#except that on the driver seat THERE IS HARGROVE’S FUCKING SISTER and she is gonna crash them against a tree

[toobusybeingdelulu]

Sometimes i sit and think about how Steve could have NOT handled billy and max as a duo, LIKE… NEVER.

This simply because of the fact that the only time he tried to manage them SEPARATELY he was almost killed by both of them THE SAME NIGHT: once while being beaten to a pulp by Billy and literally a few moments later he almost became victim of a car crash because of Max’s dubious driving skills.

Now imagine the Cali siblings both alive in s4???? And Steve having to be in charge of both of them?? He would have literally gone insane I fear.

[p0und-cake]

The Dead Kid’s Brother and the Freak (Part One)

Part Two! - Part Three!

eddie munson x male!hargrove!reader

SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR

plot summary - im planning for this to be a 3-parter! first part is about how reader and eddie met, second is how they got together, third is the reader being infected with vecna’s curse !

warnings - mention of death, mention of unaliving, attempted unaliving, talking someone down from unaliving, mention of homophobia, censored f slur, cursing, mentions of abuse, mentions of drinking/alcohol

———————————————————————————

Right now, being Eddie Munson’s boyfriend and the dead kid’s brother really wasn’t the greatest position ever for you. You would really rather be at home with your step-sister and step-mother instead of hiding at Skull Rock with Eddie after watching Patrick McKinney get his bones broken like someone was cracking a glow-stick.

Ever since you and Eddie had watched Chrissy Cunningham die in his trailer, things had just taken a turn for the worst. You had heard Chrissy’s bones cracking from Eddie’s bedroom along with his screaming, and when you got in the living room, you saw something you could never imagine, despite having seen a huge monster at the Starcourt mall. Chrissy had been suspended in the air, her limbs bent in several directions that NO limbs should ever go. You came in right as her eyeballs popped out of their sockets and she crashed into the floor. You had no time to get over the shock that Chrissy was the one buying from your boyfriend, and just had to deal with the fact she was dead on the floor.

You and Eddie had a sort of agreement. It was pretty much common courtesy that he didn’t tell anybody who his customers were, and you accepted that. So when he told you somebody was coming over for a deal, you nodded and said you’d stay in his room until the person was gone. Of course, that didn’t last very long.

Eddie was of course freaking out. Some girl had just fucking died in his living room. As he yelled and cried you had stared at Chrissy’s body, trying to figure out what had even happened. Was it something with the upside down? If it was, fuck that shit. Not after what had happened to your brother.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?!” Eddie sputtered, almost forgetting you were there.

“We can’t report this to the cops. They’re…” You hesitated, knowing that Eddie wasn’t going to want to hear this. “They’re…gonna think either me or you did it.”

“What?!”

“Think about it, Ed!” You grabbed his shoulders to stop him from pacing. “Chrissy Cunningham is fucking dead in your living room! What is that gonna look like?! My sister knew I was going here! We live right across the street!”

Good god, what was Max going to think?

“We have to get the hell out.” You said, trying to stay calm for Eddie’s sake.

“Shit, shit, you’re right.” He breathed out shakily. “Come on, I-I know somewhere!” Eddie grabbed one of your hands that was on his shoulders and dragged you out, audibly freaking out as he did so. You jumped in the passenger seat and he got in the driver’s. He quickly sped off, leaving you to just stare at where you lived with Max and Susan.

This was just going to crush them. After what had happened with Billy and then Neil leaving? You had picked up a job at a gas station in order to help Susan provide for everybody. After your brother had passed away, everything had just gone south. She and Neil had started fighting, he left, she picked up multiple jobs, and now she was drinking like no tomorrow. You had tried hard to be there for Max, but she had almost shut off completely. Nobody except you was exactly close to Billy, but you knew she had some caring for him. You couldn’t imagine how it must feel grieving for someone who hurt you.

As Eddie had ranted about wherever you were going, all you could think about was Billy. What would he do? You were a little sad to say you didn’t know. The two of you were relatively close when you were kids and your mother was around. But Neil ruined everything. He had driven Mom away and only caused you and Billy so much more pain. You remembered the nights when Billy would come to you with black eyes, fighting back tears and trying to be strong. You were just a little older than him, but that didn’t make the fact you were his big brother any different.

That being said, you couldn’t handle the fact that you had failed him once moving to Hawkins. You had forgotten what being a big brother had meant. He had seemed so independent and was pushing you away, so you figured he didn’t need you anymore. He had grown up. You stopped staying at the house as often. You went out with some of the jock friends you had made. You didn’t want to deal with Neil yelling at you and hurting you and calling you slurs. You realized too late that really had needed you. He was dead by the time you had realized how royally you’d fucked up. You had left him alone in a house. But not a home.

Ever since he died the guilt was starting to eat you alive.

But that’s how you met Eddie Munson.

It had all started when your dad left. He made you stay with Susan and Max. He told you it was your fault that Billy had died. Everything had been your fault, according to him. Your fault that your mother had left. Your fault Max was getting into trouble. You were to blame for all of it. You remember Susan begging him to take it back, that you didn’t do anything. But his words still rang clear in your head.

“The f*g only has himself to blame.”

Now you realized he just said that because he didn’t want to admit it was his fault. But then? You were still grieving over your little brother who you failed to save.

So, that night after Neil had left, you decided you didn’t want anything to be your fault ever again. Standing on the edge of that quarry that one middle schooler got his arms broken at by some girl, apparently, you were ready to just relieve everybody. But before you could do what you had planned, someone had called out.

“Hey, woah, bud! That’s the wrong place you wanna jump off if you’re going for a swim.”

You had whipped around and saw a strange boy your age with a shirt that read ‘Hellfire’. He was obviously cautious, knowing what your plan was.

“Go away!” You shouted. “Just- get out of here!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, you fucking can! Just go, please! I dunno who you are, but nothing you have to say is gonna make me fuckin’ feel better!”

The boy sighed, and you thought he had left, but suddenly he was right there next to you.

“Well, you at least gonna tell me your name so I can tell people who I saw jump off at the quarry?”

“What? What do you care?”

“You gonna answer the question?” He asked, perfectly calm as opposed to your loud, shaky voice and puffy eyes. “What’s your name?”

“…(Y/n)…”

“(Y/n)…?”

“…Hargrove.” You uttered the last name like it was delicate glass.

It seemed to click in his head immediately. Hargrove. The dead kid. You were related to the dead kid.

“Shit…well, I’m Eddie. Nice to meetcha.” He offered you a smile and held out his hand. Your eyebrows furrowed as you nervously took his hand. “Now, if you’re gonna jump, just know it’s not gonna solve anything.” He said, gripping your hand in his as if to try and ground you. You just glared and ripped your hand away.

“I guess I’ll have to be the judge of that.” You gave him no further explanation and that’s when you stepped off the edge.

Instantly, you regretted it. The feeling of falling really wasn’t fun, and in that moment you remembered Susan and Max. Luckily, that feeling didn’t last too long.

A strong hand had grasped your arm. Eddie had knelt down on the edge and grabbed you. All he did was smile at you.

“You really think I was gonna let you fall, Hargrove?” He quickly yanked you up. This man had strength.

You scrambled up and scooted away from the cliff, trying to fight back the tears that were coming on but miserably failing. You’d always been shamed for crying. It wasn’t manly, according to…like, everybody you knew. You remembered hiding your tears during Billy’s funeral, only to go out by this same quarry and scream out your frustrations in private. But…Eddie didn’t say anything. He just went and sat next to you, crossing his legs. You tried stopping, worried he would eventually make some backhanded comment.

But he didn’t. He laid his hand on your back, being cautious in case you didn’t want to be touched.

“I know this is kinda weird considering we just met, but…do you wanna hug?”

You stared at him for a few seconds. When was the last time someone had hugged you? You couldn’t remember. Eddie seemed to sense your uneasiness, and he held out his arms, almost like he knew you basically forgot how to initiate one. You bit your lip and eventually just said fuck it and leaned forward and hugged the boy. As soon as he wrapped his arms around you, it was all over. The tears gushed out of your eyes like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube. Your throat tightened and you started shaking like a baby rattle. You were a mess. You felt pathetic as you cried like a baby in this stranger’s arms.

“Shit- f-fuck- ‘m sorry…” You stammered out, your words barely comprehensible due to your onslaught of tears. “You shouldn’t have to deal with a total stranger’s problems, man…”

“Well…yeah, so?” Eddie hummed. “I wasn’t about to let a pretty boy like you jump off and die a painful death on those rocks.”

Pretty boy? Your face was already red from crying, but it just got a little redder. That’s when you spotted the black handkerchief/bandana in his back pocket.

“I-I hope you didn’t stop me just because you wanted a fuck.” You mumbled, and now it was his turn to be surprised.

“I- well, no, that’s not what I meant-” he started stammering, not sure if he should reassure you or be surprised you knew what that meant. “You’re- I mean, shit-”

You couldn’t help but just laugh a little, sniffling as you pulled away. He looked a little scary, but he was actually pretty sweet. “It’s okay…I just joking. You’re…y’know?”

Eddie seemed to relax. “Yeah, I am. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded in understanding. “Well, nice to know you aren’t gonna call me a slur or anything.” He chuckled lightheartedly.

“Same.” You breathed out shakily. It wasn’t often you met another gay person. You knew Robin Buckley was, but that’s about it.

“So…do you wanna talk about anything? I mean if not, that’s whatever.” Eddie hummed. “If you want a distraction or anything, that’s cool too.”

“A distraction?”

Eddie smiled and stood up, offering his hand which had several huge rings. “Yeah, c’mon. Ever heard of Dungeons and Dragons?”

[harringrovehouse]

S2 AU where everything is EXACTLY the same except Billy and Max don’t roll into town with their parents but rather as a result of a letter, one hand delivered to Hopper by a stuffy man in a suit and tie.

The letter opens with ‘Dear Sarge’ and Hopper knows it’s one of his men. One of the men he commanded in Nam. He sits stiffly in his office and reads the letter. It’s from Taz, Neil Hargrove, one of the well most unstable men that Hopper had every comanded, his nickname had been ‘Taz the Tazmanian devil’ because of his quick uncontrollable outbursts. Taz writes that he’s dying, cancer, and that he’s got a kids, a boy who’s mother fucked off year ago and left them alone and a girl, the result of a second marriage, he wasn’t even sure she was his but he cared for her even after her mother died last year in a car crash. Taz asks Hopper to take his kids in, take them in and keep them alive until their 18 and Hopper can do whatever he wants with them.

‘They got no one but me Sarge. And I’m gonna be dead by November.’

Hopper sighs as he looks down at the letter, gut turning as he thinks about El. Thinks about how he’s just gotten her intergrated back into society, and bu society he’s told the kids she’s okay and she’s allowed to be at Joyce’s house every once in a while without him. Would this be too much for his girl? They still have power outbursts. Would it be okay to bring two stranger into this mix. Hopper takes a long lunch to decided. He shows Joyce the letter and waits for her opinion.

“You gotta take them in Jim!” She’s tearing up as she rereads the letter. “You can’t let them go into the system.” Hopper argues with her, he doesn’t have the space for two more kids. He certainly isn’t sure he has the patience! Joyce glares at him and then reads him the riot act.

So he does the only thing he can. He calls the number at the bottom of the letter, talks to Taz and agrees to take in his kids. He tells El they’re going to have guests and that she has to keep her powers to a minimum, even as they move from the cabin into a house on Old Cherry.

William and Maxine ride into Hawkins three days later, a UHaul driven by the same, now rumpled and angry, lawyer who delivered the letter. Hopper waves awkwardly from the stoop as El hovers at his side, eyes wide as she watched Maxine climb out of the back seat of the blue Camaro William is driving. El makes a weird noise and points at the skateboard Maxine is death gripping. Behind her William climbs out of the drivers seat, a hard angry look on his face as he slams the door. Hopper meets them half way up, he awkwardly sticks his hand out for them to shake. William takes it quickly, muttering out a quick ‘hello sir’ before swatting at his sister’s shoulder to get her to do the same. Maxine takes Hopper’s hand weakly and lets out a barely audible ‘hello sir’ before dropping her hand to her side and glaring at the sidewalk .

The next few days are a vivid rush. Maxine or Max as she prefers moves into the room next to El’s, gets to know her friends and somehow become her enemy all in a 48 hour period. Something to do with the boys having no idea what to do with this new female attention. It’s not made easier with the fact that El is not able to go to school yet. William, for his part, keeps his nose clean. He quickly wins over the multitude of girls at Hawkins High, and more than once had to be reminded that bringing anyone into their home isn’t allowed! William and Max fight like cats and dogs, they blame each other for the move and no matter how many times Hopper raises his voice over their bickering to remind them that it’s no one’s fault but thr US Government and their war, it never seems to work. It really only causes William to flinch each time Hopper do it, which starts to concerns him. At one point, in the dead center of Will Byer’s newest Upsidedown run in, Hopper has three very angry, very hostile with each other, teens on his hands and it all comes to a head one night when he has to rush off to Joyce’s and leaves William in charge.

“Just keep an eye on your sisters! Please.” Is the last thing he says before he’s racing out of the house to go help Joyce.

Hopper would find out later than El would sneak out to find Mike, and then Max to go with Lucas, who showed up to take her to a junk yard and then finally William would end up chasing both of them down in the middle of the night only to throw down with Steve Harrington in Joyce’s living room before El threw the dead body of a Demodog threw a window and stopped their fight.

By the time the sun rose above the clouds the next morning, Hopper would be pacing in his living room, covered in blood and Upsidedown goo having patched El back up after she closed the gate, and tapes but William’s lip and checked Max over for any type of damage she might have picked up between entering the Upsidedown hole and running away from a herd of Demodogs.

“Just-just promise me the three of you will at least talk to each other if,” oh god he hopes this never happens again. “If anything like this EVER happens again. Please.” He’s shaking slightly but waits as the three of them slowly turn to look at each other. First El to Max, then Max to William and then finally the three of them make eye contact with the others and begin to nod. “Thank god. That’s all your old dad needs.” They all freeze and Hopper covers his face with his hands. Suddenly warm and pink skin hidden behind the dirt and grim. “Go to bed. Uh all of you. It’s been a long night.”

It’s weird for the next few weeks. Especially when Hopper catches William going down on Steve Harrington, which, oh man is that a conversation for the book. Both boys leave the house mortified but Hopper’s confident that they’ve learned their lesson. They all still dance around each other but at some point El and Max move their beds into the bigger of the two rooms and sit huddles together most nights giggling about whatever teen magazine Joyce had given them that week. Everything starts to feel normal, and by the summer of 1985 Hopper’s never felt more at home.

[moonstruckbucky]

Invisible

SUMMARY: The reader is, quite frankly, fed up with being second to Nancy "Goody-Two-Shoes" Wheeler.

PAIRING: Billy Hargrove x female Wheeler!Reader

WORD COUNT: 3.1k

REQUESTED: no

WARNINGS: Language [ya'll are gonna learn real quick that i have a straight up potty mouth], tooth-rotting fluff, slight Nancy-bashing [but it is not indicative of my own personal feelings towards Nancy, she’s a badass.]

Growing up as “the other Wheeler” was about as exciting as a nail through the eye. You were the middle sibling, serving to only add insult to injury. Virtually, you were the invisible one in the family, except when your father would ask why you couldn’t get grades like Nancy. Every time, it chipped away at your ever-dwindling self-confidence so that even you had begun to compare yourself to your older sister.

As for dating? Forget it. Your love life consisted of dating a boy for a few weeks until he had wormed his way closer to Nancy, and then you were history. You weren’t as pretty as Nancy, you weren’t as funny as Nancy (which was the only thing you disagreed with; you were downright hilarious while Nancy’s sense of humor bordered on non-existent).

You just weren’t Nancy.

You had a minor crush on Nancy’s boyfriend, Steve, when they first started dating, even though he barely considered the two of you to be friends. He tolerated you, as did everyone else. Nancy’s friends tolerated you when they invited Nancy out and said you could tag along too, if only out of respect for Nancy. But they never included you in conversation, never asked how your college applications were going. It was like you weren’t even there, and eventually you stopped going, and Nancy stopped asking.

The two of you weren’t particularly close, despite only being six months apart in age. She was focused on school and was too wrapped up in Steve to really worry about what her sister was or wasn’t getting up to. The only link between the two of you had been Barbara Holland, and once she’d disappeared and turned out to be dead, all ties between you and Nancy had been severed.

You went through the motions at Hawkins High School, throwing yourself into achieving the best grades you could to get into a school miles away from Hawkins, Indiana. Someplace where you wouldn’t just be known as “the other Wheeler”.

On a Thursday afternoon, you found yourself in the school library, nose buried in your American History textbook trying to retain the Gettysburg Address. You’d gotten your tests back earlier that day, and you’d just about failed. You hated the feeling of failure; every other aspect of your life was failure, so it was unacceptable for school to give you that feeling too.

The slamming of books on the desk jolted you from your position and you gasped loudly.

“Hey bookworm.”

You leered up into the face of the new kid, Billy Hargrove, who was wearing his signature smirk as he leaned on the chair across from you.

“Can I help you?” you grumbled, your heart rate slowing as you calmed down.

“Word has it you’re good at Algebra.” He pulled out the chair and sat down, completely uninvited.

“And?”

He tossed a stapled group of papers at you before folding his arms on the desk, leaning forward. You picked them up, taking in the circled red F on the page. Your eyes skimmed his answers quickly and then you tossed it back to him.

“Your formulas are wrong,” you observed before turning back to your book. The papers appeared in your line of sight again. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“Help me. Tutor me?” You raised an eyebrow at his almost pleading tone. “I can’t fail another class.”

“What’s in it for me besides loss of patience?” you snarked back, setting your book down.

“I can help you bring that History grade up.” Ignoring the sassy remark, he nodded at the test to your left, the failing grade bright against the paper. You gnawed on your lip for a while, weighing the pros and cons of trading tutoring sessions with Billy Hargrove.

You weren’t friends. In fact, the two of you couldn’t be more opposite. You’d seen him in the halls, parading around like a peacock surrounded by a gaggle of rowdy boys and girls who were drooling after him. You’d heard stories about him, how he moved from sunny California, how he picked fights over the smallest reasons, how he dated girls and left them heartbroken the next day. He was everything about high school you abhorred, and yet, you somehow found yourself agreeing to his stupid idea.

“Fuck this,” you whisper-yelled about an hour later, slamming your textbook closed. Billy had moved into the seat beside you to better go over his Algebra problems before moving onto History. You shoved the book away from you, fully fed up with trying to nail down important dates of the Civil War.

Billy smirked. “Didn’t know the other Wheeler had such a mouth on her.”

Bitterness settled in your gut at his remark, and you pursed your lips and pointedly looked in the other direction. It wasn’t anything you hadn’t heard before, but the way it came off Billy’s tongue sat heavy with you. Your leg started bouncing in annoyance as you fiddled with your pen, trying to will yourself not to cry over a comment you heard literally every day.

“Hey,” Billy then murmured, leaning forward to try and see your face. “You okay?”

“Just peachy,” you grumbled before gathering your belongings. “Tutoring’s over.”

You left him in the library, staring dumbfoundedly after you, and only when you stepped foot outside did you let your vision blur with the tears fighting to the surface. You climbed into your car after dumping your books on the passenger seat and punched the steering wheel, the horn honking once.

You weren’t exactly sure why you were so upset; after all, the comment was coming from Billy Hargrove of all people, so it wasn’t as if his opinion actually mattered. But somehow, it did. It cut you like a papercut, a quick swipe that gave way to an unrelenting sting. Maybe it was your subconscious finally giving up on trying to ignore it every time it slipped through someone’s teeth. Maybe that one time was enough straw to break the camel’s back.

God, you wished high school was over.

The drive home was silent and lonely, just like the rest of your life. While high school was supposed to help you figure out who you’d become in the real world, it seemed as if it was determined to point you in only one direction: Nancy’s shadow.

The house was quiet when you got home, and you found a note on the kitchen island that told you Nancy was out with Steve, Mike was at Will’s, and your parents had gone out for dinner. You sighed. It was typical that they forgot about you, leaving you to your own devices for dinner. You called your favorite Chinese place and ordered delivery and while you waited you showered, trying to scrub away the day’s events, cried a little in the shower over your pathetic life, and then put on a pair of pajamas and parked your ass on the couch for a horror movie binge.

Nancy never understood your fascination with the genre. You tried explaining it to her once, but she just looked at you like Sigourney Weaver looked at a Xenomorph and gave up on trying to “bond” with her sister.

The Chinese was delivered not long after you popped your Alien VHS into the player and changed the channel. You paid the driver and tipped him before closing the door and setting the bag on the coffee table. You dug out your orange chicken, fried rice, and spring rolls, popped the top on your can of Coke, and hit play on the movie.

The next day at school, there were whispers in the hallway about your tutoring session with Billy. Some girls glared and scoffed, while others merely analyzed you curiously. The boys just laughed.

What took you by surprise was the fact that your sister was standing beside your locker, looking every bit annoyed once she spotted you.

“What are you doing with Billy?” she hissed. “He’s a bad guy!”

You gave her a deadpan look as you swapped out your books. “I’m tutoring him in Algebra and he’s helping me with History. Besides, it isn’t like you actually care. They all eventually come crawling after you anyways.”

You slammed your locker closed and left Nancy gaping after you. As you entered your first period class, all conversation ceased and all eyes were on you. It was an uncomfortable walk to your seat in the middle of the room, the eyes of your peers burning into your head. You sat quietly and kept your head down, trying to block out the not-so-subtle whispers of the students around you.

By lunchtime, talk was buzzing through the school like rampant bees that “the other Wheeler was in the library with Billy and left in tears”. The story, of course, had been convoluted a multitude of ways that stretched it further and further from the truth until the final version was something along the lines of Billy, you, and a scandalous affair.

Normally, at lunch, you’d sit with Nancy, Steve, and the others even though you were never formally invited into conversation with them. Today, though, the look Nancy gave you when you entered the cafeteria told you you weren’t welcome. That was fine; sitting alone at a table made you feel less alone than when you were with Nancy and her cronies.

You pulled your lunch out of your bag despite not feeling very hungry, the cafeteria buzzing with activity as everyone tried to guess why you were suddenly sitting alone. Then conversation halted altogether, and a tray dropped down across from you, the school pizza dripping grease onto the napkin beneath it.

Billy Hargrove followed the path of the tray, settling on the chair across from you and popping the top on his can of soda. He met your surprised stare calmly and easily, and he winked over the top of his drink. You felt yourself blush and looked away from him shyly, suddenly wondering why all of the sudden he was paying attention to you of all people.

The answer to that question came later in the week. You were in the living room working on History homework on the coffee table, your headphones in. Tutoring with Billy had gone better after the event at lunch, and he’d fortunately kept the conversation to a minimum if it didn’t involve homework or your notes.

Your parents were home, but Nancy wasn’t. You bopped your head along to AC/DC, not seeing your mother come down the stairs in her bathrobe.

Karen was surprised to see a spitting image of the man on the cover of her trashy novel standing outside her front door, his shirt unbuttoned and showing off a good portion of his toned chest.

“Hi,” he said, turning the charm up to a hundred.

“Oh, are you here for Nancy?” she asked, hoping that his answer was no as she leaned against the doorway and pulled her hand from her robe, letting it fall open just a bit.

“No, no, not my type,” Billy replied, shaking his head with a smirk. “I’m actually here for Y/N.”

The surprise was clearly evident on Karen’s face since a boy hadn’t come calling for Y/N since her sophomore year. The expression on her face angered Billy, as if it was so unheard of for anyone to visit or even interact with her daughter. What kind of mother is she?

“Oh, she’s, um, she’s in the living room. Um, come on in.” Karen stepped aside and Billy sauntered in, hands in his pockets as he took in Y/N’s modest home on the other side of town. He found you bent over your textbook, headphones on your head as you mouthed the words to “Girl’s Got Rhythm”.

“Honey,” Karen called feebly. She said it a few more times before waltzing over and pulling the headphones off your head just as the guitar solo was about to kick off.

“Hey! What the hell-- Billy?” You felt frozen in your spot as Billy smirked at you from the living room doorway.

“Your friend came over to see you.” Your mom did a shit job at hiding the shock in her voice, but whether it was from the notion of you even having friends or having friends who looked like Billy, you weren’t sure. “I’m just going to go up and resume my bath.”

You grimaced at the way she said bath and batted her eyelashes at Billy, who barely spared her a second glance as she sauntered away.

“What are you doing here?” you finally asked once you stood to your feet. “Better yet, how do you know where I live?”

“I have connections,” he replied with a one-shouldered shrug. “Let’s go for a drive.”

“I-I can’t. I have homework.” You gestured behind you at the books laid out on the table.

“Work on it later. Lords know you’re passing every class.” He rolled his eyes. “Including History now, thanks to me.”

“Whatever,” you grumbled as you shoved your feet into your shoes. If there was one thing you knew about Billy Hargrove, it was that he was aggravatingly tenacious. He was relentless in his tutoring, making sure you had one set of dates down before quizzing you on the next set. It was frustrating, but you were glad you were finally grasping the concept.

Billy led you out the front door and down the walkway to his blue Camaro, stopping by the passenger door to open it for you. You angled into the seat, the leather cool under your jeans, and he ran around to the driver’s side. The engine roared as he turned it over and then he floored it down the street. Your hands were balled into fists inside your hoodie pocket as he drove, heading to the outskirts of town.

It remained silent in the car as he drove and for a while, you wondered if you were about the be the victim of a classic horror movie. Until Billy stopped at the top of the quarry, overlooking the lake and got out of the car. He leaned against the hood and ducked his head to light a cigarette before reaching back to slap the hood and waving you out.

Slowly you unbuckled yourself and got out, coming to stand beside him at the front of the car. Your nose crinkled at the smell of his cigarette, but he was at least generous enough to blow the smoke away from you. The moon reflected off the lake hundreds of feet below you, rippling as the breeze disturbed the water.

Billy was shockingly silent beside you, puffing on his cigarette and leering out into the night. You spoke up when you’d finally had enough of the silence.

“Why did you sit with me at lunch today? Isn’t that social suicide or something?”

Billy blew the smoke out through his nose in an aggravated huff, his eyes becoming hard. The rest of his cigarette was crunched under his boot as he turned to face you.

“Why do you do that?” he asked. At your confused expression he elaborated. “Put yourself down like that. Why do you do that?”

Your mouth dropped open but you had no answer for him. Not a verbal one anyway, so you shrugged.

“You know, for a smart girl, you’re really dumb,” he fired off next. Your shoulders squared themselves, ready to fight back. “You let people treat you like you’re nothing, like you’re invisible, and I don’t get it.”

“I...Where is this coming from? You don’t even know me!”

“I know you’re itching to get out of Hawkins, to find somewhere you’re not being compared to Nancy. Yeah, I know all about that. I hear people talk and I saw the way you reacted in the library when I called you the other Wheeler. You’re not subtle. I’m not some big dumb brute of a guy who can’t see when someone undeserving is suffering. I see a lot more than you think.”

Your mouth snapped shut as your throat tightened, and you had to look away. The look in his eye was too much as you came to the realization that you weren’t invisible, not to Billy anyway, and it hit you like a freight train.

“You don’t understand,” you heard yourself whispering. You closed your eyes against the onslaught of emotions rising within you. “My whole life, I’ve been invisible, never anyone’s first choice. Middle child syndrome, you know? My father always asked, ‘why can’t you get grades like Nancy?’ Why can’t you excel like Nancy?’ My first A- was trumped by her fucking A+ and I didn’t stop hearing about it for a week. Any boy I ever liked just used me to get closer to Nancy. It’s always Nancy. Nancy, Nancy, fucking Nancy. Why can’t it ever be me?”

The last line was said in such a broken tone that Billy was compelled to step forward. Then you were surrounded in his warmth, and it broke you. You cried into his shirt, finally feeling some relief that you could let it all go.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Billy murmured into your hair, pressing a gentle kiss there after. “I see you, Y/N.”

At those words, you choked on a sob and wound your arms around his waist, holding him tightly to you, and he mirrored the embrace. You stood like that for a while until you were out of tears and his shirt was thoroughly soaked through. Sniffling, you leaned back a bit out of his embrace and he loosened his hold on you just enough to look down at you.

“Sorry,” you muttered, nodding at his shirt. “I ruined your shirt.”

“Fuck the shirt,” he retorted with a smirk that made your mouth quirk up at the ends. “There’s that smile. You don’t have to live in anyone’s shadow, Y/N, least of all Nancy’s. You have a light all your own; let it shine.”

The next week at school was the best week of your life. After Billy had knocked some sense into you, he was never far from your side. Usually he had an arm slung around your shoulders, or your hand grasped in his, leaving the rest of the student body to gawk and wonder what he saw in you. Your confidence was slowly, but surely, rising, though you still had your off days. On those days, Billy was right there with you, murmuring his faith in you that you would overcome it, that you were brilliant, and smart, and beautiful, and that no one could touch you.

Billy Hargrove had unexpectedly saved your life.

[alpha-imagines]

8th Grade Valentine’s- Billy Hargrove

A/N: Aw this was such a cute idea thank you to whoever suggested it!! Another part of New Boy should be up tomorrow but i wanted to post this on Valentine’s day so here ya go! Hope you’re all having a fun day no matter what you’re doing!

Requested by Anonymous:  so i saw that you wanted some ideas for billy, and i thought of something v-day related. so what i was thinking was like reader is the partys babysitter and dustin is "in love" w her and he asks her to be his valentine before billiam couldve asked her and hes lowkey pissed about it bc he cant spend time w his girl bc some fucking 8th grader asked her first???

The first time you properly met Billy Hargrove was at Joanna Cleeves’ Christmas party. Her parents were away and Carol had convinced her that she had to host a festive gathering which slowly turned into a house party for what felt like the entire school.

You and your best friend had arrived, got unequivocally drunk before you had encouragingly pushed her into the arms of Craig Lawson who she’d been crushing on for pretty much her entire life.

“Hey Angel” You heard from behind you and although your reflexes were pretty out of sync you slowly turned your head and saw that Billy Hargrove was leant against the counter behind you, red cup to his lips that partly masked his brimming smirk.

“Uh Hi” You mumbled, confused as to whether or not Billy Hargrove was actually talking to you or maybe someone behind you.

“You look to die for” He smirked and sent a wink your way, despite the alcohol that was spinning his brain he didn’t miss the blush that covered your cheeks.

“Thanks” You replied sceptically only for you to realise you were being pulled further away from Billy by someone who had a grip on your elbow

“Hey!” You exclaimed before your vision caught up with you “Oh hey Steve” You smiled pulling him into a drunken embrace

You didn’t really know Steve all that well, you shared a couple of classes with him but recently you saw more of him thanks to Dustin Henderson. When your parents separated your mom wanted to downsize, so you stayed with her and moved to a smaller house a few doors down from the Henderson’s.

It started out with the odd bit of housesitting when they were out of town for the weekend and gradually you started to babysit whenever Claudia went out and eventually you occasionally took Dustin to school or his friends. You got on really well with Dustin and got to know the other boys pretty well, and when Dustin started spending time with Steve it was inevitable that your paths would cross at some point.

You couldn’t really remember much of that night apart from sitting on the front lawn and drunkenly spilling secrets with Billy who’d followed you out there only to be snatched up and driven home by Steve who announced that you were “too drunk” and “too nice” to be alone with Billy Hargrove.

But that was the first time you’d spoken to Billy and the pair of you had hit it off after that. Winks in the corridor and at basketball game, him stopping by your locker before walking you to history so he could miss 5 minutes of maths. You two were friends but he flirted furiously and you didn’t mind it at all, much to Steve’s disapproval.

“Dustin said you were sitting for him tonight?” Steve asked as the pair of you walked away from the gymnasium after Hawkins High had thrashed the other team at a basketball game.

“Oh yeah” You remembered “I’m going for 6 if you had plans with him first”

“No, no plans” Steve said and scratched the back of his neck nervously “I just have a favour to ask you”

“Sure” You smiled as you approached his car and slid into the passenger seat.

“So are you like around on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, turning in his seat to face you

“What?” You stammered “Oh um Steve…”

“No no no” He quickly interjected, holding his hands up innocently “Not for me, but maybe for Dustin?”

It took you a moment to think, and you were about to respond with a somewhat hesitant “ok” when Steve interrupted you

“Don’t tell Dustin I told you this, because he’ll kill me” He laughed “But he kinda has this big crush on you and he didn’t want to go to the valentines dance alone and I figured..”

“Sure” You smiled reassuringly at Steve who then released a breath that he didn’t even realise he was holding.

You liked Dustin, he was a sweet kid, a little weird but he was always sweet. You didn’t mind giving up your valentines to help him out, but you had a feeling that perhaps Billy would.

“So what film do you wanna watch?” You asked Dustin, your legs stretched out on the sofa as you flicked absently through the channels

“Hey what’s up?” You asked when he didn’t respond, you scooted off the couch and sat next to him on the carpet, your back resting up against the sofa.

You knew something was up with him, his shoulders were slumped and he wasn’t rambling on about some physics theory or how to win at the arcade games.

“So are you going to the valentine’s dance?” You asked, bumping his shoulder with your own to prompt him to look at you

“No” He sighed “Lucas is taking Max so I don’t wanna be there”

“Ahh” You sighed sympathetically, he’d told you about how he liked Max and he also told you how she liked Lucas, it was no one’s fault but the boy was clearly still upset by it all

“Well I’ve got no plans either” You shrugged “Maybe we could do something?”

“What?” His head whipped round to look at you which only made you crack a smile

“Yeah I could take you out” You clarified “If you wanted?”

His vigorous nod told you all you needed to know, making the pair of you smile. He seemed happier after that, picking out a movie and chatting the whole way through it like he normally did, it made you smile to know you’d made him happier.

“Morning angel” You heard from behind your ear as a pair of arms snaked their way around your waist

“Billy” You laughed, trying to sound serious but ultimately failing “Not here”

“Why not?” He asked with a smirk “Afraid your good girl act might falter?”

“Not funny” You replied and turned around to give him a light smack on the chest “But I’ve got to get to chemistry so I’ll see you at break” You said and pulled away from him to start heading to your classroom

“You know where to find me” He smirked, his hand still entwined with yours but you let him go as the final bell rung and the corridors began to clear.

As you had said, you met him at his car at the start of lunch, he was leant against the driver’s side, clouds of smoke falling from his lips, his brows drawn into their usual frown from the sunlight as he watched you walk closer to him.

“So” He began as you got close enough to him for him to wrap his arms around you once more

“So” You repeated looking up at him and brushing the speck of dust off of his cheek

You and Billy weren’t officially dating but you’d be heartbroken if he was with anyone else the way he was with you and secretly you hoped he’d be the same if it were you.

“So I was thinking” He started

“Uh oh that could be dangerous” You smirked up at him which earnt you an unimpressed glare

“I was thinking maybe once Susan and my dad are back from whatever stupid adult thing their doing, and Max’s is at her lame dance, maybe we could do something, you know on Valentine’s Day”

Your heart swelled at what Billy was saying, initially he told you that he wasn’t about because he had to look after Max but now he was actually putting in an effort to show he cared, except you already had plans.

“I didn’t think we were doing anything?” You frowned up at him

“Well we are now” He smiled and brushed your hair back behind your ear

“Unless you don’t want to” He stammered after you stood there silently chewing the inside of your cheek

“No no I do want to” You clarified and forced a smile onto your face

“Then what’s the problem?” He asked, he was starting to sound angry and the last thing you wanted was for him to cause a scene

“Billy” You began only to be immediately cut off

“What? You seeing someone else now is that it?” He said pushing you lightly away from him to create some space

“Not like that” You tried to explain “I said I’d take Dustin out on Valentine’s Day”

“Dustin?” Billy spat “As in my little sister’s nerdy friend, 8th grader, ‘son of a bitch’ Dustin?”

“I didn’t want him to be alone on Valentine’s Billy” You pleaded, stepping an inch closer to him

“So you’re gonna ditch me for an 8th grader?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping that you were joking with him

“Billy we can hang out afterwards ok” You tried to reason

“You’re actually going on a date with an 8th grader over me?”

“What difference does it make when you’re already acting like an 8th grader” You quipped back before turning on your heels and heading back towards the cafeteria

“Hey Handsome” You smiled as you spoke through your open car window as Dustin came towards you “So I thought maybe we could go catch a movie then go for food, how’s that sound?”

“Good” He smiled “Great”

“Good” You smiled back triumphantly and sent a quick wave to Mrs Henderson who was stood on the doorstep, cat in her arms, waving at the pair of you.

You’d finished the movie and surprisingly you’d only had to tell Dustin to shut up three times throughout the whole film which seemed like an achievement in itself.

The pair of you then walked a few blocks to go and grab something to eat, you shared a booth and both silently deliberated over the menu before an unenthusiastic waitress came to take your order.

“Hey angel” You heard and instantly you whipped your head around to see Billy stood by your booth and a bunch of flowers that looked a little worse for wears in his hand

“Billy?” You asked with raised eyebrows

“Well I couldn’t not give my girl a valentine’s present could I?” He smiled and motioned for you to slide along, which you did.

“Billy what are you doing here?” You whispered harshly

“I came to see my girl on Valentine’s” He smiled and placed the bouquet of flowers in your hand “Sorry they’re crappy it’s all they had”

“Thanks Billy” You smiled sincerely

“Sorry to steal your date kid” He said, leaning back in his seat “She’s just too hard to resist”

Although you failed at hiding the smirk on your lips you smacked him lightly on the shoulder

“Well if you’re going to gate crash at least go and get me some ketchup” You ordered and prodded him with your finger until he got up and did what you’d told him

“Sorry Dustin” You said with an apologetic smile

“Steve never said he was your boyfriend?” Dustin said confusedly just as the waitress brought over your fries and milkshakes

“He’s not really my boyfriend” You began “It’s complicated” You shrugged

“Steve says he’s a psycho” Dustin said somewhat hesitantly as he took a sip of his milkshake

“I can tell him to go” You said, ignoring his previous comment “I’ll tell him to go”

You slid out from your seat and walked over to where Billy was wrestling with the ketchup bottle

“Do you think maybe this is the best idea?” You asked as your hand rested on his back as he turned to look at you

“Whatta you mean?” He asked, his brows furrowing at your question

“Well you know” You began, averting your gaze from his broken expression “You tried to beat up his best friend, he’s kinda scared of you”

He swallowed hard at the realisation that you somehow knew what had happened before Christmas, and all of a sudden he felt guilty for ruining your date.

“I’m not going to hurt him” He said, his tone was confused as if you were suggesting that he might

“I know you wouldn’t” You smiled, rubbing your thumb across his knuckles “It’s just- I don’t know maybe three’s a crowd?” You cringed expecting some sort of angry response about you putting some kid before him but to your surprise he slowly nodded and placed the ketchup bottle back down on the side

“I promise I’ll make it up to you” You smiled and leant in for a quick kiss

“You better” He smirked once you’d parted lips “You better get her home safe Henderson!” He called out into the diner and Dustin’s eyes were suddenly wild with fear

You laughed and slapped his chest playfully, shaking your head at his comment

“Thank you Billy” You said, your hand pulling him back as he began to head for the exit “and Happy Valentine’s Day”

“Don’t have too much fun” He smiled but you could sense some serious in his tone, he hated the idea of you having fun with someone that wasn’t him, even if it was with an 8th grader

“Not without you” You smiled before letting his hand fall out of yours and watching him walk towards his blue Camaro.

“So how was your date?” He asked, his fingers combing through your hair as your head laid on his chest

“It was nice” You smiled “Thank you for not throwing a tantrum” You said, turning to put your chin on his chest to look at his face

“A tantrum?” He asked, propping himself up slightly “You tryna say I throw tantrums?”

“You know you do” You laughed and Billy couldn’t help but smile back at you

“Well maybe I’ve shown I could be boyfriend material” He said but it came out more like a question

“Maybe you have” You smiled and leant in for another kiss.

You had to admit it had turned out to be a pretty successful Valentine’s Day for all of you.