#thst is increasingly difficult when Steve puts on his good boy smile and asks if Billy can come out and play

[ihni]

I was listening to "Son of a preacherman" on my way to work this morning and now I want a Harringrove fic. (If it already exists in some form, feel free to throw the link my way!)

Imagine it: Neil finds out his son is into boys, and brings the whole family to the middle of nowhere, Indiana, because he is a god-fearing man and no son of his will turn out that way, etc etc. The first time they go to church (which is well-attended, there are many religious people in Hawkins, which is probably why Neil chose it), the preacher welcomes the new family and also invites them to dinner with his own family. Neil is pleased, and threatens Billy to be on his best behavior or else. Billy, still recovering from the beating he probably got before they moved, grits his teeth and says yes sir, because he has decided that he's gonna just get through the next couple of years without making a splash - just survive until graduation, and then leave.

Only, the preacher and his wife, they have a son, who they introduce as Steve. And he is pretty and popular and polite and Billy curses internally because he's just Billy's type. Billy resigns himself to catching a few glances in secret only. Good thing the guy is the preacher's son, right? Because surely such a boy is too much of a goody two shoes to even notice those glances, let alone know what they mean, right?

Wrong! The good boy act is really just an act. Scraping a bit on the surface, or getting him away from parents and authorities, reveals King Steve. He smokes, he drinks, he fools around ... And apparently, not only with girls ... He sees Billy's looks and he very much knows what it means, and more than that - he's interested.

Suddenly just surviving until graduation is much harder - because Hawkins' preacher's son, secret bad boy Steve Harrington is not the good influence Billy's dad thinks he is.