Three weeks had passed, and Steve had not interacted with Billy in any other way than harsh glares and violent collisions during basketball practise. He'd ended up going back to Nancy and grovelling for forgiveness after the first week, there was only so many times he could eat on his own at lunch. As per usual he spent his time being the third wheel for Nancy and Jonathan or being Dustin's personal taxi driver. It was a miserable existence, but it was an existence none the less. Sometimes when he was alone he missed the idea of hanging out with Billy, but he was always quick to shoot it down, after all they'd only hung out like three times and it was all bullshit anyway. The interest in where Billy's bruising came from had faded away like a candle blew out and soon he couldn't care in the slightest what kind of fights that the ass was getting into. The sound of sneakers against the gym floor pulled Steve from his thoughts and he quickly ran after his team mates, calling out for the ball. Eventually the ball got thrown in his direction but he didn't hold onto it for long, he felt himself hitting the floor violently, his spine and ribs practically shaking from the impact. He gazed up angrily to see Billy staring back down at him. His face wasn't contorted into its usual sadistic smile, it was simply blank. They stayed that way for a second before Billy offered out his hand, Steve had too much pride to take his hand, so he simply clambered himself up from the floor by himself, marching past Billy. Who did he think he was? That he could treat Steve like such a piece of shit and then act like nothing happened. He refused to put up with it.

After practise he stormed out without taking a shower, his shower at home was perfectly fine and completely Billy free so it seemed like the obvious option. After grabbing his stuff from his locker he got held up by Nancy, chattering on about what Mike and the kids had done the night before, Steve was distant from the conversation, mind racing at why the hell Billy offered to help him up. Soon enough Steve found his escape from the conversation and scampered off to the car park which he really wished he didn't. He could see a familiar blonde mullet leaning against his car, a cloud of smoke drifting away to the sky. He approached his car with a sourness settling in his stomach.

"Get off my car Hargrove." Steve stated in a monotone voice, hoping Billy would clearly read that he was not in the mood for his shit.

"I'm being forced to drop Max off at the arcade later, wanna come?" He asked, eyebrow raised. Steve could not believe him. Billy had told him to fuck off out of his life and nearly beaten him up again and yet here he was, leant against his car, asking him to hang out. Did this guy have a screw loose? Steve didn't need to answer that, he already knew he did. Steve's thoughts must've been clear on his face because Billy spoke up again.

"Look, I was clearly having a shit night the other day. I don't- I don't deal well with people knowing my business y'know?" Steve scoffed.

"If that's your idea of an apology you can go to hell."

"You want me to apologize?" Billy looked at Steve with distaste which didn't surprise him. He never expected an apology out of Billy, he knew his pride was too strong to give one, didn't mean Steve wouldn't call him out on it.

"Well yeah, you threatened to kill me because I offered you a lift from the rain. I'm clearly the asshole here, you're right Billy." The blonde rolled his eyes.

"I don't do apologies."

"Well that solves that issue then didn't it?" Steve pushed his way past Billy and started to unlock his door. "I'll see you around Hargrove." Billy forced the door back shut as Steve attempted to climb inside.

"Oh, come one Harrington, stop being such a princess! Look, just come tonight, I swear I'll tone down the asshole." Billy was basically grovelling at this point which made Steve feel just a tad smug. It wasn't till that moment Steve realised how close they were, faces barely inches apart. Steve could smell the cigarette smoke on Billy's breath as blue eyes bore into brown. It was like being hypnotised by the younger man, with each second Steve found it harder and harder to be begrudging against Billy, he pulled away from the stare with a defeated sigh.

"Oh, fuck it. I'll see you at six." Not looking back to see Billy's smug expression, Steve clambered into his car aggressively before pulling away at speed.

Steve tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Billy's arrival. The nights had started to warm up meaning that Steve could lean against the exterior of his car with only a thin jacket but yet he still shivered ever so slightly. Dustin had already run inside with the others, Steve assumed that if he was heading to the arcade anyway, it'd be worth giving the kid a lift, at least that way Steve could slightly justify why he'd bothered to even drive to the arcade. Billy's car could be heard long before it was even seen, the heavy drumming from some metal band Steve didn't know poured from the rolled down windows at a deafening volume. Billy's breaks squeaked as he abruptly stopped, smirking up at Steve from the driver seat. Max slid out from the car quickly and run off, calling back a thank you or something or other, Steve didn't really pay attention to it.

"So what've you got planned Hargrove?" Steve asked, crossing his arms as he stared down at the blonde. The Californian boy shrugged lazily.

"No idea, didn't think you'd show. Let's go for a drive." With a roll of his eyes Steve walked round to the passenger side and slid inside. His eyes kept on Billy's as he lit a cigarette, his eyes were glued to the way the filter balanced so elegantly on the tip of Billy's lips. He hadn't realised he was staring till a quiet chuckle brought him from his thoughts.

"Did you want one or..?" Billy didn't follow his word with a usual sarcastic comment which Steve found strange, it was as if the lack of one insult had avalanched an atmosphere of seriousness around them. With a shake of the head from Steve, Billy pulled away with a screech of his tires. It wasn't until he was actually in Billy's car that he realised just how fast the other drove, he found himself clutching the door handle in a false sense of security.

"So, uh, where are we actually going." Questioned the brunette.

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Why did you ask me to come out Billy?" It just seemed too much as if Billy had an ulterior motive, there was no point in the two just driving around, it was a waste of petrol and a waste of their time. There was no response as Billy kept driving on. The radio had been switched off before Steve had gotten in the car, leaving them to a silence neither of them knew how to break.

"I don't know." Admitted Billy.

"It seems you don't know much then." Scoffed Steve. "I'm serious, we don't like each other, why are we hanging out?" Once again, Billy said nothing before the car swerved to the side of the road. The car had pulled into the carpark of some store that had gone out of business years before Billy had even heard of Hawkins, it was empty and admittedly a little bit creepy.

"You don't have any friends do you Harrington?" The question was so abrupt that Steve had no idea how to respond, of course the statement was completely true, if Steve had friends he wouldn't be in this situation at all.

"Of course, I have friends, there's Nancy, Jonathan and-" Billy cut him off.

"Don't bullshit me Harrington, those twelve-year olds are the most excitement you get in a week." Billy paused for a moment. "And the depressing thing is, I think it's the same for me. But at least they like you."

"Billy, I-" Cut off again.

"No, let me finish. I need to finish." When he was sure that Steve wasn't going to interrupt him, he continued. "No one in this town likes me, and I get it. I do, trust me. I'm a complete ass."

"You got that right." Steve mumbled, earning a dirty look from the younger.

"I don't want to get into it but I need a friend. I'm desperate. I'm gonna go crazy soon, like there's only so much I can deal with and its starting to get too much y'know?" Steve didn't know. Not at all. He understood the yearning for a friend, after all he felt the same, if he didn't why the hell was he sat in Billy's car in a conceivable murder spot on the edge of Hawkins. What he didn't understand was what seemed to be aggravating the other so much, what did Billy have to 'deal' with exactly?

"So short in short that was your long-winded way of saying, 'I'm sorry Steve, lets be friends'?" the brunette suggested with an eyebrow raised, Billy let out a frustrated sigh.

"Its more complicated than that Harrington."

"Well I have no fucking idea what you're on about Billy! I'm not a psychic!" Billy glared out of his window, fingers pulling another cigarette from the pack. He chewed on his lip for a moment, figuring out what to say next.

"You really don't like me do you Steve?" The use of his first name sent a shiver down Steve's spine, it was so foreign and odd to hear Billy say his name. For a moment he was at a complete loss for words, no idea where this semi-vulnerable Billy had suddenly appeared from. Running a hand through his hair, he turned to the other.

"I want to hate you so bad. You're right when you say you're an ass, especially to me. But no matter how hard I try to force myself to hate you I can't? I end up in shitty situations like this, sitting in your car when I know this is the last place on earth I should want to be. I can't shake that."

Interactions between the two boys had been odd since their drive. They'd been caught in a weird limbo where Billy didn't knock over Steve in basketball, instead he'd pass the ball. At lunch the two sat together at their table before retiring to the back field where Billy could chain smoke. They had babysat together, Billy had even come round to listen to Steve's records. It was weird to say the complete least. After they had settled on the fact they weren't mortal enemies (although it wasn't for lack of effort), it left them in a place where they had to put up with each other. It wasn't like Billy was a different person though, he was still a unbearable dick, at least he was to people who weren't Steve. Of course there were times where Billy would end up angrily throwing something at Steve when they disagreed on something trivial like what basketball team was better but in general Billy saved his asshole behaviour for people who weren't Steve.

Steve closed his eyes as he laid back on his couch. Billy was meant to be arriving at any moment, hopefully with either booze or food (or both) in hand. Steve's parents had come back and left yet again, leaving the house to whatever he and Billy willed of it which was potentially a dangerous prospect but he didn't think too much into it. The whole situation with the Californian had him confused, he hadn't forgiven the other, his actions were not excused but he saw a bit of himself in Billy. He saw the loneliness that festered like a disease in the core of a person, Steve related to that a lot. He genuinely felt lonely in his life, with no friends and no family around, it was just him but Billy seemed to be patching up that whole in a weird way that he wasn't entirely comfortable with. When the knock came at the door Steve felt that usual flutter of his stomach when Billy was in his presence, it was a weird feeling and he greatly detested it but there was nothing he could do about it. The feeling worsened infinitely when he opened the door. It wasn't odd for Billy to turn up with maybe a scratch or a bruise but standing under the threshold there were seemingly tears in the boy's eyes. Just like that night he'd found Billy at the bus stop there was so much blood, more blood than Steve even knew how to process. Billy wiped his eye before letting out a defeated chuckle.

"Don't suppose you've got a plaster?"

"What the fuck Hargrove, what happened?" Steve exclaimed as he dragged Billy to the nearest bathroom, not bothering to close the front door. Under the harsher lighting Steve could see that the bleeding was coming from somewhere atop his head, his blonde curls were matted with blood.

"Sit. We've gotta stop the bleeding." Commanded Steve as he pushed Billy to sit on the toilet, he grabbed one of his mother's nicer white towels and pressed it against the other's head. A hiss of pain escaped Billy's lips as he grimaced against the impact, but he kept his sullenness. Steve couldn't fathom what situations Billy was getting himself into at all, how the hell could he be this badly injured so frequently? The towel had seemingly turned red all over when Steve had deemed the bleeding to have stopped enough. Grabbing a flannel and wetting it, he began to delicately trail it over Billy's face, wiping away the blood, sweat and tears that stained his face. Billy's blue eyes drilled into Steve as he cleaned and when he was done eyes met the other, just staring. There was a sense of bewilderment and fear in the blue of Billy's iris, something he'd never seen before.

"What happened?" Whispered Steve, the moment being just so quiet and tense that he couldn't maintain a normal volume. Billy looked reluctant to speak as teary eyes pulled away from their gaze.

"I don't know why I'm acting like such a pussy, he's been doing this my whole life." He muttered but it seemed it was more to himself than to Steve. He didn't think about his actions, he merely acted as his instincts instructed and grabbed Billy's face, turning him to look at him again. Billy's cheek was red hot against Steve's palm which sent a tingle through his veins.

"Billy, you've gotta tell me who did this." Billy didn't pull away from the touch which was stranger than the fact that Steve was touching him in the first place.

"My dad."

"My mom left when I was about Max's age. She was just as bad as my dad. The two of them together treated me like shit. He would hit the both of us and she'd act like it was my fault, although most of the time she was too busy trying to find someone other than my dad to fuck." Steve really didn't like the story that Billy was telling as they sat at opposite sides of the couch.

"Eventually she found someone and ran off with him. My dad got limited to only one punching bag and that is the twisted and unfortunate story of my childhood." Billy stated with a sarcastic smile. Steve couldn't find anything to even falsely smile at. Hearing about Billy's upbringing placed a lot of missing pieces into the puzzle, it explained his injuries, his defensiveness, his behaviour. Steve felt like an asshole for not figuring it out sooner, not that there was anything he could do about it but last week Billy had expressed his need for a friend. It was then that Steve realised he was more than happy to be Billy's friend, if it meant Billy had somewhere safe to come.

"Stop that Harrington."

"What?"

"Feeling sorry for me. I can see it in your eyes." Billy stated, a finger pointed at Steve half threateningly. Steve sent a sad smile to the other, knowing that sympathy for Billy most certainly would not disappear. They avoided the topic for the rest of the night, Steve doing everything within his capability to not bring up anything family related whilst Billy went on pretending that he had never had his moment of weakness. They found ordered a pizza and watched a VHS of Indiana Jones that Billy had chosen, Steve had seen it a million times already but Billy kept raving on about how they didn't have a VHS at home and how Steve's 'rich ass' could sit down and watch Raiders of the Lost Ark one more time.

"Hey, did you ever realise that we're in Indiana watching Indiana?" Billy blurted randomly at one point which only triggered Steve to throw a pillow at him with a snort.

"God, you're such a dumbass." Billy flashed a bright smile which Steve was glad to see. He couldn't fix Billy's problems, the least he could do was try and give him some temporary happiness. Billy had drifted off into a light sleep when the movie credits finally rolled, it was remarkable to see Billy in such a calm and serene state, he looked honestly peaceful. The inner battle of whether to wake up Billy or not consumed Steve as he slid off the sofa. Finally giving into one side he shook Billy's shoulder lightly, the boy groaned in response but didn't open his eyes.

"Hey, there's a spare room upstairs, you can stay there for a couple days if you want?" Offered Steve. He was definitely crossing a boundary now, he and Billy had only been 'friends' for just over a week and here Steve was, offering an invitation to move in, not to mention it was strictly against his parent's rules.

"You sure man? I can drive home." Billy suggested, voice heavy with sleep.

"Don't be stupid. You're not going back there."

Hey, so fun fact: I just had really serious surgery to relocate my lower jaw! I was planning on taking my time off recovering as the perfect time to just write and write at this fic but for some reason my brain is just completely scrambled? like i'm certain i can no longer spell. Anyway, this chapter isn't as long as i'd like it to be and because of my shit fest of a brain, i ended up redrafting and changing the story line like a million times.

But i hope you enjoy it because hopefully i'll be less of a potato soon and get some better content out for you!

Thanks for reading!

p.s if you hadn't realised each chapter is named after a Bring Me the Horizon lyric bc like all the lyrics relate to Billy a painful amount xoxoxoxoxoxoxo