billy coming back all fucked up on a human level from vecna’s imprisonment in the upside down and developing some kind of paranormal ability and steve being totally utterly hopelessly turned on by it like the freak weirdo (affectionate) he is will always be so dear to me. extra points if billy doesn’t even realize at first because he’s too occupied worrying over the very same fact and what others might think of him ever since he came back
how do you think billy n carol would get along? like whats the friendship dynamic
READ ON AO3
this two year old ask inspired me to write a little billy 'n carol so -- here! general warning for nancy bashing & use of the word dyke (these have no correlation)
~
Tommy Hagan has a laugh that sets dogs howling and a grin that splits his freckled face in two, and. It’s kind of contagious. Sometimes.
He cackles around a mouthful of pizza until he starts choking and Carol has to thump him on the back. The lunch lady frowns at him across the cafeteria but Tommy’s already moved on, staring at Carol all moony and stupid like she just saved his life.
Steve’s mouth is twitching at the corners and Billy isn’t far behind.
It's pizza Tuesday at Hawkins High and, like-- Thursday is pizza day. Always has been. Billy's been moved two-thousand miles just to get sat among the hicks and the heathens that eat pizza on a Tuesday. As if the situation wasn't dire enough already.
Billy slice is cold, looks all gross. He slides it across the table to Tommy.
Doesn't notice the Snack Pack being pushed his way until his hand bumps against it. Billy looks up. Steve's not-- smiling, exactly, but his eyes are soft, warm. It's winter in Hawkins. Billy can't afford to be picky with lunch. Thinks that Steve should only know one of those things.
Steve's still watching so Billy loads up his spoon, takes a too-big mouthful and then. Wipes the back of the spoon on Steve's cheek. Steve yelps, sticks a finger in the pudding and gets it up Billy's nose. It's gross. Tommy cackles.
Steve's grin is so bright it hurts.
Billy has to look away.
Realizes his mistake when he sees Carol watching the two of them, eyes sharp.
Billy recovers real quick-- winks at her but she just rolls her eyes, snaps her gum. Billy can't seem to get his footing with Carol. Can't quite work out where he stands.
Nancy Wheeler comes up to their table and Steve wipes the chocolate off. Turns his back to them.
Billy nudges the leftover pudding over to Tommy.
~
Steve pushes Nancy Wheeler up against the lockers. Cups her face, kisses like they're in a movie and everyone else is a nameless extra.
"Bitch."
A locker slams shut behind him. Billy turns to see Carol glaring at the King and the Princess. He wonders what that makes her. Asks--
“What’s your deal with Wheeler?”
Carol looks up at Billy, then. Like she's seeing him for the first time.
“He’s too good for her," she says, simply.
Billy doesn't say anything. Looks back to the now empty spot where the happy couple were. Seems, from where Billy's standing, like Steve's forgiven Wheeler for whatever went down. Seems like everyone has, apart from Carol.
Billy asks Tommy about it and he just shrugs.
"She's always been kinda--" Tommy scratches the back of his head, searches for the word. "She's protective over what's hers, right? And Steve's, like, her best friend. Nancy stomped all over his heart, man. You should've seen it."
So Carol's just-- loyal like that, apparently.
Billy wonders how it feels. To have someone care that much.
~
Billy's jaw is blooming purple and it hurts to talk. He ignores everyone most of the day.
Skips practice 'cause he knows Coach will bench him anyway.
Knows Steve will ask questions, eyes big and teeth digging into that bottom lip Billy dreams about.
Billy lights a cigarette. Warms himself up from the inside and watches the parking lot turn white. Turns out, snow glitters in the sun. Billy watches it until his eyes go blurry. Lets them slide shut.
Gets a few, blissful minutes of nothing before--
The door opens. Shuts. Billy cracks an eye open to see Carol sat in the passenger seat like she owns it.
"Need somethin', Queenie?"
The nickname makes her screw her nose up, which is, like, the whole reason Billy does it. Likes to get a rise out of her. Started calling her that when he decided that if Steve's the king and Wheeler the princess, then-- Carol's the snubbed queen.
Tommy’s the court jester. Obviously.
They sit in silence, let it stretch until it starts to wear thin. When it threatens to snap, Carol says--
“My cousin was, like. A dyke.”
Says it like. That’s a thing people say. Like that’s a-- conversation starter in small town Indiana. Says it like it’s supposed to mean something to Billy, too.
Billy shuts his eyes. His jaw throbs.
Carol's voice fills the car.
“I never-- it was weird, but. I never really cared. Not like they did.” She spits venom on the last four words. Doesn’t seem to notice Billy crawling out of his skin in the drivers seat.
“Steve's a good guy. Dumb, sometimes. Can't see what's in front of him until someone spells it out."
Carol's talking about Wheeler. Has to be. Billy needs her to be.
“I think.” Carol takes a breath. Looks out at where the snow is starting to settle thick. “I think if you were gonna-- he’s not a bad, y'know--" Billy's eyes are shut but he can see her waving around. Carol uses her hands like words. "He likes you. You make him happy."
Billy should be baring his teeth. Should be getting the chick in his car wet enough to beg to suck his dick. Should be driving the two of them into the quarry. Billy's never been one for rules. His jaw aches.
"Not lookin' to die in this town, Red." Billy says, quiet enough that they could choose to ignore it. If they wanted. Let it get buried under the snow. "'s what happens."
To people like me.
"You don't know that.”
"You don't know that." Billy digs his heels in.
He flicks the lighter. On and off. And on again. Holds his palm over the flame. Closes it with a snap.
You don't know my dad.
"I know Steve." She says the words with such conviction Billy feels a little floored by it.
"Uh huh."
"You could be good for each other. I think."
Steve's got a Billy shaped scar on his forehead.
Carol hates Nancy Wheeler for-- whatever she did. To Steve.
Carol thinks that Billy would be good for Steve.
Everything is white outside. The world looks brand new and-- Carol's just shaken it all up like a snow globe. Billy's head spins.
"Just-- promise me something, will you, Bills?"
Billy screws his nose up at the name. It's payback time and she's got him good.
"What's that?"
"Please, god, don't make me wear something ugly to your wedding."
Billy doesn't laugh. Barely smiles, 'cause of his face. Doesn't tell her that people like Billy can't get married, anyway. Figures she already knows. Just says--
"Who says you're comin'?"
"Oh, baby." Carol's voice is overly sweet. Like a cotton-candy toothache. She smiles across at Billy. "You're never getting rid of me now."
Carol's loyal like that. Apparently.
Billy lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
definitely blame grey’s anatomy for this idea but imagine the back of the ambulance opening and billy’s eyes going wide because there’s steve harrington, famously so dedicated to his job he always pulls some shit that makes his boss sigh and roll their eyes, sitting there with his hand stuck inside the wound of the victim. and steve meets billy’s gaze and thinks oh, fuck because billy instead is famous for being brilliant but also ruthless and bossy on the job. aaand yeah, when billy’s mouth opens steve sees his frown and knows there’s a bunch of insults directed at him coming, but he rushes to explain that he had to stop the bleeding and he had no other tool to do it. he’s out of breath, scared, his hair is falling on his face and he’s definitely way too attached to this patient at that point. billy sighs, orders to carefully rush the victim and steve to the operating room and takes control of the wound so steve can move his hand and let him finish properly. and… steve’s job is done, right? he should go back to his station. but he can’t. he has to know the person is gonna be okay. so he waits outside, dirty and sweaty and tired, and witnesses the absolute kindness that billy reserves to his patients when he informs the victim and their family of the situation. it’s a totally italic “oh” moment for steve. this hargrove they all talk about like he’s the nightmare of the ER, absolute menace to work with. and steve guesses he is, while chuckling to himself. but that’s not who billy hargrove actually is. and then billy turns around and catches steve still hanging around, slumped on a seat in the waiting room. asks him what he’s still doing there. steve says, i needed to know it would turn out okay. blushes a bit, because that kind of makes him sound weak. it’s bad to get too involved emotionally but oh well, he’s famous for being like that. billy smiles at him, a tired but real smile, tells him to get the hell up and follow him to a room to have a quick check up himself. it’s been a long day for him as well. billy tells him it was insane for him to do that while he makes sure his hand isn’t damaged anywhere. steve doesn’t apologize, just says he’d do it again in a heartbeat. billy smiles again, tries to hide it. steve wishes he didn’t look so disheveled because he really, really wants to ask this guy out. little does he know, billy doesn’t need any of that. and in a couple weeks everyone will be gossiping about how grumpy, unapproachable, workaholic hargrove is surprisingly dating that one charming, big-hearted paramedic steve harrington.
something so endearing about steve not being athletic. like i know he’s supposed to be the captain and best at everything until billy comes around etc but that part of him is so glossed over so all i see is steve caring about hair and clothes and then he’s heavy breathing sweaty and with unkempt hair after billy pushes him around a bit on the court. probably would say man you’re nuts and throw himself on the couch with a bag of chips if he ever saw the weight lifting bench billy willingly uses regularly at home
It’s late and I can’t sleep because I’m thinking of Billy and Max dealing with totally mundane, non-Upside Down problems. Like backed up toilets.
Like, they’re still living in San Diego, maybe six months before they move to Hawkins. Their house only has one bathroom and the toilet is clogged. Max is the one that notices it, luckily before she actually uses it. Like…she notices that the toilet water is a lot lower than it should be, or than it usually is, so she flushes it, because she thinks it’s just a fluke. And the water does rise…but it doesn’t drain. So she tries flushing it again and…yup, the toilet is definitely clogged.
So she tries to use the plunger and it is just….not working. And she’s trying to do this with the bathroom door open and Billy walks by, sees her struggling, and gets in there to help. It’s not so much sibling solidarity; it’s more to do with the fact that there is one fucking toilet in the house.
“Max, what the fuck did you do to this thing?” he asks. He’s struggling just as much as she was. The plunger is doing absolutely nothing to help the situation.
“Nothing!” she insists.
So Billy keeps trying with the plunger, with no success. And Max is hanging out in the bathroom, watching him, because what the hell else is she going to do?
After ten solid minutes of this, Neil walks by the bathroom. Neil is tired, a bit hungover, and absolutely not in the mood for any nonsense. And then he sees his two dumbass kids fooling around with a toilet plunger and quickly puts it together that on top of everything, the goddamn toilet is clogged.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grounds out. He walks off. Billy and Max are pretty nervous, of course. Billy thinks he’s about to get smacked for something that’s not even his fault; Max thinks that she’s about to see her brother get smacked. It’s a bad situation all around.
Neil comes back with one of those plumbing snakes that Billy didn’t even know they had in the house.
“Move!” Neil barks at him. So, obviously, Billy moves out of the way quickly, setting the plunger back down in its place. He stands next to Max. The two of them watch Neil guide the snake down into the toilet.
“Which one of you idiots did it?” Neil demands as he twists the snake around.
“We didn’t do anything,” Billy says, even though he’s not 100% sure it wasn’t Max. That was sibling solidarity.
“Maxine, did you flush a—a feminine product down here?” Neil asks, clearly uncomfortable with the idea that Max, who he has known since she was eight, would have a need for such products.
“No!” she says.
“What about you?” Neil then says, looking up to stare Billy in the eye. “You flush a sock or something?”
“Dad!” Billy says, his cheeks tinging with pink. “No, of course not. God!”
“So help me God, if either of you flushed anything weird down here…” Neil doesn’t finish the threat. He goes back to working the snake.
“Why would you flush a sock down the toilet?” Max asked, clearly not understanding the implication of what her stepdad just said. Neil sighs heavily; Billy refuses to look at her.
“What?” she asks again.
“Max, just…just shut up,” Billy mumbles. Neil looks up for a moment to give him a withering look.
Finally, Neil’s snake seems to hit something. Neil jiggles it around for a moment. They hear something float to the surface and…Neil looks away and gags. Gags a few times actually.
“Oh, fuckin’ hell,” he mutters.
Neil rarely says The F Word. Or at least, he doesn’t often say it around them. So, of course, Billy and Max get closer to look into the toilet.
It’s a rat. A very clearly dead rat. But. A rat nonetheless.
“Oh gross!” Max exclaims.
“Fuckin’ sick!” Billy adds.
“Alright, both of you, get out,” Neil orders. “I’ll deal with this. Just…just get out.”
“That fuckin’ thing was in the pipes?” Max said, still gaping at the dead rat floating in their toilet.
“Watch your language,” Neil warns. “Both of you.”
“You said it!”
“So are we gonna give that thing a proper burial or what?” Billy butts in, steering the attention from Max.
“I’ll give you a proper burial,” Neil snaps. His face was a bit pale. “I’m not going to tell you again: get out.”
Billy knows not to push his dad any further; he steers Max out of the bathroom. The two of them wait in the living room as Neil somehow gets the dead rat in a plastic trash bag. After Neil disposes of it in the bins outside and washes his hands for a full five minutes, he walks up to Billy and Max. He looks at them both in the eye for a moment.
“This is the type of thing that should stay between the three of us,” he finally says, his voice calm, but with a dangerous edge. “No one else needs to know. Do you understand?”
“So we’re not telling Mom?” Max asks.
“No,” Neil says. He gives her one of those weird smiles that he sometimes wears; the kind that doesn’t reach his eyes and has the clear message of do not fucking test me. “We are not telling your mother about the rat. It’ll just upset her. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Max and Billy say in unison.
Later that night, right before he falls asleep, it dawns on Billy that his dad wasn’t worried about Susan freaking out about a rat in the pipes.
He was worried that he or Max would tell her that he gagged over it.
the last bell rings and hawkins high spills open with kids pouring out in every direction, buzzing, shoving, laughing too loud. the usual end‑of‑day chaos. billy’s somewhere behind steve and jonathan, walking slow stuffing textbooks in his satchel. but steve can tell he’s tired. it’s been a long week with neil being worse than usual. and billy’s been quieter than usual. steve’s been watching him like he’s waiting for something to crack.
they’re halfway across the parking lot when the whispers start.
steve hears them before he sees anything. that low ripple of noise that means something’s happening, something everyone suddenly cares about. he glances around, confused, until he sees where everyone’s staring.
billy’s camaro.
….and the guy leaning against it?
some brunette dude steve’s never seen before, arms crossed, posture loose like he owns the place. he’s not dressed like anyone from hawkins. he looks older, maybe. or maybe just… different. confident in a way that doesn’t match the town.
the crowd is already slowing down, forming that half‑circle of anticipation. people are elbowing each other, whispering things like “who is that?” and “billy’s gonna lose it” and “fight in the parking lot today, i guess.”
steve feels his stomach drop.
jonathan mutters, “this is gonna be bad.”
billy finally steps out from behind them, and the second he sees the guy, his whole body goes rigid. jaw tight. shoulders tense. eyes sharp.
the crowd senses it too. everyone leans in a little, waiting for the explosion.
steve immediately steps closer, hand brushing billy’s arm, voice low. “hey. hey, man! breathe. don’t-”
but billy isn’t listening.
or maybe he is, but not in the way steve expects. because billy takes two more steps forward, squinting like he’s trying to make sure he’s seeing right.
the anger flickers. confusion replaces it. then something else entirely.
shock.
and then…
billy breaks into the biggest grin steve has ever seen on him. not the cocky smirk he uses at school. not the sarcastic half‑smile he gives max sometimes. this is something bright and real and so startlingly joyful that steve forgets how to breathe for a second.
“no way,” billy says, voice cracking on the words.
the brunette guy pushes off the camaro, grinning back. “miss me?”
billy actually laughs. like, full‑on laughs. and then he’s running, actually running, and he practically tackles the guy in a hug. a real hug. arms tight, face buried in the guy’s shoulder for a second like he’s trying not to fall apart.
the parking lot goes dead silent.
steve just stands there, stunned, watching billy look happier than he’s ever seen him. and yeah, okay, something twists painful in his chest. something sharp and jealous and stupid. because billy has never lit up like that for him. not like that.
jonathan lets out a low whistle. “welllll…didn’t expect that.”
nancy, who’d apparently caught up with them, just raises her eyebrows. “apparently no one did.”
the crowd, realising there’s no fight coming, starts to lose interest. people drift away, disappointed and the whispers fade.
but steve can’t look away.
billy finally pulls back from the hug, still grinning like an idiot. “tyler? holy shit man! what the hell are you doing here?”
“surprise visit,” tyler says, shrugging like it’s nothing. “college tours actually, so figured i’d stop by.”
billy shakes his head, still laughing under his breath. “you’re insane.”
“aww, I missed you too man.”
billy rolls his eyes, but there’s something soft in it. something steve can’t help but notice.
then billy remembers the rest of them exist.
he turns, wiping the smile off his face just enough to look like he’s trying to be cool again. “uh, ty…this is jonathan his girl nancy, and er my friend steve.”
steve tries not to look like he’s overthinking the word friend, but he definitely is.
tyler gives a friendly wave, taking them all in. “hey! good to meet you guys, I’m tyler.”
steve blinks.
“hey, you from cali?”
“yeah,” tyler says easily. “me and billy grew up together. ha! this guy probably knows more about me than my own brother!”
billy looks away at that, a slight blush creeping up on him. steve notices. he always notices. but before anyone can say anything else, a voice yells across the parking lot.
“TYLER?”
max comes flying in on her skateboard, nearly wiping out as she jumps off and runs the rest of the way. she slams into tyler with a hug that almost knocks him over.
“hey, little menace!” tyler laughs, spinning her once. “you got taller.”
“yeah and you got uglier,” max shoots back, grinning.
billy watches them, and there’s something in his expression again, something warm and aching at the same time. like he’s remembering something he lost.
here’s something I liked the idea of, started and never finished….it has been in my drafts forever and I fear it’ll never leave! so please help yourselves guys! I’m not sure what’s next, apart from a jealous steve! go wild 🙂↕️
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
titsay
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
stormborns
