Smoking About You

Chapter Tweleve

The entire week, Billy had woken up in the middle of the night because of nightmares

Each dream was different, some worse than others. He never knew what to expect before closing his eyes

Then, around two or three in the morning, the cycle of nightmares continued.

He woke up covered in sweat and feeling sick to his stomach, so he made his way to the bathroom

After he was finished, he sat on the bathroom floor, unable to move or even feel anything

His body felt like a weird emptiness, like nothing was inside of it, like his body was no longer his.

Billy wanted to get over everything happening recently, but he just couldn't

"𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵?"

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮, 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯.

Billy wasn't told anything about what Vecna did before killing his victims, but what he thought wasn't far off

The pounding that has been recurring came back. It always made Billy flinch, but this time, his eyes didn't open

Instead, he saw Max, and she was floating. At every crack Billy would wince, the image wouldn't leave it kept repeating.

His hands were on the opposite shoulder, pinching his skin. However, his thoughts distracted him away from the pain

Suddenly, it all stopped, Billy would've been relieved if he didn't see Vecna appear in front of him again

It was just the two surrounded by pitch black darkness, tears fell down Billy's cheek as he stayed down on the ground.

Billy knew Vecna was getting closer as he heard the footsteps under his feet. He didn't move. He didn't even look up

All he did was squeeze his eyes shut and sit, grabbing onto his shoulders, hoping Vecna would leave

Every word said to Billy he would block out and ignore, then he heard a knock outside the bathroom door.

Billy opened his eyes, thinking he would be back inside the bathroom on the ground, only that wasn't the case

Rather, he was still enclosed by the darkness, and in front of him was a door. He got up and walked towards it

Billy walked around the frame and saw Steve, though. Steve didn't see him. He waved his hand in front of Steve, but he didn't see.

"Billy? Hey, Billy.." That's when Billy saw himself on the ground with his head between his knees, wrapped in his arms

Steve kneeled down and put his hands on his shoulders, "Hey c'mon.." Billy put his hand on Steve's shoulder, seeing what would happen

It worked, Steve turned and looked around, yet Billy was still out of sight. He didn't know what to do.

As Steve continued to talk to him, Billy wondered if sitting back in his place would get him back to normal

He closed his eyes, putting his head in between his knees, holding onto his shoulders, then closing his eyes

Billy took in the air as he came back to the real world. It made Steve pull back at first, but Billy quickly took his arms off himself and around Steve

Steve wrapped under Billy's arms, and they both stayed with each other for a while, funnily still on the floor.

Steve stood up, stretching and then holding out his hand, "Let's find a more comfortable stop, yeah?"

Billy grabbed his hand and helped up. When he was on his feet, he didn't let go of Steve's hand, "Yeah, let's do that."

They were both laying down in Steve's room, for Billy, it just felt safer and more comfortable to stay in

Billy stared up at the ceiling, listening to Steve's quiet breathing, trying to think about what he felt safe in the room.

Maybe it was crumbled paper on the floor that was attempted to be thrown in the trash like basketball

It could've been the wore blankets, or even the stacked cds that they both liked, possibly the smell of the air

Or just maybe it was the boy laying beside him sleeping on his stomach with his hair pushed back and no shirt.

The next morning, Steve was downstairs on the phone, "Wait, really?" Max says on the other line

Max was the only person who Steve thought would understand what Billy was going through

"Yeah." He had just told her what has been going on with Billy and what might happen if it continues.

"So you don't think Vecna's dead?" Max asks, "Not after what happened in the lake and what's happening now. "

Though Max said she had gone through everything Steve was describing, she said her seemed to be less intense

𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘝𝘦𝘤𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦?

Steve shook his head as he heard Max speak up again, "Should we go tell the others about this?"

"Yeah, I think that would be best." He puts the phone back and turns to see Billy behind him

"Who was that?" Billy asks, walking closer, "It was Max, "

Billy raises his eyebrows, wanting him to go on, "Billy, I don't think Vecna is dead."

Billy smiles, which makes Steve give a look, "Really? What was your first clue, the lake or my constant nose bleeds?"

Steve let out an airy laugh, "I guess you could say the lake."

"So what are you gonna do about it, Sherlock?"

Steve puts his hands on his hips, "Don't know, have any ideas, Watson?" Billy looks up and hums.

"Can't we just fight him again? The first two times, it worked." Billy shrugs, "Yeah, the first time being in the mall, right?"

"Hey - technically, that was still a win. He went away for a while, didn't he?"

"Fair enough, but what if he's third times his charm?" Steve smirks, "Isn't that encouraging." Billy says sarcastically.

"Do you even know how to fight Harrington?" Billy teases, "A little, yeah."

"I don't see how you haven't died yet." Billy shakes his head walking into the kitchen, "Maybe I'm better at fighting than you think." Steve follows.

Billy stops and turns around to Steve, "Or maybe you're too much of a pretty boy to die?" He says, raising his chin

"Is that why you're back?" Steve asks, "Exactly." Billy winks and keeps walking.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘝𝘦𝘤𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺.

As Steve grabbed coffee cups down from the cabinet, he thought about how was a way to finish this fight altogether

"Something on your mind, Harrington?" Billy asks, looking at Steve's expression. It quickly changes to, "Maybe."