Alone, No More (Harringrove)

Chapter 10//California Girl

Part of him wanted to believe that was the reason, but the other part of him wanted to call bull shit. The way she seemed content on her answer, as if it was a lie, just screamed suspicious. 

He yearned to call her out, to force the truth out of her, but he settled on shrugging and acting like he didn't care. Plus, why would he care if Harrington was feeling out of sorts? They weren't friends or anything, and he certainly wasn't looking to be friends.

"Right," he said in an uninterested tone, even if he was very much interested. "Well, I just wanted to tell him he made the team, is all".

"Oh," she said, quiet as a mouse, fidgeting with the edge of her sweater. "Well g'night".

He gave her a weird look. They were never civil enough to each other to have said goodnight, or any kind of greeting for that matter, and it caught him off guard. 

"Uh, yeah," he mumbled. "G'night," finishing his smoke. 

He heard the front door open and close, once again, clouding him in silence.

Practice that week had been the refreshing, now that Steve was back. 

Instinctively,  Billy had shown up late, with his jersey hanging from the waist band of his shorts, liking the way his team mates rolled their eyes at him for his bare torso. 

Grabbing a shitty basketball from the ball bag, he noticed how everyone on the team had taken one side of the court, leaving Steve, by himself, to practice lay ups on the opposite side. 

Buncha idiots, he thought to himself, dribbling over to Steve's lonely side. 

Steve noticed him approaching and tried to look unaffected, regardless the fact that he looked like he was about to be jumped or something. Billy abandoned his hunk 'o junk basket ball, then sauntered over to Steve and waited for him to notice. 

"What's up?" Steve asked, obviously unsure of what was happening. He held the ball with two slender hands, and leaned to one side.

"Wanna play?" Billy asked, trying not to feel too uncomfortable with his choice in words. Immediately he felt stupid for asking, he had no idea what compelled him to talk to Steve, it was almost like his body was pulled towards him. 

Steve's brows pulled together slightly, but he nodded, bouncing the ball to Billy. He caught it, easily, bent his knees slightly and began dribbling close to the hardwood flooring. In front of him, Steve bent his knees a bit too, preparing for Billy to run either way. 

Billy watched those deep brown eyes of Steve's, looking for the slightest hesitation, his heart rate picking up with adrenaline. His opponent's skills matched his own, he recognized how good Steve was, and began to feel alive - reminding him of the feeling of riding the waves, back home. 

Their little game went by for what seemed like hours, and they both wore triumphant expressions as they battled out on the court, but when the coach blew his whistle, they realized it had only been minutes. 

Billy felt all eyes on him and Steve as they walked over to the coach, but didn't mind, he knew none of them could match the kind of one-on-one the two of them had had.   

A circle had formed, and Steve stood beside Billy, chest still rising and falling at a quickened pace. Billy noticed as Tommy caught Steve's eye, glaring him down.

Jesus, what was his issue?

"Alright, kids," coach began, flipping through papers on his clip board. "First game next week, so we gotta  hustle, 'kay?"

Everyone nodded.

"So, Steve, Billy, Tommy, Harry, and Quin," the coach said. "I want you five to make sure we kick the other team's asses. You'll be on the court  the longest, so rest up and don't miss it!"

The rest of the practice went by as usual, other than watching Tommy pick on Steve the whole time. Billy felt weird about it, like he wanted to bash Tommy's bruised face up more, but not knowing why.

In the showers, Tommy approached Steve, while Billy watched on the other side of the room. 

"Gotta minute after, Harrington?" he spat Steve's last name, making Billy's skin crawl, and Steve's jaw tighten. 

"Love to, but I'm busy," Steve retorted, being careful with his words, for some reason.

Billy realized it, then, how Steve had changed slightly. He wasn't so snappy or cocky anymore, he had become this careful and isolated person, and it confused Billy.

Tommy came closer to Steve, and looked down on him, "Yeah? That's what you said last time".  

Last time?

"Probably 'cuz I have no time for your shit, Tommy," Steve snapped, looking a bit more like the old him. 

"Awe that's cute," Tommy hissed, glaring now. 

It was then that Billy noticed how Steve's fists had balled, and he had downcast his eyes, he looked stiff as a board. He recognized this to be the signs that Steve was about to lose control.

So he quickly walked up to the two and grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him out of the showers to the change room. This wasn't the first time he, absentmindedly, came to Steve's aid, but this time was just before Steve lost himself again. 

"Cool it, Harrington," Billy instructed, tossing a towel at Steve, who caught it and wrapped it around himself. Billy did the same with his own towel, observing the way Steve looked so distant and unaware. 

"Fuck," Billy heard Steve breathe, while he gathered the rest of their belongings. When he turned back to Steve, he was rubbing his hands down his face. 

"Just shuddup and put your damn clothes on," Billy commanded, and Steve obeyed. 

Steve was just shoving his jersey in his bag when Tommy came scrambling into the change room, holding one side of this towel up, looking absolutely stupid.

"Yeah you let your damn guard dog protect you, Harrington!" He said in this whiny voice, looking almost scared to mock two men stronger than he. But he was stupider than Billy had thought. 

Billy made a mental note to pound that guy's face in while following Steve out the doors and into the hallway of Hawkins high.