Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Billy first arrived in Hawkins, Indiana, he resolved himself to remain friendless. He saw how miserable everyone seemed, how lifeless the entire town was. He honestly wanted nothing to do with the people there or the environment in general. In his mind, Hawkins was a complete wasteland and all he wanted was to go back to sunny California.

After a brief stint of trying his hardest to make a name for himself in town, (why else would he flirt with Karen Wheeler or gain the meaningless title of keg king?) Billy decided to lay low until it was time for him to graduate and leave all together. 

He finds that his life is better that way- simpler.

Now, he spends most of his time focusing on his school work and applying to colleges. It’s only the spring of his junior year, but he knows he’s smart and knows he can get into a good college if continues to work hard enough. He has his sights set on Stanford, and he’s more than optimistic that he’ll be accepted since he’s on track to be his class’s valedictorian.

Now that he spends most of his time alone, it’s given him more than enough opportunities to observe other people. At first, he thought he was being creepy by watching his classmates, but in all honesty it’s given him an endless source of entertainment so he really doesn’t care too much anymore. 

The most interesting people he’s kept his eye on has got to be Nancy Wheeler and her friend Barb. When he passes them in the hallway or sits near them in English class, he always tunes in on their conversations and allows himself the brief entertainment their discussions bring him.

They usually talk about Steve Harrington, Nancy’s crush, or how annoying Nancy’s little brother is. Billy always tunes out when they talk about Mike, though, because he hears enough about that kid from his step-sister, Max. They never talk about anything related to Barb.

Something else that he notices about Barb and Nancy’s conversations, though, is how desperate Barb is for her friend's attention at any given time. She’s always riding on Nancy’s every word, trailing behind her at every chance she gets.

It makes Billy feel kind of bad.

He knows how it feels to be desperate for attention. When he first started to come to terms with his sexuality and wanted to seem likable, he hung around the local surfer boys more often than not, showing off the tricks he learned so that he could simply get noticed by one of the older guys.

He wonders if he embarrassed himself in doing so as much as Barb is.

It all comes to a front one rainy day in April. Nancy is standing at her locker, fixing her hair in the tiny mirror she keeps in there with Barb standing on her right. Billy’s locker is only four away from Nancy’s which allows him to listen in on their conversation in the least creepy way possible as he pretends to organize his books.

He reassures himself of that by thinking of how even if he wasn’t purposely listening, he would still be able to hear the two of them simply because of how loud they are.

“Drop it, Barb,” Nancy calls out. 

Barb frowns at her and pushes her glasses up her nose. “I just don’t think that what you’re doing with Steve is going to be good for you. He’s older than you and clearly just wants one thing. You’re making a huge mistake, Nance.”

Nancy slams her locker shut and the noise it makes is so loud, Billy even flinches back a bit. “You’re just jealous, Barb! You’re jealous that a guy actually wants to talk to me about something other than school work and finds me attractive! God knows you’ve never experienced that.” With that, she sends one last look Barb’s way and storms off.

Barb doesn’t move from her spot near Nancy’s locker. She drops her head to her chest and stands there clutching her books sadly. It’s a little too sad for Billy, which is saying a lot because he usually likes to feed off of other people’s misery.

It only takes him a split second to decide that he needs to do something. People are staring at her and he knows she already has a hard enough time at this school as it is, so he pushes past his usual douchebag demeanor and approaches Barb.

“Hey,” he calls out, leaning against Nancy’s locker. She jumps a bit, and looks very shocked to see Billy.

“Um,” she says before wiping away under her eyes. “What do you want?”

Billy ignores the question because he doesn’t know what he wants besides to help out someone in desperate need of a friend. “Want to go get lunch at Benny’s? I’ll pay.”

“Why would I get lunch with you?” She asks defensively.

“Because it looks like you need someone to talk to and I’m willing to listen.”

Barb eyes him cautiously. “Why?”

Billy lets out a deep sigh and rests his head against the locker. “You ask too many questions. How about you come with me and we can just talk, get to know each other.”

She looks hesitant but noticeably less upset. “I don’t know if I should. I’ve heard bad things about you.”

Billy lets out a genuine laugh. “No worse than the things I just heard about you.”

“What did you hear just now?” Her face turns white.

“Enough with the questions,” he pulls his keys out of his front pocket. “Let’s get out of here.”

He kicks off of the locker and walks down the hallway, hoping that she follows. He wants to do something nice for someone who constantly gets the short end of the stick- something he’s never done before. But if it means that he’s freeing someone from the grip of Nancy Wheeler, then he’s more than willing to diverge from his comfort zone. He doesn’t know why she bothers him so much, but he’s usually a good judge of character.

“I hope you know that the only reason I’m following you is because I want a free lunch!” Billy hears from over his shoulder.

Billy smiles and tosses back, “yeah, yeah. That’s what all the girls say. Keep it moving, Holland.”

-

The drive to Benny’s is silent. Billy drives the speed limit and plays whatever’s on the radio, hoping not to scare the girl in his passenger seat with his rock music. Barb, for her part, just fidgets with her fingers and looks out the window.

It’s not until they’re sitting in the booth all the way in the back of the diner does conversation really start flowing, Billy being the first one to speak because Barb looks incredibly nervous and he doesn’t like how uneasy it makes him feel.

“Why do you let Nancy push you around so much?” He asks, not even bothering to beat around the bush.

Barb splutters around the straw she has in her mouth, hand coming up to shield it from view. “I don’t let her push me around. That’s just the way she is, the way she’s always been.”

Billy looks at her imploringly. “You shouldn’t let people push you around like that, Holland.”

Barb scoffs. “It’s weird that you of all people are giving me this advice. You used to be the meanest guy at Hawkins High, why should I listen to you?”

“I grew up. There’s no point in being cool in a town I could give less of a shit about. And being friends with assholes like Tommy H and Carol means nothing when I won’t even be here in a little over a year from now.”

Barb looks insightful. “You’re leaving town after highschool?”

“Hell yeah, I am. I have a school waiting for me in Cali. Stanford,” he boasts.

“Oh, wow. I knew you were smart but not that smart.”

Billy smiles and changes the subject. “Enough small talk. You deserve better friends, Holland, and I want to be that for you.”

Barb looks happy for a moment, which Billy takes as a good sign, before her face drops. “This isn’t a joke, right? You’re not just doing this to make fun of me?”

Billy sighs and runs a hand over his face. “I don’t know what Wheeler did to you, but she can go fuck herself. I’m not joking with you or making fun of you or anything like that. I think you’re a nice girl but you’re lonely, and so am I.”

She still looks hesitant, so Billy decides to bite the bullet and reveal something he promised to never talk about while in Hawkins. Briefly, he wonders if he really is that desperate to make the sad girl in front of him feel better, but in the end he decides that he’s not only doing this for her, but for himself as well. He deserves a friendship and that means being honest.

“Barb,” he leans across the table and whispers, “I’m a faggot. The only reason my old man moved us out of California was because Max caught me sucking off one of my friends in the backseat of my car after school. I know better than anyone what it feels like to be different and think that everyone hates you just for existing. If you want to be friends, we can be friends. If not, just know I’ll be here for the next year if you change your mind.”

With that, Billy leans back against the plush backing of the booth they’re seated in before biting into the burger he ordered. Barb pushes her fork around on her plate of fries quietly.

“I have a crush on Nancy.” Barb looks up at him like she’s expecting him to have a snarky comment. He just nods encouragingly and tries to look a little bit surprised, though he definitely expected this from all of the listening in that he’s done. “We’ve been best friends since kindergarten and when we hit puberty, I guess I started seeing her as more than just my friend. She obviously didn’t.”

“Tough fuckin’ blow, Barb. I’ll say it until I can’t speak anymore, fuck Nancy Wheeler. It sounds like all she’s done is make you miserable.”

“That’s not true. She’s my best friend, it’s not her fault she doesn’t like me back.”

Billy rolls his eyes. “Of course not, you can’t make a straight chick turn gay. But the way she speaks to you and treats you like you’re disposable fucking sucks.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“If we’re gonna do this, I’m not going to force you to let her go. I just want to make it clear that I don’t like her and I never will.”

Barb sets her fork down and folds her hands under her chin. “I get it and I understand what you mean, but I can’t just drop the only friend I’ve ever had.”

“Okay,” Billy says simply. “Did you finish the English essay yet?”

Conversation comes easily between the two of them after that.

-

“What do you want with Barb?” Billy hears a high pitched voice ask him.

He turns his head from where he’s leaning it against his own locker talking to Barb. Nancy’s standing in front of him, hands on her hips and lips pursed. He glances back at Barb who smiles hesitantly at him before he slowly spins around to stare down Nancy.

“Hello, Nancy,” he smiles sweetly.

She doesn’t look amused. “What do you want with Barb? You think being nice to her will help you get in her pants or something?”

“First of all, Miss Priss, what me and Barb do is none of your goddamn business. Second of all, we’re just friends, so you can get your panties out of a bunch.” The look that flashes across her face is comical.

“Excuse me? Barb is my friend, I’m allowed to be worried when she’s hanging around degenerates like you.” 

Billy laughs and glances back at Barb, who looks utterly humiliated. The embarrassed look on her face sends rage through Billy but he tries his best to control it because he knows that his new friend wouldn’t like it if he upset Nancy.

“Well, you can bring it up with Barb like any reasonable, concerned friend would. That is, if you can go five fuckin’ seconds without speaking over her.” 

Billy feels a hand grab at the back of his shirt. “Billy, just go to English, I’ll meet you there. I should probably talk to Nancy, anyway.”

“Yeah, you should talk to me, Barb! Please explain to me why you’re spending time with Billy Hargrove when you know that he beat Steve’s face in a few months ago! We don’t like him.” Nancy says resolutely.

Billy shakes his head and gets out of the way, stopping at the corner of the hallway just so he can keep his eye on Barb and make sure their argument doesn’t get out of hand. 

“Nancy, you don’t like him. Me and him are friends, okay. That's it.”

Nancy scoffs. “Why would someone like him want to be friends with you?”

The insult isn’t even directed at Billy but he still feels it like a punch in the gut. “Wow, Nancy. I’m glad that you think I’m so awful that a guy wouldn’t even want to be friends with me.” Barb tightens her lips into a thin line and spits out, “don’t talk to me anymore. We’re done.”

It takes everything in Billy not to clap for his friend. He does, however, smile widely as she struts down the hallway and throws an arm over her shoulder when she reaches him. “Well, how about that? Barbara Holland, I never thought I would live to see the day.”

She elbows Billy in the side, but makes no effort to move his arm. “Shut up. Want to skip this period? Benny’s- my treat.” She offers.

“Maybe our good friend was right, I am turning into a bad influence.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Chapter Text

Billy looks at the clock above the door in his history class and rolls his eyes when he sees there’s still fifteen minutes left. It’s only second period but he’s desperate to leave already. Him and Barb have plans to watch the VHS copy of Sixteen Candles that her mom picked up for them since it’s Friday night and they have nothing better to do.

To his left, Steve Harrington is eating an everything bagel in the most disgraceful way possible; he’s getting crumbs all over the table and floor, there’s a film of cream cheese over the lower half of his face, and he’s using his worksheet about The Great Depression as a placemat.

Billy hates that he finds him so attractive even when he’s so disgusting, but tries to justify it by reminding himself that the next hottest guy in Hawkins is Tommy H, so at least he hasn’t stooped that low. 

Even though Billy’s come to terms with his sexuality, he sometimes truly does hate being gay simply for the fact that it’s the men like Steve Harrington that he finds attractive.

After watching Steve gnaw on his bagel for a good five minutes from the corner of his eye, Billy decides to turn his attention elsewhere. He looks at the chair directly behind Harrington and sees a girl staring at him, chin being held up by her hands.

Billy’s first instinct is to be angry. Why is some random chick staring into his soul? He waves a hand at her to try and get some kind of reaction out of her and see what the fuck is up, but to no avail. He glances around himself to try and see exactly what he’s missing, why this girl is so interested, and sees nothing out of the ordinary.

Right before he’s about to open his mouth and call out the short haired girl for looking at him, Tammy Thompson, who sits right next to him, raises her hand to get the teacher’s attention. 

“Miss?” Tammy calls out after a few moments of being ignored. “I’m looking at the worksheet and I don’t really understand how the whole depression thing even started.”

Billy rolls his eyes but notices that the short haired girl was never looking at him , she was looking at Tammy, which is now made obvious by the way she lets out a deep sigh every time the blonde starts a new sentence.

Billy has to will himself not to let his mouth drop open. There’s no way , he thinks to himself. All of a sudden, history class has gotten a lot more interesting. 

Deciding to take the risk, Billy throws a pencil at the girl’s foot, hoping that it’ll get her attention. It does, and she looks more than annoyed at the fact that her staring was interrupted. 

The classroom is pretty much silent except for Tammy’s blabbering and Steve’s munching, so Billy has to think on his feet. He tears the bottom inch off of his classwork and goes to write a note, but remembers he threw his pencil at the girl. When he glances back in her direction, she’s holding it up and making a face that perfectly displays that she thinks he’s an idiot. Billy leans forward to snatch it back but she drops it on the floor, mouthing ‘whoops’.

Billy grumbles under his breath and picks his pencil up off the ground. When he leans back up, he accidentally taps the metal leg of Steve’s chair, who whips around and sends a glare in Billy’s direction.

Loudly, louder than the quiet of the room would ever demand, Steve says, “stop making so much noise. It’s distracting.”

Billy is appalled by Steve’s clear lack of self awareness because only one of them has been making copious amounts of noise and it has not been Billy. Following his best judgment, Billy doesn’t say anything snarky back to Steve, instead he just kicks the back of his chair, hard and purposefully, before getting started on his note to the girl. He knows he has to be subtle but he’s not sure of exactly what to say.

He settles on ‘ what’s up with you???’

Billy crumbles the note up and tosses it in her direction. He watches her unfold it and sends him an unimpressed look at the contents of the note. He just shrugs at her until she writes something back.

What is that supposed to mean?

Billy rolls his eyes again. It means why are you staring at Tammy Thompson like you want to eat her?

When the girl reads that line in particular, her face goes white. She shields the paper with her hand like anyone can even read it with the way she was already protectively hunched over it. She doesn’t write anything else, which prompts Billy to rip another sliver from his paper.

Before he can write down what he wanted to say, the bell rings and the girl shoots up from her seat like someone lit a fire underneath it. Billy grabs his bag and rushes after her.

“Hey!” He calls down the hallway. “Girl with the short hair!” She whips around and marches back over to him, grabs him by the arm, and pulls him down the hallway.

“Easy,” he hisses as her nails dig into his skin.

She takes them to the library in a secluded section with no one else around and stands in front of him with her hands on her hips.

“What do you want?” She asks, glaring Billy down.

“I don’t want anything from you. I just want to know what your problem with Tammy is.” Of course, he knows exactly what her problem with Tammy is. He just wants her to say it.

Instantly, she’s defensive. “I don’t have a problem with Tammy. God, why are you so obsessed with me?”

“Listen, little lady, I’m just telling you what I saw. You were glaring at Tammy like your life depended on it.”

The girl’s face turns beet red and Billy’s resolve sinks. “Look, it’s okay. I’m gay, too.”

The girl's eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “You, Billy Hargrove, basketball player and well-known ladies man, are gay?

Billy snorts out a laugh and leans against a bookshelf. “Yeah. And you, girl with short hair who stares at Tammy Thompson during class like a creep, are gay, too. You’ve gotta be.”

“Robin,” she says, nudging him on the shoulder. 

“ Robin .”

“And yeah, I guess I am.”

The two of them stare at each other for a long moment before Billy speaks again. “Do you know Barb Holland?”

Robin nods her head. “Isn’t she the girl that was friends with Nancy Wheeler.”

“Yeah. Me and her are watching a movie at her house if you want to join. Sixteen Candles .”

Robin laughs quietly. “You really are gay, huh?”

Billy laughs louder than would be appropriate for a library and slaps a hand over his mouth to attempt to quiet down. “Shut the fuck up. You down?’

Robin looks happier than she has all day. “Yeah, I’m down. But there better be popcorn.”

Billy scoffs and grabs her by the arm, leading her out of the library. “Obviously there’s popcorn, we’re not fucking animals.”

-

Billy, Barb, and Robin fit together perfectly.

It’s like they were always meant to be friends with the way they meld into each other’s lives so perfectly. There’s no weird tension in the friend group because Billy and Barb were friends first, or an alliance between Robin and Barb because they’re both girls.

It’s so, so nice for Billy to have a solid friend group.

He also likes that having friends means having fun .

Billy has to pick Robin up at her house for movie night because she doesn’t have a license. She’s very enthusiastic when she hops in his passenger seat wearing a matching striped pajama set and barely lets Billy utter a greeting before she begins rambling excitedly.

“This is going to be so epic! I brought a bag with me, there’s extra pajamas and snacks and I totally stole my sister's Polaroid camera just in case-”

Billy cuts off her rambling. “Wow, slow your roll. Why’d you pack extra pajamas?” He glances at her for a quick second and catches her making a disbelieving face at him.

“Why did I pack extra pajamas? Did you even bring any?”

“Fair point.”

“Exactly. And that way it’s like, an official girl’s night. I’ve never actually had one but I’ve seen the movies where they all sit on the couch and maybe have a pillow fight and I’m so excited!”

“Who said anything about this being a girls night?”

Robin laughs and slaps at Billy’s dashboard which bothers him but not as much as when Max does it. “I did. And I don’t really know Barb all that well but I’m sure she would agree. Maybe you haven’t looked in a mirror in a while or anything, but you have girl’s hair.”

Billy runs a hand through the curly hair that frames his forehead and sneers playfully. “Shut up.”

“ Shut up ,” Robin mocks before bobbing her head to the Metallica song Billy has quietly playing in the background. “How did you and Barb even meet, anyway? I thought you were kind of a douchebag and she’s totally not.”

Ignoring the continual verbal abuse Robin’s throwing his way, Billy responds honestly. “The same way you and I met, basically. I invited her to lunch one day and told her I was gay and she told me she was too. Nothing special, but it does prove that my gay senses are extra fuckin’ powerful.”

“I can see that. You scared the shit out of me when you threw that note at me in Mrs. Click’s class. I thought you were gonna shove my head in a toilet for bothering you, or something.”

“Mrs. Click?” 

“Oh, right. You normal types don’t know that the band kids call our history teacher Mrs. Clickity Clackity.” 

Billy doesn’t question it, just nods as they pull into the Holland’s driveway. The porch light is on, and he knows that was Mrs. Holland’s caring touch. “Don’t be giving any of this attitude of yours to Mrs. Holland. She’s a nice lady.”

Robin looks affronted as she climbs out of the car. “I don’t have an attitude, you do.”

“Jesus, you always have something to say. If I knew how fucking annoying you were, I never would have bothered with you.”

Robin grins widely. “Aww, it’s so nice to be appreciated. I’m glad we’re forming this friendship.”

“Guys, come in! I have the VHS in already!” 

“Miss Barbara! Always a pleasure to see you,” Billy calls out in response, quickly locking his car and crossing the driveway.

“Hey! Where was my warm welcome?”

“Rob, you don’t get one.” Billy says while pulling Barb in a one armed hug.

Barb pulls from his grasp and faces Robin, who’s come to meet them on the porch. “Don’t listen to him. Welcome to my house, I guess.” 

Robin bows dramatically. “Thanks for the invite. I understand that we’re all gay here, yeah? So this will either be the best friend group of all time or it’ll fail miserably. I can’t wait to see which it is.”

Billy gags jokingly. “Jesus Christ, it’s like you can tell you’re in band just by the way you act. What even was that bow?”

Barb rolls her eyes and pulls Billy and Robin in the house by their shirts. “Mom, Dad, my friends are here! Please stay out of the living room!”

Billy immediately protests, shouting out for Mrs. Holland to hear, “don’t listen to her, Marsha. It’s always great to see you.” And when there’s no response, Billy mutters, “I know she likes me.”

“Yeah, because you’re a total sweetheart.” Robin says, which makes Barb giggle.

The three of them sit on the couch, arms brushing and thighs pressed flush against one another with Billy in the middle. “Hey, drama queens, I’m setting some ground rules because I already see some shit I don’t like. Robin, you’re not allowed to steal Barb from me, she was my friend first. And Barb, stop laughing at Robin’s jokes, she’s not funny.”

This, of course, sets the two girls off into hysterics at Billy’s expense. Barb is the one to calm down first, and she says, “if this is a friend group, you can’t stop us from getting close. Now be quiet so I can start the movie. I love Molly Ringwald.”

“Huh,” Robin says.

“What?” Billy and Barb both ask at the same time as they settle further into the couch cushions.

“Nothing. Well, I mean, it’s just strange that you like Molly Ringwald when you quite literally look like her. It’s like you have a crush on yourself or something.”

Barb blushes and hides her face behind her hands. “I don’t look like her!”

Billy lets out an obnoxious noise and shakes her shoulder. “Why’re you blushing, B?”

“Cause you two are stupid, that’s why. No more talking.”

They settle down and watch the movie in silence, occasionally cracking jokes or adding commentary as the film progresses. It’s the most relaxed environment Billy’s been a part of in months and he’s more than enjoying it.

It’s not until halfway through the movie that Billy starts to get a bit uncomfortable. “Psst, Rob, can I have those pajamas now?”

Without taking her eyes off of the screen, Robin nods and shoves a handful of popcorn in her mouth. “Uh huh.”

Billy just rolls his eyes and gets up as quickly as he can so as not to disrupt the girls. When he opens the bag, however, all pretenses of being quiet go away.

“Man, what the hell is this?”

Robin and Barb’s eyes snap over to where Billy’s holding up a matching pajama set that consists of long, flowy polka dotted pants and a matching shirt with a ribbon on the neckline. When the two of them see what he’s holding up, they start laughing again.

Billy’s starting to feel like their friendship is just going to be one big joke at his expense.

“Rob, I can’t wear this. I’m not a girl.”

Now it’s Robin’s turn to roll her eyes. “Why not? It’s just us around to see it and we don’t care. Right, Barbie?”

“Yeah, Billy. It’s just pajamas.” Even through her glasses, Billy can see that her eyes are warm and understanding. 

Billy clenches the fabric tightly while eying the two girls considerably. They don’t look like they’re going to make fun of him for wearing girly pajamas, but he still has his reservations. After a moment of the three of them all glancing back and forth at each other, Billy decides to just go for it.

“Fuck it. But if I hear one word about this from anyone, you two are dead, got it?”

“You threaten us too much, Billy. Just go put them on and be quick about it, the movie’s still playing.” Barb says, playing with the remote.

Billy grumbles at the two of them, flips them off, then makes his way to the bathroom to change into the night clothes. He puts them on slowly, starting with the bottoms then working his way up to the top, and checks himself in the mirror constantly to make sure he doesn’t look too stupid. 

Since he’s quite a bit bigger than Robin, the clothes fit him way differently than they would on her. They’re designed to be loose and hang off of a girl’s body, but on him, they tightly fit to his form and clearly show off his muscles. He considers taking them off, but they’re considerably more comfortable than the tight jeans and t-shirt he was wearing before, so he leaves them on.

The living room is dark when Billy gets back to the room, but he still crosses his arms over his chest and hunches in on himself as he makes his way back to the couch so that the girl’s don’t get a good look at him. 

It doesn’t work.

The movie is paused and the girls are already looking in his direction when he comes through the doorway. The second he’s in view, they start hooting and hollering and overall just being general nuisances. Though Billy hates the attention, however, that doesn't mean that he doesn’t blush over the praise he’s receiving.

After a few moments of entertaining their obnoxiousness, Billy cuts them off with, “you two need to learn some class. Mr. and Mrs. Holland are upstairs trying to get some rest after a long day.”

Robin hoots one final time then says, “sorry about that, Billy. It’s just that you look even better in those pajamas than me.”

Barb backs her up by nodding rapidly and adding, “she’s so right. The way those pants hug your thighs is insane.”

Billy grumbles for a minute before making his way back to his seat, being sure to stomp a few toes as he gets there. “Oh, shut up and play the movie. I want to see the ending.”

Barb sighs, “yeah, yeah,” but does as Billy asked. 

As the movie finishes out and the three of them swoon at Jack and Samantha kissing, Barb slaps Billy’s arm with the remote and says, “well, that was fun. Same time next Friday?”

Robin and Billy both voice their agreements and get up from the couch. Billy looks down at himself then at his pile of neatly folded clothing he left on the table to the side of the couch. “Let me change before we head out, Robbie. My old man would fuckin’ flip if he saw me in this.”

“Wait, let me take a Polaroid before you do. Memories, you know?”

Billy’s hesitant but agrees. “Only if Barb’s in the picture.”

“Well, we need Robin in it too, then.”

That’s how the three of them wind up waking up Mrs. Holland in the middle of the night to take a group picture of them while the older woman smiles on happily.

It’s the happiest Billy’s been in a long time.

Chapter Text

Billy doesn’t know why he decided getting a job at the pool was a good idea. The midwestern heat is no joke and he’s not allowed to get in the pool unless he’s running one of the beginner swim lessons or someone’s drowning and needs to be saved so he’s practically dying from the temperature. On top of that, he never gets to see Robin since she’s always at her own job, and Barb barely wants to come to the pool because she hates being seen in her bathing suit.

Billy thinks that’s bullshit, but he can’t change her opinion on her body in just one summer, so he has no choice but to reluctantly accept it.

Instead of spending the heat of summer with his best friends getting day drunk at the quarry or finalizing his college applications, he’s spending half of his day teaching toddlers how to doggy paddle and the other half sitting in a lifeguard chair and screaming at people to walk.

It’s the middle of July when his moping finally comes to an end. He’s carrying a toddler back and forth through the water to acclimate her to the feeling of moving through the pool when he spots something from the corner of his eye. 

Distracted, Billy pauses for a moment and says, “okay, Carrie, let’s keep this up for a few more minutes. You like the water, right?” 

Carrie squeals and slaps at Billy’s pecks as her signal that she wants him to keep moving. He does so, but keeps an eye on what caught his attention in the first place; Barb and Robin making their way through the gate to the pool.

They set their bags and towels on separate lounge chairs before sitting down and talking to one another. Billy rolls his eyes because he knows they’re purposely ignoring him to make him mad. Pettily, he decides to turn his attention back to Carrie, who’s humming and drawing little shapes on Billy's peck.

“Okay, Carrie, I’m going to hold you under your arms and I want you to move them back and forth, okay?”

She furrows her brows but nods determinedly. “Okay. But what about my legs?”

“Don’t worry about them. Just paddle your arms like I taught you yesterday.” 

Billy shifts the little girl from his hip to a proper swimming form, her stomach grazing the top of the water. Just as he’s about to tell her to start paddling, she yells out, “wait! I gotta go to the bathroom!”

Billy sighs and puts her back on his hip. “Let’s go find your mom, Carrie.” 

After dropping her off with her mother, Billy sneakily makes his way over to Barb and Robin, neither of whom notice him. He doesn’t feel even remotely bad when he’s about a foot away from the backs of their chairs and blows his whistle as hard as he possibly can.

“What the fuck!” Barb shouts, shoulders hunched up to her chin and arms crossed around her chest protectively. 

It’s unusual for Barb to curse, which makes her reaction so funny to Billy. Robin, however, literally falls out of her seat which makes Billy’s life feel complete.

Pushing up from the concrete, Robin says, “I hate you, Billy Hargrove.”

Billy laughs and sits next to Barb on her chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and planting a fat kiss on her temple. “No you don’t. You two love me or else you wouldn’t still be hanging around so much.”

“I, for one, am only still friends with you because you drive me around all of the time. When a girl’s got no license, she has to mooch off of someone that does,” Robin says sagely.

Billy nods solemnly. “If that’s the cross I have to bear, then so be it.” The two of them look at each other seriously for a moment before bursting out laughing.

Before Billy could ask them why they decided to spend the day at the pool, a voice interrupts their conversation. “Billy,” a voice calls out to him in a very mean tone.

Billy rolls his eyes and tilts his head dramatically before looking at the cause of his annoyance. “Heather,” he says with faux enthusiasm, widening his eyes dramatically and laying his chin on the open palm of his hand.

“Billy,” she says again. “You’re still the lifeguard on duty for the next ten minutes. Why don’t I see you on that chair?”

Billy makes a face of confusion. “No,” he says. “ You’re the lifeguard on duty. I’m helping little Carrie Walters learn how to swim as soon as she gets back from the bathroom.”

Heather purses her lips. “I think I would know if I was the lifeguard on duty.”

“Clearly not, because you’re wrong right now.” Billy rises to his feet. “Carrie’s back, sorry Heather, figure it out on your own.” He eyes her down for a second before turning back to his two best friends who were forced to watch whatever that was.

“Sorry for the interruption ladies, but I gotta go. Dinner at Benny’s after my shift ends? I’ll drive.”

Robin and Barb voice their agreements and send him on his way. Billy gives Heather one last glare for interrupting him before turning to little Carrie, who’s holding her mother’s hand and looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Mr. Billy, are we gonna swim again?”

Billy chuckles and picks the little girl up when she raises her arms in the air. “Of course we are, Carrie. How else are you going to learn?”

“We really appreciate you, Billy,” Mrs. Walters says, tone flirtatious and voice deepened, almost seductively. Billy just nods his head and tightens his grip on the little girl in his arms. All of the local moms love fighting for his attention, but he hates it. It’s always fun to flirt with Mrs. Wheeler, though, because he knows that word will get around to Nancy and her piece of shit little brother Mike, but he never lets it go too far.

Stepping back, Billy calls out, “yeah, thanks, Mrs. Walters. Say hi to your husband for me.” He doesn’t stick around to see the look on her face, just heads back to the shallow end of the pool.

After spending another thirty minutes wading through the water and telling Carrie that moving her arms while swimming is not optional, he’s finally off the clock. He whistles at the girls to let them know he’s off before he heads to the locker rooms.

Billy grabs his towel and soap from his locker and heads into the shower furthest away from the door, the one that no one ever bothers coming near because it’s so out of the way.

The isolation allows him to hum to himself quietly, something a few of the other lifeguards made fun of him for when he used to shower closer to the other, more occupied stalls.

As Billy’s humming to a Madonna song he heard on the radio, he lathers up his hair with soap to get out all of the chlorine and other pool chemicals that linger after the long day. Right as he starts really getting into the song, even attempting to recall some of the lyrics from the depths of his memory, the curtain is ripped open, and Billy barely has any time to cover his junk with his hand before someone’s stepping into the shower with him.

“Jesus!” He exclaims, one hand on his groin, the other attempting to rinse soap out of his eye. He can’t see who’s in the shower with him, but he knows for a fact that he wants them out.

“Wow, Billy. I didn’t know you could sing like that,” the person says. 

Heather.

Billy finishes rinsing the soap out of his eyes and glares in her general direction. “Can you get the fuck outta here? In case you haven’t noticed, my cock is out.”

Heather rolls her eyes, which quite honestly offends Billy. “I don’t care about,” she motions to her nether regions, “all that. We need to talk.”

“And now’s the best time to do that?”

“Yeah,” she says simply. “No better time than when you can’t walk away.”

Billy shudders and goes back to washing himself. “Yeah, because that’s something a normal person says. What do you want?”

“I want us to be friends.” Heather says.

Billy doesn’t get it. 

“I don’t get it.”

Heather sighs loudly and closes the shower curtain behind her so that they’re both shielded from the view of other people that may decide to come over. “What’s so confusing? I think we could make good friends.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Billy states. “I’m not friends with freaky chicks who are bitchy to me on a daily basis and have no respect for my personal space.” As soon as he says the words, he realizes how ironic him saying that is. He has two friends and both of them fall under all of those criteria.

The look on Heather’s face tells Billy that she knows how much of a liar he is. “You’re friends with Barbara Holland and Robin Buckley. Arguably two of the weirdest girls in school. Adding me to the friend group would spice things up, and maybe people would stop making fun of you.” She smiles like she knows something he doesn’t. “You used to be cool, you know.”

Billy scoffs, but it’s muffled by the steady stream of water. “Like I give a shit about being cool anymore. Maybe when I first moved here and thought this town was worth anything, I did, but not anymore.”

“Okay,” she trails off. “So scratch that idea. But I still think I would make a good addition to the friend group.”

Billy quickly rinses the rest of the soap off of himself and shuts the shower off. Heather hands him his towel. “I don’t know about that. We all have things in common that I think you just don’t. Nothing personal, Heather. And if you want to make friends, it might help if you start treating people nicely.” 

“I’m gay too, you know.”

“What?” Billy stops in his tracks, towel low on his hips.

“You think it’s not obvious that you’re gay? I’ve seen how you ignore the moms at the pool, Billy. And you stare at Adam literally all of the time.”

Billy grabs Heather by the shoulders. “Have you said this shit to anyone else?” He demands, getting close to her face.

Heather looks unfazed. “No, and I don’t plan to.”

“Then why bring it up?” 

“Because I want to have friends, real friends. And if Barbara and Robin are cool with you being gay, then I think they would be okay with me being bisexual.” She looks self conscious as she says the words, and Billy’s tough resolve diminishes. 

All too familiarly, he looks at Heather knowingly and asks, “would you be willing to come to Benny’s after your shift ends? My treat.”

Heather smiles and Billy knows he’s made a new friend, just like that.

-

"Wait, so does this mean everyone in this friend group is gay?" Heather asks, looking at Billy.

He glances at Barb, then Robin, then down at himself. "Yeah, seems like it."

Robin and Barb voice their agreements, both of them biting at the straws that rest in their cups. “I would say, though, that some of us are more gay than others,” Robin says, and Billy instantly knows that it’s a dig at him.

“Shut the fuck up, Robbie.” Billy then looks at Heather who has her eyebrows raised in defense. “She’s joking around. Robin’s just mad that she’s still a virgin and I’m not.”

Robin immediately interjects. “That is not true!”

“What, that you’re a virgin or that you’re not mad?” Billy sticks his tongue out at her and swifty dodges the spitball Robin shoots his way.

“ Anyway ,” Barb says, speaking over Billy and Robin’s argument. “You’re more than welcome to hang out with us, if you want.”

Heather smiles tentatively. “I think I would like that. It’s hard not having anyone to relate to, and it’s really cool that all of you are like, so open with each other even though we live in-”

“Fucking Hawkins,” the other three chime in.

“Yeah,” Heather’s smile gets brighter. “Fucking Hawkins.”

“You know,” Barb says. “We have plans to leave this town after high school, you should consider it, too.”

Robin nods. “We just have to finish senior year and then we’re out of here.”

“Together?” Heather asks, eyes wide in curiosity.

“Together,” Billy confirms. “I’m going to Stanford and the ladies are coming with.”

Robin laughs. “Slow your roll, cowboy.” She looks at Heather and widens her eyes conspiratorially. “He hasn’t even finished his application yet but he’s so sure he’s getting in. Either way, we’re moving out to California after we graduate.”

“Even you, Barb?” Heather asks.

“Yeah,” she nods and pushes her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “I’m applying to San Francisco State, and I think Robin is, too. I can see myself having a life out there, where being a lesbian isn’t such a bad thing.”

“Robin?” Heather prods.

“I’m going there even if it means I have to live on the streets.”

Heather laughs. “Good to know. Is it a friend group requirement to move to California at the end of the year?”

Billy laughs and throws an arm on the booth behind him, bringing Barb closer to his side. “Course not. It just so happens that we all are in agreement on wanting to go. Doesn’t mean you have to.”

“My dad wants me to stay in Hawkins,” Heather says. “Wants me to work as a receptionist at The Post and waste my life away in this small town. I can’t say for certain that I’m going to join all of you, but I think I can see myself coming along if you’ll have me.”

“Good thing you don’t have to make any choices right now,” Billy teases before picking up his burger and ripping off a big bite. While chewing obscenely, he adds, “it took these two idiots months before they made a choice.”

“God, Bills,” Robin says, disgustedly. “You’re such a nasty person.” Billy makes another face at her and opens his mouth so that his chewed up food is on full display, which sends the two of them into another playful fight over the table.

Barb looks back at Heather and smiles widely. “Is the gay solidarity worth it?” She asks jokingly, scooting away from Billy, who’s dodging the sugar packets that Robin’s throwing at him.

Heather looks at them all for a long second, noting the genuine smiles that linger on everyone’s faces. Nodding slightly, she says, “yeah. I think it will be.”

Chapter Text

It’s not until winter break that things within the friend group shift again.

Billy, Heather, Barb, and Robin spend most of their time both in and out of school glued to each other’s sides as much as they can manage, so there really isn’t much opportunity for them to branch out. 

In Billy’s opinion, it’s great, no matter how annoying the girls can get sometimes.

And now that there’s two weeks off of school for the winter holidays, they’ve been even more codependent. They cycle through going to wither Barb or Heather’s house’s on a daily basis, getting food at Benny’s, and loitering around the quarry even though it’s fucking freezing and they never leave the warm comfort of the Camaro, heated by second hand smoke and the warmth of their laughter.

It’s nice and the routine of it all makes Billy extremely happy.

The only time they face any interruption in their usually scheduled hangouts is when Billy is put in charge of toting Max places. If he’s needed by his step sister when he’s hanging out with his friend group, he just splits for however long it takes to get Max to where she’s going before he heads back to their designated spot of the day. It’s annoying, but necessary since he would really prefer not to have Neil on his ass for not completing his brotherly duties.

It’s the day after Christmas and Billy knows he has to pick Max up from the Wheeler’s house after some nerdy little party that one of them came up with. He doesn’t really want to go, but he brings Robin with him because it’s the end of the day and she lives closer to that side of town so it would really be a waste of gas to drive to the Wheeler’s, go back to Barbs’ to pick her up, and then make the trip back. With that in mind, Billy sucks it up and allows her to sit in on the painful pickup.

“This is kind of fun,” Robin says, bouncing around in the passenger seat. “Getting to see what you do when we’re not around.”

“Yeah, it’s so fun to see me haul my sister around. Christ, Buckley, your life is sad.”

Robin kicks her shoe covered feet onto the dash which bothers Billy to no end but he says nothing about it. “My life is sad? You’re the one playing chauffeur for Maxine.”

“I thought you said this was fun,” Billy says mockingly, glancing over at her and raising his eyebrows. “And maybe if you knew how to drive, you wouldn’t have to come along.”

“You can pay for a car for me then, dumbass. I’ve already told you-”

“It’s too much money,” they both say in unison and then break out into a fit of laughter.

“Hold on Buckley,” Billy says suddenly as they turn onto the Wheeler’s cul-de-sac. He likes that she doesn’t even question his statement before she’s grabbing onto the ‘oh shit’ handle. “And here we are.”

“Damn,” Robin says as she looks at the Wheeler’s house. “This is like, nuclear to the max.”

Billy nods and cuts the engine, pulls the keys out of the ignition, and gestures with his head to step out of the car. “It’s exactly the kind of house you would picture when you think of the perfect family. It makes me a little bit sick, to be honest.”

“No, I totally get it. It’s a little… much.”

They both step out of the car in unison, and Billy rolls his eyes when he sees who’s there to greet him as soon as he steps out into the night. 

“Hey man,” Steve Harrington calls out to him from where he’s leaning on the hood of his own car. “It’s been a while.”

And it has been.

Billy hasn’t talked to Steve since the end of basketball season. Of course, he’s seen him in passing when he carts Max around to her many hangout sessions, but they’ve never acknowledged each other more than just a simple glare if they do happen to make accidental eye contact.

It’s odd to him that Steve would go out of his way at this point to greet him, but Billy accepts it because even after all of the shit that they’ve been through, he still thinks Steve Harrington is the hottest man he’s ever seen and he would be remiss to pass up his attention. 

After a good while of Billy just staring back in Steve’s direction while he overthinks how to acknowledge him in return, he decides to just nod his head at the other man and focus his attention back on Robin, who’s huddled by his side for warmth.

“Wow,” she mouths. “That was some real homoeroticism, right there.”

Billy shoves her slightly and then pulls her back into his side because it’s fucking cold out and he needs her warmth. “Shut up, Buckley. Why don’t we talk about how you and Heather have been getting real close lately.”

Robin mocks the sound of his voice and says, “ you and Heather have been getting really close , blah blah blah. We’re friends, doofus. That’s what friends do.”

“Sure,” Billy says simply before changing the topic of discussion to their plans for the rest of winter break while they wait for Max, which he knows is going to be a long while.

“...and then we definitely have to go to the ice rink. I know, I know, you’ve never been, but it’s like, totally a main attraction in Hawkins this time of year. Total babefest, too. And then-” Robin’s cut off by someone loudly clearing their throat right in front of them.

Billy and Robin both jump slightly in surprise and then giggle at each other’s nerves. Steve is standing in front of them and he looks slightly pissed off.

“Hey, Robin. Just thought I would come over here and see what’s so interesting. I mean, you two seem really into the conversation.” He gazes intensely at Billy’s arm around Robin.

“Okay…” she trails off, eying him weirdly as he scooches on to the hood of the Camaro. Billy doesn’t like that there’s so much weight leaning against the car so he gets off.

“So what have you been up to?” Steve asks Robin, though he keeps side-eying Billy.

“Oh, you know, just school. What about you, dingus?”

“Still working at Scoops, you know how it is. It’s kind of nice this time of year, though. Super dead, but the chicks still want ice cream.”

Billy snorts through his nose and tries to cover it with a cough, not wanting to start shit tonight. Robin also coughs into her fist and gets off the hood of the car to huddle back up to Billy, leaving Steve all alone.

“So,” Steve starts. “Are you two a thing?”

“What?” Billy and Robin ask in unison, momentarily detaching from one another.

“I mean, it would make sense. You’re on top of each other right now, and Robin basically rejected me every time I tried to flirt with her at Scoops,” he shrugs. “I always figured that Billy was dating one of you.” He says it in a way that makes it clear he wants to know everything and Billy’s not down for it.

“One of who?” he asks, eyebrows furrowed, though he knows exactly what Steve’s implying.

“Barb, Heather, or Robin.”

Billy laughs, not even able to help himself. The idea of him dating any of his gay best friends is so comical that it causes tears to line his eyes. He actually can’t even grasp that Steve believed such nonsense.

“Nah, I’m not dating any of them.”

“Oh,” Steve says. “Huh, okay. So are you a queer, then? I can’t imagine hanging around girls all of the time and not dating one.”

Billy’s shoulders tense and he can see that Robin looks upset, her eyes focused on the ground and her lips pursed. Steve looks completely nonchalant, like what he said wasn’t a direct insult, true or not.

“The fuck did you say to me, Harrington?” Billy asks while posturing. In that moment, he decides he’ll take Steve in a fight again if he has to, and he’ll demolish him. 

“Why don’t we all just calm down,” Robin tries to softly interject, but she doesn’t get in Billy’s way. Billy knows she doesn’t want him to stop standing up for himself.

“It’s funny, Harrington, because I could ask some questions, too. Are you a fucking creep , a pedo , hanging out with those kids all of the time?” He gets up in Steve’s face when he arises from the hood of the Camaro, eyes like fire.

“Watch yourself, Hargrove.”

“Why should I?”

“I was just saying what everyone’s already thinking. I mean, how weird is it that you’re not dating any of the girls you’re constantly hanging out with and you get so defensive when it’s brought up.” He raises his hands in a mock surrender. “Just saying.”

Billy shoves Steve to the ground, reminiscent of the year prior at the Byers’ house, but makes no move to do anything else. He leans down and says, “watch your mouth, Harrington. I mean it.”

He takes Robin by the hand and pulls her in the direction of the Wheeler’s front door. She keeps whispering frantically at him, but he doesn’t absorb a word of it, the only thing he can hear is the ringing in his own ears. 

Queer.

Everyone’s already thinking.

Just saying.

Queer. Queer. Queer.

Before he even realizes it, Billy’s pounding on the Wheeler’s front door, only stopping when Karen opens up. She says something but Billy doesn’t care to respond. Instead, he squeezes Robin’s hand, who asks, “can you tell Max that it’s time to go?”

Karen must agree because next thing he knows, he’s on his way back to the car, watching as Steve takes a seat in his beemer. They’re glaring at each other, and Billy has half a mind to go over there and finish what he started.

“Cool it, Bills. Max is going to come out here any second and she’ll be pissed if she knows you beat up her favorite babysitter,” Robin says in an attempt to calm him down.

Billy just clenches his jaw, nods his head once, and sends a final glare in Steve’s direction.

“Yeah, let’s just drop it.”

-

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t trust him from the moment I met him! He’s a bad person,” Barb says softly, though it’s very passionate.

Heather scoffs. “No, you didn’t trust him because you had a crush on Nancy.”

Barb pauses for a minute, then says, “that, too.” She pushes her glasses up her nose and takes a sip of her soda. “ But , he’s been a known douchebag for years. King Steve,” she shakes her head.

“King Steve,” Heather says. “I used to party with him before he turned into a loser. He had quite the reputation.”

“You guys aren’t helping,” Robin interjects. “I wish you guys could have been there, though. Billy was about to go off on him, I might have even peed my pants a little.”

Billy groans loudly from where he’s laying face down on Barb’s couch. “I’m glad you weren’t all there. I looked like a fucking idiot.”

A gentle hand rubs down Billy’s back and he relaxes under it. “This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this,” Barb admits.

Heather leans forward in her chair. “What do you mean?”

“When I was on better terms with Nancy, she told me that after he spray painted the movie theater sign, which- typical douchebag move, that she and Jonathan confronted him. And Steve went off on Jonathan because he thought she was cheating with Jonathan, and basically said that he thought Jonathan was a queer,” she gets quiet at the end of her speech, realizing the weight of what she said.

“Wow,” Robin says tensely. “I wish you had told me this before I played friends with that douche all summer at Scoops.”

“I’m sorry,” Barb says honestly. “I thought he only said it because he was angry at the time. But this just confirms that he’s actually homophobic.”

“This is so fucked,” Heather says. “And Billy’s being a little too quiet right now.”

Billy turns his head so his face is away from the couch cushion he’s been breathing into for the last hour. “What do you want me to say, Heather? That I’m surprised? We’re living in Hawkins, so I’d be more surprised if he was understanding. This is just the shit we have to deal with until we get out of here.”

Heather, always one to have a comment, says, “I don’t think that’s it. From what I’ve heard, Steve didn’t say anything new to you that you haven’t heard a million times before.”

It’s silent for a moment before Robin says, “well…”, causing Billy to groan.

“Say it.” Heather demands.

“Billy left this part out, but when we first got to the Wheeler house, there was tension. Gay tension.”

“Okay,” Barb says. “I think we all already kind of knew that Billy thought Steve was hot.” Heather mumbles her agreements.

“That’s the thing, though. The tension wasn’t from Billy, he barely spoke to the guy. It was Steve,” Robin says and nods like she’s revealed God’s message to humankind.

Barb and Heather gasp, which is befuddling to Billy because he doesn’t know why they care so much. “No…” Heather says, clearly eating up the gossip.

“Yes,” Robin confirms. “I would even go as far as to say that Steve was jealous that me and Billy were practically spooning for warmth on the hood of his car. You should have seen the way he stormed over, all macho man and tough. Insane,” she says.

“But if he was jealous of you, why would he be calling people queer and being casually homophobic?” Barb asks, clearly getting into the gossip.

“I mean, it makes sense. We know that he’s dated women in the past, so maybe his crush on Billy made him start to question everything. He’s defensive and projecting,” Heather provides. “My best guess is that he’s bisexual but in denial. I was the same way,” she says sagely. “Right after me and Peter W. broke up in sophomore year and he started dating Cindy from the cheer squad, I was so jealous and I took my anger out on her. It took a lot of soul searching to realize that I was jealous of him , not of her.”

Billy, Barb, and Robin all take a second before nodding. “Cindy is one gorgeous woman,” Robin agrees.

“But do you see my point?  He’s internalizing his feelings and insecurities and then projecting it back out onto Billy.”

“Wow,” Barb says. “Not to be rude, but I never thought you would ever actually make a good point. That’s really unlike you,” She smiles.

“Fuck off,” Heather says with a smile on her face. “Now, this doesn’t excuse his behavior at all, but if we’re right, and I think we are, then we need to approach this situation gently.”

“Thanks for that amazing observation, genius,” Billy finally pipes up. “But I want nothing to do with him. I know I scouted you all out like a gay bloodhound, but I just don’t have it in me to do that with Harrington.”

“You don’t have to recruit him, Bills,” Robin says gently. “Just try to be nice. If we’re right, then he really needs it.” 

Billy just grumbles some more and plants his face back into his pillow. Barb pauses her rubbing of Billy’s back to say, “I don’t really agree. I know you worked with him and all, but he’s still a bad person.”

“And Billy wasn’t a bad person? He didn’t have an atrocious reputation? Even Heather was Hawkin’s resident mean girl before we all started hanging out. Sorry Heather,” Robin says.

Heather shrugs. “You’re not wrong. But I don’t know if I love the idea of Billy being friendly with someone like Steve.”

Billy, for the last time, removes his face from the couch. “How about this? How about we leave him alone and move on with our lives? Unless he comes at me first, I’m not going to talk to him, so don’t worry about me getting into fights or anything.”

Dryly, Robin says, “believe me, I wasn’t.”

Slowly, the topic of interest changes from Steve Harrington to the different types of soda that Barb’s mother purchased for when they all hang out together to their dreams of living in California. The girls don’t seem to be thinking about the former king of Hawkins anymore, but it’s the only thought on Billy’s mind.

He knows he said he wouldn’t bother with Steve anymore, but he knows that that couldn’t be further from the truth.

-

Billy doesn’t talk to Steve again until the first week of February. He hasn’t been avoiding the other man, not at all, but it’s apparent that Steve was avoiding him. Billy finds it funny that every time he picks Max up, Steve immediately peels away like he’s running from something.

Well, it’s not that funny, but Billy has to try and find some humor in it or else he would fall into a self-deprecating spiral because it’s so painfully obvious that Steve is trying to avoid him.

It’s not until February fourth that Steve speaks to him, completely unprovoked. Billy’s by himself in the Camaro while waiting for Max in front of Harrington’s house. The midwestern winter is now way too cold for him to be waiting on the hood of his car like he usually does, so instead he’s laying low in the driver’s seat and chain smoking Marlboro’s like he’s got nothing to lose. A Scorpion’s song is playing in the background on a low volume but it doesn’t do anything to take away from the miserableness of the situation.

He sits down further in his seat when he sees Steve and Max step outside of the house and look in his direction. Max says something and points to the car, and Steve shakes his head and walks his way over to the Camaro instead.

Billy immediately thrusts his seat upright, wondering why in the hell Harrington’s making his way over to his car. It makes no sense to him and he’s kind of panicking now. Did Max say something to him? Is he coming over to retaliate for the shove in the Wheeler’s driveway?

Before Billy can even wrap his mind around what’s happening, Steve is pulling on the handle to the passenger’s side door. It’s unlocked because he was anticipating Max’s arrival, and Billy silently panics as he watches Steve slip into the car.

“What the hell are you doing in my car, Harrington?” Billy asks, trying to mask his confusion and gay panic.

Steve looks sheepish. “I just wanted to apologize for what I said the last time we talked. I did some thinking and I realized that I shouldn’t have said that.”

Billy’s not impressed, but he’s also in no position to reject an apology from Steve when he’s done much worse to the guy than say a few ambiguously rude things. “Okay,” Billy says simply.

Steve continues on with his apology, clearly desperate to make things right for some reason. “It’s just that, I told the kids what happened and they were pretty upset with me, especially Will and Max. And I totally get it, because I know what I said was wrong. There’s nothing wrong with liking men, and I just- I just shouldn’t have said it. And you seemed so upset, and yeah.”

Billy can’t help himself from saying, “you think being homophobic is wrong, but you had no problems calling Jonathan Byers a queer.” 

Steve winces. “I was angry?” He says, though it comes out as more of a question.

“Look man,” Billy starts. “We’ve both done and said some fucked up shit that we regret. I beat the shit out of you, Harrington. Let’s just move on.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods, looking way happier than he did when he first entered the car. “I think we could be good friends if you wanted to.”

Billy takes a good look at Steve. He’s wearing what looks to be a cashmere sweater that looks very expensive and Billy’s wearing a band tee with a peeling leather jacket that he picked up at the army surplus store outside of Hawkins. The difference between the two of them is comical, but Billy thinks they could be friends if they tried. After all, they both played basketball and ran in the same friend group before Billy branched off to his girls, so they must have some things in common.

“Sure, Harrington, we can be friends. But get the fuck out of my car, I have to get Max home.”

Steve smiles at him softly and nods before exiting the Camaro. Max quickly takes his place, rubbing her arms from the cold. “What was that all about? You and Steve?”

Billy backs out of the Harrington’s long ass driveway. “Shouldn’t you know? He was just talking to you.”

Max rolls her eyes and stares out of the window. “Whatever.”

Her dismissiveness angers Billy but he bites it back. He’s been trying to be more cordial with her so he usually just pretends she doesn’t have a nasty attitude with him. It’s sort of been working.

“Whatever,” Billy says back.

-

Steve pushes his groin against Billy’s, the heat of the moment palpable between the two of them. Steve is kissing down his neck, one hand groping Billy’s ass, the other gripping the kitchen counter.

Billy’s panting loudly, his spit-soaked and red bitten lips gasping for air as Steve sensually assaults his neck. He’s aching in his jeans, but is in no rush to get out of them because that would mean he would have to step away from Steve’s warm heat and that’s the last thing he wants.

“Can I touch you?” Steve asks, his breath warm against the wetness on Billy’s neck, and Billy would agree to anything as long as it meant that Steve would be touching him.

“Yes,” he hisses from between his teeth. 

Steve wastes no time in getting Billy’s incredibly tight jeans and briefs down to his knees and jerking him off with a closed fist. It feels amazing, and it’s not long before Billy finishes in Steve’s soft hand.

As soon as he’s recovered from his orgasm, Billy drops down to his knees and frees Steve’s cock from the confines of his pants. Steve’s cock is twitching in arousal and the tip is so deeply red that it almost appears purple. After asking Steve for permission to take him into his mouth, which he gets in the form of a shouted ‘ yes!’ , Billy wraps his lips around the head of Steve’s cock.

Just like every other time they’ve hooked up, Steve is more than enthusiastic about Billy’s throat game. His hands tear at Billy’s scalp, his lips release grunts and moans of pleasure every time Billy bobs down enough that the tip meets the back of his soft throat. Even though Steve’s the one that’s receiving pleasure, Billy still gets off on knowing that he’s the one causing Steve to make these sounds.

After three months of casual sex with Steve Harrington, Billy knows all of the ways to make him come quickly, and he uses that knowledge now because he has to meet up with his girls in a little under thirty minutes and would hate to be late. He pulls off for a second, ignoring Steve’s whines at the lack of contact, and produces enough saliva to get Steve’s cock and his own mouth wet enough for the head to be as sloppy as he would like.

He quickly gets his mouth back on Steve and finishes what he started, head bobbing rapidly. He lets Steve finish in his mouth like usual, savoring the taste it leaves behind on his tongue.

When he gets up off of his knees, he’s greeted by the sight of Steve leaning back against the kitchen counter, gasping for air. Deciding to do something he never has before and be uncharacteristically vulnerable, Billy leans forward to kiss him.

After they finish hooking up, they always return to being nothing more than good friends, not even a mention of their sexual activities until Steve gets horny and Billy gives into his own arousal. 

But now, Billy’s taking a chance. He catches Steve’s lips in a chaste kiss before the other man is turning his head away. Billy’s heart sinks to his ass at the realization that Steve doesn’t want the same thing as him and it’s always been so obvious but he’s always looked past the signs because he was in too deep.

“Hey, man,” Steve says awkwardly, pulling up his jeans and tucking his now soft cock into his boxers. “Sorry, but it’s not like that.”

Billy blinks quickly, ashamed that tears are threatening to line his eyes. “It’s not like that?” He asks, fists clenching and unclenching nervously at his side. He wishes he had a cigarette right now.

Steve laughs uncomfortably. “I’m not… I’m not gay, man. It wouldn’t be right to kiss you when I’m not gay.”

A single tear slips from Billy’s eye and he’s quick to wipe it away. He looks down when he sees sympathy spread over Steve’s face. “You’re not gay, huh? Then what the fuck would you call the last three months?”

“It’s just guys being guys!” Steve says, hands in the air in a form of surrender. He looks uncomfortable, but not more than Billy already feels.

“Guys being guys,” Billy says while shaking his head. It’s hard to come up with thoughts right now, and the most he can manage is repeating the words Steve says at him in the hopes that verbalizing it once more will help him understand what the fuck he meant.

Billy can’t take it anymore and turns to leave. “Don’t just leave, Billy. Don’t be like that.”

“No, man,” Billy finally gets out. “I think you should just leave me the fuck alone. I’ll be out of Hawkins in a month, do me a favor and stay away from me until then.”

“So we can’t even be friends?” Steve looks hurt and Billy doesn’t know why. He can’t think of a single reason why Steve would care about staying in each other’s lives if he doesn’t want to be together romantically.

“No, Steve, we can’t be friends. We can either be together or we can be nothing. And I’m getting the fuck out of here the second I graduate, so I think it’s best that we’re nothing to each other.” Billy shakes his head at the thought and walks to the front door, saying, “bye, Harrington.”

He doesn’t look back as he walks out of the door, doesn't want to acknowledge that he’s walking away from who he thought was the man of his dreams. They’ve spent the last three months growing considerably closer to one another and for Steve to turn around and say that all of the nights they’ve spent wrapped up in one another has been for nothing kills him inside.

Billy supposes it’s karma. He supposes that he deserves to be discarded because he’s not a good person and people like him don’t deserve happiness.

Though Billy wants to drive his car off of the quarry, he decides to go to Heather’s house and spend time with them the way they planned. He doesn’t really want to go, but he knows they’ll get worried if he doesn’t show when he’s supposed to.

As soon as he makes it to Heather’s house, it’s like the girls know something’s wrong before he even makes it out of the car. All three of them are sitting on Heather’s porch when Billy pulls up and they are all staring directly at his car.

He barely shuts the engine off before Barb is pulling at the driver’s side door handle. “Open up,” she says.

Billy turns off his car and opens the door. All three girls crowd around him instantaneously.

“What the fuck?” He asks, trying to get around them. He knows his face is still red and he doesn’t want them to see.

Sharp nails dig into his arms. Heather says, “turn around, Bills.” There’s sympathy in her voice.

“We know something happened. Steve called the house phone,” Barb points out.

Billy sucks in a sharp breath of air. “Of course he did. I told him to leave me alone, I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”

“He sounded apologetic,” Heather says. Billy finally turns around and sees Heather looking at him inquisitively, Robin looking pissed, and Barb looking extremely concerned. All of the ranges of emotions from his best friends makes him even more emotional.

“I don’t care how he sounded. I want nothing to do with him anymore.” Billy doesn’t want to stand in front of the house, so exposed and open, so he walks to Heather’s front door and attempts to open it. It’s locked, so he sticks his copy of the house key into the door and makes his way inside.

“You can’t just ignore it, Billy. Get angry, get sad, but don’t ignore it,” Robin calls out from behind him.

“Fine!” He yells, grateful that Mr. and Mrs. Holloway aren’t currently home. “I’ll get angry! Do you want me to tell you how fucking upset I am? How I thought we were actually something but the second I go to kiss him on the mouth after we’re done hooking up he rejects me?” Billy interrupts himself with a sob. “Just say that you told me so and we can move on.”

Barb clicks her tongue sympathetically. “We’re not going to say I told you so. We just don’t want you to be so upset. It hurts us, too, Billy.”

He gets it. He knows the entire situation has hurt them, too. Billy knows how off putting it was for them to hear about him how happy he was being with Steve even if the other man didn’t seem to want to put a name on what they were doing. They always smiled when he would bring it up, but the smiles were strained and he knew it.

He always knew it.

“Can we just-” he blows air out of his nose as he tries to think. “Can we just talk about anything else for the rest of the night?”

The three girls all look back and forth at one another before Heather steps forward and nods. “Of course. I called the realtor back earlier.”

“And what’d he say?” Billy asks, hoping to get at least some piece of good news. They contacted a realtor in San Francisco a month and a half ago asking for apartment vacancies and they’ve been hard pressed to get a response.

“Well,” Robin cuts it, clapping him on the shoulder. “How do you feel about a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment that’s almost equal distance from Stanford and SFSU?” She asks nonchalantly.

“Only two hundred dollars a month per person, including all of the amenities,” Barb smiles widely.

“We’re ready to sign if you are, Bills.” Heather takes his hand and holds it tightly. 

Billy, still sensitive from before, feels tears line his eyes again. Everything he ever wanted, before boys got in the way, is right in front of him and he would be a fool not to accept it with open arms.

“Let’s do it,” he says, gripping Heather’s hand back just as tightly. Robin, Barb, and Heather all pile in on top of him, holding him close.

“I know you said not to talk about it, but fuck Steve,” Robin declares.

Billy snorts and agrees, “fuck Steve.”

-

Billy giggles as Heather rests her head on his chest, playing with the pendant on his neck. “Get the hell off of me,” he says, not really meaning it.

“Never,” she says into his neck before pecking it with a little kiss that gives him the chills. He cringes at the feeling and rolls away from her, landing on Robin, who breaks his fall.

“Hey, doofus!” She gasps, holding her arm out far away from her body. “Watch the precious merchandise!” 

Billy immediately seeks out her comfort and wraps himself around her in the same way that Heather embraced him before. “Sorry, Robbie. I’m sorry.”

She lets out a sigh and wraps an arm around his shoulder. “It’s okay, Bills. But this is the last of the weed and I’d be pissed if you squashed it.”

“Yeah,” Heather chimes in quiety.

Billy snuggles deeper into her. He’s a very physical person when he’s stoned. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Barb calls out from his right. She’s sitting in a large, soft armchair wrapped in a quilt. Her eyes are closed and she looks so comfortable.

Billy immediately gets up, grabs the blunt,  and pushes his way next to her as soon as he remembers she’s there.

“Barbie,” he sings. He takes a puff and passes it over to the redhead. She takes a small hit before stretching over and handing it back to Heather. 

“Billy,” she says back in the same sing-song way. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” he breathes out. “But I miss Steve,” he admits.

All three ladies groan. “Can you stop talking about him already? I thought we promised that today was about us?”

“ It is ,” he reassures. “I just want to see him.”

“Well, he’s the one that left,” Robin says.

Billy rolls his eyes and gets under the blanket with Barb. His eyes lazily scan the room and he smiles sloppily when he realizes where he is.

He made it back to San Francisco and he brought his favorite people along with him.

There’s a pride flag hanging from the wall, surrounded by polaroids of all of them, some solo shots but mostly of them together. Only one picture is in a frame, however, and it’s the first one they took as a group in their pajamas, Billy looking awkward in Robin’s extra set of clothes. 

He loves everything about it. 

The four of them laze around for the next hour or so, Billy’s not too sure of the exact time frame, before the sound of the door knob rattling is heard. Billy tenses at the noise, but makes no moves to get up. He has to remind himself that he’s living in San Francisco, thousands of miles away from what used to be his home in Hawkins, and that there’s no reason to be scared every time the door knob is turned. He closes his eyes and rubs his cheek against the quilt he and Barb are sharing. 

Warm lips press against his. They’re a little chapped, but familiar and welcomed.

Billy’s eyes snap open and before him stands Steve Harrington, the man who gave up his life in Hawkins just to be with Billy in California. He smiles back and kisses him softly in return.

It still blows his mind that he ended up with Steve, the man of his dreams. After he left Steve’s house and told him that he was actually done with him, Steve apparently realized his mistake and begged for him to take him back. Of course, Billy said no because he made up his mind and made the other man grovel for the entire month and a half before he and the girls moved to San Francisco. 

Billy wasn’t sure if he and Steve would even work out in the long run, what with Steve’s obvious internalized homophobia, but it’s been over a year since they made the big move to California and they’re stronger than ever so he figures it was all worth it in the end and he’s truly never been happier than he is now.

“Gross!” Robin yells out from where she’s laying on the floor. 

Heather immediately chimes in with, “you two literally have a room, don’t be so nasty in front of all of us.”

Barb doesn’t say anything, just hides a knowing smile behind her hand. 

Billy pulls away from his boyfriend and glares at his two favorite annoyances. “Okay, Heather. Like I didn’t actually walk in on you and Robin hooking up on the couch last week.”

The two girls break out in protest and Heather throws a pillow at Billy’s head, though it ends up hitting Steve in the side. Barb gasps at the revelation, saying, “you did not, Rob! This couch is not for that!”

“He’s lying!” Robin moans. “We weren’t doing anything worse than what they did in the kitchen last month!”

“You’re delusional, Robin, because that never happened,” Steve states, hands on his hips.

As the girls and Steve start arguing, Billy just sits back and appreciates everything he has. He never thought Hawkins could provide him with anything remotely good, and he walked away from that shitty little town with three of the best friends he could ever ask for and the love of his life.

It’s clear to him now that he was never meant to remain friendless, not when there were people waiting for him the whole time.

-