An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
“I didn’t know he’d told you,” Hopper says slowly, eyeing Billy. He hasn’t, Billy noticed, taken off his gun. Billy wonders if that’s about the monsters inside or his unexpected guest. “How much do you know?”
Billy lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “I know enough to know it’s a fucking problem that those things are in Steve’s house.”
Steve, Billy says. His name rolls off his tongue so easily. That makes him stand up and turn to face Hopper. It’s reckless, some part of him knows. It’s a taunt. His ribs hurt and his face is fucked up, but he can’t quite shake the urge to pick a fight he knows he’ll lose. Self-destructive, Harrington had called him once. He’d said it so gently, too. Billy can still feel those big brown eyes on him, the ghost of Harrington’s fingers grazing his jaw so carefully.
part 2 of 4, ~10,002 words so far, explicit
