Roomies {Harringrove}

Day Seventeen

"How's it hanging, guys?"

"What?"

"Isn't that what people of your generation say?" Maximus quietly asked Alex. Alex shook his head gently in reply while Steve chuckled a bit. Billy held the semblance of a smile for a moment but it quickly disappeared. As always, the scientists were both up before him and had already made breakfast. Cooking was a nice way for him to distract himself, though and it was hard to do what he enjoyed now that they were here. The prime example being touching Steve.

After yesterday, things were still a bit strange between them. Billy was avoiding him so he didn't get angry at the boy and Steve was avoiding him because he still felt ashamed of what had happened to him the day before. He'd resisted thinking of men in that way many times before but Billy put him between a rock and a hard place, just by going shirtless and it wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried. So he had to... Relieve himself in the bathroom, knowing the cause of his muffled moans was right outside the door. He could never look Billy in the eyes again with the way he felt about him. He knew it was bad but surely not that bad an attraction? He'd never been so into sex before, what the hell was wrong with him?

The scientists had noticed the tension right from the start, of course. They weren't even looking at each other and it had been a problem all day because it seemed the more distant they got, the more different they became. Billy went from doing his best to physically irritable, struggling not to lash out at anyone for simply looking at him. Steve was unusually quiet and kept to himself, barely affected by Maximus' jokes. It was making the healing process harder on Billy and also, baby Steve was unhappy so they decided they had to do something.

Once it was twelve, Billy couldn't help but flinch as he always did, expecting treatment, again. Out of his peripheral vision, he caught Steve frown once he saw the two scientists rise and noticed the timing on the clock. He was glad he wasn't alone in feeling like utter shit about this. He genuinely liked the guys. Alex, at least. Max was amusing and a bit weird with the way he always seemed to bring philosophical topics into things, even when drunk. For whatever reason Alex always smiled when he did and Billy had no clue why he would, although when he compared it to how he looked at and listened to Steve during one of his famous rants, he suddenly understood.

While Steve slept the day before, he hung out with them a bit, not even wanting to be in the same room as the guy. When he came back he was in the same curled up, blanket-covered position he'd left him and Billy just wanted to pick him up, shake him like a ragdoll and ask him why things had to change. But Steve wanted space and that was what he would fucking get.

"So, guys... I'm thinking we should hang out. Hmm? Watch a movie. The four of us. On the couch."

"How about the treatment-"

"It's just five minutes long, we can do it at any time." Alex noticed Billy flinch and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey don't worry. I know it'll feel like long but we took down the temperature, too. It'll suck for a bit but it's five minutes a day, just so we can tell the guys at the top that it's done, yeah?"

"No, I just- you can't." His tone was strangled as he took a single step back, away from them and deeper into the small kitchen where he felt more safe. "I'm serious, you can't. You have to raise it back, you have t-"

"Why would they raise it?"

"You. This is your fucking fault! Doctor Owens would never have reduced it to ten in the first place if you hadn't called him!"

"And now because you called them, it's five so it's your fault which is good! It's good, Billy, god! You fought back against them when they were hurting you for no reason, you should be proud of yourself-"