Trigger Warning: Abuse victim mindset
Billy woke up feeling numb and weak. He could barely move, he could hear a rhythmic beeping noise, and everything smelled sterile. Faintly, he heard some voices nearby, and he realized he was laying down in a bed. Everything from the night before started to come back after a minute of confusion. He remembered he made it to Steve's backyard, he'd been wandering for hours with a limp, he'd held in vomit until he got a mile away from the house from being hit-.
His eyes snapped open.
He fought Neil.
Once his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in a hospital room, and he started to panic. Max could have gotten taken away, Billy could be taken away. What the fuck did Steve do? A nurse rushed over to him when he tried to sit up and pushed him back down.
"Mr. Hargrove, please calm down." She soothed. "You're in a hospital, you're safe."
'The fuck I am' he thought. "Where's Max? Where's my sister?"
"I'm here." Max's voice said.
Billy calmed down for a moment, and looked to his left. There was Max, looking small and afraid. Billy stopped struggling and the nurse let him go as Max approached the bed and sat down. They didn't speak while the nurse left to get the doctor, just looked at each other for a while (probably only a few minutes).
The doctor, a middle aged man with brown hair, gave him the rundown of his injuries. Apparently he lucked out by not having internal bleeding, but he had plenty of bruises, a sprained ankle, possibly a concussion, and had to get glass removed from his scalp. The doc said to go easy on his ankle for five weeks and to come back in a week to get his scalp stitches removed. He was prescribed some pain meds, then the doctor left.
Once Billy and Max were alone, he turned to her and asked, "Are you okay?"
Max looked shocked that he even asked that. "I'm okay. Lucas helped me hide."
"Did you go to the diner first?"
"Yeah. We were there until they closed. Then Lucas took me to this fort that his friend Will built and we hid there for a few hours."
Before Billy could ask for more details, the door to the room opened and a police officer walked in. He was middle-aged with a mustache and a gruff, irritated expression. Billy could make out that the badge on his chest said he was the police chief. Fuck, the police got involved.
"Glad you're awake." The chief said. "My name is Chief Hopper, I'm with the Hawkins police department."
Billy never trusted cops. One whiff of someone acting queer and they would go ape-shit on whoever it was. A few of his lays got arrested for false charges just because they were gay. Not to mention the cops didn't give a shit that Billy would come to school with bruises, so he didn't give Chief Hopper a response.
The Chief sighed. "I know you're worried about Child Protective Services getting involved, your sister told me as much. But she also told me how you tried to protect her and Lucas Sinclair from your father. That's admirable. Unfortunately, before anyone can be put in cuffs, I'll need your side of the story." He sat down in a chair near the door. "Your father did call the police after you ran to report you as a runaway. But after Will Byers called and explained what he knew, I knew there was more than your dad was letting on. So... can you please explain to me what happened?"
Chief Hopper seemed legitimately concerned for Billy's wellbeing, which kind of freaked him out. Neil was usually able to sell a story convincingly and keep the cops off his tail, but Hopper seemed to have a pretty good bullshit detector. Though it could have also been because Billy didn't have 'insignificant' injuries this time. He'd been in the hospital before for a broken arm or fractured jaw from surfing or Neil related injuries, never anything this bad. Billy looked over to Max, and she just nodded at him.
Billy took a deep breath and looked back to Hopper. He explained the whole story. He told Hopper about what started the fight (leaving out his relationship to Steve or how Neil found out), how Billy wandered for hours in the cold before he reached Steve's house, and that he passed out as soon as Steve opened the door. He didn't want to tell Hopper about how Neil had been beating him for years, or how his abuse made his mom leave, or that the police did dick all to help him. CPS would get involved if he did, and he couldn't risk that.
The whole time Hopper wrote down everything in his notebook. He didn't ask any questions beyond "who started the fight?" and "how long were you wandering around?". He seemed to understand that Billy wasn't telling the whole story, and when he was done, stood up and put his notebook away.
"I'll be sure to add your statement to the report. You're lucky you have friends like Steve Harrington that want to help you two." Hopper almost left the room, but looked back at them at the door. "Just so you know, I'd make sure you two stayed in Hawkins. I have a few favors I can call in."
***
Steve hadn't left the waiting room all night. The kids, of course, had to go home after two hours, and Hopper was okay with driving them Steve's place so they could get their bikes. Nancy also stopped by with some food and drinks, and they talked for a bit. By the time the sun was up, Steve hadn't realized he had fallen asleep in the chair he was in. There wasn't anyone in the room apart from the woman at the nurse's station, and Steve's back was aching from sleeping sitting up. He stood up and stretched his back out, where he heard multiple cracks, and rubbed his eyes.
"Rise and shine." A familiar voice said.
Steve turned around and saw Hopper walk over to him. He'd already taken Steve's statement when he'd shown up to help Billy, but it looked like Hopper just interviewed him.
"How is he?" Steve asked through a yawn.
Hopper sighed with a dejected look. "I can tell he's not telling me everything, just what happened pertaining to last night."
"But it's enough to arrest his dad, right?"
"Max and Billy's statements are enough to get him arrested on assault of a minor and child abuse. Even then, it might only get him a few months in prison. There's not much more I can do unless Child Protective Services are called."
Steve felt his heart clench at the thought of CPS getting involved. He didn't want Billy and Max taken away, they didn't deserve it after all they'd been through. Max had made it pretty clear that neither of them wanted to be put in the system. But... if Mr. Hargrove didn't hurt Billy ever again, maybe it was worth it. He couldn't imagine what it was like getting that kind of abuse his entire life.
"Is there anything you could do? If CPS got involved, I mean."
"I already told them I could call in a few favors, but it's up to them if they want to go through with it."
Hopper patted Steve on the shoulder and left the waiting room.
***
"We should do it." Max said.
Billy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do what?"
"Tell them everything."
"No fucking way." Billy snapped. "A lot of foster kids get put in shit families, we're not doing it."
"And we aren't in a shit family already?" Max countered. "He put you in the hospital this time, even you don't deserve that."
Billy looked up at the ceiling and didn't respond for a minute. It was his own fault he was in the hospital. If he hadn't fought back against Neil, they wouldn't be here in the first place. He'd met too many kids that got put in families that just wanted the extra money. And when did Max give a shit about if Billy was okay? She hated him, and he hated her. Did she suddenly feel bad for him now that he was in a hospital bed? That thought started making him angry.
"Why do you care what happens to me?"
"What?"
"Do you think I'm a charity case just because I'm in the hospital?" He asked with a raised voice. "We have a roof over our heads, Max. That cop doesn't give a shit about us."
"He said he could call in some favors-!"
"Cops say that all the time! They blow smoke up your ass so you trust them and then they fuck you over. You're not old enough to understand that. And you're not old enough to understand that we have-."
"He promised he wouldn't!" Max said with angry tears. "He's one of my friends' dad, and he wouldn't lie about that." She got up with a squeak of the chair. "You may be okay with what Neil does, but I'm not. I'm done with him, with Hawkins, and your shit! I don't care what happens to you, but don't drag us down with you."
Steve had heard the whole thing, and watched Max leave the room in angry tears. She didn't even notice him standing in the hallway. He'd never heard Billy and Max fight before, and it seemed like this whole thing was Max's breaking point. But what Billy said... he didn't know what to think. It was almost like he was willing to take the abuse if it meant he had a home.
Billy hit his hand against the railing of his bed in anger. Max really didn't get it, how could she? She'd only been with him and his dad for two years, and didn't understand that dealing with Neil was better than being put into foster care. Max would stay with her mom, and they'd both have everything they needed. Billy was the one who got hit anyway, she never got a scrape from it. There was a knock at the door that took Billy out of his thoughts, and surprisingly, Steve walked in.
"Hey." Steve said softly.
"Hi."
Steve walked over to Billy's bed and sat down in a seat. "How're you feeling?"
"Like I went ten rounds with a semi truck."
"You looked pretty bad last night. Do you have a concussion?"
"They said I lucked out. No concussion, and no internal bleeding. Could've been worse I guess."
They sat in silence for a bit. It wasn't uncomfortable, more companionable. Also Steve was trying to figure out how to convince Billy to talk to CPS. If the last few months were anything to go by, Neil needed to be arrested and put in prison.
"I know you talked to Hopper." He started. "I get that you don't really know him, but he really is worried about you guys."
Billy sneered. "He's a cop. Once he hears about you and me, he won't give a shit."
"No, he wouldn't do that." Billy opened his mouth, but Steve cut in. "Shut up, let me explain. Hopper actually cares about what happens to people around here. He actually has favors he can call in to help you guys stay together in Hawkins because of... things that happened last year. He's a good guy, and he'll do whatever he can to make sure you're safe."
"What do you mean 'things that happened last year'?"
Steve shrugged. "I'll tell you when you're out of the hospital. But Billy, you can't stay with you dad. He could kill you if you go back to him."
"It was me who made the fight worse," Billy defended. "It was my fault he did this."
"Parents shouldn't do that at all. Do you really want to keep living like you're a human punching bag? Or do you want to just... live without getting hurt every day?"
Billy stared ahead with an angry look without replying. He knew what Steve was saying was true, and some would think Billy was an idiot for thinking otherwise. He just... didn't want to lose the family he had left. Was it really worth getting beaten every other week? His mom's family didn't talk to him, and his dad's family hated them. He'd probably also need a shrink, but that was a different problem for later on. Steve seemed to understand Billy wasn't going to talk and left.
For five hours, Billy thought about what Steve said. He didn't get any other visitors (he didn't expect to), and he thought about his life under Neil's roof. He thought about the lengths he was willing to go to keep Max and himself safe, how much he had taken over the years... and he realized he couldn't keep going like this. Steve was right, Neil could kill him if he went back to the house. He'd actually fought back for once and Neil would probably beat him half to death for it. He asked the nurse to call Chief Hopper to have him come back, and he was almost scared to do it.