coy little game they have going, and subsequently insult his new sister, or, he could leave it in, puff up his chest with pride, and greet Steve with confidence, ultimately risking his win.

He almost tears his ear from how hard he rips the earring out.

“Harrington,” Billy drawls, “Car trouble?”

“Battery’s dead,” The man huffs, and there’s sweat beading at Steve’s hairline, “I had to push’er down the street, I was getting groceries.”

Billy feels like a cartoon character; he almost audibly gulps at the thought of Steve muscling his car down the road. He wonders if Steve could see his Adam’s apple bobbing if he really did dry swallow. He wonders if Steve would watch.

“Tough luck,” Billy sends Steve a lazy grin, passing the sign-in book over the counter with a pen, “Just fill that out, I’ll get your service started.”

“Thanks,” Steve mumbles, “Got an estimate?”

“Depends,” Billy shrugs, “I might do you a favor and replace those ugly seats you’ve got, too. That’ll cost extra.”

“Like your car’s hot shit,” Steve scoffs, but his tone isn’t demeaning, and Billy’s chest does that weird tight thing again when he realizes they’ve advanced to friendly banter, “Do you know how ugly that blue and yellow license plate looks against the blue of your car?”

He laughs, but before Billy can quip back, say that it’s California grade, that he’d rather die than replace it, the door to the back opens up, and El comes out.

“Steve!” She smiles sweetly, “Is your car broken?”

“Yeah,” He laments, eyeing her accessory, “Woah, crazy earring.”

“Billy has one, too.” She brags, then notices it’s missing from his ear. Billy’s stiffened where he’s rifling through the desk drawers for a form to give Steve, and before he can make any excuses, El spots the puffball where it’s fallen to the floor.

“Oh!” She lunges for it, handing it to Billy with a sweet smile, “It fell out. Here it is.”

Billy has another choice to make.

Scoff at her, say ‘nice one’, and tell her to put her earring back in. Or, take it from her and embarrass himself in front of Steve.

This time, he decides she’s ultimately more important.

“Thanks, El.” He grins at her, taking the puffball from her hand and hooking it expertly through his ear. It dangles against his neck, and he passes the form over to Steve who’s looking between the two of them with some sort of guarded amusement.

“Fill this out, too.” Billy instructs, “And I’ll start on your car.”

“O-kay,” Steve complies, more of that amusement painting his features as he ducks his head to fill out the form, “Pink looks good on you, Hargrove.”

Billy shuts the door to the back room as a response. He feels like punching the wall, because did that mean ‘good’ as in good? Or good as in ‘ridiculous’? He’s well aware Steve had a mean streak in high school, and Billy isn’t interested in being bullied.He’s never worried about being bullied by his peers before, he was always on top. Now it’s different, this isn’t high school and he doesn’t have backup boys to make his posse. It’s a one-on-one fight, and Steve’s got the advantage. And- and if it did mean good, what’s he supposed to do with that information? Wear a pink shirt the next time he sees Steve? Go as Pink Panther for halloween? He considers just about everything but dying his hair, mind swirling with possibilities.

He starts on Steve’s car to distract himself, and he barely manages to gather the courage to take his shirt off to push Steve’s beemer into the garage like he’d originally planned. He still does, of course. But it’s a hard decision to make.

--

“Steve,” El steps out from behind the counter, walking over to where Steve’s flipping through an old Highlights that Billy’s boss keeps there for kids, “What did you get Billy for his birthday?”

The man flounders, “Uh, when’s his birthday?”

El’s brows furrow, “It was yesterday. You didn’t get him anything?”

“No,” Steve shakes his head, “Sorry, El. I’m sure he didn’t expect me to, though, ‘probably didn’t hurt his feelings.”

“But friends give each other birthday presents.” She insists, “Why didn’t you?”

“He’s not my friend,” Steve grimaces slightly, but backtracks when El only gets more scandalized, “We- I… Ugh,’ He groans, rubbing a hand down his face, “We, like, hated each other in high school or something. I think he’s only nice to me now ‘cause he has to be, we’re all friendly, y’know?”

“Billy likes you,” El promises, “That’s why he comes out of his room when he knows you’re coming over. And why he always takes us to get ice cream. He likes seeing you.”

“Uh, I think-” Steve stammers, heart pounding so viciously he can hear it, “That’s probably… not what that means. Hey, um, do you have any water I could have? I’m really thirsty from pushing my car.”

He’s out from under her scrutinous gaze for long enough to compose himself, tamping down any hope she might have given him. It doesn’t help that he’s first heard Billy’s genuine laugh today, and the vision of the man’s bright eyes, scrunched and wrinkled at the corners have been plaguing him ever since. Things need to stop piling up, he decides.

When she gets back she sits in the chair beside him, one leg bent beneath her and the other firmly planted on the floor, “You should get him a birthday present.”

Steve hums, bringing the cup she hands him to his lips to buy him time to respond. Eventually, he settles on, “I’ll try to find something,” and she seems to like that answer, so she lets it go.

“I got him earrings,” She explains, and pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place in Steve’s head, “The ones that he’s wearing now. And five other pairs.”

“Wow,” Steve nods, feigning awe even though he knows Jim probably paid for them himself, “That was nice of you. He liked ‘em?”

“Yes,” She nods, “He likes earrings. And he said he’s going to wear them with me when we go to California.”

“California,” Steve echoes, brows raised, “That’s nice. When are you going?”

“In a month,” El recites, “Billy’s from California.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods, eyes drawn to Billy’s framed employee picture on the wall, noticing the tan adorning the smooth skin of his handsome face, “I know.”

--

“Okay,” Billy turns to look at the girls in his backseat, bright smiles on both of their faces, “Gas money?” 

“Check,” Max slides him a wad of cash, and so does El.

“Snacks?” Billy pulls his wallet out, stuffing the bills inside.

“Check!” El takes over this time, a plastic bag in her hand that’s filled with enough ziploc bags of goldfish to last them halfway through the road trip. 

“Bags?” 

“Check,” Max jabs a thumb towards the camaro’s trunk, “We didn’t forget our suitcases, Billy.”

“If you did, and I hadn’t asked, you would have blamed me,” Billy narrows his eyes at his stepsister, “Don’t make me push you out of the moving car.”

What can he say: things are better, they’re not perfect. She knows he’s joking, though, she sticks out her tongue in response.

“I have one more thing,” El calls, effectively breaking up Billy and Max’s banter. The two look curiously at her, and she passes Billy an envelope, thick towards the bottom left corner.

“It’s a late birthday present.” She informs him, “Open it. It’s for the trip.”

“El,” Billy tears at the envelope with a confused furrow in his brow, “You got me stuff for my birthday. Why more?”

“It’s not from me,” She admits, “Just open it.”

The envelope was sealed well, by whoever sealed it. Billy all but mangles the paper to remove its contents, and when he does, a pair of earrings falls out, mounted on a purple plastic card. Claire’s.

There’s a pink and white striped surfboard on the left side, and a glitter-covered palm tree on the left. There’s a note inside too, and Billy peels it apart much more cautiously than he had the envelope.

Billy,

Happy birthday. Enjoy California.

- Steve

P.S: I wasn’t kidding. You look good in pink.

Billy nearly rips the earring card trying to wrench the surfboard off. Once he gets it out, he slides it into his ear, passing the palm tree back to El and grinning at the girls through his rear-view mirror. He admires the way that the earring looks against his tanned skin, and- oh, look at that; his eyes do scrunch when he smiles.

“Ready?” He raises a brow, sunglasses perched on his head and lost in his curls  in wait of the California sun.

“Ready,” They confirm, and El’s nod sends the palm tree earring swinging beside her face.

Billy revs the engine, and it’s never been a happier sound, “California, here we come.”