Was it weird that he wanted to hug this guy? The person who'd given him a definite concussion not too long ago? Maybe he'd breathed in too much upside down dust in those tunnels, but Steve felt all of his anger at Billy leeching away. He wasn't going to let his guard down or forget what Billy tried to do to Lucas earlier, but there was something inside of him that felt like the fighting could be over. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part, since his body couldn't take much more, but he wanted it to be true.

"Look, you don't know me and I don't know you. But over this past year, I've learned that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and forget everything you thought you knew, if you think it will lead to something better. My choices have led me to getting my face bashed in and almost dying a few times, but I'd still make the same decisions over again, since I know they'd bring me here," Steve babbled. His little speech had started out okay, but went a bit wonky toward the end. And he was pretty much talking more about himself than Billy, but no one said he was actually good at this stuff.

"Dying?"

"It's complicated. The point is, when my gut tells me something is the right thing to do, I listen to it. And once I started listening to that instead of negative influences, it hasn't led me astray."

"And what is this amazing gut of yours telling you now?" Billy challenged. Steve figured that words hadn't really worked so far, so maybe some sort of gesture was needed. He was only used to giving Nancy a gentle pat or a hug when she needed support, but it didn't have to be intimate. People rarely ever hugged Steve, but it always felt nice when they did. Billy wasn't to that level yet though.

So without giving himself too much more time to think about it, Steve stuck his hand out between the two of them. Billy twitched a little, as if he was expecting Steve to punch him in the gut. When he flicked his eyes down and saw that Steve was just holding it there as an offer, he raised an eyebrow. Then he slapped it away. But instead of that being followed up by violence, there was just a snort of amusement.

"Yeah okay, maybe that was a little corny," Steve conceded. So much for that plan. "I've never told anyone about my parents before. Not even Nancy."

"So why did you tell me?" That was a good question. Why was he opening up to someone he didn't even like? Who he would've been convinced would spread this information to everyone to use against him as recently as an hour ago. Who still could, honestly. Why was he standing in front of a wrecked house with a monster in the fridge, laying himself bare for a guy who'd given him the worst beating of his life?

"Because most people wouldn't understand. They have parents they can say they love and know they are loved back. Maybe not us though, right?" Billy didn't say anything, but Steve could tell the words hit home. "I'm not going to try to force you to say anything you don't want to. Hell, I don't think I could even if I tried. But maybe we could stop with all this fighting stuff and, I don't know, be- be-"

"Friends?" Billy huffed, looking pretty doubtful about the idea.

"How about not enemies? That might be an easier first step," Steve suggested. "I don't see you getting a better offer than that tonight."

"A bit cocky, aren't we? Is this the King I heard so much about?"

"No, this is the guy who is trying to get things settled before he passes out in about two minutes," Steve sighed. It was risky to show so much weakness in front of Billy, but it wasn't like the guy couldn't see that Steve was hanging on by a thread. If Billy pushed him down right now, he wasn't sure he'd be able to get back up. "So can we just table this shit and go into the house? They already had to drag me out while I was unconscious and I shouldn't do that to them again."

"Thanks. You're freaking heavy," Mike yelled from his spot in the back of the car. Steve turned and was about to ask what happened to his earlier worry about his wellbeing, when the sudden movement made his head spin. The next thing Steve knew, he was falling. He couldn't do much besides brace for the impact, which was going to suck. But surprisingly, it came faster than he was expecting. And instead of hitting the hard ground, he was being held up by a pair of strong arms.

"What?" Steve mumbled, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. Billy had his arms wrapped around Steve's body, pretty much taking all of his weight at the moment. That was a surprise.

"Steve!" Max shouted, holding back from rushing over.

"I'm okay."

"You sure about that? Do you make it a habit of keeling over like a drunk?" Billy snorted, looking down at him.

"Do you make it a habit of catching people?" Steve shot back. He half expected Billy to drop him on the spot out of pettiness, but he didn't. Instead, he helped Steve get his feet back under him and stayed close until he stopped wavering. But before Billy could fully pull away, Steve jerked him closer, staring into his eyes. "We may be trying to turn over a new leaf here, but if you so much as make a move toward any of these kids, I will put you down. Got it?" Steve could be endlessly sympathetic to Billy's circumstances, but that was the uncrossable line.

"Thank God. I thought you were going to kiss me. I'd much rather you threaten me," Billy smirked, smoothing Steve's collar patronizingly as they finally broke apart.

"You wish. I've gotten nothing but compliments for my kissing prowess."

"Prowess? Really?"

"I do know some words, contrary to what you might think."

"You're full of surprises, Harrington."

"How about you go back into the house? I need to have a conference with the gang."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," Steve confirmed. Billy looked like he wanted to argue, but he let out an annoyed breath and walked away. It only took about five seconds for the kids to swarm him.

"What the hell was that? What were you thinking, trying to be his friend?" Dustin squeaked, flapping his arms around.

"What was I supposed to do?" Steve sighed.

"I don't know, but something less crazy! How could you think befriending a psychopath is a good idea? That would be like Will wanting to be friends with the mind flayer!"

"Says the kid who tried to keep a demodog as a pet," Steve pointed out. At least Steve's attempt was with a human being, not a monster.

"It worked out for us, didn't it?" Dustin shot back.

"And working things out with Billy might too. So unless you have something helpful to add, shut it. I'll come to you if I decide to ply Billy with nougat." Steve had developed a soft spot for Dustin, but his opinion wasn't the one he was after at the moment. He turned to face Lucas and Max, who were standing side by side. They were the ones who were most affected by Billy's anger, so they had the final say. "What do you two think?" Lucas and Max looked at each other, before she nudged him to speak up first.

"I don't know," Lucas admitted, digging the toe of one of his shoes in the dirt. "I really thought he was going to kill me."

"So we should tell Hopper about what happened when he comes back. There are more important things to think about right now!" Mike insisted.

"Give Max and me a minute," Steve sighed, pointing for the other kids to go to the back of the car. Mike wanted to protest, but Lucas and Dustin could see how serious he was being, so they grabbed his arms and pulled him with them. Max was looking anywhere but at him, which was understandable. They'd only known each other for hours at this point and her whole world had been rocked in more ways than one. These little shits were strong. "What would happen at home if Billy got arrested?"

"Nothing good," Max mumbled, blanching a little bit.

"I'm not sure if the others realize how much is riding on what happens tonight, but I think you do. As much as I can feel bad for the guy's circumstances, I'm doing all this for you."

"Why?"

"What can I say? You little shitheads have grown on me," Steve chuckled, noticing Max relax ever so slightly. "Do we give him a chance?"

"I want things to be better, I just don't see how," Max admitted.

"Well, you won't be dealing with it alone. As you heard earlier, I got nowhere to be and no one to be with. I'll be with you the whole way," Steve promised. Finally a perk of being alone.

"What about Lucas?" Max asked. The boy in question popped his head up in response to hearing his name. Eavesdropping little brats.

"I can handle it. As long as he doesn't try anything else, I'm good," Lucas insisted.

"Are you sure?" Steve questioned. What happened was a lot to ask someone to look past.

"For Max," Lucas said firmly. Steve caught a look of resignation flit across Dustin's face, but crushes had to wait for now. There were bigger things to deal with for the moment.

"Then let's go in. There is a spot on the floor and water from the tap with my name on it," Steve declared. It wasn't quite what he wanted or needed, but he'd take what he could get for now. There was a lot more work to be done before he could pass out and he was going to power through. As long as there were people depending on him, he was never going to give up.