Steve muttered under his breath as he walked over, slumping down on the couch on the other side of Billy. The other boy gave him a look, before tipping the bottle in his direction as an offer.

"I shouldn't. I took painkillers earlier, so-"

"You took two Tylenol that were probably made for kids, then you puked," Billy snorted, taking a swig of alcohol without even wincing. That wasn't a good sign. "You a lightweight?"

"No!" Steve said defensively. Why was he defending his drinking prowess instead of sleeping? This night was a mess. "Just the idea of drinking makes me want to puke again and I think I did enough of that in the kitchen."

"I'll give you that one," Billy conceded, taking another drink. He was facing forward, staring out at nothing. Billy must've turned out the lights after he came back down and raided the liquor cabinet, because the room was dark. The only light was what was coming in through the windows from the street lamps. Maybe that was better, since they were more hidden from each other. That was what confessionals were all about, right? Steve was the last person to look to for absolution. He was just as flawed as anyone else.

"So, couldn't sleep?"

"I feel oddly rested after my drug induced nap earlier," Billy smirked. "Should I even ask where you got it?"

"It definitely wasn't mine, I can tell you that."

"Not your style?"

"Definitely not."

"Well, what is your style? Because you really haven't lived up to your reputation."

"People aren't always who you think they are. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out who I am," Steve scoffed. It was a lot easier in some ways for him to play the role people wanted him to. He didn't have to do much to earn the admiration of the people around him. But it wasn't real, proven by the fact that when he changed for the better, he lost it all. It was easy to idolize someone who was shitty, because it gave you permission to be the same.

"And what was the spark that inspired this journey of self reflection you're on?" Billy challenged.

"Someone I cared about expected better from me. And they gave me a chance to grow without tossing me aside, even if I didn't deserve it. Sometimes it just takes one person to show you that things can be different." Even if they weren't together anymore, Nancy was still that person for him. She gave him a second chance after everything with Jonathan, even though no one would've blamed her if she never spoke to him again. And it still killed Steve inside to think that the love he'd given hadn't been given back, but that didn't take away all the work he'd done.

"And are you supposed to be that person for me?" Billy asked dubiously. "I wouldn't say that I care about you."

"It's really not up to me, but I'm here. Even after everything, I'm here. Take it or leave it," Steve shrugged. The ball was in Billy's court and it was his decision where this all would go. Steve couldn't force him to do anything he didn't want to do, but he took the fact that Billy had willingly gone to his house with him as a good sign.

"Take it or leave it," Billy repeated, huffing out a laugh before taking another drink. "I know all about being left. If you think you've got a monopoly on absent parents, you're wrong. And because of my shitty luck, the wrong one left."

"I'm sorry."

"It was my own fault, according to dear old dad. It definitely couldn't have been because he's an abusive prick," Billy spat, staring down at his bottle as he rolled it between his hands. "My mom couldn't take it anymore, so she left. Can't really blame her, can I? I just wish she'd taken me with her."

Steve didn't know what to say. He hadn't known about any of this before. And continually apologizing felt like it would make the words lose their meaning after a while. Steve really wasn't the best person for this job, but if no one else was going to step up to do it, he would. Sometimes all you needed was someone to dump everything on and as long as Billy used his words instead of his fists, Steve would let him do it.

"In some ways, things got a little better after she left though. Not because he stopped knocking me around, but because I didn't have to worry about him doing it to my mom anymore. After a certain point, you get numb to it. I'd take my hits and move on. And then he met Susan."

"Max's mom?"

"I'd say I don't understand how he manages to get anyone interested in him, but I'm an asshole too and I don't have any issues in that department either. Maybe we're more alike than I want to admit."

"I don't think that's true," Steve said quietly. He hadn't seen how Billy was with a girlfriend, but he'd like to believe he wouldn't abuse them. Possibly yell at them, but not hit them. Steve had only seen Billy physically go after other guys.

"And I told myself, screw it. This woman was a grown adult and if this is what she wanted, she could have it. I didn't care about anything anymore," Billy muttered, taking another drink. The bottle was half gone and Steve couldn't remember how full it had been before. "And then she brought her daughter over."

"Max."

"I didn't know what to do. I'd already done a shit job at protecting my mom from him, so how was I supposed to protect her? And the bastard was so good at pretending in front of other people when he wanted, so who was going to believe the fucked up kid who was always in trouble? He laid things out perfectly to draw her in," Billy spat, raking a hand through his hair. "The only silver lining was that Max still had her dad and I still had places to escape to when Susan wasn't around and my dad's mask slipped. But then they decided to move us all to Hawkins, Indiana.

"Neither of us wanted to leave of course. Max wanted to stay near her dad and friends. And I was dumb enough to hold out hope that my mom would someday come back to that house and save me. But now I don't even have a number for her and she doesn't know what state I'm in. She probably doesn't care either way."

Steve thought about saying that he was sure that wasn't true. That Billy's mom still loved him and did what she thought was right. But that felt hollow. He wouldn't want to be told that about his own parents, even though they hadn't left for good.

"Max fought the move, because she was never one to sit back and take anything. Have to give her credit for that, even though it isn't smart. But somehow she always got away with it in California. And I kind of resented her for it," Billy admitted. "But once we got here, I knew that was going to change. He had them isolated. And they might not have noticed the shift, but I did. I could feel it in my bones. No one knows that man better than me and I always paid attention.

"At first it was little things, like my dad always wanting to know where they were. But that was normal, right? He was just being protective. No, that's how it starts. That's how the control starts. Once giving in a little feels normal, it keeps going and going until you don't make a move without his permission. And if you dare to try, you'll face the consequences. I know that game very well."

Billy was getting more and more worked up, but Steve didn't know what to do about it. He just had to let Billy go and get this off his chest, then deal with what was left at the end.

"But you know what really solidified things for me? He stopped caring about what I did as much. I could go out and do what I wanted with him barely batting an eye. But instead of me believing that it was just him mellowing out, I watched him closer. And that's when I saw he'd set his sights on Max. He hadn't broken her yet, but he was going to. And I couldn't let that happen, not again. He's already fucked me up beyond repair."

"That's not true," Steve insisted.

"It's not? You want to look at yourself in a mirror and tell me that?"

"The fact that you still cared about what happened to Max after everything proves it. And I don't care about my face. I'm pretty sure it wasn't me you were seeing when you were throwing those punches."

"What are you, a shrink?" Billy scoffed.

"No, I'm just a guy who's listening. I'm paying attention, just like you do." Steve still kind of felt like he wanted to throw up and die, but Billy was enough of a distraction to keep him going for now.

"But no one hears me. Everything I've done and nothing's changed," Billy argued.

"Sometimes you've gotta change the delivery, depending on who you're talking to. I couldn't talk to Nancy the same way I talked to one of the kids. It's like a different language."

"The only language I know is violence. And if my dad said I was the reason that my own mother left, it should've been easy to get Susan to leave too. But it hasn't worked. I've been the biggest piece of shit I could be and they're still here. Nothing I do is enough."

"So all this time, all the things you've been doing, have been to protect Max?" Steve asked. No one had even met the real Billy Hargrove, had they? He'd been playing a part since the moment he got there. And it wasn't just so he could rule the school and do what he wanted, it was because his abused mindset told him this was the only way to be. That keeping a target on his own back was better than it being on someone else's. On some level, Steve could relate. Although his experiences doing similar were much more recent and against monsters from another world. Billy's monster never left.

"I didn't know what else to do," Billy laughed sadly as he slumped down over his bottle. "So I terrorized her. In my mind, it was better than what my dad would do. I was mean to her every chance I got, acted like she was a burden, did whatever I could to make her hate life in that house."

"But why?" Steve pressed.

"I had to!"

"But why not be friends with her and protect her that way?"

"Because I need them to leave! Because the longer they stay, the more likely I am to fail. If this is a clean break, it'll be easier for them to pick their lives back up and go. So Max needs to hate me."

"I don't hate you," a quiet voice said from the doorway behind them. Steve jerked in surprise, turning to find an emotional looking Max standing there. Billy was staring down at his bottle and Steve could see the liquid inside sloshing ever so slightly.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep," Steve said lamely. Max ignored him, walking over to stand in front of Billy.

"That's why you've been a jerk to me this whole time?" Max demanded. "To protect me?"

"Max, why don't you go a little easy on him? He-" Steve clamped his mouth shut when Max shot him a scathing look. He raised his hands in surrender, nodding for her to keep going. Maybe it was time for him to sit back and let them hash things out.

"You were supposed to tell your mom so she would get fed up and decide my dad wasn't worth all this," Billy muttered.

"And then what?"

"And then, I don't know. You'd move back to California or something."

"No, I mean what about you?"

"What about me?" Billy asked in confusion.

"What happens to you if my mom and I leave?"

"I get my ass kicked and life goes on. Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!" Max shouted, causing Steve to jump again. His poor brain was never going to get a break. "You think I don't notice how your dad is? Why do you think I've never said anything to my mom about the things you've done?" Billy opened and closed his mouth a few times, apparently unable to find the words to respond.

"So Billy was mean to Max, so she would tell her mom and they would leave, and Max didn't say anything to her mom because she didn't want them to leave and make things worse for Billy," Steve said, needing to summarize the story verbally so it would be easier to make sense of. "Even when you were doing everything you could to avoid it, you still ended up caring about each other." Steve didn't have the best example when it came to family, but that sounded like it fit the bill. Caring more about the other person's well-being over your own. They'd become siblings without even trying.

"I'm sorry," Billy whispered, finally setting his bottle down on the table. "I didn't know what else to do."

"You should've told me," Max said sadly, sounding more like her age than the overly mature spitfire she'd been all night.

"You shouldn't have to deal with all that. I thought having an asshole big brother for a while would be easier."

"Maybe. But I'd still rather get to know the real Billy," Max shrugged.

"I've only ever heard bad things about him," Billy said quietly, and for some reason those hopeless words cut deep inside Steve. They weren't even talking to him anymore and giving them privacy would've been the polite thing to do, but he was rooted to his spot. Steve wasn't Billy's Nancy, Max was. He was just there to help them get to this part.

It felt strange to witness something like this. To see someone finally open themselves up and be raw and honest. Had Steve even gotten close to this with Nancy? Maybe he hadn't needed to, since his issues couldn't compare to Billy's. But even though he was a bystander at this point, it was impossible for him to not care for these people he was with right now. Maybe Nancy not loving him didn't really matter when it came to this. He believed that she cared about him as a person and maybe that was enough.

"Harrington, are you crying?" Steve's blurry eyes snapped back into focus, finding both siblings staring at him.

"No," Steve mumbled, sniffling as he wiped his face and tried to avoid touching the tender areas. He was going to blame his emotions on his head injury and exhaustion, nothing more. "I should go to bed and leave you two alone. You don't need me here."

"Shut up," Billy grunted, reaching over and grabbing his wrist before he could get up. Steve stared at him in confusion, waiting for the punchline or just straight up punch. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being a stubborn bastard. An even bigger one than I am. I didn't think that was possible," Billy smirked. "I've never had anyone give a damn like that, even though I didn't deserve it."

"Everyone deserves a chance. I didn't do anything special."

"You don't even know us and you still did more than most people would," Max pointed out.

"You guys always had it in you, you just needed a little nudge," Steve shrugged. He didn't feel right taking credit for anything. He was just doing what anyone else would have.

"So, what happens now?" Max asked, and that was a good question. None of this solved the issue of Billy's dad, but at least Max and Billy knew where the other stood now. And now that Steve knew what was going on, he wasn't going anywhere.

"Maybe we should table that until morning. Steve isn't looking so hot," Billy said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I look fine," Steve mumbled, cracking his jaw with a giant yawn.

"Sure you do," Max smirked, pushing him against the arm of the couch and draping a blanket over him.

"I brought that for Billy," Steve protested weakly, feeling his eyes get heavy as he felt comfortable for the first time in what seemed like days. "Gotta stay up for you guys."

"Let us take care of you now," Max murmured. Steve wanted to argue, but he just didn't have it in him anymore. He didn't think he had to worry about Billy going on a rampage, so he'd accomplished what he set out to do. Not all of the problems had been resolved, but there wasn't much more he could do at the moment. Steve finally let his eyes close, drifting off as he wondered how he started off the night unconscious under Billy's fists, to ending it willingly sleeping on the opposite side of a couch from him. Somehow, this was more surprising than the monsters.