TW: homophobic language, internalized homophobia

Italics means a memory (should have mentioned that in the last chapter - sorry!)

With the blue hood of his rain jacket pulled tight, puddles of water splashing up onto the bottoms of his jeans, Billy ran toward the Youth Center. He had checked to make absolutely certain he had everything packed for his vacation and then promptly made his way out the door. He hoped to surprise his friends, who he knew would be getting smoothies right about now.

Pushing the door open, he was greeted with the nice, dry entrance to the juice bar. He could already hear the sounds of the bustling center - no kids want to be holed up at home on a Friday night, and where else would anyone go with the weather as nasty as it was? He hung up his coat quickly, eager to reach the sounds of laughter which he could almost pick out to be his friends'.

Stepping just into the doorway beyond the lockers, Billy called out to greet his friends sitting at their usual table, "Hey, guys -" SMACK. Down he went, his shoes squeaking loudly as he slipped from a combination of the wetness on the ground, the wetness of his own shoes, and the unfortunately placed, yet necessary 'wet floor' sign that Billy had landed on.

Almost as soon as he hit the floor, the sound of a chair hitting the floor sounded from further into the room, and strong arms wrapped around Billy and helped him to his feet. Looking up, Jason stood before him, brows pinched together in concern. In a bit of a daze, Billy stared dumbly at the other boy, realizing way too late that he was being spoken to.

"- Billy? Are you okay?" Jason was still half holding him, one hand on his shoulder, the other placed on his forearm. Glancing behind the taller boy, he could see his other friends looking at them, Trini picking up a chair that likely was knocked over when Jason rushed to his aid.

Finding his voice, Billy stammered, "I-I'm fine, Jase. I, uh, guess I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going, was I?" He gave an awkward chuckle, looked up, then down, trying not to look at his friend's worried expression. He hated being fussed over, and Jason was the worst at it. He was always looking at him like he was something fragile. He didn't always mind the attention, though, especially when it involved contact like this.

And with that brief thought, Jason pulled away, a small smile resting on his lips. "You do that a lot, my friend." He led the two back to the table with their other friends, beginning to ask about his arrival when another voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Nice entrance, Billy the bozo!" Bulk calls out, getting up in the boys' faces. "Just couldn't resist playing damsel in distress, could ya?" He fakes a slip and fall, crying dramatically. Skull cackled from next to him, echoing his taunts.

"Leave him alone, Bulk, the floor was wet." Jason defended him, puffing up and glaring at Bulk. Bulk always knew what to say to piss Jason off, and it almost always was at Billy's expense.

Billy took a moment to look from between the two broad boys, to look at Skull. He had a big smile on his face, as if he were just playing a game instead of actively trying to harass Billy. He never seemed to actually want to hurt Billy. At least, that's what Billy used to think. The next words out of Bulk's mouth had Billy unable to remove his eyes from Skull's.

"I think the faggot just wanted an excuse to get into his boyfriend's arms."

All sound faded around Billy as he looked at Skull, whose smile had dropped as he met Billy's eyes. Jason was no longer at Billy's side, getting in Bulk's face. The others had left their spot on the sidelines to get between the two and to pull Billy away. Kimberly didn't have a chance to touch Billy before he had taken off, back outside of the Youth Center, away from the fighting, the comment, away from Skull.

He didn't make it far before he had to stop. Billy stumbled over to one of the outside picnic tables that had an umbrella over it. He sat on the table, his legs pulled close and resting on the seat. The table was soaking wet, but at this point so was he, his jacket forgotten when he ran outside.

He wanted to scream or cry, but couldn't. Yeah, of course he had been called slurs before. That in and of itself wasn't the issue. No one knew he was gay, but the bullies liked to claim he was just because he had no girlfriend (though Kim and Trini had both offered to help alleviate those assumptions). They had no idea of the truth. He couldn't tell anyone. He hadn't told anyone. Except for Skull.

And of all the bullies who had called him names, attacked his hidden sexuality, Bulk and Skull had never done so. Until now.

It was a bright summer day that showed two boys in the Cranstons' backyard. Billy and Eugene had just spent the day running around in the woods, pretending to be chasing Big Foot. Billy followed Eugene's every move, as he knew the woods better than anyone else he had met. The two boys had met shortly after Billy moved to Angel Grove, and they were practically inseparable that whole summer. The only other friend Billy had made was Kimberly, who lived next door. She wouldn't hang out with him and Eugene, though.

"We'll get him next time for sure, Bones! No one gets away from us, not even the myfalocal Big Foot!" Eugene shouted, jumping around Billy, who sat on the grass. He stared at his friend oddly for a second.

"Don't you mean 'mythological?'" He asked nervously, almost expecting for his friend to get angry with him for correcting him.

Instead, the skinnier boy just looked at him, thinking over this new word. "Yeah, I 'spose you're right!" And with that, he continued with his mini rant on Big Foot and how they would surely find him tomorrow.

Eugene eventually collapsed next to Billy, suddenly very quiet. He was almost as quiet a boy as Billy, but typically when alone together, one of them had to be the talkative one, and that normally ended up being Eugene. The Angel Grove local had yet to really figure out how to get his new friend talking.

"Do you ever talk to the girl next door to you - Kimberly?" Eugene suddenly asked him, almost too quietly to be heard.

Billy turned to look at him briefly, but the other boy just looked up at the clouds, waiting on an answer. "Yes, sometimes. We don't talk a lot, but we've played a few games together whenever we've both been outside." He wasn't sure where Eugene was going to go with this conversation.

He knew Kimberly to be a pretty reserved girl. She had friends, more than he did, but it was him who she would come to when her house was too loud with shouting and stuff breaking or when it was too quiet due to the growing resentment throughout her home. She seemed to find peace with Billy, something he took pride in. Focusing on her meant he didn't have to focus on himself or his own recent, painful experiences.

"Do you think she's cute?" Eugene asked, mumbling his words together.

Billy sat up and looked at him thoughtfully, then looked back up at the sky. "I guess." He responded, almost sounding uncertain. He had never thought of a girl as cute before.

"What do you mean by that? Do you think you, uh, think you like her?" Eugene's breath hitched anxiously, for a reason Billy was not quite grasping.

"Uh, I guess?" He said lamely, "She's a good friend, I think. I don't really have a lot of friends to base her off of, though."

"Ithinkshe'sreallycute!" Eugene blurted out, blushing fiercely.

Billy blinked at him slowly, realizing what he was saying. "Oh, that's cool." He mumbled quietly, but quickly backtracked when he saw a flash of panic in Eugene's face. "Really, it is! I think Kim is cute and nice, but I don't think I really like girls that way."

Eugene's face fell from relieved to confused very quickly. Billy paled, realizing what he had just said. Sputtering incoherently, desperate for some semblance of sense to come out, Eugene interrupts him gently.

"Oh, that's cool." He offers a small smile to his anxious friend. Billy returns it, heart beating rapidly.

"Now, back to our plan for tomorrow's Big Foot hunt!"

Footsteps approaching caused Billy to lift his head hesitantly. He was expecting Kim. Instead, he was face to face with Skull, who looked just as pathetic as he felt. Without a thought, Billy felt anger flare up within him.

Skull started to speak, "Billy, I -"

"No. You don't get to talk yourself out of this." It was a miracle his words came out strong, not bogged with the tears threatening to come out. "You told me that you would never tell. And I believed you!"

Skull actually looked heartbroken. "I didn't -"

"Bullshit you didn't!" Billy screamed. "Bulk had never said anything about my sexuality before. Why would he now unless he knew? Unless you TOLD him!"

"It was just an offhand comment, I swear to you he has no idea!" Skull declared emphatically. "We may not be friends anymore, Billy, but I'm not heartless."

Billy stared at him coldly. The rain continued to pour down on the two boys, soaked and shivering. Billy didn't believe him, couldn't believe him. Why would Bulk say something he had never said before unless he knew he had leverage with such a comment?

Before the genius could dispute the punks' last comment, a familiar chime caught his ear. With a glance to his communicator and then back to Skull, he pushed past the punk with a simple comment, "Sure, Eugene, and I'm not gay." He didn't turn back to the punk as he made his way to a private spot to teleport.

A/N

Poor Billy! I know that there will be some elements of this story that I definitely borrowed from other fics, like Kim going to Billy's while her parents fight, etc. Billy and Skull's relationship is inspired from the Boom! comics. I wish the boys nothing but love, yet they are both full of so much pain!

Also, I said I would try to update frequently, and I clearly meant it, but there will not be daily updates normally haha! The neurodivergent need to get this story out there has taken it's toll right now lol!

May the Power protect you,
Estel