Bite me | Harringrove

Chapter Sixteen

Steve walks into school hand in hand with Mark, a big smile on his battered face. "Hey baby I gotta go do Wilson's early today, I'll see you soon okay?" Mark says, kissing Steve softly. The brunette nods and lets go of his hand, watching him go.

He walks to his locker and grabs the things he needs for his first few hours, shoving them into his backpack. "Hey Steve." he turns around at his voice and sees Heather. "Oh hey, what's up?" he asks, closing his locker.

"Robin comes back today from her... Trip."
She hesitates, him nodding. "You must have missed her." he dismisses, walking away. She rushes up to him and walks with him. "And you haven't?"

He huffs and stares down at her "Heather, she doesn't approve of me and Mark's relationship. Billy lied and Mark knew all along. He was right. I won't let anyone destroy us again." he says, stomping to his first class. She sighs and quickly goes to hers, texting Robin as she goes.

Robin looks over as Billy looks out the window. "He misses you," she says, causing him to look at her. "What?"

"He just doesn't know it. It's Mark," she says, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. "Mark has clouded his mind and he has no idea what's happening. Billy, it's worse this time around. His bruises are darker, and there are more of them."

Billy looks over then at his feet. "When I get there, he's not going to touch Steve anymore," he says, the disgust for him evident in his harsh tone. "I'm glad we are on the same side now," Robin remarks, smiling.

It didn't take as long to get back to Hawkins since it was close to the border. When they got back, they made a plan. Robin was going to call Steve and have him meet at the Quarry so she can 'apologize' and then she will reveal Billy to be there.

"Are you sure this is going to work? What if he like- I don't know, tries to kill me or something?"

Robin laughed at him. "He couldn't kill you if he really wanted to. He loves you too much. Now just relax, I know Steve and he hates conflict and like to resolve it quickly." she says, walking over to Billy. She places a hand onto his crossed arms. "It's gonna work," she spoke softer this time.

"I really fucking hope your right."

~~~

hey, I'm sorry about how I acted towards you and mark. can we meet at the quarry to talk? 5?

Steve stared down at the message from his best friend at lunch, sitting next to Mark and his friends. "Who's that?" he asked, looking over at Steve. "Oh it's uhm, it's Robin. She wants to meet at 5 so we can talk," he says, closing the message.

"Babe, she's trying to trick you just like Billy. She's not sorry and she wants to draw you back into her illusion. Don't go." he commands and Steve nods, taking a bite from his mac and cheese.

Throughout the day, Steve contemplates the situation. Should he listen to his boyfriend and not go, afraid of being dragged into something? Or does he wants to mend their friendship? "Fuck," he sighs to himself as he gets his books out of his locker to go home.

"So shall I see you at my place babe?"

He turns to see Mark, the devilish smile on his face. "Y-yeah, I'll come by at 4," he says, Mark smiling satisfied. "Good, see you then," he says, walking away to his car and driving off. Steve huffs the hair from his face and walks out. While he's on his way home, he looks back at the text.

Why not, right?

He drives to the Quarry to find Robin there, sitting against the front of her car. He walks over and sits next to her, them sitting in silence for a bit. She looks at him. "I'm really sorry, Steve. Criticizing you like that wasn't right and I'm sorry."

He looks over at her and grabs her hand. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't let anything get in the way of us. We can find an alternative."

She nods and stands, pulling him up with her. "I may have done something that you may not like but it's for your own good." he looks at her confusingly. "What are you talking about?" he asked and she nodded. "I went to go visit Billy, in Chicago. He went off the rails, Steve."

He scoffed and walked away, messing with his hair.  "Robin, what the hell did you do that for?"

"I needed his help with getting you back, you aren't okay Steve."

He was seething with anger. "Did he hurt anyone else?" he asked, looking down. She nods. He killed a few more people but the last one is gonna be fine."

He nods and swallows. "Is he okay?" he asked quietly, kicking the rocky trail between his feet. "Define 'okay'. He's not doing well Steve, he really misses you and it's tearing him apart what he had to do."

"She's right you know," They both turn to look to see Billy approach from the shadows. Steves eyes widen as he meets face to face with the man he loves.

Loved.

Loves.

"Wha- I-" he looks at Robin in disbelief. "You brought him here?! Do you know what Mark would-"

"Mark is a little baby bitch boy who doesn't care about anyone but himself. He's pulled you into the illusion that he loves you and we don't. That we are trying to hurt you."

Steve stared at Billy as he spoke, surprised. "You have no right to talk about him like that. He loves me and doesn't lie to me." Bill walked closer to Steve. "I wish you could see it, Stevie. I wish you could see how hard it was for me to withhold that. I would never purposely hurt you like that."

Steve walked away holding his head. "Billy, you shouldn't be here you can't do this, not now."

Billy followed after him. "Steve I'm serious. I didn't mean it. I love you. Remember when I first told you that? As you called me out on stuttering. Or those lunches under the bridge, or the makeouts when we were supposed to be studying for finals. Please Steve, just look at me?"

Steve stopped and turned around. "You- do you know how drunk I got the night I found out? I could've died if it wasn't for Mark. If he hadn't answered, I probably wouldn't have hated it. You let me vulnerable and heartbroken alone and he helped me through it. Not any of you. So, I'm leaving. Welcome back Robin." he says, hopping in his car before driving off.

He sighed as he watches the beamer's rear light get farther away. "He hates me," he says, looking at the dirt picking up in the air. "No he doesn't, " she says, holding up Steve's jacket he took off in the stress.

"An excuse to come back."