LIKE A HURRICANE ⭑ - Billy Hargrove ⭑

11 | Every Mother's Child

A month rolled by and everything fell back into the routine: wake up, tread lightly, grab something small to eat, and get out the door with Max by his side. Billy would get to school, attend class, and avoid looking as though he got a beating so thorough it left his ribs bruised. It was difficult during gym, but Billy managed.

He always managed one way or another.

But it did help that Steve was there. Helping aid the blond by keeping the rest of the other team members off of him– not that the brunet knew, but Billy appreciated it all the same. It was nice to let someone have his back. Partly because he's been glancing over his shoulder, looking for one of those creatures ever since that night. He came so close to dying, he doesn't feel real sometimes. Since that tunnel, he's been in a daze. It's like that all-nighter never really left him.

It didn't help that when he and Max got home that morning, Neil was waiting in the kitchen with a mug of bitter, black coffee and a hard-pointed glare at the ready. He had questioned where they had been and what they were doing out so late. Billy couldn't answer, so Max saved him. She lied, claiming there had been a party. But then Neil questioned the state of their clothes. Why were they covered in dirt and grime? Why did they smell like rot? And Max lied again. Lying came easy to her. They had gone spelunking and she had fallen into a weird cave pond. Billy had tried to help her and fell in himself. It wasn't too far off from what really happened. But when Neil looked up at Billy, the blond could only nod in agreement. Too tired to fully process everything going on and too scared to try to weasel his way out of the mess he found himself in. Neil had let them go. But he still had that dangerous look in his eye like he knew that they hadn't actually gone spelunking.

Since then, Billy has felt like he's been walking on thin ice. He hasn't been able to relax anywhere. Not at home, not at school, nowhere in public. And for good reason too. Neil was a menace at home and people at school were questioning why he was hanging out with Steve Harrington, his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend of all people. Then, out in public, the government had wheeled in to shut down the lab. They made Billy sign so many papers his signature has become something of a scrawl now. There had been a funeral for Nancy's best friend and that's when Billy learned more about Steve and her history together, how they broke up on Halloween, and how she ended up with Jonathan Byers of all people. They don't really seem to match very well in terms of looks, Billy thinks, but they seem happy so he won't come between them. This whole town is a fucking mess and Billy's somehow found himself in the center of it with friends who somehow are too. At least, he's not alone anymore.

Billy exhales slowly and lowers himself stiffly into the driver's seat of the Camaro. His ribs don't hurt as much anymore, but he still feels sore when he takes a too-deep breath or twists the wrong way. And he hates it. He hates feeling like this. He hates feeling weak and incapable of simple tasks such as just moving. It's all Neil's fault and there's nothing he can do about it. At least, not until he's eighteen or graduated from high school. Billy starts the engine and leans back in his seat. Max is already beside him, watching silently. He knows that she has a vague idea of what he's thinking, but neither say anything about it.

"Are you still sore?" She asks quietly, testing the waters.

They've been getting along for the better part of the last month, but there are still some brief moments where she and Billy bicker or argue. Sometimes, he threatens her but she knows nothing will come of it. Mostly because his threats are nothing more than telling her to take a hike or that he won't drive her anywhere. It definitely isn't as bad as it once was before moving to Hawkins but it isn't a whole bunch better either. They both know it. But they never say anything about it.

"Yeah," Billy finally replies, his voice raspy. He fights back a cough as he continues, "But I should be fine by the end of the week." He feels Max's eyes on him. He knows she thinks he wont be fully healed, "I've been taking it easy enough."