Max begged Billy to take her and El to the mall today. It was something about little Wheeler being a bad boyfriend. If Billy was being honest he wasn't surprised. Everything he'd seen and heard about Nancy and Steve was horrible. Tommy liked to say that she kept his balls in her purse next to her flashcards.
Walking into the ice cream store, Billy saw Steve standing at the counter. He was wearing a little sailor uniform. The uniform forced Steve to wear a stupid hat on top of his hair.
The two of them had been avoiding each other ever since Billy joined the little group. He hadn't joined in the best way. Billy had pulled up to the house where he found out later that the kids were waiting for a monster to stop possessing Will. He was looking for Max. Instead he found Steve.
The curly haired man had been trying to meet the so-called king of Hawkins, and that night he found him. Billy had met him outside and saw the kids through the window. That's when the fight started. Steve punched Billy and Billy slammed Steve's head into his knee. While Steve went down Billy tackled him. The force of the hit had pushed the both of them through an opening. They fell right into the Upside Down and Billy learned that this town was an actual Hell hole.
Somehow, fighting through the concussion Steve got the two of them out. When Billy and Steve had climbed back out of the hole the kids explained everything that was going on. After he knew everything that was going on, Billy didn't need much convincing to take all of them to the pumpkin patch and light it on fire. That was what dragged Billy into their little club.
El quickly became Billy's favorite, which forced Max and Billy to spend more time together. In that time he realized that Max wasn't such a raging bitch.
Billy and Steve avoided each other, they both had a place in the group and Billy could accept that. He couldn't expect the man to become his best friend after how he treated him when he first came to Hawkins. Steve was less of a mystery to Billy now that he knew everything that had been going on in the Kings castle.
"Did you know that when two people are supposed to open a store for their job, both of them are expected to be there when the store opens," Billy could hear the girl Steve worked with say, "Otherwise, the employee left to do all the work could get the unnamed party fired."
"I got here two minutes late."
"Yeah I think I should get your tips today too, thank you for your generosity."
The girl turned, walking toward the back. Billy could see the exact moment Steve spotted them. The way his eyes widened when he saw Billy, but his smile grew when he registered the girls. His entire face brightened as if he had been waiting for his best friends, while at the same time he pulled on a bitchy face.
"I'm not giving you free ice cream."
Max smirked, "You mean you're not giving us free ice cream again."
"No I mean not at all, and I'm cutting you two off at three samples," Steve was already grabbing the sample spoons.
"But this is El's first time Steve. You're going to do this to her?"
"Just order."
Max ordered both herself and El about twelve samples each, before helping El decide on an ice cream flavor. Even Billy could see how uncomfortable Steve was with him there, so he didn't order anything.
As they left the mall they noticed Hopper's car by Billy's camaro. Billy knew he shouldn't have taken the girls out. Dammit. Hopper definitely put up a good front, but Billy could see under it. The cop was ecstatic that El went out with someone other than Mike. Hop did his whole angry and disappointed dad act, before taking the girls back to the cabin.
Now Billy was alone at the mall. There was no way he was going back to his house with Neil still there.
Billy turned back into the mall to wander around until he found something better to do. Maybe he'd find a girl and take her back to his car. If he were back in California maybe he'd find a guy too, but he was in stupid, fucking, Indiana. A place where no one had given him a fight when he'd come to take the school. The only person he was even told to worry about, rolled over and let him take the throne. All Billy heard about was King Steve. A man that Tommy basically drooled over when he spoke about him. When Steve was brought up in conversation Tommy started panting like a bitch in heat.
He had been excited to see the king in action, until he met Steve. A man that was supposed to be larger than life. He was nothing like he had heard. Of course Billy had listened to Tommy bitch and moan about Steve and Nancy. The happy couple.
Dustin Henderson, was the kid Billy almost ran over while walking out of a store. Billy had never gotten close with the kid but it was still concerning to see him sprinting through Starcourt. After chasing him for a while Billy found himself back at Scoops Ahoy. As weird as it was to see Dustin and Steve do their little handshake, Billy was entertained. Billy wasn't sure that it was exciting enough for the kid to sprint through an entire mall, but the kid didn't seem to have much of a social life.
The two of them kept talking while Billy watched. He was always struck by the fact that Steve loved these kids. One day he'd probably make a good dad.
Billy was starting to feel creepy watching them from the doorway, but as he turned he heard Dustin calling him over. He didn't have better plans so he sat with them. It was then that Billy was dragged into more madness. Living in Hawkins must have been driving him insane if he was even considering that Russian spies were under the mall. Somehow Robin had made her way into the finding secret Russian group.
At least they would be American Heroes. That's what Dustin and Steve believed, while Billy was ready to be done with Hawkins for the rest of his life. At least he was getting to know Steve better. Billy was getting really sick of only having kids as friends. Or kids and Tommy but that meant the same thing.