Finally finished the Picture AU oneshot I was working on, thanks for the inspiration @plistommy!
When the camera clicks he realizes what a huge mistake he just made. It's too loud.
Both boys freeze and Jonathan is too shocked to crouch down and hide like a normal person would. He just stands there with his camera in his hands and his heart beating rapidly in his chest as Billy Hargrove's hard eyes meet his.
"Who the fuck-" He starts, but by that time Steve is already turning and looking at him too.
His face is surprised at first, then goes blank. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He hisses, "Byers?"
At this point he should be apologizing or running the hell away. Especially because the look on Hargrove's face is saying he wants to literally kill Jonathan right now, but fear and arousal keep him silent and rooted to the spot.
"So, what do we have here?" Hargrove moves so quickly Jonathan nearly drops the camera as he hauls him into the clearing by the collar of his jacket. "Byers is a peeping Tom?"
Steve sighs. "Well, he used to be Nancy's stalker, so I wouldn't put anything past him."
Jonathan makes a noise of protest because he seriously wasn't stalking anyone this time. He'd been in the woods all day taking pictures. He'd stumbled upon their rendezvous by total accident .
"Got something to say?" Billy asks, hand squeezing his shoulder.
"Wasn't stalking you." He mutters.
Steve yanks the camera out of his hands and he can't do a damn thing about it because Hargrove still has a firm grip on his shoulder. "So there won't be any pictures of us on here then?" Jonathan shifts his eyes to the ground. "Yeah," He scoffs, "that's what I fucking thought ." He tosses the camera into the bushes where he'd been hiding. He hears something break.
"Hey!" He tries to run after it but he's suddenly being slammed into a tree and loses his breath for a moment.
"Why did you take it, huh?" Hargrove asks, pressing his forearm across his chest and getting up in his face. "Were you going to use it to out us at school?"
"No!" He nearly yells, "I wouldn't do that."
"Why the fuck should we believe you?" He presses a little harder and Jonathan winces. "You're out here creeping around and hiding in bushes, taking compromising pictures of us. Why else would you do it?"
"I d-don't know, ok?" He stutters and tries to will his boner away. If Hargrove gets any closer he's going to feel it. "It just…I… just thought it would be a good picture."
Shit. He doesn't look like he believes him.
"Yeah," Steve drawls, "Billy's not a fan of liars. I'd try again if I were you."
Shit. He really needs to sell it if he's going to walk away from here in one piece. "I'm telling the truth. I swear! I'm sorry for taking it, that was stupid, but I wasn't going to show anyone."
He hopes that was convincing enough, but the laugh that comes out of the blond's mouth isn't reassuring. Neither is the knee between his legs or the fist pulling back.
He snaps his eyes closed and braces himself for the impact.
But the punch never lands.
He opens one eye to see what's going on and immediately wants to shut it again.
Billy isn't looking at his face anymore. He's looking down to where Jonathan is still fucking hard in his jeans. "Holy shit ." He says in disbelief, and then he's grinning. "You're just full of surprises aren't you, Byers?"
Jonathan can feel the heat rising on his face and he kind of wants to die.
Steve frowns behind them, "What are you talking about?"
Billy looks back at him. "I think we got it wrong. Byers wasn't lying."
"Why do you say that?" He replies, walking up to them.
He presses his knee against him again and Jonathan wants to disappear. "Because he's turned the fuck on."
The older boy is silent for a moment before whispering, "Oh, shit." Steve stares at him then, and he knows he's figured it out. "It wasn't Nancy." He says, "When you followed us around last year, you weren't stalking her were you?"
He looks away. Doesn't want to see his face. He's been found out. Fucking Hargrove. "No."
Billy sounds positively delighted by the admission. " Wait, you have the hots for Harrington?" He chuckles and Jonathan really wants to hit him. "I mean, obviously I can't fault you on your taste, but this is just precious ."
"Fuck you." He spits because he's already embarrassed as hell, pissing off the blond enough to beat him up would be better than whatever is happening right now.
But instead of getting mad, Billy condescendingly pats his cheek. "Maybe if you ask nicely, I'll see what I can do."