꒰꒰・┄┄・𓆩♡𓆪・┄┄・꒱꒱
"AM I DREAMING OR IS THAT YOU HARRINGTON?" Billy's obnoxious voice rings out in the night air, a lit cigarette between his lips as he steps out of his car, and leans against the door.
"Yeah it's me, don't cream your pants." Steve says casually as if it weren't the funniest thing he had ever said, and Summer turns her head to hide her laughter. Witty comebacks weren't always Steve's strongest suit, but perhaps hanging out with the kids had started to rub off on him a little.
Billy's eyes narrow for a second before his gaze falls on Summer standing just behind Steve, eyeing her up and down like she were some sort of object. A grin dances on his mouth and he gives his bottom lip a quick glide with his tongue. It was enough to make Summer uncomfortable and she clams up, folding her jacket over her chest and hugging herself tightly.
Steve's eyes burn into Billy with pure anger, but the blond didn't seem to care, or if he did, he doesn't show it. He slides his leather jacket off and bounces his shoulders to fix the way his shirt draped over his torso. The middle slit almost right down to his waistband, revealing his six-pack and the whole time he kept his eyes locked on Summer.
"Maybe you should go inside?" Steve expresses his concern, but Summer wasn't going to run and hide, nor was she going to let Billy think he had any sort of effect over her.
"No. I'm staying right here," She proclaims, her gaze not leaving Billy as she leans into Steve and kisses him passionately. When she pulls away, she notices Billy's facade falter as he tenses his jaw, and he lets out an almost sigh as he turns his head to the side, and then back to the couple. "Now, go show him who's boss."
With a smirk gracing his lips, Steve pushes himself off the front porch and onto the rocky gravel with a small thud. Billy takes action too, the two boys sizing each other up as they meet in the middle.
The blond cocks his head to the side. "What're you doing here, amigo?"
"I could ask you the same thing... amigo." Steve mimics the other boy and crosses his arms under his chest.
"Looking for my stepsister, a little birdy told me she was here." The cigarette between his lips moved with his words, his eyes not wavering from Steve as he spoke with determination, but Steve denies it. "Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch."
The way in which he spoke of Max only angered the couple, but even more so now, Steve continues to deny her being there with them. "Doesn't ring a bell, sorry buddy."
"You know, I don't know, this whole little situation Harrington - it's giving me the heebie-jeebies." The blond steps forward, taking a long puff of his cigarette and then letting the smoke blow in Steve's direction.
"Oh yeah, why's that?"
"My thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day... and then I find her... with you... in a strangers house... and you lie to me about it." Billy points his hands at Steve accusingly, clearly trying to get some sort of a rise out of him.
"Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?" Steve lets out a nervous laugh before composing himself. "I don't know what you don't understand about what I just said. She's not here."
Billy stops for a second, removes the cigarette from his mouth once more and then points it towards the front window. "Then who's that?"
Both Summer and Steve turn in unison to see all four of the tweens peeking over the couch, Max included, and when Summer looks back, Billy knocks Steve hard to the ground.
Looming over him menacingly with narrowed eyes, Billy says, "I told you to plant your feet." before kicking Steve in the stomach and heading straight for the house.
"I won't let you in there." Summer swallows hard as she stands in front of the door, keeping herself grounded as best she could.
"And what exactly are you going to do about it?" He spits his words, belittling Summer as if she were nothing. "You either move or I'll move you myself."
"Go to hell." She seethes through gritted teeth, but Billy makes no hesitation before grabbing at her arm and trying to pull her away.
Summer fights against his grip, against his strength, but he was significantly stronger than her, and she misplaces her footing before being pushed to the side.
"Stay out of my way, Bradshaw!" Billy bellows, not giving her a second to respond before bursting through the front door, and slamming it behind him.
Summer is quick to pick herself up and rushes to Steve's side to make sure that he was okay. "Don't worry about me, help them!" He groans, writhing in pain as he holds his torso.
An array of panicked screams come from inside and when Summer erupts through the door, Billy already has his hands on Lucas. Forcefully holding the boy up against a cabinet as Joyce's valuable items fall around him. He struggles to get free, his legs dangling beneath him as he thrashes around desperately.
The sight only filled her with rage, bringing back flashes of Tina's party and how he had touched her without consent. How he had made her feel so small or that she was wrong for not giving in to him. How he had no consideration or respect for anyone other than himself, but mostly the fact that he did these things and thought that it was okay.
"Let him go, Billy!" Summer exclaims, and he pauses for a moment, jaw tensing and eyes rolling into the back of his head upon hearing her voice.
"I thought I told you to stay out of my way?" He snarls.
"And I thought I told you to go to hell!" She bites back, pushing him by the shoulders and kneeing him right in the groin. He drops Lucas upon impact, and stumbles back in pain, letting out a loud groan.
Summer takes the opportunity to push Lucas in the direction of his friends, Dustin pulling him into a hug as they watch Billy turn bright red, anger boiling inside of him. "You are so dead, Bradshaw! You're dead." He threatens and just as he's about to advance on her, Steve appears behind him, grabs him by the shoulder, and swings him around.
"No, you are!" He declares, and then takes a swing, hitting Billy directly in the face. The boy flies back from the weight of the blow and Steve pulls Summer behind him protectively as Billy tries to recompose himself as best he can.
"Looks like you got some fire in you after all!" He shouts, pointing to Steve. "I've been waiting to meet this 'King Steve' everyone's been telling me so much about." His words are exaggerated and full of hatred as blood starts trickling down from his nose. "Who knew all it took was me getting a little close to that bitch or yours."
Steve's jaw clenches, his hand balling up into a fist, as he points a finger to Billy's chest, giving him a little nudge, "Get out." He demands.
There's a small silence, and Billy almost looks as if he were considering it, but he pulls back and tries to take a swing at Steve instead. Steve dodges the attack and hits Billy again as if it were just a reflex. The blond falls back and Steve sends him another blow, his fist colliding with the boy's face and with each hit Billy stumbles back a little more until he slams into the kitchen sink.
Summer watches as his hand reaches for a plate, but he smashes it over Steve's head before she can warn him, and he fumbles back into her. The kids let out a chorus of gasps as Billy stalks forward and takes another swing, but misses and almost hits Dustin before Summer grabs him by his jacket and pulls him out of the way just in time for Billy's hand to go through the wall.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Dustin exclaims as the group rushes out of Billy's way.
He pulls his fist from the crumpled plaster and lets out a loud 'wooo' as he passes the floor towards Steve. He grabs the boy by his shoulders and head butts him to the ground. "No one tells me what to do."
Steve lays helpless on the floor, unable to move from the blows he had received, and Summer couldn't bear to live with herself if she just let Billy continue to hurt him. She had to do something. She needed to do something.
"Get away from him you psycho!" She screams at the top of her lungs and rushes him, trying to stop him from getting any closer.
"What the fuck did you just call me?" Billy stops in his tracks, to look at her just in time to side-step out of her way, but grabs a hold of her by her shirt. "What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?"
Summer stands with her shirt gripped firmly in his hand, as he holds her towards his face, but rather than squirming beneath him, a smug smile pulls at the corner of her lips, and she chortles, "You're pathetic."
The scowl on his face falters for a moment, only to return quicker than it had disappeared, and the next thing Summer knows, she's colliding with the floor herself. Her body hitting the ground with a loud thud and she recoils in pain, winded from the collision as she gasps for air.
Rolling to lay on her back, she meets Steve's eyes as he struggles to keep them open, but he fights it, for her. He tries to move towards her, trying his best to reach her, but Billy rips his shoulder so that he too is laying flat, and begins laying blow after blow into his face.
Dustin runs to Summer's side and helps her to her feet, and the second she's stable, she rushes Billy again. Grabbing at his shirt, she tries to pull him off of Steve, but to no avail. The Hargrove boy simply pushes her back down. "Stay down, bitch!" He spits and continues laying into Steve.
Climbing to her feet once again, letting out a hiss of pain, and her eyes blurring with tears now, she looks for something to help get rid of Billy when she spots Max looking down at one of the needles Joyce had used. Though the shorter girl looks to Summer for approval, and she gives it to her, nodding her head rapidly.
"Do it!" She shouts over the sound of Steve's flesh being beaten.
Max grabs the needle, removes the stopper from the end and drives it right into Billy's neck. Her finger pushes down without hesitation, and they watch as the medication enters his body, stopping his punches immediately. The girl backs away, joining Summer and the others, as he gets to his feet and pulls the needle from his neck.
"What the hell is this?" He mumbles. "You little shit, what did you do?" His eyes flutter for a second and then his body falls to the ground like a doll.
Max takes the opportunity and holds Steve's bat right over Billy as he stares up at her. "From here on out you leave me and my friends alone, do you understand?"
"Screw you." He groans.
She then hits the ground right between Billy's thighs and pries it free from the floorboards. "SAY YOU UNDERSTAND! Say it. SAY IT!" She screams, wanting nothing less than his word.
"I understand."
"What?"
"I understand!" Without another word, Billy falls into a deep sleep just like Will had earlier that night at the same time that Summer rushes to Steve's side.
"Steve? Steve, I'm here. Can you hear me?" She cries, but he doesn't respond.
It was hard to tell his features apart as they had all meshed together into a swelling mess of blood and bruises. The impact from Billy's punches had knocked him out cold, but there was no way she was leaving him there with Billy only to wake up and have at him again.
"Are we doing this or not?" Max asks as she dangles Billy's keys on the tip of her finger, and the four of them turn towards Summer as if to be waiting for her approval.
"It's all on you Summer, if you don't want to, then we won't," Dustin adds, knowing fairly well that she had been through enough that night, but also using her soft spot for him to his advantage.
"I... I need a minute." She leaves the room and heads up the hallway to the bathroom. Her hands immediately find the tap and she splashes her face with cold water, not anticipating the stinging sensation that followed shortly after.
Looking in the mirror, she sees that there is now a cut across the left side of her face with a bruise forming around it. It must've been from when Billy threw her to the ground. Wincing at her own touch, she checks her stomach to see another bruise forming near her abdomen, and she lets out a sigh as a tear rolls down her face.
"Hey, Summer..." Dustin knocks on the door, and she quickly pulls her shirt back down before opening it. "I know you're dealing with a lot right now, but we're kinda running out of time here."
"I know. I know, let's go." She sniffs, and the two head back out to the lounge where Steve's body was being dragged to the Camaro by Mike, Max and Lucas.
Dustin and Summer give them a hand, and then all squish into the car. It'd been a while since Summer had driven a car, especially one as fancy as Billy's Camaro, but even with the knowledge and practise she'd had, she was more nervous than ever. Not only were they breaking the law by having too many people in the car, but they were also temporarily 'borrowing' a car without the owner knowing.
"I can do this. How hard can it be? It's just a car. I'll be fine." Summer whispers to herself as she presses the keys into the ignition and the car roars to life. "It's not like I'm in charge of five other lives right now. It's totally cool."
"You've got this Summer." Lucas encourages her from the back seat.
"If there's anyone we trust with our lives it's you." Dustin squeezes her shoulder and the next thing she knows she's driving out of the Byers' driveway, and heading for Hopper's entrance to the tunnels.