-Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Stranger Things.
Chapter 8: Prince Charming
"We have a problem…- "
"What's happened? …You know I don't like problems." Dr. Brenner asked, his tone irritated.
"The girl… She was on her way—but the 'loose cannon' stopped her, picked her up and drove her away—we know where they are hiding, there's an old cabin in the woods, should we head out and-." He started hesitantly.
"No… I have a better idea, let's draw them out, this time something a bit more dramatic…. Release the creature." He stated malignantly.
"But Doctor… The creature… it will kill them, her powers, they are still weak." The technician protested.
"I didn't say to send it to them, send it somewhere it will hurt her." Dr. Brenner said with a devilish smile.
--
Billy sat frozen, unable to move any part of his body, his limbs feeling too heavy to even move a muscle, he gasped for air, tears welled up in his eyes as sweat beaded on his forehead. After a few moments, he was still feeling misplaced by the shock of what he had just witnessed, in an attempt to escape the confined space of his car, he awkwardly grasped at the door handle to open the driver's side, being off balance, he fell out, accidently landing onto his hands and knees. He continued breathing erratically, his head now placed between his legs, hoping to eventually catch his breath. After a few moments of deep breathing he began to regain his composure and managed to pull himself up out of the dirt, resting his hands on his knees, to recoup his breathing.
"What the hell was that?" He asked turning around to see El looking exhausted in the passenger seat, her delicate form slouched tiredly, she stared back at him anxiously, as she wiped the blood from her nose onto her jacket sleeve. She could hear the uneasiness in his voice--to her ears it sounded like anger.
He was angry at her. Why?
"Jesus Christ El, I didn't ask for a psychotic feature presentation, Did I? I just had a couple of questions that I wanted answered, for fucks sake!" He shouted angrily, slamming the car door closed to dramatically parade away down the unlit street.
Why did she have to do that, I don't want to see into her freakshow.
I didn't need to know that she's been treated like garbage her whole life,
Why did she have to do that?
Why am I the one that feels like such a dick?
FUCK.
Angry, Billy took his frustrations out on a nearby tree, attempting to beat it into a pulp, but unlike the face he had pounded earlier, the tree only carved away at his skin. El still in the passenger's side of the car, watched fearfully, as he punched repeatedly, growling in anger at what she had done. She considered getting out to follow him, but between pushing Rob away to escape his advances and showing Billy inside her mind, she was left completely depleted of any energy.
After a few minutes of thrashing at an innocent tree, Billy turned around and began to make his way back towards the car, intent on calling her out on her audacity; how dare she barge through his barriers once again, forcing her way back into his head, only to force him to see images and memories that weren't even his burden to remember.
WHY?
He ignored the pain that with coursing through his bloody knuckles, they were worse now than before, he'd broken the skin when he'd beaten Rob, but after finishing off the tree he well and truly had open wounds.
He approached the passenger side door, and abruptly yanked it open to stare furiously at her, she was still slumped in the seat of the car, her energy almost completely diminished, to the point she didn't even have the energy to appear to be afraid of him.
"Why the hell did you do that?" He asked, nearly shouting at her.
"You wanted to see, so you see—" She explained, breathlessly.
"No El, I didn't want or need to see all that, I just… I don't know… wanted to know basic shit like... that your name is actually Jane. Why couldn't you just have used your fucking words, like a normal Goddamn person." He said shouting this time, clearly becoming even more worked up.
Normal person,
His words burnt into her ears like a scolding hot iron, leaving her emotions at an all-time high, the amount of anger and hurt she felt, must have given her some short of energy surge, because her face crinkled up into an indignant frown, causing her to peel herself out of the car. She stood on shaky legs to confront him, the deep darkness in her eyes cut straight through him, causing his eyes to water at the forcefulness of it. He felt his stance weaken, her emotions pouring out in just a stare, there was no need for her to say how she felt, he could feel it, just from her gaze alone.
She was hurt, angry, her efforts had been rejected.
Rejected by him.
Had she ever let someone see into her before?
Why would she show me?
She angrily attempted to push past him and to his surprise not with her powers, instead she used only her own physical strength, not surprising him in the slightest, that her slight frame didn't even cause him to budge. He stood strong as a brick wall to her, he laughed on the inside at how frustrated she must have felt. She pushed with her palms into his chest a few more times, hoping to God that he would just move away and let her pass.
"Where the hell are you going to go?" He said harshly, annoyed at how ridiculous she was being.
She responded by pushing him one last time, surprised to find him move to let her pass.
He watched her stomp angrily in the opposite direction of the car, before hesitantly trying to stop her.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, it's dark, cold and you're soaking wet, don't be a shit bird, and just get into the car." He said, his voice agitated.
Ignoring him, El kept walking, to where she did not know, to who she did not know. But she would be damned if she stayed there with him. She felt Humiliated, she knew he was hard and that he had walls of steel up, but she did not expect his reaction to be complete dismissal of her most inner darkest secrets.
Jerk.
"GET IN THE CAR EL, I AM NOT CHASING YOU." He shouted, so frustrated he surprised himself with his outburst.
"No," she said strongly, as she began to slowly walk towards him, her stance cat like, as if stalking towards him, it wasn't a walk that said "You win, I'll come with you" it was a walk of, "You yell at me again and I will unleash hell onto you."
"You wanted to know! --to know everything, now you know…. Everything." She said softly, but her tone was resilient, powerful even.
Billy stood a little taken aback by her boldness, she well and truly wasn't afraid of him, that much was clear to him. She'd be the only person in Hawkins that wasn't even slightly intimidated by him. It made him feel weak, unshielded, vulnerable and then it hit him again, like another freight train this time derailing with absolutely no recovering, he wasn't angry at her, he was protecting himself, she was getting in, ripping down his walls, leaving him naked and exposed.
"This brat is going to be the end of me." He whispered to himself, rolling his eyes into his head, before continuing to walk towards her.
"I'm sorry okay? Is that what you want to hear? That I'm a dick?" He muttered, only just loud enough for her to barely make out his words.
"I shouldn't have flown off the handle the way I did, it was wrong. I'm just… I'm not…"
"I'm not good—" He said defeated, emphasizing the word, good.
"I'm not good for you to be around." He finished solemnly.
El turned around to face him, she was shocked to see his face was… sad… exposed even, she knew it wouldn't last for more than a moment, so taking advantage of the situation before her, she walked back over towards him, standing in front of him, to stare back into his perfectly blue eyes, they seemed even crisper in the headlights of the car.
She hesitated for a moment, raising her hand only slightly and then moving it back down to her side, before reaching up once more to follow through and gently grasp his bleeding hand into hers.
He was surprised that much was clear, he couldn't help but flinch for a second, his eyebrows burrowing slightly, not really knowing what was happening or how he should react. It was foreign to him, in all the years of sexual conquests, he'd touched plenty of girls and they'd touched him. -- but not like this- this was different it meant something; it felt like all of his intimate encounters had meant nothing, this simple gesture of holding his hand had completely overtaken any and all intimacy he ever thought he'd felt before.
she was comforting him.
Sensing his weakness and attempting to reassure him, the truth was, the reason he didn't want to go after her, was because he was afraid, afraid she's just walk away from him no matter what he said or did—because it had happened before.
What was stopping it from happening again.
Mom. She left.
Alone, with dad.
SIR.
people only take what they want from you- before leaving you on the side of the road to rot.
Was that what was happening now? Is she walking away from me, because I'm bad? —bad for her?
Or is it because she's afraid?
Afraid.
Am I Afraid of this strange girl in front of me?
No, I'm afraid of how soft I'm becoming--
Get it together. --you are not a pussy.
It's not being a pussy to admit that she's—beautiful.
Everything about her is-- penetrating,
No Idiot, we don't call girls beautiful, or perfect unless we want something from them,
You want NOTHING from this girl, so stop, pull your hand away, before you give her the wrong idea.
Her hands, they're so cold.
"Your hands… they're freezing." He said, breaking out from his daydreaming, his face suddenly becoming stressed.
"Would you just come with me? Before you freeze to death, who the hell runs around in the fucking rain anyway, do you even know what hypothermia is?" He asked critically, secretly looking her over.
"Hypothermia," She said, echoing his words, the ending of the word muffled by wild teeth chattering.
"Fuck me." He said rolling his eyes, before removing his jacket to place it around her shoulders.
"This doesn't mean we're friends or anything, this is just me making sure that you don't die okay?" He stated defensively, looking over to her to ensure she understood.
She nodded nervously, knowing full well he wasn't telling the full truth, his walls were back up, but perhaps she had found a door, with an attainable key and with that knowledge alone, it was enough to coax her back into the car, Billy let out a sigh of relief, as she seated herself back in the passenger seat, he quickly closed the door behind her, even considering locking her in.
"I need a beer so damn bad." He said murmuring.
"Can you just stay in the car now?" He asked condescendingly as he revved up the engine, turning his head in her direction to see her nodding, her face looked petrified but upon closer inspection, Billy noticed that she was just still freezing cold, her lips a faint blue colour, and her teeth chattering so violently he could actually hear them clicking.
"You still cold?" He asked knowingly, turning the nob for the heat to full blast.
"Wet." She replied shortly.
"Well people don't normally run around in the rain in the middle of November." He said, patronizingly, looking over to her again to see her unpleasantly glaring at him.
The power to destroy people with her mind, yet small and breakable as a bird— unbelievable.
Silence filled the car for a moment, Billy not wanting to ask too many questions at the fear of seeming too interested and giving her the wrong idea,
that he cared or liked her or something.
Because he most certainly did not.
However, his curiosity soon got the better of him, and he couldn't help himself, apparently El had the exact same idea because just as he was about to ask a series of questions, she appeared to have her own.
"What mean, 'people will get the wrong idea'? Yesterday you said people will get the wrong idea, if we are together…" She asked softly, curiosity overspilling in her voice.
Billy sat shocked for a moment before running his hand down his face and through his hair,
Seriously? She wants to ask that.
He placed a cigarette between his teeth and lit up quickly, taking a long nervous drag before speaking, hoping to muffle his answer as he spoke while still blowing smoke from his lungs.
"Oh, you know… well…" He started awkwardly.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME—
"I can't have people thinking that I'm hanging out with some freshman, alright." He said bluntly attempting to dismiss the conversation.
"Freshman." She said echoing his words again.
Like a freaking parrot.
"Yeah you know little fourteen-year-olds, I have a reputation to hold and it doesn't include brats--" He said coldly, kicking himself as soon as he said it, knowing full well it wasn't true.
"Brat." She said under her breath, as she began thinking back on the fight she had with Hop, he had also referred to her as a brat. She didn't know what it meant but it being used twice by two angry men in her life, must have meant that it wasn't a particularly kind word.
"I'm not fourteen." She said angrily, turning to face him, her lips still shivering from the cold.
"I'm sixteen and I turn seventeen in January- Aunt Becky told me." She said very matter of factly, thinking she'd put him right into his place.
Sixteen, I feel less sleazy now.
"Oh well, okay then, let me buy you some beers and a pack of cigarettes then old timer," He said chuckling as he exhaled another drag of smoke from his lungs, kicking himself for cracking a joke.
She smirked at his comment, understanding full well what he had meant this time, Billy couldn't help but reciprocate at the sight of her perfectly formed dimples,
Stop it idiot, you're giving her the wrong idea.
Knowing full well of his mistake, billy attempted to diffuse the tension in the air, he cranked the radio on and began tapping away on the steering wheel, he let out charming grin, before turning to her.
"So… you like a bit of metal?" He asked coolly, still tapping away.
"Metal? Jonathan puts on talking head." She said smiling back at him.
"Ugh, the talking heads, LAME." He said unimpressed.
"How about a little Iron maiden, Metallica…. Horsemen?" He asked trying to find a band she might know, he looked to her to see her shaking her head unknowingly.
"Well I know you know Guns N roses, judging by your shirt." He stated plainly.
"Mmhm." She mumbled, still frozen from the inside, silence filled that car once again before Billy remember his promise.
Goddamn Eggos.
"I know I said I'd get your as many eggos as you want—but do you want to get some real food instead?" He asked casually.
His heart constricted in his chest at the smile appearing on her face, it went from ear to ear and seemed so spread straight into her eyes, she was nodding uncontrollably and bouncing slightly in the seat, triggering him to realise just how deprived this girl was from any sort of normality.
"Alright then, the diner it is." He said smirking to himself.
--
Billy instantly regret his decision of taking her to the local Hawkins diner, as soon as they entered the brightly lit entrance, everyone seated stopped to turn and stare, some of their faces were shocked, others had faces that were stricken with disapproval.
They think I'm a piece of shit, no one knows who she is- she's soaked, make up running down her face and she's got a black eye,
I look like a piece of SHIT.
They quickly took their seats at a booth in the corner, Billy ensuring that it was nowhere near the front window, to reduce the risk of being seen by anyone he knew. Soon she was elbows deep in a stack of pancakes and ice cream, instigating a smile on his face, he couldn't get over the intensity of her attention to her meal. Most girls he'd been out on dates with had ordered a salad or a glass of water, but this girl was different, she was so authentically herself—it was refreshing.
But this wasn't a date.
You only want to help this girl out because of guilt.
You tried to kill her; you owe her the bare minimum of a stack of pancakes.
Billy eventually stopped staring at the wild animal in front of him and promptly finished his meal too. Once he saw that El had finished wiping the crumbs from her face, he waved his hand in a gesture to get up and leave, he chucked a wad of cash onto the table and began to make his way to the door, glancing behind to make sure she was following him, surely she wouldn't run off again, would she?
As he exited the door, he was greeted by a familiar face, a face he didn't want to see, he turned white, his heartbeat felt like it was in his ears—Neil Hargrove.
Dad.
Asshole.
Fucking asshole.
FUCK,
EL.
"Oh, if it isn't my faggot of a son." He said with slurred speech, indicating his drunken state.
Billy felt his blood rise, he wanted to hit this prick square in the face, it felt as though if he could have this one punch, it could possibly solve all the other punches he felt he constantly needed. Instead, he decided to push past him, dragging El by the sleeve of his jacket that she was still wearing.
"Where do you think you're going boy?" Neil asked angrily.
"Piss off." Billy stated coldly.
"Out again, with one of your little whor-" Neil started, before Billy came bellowing back towards him, almost touching him but knowing full well once he went there… there was no going back from it.
"Be very careful. I'm not under your roof anymore." He hissed back.
He clearly considered his son's words because he froze, his glare softened slightly at the realization that- he was right, he wasn't under his roof anymore, he'd made sure of that and Billy most certainly didn't have to follow his rules anymore.
El standing behind Billy, was scowling now, her eyes dark at the memories she'd seen, hurting his mother- hurting him.
He was a bad man.
She smirked to herself slightly before jolting her head to the side, a quick surge of power causing Neil Hargrove's nose make contact the diner door.
"Mouth breather." She said coldly, before glancing back to Billy with a cheeky smile. Billy's face was bewildered, confused but he felt a sigh of relief as she reached her hand back out for him to take.
Unable to refuse her, he placed his bloodied hand into hers and began walking back towards the car.
--
It didn't take long for El fall asleep, before they had even finished coming down the main road off the diner, she had curled herself up into a tiny ball of sleeping bliss. Between, the use of her limited powers and running around outside she had completely exhausted herself. As Billy pulled into the dirt road leading to the cabin, he began to think on how he was going to get her out of car, he could wake her? He could just leave her to sleep in there.Those are both dick moves.
--Or he could do the unthinkable.
Carry her into the house?
Absolutely not.
With a growl of sheer defeat, he slammed the drivers side door to walk over to the passenger side, he opened the door and leant in, pulling one of her arms out from underneath her head, he then effortlessly pulled her sleeping form from the seat and into his arms.
Prince fucking charming,
Giving into defeat, he carried El into the house to put her to sleep, not knowing where this action would lead him to in the morning and for once, just for a moment—not even caring.
