Author's Note: Trigger warning for mentions of racism.

Steve jerked awake, not quite knowing what it was that pulled him from his slumber. He was propped up on the end of his couch, with his feet flat against the floor. Not really the best position for a good night's sleep, but he'd been too exhausted for it to matter. He did feel a bit better, which was a nice improvement. Not enough to fight monsters again, but his brain didn't feel like it was going to start leaking out of his ears anymore.

He rubbed his eyes, mindful of the painful spots. His face probably looked terrible after all the bruises had time to settle in. Why did he always end these incidents with a battered face? It was like the universe wanted the evidence of his battering to be front and center for everyone to see. A knocking noise came from the front door and Steve jolted again, reaching for a weapon that he didn't have.

"A little jumpy, are we?" Steve turned his head to the side, finding a smirking Billy Hargrove staring at him from the other end of the couch. Had they really slept together? Not like that, but any way was honestly weird.

"What?" Steve mumbled, glancing at Max, who was curled up asleep in a chair by herself. At least everyone was accounted for.

"Bad guys don't usually announce their arrival by knocking first," Billy scoffed, flicking his eyes toward the door. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No. And that doesn't seem true at all. Knocking would be a very good way to catch someone off guard," Steve shot back. What a pointless argument. "I'm gonna go see who it is."

"Careful!" Billy said, pretending to be afraid. Steve rolled his eyes, then immediately regretted it when his head reminded him that it still existed. If he could just pluck the thing off his neck for a few hours, that would be great. He carefully stood up, letting himself get his bearings before trying to move away from the stability of the couch. Billy was probably too far away to catch him this time and Steve didn't really want to find out if his threat to let him fall was true. He'd done enough embarrassing things already.

Steve shuffled over to the door, keeping his body relaxed while mentally preparing for an attack. He probably wouldn't be able to do much, but the sound of him being murdered should give Billy enough time to get Max to safety. Hopefully he wouldn't just leave her. Steve was pretty sure their talk last night hadn't been a hallucination.

"Who is it?" Steve demanded in his most threatening voice. It just ended up sounding tired.

"Open the damn door, Steve!"

"Henderson?" Steve asked in surprise, relieved that it was only him. Unless he'd come to tell them that there was a new monster to fight. Or someone had gone missing. Or Dustin was now possessed like Will and was about to sick more demodogs on him to finish the job. No matter what it was, Steve couldn't not answer the door.

"About time!" Dustin huffed, bullying his way through the door as soon as Steve had it open a crack. He had to hold onto the knob so he didn't fall on his ass. "I know your house is big, but come on."

"What are you doing here?" Steve sighed, leaning on the door. He didn't know the kid that well, but at least this seemed like the normal version.

"We were worried about something happening to you and we came to save you, if necessary," Dustin explained.

"Save me from what?"

"Billy."

"Wouldn't it be a little late for that?"

"Well-"

"And what do you mean 'we?'"

"Lucas is outside. For backup."

"Jesus," Steve muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was never going to get rid of this headache. He tipped around the edge of the door, raking his eyes across his front yard. Lucas was crouched behind a bush, clutching what looked like a giant branch. "Sinclair, put that down and get in here." The boy sheepishly popped up, dropping his makeshift weapon.

"Should we be coming in unarmed?" Dustin asked, peeking around Steve's body to look for signs of danger.

"Why did you even come if you were worried about that?"

"To save you," Dustin said again, sounding a bit more annoyed. He looked Steve over with a critical eye, crossing his arms. "You look like shit."

"Gosh, I love hearing that."

"Maybe you should go to the hospital," Lucas suggested, walking up to stand beside Dustin. "You could have a brain bleed or fall into a coma."

"A bit late for that, I think. And I'm fine," Steve scoffed. He wasn't used to people being concerned about him. He had to admit, it felt kind of nice. But he couldn't let it show, especially not to these kids. They were supposed to be taken care of, not have to worry about taking care of anyone else. They'd already done enough for him after Billy's beatdown. "How are the rest of you rugrats doing?"

"Will's tired, but he's okay. Mrs. Byers isn't letting him out of her sight for a while though. And El was eating Eggos as fast as Hopper could cook them." Steve felt his stomach churn at the mention of food, but he held it together. He'd have to figure out something gentle to eat. "How did things go here?"

"Surprisingly okay," Steve replied. He wasn't going to go into detail about what was said, since it wasn't anyone else's business. And Billy would probably kill him, no matter how much he was trying to change. For all Steve knew, nothing would, even though Billy admitted what he was doing wasn't who he really was. Once he was back with his dad, he may still see no other choice. But Steve was going to keep trying to convince him otherwise.

"Is Max still here?" Lucas asked hesitantly, peeking around the same way Dustin had. Steve wasn't sure if they expected Billy to jump out from around a corner like a boogeyman. But then again, Steve wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"Yeah, but she's asleep, so-"

"I'm not asleep," Max said from behind him, leaning against a doorframe. All traces of vulnerability she'd shown the night before were gone. Why was everyone so good at pretending?

"Hey," Lucas greeted bashfully, flicking his eyes between Max and the floor. Steve was hit with the crushing loneliness of the situation with Nancy. All this stuff with Billy and the kids and the monsters had been a nice distraction from it, but he knew when things settled down, he was going to have to deal with that. It might've already been dealt with, at least on Nancy's side, seeing how close her and Jonathan were now. But Steve was the kind of guy who needed to hear the words, to know there wasn't a chance. Clearly he'd been wrong about their relationship for a while, since he needed to hear it was bullshit to even know there was a problem.

"What're you doing here?" Max asked, eyeing both boys critically.

"I got something for you."

"We got something for you," Dustin butted in, rolling his eyes. "For both of you, actually."

"I'm terrified to even ask," Steve sighed. If Dustin was about to pull out the dead demodog from the Byers' fridge and an amateur autopsy kit, he'd kick the kid out with no qualms.

"Don't be dramatic," Dustin scoffed, rummaging around in his bag. He pulled out two radios, holding them out for him and Max to take. She walked up and grabbed hers in confusion and Steve did the same. "Just in case we need to contact you."

"Is this just your way of asking me for rides?"

"No!" Dustin denied, before cocking his head to the side. "Well, maybe sometimes."

"Wonderful."

"It's more for in case of emergencies," Lucas said, elbowing Dustin in his side.

"How many emergencies do you guys usually have?" Max asked, crossing her arms. That was a good question. Were there other times that Steve hadn't heard about? Would he have even known about this if he hadn't been looking for Nancy? Part of him wished that he'd been ignorant to it all, but the bigger part of him knew that he'd never be able to stand back after all this. These kids had wormed their way into his heart and he'd protect them as best as he could for the rest of his life. Or at least until they were legal adults and could take care of themselves.

"I'd like to say not a lot, but life has a way of screwing with us," Dustin replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll explain the system to you later, but in the interim, know that code red means business. And don't abuse that power with stupid things. Someone missing or hurt is a code red, losing your favorite bandana is not."

"That was one time!" Lucas exclaimed, throwing his hands up in annoyance.

"But it's still the best example of misuse!" Dustin shot back. Steve glanced at Max, wondering if he should tell her to run and find better friends. She was already in the thick of it though and Steve could see she was trying not to smile at their antics. He could admit, they were sort of amusing.

"Whatever. I'll keep the damn thing. But don't expect me to carry it around everywhere."

"That kind of defeats the purpose, but okay," Dustin conceded. Steve was just about to ask them if there was anything else they needed when Lucas' eyes got wide and he backed up a step. Steve turned, finding Billy standing in the doorway where Max had been earlier. He felt his heart rate tick up a bit in response. Steve wasn't sure if any of them were ready to see if Billy's attitude had changed in regards to Lucas, or if everything the night before had been lip service. Even if the change was genuine, this may have been too soon to test it out. And Lucas didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of Billy working on himself. Steve would put himself in the line of fire until he deemed it safe.

"Billy, um-"

"Sinclair," Billy said roughly, jerking his chin to one side. Nobody moved, treating Billy like a wild animal who could be set off by the slightest provocation. That analogy probably wasn't very far off.

"Uh-"

"We need to talk."

"Henderson, why don't you go outside?"

"What? Why do I have to leave?"

"Just listen to me. You owe me."

"For what?"

"Dart."

"I don't know why you're bringing up ancient history," Dustin muttered, reluctantly shuffling over to the door. He pointedly looked to the radio in his hand, as if Steve would call out a code red if Billy went on a rampage. What would Dustin be able to do?

"Max-"

"I'm staying," Max insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. Why were these kids so stubborn?

"Okay," Steve mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know what to do now. Did he try to shut everything down or just let things happen how they were and react accordingly? Billy didn't look like he was gearing up for a fight, but Steve hadn't been expecting that first hit outside the Byers house either.

"My father is racist," Billy said suddenly. Everyone's eyes snapped over to him. "One of his favorite stories to tell when he's drunk is about when he was a teenager and a black family moved into his neighborhood. They had two sons and my dad and his friends used to terrorize them. It got so bad that they had to move. My dad likes to brag about how he cleaned up the neighborhood."

"Shit," Steve muttered. His parents were assholes, but they were equal opportunity assholes. It didn't matter what color you were, as long as you had money.

"If he'd seen you near Max or the house…" Billy trailed off, sucking his teeth. "If he gloats about what he's willing to do to protect his neighborhood, I don't even want to consider what he'd do when it comes to what he considers his property."

"I get it," Lucas said quietly.

"No, you don't get it!" Billy snapped, and Steve wasn't the only one who jumped. He geared himself up to lunge at Billy, just in case. He'd probably only be a glorified lawn dart, but that would be enough for the kids to escape. "I let myself turn into that prick because I'm a coward."

"What?"

"Why stand up for what was right when I could take the easy way out? I can try to justify what I was doing, but I'm no better than him. So I did what I could to try to scare you off. But here you are," Billy ground out, clenching his fist. "Prepubescent little bastards and you're all braver than me."

"Hey," Steve warned, frowning at the harsh language. Steve could call them names, but it came from a place of affection. Billy hadn't earned that right.

"I'm a bad person and I have no excuse for what I've done. Nothing I've said makes up for it," Billy said simply. "So I apologize. I won't mess with you anymore or stop you from being around Max. My warning about Neil still stands, but it's up to you whether or not you want to take the risk." And with that, Billy turned and left the room. They were all staring at the spot he'd been before, waiting for something else. What that was, Steve didn't know. He hadn't been expecting Billy to apologize. And it definitely hadn't been the most heartfelt thing he'd ever heard, but it was better than the alternative.

"You okay, Sinclair?" Steve asked finally, turning to look at the boy.

"That was weird," Lucas mumbled, glancing at Max. "You think I should believe him?"

"It's out of the ordinary, but I'd like to think it was genuine," Max shrugged. Steve knew she was hoping for the Billy from last night to stay and he was too, but real change was hard. Steve's own personality shift had taken time and energy and he still had moments where he doubted himself.

"It might be a good idea to listen to his advice and stay away from Max's house. You all can hang out here, where it's safer."

"Really?" Lucas asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's whatever," Steve waved off, not admitting that the idea of having anyone over at his house was better than the crushing loneliness he was used to. This wasn't about him, it was about helping the kids. Anything he gained from it was just a bonus.

"I should go. Dustin's probably losing his mind outside and my parents wanted me home before lunch," Lucas sighed, scuffing his toe into the floor. "Maybe we can hang out later this week?"

"We've got our radios," Max confirmed, jiggling the one in her hand.

"Can I invite everyone else?"

"What did I sign up for?" Steve moaned, hanging his head. Max scoffed at him, walking Lucas over to the door. Steve peeked up at them through his bangs, watching as they gave each other what looked to be the quickest hug in history before breaking apart. Lucas walked out with a smile on his face, joining a ranting Dustin who had picked up the earlier discarded stick weapon.

"What now?" Max asked as soon as she closed the door. That was a good question. He'd told Susan the night before that he was going to get Max and Billy back home after breakfast, but he really didn't want them to go back to that house. There wasn't really any getting around that, but it wouldn't hurt to stall as long as possible. Maybe Steve could do something to lighten the mood, before everyone had to go back to their normal lives. And he wanted to have another talk with Billy, preferably alone. His support wasn't just a one night thing and Steve wanted to hammer that fact home.

"Now, we have breakfast."