Chapter Text
12th November, Monday
Seeing your ex making out with her new boyfriend on your first day back at school wasn't what Steve had in mind to start an average day. The first lesson was chemistry, and Steve hated chemistry. He slammed the door of his car shut. Trying to ignore Nancy and Jonathan. Shouldn't they be in class already? His father had been droning on about the importance of having good grades at the breakfast table. Lowering Steve's mood to rock bottom.
When he walked inside school he was surprised that everyone was still standing in the hall. Hadn't he been late? Checking the clock on the wall he noticed that he still had a few minutes left. His head hurting slightly when he focused on the numbers.
“Harrington?” The last person he wanted to see had spotted him. Billy, as if this day couldn't get any worse.
“Haven't seen you for a while.”
“Well, a certain someone bashed my head in”, Steve turned to his locker.
“When are you coming back to practice?” Normally Steve avoided confrontation at any costs, especially if it came from people that had beaten him inches of his life, but today he didn't care.
“Never, the doctor said I can't play basketball for a couple of months.”
“Oh...”, Billy sounded like he genuinely cared. Steve zipped his backpack open, handing the jacket, Billy had lent him, over.
“Thank you”, he said through gritted teeth. Billy nodded, still standing next to Steve. Blocking his path to class. Nervously biting his lip.
“Listen Steve, I'm sorry I hit you...”
“Because of you I'm going to fail classes, and my father is already mad. Leave me and the kids alone!”, Steve shoved him away, his heart beating hard as he expected Billy to come after him, and give him the next concussion. To his surprise Billy let him get away. All the other jocks stepping away, and even Tommy not saying anything when he spotted Steve.
Chemistry went down as expected. All the numbers and equations meaning nothing to him. It's a subject that reminds him of Nancy and her wanting to learn for that test. That leads his thoughts to Barb. Nancy, the only girl he really fell for. Why did he care? And why did Barb have to disappear at his house?
“Harrington?! Harrington, are you feeling alright?”, his teacher's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “I think you should go to the school nurse. You're looking too pale”, his teacher decided.
When he stood up he felt dizzy. Steve didn't head to the school nurse. She would have said the same as the doctor already told him, bed rest. But he had been bored out of his mind, that's why he had decided to go to school. Maybe a week had been to short. But staying at home just drove him up the walls. Especially after his mother had gone back to work. She had stayed with him throughout the weekend. Hopper had called last week, telling him he had spoken with Dr. Owens, and the bite as well as the spores, all the kids had breathed in back at the tunnels, wouldn't have any lasting effects. Steve swayed and leaned against the wall. Willing the world to steady its self.
“Are you okay”, the sudden voice made him jump.
“Sorry.”
“What are you doing here?”, Steve asked Billy. The other boy smiled slyly, leaning against the wall opposite of Steve.
“I may have pulled a girl's hair.”
“Of course you have”, Steve muttered.
“Haven't you done that before?”
“Yeah, when I was eight.”
“Touché...What are you doing here then? If you allegedly didn't pull anyone's hair.”
“None of your business”, a spiking pain went through his skull.
“Are you okay? I can drive you home if you want to.”
“I am fine”, Steve lied, the last thing he wanted was Billy taking him home. He pushed himself away from the wall, loosing balance immediately.
“Whoa...slow down”, Billy's strong arms steadying him. Steve didn't have the energy to fight, and let himself be led to Billy's car. To his surprise Billy for once didn't let his engine howl, but started the vehicle like a normal human-being. Driving with a normal speed.
“Why did you give me your jacket?”, Steve asked.
“What?”
“Max told me you never give your jacket away. Why did you leave your jacket with me?”
Billy shrugged, “Because you were freezing.”
“Why did you help me when I freaked out?”
“I was out of line.” He must be dreaming. Billy fucking Hargrove would never say he was out of line.
“Pardon?”
“Don't make me repeat myself, Harrington. You just stood up for a shitty kid, and I beat the living daylights out of you. You didn't deserve that, not after all the shit you went through.”
“Oh”, his brain searching for words, but he had nothing. They fell into silence, as Steve tried to wrap his head around the growing enigma of Billy.
“Your folks aren't home?”, Billy stopped the car.
“No, my parents are working they'll be gone for the next two weeks.”
A hint of worry in Billy's eyes, “Are you gonna be okay?”
“Sure”, he reached for the door.
“If you ever freak out again, or whatever happens...You can...can talk to me. I will never beat you up again, promise.” His hand wavered, should he tell Billy how terrified he had been since that eventful night? That Billy had been the least of his problems. But maybe this was a trap. Maybe Billy wanted his trust just to stab him in the back. Act like he cared just to break his heart the same way Nancy did. Steve shook his head, where did that thought come from?
“Thanks...for the ride”, he stepped outside. Billy waved and this time he did let his engine howl, gravel nearly hitting Steve as he sped off.
“You're bullshit”, Nancy's words echoing in his head as he headed into the deserted house.
8th December, Saturday
A month had passed since Steve had been nearly killed by a demodog, he stood outside of the Byers' house itching to get back to his car and get the baseball bat, his hands trembling slightly when he knocked.
“Steve, the kids are already expecting you”, Joyce gave him a warm smile and led him inside. He stopped dead in his tracks. Taking in the tidy house. He'd never been there when it had been any other state than total disarray. Now it almost looked nice, homey. The fridge had been replaced and the only remains of the events that had taken place here was the slightly darker wood in front of the fridge.
“Steve?”, Joyce softly put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.
“Steve”, Dustin shouted, rushing towards him, “We thought you had died”, the boy squeezed him tightly.
“No, I didn't”, he tried to laugh, but his voice was far too shaky when he stood in the exact same spot where both Dustin and he himself had nearly lost their lives.
“Where were you?”, Mike asked.
“Sorry I couldn't make it, I....”
“Give him a break!”, Max interrupted, “He had a concussion, that takes ages to get better.” Part of Steve was happy that Max came to the rescue the other part of him was worried that she even knew this much about concussions. Even he knew too much about concussions let alone a 13-year-old girl.
“Does your head still hurt?”, Dustin asked.
“A bit.”
The boy frowned then turned to his friends, “No shouting today.”
“You were shouting the entire time, we weren't”, Lucas pointed out. Steve sat down on the couch next to El who gave him a shy smile. Her eyes bright no smudges or dark circles around them. Hair in curls giving her a younger, more innocent look.
“Hopper let you go outside?”
“Yes. When I don't cause trouble, or draw attention. Your mum?”
Steve laughed, “Yeah, my mum allowed me to go outside.”
“She was sad.”
“Just worried because I hurt myself.”
El nodded, “He was worried as well.”
“People that love you are often worried.”
“Are friends as well?”
“Yes, they are.” She nodded again, eyes locking with his, as if she was trying to decipher him, but he wasn't sure what she wanted to discern.
“Do you want some cake, Steve?”, Dustin let himself fall onto the couch. Balancing a plate loaded with pastries. His stomach still felt strange. Steve chalked it up to nerves.
“No thanks.”
“You know, Mr. Clark didn't believe me when I told him that we discovered a new species”, Dustin complained, “I want another Dart.”
“What?”, Steve said a little too loud, now everyone had turned their heads, attention on him. “It nearly killed us.”
“Dart didn't!”
“Yeah, but his friends, or did you somehow fail to notice that?”
Dustin shrugged, “It would have been nice to show some evidence that's all.”
“When are we going to start the new campaign?”, Lucas asked Mike.
“Well, first I have to explain El how the game works. Maybe during Christmas break.”
“Is anybody going away over Christmas?” The kids shook their heads as Mike consulted the calender hanging in the living room. “Okay, maybe after Christmas Day.”
Steve heard the rumouring of the fridge, quickly looking over his shoulder. The door stayed firmly shut, no monster banging from the inside. Fear crept up on him. The neverending fear lurking behind every corner, every shadow. Making it hard to breathe and think.
“Earth to Steve, are you there?”, Dustin clapped his hands in front of Steve's face making him and El jump.
“What?!”
“You zoned out...Are you okay?”, Dustin asked, glance directed at Steve's trembling hands.
“I just... Aren't any of you a bit spooked being here.”
“At Will's house? Why should we be spooked?”, Lucas asked.
“Because Billy almost choked you here, and the demodog jumped Dustin...Oh, and you know a freaking enormous demogorgon drooled all over Jonathan and then nearly attacked Nancy. And before all that even happened Nancy pointed a gun at me....An actual loaded gun at me! Excuse me for being a little bit unsettled.”
Silence, then Mike asked,”My sister pointed a loaded gun at you? What did you do?”, something almost akin to respect in his eyes.
“She wanted me to go away.”
“Demogorgons can be scary”, El softly said.
“Finally, someone who agrees. Thank you.”
“It's over now”, Dustin said off-handedly.
“Until next year”, Steve muttered.
“The only one who really hurt you was Billy, so actually you should be scared of Billy not a demodog.”
“Billy's actually being nice.”
Max choked on her soda, “What? Billy's never nice...Well, I guess he's nice to his girlfriends, but that's it.” Steve decided to ignore the implication that Billy could see him as a girlfriend.
“Don't bring Billy to the party. We're overfilled as it is”, Mike anxiously threw in.
“I won't”, as if macho Billy would care for a D&D nerd club. How Steve was in this position himself still flabbergasted him. It all felt like a weird nightmare he'd soon wake up from, to a life without demodogs and other near death encounters.
“I've got the Poltergeist VHS”, Dustin said, walking towards the VCR.
“Are you sure that's a good idea to watch a horror movie after everything?”, Steve asked, feeling immediately 10 years older for such a mum question.
“Are you scared, Harrington?”, Dustin teased. Steve signed, lying his head on the edge of the couch. In what point of his life had it become a normal situation to be taunted by a boy five years younger than him? His eyelids started to get heavy 15 minutes into the movie. Head hurting slightly because he had to focus on the screen for a long time. Soon he dropped off.
When he woke up somebody had thrown a blanket over him. The kids looking slightly worried when Steve sat up.
“Is everything alright?”, he asked, not sure what was going on.
“Are you still sick?”, El asked.
“Mum said it would be alright to let you sleep”, Will said, only now Steve realized the boy had been very quiet the entire time.
“I'm fine, just tired”, he rubbed his eyes, asking himself how he could still be so exhausted even though he'd been sleeping so much in the past few days. The children exchanged glances until Mike nodded and they backed away.
“You have to eat Eggos, they help”, El said.
“Thanks for the tip”, Steve gave her a sly smile, and sat up. “So what did I miss?”
“Just the entire Poltergeist movie”, Max informed him.
“Okay, what are we going to do now?”, his brain felt fuzzy. Trying to shake it off he tried to direct his thoughts back to the here and now.
“We need to get a new cat for my mum”, Dustin pulled out his wallet, “I've got some money. We could go down to the pet shop and buy a cat there.”
“You still haven't told your mum what happened to Mews, have you?”, Steve asked him.
The boy shook his head, “It would break her heart.”
“And hoping that she'll come back someday isn't going to break her heart?”, Steve nearly snapped at Dustin. It reminded him too much of Barb's parents. Still hoping after a year that their daughter was out there somewhere. Her funeral would be soon, and he still wasn't sure if he could bear to go.
“I'll tell her”, Dustin muttered.
“Do you have a bike?”, Mike changed the subject.
“No, you want to go there by bike?”, Steve asked the younger boy.
“Yes, but we could walk as well”, Mike quickly added. Maybe a bit too quick considering how much these boys took care of their bikes. More than Steve took care of his car. Of course that's because his father had given him the car. It felt almost wrong not to crash it, just to annoy him. On the other hand he liked to have a car.
“We can walk. But is it okay with Hopper, El? You running around in public.”
“I have to keep a low profile”, El said, pronouncing low profile with extra care. Proud that she knew such a difficult word. Mike was staring at her like Steve had at Nancy. The gaze that meant that the only girl that mattered was sitting right next to you.
“That's settled then. Don't forget to put on your coats”, he almost automatically said only to mentally kick himself afterwards. When had he become such a parent?
“Yes, Mum”, they all answered in unison.