A/N: When being introduced to the Midnight overlaps with the third season of Stranger Things being released, you write a Billy Hargrove fic. He's trying his best to become a soft boy, but instead you all get this mess of a slow burn fic.

Christmas break was surprisingly more lively in Hawkins than Teddi had anticipated. The Hawkins Family Video store and the Palace Arcade were always pretty popular during weekends, sure, but in the few days since school had let out she had found herself bouncing back and forth between the two shops because she and Keith were seriously understaffed. She didn't mind it. Everyone in town was surprisingly nice, and a lot of the kids that stopped into the arcade were pretty entertaining. There was one group she had taken a liking to. Max Mayfield and her gang always managed to make a shift more exciting, and she loved helping them give Keith grief.

She had popped into the arcade about twenty minutes ago and found them spread out amongst the games. Max seemed to be missing, but there was a new girl that had tagged along the last few nights. Apparently Chief Hopper had a daughter she hadn't known about. Not that that surprised her. As of that week she had only been in Hawkins for two months. Her family had moved there from upstate New York after her dad had been laid off. Now they lived in a really crappy place that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere even for Indiana. It was why she had taken the video store/arcade job to begin with. There was no way her parents would be able to pay for college now. So now she was desperate for as many shifts as she could get from Keith on top of looking for a second job.

Since the arcade seemed to be relatively peaceful for a Friday night, she was focused on the video store now. Keith was forcing her to play that god awful animated Rudolph movie on repeat to get customers into the Christmas spirit. If she had to listen to that elf talk about how he wanted to be a dentist one more time, she might actually lose it. She was bouncing back and forth between the register, restocking and organizing shelves and rewinding tapes people had returned. She was so busy that she had managed to drown out those awful claymation characters and the sound of a roaring engine outside. She threw a "Welcome to Hawkins' Video!" over her shoulder when she heard the bell on the door jingle as it opened.

She was tidying up the holiday display when someone's shadow loomed over her. "You work here?" a gruff voice asked. Teddi looked up, eyebrows together in confusion as she tried to imagine what this guy could possibly be so huffy about.

"Sure do," she said as she stood. She was immediately met with the smell of cologne, cigarette smoke and spearmint. "What can I help you with?"

Teddi vaguely recognized him after a few moments. They went to the same school. She didn't entirely remember his name, but she knew he was kind of a dick. Very, very cute, but kind of a dick. "I'm stuck watching my lame ass step-sister while she's grounded. Her mom told me to rent some videos to keep her occupied over the weekend." he said rolling his eyes.

"Oh! Well, that's actually pretty sweet of you. I mean I'm an only child so my mom always just threw me in front of a TV while I was growing up…" she trailed off. It was obvious he didn't care. Teddi cleared her throat. "Sorry. Um, so what's she into?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking at Teddi like she had grown a second head. "How the fuck should I know?"

"Isn't she your sister?"

"Step sister." he corrected shortly.

"Right…" Teddi pursed her lips while she thought of a suggestion. Cute but dickly blonde boy shifted impatiently. "Chick flick?" she asked. He made a face.

"Jesus, no. She's not into all that girly shit." he paused for a moment. "I don't know, she was Michael Myers for Halloween. You got anything like that?"

Teddi perked up. "Oh, totally! Here, follow me," she waved at him and took off towards the horror section. She glanced over her shoulder quickly at him. "...You go to Hawkin's High, right? You're on the basketball team? I'm Teddi. I just moved here so you've probably haven't seen me or anything…" she was rambling again. She always did that when things were quiet. She hated quiet.

"You're the weird girl that argued with the science teacher for like half an hour over crystals." he said bluntly. Teddi let out a nervous laugh. She had to admit, it was a little embarrassing to remembered by cute but dickly for arguing that crystals did in fact have healing abilities, and no it did not have anything to do with the movie The Dark Crystal.

"Yep...yep. That was me…" she was fairly certain she heard him let out a faint chuckle. "So uh, keeping in tone with the whole holiday horror she might like this one," she plucked a copy of Black Christmas off the shelf and handed it to him. He gave it a quick look over and gave an approving nod. "And these are just some really good ones. You can't pass them up." she handed him Sleepaway Camp, Alien and Carrie. She hoped it would be broad enough range to keep his sister occupied and happy.

He scanned each VHS quickly. "Right...thanks. Hopefully this'll keep the little shit happy." he muttered.

"It's no problem. If she likes them there's plenty more where those came from." she said leading him back to the front counter. While she was checking each of the movies out she was completely oblivious to the fact that cute but dickly was now aware that his focus was no longer on renting movies and that Teddi was a girl. A cute, but weird, girl that he had yet to put the moves on.

"...I'm Billy, by the way. I forgot to introduce myself earlier." he grinned, leaning against the counter and turning on a sudden charm he definitely hadn't had when he first walked in. Teddi had bleached blonde hair that was cut into a bob that just barely reached her shoulders. Her lashes were so long and thick that he couldn't tell whether they were real or fake. Freckles speckled her nose and she had a metal hoop in her right nostril. She was also wearing glittery lip gloss that managed to sparkle even under the fluorescent lighting of the video store. He barely got to get a good look of her "Hawkins' Family Video" shirt that was about two sizes too small and black cut off shorts before he was caught.

"Oh, it's fine we were bus-...what are you doing?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

Billy stood up straight, his grin fading. "...What do you mean?"

"You were just looking at me like I'm like a cheeseburger or something," she snorted. Billy looked at her like she had grown another head yet again. "Does that actually work?" she asked, her nose scrunching just a little.

Billy clenched his jaw, resting both of his hands on the counter. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he spat. It only made him more annoyed when Teddi let out a giggle. If it was one thing he hated, it was being laughed at.

"Nothing. Forget it," she slid the tapes towards him. "Ten bucks. They're due back Monday." she said with an amused smile. Billy only muttered, reaching into his back pocket and digging his wallet out. He tossed a ten down on the counter and snatched up the tapes. "Enjoy the movies!" she said sweetly.

Billy rolled his eyes and nearly stomped back out to his car. He hated Hawkins. He hated how cold it was. He hated how festive everyone got around Christmas. He hated that he was stuck at home with Max all weekend, and he hated that Teddi had embarrassed him. Fuck Hawkins, he thought as he slid into his Camaro.

"Took you long enough," Max muttered, crossing her arms. Billy ignored her and tossed the tapes into her lap before throwing the car into reverse. Max silently studied each of the movies. "These look pretty good...you picked these out?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Billy fished his cigarettes from his jacket pocket and placed one between his lips. "The girl that worked there picked them out," he mumbled before lighting it. "I told her you liked Halloween." for some reason that excited Max.

"Teddi?" she asked, turning to face her step-brother.

Billy cast a sideways glance at her. "Yeah...you know her?"

"She works at the arcade too. She's really cool." Billy scoffed. What did Max know about cool? He supposed to a geek like Max and her friends that maybe Teddi seemed cool. He sure didn't see it.

"She's weird." he argued curtly.

Max gave him a knowing look and smiled. "You asked her out didn't you? She said no didn't she?" she asked excitedly. Billy gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He bit back his initial response. "She's not my type." he said simply.

It was Max's turn to scoff. "You don't have a type. Girl is your type. She's too smart for you anyways-"

"Max, do you ever shut the fuck up? It's bad enough I have to spend the weekend with you. Do you really think I give a shit about what you have to say about some freak that works at the video store?" Max only rolled her eyes. Ever since the night Billy had come to find her at the Byers' house things with Billy had been slightly better, but not great. Her step-brother was stubborn. And while she was sure she had put the fear of God in him that night, Max was sure there was nothing that would be able to match his attitude.

Billy leaned forward and flipped the radio on to signal he was done with the conversation. He drummed his fingers against the wheel in sync with the beat and pretended Max was no longer there. But still, the fact that he had actually tried to find movies she'd like instead of grabbing whatever was closest let her know he didn't completely hate her. If anything he was crabby because his ego was bruised from whatever happened between him and Teddi.

Max was positive Billy had tried to ask her out. Lucas and the guys all had a crush on her. She was into all the same stuff they were, and she was nicer than Steve. Max had found herself wishing a few times that Teddi could be her step-sister rather than having to stick around Billy. Or at the very least she wished that Billy wasn't such a jerk and that Teddi would want to date him. Maybe make him chill out some.

Max's mom and Neil weren't home when they pulled into the driveway. Usually on the weekends they went out and she and Billy wouldn't see them much if they were home. Which wasn't often. Both Billy and Max liked to avoid being home as often as possible. Max followed Billy inside and kicked off her snow-covered boots, hanging up her coat and rushing over to the TV. Billy tossed his leather jacket onto the back of the couch and headed for the kitchen. Max heard the pop of a beer can being opened.

She decided to watch Black Christmas first. She popped the tape in, settling own on the floor to watch. She barely even noticed Billy standing awkwardly in the doorway. "...You want popcorn or something?" he finally asked. Max tried to mask her surprise, instead smiling and nodding. He disappeared into the kitchen once more, making sure to slam cabinet doors and the microwave as if he were being forced to cook up popcorn.

Billy returned a few moments later, plopping down on the couch and setting the bowl on the table in front of him. Max moved from her place on the floor to the couch as he kicked off his boots and leaned back into the couch. He rolled his eyes as she gave him a happy smile, grabbing the popcorn bowl and settling into the couch herself. While he still wished he was out with some girl he could pick up at work, Billy supposed this wasn't the worst way to spend the weekend.