#steve is one overprotective motherfucker

[xxchthonicreaturexx]

I've got another request but I just love your writing sm. How do you think the boys (Curtis gang + Shepards) would act during and after an argument (like would they be cold to their s/o, would they be clingy, how long does it take to make up etc). I'm honestly such a sucker for angst like it's not even funny💀. Sorry, this is kinda a long one.

-🤍🤍

You're adorable :) <3 thank you for being patient.

Tim Shepard

Tim doesn't yell unless absolutely necessary. If you're the type to raise your voice and not listen to a thing he's saying, he'll probably yell a few times, but he easily will out yell you. It's quick and it's scary. He has that scary parent voice like Darry-

He's usually a quiet type of angry with a partner. A snide, backhanded comment here and there followed by the silent treatment until you're begging like a puppy for forgiveness. Or if he realizes he's being too harsh and he gives in first but usually it's the latter.

Fights can last up to a week depending on what it was. Usually it's only a few days before it's resolved, but if you're the stubborn type then sadly he can also hold a grudge. He'll never let it go past a week though. After y'all have time to cool off he decides it's time for y'all to act like grownups and talk it out calmly. Nothing really changes after the fight though. He's still Tim. He's still an asshole. 🤷

Curly Shepard

Motherfucking Curly Shepard can kiss my ass. I love Curly with a passion...BUT he can get slightly petty. When's he's upset with you, you'll know. Trust me. He's a fighter, and can be violent, but with his partner he'll channel his pissed offery in other... More annoying ways.

Oh, you need your morning coffee? Sorry babe, he just drank the last of it and the fucker doesn't even like coffee. 🤷

Oh, you're missing your work shirt? He "accidentally" spilled water on it so you can either go to work without your uniform or wear it wet.

Oh, you wanna makeout and watch a movie? Sorry, he's already getting ready to go hang out with friends even though you guys specifically planned to hang out that day.

He's a little shit but eventually it'll get so ridiculous you can't help but laugh and that's kinda how you guys makeup? 🤷

Darry Curtis

I mean- how the hell do you think that'd play out? He's a yeller. He pulls a loud disappointment card and talks with his hands a lot. If he's too mad he'll yell from a different room because he's scared he'll push you or something like what he does Pony. He really doesn't want to hurt or scare you, so he puts distance in between y'all.

And I swear, if you FOLLOW him while he's trying to put space in-between you, you just might get pinned into a corner. Not that Darry would ever lay his hands on you but the second he sees your scared expression, he's a mess. The yellings out the window and he almost looks like a kicked puppy.

I'd like to say that fights actually happen frequent with Darry but they're usually over things like your or the boys' safety and stuff like that. Doesn't matter if you're his kid brother, one of the other Greasers, or his spouse, he's overprotective. If he likes you even a tiny bit he's protective as hell. However, Darry is usually the type to apologize with a lame offer of a date or alone time within 24 hours.

Sodapop Curtis

Another silent type. This little shit will be kinda immature when it comes to the silent treatment. "Oh, Steve? Did you hear someone saying something to me? I could've sworn an annoying little voice was talking to me."

Yeah he pulls that shit. Kick him him in the shins and run away and he'll chase you. Honestly might end up with y'all play fighting despite him trying to be mad. He just can't keep it for long 🤷 unless it's serious that is.

If it's serious, I could see him raising his voice for a second, but never super loud. He'll do it to get his point across and then he'll want space. He might secretly cry if it's something bad, but Pony's got him, don't worry. Nothing a late night talk won't fix. Soda will probably phone you within a day or two and ask if you guys can take a walk and CALMLY talk things out.

Ponyboy Curtis

He's such a freaking whiner bro :/ y'all probably fight all the time with how whiney he is about shit. I like Pony, don't get me wrong, but Pony can be kinda sensitive. Don't even lie.

He's a sarcastic little shit that will make comments and pout whenever he's upset with you. Visibly less playful and acts around you how he does Darry most times. Sometimes if you guys start to actually argue though, he'll actually run away. He'S a TrAcK sTaR-

Trust me, just give him an hour or two. If he's out longer than that, check the lot. 🤷 Probably got lost writing a little sob story or reading a book. Also the type to write you apology letters though in a form of a poem. The poems are sweet I guess but kinda cringey when he's all awkward about it lmfao.

Johnny Cade

Probably guessed it but he hates fighting. He'll avoid it the best he can but it's unavoidable sometimes. You yell and he'll shut down. Come back and talk to him when you've cooled off. He refuses to be yelled at, reminds him too much of home, but he also refuses to yell at you.

I could also see Johnny giving you semi-playful pinches. You guys are talking about something and you're getting worked up and you're starting to raise your volume? Pinch. You're ignoring him because you're pissed off? Pinch. You guys made up and he's feeling a little cheeky when you guys hug it out? Pinch.

Fights never last long. He doesn't let you guys go to bed angry like his parents. He'll give you time to cool off, of course, but not angry.

"I know we're fighting right now, but I just want to remind you that I still love you, ya dig?"

Dallas Winston

Honestly, despite him being an asshole that deserves a majority of the fights thrown at him, he's a strong believer in not going to bed angry when he really likes someone.

"Oh come on, don't be like that!"

Cue the dramatic eye roll as you slam the door. A few cigarettes later and you guys are sitting side by side on the porch of Buck's place. Or yours, depends where y'all are.

It's quiet, he's just taking drags off his cigarette and suddenly his jacket is around your shoulders.

"I like ya, doll. We can talk about it in the morning if you want to cool off, but come to bed and we'll cuddle or something, capiche?" Usually you have to initiate cuddles, so the fact he's even mentioning it first is a total win for you. You're weird if you don't take the offer.

I could also see him allowing you to hit him if you're angry too. He's low-key a masochist so 🤷🤷🤷

Steve Randle

He's kinda dumb, fights are probably started because he did something dumb and didn't realize. Or he said something kinda insensitive without thinking. He won't even know that you're mad unless you tell him and then he kinda gets defensive? "Don't be so sensitive."

Go on, you can hit him, I don't mind. He'll probably glare at you, use that stupid mocking voice under his breath. Kinda childish? I also see him as the type that would avoid his partner once they get into a fight. Kinda scared of them and doesn't want to have to deal with the negative emotions, you know? He might run away a few times but he'll eventually come back. Threaten him. It works. Tell him if he doesn't call you back within 24 hours you're done and he'll be on the phone within 5 minutes.

He really does care, he's just not the best with lover quarrels. Probably one of the worst here because if you don't say anything this dude can go up to like two whole ass weeks avoiding you. It gets a little ridiculous. Once y'all make up though he's definitely more careful with his words for a while. Compliments you a lot more.

Twobit Matthews

Honestly? He laughs it off. You do most of the yelling. He'll make sarcastic little comebacks. Definitely the type to make petty comments whether it be bringing up your faults when you're ripping on him or trying to gaslight you into believing you're overreacting. He just doesn't want to deal with it. Let him have fun, you know? He just doesn't get that he can't be that way 24/7, especially now that he's in a stable relationship.

Fights don't usually last long. Few days tops as he's not one to hold a grudge. He might even forget you guys are fighting lmfao on the occasion that he didn't forget and he just misses you, he'll probably just say a quick sorry and go back to pretending it never happened.

Definitely the type to half-ass apologize even though he doesn't think it's his fault. He's just kinda a people pleaser? If his sweetheart is mad at him and he's cooled off, he's like a kicked puppy.

[a-bi-disaster]

My favorite Steddie tropes

(Why the fuck a 3-month-old ship has enough tropes for me to rank them again?)

Future!AU. Best be about 10 years after they finally defeated Vecna, all the kids are already graduated and have jobs scattering around America. Steve would always be the last one to leave Hawkins behind. I always imagine Steve would be some kind of teacher, just working with kids in general. Maybe he would go to community college and work his way up to his master in education and then find a job teaching elementary students. Maybe he would be a basketball coach for school. Eddie might be whisked away by the government. And he would totally be something like a rock star or a writer, and a famous one at that. His imagination, theatrical tendencies topple up with what he actually went through is the combo for something so beautiful and captivating. I even have a list of what I think all the kids would do once they actually grow up...

Disaster bi! Steve and Confident gay! Eddie. Do I even have to SAY ANYTHING ELSE? I should just write “Canon Steddie” instead lmao. A plus if Eddie is a soft dom and do a whole Power Point introduction to BDSM for Steve.

Time loop trope. (Is this a trope? It should be. Everyone should be writing Steve going through a time loop hundreds of time to try and save his family)

Dustin finds out Steve and Eddie are dating by accident. Imagining seeing your parents bang it out, I’m not even gonna blame Dustin if he become homophobic after this.

Eddie just keeps running away (figuratively and literally) and Steve just keeps chasing him.

OMG THEY ARE RIVAL CAMP COUNSELORS

Steve, by some magic (mostly his blinding love for that one metalhead), agreed to play DnD. He and Eddie flirt through their characters the whole night. The kids hate it.

They both get nightmares and seek each other out.

Highschool AU, they met/fucked/dated/became friends before the events in Season 4 happened.

Vampire!Eddie and Werewolf!Steve. Sorry not sorry.

[bitchassbucky]

Ｃａｓｕａｌ Ｃｏｎｖｅｒｓａｔｉｏｎｓ

📎Word Count: 1k

📎Warning/s: MINORS DNI, NSFW! bucky eating your WAP while conversing about what to have for dinner lmfao that’s all you need to know

📎A/N: there’s a bit of banter in here bc normal seggs usually have those (as i was told)

📎Masterlist || Ask || AFTERDARK

“I’m hungry,” you whine, settling on the unmade bed with your legs and feet down on the plush carpeting that Bucky insisted to get.

He laughs, sitting down beside you and squeezing your knee, “then get up and let’s go out.”

The sun was about to set, the bustle of the 5th street coming to life as commuters and pedestrians mill about their life. City lights peeking through the buildings in the distance, contrasting the soft glow of the sky.

You let out an overdramatic groan, putting a pillow that smells like Bucky onto your face instead, “no... Too lazy.” Your speech was muffled by feathers and plush.

Adoration and a hint of mischief floods Bucky’s veins, “well, I for one can go for a snack right now.” Just as soon as those words leave his lips, you feel his metal hand against your inner thighs.

The vibranium and gold complementing your soft flesh as he digs his fingers gently, teasingly. Inching closer to the hem of your shorts.

You swipe away his hands, balancing the pillow on your face. “What kind of snack?”

“Something sweet.” Bucky continues, now sitting on the floor and facing you. Your legs are on the either side of his torso. He rests his chin on your knee then, his stubble tickling your skin just right—sending sparkles and shivers up your limbs.

A delightful hum slips past you, propping yourself up by your elbows and squinting at your boyfriend, “what are you doing?”

“About to eat a snack.”

“Ew.”

Bucky scrunches his face and bites your thigh, earring a regal yelp from you. “Hey!” Despite yourself, you put your thighs just so on his broad shoulders—a tinge of arousal coiling on the pit of your stomach.

“I’m hungry but,” you run your fingers through his hair, tugging gently, “please continue.”

Bucky’s baby blues are now tainted in lust; half-lidded and in love. So fucking in love.

He helps you out of those restrictions—“interesting underwear choice, my darling.”

You prop yourself up again, looking at him, your brow arched in a semi-incredulous position, “I like floral prints.” You defend yourself and your panties. How dare he make a comment when not even a month ago he bought you “All You Can Eat” booty shorts.

The 21st century and Bucky Barnes.

“You’re so fucking wet already,” He muses between your thighs, his hands pawing your thighs. The cocky asshole blows a breath on your slit, smirking when he feels goosebumps rising from your skin.

“Um, yes, that’s what usually happens when I’m horny.”

Bucky nips your skin again, you and your smart-ass mouth.

And then finally, he dives in—well, not quite. His tongue snaking into the crease of your thighs, his lips touching everything and everywhere but your clit. Your back arches as you feel his cold fingers caressing your lips, prying them open. Bucky groans at the scene unfolding before his eyes: pink, swollen, and dripping wet.

“Fuck me, baby, this is beautiful.”

The tip of his nose nudges your clit as his tongue laps at the wetness pooling by your hole, gonna fuck that pussy later. He notes mentally, refocusing on his mission of making you come undone with his mouth.

Slow stripes sent you keening towards his mouth, both your hands finding themselves on Bucky’s mane, “motherfuck—“ it dies on your lips as he closes his mouth around your clit and sucked.

Your hips unabashedly undulating as Bucky’s tongue swipes against your cunt, moving his head side to side, making the most obscene sound as he eats you out.

You wonder where he got that from.

He moans—oh, he moans like he’s the one enjoying himself. “Not to sound like Steve but I can do this all day,” Bucky mutters under his breath and against your heat. The timbre and low vibrations of his voice sending you into another spiral of pleasure.

Your mouth splits into a silent scream as Bucky pushes a finger into your pussy—fluttering around his thick digit. “Ow, fuck.”

He stops much to your dismay: overprotectiveness on display. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine—my lips are chapped though.” You observe, bringing up a finger to your lips and picking the skin. “Remind me to get lip balm next time.”

Placing a soft kiss on your thigh, he smiles sweetly, “yes, ma’am.” Continuing on his slow strokes, curling his finger just right into the spot that makes your toes curl.

Bucky feels your walls clench and flutter around his finger, and he adds another one for good measure. His tongue circling your clit lazily.

“Hey, we should go get—god, fuck—pasta later.”

So you’re still hungry, “maybe some—right there!—ice cream too?”

If he, doing his best work, can’t even pry you out of cravings, then maybe nothing will. Except for when you get what you wanted to eat in the first place.

“Can you let me finish and then we can get whatever the hell you want.” He smirks against your mound, placing a kiss.

“Sounds good—fuck, so good.”

Bucky picks up his pace; he’s a man on a mission. His metal fingers pumping in and out your cunt as his mouth once again closing around your bud—a move that makes you come every single time.

“I’m gonna come!” You call out, your eyes are screwed shut and your thighs are closing around his head. Bucky doesn’t mind that the balls of your feet are digging into his back.

He pulls out and grabs your hips, lifting you up closer to him. Bucky takes advantage of his strength and grinds your pussy on his mouth, drinking up every bit of your essence.

Your body is on fire—your leg muscles are quivering from the orgasm that Bucky just gave you. On both of your foreheads, there sits a sheen of sweat, glistening under the glow of string lights.

“Are you still hungry?” Bucky asks, passing you an opened packet of wet wipes.

You nod, pulling up your underwear, “actually, yeah. That made me more hungry.” Huffing as you get up from the bed and tossing the trash into a bin.

As if to prove a point, your stomach growled and you point at it, “see? Hungry!”

Bucky, zero; food, one.

[brokenforecast]

The Empress

The Empress: a muggle guide to tarot

> The Empress by Stephanie Davidson

Today we’ll be talking about The Empress a.k.a. your mother. I have tried very hard not to make this post a long series of yo mama jokes. As I wrote before, the tarot talks about some things that are universal, that apply to everyone. One such thing is: we all have a mother. A biological mother and no, Steve, I still don’t believe you were created in a clone tank by some unlisted government agency. Some of us are lucky enough to have had one or more mother-figures, fulfilling the role of the archetypical mother, which is our main subject today. What is understood as the archetypical mother will become clearer when we unravel the few symbols which often accompany the empress. Luckily, only a handful of symbols this time, in contrast to the three previous cards which have been quite heavy on symbolism. So grab the empress from your tarot deck and check if any of the following symbols occur on your card. 

Symbolism

> Rider-Waite Empres: regal figure, surrounded by nature.

There are three levels to the empress: 1. The empress: the mother of a nation 2. The mother: yes, your mother 3. Your inner mother: yes, you

A possible fourth, which I will leave out because of the muggle thing, is the mother goddess; plenty of other blogs and websites can tell you about her. A lot of the symbolism deals with the first level: a throne, a crown (often of stars, we know where you took that one, Mary), a scepter and damn fine robes. All this indicates that she’s the boss. She is also always right. She carries the heavy burden of balancing all the needs of the subjects and acts for the common good of all; seldom pleasing every single one. But someone must keep the higher perspective and guard the peace. Unlike the fool she can’t just be herself because she carries a lot of responsibilities. She can’t manipulate the world just for her own gain like the magician because she has to take care and provide for others. She can’t afford to dedicate herself to the truth like the high priestess, because she is neck-deep into managing conflict and needs to be pragmatic. The symbolism is quite clear: the empire = your family. 

> The Renassance Tarot Empress: rising from wheat.

Almost always the empress is accompanied by wheat. Wheat stands for fertility and abundance, think more food than you can eat. I’m thinking of a lot of pizzas right now. With cheese. So. Much. Cheese. In the bottom corners of the card we see the cornucopias - one of the few symbols with a phallic and receptive side - which represent the horns of plenty (of pizzas). The archetypical mother cooks and cooks well, provides all the body needs: pizzas, warm clothes without holes in them, a nice and clean home, warm milk with honey when we’re sick, you get the picture. Using what (mother) nature provides. But also our emotional needs: a shoulder to cry on when we’re sad (again). She will unconditionally take your side in any conflict with someone outside of the household. When the conflict is within the household, she will be the peacekeeper, reconciling the waring children. She also takes out the garbage, does the dishes, carries children through pregnancy, gives birth, waters the plants, feeds the pets, is the house’s pharmacist, psychologist, accountant, doctor, diplomat, interior decorator, and lover.

Fertility can be interpreted symbolically as creativity, etc. but it also stands for just that: having children. 

Often the Venus symbol is depicted on the empress card, originally a goddess of plants and cultivated spaces. You didn’t know that, now did you? It helped me dissociate the goddess with a brothel called Aphrodite’s Palace, which I pass on my way to work. Now, each time I see a ‘customer’ enter I imagine them receiving tutorials about growing house plants and which herbs are edible, by women in lingerie. It makes my life bearable. 

> The Wild Unknown Empress: Tall nightly tree illuminated by moonlight.

The empress is often portrayed outside to show her link with everything that grows and thrives, if tended to. If not outside, she’s often surrounded by plants. In the Wild Unknown Tarot, the empress is a majestic tree herself, standing proud in the moonlight. For me, this has a link to our inner mother. As an adult, I often find it challenging to take care of myself as well as my mother did: cook good food, dress appropriately for the season, go to bed on a decent hour, wake up early enough, take the time to care for my body, my house, my plants, my partner. And we need to be gentle and careful with ourselves. Society is constantly telling us to be The Emperor, but he’d be an unwashed, underfed baboon who hasn’t even been potty-trained if it weren’t for The Empress, which is why she is featured in the tarot before him. 

Upright meaning

First let’s get something out of the way: does the mother have to be a woman? No, if your father(s) or someone else took the archetypical role of the mother upon them (cheers for them), then the empress can refer to them. In the same way, if you are one of the partners in a family and another partner fulfills this role more than you, the empress can refer to them, no matter who is in possession of a (working) uterus or not. 

> FLTR: The Empress by Lesly-Oh, Drathe, Fluorescent Wolf

When this card comes up in a spread it obviously refers to either your mother (or someone who fulfills that role) or yourself in the role of the mother, with all the qualities listed above. It means this person, or these qualities are needed at this point in your life. Are you getting enough to eat? Is it decent, nurturing food? Do you drink enough water? Do you shower or bathe enough? Are you making sure you look decent? Do you need to sit down and talk to someone about your feelings? Is there an internal conflict that desperately needs a peaceful solution? Ask yourself these questions and give yourself time to answer them. Also the big motherfucker of a question: do you want children of your own? Already a mother? Then ask yourself if you are being a good mother to your children. What is a good mother? What mother would you like to have had? You can’t be perfect but what are the most important aspects you want to focus on? 

If the card refers to a situation and not a person (and yes, you need to deduce that yourself, but I’ll teach you how when we discuss our first spread, coming soon), it is a situation of abundance, safety, coziness and growth. Both material and emotional happiness. 

Reverse meaning

As always, there is a trinity of possibilities when a card appears upside-down. 

1. The opposite: lack of a mother-figure. Some of the most broken people I know - and I say this with gentleness – didn’t have someone who nurtured them, both physical and emotional. It often leaves a dark abyss in the middle of their heart, so insecure, like the roots of a plant that could never really take hold of the soil they grew up in. When this card is reversed it can mean (physical or emotional) poverty and hunger, apathy, feeling like you don’t matter, feeling like there is no need for you to exist. If there is no mother, you are left with only one option: be your own mother. It’s a lot of work. 

2. Something is blocking the empress. Maybe you no longer talk to your mother for some reason. Re-examine those reasons. I’m not saying you should re-establish contact, just re-examine thoroughly. Maybe something is holding you back to be a mother? What is holding you back? Especially for men: why are you not nurturing your own inner mother? What aspects of it are difficult but necessary? How could you progress in those traits? Additionally, the card can mean infertility, symbolic or not. 

3. YES MOTHER, I KNOW MOTHER, PLEASE MOTHER. Sometimes, a lot of the times, mothers try too hard. Nurturing becomes controlling, caring becomes overprotective, keeping the peace becomes keeping up appearances. The card can refer to a mother that wants a say in everything, can’t let go of her children, either because she has reduced her self-image to simply motherhood, a fear of uselessness or simply by caring too much. In this perspective it can also mean a mother-in-law, for obvious reasons. Think of questions like ‘You are buying GREEN curtains for your apartment? Really? Sure, if that is what you WANT.’ Somehow there still is a symbolic umbilical cord that needs cutting. Time to get the scissors. Snip snip.

> The Empress by MA ilustraciones and Spero Spera

Meditation on The Empress

In a one card spread or when using a card to trigger meditation, the empress asks us to be more like her. No matter who you are, try to be a mother to yourself and those around you. Grow stuff and cook it for them. Make them a cup of tea. Get them a blanket when they are cold. Listen to them when they need to talk. Try maintaining the peace or resolving conflict situations so that everyone can have something. Try focusing on basic physical needs like warmth, food, safety and enough sleep. If this meditation keeps taking you to your mother, you have what professionals call mother-issues. A lot of people have those. Mothers are not perfect and for every good thing they gave us, they probably also gave you a scar somewhere. If possible, try to find forgiveness; being a mother is hard. If possible accept the scar. If not, there is seldom a need to confront her. It’s your scar, your own. Take care of it. 

TLDR Upright meaning: abundance, nurturing, fertility Reversed meaning: poverty, overprotectiveness, infertility

Hollander, P. Scott, Tarot voor beginners, ‘s-Gravenhage, 2004. P38-41. Lyle, Jane, The Secret Tarot, New York, 1998. P24-27. Krans, Kim, The Wild Unknown Tarot Guidebook, New York, 2016. P163-164.

[hairringtonsteve]

two ships passing in the night, part ii.

(billy hargrove x reader)

summary: late night coffee dates never seem to turn out the way that you think they do.

word count: 4,610

a/n: i’m so tired but this needed to come out bc i’m so excited for this.

part i. part iii.

taglist: @jems8241

Well, fuck.

Those two words had been rattling around your head for the last three days as you replayed the events of that night over and over in your head. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. You’d merely caught up with a former fellow student from Hawkins. That was all. You definitely weren’t replaying his soft, easy grins, or the way his lips had felt, rough against your cheek. You weren’t throwing around the idea of grabbing coffee with him again. You weren’t thinking about him and Max, the two of them with just the other on Christmas.

You sure as hell weren’t thinking of inviting him to your house for Christmas. That wasn’t even in the realm of possibility.

“You think we should go for red sprinkles or green sprinkles?”

Steve held up the two bottles to you, as though he genuinely thought that you would have an opinion one way or the other.

“What?”

“Red or green, Y/N? We’re burning daylight here.”

“Just get both. You know Dustin would complain if you only got one color and not the other.”

“That’s true,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he put the two items into his basket. He pressed his lips together, sidestepping from the sprinkles to the chocolate chips. “Should we get mini or regular size?”

Your gaze flickered from him to someone behind him. Your whole body tensed when you caught sight of that small grin of his. It was still jarring to see him like that, without the mullet or angry look on his face. He looked between you and Steve, the grin sliding into a small smirk, reminiscent of the ones from back in high school. Your heart sped up a little as he watched you. God, this was insane. There was no rational explanation as to why your heart decided to switch to doubletime. Literally none.

In an instant, two bags of chocolate chips appeared in front of your eyes. You jerked back, frowning as you blinked at them.

“Regular or mini?”

Somewhere down the aisle, you heard chuckling. Steve’s entire back straightened at the sound, like it was a demogorgon waiting to attack. The chocolate lowered as Steve let his hands drop to his side, taking his time in turning around to face the source of that dreaded noise.

“Hargrove. What the hell are you doing here?” His words were hard and flat. He shifted to the side a little, just enough to put himself in front of you. Billy tilted his head at the two of you before stepping forward, hands in his pockets as he shrugged.

“I’m visiting for the holidays. Or is King Steve not allowing me into his kingdom?” He lacked most of the heat from his high school days, but you picked up on just enough. His gaze flickered from Steve to you, softening just a little. But when he turned his attention back to Steve, it hardened right back up.

“If I say that you’re not allowed, will you leave?”

“Only if you ask me nicely.” He offered the brown-haired young man a lascivious smirk, raising his eyebrows up and down to punctuate his point.

“Just fuck off, Hargrove. Jesus.” Steve took a step towards Billy, eyes blazing. You reached out for him, fingers wrapping around his bicep as you tugged him back. Billy watched the two of you carefully, his face easing into an unreadable mask.

“Just go pay, Steve. I’ve got to go grab some milk, and then I’ll meet you up there,” you said, leaving no room for argument. He looked from Billy to you, and then back to Billy, before letting out a sigh and rolling his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something - probably something along the lines of asswipe or motherfucker to Billy - but you shook your head, pointing to the end of the aisle. He let out a breath through his mouth, sighed, and miraculously headed down the aisle.

“Wow. You’ve really got your pet well trained, Y/N.”

You gave Billy an unimpressed look, cocking your brow as he walked towards you, stopping when he was within arm’s reach.

“You can cut the shit, Billy. We both know you’re not that pissed off at him.” He watched you for a beat before shaking his head, allowing a slow, easy grin to slide across his lips.

Your gaze lingered a second too long.

“Sorry. It’s just easy to get him riled up. And you’ve got to admit, he was mean to me first. I was going to be a nice little angel until he went and had to be a dick.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t have to be a dick back. Then you were just egging him on.” Billy just gave a shrug of his shoulders, taking another step towards you.

“Maybe I’m just a dick. You ever think of that?”

“You weren’t a dick the other night.” He took another step towards you, this time making him just as close as he’d been when he’d told you good night a few days before. Without meaning to, your heart started to stutter out its doubletime speed, reminding you that your heart had definitely been pounding since you’d first spotted him in the aisle.

“Maybe you make me less of a dick, then.” He ducked his head as you kept your eyes on him, your focus slipping for just a second to his lips. In an instant, you felt the ghost of his kiss against your cheek resounding through your mind.

“Maybe you just need to stop being a dick,” you murmured, letting the corners of your mouth tick upwards.

“Maybe we need to get coffee again.”

“You’re what?”

“Steve, just calm - “

“You want me to calm down? Are you kidding me right now? Billy Hargrove is a psychopath. Or are you forgetting how he made our lives a living hell senior year? Or how he tried to beat up a kid? Or how he -”

“What are the odds that you’d believe me if I said that he changed?” Steve let out a scoff as he ripped out the sprinkles from the plastic bags and slammed them onto the counter.

“I’d ask you what you hit your head off of. You can’t be serious, Y/N. Someone like him? He doesn’t change. He’s a fucking prick that just so happens to be -”

“Who’s a fucking prick?”

Steve fell silent as you lowered your gaze to the floor. Of course the entire fucking party would come into your kitchen at the exact moment that Steve was losing his shit.

“Your asshole of a stepbrother,” Steve spat. Max looked between you and Steve, furrowing her brows as the rest of the party started to speak at once. “Didn’t we already know that?”

“He isn’t even around anymore, who cares?”

“Guys, I thought I saw him the other day when I -”

“He’s an asshole, but he’s getting better.”

Max’s words left everyone in silence. She stared at everyone, looking from one person to the next before her focus settled onto Steve.

“He’s an asshole, but he’s trying, at least. He came to Hawkins because he wants to fix things with me. Or try, or something. He’s different now. I think. But I won’t know until I talk to him, and the last thing I need is for you shitheads to run him out of town before that happens.” By the end of her little speech, Max was practically snarling the words out. Lucas reached up and laid his hand on her shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze as she leaned into his touch.

“Okay. I trust you.” His words were exactly what she needed, apparently, because you visibly saw as she deflated. She turned to you, her fingers tapping against her leg, looking as though she were debating on saying something.

“Billy said that he talked to you the other night?” All eyes in the kitchen turned to you.

“Uh, yeah. We did. He told me a lot.”

“Did he tell you that he was in jail?” You gave a nod of your head. “Good.” You weren’t exactly sure why that was good, but for whatever reason, it appeared as though you’d earned Max’s seal of approval when it came to the situation.

“So, uh, Steve, you got the regular chocolate chips, right?” Dustin asked. It was obviously to every single person in the room that he was trying to change the subject, but despite that, it worked.

“No? I got the mini,” he said, picking up the bag of chocolate and waggling it around in the air. Dustin let out a cry of frustration, a scowl settling onto his features.

“What? How could you get mini? There’s not going to be enough chocolate in the cookies! They’ll be ruined!”

“Now listen here you little shit, you never once told me that I was specifically supposed to get regular chocolate chips. You just told me to get them! You never specified! What was I supposed to do?” Steve continued on with his rant as Dustin made his way towards you. He mirrored your position, arms crossed as he leaned against the counter top. His hip knocked against yours, causing you to look over and catch the small, satisfied grin that was on his face.

A warmth settled in your chest, remind you that despite the fact that they might not agree with the situation, they had your back. Or at least, Dustin did.

The aroma of freshly baked cookies floated through your house despite the fact that they’d been baked hours ago. The party had filtered out throughout the night, Steve being the last one to leave as he’d tried to argue with you once more, but you refused to have it. Instead, you’d pleaded to being exhausted and needing to head to bed as soon as possible. There had been a flicker of guilt in your gut as his eyes softened and he instantly went into overprotective-mom mode, asking if you needed anything to make you feel better.

Of course you’d declined, but not before telling him that he was the most caring friend you could ask for. He’d gotten a little sheepish at that, ducking his head and grinning before wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug.

“Just feel better, okay?” He’d mumbled against your head, giving you one last, tight squeeze before heading out the door.

Steve was a good friend, you knew that. He was just concerned about you, and your apparent sudden lack of sanity. But people changed, right? You liked to believe that. You knew that some people were just terrible people, that no amount of naive wishing could change that. But Billy seemed different. Or rather, he seemed like the same Billy, just not as much of a fucking prick as he used to be. The young man that you’d run into the store that day didn’t strike you as the type to want to beat up a thirteen year old.

You were slipping on a pair of pajama shorts and a t shirt when you heard the knocking at the door. Steve must have forgotten to grab his badge. Ever since Hopper had officially welcomed him onto the force, Steve had been showing his badge to literally anyone who would pay attention. But that had developed into a nasty habit of forgetting it places - the biggest one being your house.

“Keep your pants on, Harrington. I’m coming, sheesh,” you yelled, thankful for the fact that your parents had declared it date night and had gotten a room in the next town over. The knocking intensified, which made you roll your eyes. “I swear to God, Steve, if you keep knocking, I’m going to take your arm and shove it so far up your ass that you’ll be-” You whipped open the door, pausing in mid sentence when you saw who it was.

“Well, shit. What’ll he be doing with his arm shoved so far up his ass?”

“Puncturing a lung,” you respond, staring at Billy with wide eyes. “What’re you doing here?” When he’d mentioned getting coffee again, you hadn’t really thought that he’d meant so soon. Or that he’d be showing up to your house to make due on said coffee.

“I thought, maybe, that we could, uh, well…” He trailed off, shoving his hands into his leather jacket pockets. It took you a moment to recognize it, but the worn leather took you back to a time when you’d first met Billy, in the midst of that crazy week with Will and the Mind Flayer.

“I can make a pot of coffee, if you’d like?” You’re not sure where the offer came from, but it hung in the air for longer than you would’ve liked. Eventually, Billy gave a nod of his head, pressing his lips together as you motioned for him to head inside. You padded towards the kitchen, your heart giving an awkward jolt at the sound of him closing the front door behind him.

In the back of your mind, you wondered if Steve would have an aneurysm, knowing that you and Billy Hargrove were alone in your house.

“So, what were all those chocolate chips for?”

“Steve and Dustin are on a baking spree. And since my house is around halfway for everybody, they all just kind of decided to meet here,” you said with a shrug. Flicking the light on in the kitchen, you took in just how messy everything was. Pans littered the counters with baked cookies on top, most pans having at least two layers of cookies, sometimes three. The boys had tried to clean up, but it had gotten a little distracting with Mike singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs, and Lucas launching himself across the kitchen to shut him up.

You reached out and grabbed a cookie, shoving it into your mouth and holding it with your teeth as you snagged the can of coffee grounds. You worked in methodical silence, pouring spoonful after spoonful of them into the already there coffee filter. If there was anything that your dad had taught you, it was to always empty the coffee filter and replace it with a new one the second you were done. Made life just a little bit nicer, he said, when you could just skip that step any time you wanted to make yourself a cup.

“Youwancookti?” You asked through your mouthful of (slightly less) chocolatey goodness.

“Do I what?” Billy asked, his voice sounding closer than you’d expected. Your whirled around to see him leaning against the counter, close to where you’d been earlier. It was disconcerting. You chewed up your cookie, swallowing as you watched him.

“Do you want a cookie?” You took care to enunciate your words this time, even holding up a cookie to make sure that he got what you were saying.

“You know the last time someone asked me if I wanted a cookie was Mrs. Wheeler, who was trying to hit on me?” Your eyes widened as he picked up a cookie and took a bite out of it.

In a brief moment of insanity, as you watched him bite into the cookie, you could kind of understand why she would’ve tried it.

“Bullshit,” you said, instead focusing on that utter lie as opposed to his mouth and those lips.

“It’s not bullshit. It was that, uh, that night I was looking for Max. When the shit hit the fan.” You watched him carefully. Max had never said if she’d ever told him what had actually been going on that night. With the embarrassed way that he was looking at you, you figured that he had no clue just how much danger he could’ve been in that night.

“When did that happen, before or after you passed out in the Byers’ living room?”

“Before, thank you very much. I was looking for Max and thought she might know something. So I was charming,” he paused, tilting his head as he shot you - what you presumed to be - the charming grin that he’d shot Mrs. Wheeler. It was like he’d turned up everything one thousand percent, and as much as you hated to admit, it made every single cell in your body just stop. “And she was into it. Like, really into it. Practically had to chase her off at some basketball games.” He muttered that last bit under his breath, causing you to laugh out loud, which made his eyes widen.

“What?” You asked, suddenly a little self conscious. There were times when your laugh could only be described as booming.

“Nothing, nothing,” he mumbled, shaking his head. A little bit of red colored his cheeks, but you pushed that aside. It was warm in your house.

For a couple of seconds, the only sound was that of the coffee pot, gurgling away quietly in the corner next to the stove.

“So… Max mentioned you today. Kind of came to your defense,” you said, treading carefully. You snagged another cookie and took a bite.

“Yeah?” He toyed with the cookie in his hands, tapping the bottom of it before lifting it up and taking a small bite. “We grabbed dinner last night at the diner.”

“You did? That’s great. How’d it go?”

“Alright, I guess.” He gave a shrug of his shoulders before they slumped down, and you assumed that was the end of that. You turned around, reaching into the cupboard when he started speaking again. “Turns out that she, uh, she didn’t know that my dad was beating the shit out of me until after she threatened to nail me in the crotch.” You’d frozen in your movements when he’d started speaking again, but a snicker still escaped your lips at his choice of wording. It was quiet, and you wondered if he’d thought you’d laughed about something else. Your fingers wrapped around two mugs as you dragged them towards the edge of the shelf, setting them onto the countertop. When you turned back to him, his eyes were downcast as he worried at his lower lip.

“What is it?”

“I thought that she’d known, y’know? That she’d just been such a fucking bitch when we moved here. But she had no clue. I knew that he acted different around her, but… Not that different. I never put it together. I should’a put it together,” he murmured. You left your post by the coffee pot and walked to him, stopping only when you placed your hand on his arm.

“Neither of you knew, Billy.”

“I know that! But, well, I just - I treated her like shit because I thought she hated me despite the abuse, called me a dick despite it or that I deserved it or something. And she just thought that I was a dick for the sake of being a dick. Which I was, but… I fucked up so bad with her.” You could practically see the thoughts rolling around Billy’s head, causing a storm of memories that couldn’t have been good.

Your thumb brushed up and down his arm. You didn’t have any magic words that would make this better, or even make him feel better. To deny any of that would belittle what Max and Billy had gone through, not to mention being an outright lie. He’d made her life a living hell. His life had been a living hell.

“Can I have some coffee?” He asked, his voice small as he looked down at you. You tilted your head up to get a good look at him. There was something in his eyes, some kind of sadness that just tugged at your heart.

“Yeah, Hargrove, you can.” You headed back to the coffee pot, pouring you each a mug before you began to dig around in the closest drawer for some spoons. “There’s some milk in the fridge, and sugar in that ceramic pot to your left.” You turned around, holding out the mug to him as he pulled the milk from the fridge.

It took a minute or so of fixing your coffee to just the way you liked it, but after that, you headed to your couch. You sat on one end, sitting cross legged with a blanket draped across your lap, mug in hand as you watched Billy take his time in sitting down. He wandered the room, examining every family photo and trinket that adorned the shelves.

“You’ve got a lotta pictures of you up here,” he hummed, glancing over his shoulder at you.

“Yeah, it’s so my parents don’t forget what I look like while I’m at college.” You settled back against the seat, the warm drink in your hands making you feel drowsy despite the caffeine.

Damn college for making you immune to coffee.

Billy made sure to wait until you were looking back at him to roll his eyes. He took a sip from his mug, lingering by your childhood photos for a few seconds longer before making his way to you. He sat on the couch, closer than most people would have sat. Without really thinking about it, you shifted your position, straightening out your legs and tugging your feet under Billy’s thigh. He quirked a brow at you, most likely noting the way your cheeks instantly burned red.

“It’s a habit,” you mumbled. And it was. You had cold feet. Every single member of the party had gotten used to you shoving your feet under their legs to steal their warmth. Steve would shriek and squirm, hating the way that it felt. The rest dealt with it with varying degrees of annoyance.

Billy, however, just smirked and shook his head.

“So what’s up with you and Harrington?”

“Nothing?”

“C’mon. You mean to tell me that you’re not doing it?”

“No?”

“I told you about my dad and Max. Least you could do is not lie to me.”

“I’m not lying, Billy. Steve and I are like siblings. There’s nothing there.” He let out an mhmm, which annoyed you to no end. “Trust me, Billy, people know when I like someone.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. There are signals and everything.” You grinned at him from over the lip of your mug as you took a sip.

“You mean like how you were staring at my mouth when I was eating that cookie? Or how you were staring at my mouth in the grocery store? Would those be signals, Y/N?” You spluttered out coffee, making it dribble down your chin in a rather unattractive manner. But Billy didn’t mind. In fact, he leaned forward, using his thumb to wipe away the line of liquid that had spilled from your mouth down your chin. “Are they?”

All you could do was slowly nod your head.

Billy Hargrove might’ve changed. He might not be the angry prick that he’d once been. But Billy Hargrove was also the same in a lot of ways, too.

And deep down, you would’ve been lying to yourself if you’d have ever said that you hadn’t wondered what it’d be like to kiss Billy Hargrove.

You’d thought that he’d rush it, that he’d just jump right in, lips on yours, hands on your hips, and fucking go for it. But no. First he set his coffee mug on the ground, then taking yours out of your hands, being careful not to spill any. Then he got himself situated, his calloused hand grabbing at your ankle to tug you down a little. Your pulse was rising steadily, already feeling hot all over.

He was tilted a little on the couch, so you scooted forward to get closer to him. Your action brought a small smirk to his face. The smirk almost made you chicken out. It reminded you of high school, when things had been a lot shittier all around. But thoughts of the other night filtered in as well, when you’d spent hours at that diner talking about everything.

So without further ado, you leaned in and kissed him.

He hadn’t been expecting that, you could tell. His whole body froze, lips not moving an inch for a couple of seconds. Then his brain caught up with what was going on, and it was hands all over.

First, his hands were cupping your cheeks, making sure that you stayed nice and close to him. Your lips were moving against his as your hands tangled up in his shirt, clenching tight. HIs hand moved to your waist as you swiped your tongue across his lower lip. He granted access easily, deepening the kiss in a way that made your head spin. His hand went from your waist to your ass, pulling you into him.

Honestly, it got a little blurry after that. It was just a haze of kissing and touching and pressing and wanting and all you were able to think about was that you hoped he was responsible enough to pull away because you sure as hell weren’t and you’d need to breathe sometime.

Eventually, he did pull away, pressing another soft, quick kiss against your lips before resting his forehead against yours.

“Was that a signal?” He smirked, his hand giving your waist a squeeze.

“That was a fucking beacon, you dumbass.” You teased, tilting your head up so you could kiss him again. This time it was softer, slower; a drink of cool water on a hot day. He still had a hand against your cheek, although now it slid down to rest against your neck, fingertips brushing against your jaw.

“What are the odds that you’ll let me do that again?”

You pretended to think about it for a long minute, which didn’t sit well with Billy. He started peppering soft kisses against your jaw line, the hand on your waist moving to slip under your shirt.

“High. Really high,” you breathed out, sighing as he hit a particularly sensitive spot on your neck.

He pulled away once you’d answered, a smug grin teasing his lips as he watched you. A yawn snuck up on you, leaving your lips as you raised your arms above your head to stretch. Billy watched as your shirt raised a little, exposing a thin strip of skin.

“Can I stay tonight?” You hesitated. Making out was one thing, but you weren’t planning on sleeping with the man. “I just really don’t feel like walking home,” he said with a shrug.

“You don’t have your car with you?”

“Nah. I figured that I’d keep up with our tradition, and walk in the freezing cold,” he said, giving you a flat look. You weren’t sure if he was being serious or not, but decided against asking.

“Well, I guess if you went all that way to keep up our tradition…” You trailed off, offering him a small smile. Without warning, he tugged your ankle down farther so you were laying down on the couch. He shifted you around, pushing you forward a little so that way he could lay behind you. An arm wrapped around your waist, draping across it as you snuggled back against him.

It wasn’t the most comfortable position you’d ever been in, but it was nice enough.

“Billy?” He let out a hum in response, nuzzling his nose against the back of your neck. You bit your lip, taking in a deep breath as you mustered the courage to ask him something that you’d been thinking about the last couple of days. “Do you want to come here for Christmas?”

[garudabluffs]

Lil Baby On Taking Music Apart To See 'The Bigger Picture'   October 21, 2020   

“At only 25, trap star Lil Baby is one of the most popular musicians alive. His most recent album, My Turn, spent weeks at No. 1, and over the past few years he's had four dozen songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100, putting him in a dead heat with Paul McCartney and Prince.

Only four years ago, the rapper — born Dominique Jones — had no professional music experience.

"Prison is just sitting you in a room somewhere. What does that do to better you for society? What does that do to help you change?" the artist says, "To me, jail makes you worse.... You don't have a leash on your neck, but you got handcuffs on your wrists. You're not in a dog cage but you're in a human cage, which is not too much bigger than a dog cage. You live where you use the bathroom at. They feed you when they want to feed you. You eat when they tell you to eat. It's almost like being a dog."

This summer, as Black Lives Matter protests surged across the country, a wave of protest music followed. Lil Baby's track "The Bigger Picture," which draws on his experience with police and criminal justice, became a new anthem of the movement.”

LISTEN READ MORE https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/923944010/lil-baby-my-turn-bigger-picture-criminal-justice

LYRICS video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tDZttwvOrA

Protests and growing national outcry continues over the death of George Floyd (Section 8 just straight cooked this motherfucker up) Last night, people protesting in Minneapolis escalated

As demonstrators were lashed by tear gas and rubber bullets The main message here, the main message here, the main message here Is that they want to see those officers involved They want to see those officers arrested Officers arrested (I can't breathe, I can't breathe)

Trade my 4 for a G63, ain't no more free Lil Steve I gave 'em chance and chance and Chance again, I even done told them please I find it crazy the police'll shoot you and Know that you dead, but still tell you to freeze Fucked up, I seen what I seen I guess that mean hold him down if he say he can't breathe It's too many mothers that's grieving They killing us for no reason Been going on for too long to get even Throw us in cages like dogs and hyenas I went to court and they sent me to prison My mama was crushed when they said I can't leave First I was drunk, then I sobered up quick When I heard all that time that they gave to Taleeb He got a life sentence plus We just some products of our environment How the fuck they gon' blame us? You can't fight fire with fire I know, but at least we can turn up the flames some Every colored person ain't dumb and all whites not racist I be judging by the mind and heart, I ain't really into faces Fucked up, the way that we livin' is not Getting better, you gotta know how to survive Crazy, I had to tell all of my loved Ones to carry a gun when they going outside Stare in the mirror whenever you drive Overprotective, go crazy for mine You gotta pay attention to the signs Seem like the blind following the blind Thinking 'bout everything that's going on I boost security up at my home I'm with my kind if they right or they wrong I call him now, he'll pick up the phone And it's five in the morning, he waking up on it Tell 'em wherever I'm at, then they comin' I see blue lights, I get scared and start runnin' That shit be crazy, they 'posed to protect us Throw us in handcuffs and arrest us While they go home at night, that shit messed up Knowing we needed help, they neglect us Wondering who gon' make them respect us I can see in your eye that you fed up Fuck around, got my shot, I won't let up They know that we a problem together They know that we can storm any weather

It's bigger than black and white It's a problem with the whole way of life It can't change overnight But we gotta start somewhere Might as well gon' 'head start here We done had a hell of a year I'ma make it count while I'm here God is the only man I fear

Fuck it, I'm goin' on the front line He gon' bust your ass if you come past that gun line You know when the storm go away, then the sun shine You gotta put your head in the game when it's crunch time I want all my sons to grow up to be monsters I want all my daughters to show out in public Seems like we losing our country But we gotta stand up for something, so this what it comes to Every video I see on my conscience I got power, now I gotta say somethin' Corrupted police been the problem where I'm from But I'd be lying if I said it was all of them I ain't do this for the trend, I don't follow them Altercations with the law, had a lot of them People speaking for the people, I'm proud of them Stick together, we can get it up out of them I can't lie like I don't rap about killing And dope, but I'm telling my youngins to vote I did what I did 'cause I didn't have no choice Or no hope, I was forced to just jump in and go This bullshit is all that we know, but it's time for a change Got time to be serious, no time for no games We ain't takin' no more, let us go from them chains God bless they souls, every one of them names

It's bigger than black and white It's a problem with the whole way of life It can't change overnight But we gotta start somewhere Might as well gon' 'head start here We done had a hell of a year I'ma make it count while I'm here God is the only man I fear

They trainin' officers to kill us Then shootin' protestors with these rubber bullets They regular people, I know that they feel it These scars too deep to heal us What happened to COVID? Nobody remember It ain't makin' sense, I'm just here to vent It happen to one of your people, it's different We get it, the system is wicked, just learn how to pick it Knowledge is power, I swear I'm a witness, I know that I'm gifted I won't go too deep 'cause I'm scared they'll get me Ain't scared to admit it, some shit I can't mention It's people who can, well, here's the chance I won't take the stand, but I'll take a stand for what I believe Must not be breathing the air that I breathe You know that the way that I bleed, you can bleed I never been a fan of police But my neighborhood know I try to keep peace. So it's only right that I get in the streets March for a reason, not just on GP Our people died for us to be free Fuck do you mean? This was a dream Now we got the power that we need to have They don't want us with it and that's why they mad, yeah

It's bigger than black and white It's a problem with the whole way of life It can't change overnight But we gotta start somewhere Might as well gon' 'head star We done had a hell of a year I'ma make it count while I'm here God is the only man I fear

It's bigger than black and white It's a problem with the whole way of life It can't change overnight But we gotta start somewhere Might as well gon' 'head start here We done had a hell of a year I'ma make it count while I'm here God is the only man I fear

[assholemurphy]

Had Enough

Also on AO3

Stranger Things

Steve/Jonathan

Summary: After another incident of abuse against the party, Steve gets pissed off and tells Jonathan what he's been up to. Hearing about the abuse pushes Jonathan over the edge and he decides to send him a warning, but they're interrupted by Billy, who starts a fight. In the aftermath and clean up, Jonathan and Steve discuss their relationship.

Written for Stonathan Week 2017 - Prompt: Monster Hunting

Rating: Teen

Word Count:  

Warnings: Violence, Homophobia, Slurs, Referenced Child Abuse

Steve knew he liked Jonathan, a hell of a lot, but the second he said “Let’s go. I’m tired of Billy’s shit,” he knew he was in love.

Most people, when confronted with Billy’s bullshit and abuse, simply suggested going to the cops or telling a parent and having them deal with it, and nothing against Hopper or the party’s parents – with the exception of Mr. Wheeler, he could choke as far as Steve was concerned – but that wasn’t going to help the situation. Billy wasn’t going to listen to authority figures talking diplomacy, he only understood when you spoke his language, and Jonathan seemed to be the first person to really understand that. So, when Steve had grumbled that they needed to do something about him, he hadn’t expected anyone to agree, but Jonathan had, and it proved to Steve that he was, once again, the man of his dreams. A man of action.

However, as he knew from experience, it took a lot to get Jonathan angry, even more to get him angry to the point of willingly going along with what could only be called violent disturbing of the peace, but after Steve had told him what Will had told him on the car ride home, he was ready to commit murder. Billy really should have known not to mess with the younger Byers, but Billy and Jonathan hadn’t really met, so he supposed it wasn’t Billy’s fault for not understanding the rage of an older brother who had literally just gotten his brother back only to find out he was being bullied by a near-adult.

It wasn’t just his abuse of Will, he was fucking with the whole party, especially Max and Lucas because Billy was, as Steve had so eloquently put it “A racist pile of steaming horseshit.” And he’d really done it this time, because Lucas had gotten hurt in the process, which was the catalyst for Steve’s anger. That bastard had followed the party home from school after Max had ditched him to hang out at the arcade with her friends, and ran them off the road again. Steve hadn’t known about the first time until this evening, or this would have most likely happened a lot sooner. Billy had almost hit Lucas, purposely chasing him down for longer up until the point when he swerved to avoid being hit and went head first into a tree, leaving him with a rather large bump, which Steve had worried might have been a concussion, but after multiple reassurances from both Dustin and Will, had calmed down enough to realize that it wasn’t anything too serious. He had a few bruises, as well, and a couple scrapes on his face, but he had insisted he was fine and didn’t need Steve to baby him.

The party had done their best to calm Steve down and had succeeded in stopping him from going directly to Billy’s house and getting his ass handed to him almost immediately. It wasn’t until he’d brought Will home after a night of Dungeons and Dragons, that he’d met up with Jonathan and they’d collectively decided that something had to be done. Steve brought Will home most nights, because Ms. Byers still didn’t want him riding his bike home at night, which was understandable, so Steve had volunteered, partly because he liked Will, but mainly because it gave him a chance to see Jonathan, and it worked out just as well, because Steve was already at the Wheeler household studying with Nancy.

Nancy and Steve had made up and were on better terms, both realizing they weren’t the best for her, and she was helping him with his college essays, so he could potentially get in next year. He was aiming for somewhere in New York, so he could follow Jonathan, and he was willing to work as hard as he needed to get in. Which meant a lot of study sessions and plenty of rewritten essays. He was getting better, though, and he was sure he’d have it right by time for early consideration.

He’d been there for her when she and Jonathan had broken up a few months prior. Jonathan had broken it off, not really giving much of a reason beyond he didn’t think he was what she needed. Steve had been not so subtly trying to flirt with him ever since. It was no secret that Steve was bisexual, at least, not from the trio, anyway. Steve didn’t go around telling everyone, but Nancy had figured it out from the way he stared at Jonathan and, now that they weren’t dating anymore, she fully supported him in his endeavor to get Jonathan Byers to go out with him. The only problem was that Steve was too scared to ask him. They had a great friendship going and he didn’t want to ruin it. Nancy had assured him he wouldn’t, though, and so he’d gotten bolder in his attempts at wooing him.

Now, after a long conversation with Will about Billy’s abuse and how often it happened, which turned out to be at least weekly, and he was attacking the whole party, even shoved Will into a wall at the theater one day when he was with Mike and called him a fag. Will had had to restrain Mike to keep him from going after him, which would not have ended well. Jonathan was understandably pissed when Steve had told him.

“We need to do something about this motherfucking prick,” Jonathan all but growled as he opened the door of his house, ushering Steve out into the warm night’s air.

Steve snorted, “Wow, Jonny, I’ve never heard you use such strong language before.”

“Shut up and get in the car,” Jonathan told him before pausing, “You still got my bat?”

“It’s my bat now, and yes, it’s in my trunk,” Steve confirmed. He’d kept it around and had no intention of letting it go any time soon. That bat would come with him to college if necessary. He wasn’t taking any chances with the Upside Down.

“Then we’re taking your car. Keys?” Jonathan held up his hand, waiting for Steve to give them to him.

“It’s my car!”

“Keys,” Jonathan demanded ,and Steve raised his eyebrows but tossed him the keys.

“I love it when you get all bossy,” Steve flirted. Truthfully, Steve was a little too happy to see Jonathan in overprotective big brother mode. Not only was it hot, but it made him feel saner, since he wasn’t the only one Billy was pissing off.

They drove towards Billy’s house as soon as Steve gave him directions. He’d had to pick Max up a few times when her brother’s abuse got too bad. Steve took the time to go through Jonathan’s mix tape collection as one of them played, blaring out The Smiths. “You make these?”

“Yeah,” Jonathan nodded.

“What’s a guy gotta do to get one?”

“I don’t know. Why? You want one?” Jonathan asked, looking over at Steve as he went through the tapes.

“A little bit, yeah,” Steve admitted.

“Would you actually listen to it? It’s not gonna be some Cyndi Lauper bullshit, you know that, right?”

“I figured. I’ll listen to it.”

“Why do you want one?”

“Because-” Because I want to know what songs you associate with our friendship, with me. “I don’t know, I just want one. Nancy got one.”

“I was dating Nancy,” Jonathan pointed out.

Steve smiled and turned his head towards Jonathan, not joking as much as he wished he was, “Are you saying I have to date you to get a mix tape? Because if that’s the price I gotta pay-”

Jonathan snorted and shook his head, “I’ll make you one.”

Steve grinned as they pulled up to Billy’s place, but it soon disappeared when Jonathan parked the car. They had business to attend to and now was not the time for flirting.

Jonathan immediately went to the trunk to pull out the bat. Billy’s car was in the driveway and as soon as Jonathan had the bat in his hands, Steve knew what was about to happen. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Probably not,” Jonathan shrugged. Needless violence wasn’t like him, but as far as he was concerned, this wasn’t needless at all. Billy needed to learn who the fuck he was messing with and it didn’t look like anybody else was willing to step up.

“We could get arrested!” Steve hissed, starting to regret the decision to come. If they were just going to confront Billy, it would be one thing, but this could get them in serious trouble.

“Okay, first off, my mom’s dating the chief, we’ll be fine. Secondly, we’ll just tell them everything Billy’s been doing to the kids and he’ll get in even more trouble, so there’s no way in hell he’ll call the cops,” Jonathan assured him, making his way to Billy’s car.

“Sound logic,” Steve sighed, feeling a little bit better, but still wary of the task at hand. He had to admit, it would be a very powerful message to send.

Jonathan nodded and lifted the bat over his head, smirking at Steve before bringing it down on the car’s windshield. The resulting sound of glass cracking shook the quiet neighborhood. Jonathan brought it down a couple more times until the windshield was destroyed. He stood back to admire his work. Billy’s windshield was completely shattered and caved it. He didn’t do it often, but when he did get angry, he made it count. “There. A warning.”

Jonathan started back towards the car, ready to go when the front door of the house opened. Steve realized way too late that if Billy’s car was here, then that meant he was here, too. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan breathed out, his hand on the door’s handle.

“What the fuck did you do to my fucking car? What the hell?” Billy exploded out the door, running to his car to check out the damage. He pushed the hair back from his forehead, not quite believing what he was seeing. He shook his head, trying to process what had happened. “My dad’s gonna kill me.”

“Steve.” Jonathan urged, trying to get Steve’s attention, but Steve was completely focused on the horror story unfolding in front of them.

“He’s gonna kill me, and it’s all your fault,” Billy snarled before charging towards Steve, giving him a look that froze him in place.

“Steve! Steve, get in the car!”

He heard Jonathan, but he couldn’t do anything. He was like a deer in headlights and Billy was the oncoming car about to end his life. Well, he supposed it had been a good one. Sure, he had a few regrets, but what were they in comparison to this one?

“Harrington. I’m going to fucking kill you!”

“Steve, car!”

Steve stayed frozen as Billy stopped in front of him. He had all of two seconds to flinch before Billy’s fist connected with his face and he tasted blood in his mouth. The side of his face exploded with pain and he vaguely heard Jonathan yelling in the background.

“Don’t you fucking touch him!”

Billy got in a couple more hits, bloodying Steve’s nose and catching him under the eye before he was dragged off him, Jonathan pulling him away.

Steve blinked, getting his bearings and taking in the scene before him. Jonathan and Billy stood toe to toe, Billy shouting obscenities and Jonathan giving him a look of barely concealed rage.

Steve couldn’t tell who swung first, but within seconds, fists were flying. Jonathan clearly had the upper hand, more in control of himself than Billy could ever be, his anger wasn’t getting the better of him. Billy got in quite a few hits, though, and if Steve had been able to pick himself up off the ground, then he would have tried to help, but he wasn’t sure it was safe to go near them and Jonathan seemed to be handling himself.

Jonathan finally shoved Billy back against the car, holding him up with an arm to his throat. They’re both bloody and beaten up, but Jonathan wasn’t done. “You stay the fuck away from my brother and his friends. Do you understand?”

“Fuck you and fuck your faggot boyfriend,” Billy spat, struggling to get free. Jonathan didn’t look very strong, but he was holding Billy in place fairly well.

“Do you fucking understand?” He growled out, shoving his arm further against Billy’s throat.

“Go to hell, you motherfucking freak!”

“I swear to god, if I hit you again, I’m not gonna stop until you quit breathing, you piece of shit. Stay away from my brother, stay away from Max and Lucas, all of them. And stay the fuck away from Steve.” Billy had caused too much pain to his friends, he wasn’t going to stand for it anymore. If they couldn’t settle it like adults, Jonathan was more than happy to act just as childish as Billy.

“Gotta protect your bitch of a boyfriend, right?” Billy smiled, his teeth bloody and it hurt but he did it anyway. He managed to push Jonathan back just far enough, so he wasn’t touching the car anymore. “I always knew he was a fucking queer, I just didn’t know he was the one who took it up the ass.”

Jonathan shoved him back against the car with an audible thump, raising his fist.

“Jonathan! Let him go, we can leave, alright?” Steve called, finally getting to his feet. He wasn’t going to let Jonathan keep going. It was honestly a little scary seeing him like this. He wondered if he’d always been capable of this type of rage or if losing Will had changed him. Either way, it was over, Billy wasn’t worth getting arrested for. “He’s not worth it. It’s over.”

Jonathan stared at Billy for the longest time, but finally let him go, Billy slumping against the car. “Damn right. I knew you didn’t have the guts to finish it.”

“You want me to keep going?” Jonathan asked, not even turning around. He wanted to go home, to clean his face up, and to calm down. He hated being angry, it reminded him too much of Lonnie.

“I’m not afraid of you, you fucking cocksucker!” Billy raised his voice as Jonathan got farther away.

Jonathan rolled his eyes, “If you keep shouting you’re gonna wake the whole neighborhood. And your dad.”

“The fuck you know about my dad?” Billy asked, taking a few steps towards them.

Jonathan spun around, staring at Billy, “I know enough. I know he beats you, kicks the shit out of you and calls you worthless. I know he broke your nose last Christmas because you forgot to call him ‘sir.’ And I know that you’re just like him.”

“I’m nothing like him!” Billy shouted in offense.

“You both hurt people to make yourselves feel better. You’re both dicks. You both hurt people who look up to you, who need you to be stable, who need you to care about them, but instead you treat them like shit. You’re exactly alike and you know it.”

Billy crossed his arms, getting defensive, “And so what? Why should I apologize for being what he’s made me?”

“Because you don’t get to be a dick, that’s not how the world works. You think you’re the only one with a shitty father? Grow the hell up, Billy. You’re not the only person getting hurt here.” Jonathan knew first hand what it was like to be shoved around, but instead of taking it out on Will, he’d done everything he could to protect him, to show him the love he hadn’t gotten. Billy was just a bad example of abuse victims. He didn’t have to be like he was, but he didn’t try to change, and that was the problem. It was so easy to give into the anger, to let it consume you and to hurt others the way you’d been hurt, but being better was hard. Loving people, caring about them, trusting them, that was hard, and Billy didn’t want to put forth the effort to do it. So, he stayed the way he was, stagnant and sad, and honestly, Jonathan would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t been such a dick to the people he cared about. Might’ve even offered to help him be better, but he could tell from the way Billy reacted, he didn’t want to be better, and Jonathan felt bad for all the people in his life that had to deal with him. Max had to deal with his abuse, and yet she’d turned out better. If a child could be better, then there was no fucking excuse for Billy’s grown ass to be as bad as he was.

“And why should I care? Nobody cares about me, so what do I owe them?” Billy snapped, glaring at Jonathan. He didn’t give two shits what he had to say. He liked himself, and that was all that mattered.

“Maybe they would if you weren’t such a colossal prick. Maybe if you let people care about you instead of hurting them. Do you want to care about your father? Do you want to love him? No, of course not! So, why should anyone love you?” Jonathan reasoned, shaking his head. He was done with the conversation, and done with Billy. “I’m going home, Billy. Touch my family again and I’ll break your fingers.”

“Whatever, you fucking fag. I don’t need your advice.” Billy stomped off into the house, slamming the door behind him.

Jonathan leaned against the car for a moment, in pain and relived it was over, before opening the door and sliding into the front seat, asking “You okay, Steve?”

“Me? What about you? You look like you went ten rounds with Mike Tyson,” Steve shook his head as he closed the door.

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse,” Jonathan shrugged, wincing slightly. “Some Tylenol and some sleep will fix it.”

Steve looked him over, taking stock of his visible injuries, “You really kicked his ass.”

“Maybe he’ll leave them alone now.” That was all they could hope for.

“If not, we go to Hopper, he’ll arrest him, right?”

“If he can get enough evidence.”

Steve sighed and looked out the window as they drove, blood drying on his face. “Go to my house, so we can get cleaned up. I doubt you want your mom to see you like this, right?”

“Good idea,” Jonathan said, turning to get on the street that lead to Steve’s place. He didn’t even want to think about what his mother would say if she saw him like this. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture or to be coddled, he just wanted his head to stop hurting.

“Well, I am full of them. Hey, did you grab my bat?” Steve asked, suddenly worried.

“Yeah, it’s in the backseat. I put it there when I was trying to get you in the car.”

Steve looked in the back, confirming that the bat was indeed there. “Yeah, sorry, I just kinda froze.”

“It’s alright.” Jonathan understood. He knew what it was like to freeze up. But seeing Steve get attacked had triggered something in him. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from jumping in to save him.

They stopped outside Steve’s house and sat in silence for a moment before Steve opened the car door. Jonathan came around the side and handed him his keys so he could unlock the front door.

Once inside, Steve immediately took Jonathan to the bathroom to get cleaned up. He handed a rag to Jonathan and took on for himself, cleaning the dried blood from his face. He’d have a bruise in the morning, but compared to how Jonathan’s face would look, that was nothing. Once their faces were cleaned up, so they could see the damage better, Steve pulled out a first aid kit and set it on the counter.

“Here, let me help you put your face back together.”

“Okay, but honestly, how bad is it?” Jonathan asked, looking at himself in the mirror.

“I dunno,” Steve shrugged, smiling at Jonathan, “I still think you’re pretty.”

Jonathan looked down for a moment, like he was considering what to do before looking back at Steve and reaching out to tangle a fist in his shirt and pull him into a kiss. It was gentle and slow, hesitant, and Steve was too shocked to do anything but stand there. His brain finally kicked in as he felt Jonathan let go.

“I’m sorry, I-” That was as much as Jonathan could get out before Steve pulled him into another kiss, letting one hand tangle in his hair and the other wrap around his waist to pull him closer. Jonathan kissed back, cupping the side of Steve’s face with his hand. It was hungry and sloppy and their faces still hurt, but neither of them cared. Steve backed Jonathan up until he was pressed against the wall and Jonathan hummed his approval.

They finally broke apart and Steve smiled at Jonathan, “So, what was that for? Not that I’m complaining, just, you know, curious.”

Jonathan furrowed his brow, letting his hand drop, “I just- When I saw him hit you, I don’t know how to explain it, but I was so scared and angry. Then, here, with you, maybe it’s the adrenaline talking, I don’t know, but I’ve noticed your flirting and I’m not sure how to reciprocate it, but I would really like it if, I don’t know, we could go out some time?” Jonathan was painfully aware of how many times he said he didn’t know, but luckily, the smile stayed on Steve’s face.

“Even if I’m a fag who takes it up the ass?” Steve joked.

“I guess I can deal with that,” Jonathan shrugged. “As long as you don’t mind me being a motherfucking freak.”

“Well, nobody’s perfect,” Steve laughed, pulling away. “Now, we really do need to fix your face.”

[therealkn]

David’s Resolution: Day -3

Day -3 (December 29, 2018)

It Happened One Night (1934)

“Do you love her?” “A normal human being couldn’t live under the same roof with her without going nutty. She’s my idea of nothing!” “I asked you a simple question! Do you love her?” “YES! But don’t hold that against me. I’m a little screwy myself.”

I had decided on this resolution just after Christmas 2018, and I decided “Screw it, let’s get an early start on it.” One of my Christmas gifts was a jigsaw puzzle that showed a bunch of old movie posters, so being in that old movie mindset after finishing the puzzle with my mom (who loves jigsaw puzzles), I decided to watch an old movie. And I picked this one.

This was basically the film that made Frank Capra the name he is today. We remember Capra as one of the big-name filmmakers of the Golden Age of Hollywood, with films like this, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (which was later remade as an Adam Sandler film in 2002...), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (one of many awesome movies to come out of the “golden year” of 1939), and It’s a Wonderful Life (one of the all-time classic Christmas movies). And this film, like those, is also classic. And really good.

This movie, however, falls into a category of movies that a lot of people know one scene from and literally nothing else. A lot of people only know this movie as “the one where Claudette Colbert pulls up her skirt and shows some leg to hitch a ride”, and to be fair, it is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, enough that countless people have done parodies/homages/etc. to it over the decades. There’s plenty of other movies like this: I put the 1959 Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston in that category, as well as From Here to Eternity and Scanners. So what’s the movie actually about, then?

Here’s what it’s about: Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a spoiled socialite who’s tired of dealing with her father, Mr. Andrews, and his controlling/overprotective behavior. He’s especially unhappy because Ellie has eloped with airplane pilot King Westley, and he’s so pissed off at this that he’s actually trying to get the marriage annulled. Granted, he wants it annulled because King Westley is more interested in the money than in Ellie, but try explaining that to a woman who wants to spite her father by doing what he hates. And that’s why she decides to literally jump ship, leaving her father’s yacht and swimming to shore so she can go cross-country to be with King Westley.

And then we meet our other star of the show: Peter Warne, played by Clark Gable, a recently-fired newspaper reporter who meets Ellie on a bus travelling from Florida (where Ellie’s father’s yacht was) to be with King Westley. He soon figures out who Ellie is and the two end up cutting a deal: he’ll help her travel to be with her beau, and in return she’ll give him exclusive rights to tell the story in the papers. What follows is one hurdle in their travels after another as they bicker and snipe at each other all the way, and love blossoms between the two, while Ellie’s father is desperately scouring the country in hopes of finding his runaway daughter.

There’s not really a whole lot to spoil, since it’s a mid-1930s romantic comedy, so it’s pretty clear that these two stars are gonna get together in the end. Seeing how it happens is the interesting part, and Gable and Colbert have great chemistry together. They play off each other well, and it feels very natural, none of it’s contrived or forced. It makes me care more about them because you go “Ooh, this will be interesting to see.” instead of “Oh joy, this shit again.” when you see them sticking to formula. Then again, you could say this movie helped establish that formula, so seeing how it was originally before so many imitated it may be part of the reason I feel this way.

It’s interesting to watch old movies from a modern perspective, and I find it fascinating to see where tropes and ideas originate. It Happened One Night basically introduced, or at least popularized, things we’ve seen in many romance and road movies since. For example, there’s the issues that lead to Ellie and Peter taking different modes of transportation (from bus to hitchhiking to walking), which would later be experienced by Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Or the idea of separating a sleeping area by hanging a blanket on a clothesline to act like a “wall of Jericho”, something that would be repeated in later works like the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. There’s others as well, but I’ve seen a lot of things that did what this film did and it’s hard to filter out more specific examples.

That said, watching old movies with a modern perspective can be a problem because in some way you’re comparing this movie with what came after it and you can end up going “Why is this film a big deal?” It’s what TV Tropes calls “Seinfeld is Unfunny”: the phenomena of something being innovative, groundbreaking, revolutionary, etc. in its time, but as time passes and people take what it did and improve on it, build on it and all that, the original ends up seeming like it’s stale and dated and derivative.

A word of advice for people who watch older movies: to get in the right mindset to appreciate the movie and to avoid the “Seinfeld is Unfunny” effect, just tell yourself “Fuck everything that came after this. Don’t compare it to what came after it. Compare it to what came before it.” At least don’t compare it to what came after it or you’ll just disappoint yourself by thinking it’s not as good as what came afterwards.

Actually, it’s interesting to have something like a road movie in 1934, right in the middle of the Great Depression, since this was a time when not everyone owned a car, so buses were a principal form of transportation. Trains were too, but those were more expensive to ride. The movie also gives a little glimpse of what life was like in the Depression. This was a time when ten dollars could get you through a cross-country trip (I know, crazy, yes?), when motels had community showers and the rooms were all detached like little cabins, and when newspaper editors all sounded the same for some reason.

This actually reminds me of something I really liked about the film, and it regards two characters in the film: Ellie’s father Mr. Andrews, and the newspaper editor who was Peter’s boss. Both characters are introduced as somewhat belligerent and have their reasons to be, but over the course of the film, both are shown to actually be good people. Mr. Andrews is clearly worried sick about his daughter running off and like I said, it’s established that his major problem with Ellie’s marriage to King Westley is that King is basically more interested in her money than in her. He even tries to “buy off” King and compensate him for the annulment.

As for the editor... at first he’s your typical 1930s newspaper editor in the movies: fast-talking, not willing to take lip, and not really a sentimentalist. The first time we see him, he’s arguing with Peter over the phone and ends up firing him over the phone. As the film goes on, Peter talks to the editor about the Ellie Andrews story and that he’s following it, even convincing his editor to pay him right away for the story so he can get married to Ellie because he’s in love with her. His editor is initially dismissive at Peter saying he’s in love, but it’s suggested that after he reads Peter’s story, he realizes that he really does love Ellie and, when Peter feels like he’s lost Ellie and returns to his editor, drunk from his sorrow at losing Ellie and returning the money to the editor, the editor gives him some money and tells him to come back once Peter’s sobered up so they can talk about hiring him again. I just like seeing these tired tropes get twisted and seeing more dimensions to these stock character types, you know?

The third-act misunderstanding, by the way, is also well-done in this film. It plays very naturally, never feeling like it’s sticking strictly to formula and all the character interactions and emotions feel genuine, complete with more bickering and what may be one of the first instances of a runaway bride in film. Mr. Andrews, after meeting with Peter and realizing that Peter really does love his daughter and doesn’t care about the money (he didn’t even know that Mr. Andrews had put out a $10,000 reward for information on her whereabouts), even helps get the two together in the end, which is great to see.

I would recommend this movie. Ignoring the fact that it’s a classic that birthed a lot of things we’ve seen countless times in countless works afterwards, it’s a very solid romantic comedy with great chemistry between its leads, some really funny jokes and memorable moments, and a standout film from one of the Golden Age’s finest directors.

Next time: Robert Mitchum is a scary motherfucker.

[insert-witty-comment]

This was a story on fan fiction by "freakwithacamera". It is a one-shot where Jonathan and Steve resolve to put an end to Billy's terror on the kids, and in general.I omitted the slash between them because it's OOC and it didn't make sense. I hope we see something very similar to this in season 3. Check it out!Steve knew he respected Jonathan, but the second he said "Let's go. I'm tired of Billy's shit," his respect for him had risen. Most people, when confronted with Billy's bullshit and abuse, simply suggested going to the cops or telling a parent and having them deal with it, and nothing against Hopper or the party's parents – with the exception of Mr. Wheeler, he could choke as far as Steve was concerned – but that wasn't going to help the situation. Billy wasn't going to listen to authority figures talking diplomacy, he only understood when you spoke his language, and Jonathan seemed to be the first person to really understand that. So, when Steve had grumbled that they needed to do something about him, he hadn't expected anyone to agree, but Jonathan had and it proved to Steve that he was, once again, a brave person. A man of action.However, as he knew from experience, it took a lot to get Jonathan angry, even more to get him angry to the point of willingly going along with what could only be called violent disturbing of the peace, so after Steve had told him what Will had told him on the car ride home, he was ready to commit murder. Billy really should have known not to mess with the younger Byers, but Billy and Jonathan hadn't really met, so he supposed it wasn't Billy's fault for not understanding the rage of an older brother who had literally just gotten his brother back only to find out he was being bullied by a near-adult.It wasn't just his abuse of Will, he was fucking with the whole party, especially Max and Lucas because Billy was, as Steve had so eloquently put it "A racist pile of steaming horseshit." He'd really done it this time, because Lucas had gotten hurt in the process, which was the catalyst for Steve's anger. That bastard had followed the party home from school after Max had ditched him to hang out at the arcade with her friends, and ran them off the road again. Steve hadn't known about the first time until this evening, or this would have most likely happened a lot sooner. Billy had almost hit Lucas, purposely chasing him down for longer up until the point when he swerved to avoid being hit and went head first into a tree, leaving him with a rather large bump, which Steve had worried might have been a concussion, but after multiple reassurances from both Dustin and Will, had calmed down enough to realize that it wasn't anything too serious. He had a few bruises, as well, and a couple scrapes on his face, but he had insisted he was fine and didn't need Steve to baby him.The party had done their best to calm Steve down and had succeeded in stopping him from going directly to Billy's house and getting his ass handed to him almost immediately. It wasn't until he'd brought Will home after a night of Dungeons and Dragons, that he'd met up with Jonathan and they'd collectively decided that something had to be done. Steve brought Will home most nights, because Ms. Byers still didn't want him riding his bike home at night, which was understandable, so Steve had volunteered, partly because he liked Will,  and it worked out just as well, because Steve would already go to the Wheeler household to study with Nancy.Nancy and Steve had made up and were on better terms, both realizing they weren't the best for her, and she was helping him with his college essays, so he could potentially get in next year. He was aiming for somewhere in New Hampshire, so he could follow Jonathan, which meant a lot of study sessions and plenty or rewritten essays. He was getting better, though, and he was sure he'd have in by time for early consideration.He'd been there for her when she and Jonathan had broken up a few months prior. Jonathan had broken it off, not really giving much of a reason beyond he didn't think he was what she needed. Now, after a long conversation with Will about Billy's abuse and how often it happened, which turned out to be at least weekly, and he was attacking the whole party, even shoved Will into a wall at the theater one day when he was with Mike and called him a fag. Will had had to restrain Mike to keep him from going after him, which would not have ended well. Jonathan was understandably pissed when Steve had told him."We need to do something about this motherfucking prick," Jonathan all but growled as he opened the door of his house, ushering Steve out into the warm night's air.Steve snorted, "Wow, Jonny, I've never heard you use such strong language before.""Shut up and get in the car," Jonathan told him before pausing, "You still got my bat?""It's my bat now, and yes, it's in my trunk," Steve confirmed. He'd kept it around and had no intention of letting it go any time soon. That bat would come with him to college if necessary. He wasn't taking any chances with the Upside Down."Then we're taking your car. Keys?" Jonathan held up his hand, waiting for Steve to give them to him."It's my car!""Keys," Jonathan demanded and Steve raised his eyebrows but tossed him the keys."I love it when you get all bossy," Steve sarcastically. Truthfully, Steve was a little too happy to see Jonathan in overprotective big brother mode. It made him feel saner, since he wasn't the only one Billy was pissing off.They drove towards Billy's house as soon as Steve gave him directions. He'd had to pick Max up a few times when her brother's abuse got too bad. Steve took the time to go through Jonathan's mix tape collection as one of them played, blaring out The Smiths. "You make these?""Yeah," Jonathan nodded."What's a guy gotta do to get one?""I don't know. Why? You want one?" Jonathan asked, looking over at Steve as he went through the tapes."A little bit, yeah," Steve admitted."Would you actually listen to it? It's not gonna be some Cyndi Lauper bullshit, you know that, right?""I figured. I'll listen to it.""Why do you want one?""Because-" Because I've actually been meaning to try out some new music.""Yeah that makes sense," Jonathan pointed out.Steve smiled and turned his head towards Jonathan, not joking as much as he wished he was, "Are you saying I have to pay you to get a mix tape? If so, just name the price I gotta pay-"Jonathan snorted and shook his head, "I'll make you one."Steve grinned as they pulled up to Billy's place, but it soon disappeared when Jonathan parked the car. They had business to attend to and now was not the time for joking around.Jonathan immediately went to the trunk to pull out the bat. Billy's car was in the driveway and as soon as Jonathan had the bat in his hands, Steve knew what was about to happen. "Are you sure this is a good idea?""Probably not," Jonathan shrugged. Needless violence wasn't like him, but as far as he was concerned, this wasn't needless at all. Billy needed to learn who the fuck he was messing with and it didn't look like anybody else was willing to step up."We could get arrested!" Steve hissed, starting to regret the decision to come. If they were just going to confront Billy, it would be one thing, but this could get them in serious trouble."Okay, first off, my mom's dating the chief, we'll be fine. Secondly, we'll just tell them everything Billy's been doing to the kids and he'll get in even more trouble, so there's no way in hell he'll call the cops," Jonathan assured him, making his way to Billy's car."Sound logic," Steve sighed, feeling a little bit better, but still wary of the task at hand. He had to admit, it would be a very powerful message to send.Jonathan nodded and lifted the bat over his head, smirking at Steve before bringing it down on the car's windshield. The resulting sound of glass cracking shook the quiet neighborhood. Jonathan brought it down a couple more times until the windshield was destroyed. He stood back to admire his work. Billy's windshield was completely shattered and caved it. He didn't do it often, but when he did get angry, he made it count. "There. A warning."Jonathan started back towards the car, ready to go when the front door of the house opened. Steve realized way too late that if Billy's car was here, then that meant he was here, too. "Shit.""Yeah," Jonathan breathed out, his hand on the door's handle."What the fuck did you do to my fucking car? What the hell?" Billy exploded out the door, running to his car to check out the damage. He pushed the hair back from his forehead, not quite believing what he was seeing. He shook his head, trying to process what had happened. "My dad's gonna kill me.""Steve." Jonathan urged, trying to get Steve's attention, but Steve was completely focused on the horror story unfolding in front of them."He's gonna kill me, and it's all your fault," Billy snarled before running towards Steve, giving him a look that froze him in place."Steve! Steve, get in the car!"He heard Jonathan, but he couldn't do anything. He was like a deer in headlights and Billy was the oncoming car about to end his life. Well, he supposed it had been a good one. Sure, he had a few regrets, but what were they in comparison to this one?"Harrington. I'm going to fucking kill you!""Steve, car!"Steve stayed frozen as Billy stopped in front of him. He had all of two seconds to flinch before Billy's fist connected with his face and he tasted blood in his mouth. The side of his face exploded with pain and he vaguely heard Jonathan yelling in the background."Don't you fucking touch him!"Billy got in a couple more hits, bloodying Steve's nose and catching him under the eye before he was dragged off of him, Jonathan pulling him away.Steve blinked, getting his bearings and taking in the scene before him. Jonathan and Billy stood toe to toe, Billy shouting obscenities and Jonathan giving him a look of barely concealed rage.Steve couldn't tell who swung first, but within seconds, fists were flying. Jonathan clearly had the upper hand, more in control of himself than Billy could ever be, his anger wasn't getting the better of him. Billy got in quite a few hits, though, and if Steve had been able to pick himself up off the ground, then he would have tried to help, but he wasn't sure it was safe to go near them and Jonathan seemed to be handling himself.Jonathan finally shoved Billy back against the car, holding him up with an arm to his throat. They're both bloody and beaten up, but Jonathan wasn't done. "You stay the fuck away from my brother and his friends. Do you understand?""Fuck you and you're faggot brother," Billy spat, struggling to get free. Jonathan didn't look very strong, but he was holding Billy in place fairly well."Do you fucking understand?" He growled out, shoving his arm further against Billy's throat."Go to hell, you motherfucking freak!""I swear to god, if I hit you again, I'm not gonna stop until you quit breathing, you piece of shit. Stay away from my brother, stay away from Max and Lucas, all of them. And stay the fuck away from Steve." Billy had caused too much pain to his friends, he wasn't going to stand for it anymore. If they couldn't settle it like adults, Jonathan was more than happy to act just as childish as Billy."Gotta protect your bitch of a brother, right?" Billy smiled, his teeth bloody and it hurt but he did it anyway. He managed to push Jonathan back just far enough so he wasn't touching the car anymore. "I always knew he was a fucking queer, I just didn't know he was the one who took it up the ass."Jonathan shoved him back against the car with an audible thump, raising his fist."Jonathan! Let him go, we can leave, alright?" Steve called, finally getting to his feet. He wasn't going to let Jonathan keep going. It was honestly a little scary seeing him like this. He wondered if he'd always been capable of this type of rage or if losing Will had changed him. Either way, it was over, Billy wasn't worth getting arrested for. "He's not worth it. It's over."Jonathan stared at Billy for the longest time, but finally let him go, Billy slumping against the car. "Damn right. I knew you didn't have the guts to finish it.""You want me to keep going?" Jonathan asked, not even turning around. He wanted to go home, to clean his face up, and to calm down. He hated being angry, it reminded him too much of Lonnie."I'm not afraid of you, you fucking creep!" Billy raised his voice as Jonathan got farther away.Jonathan rolled his eyes, "If you keep shouting you're gonna wake the whole neighborhood. And your dad.""The fuck you know about my dad?" Billy asked, taking a few steps towards them.Jonathan spun around, staring at Billy, "I know enough. I know he beats you, kicks the shit out of you and calls you worthless. I know he broke your nose last Christmas because you forgot to call him 'sir.' And I know that you're just like him.""I'm nothing like him!" Billy shouted in offense."You both hurt people to make yourselves feel better. You're both dicks. You both hurt people who look up to you, who need you to be stable, who need you to care about them, but instead you treat them like shit. You're exactly alike and you know it."Billy crossed his arms, getting defensive, "And so what? Why should I apologize for being what he's made me?""Because you don't get to be a dick, that's not how the world works. You think you're the only one with a shitty father? Grow the hell up, Billy. You're not the only person getting hurt here." Jonathan knew first hand what it was like to be shoved around, but instead of taking it out on Will, he'd done everything he could to protect him, to show him the love he hadn't gotten. Billy was just a bad example of abuse victims. He didn't have to be like he was, but he didn't try to change, and that was the problem. It was so easy to give into the anger, to let it consume you and to hurt others the way you'd been hurt, but being better was hard. Loving people, caring about them, trusting them, that was hard, and Billy didn't want to put forth the effort to do it. So, he stayed the way he was, stagnant and sad, and honestly, Jonathan would have felt sorry for him if he hadn't been such a dick to the people he cared about. Might've even offered to help him be better, but he could tell from the way Billy reacted, he didn't want to be better, and Jonathan felt bad for all the people in his life that had to deal with him. Max had to deal with his abuse, and yet she'd turned out better. If a child could be better, then there was no fucking excuse for Billy's grown ass to be as bad as he was."And why should I care? Nobody cares about me, so what do I owe them?" Billy snapped, glaring at Jonathan. He didn't give two shits what he had to say. He liked himself, and that was all that mattered."Maybe they would if you weren't such a colossal prick. Maybe if you let people care about you instead of hurting them. Do you want to care about your father? Do you want to love him? No, of course not! So, why should anyone love you?" Jonathan reasoned, shaking his head. He was done with the conversation, and done with Billy. "I'm going home, Billy. Touch my family again and I'll break your fingers.""Whatever, you fucking creep. I don't need your advice." Billy stomped off into the house, slamming the door behind him.Jonathan leaned against the car for a moment, in pain and relived it was over, before opening the door and sliding into the front seat, asking "You okay, Steve?""Me? What about you? You look like you went ten rounds with Mike Tyson," Steve shook his head as he closed the door."I'm fine. I've had worse," Jonathan shrugged, wincing slightly. "Some Tylenol and some sleep will fix it."Steve looked him over, taking stock of his visible injuries, "You really kicked his ass.""Maybe he'll leave them alone now." That was all they could hope for."If not, we go to Hopper, he'll arrest him, right?""If he can get enough evidence."Steve sighed and looked out the window as they drove, blood drying on his face. "Go to my house, so we can get cleaned up. I doubt you want your mom to see you like this, right?""Good idea," Jonathan said, turning to get on the street that lead to Steve's place. He didn't even want to think about what his mother would say if she saw him like this. He wasn't in the mood for a lecture or to be coddled, he just wanted his head to stop hurting."Well, I am full of them. Hey, did you grab my bat?" Steve asked, suddenly worried."Yeah, it's in the backseat. I put it there when I was trying to get you in the car."Steve looked in the back, confirming that the bat was indeed there. "Yeah, sorry, I just kinda froze.""It's alright." Jonathan understood. He knew what it was like to freeze up. But seeing Steve get attacked had triggered something in him. He hadn't been able to stop himself from jumping in to save him. It reminded him of Lonnie trying to attack him.They stopped outside Steve's house and sat in silence for a moment before Steve opened the car door. Jonathan came around the side and handed him his keys so he could unlock the front door.Once inside, Steve immediately took Jonathan to the bathroom to get cleaned up. He handed a rag to Jonathan and took one for himself, cleaning the dried blood from his face. He'd have a bruise in the morning, but compared to how Jonathan's face would look, that was nothing. One their faces were cleaned up so they could see the damage better, Steve pulled out a first aid kit and set it on the counter."Here, let me help you put your face back together.""Okay, but honestly, how bad is it?" Jonathan asked, looking at himself in the mirror."Well...," Steve shrugged, smiling at Jonathan, "To put it bluntly, you'll probably look like total shit tomorrow."Jonathan looked down for a moment, thinking. He's not a guy who really likes to resolve things through violence, but today he didn't have a choice. If there's one thing that's true about Jonathan Byers, it's that he'll always protect his family. The incident with the demagorgon had made him more mindful of this fact. Today Billy Hargrove learned this the hard way. Jonathan still would've done something if Will wasn't targeted by Billy, but he did and Jonathan put a stop to it. Jonathan thanked Steve for his help and later he got home, and snuck in through his window, so as to not wake up the other members of his household. If he's going to talk to his mom, he at least needs some sleep first. He later drifted into sleep with one thought.No one messes with those close to him and gets away with it.  thanked Steve for his help and later he got home, and snuck in through his window, so as to not wake up the other members of his household. If he's going to talk to his mom, he at least needs some sleep first. He later drifted into sleep with one thought.No one messes with those close to him and gets away with it.  via /r/StrangerThings