Knee Socks | Billy Hargrove AU

17

I wake up to Billy covering me with a blanket in a unfamiliar room. In a panic, I sit up straight and look around frantically. The room is spinning and my head is dizzy, but I'm able to decipher that it's still dark outside.

"Hey, hey," Billy coaxes me, placing his hands on my shoulders and sitting down next to me on the bed. My body lazily falls into his chest, making him hold me tightly against him.

"W-Where are we?" I blink slowly, desperately trying to make out any part of my surroundings other than Billy.

His hands runs down my hair soothingly, creating a calmness within me. "We're in your bedroom, Lacey. You passed out after almost two drinks. I had to stop myself from berating whoever made the punch so strong," he says.

I forgot how violent Billy was in high school. Before I can respond, he's handing me a glass of water and insisting I drink the entire thing. I try my best to finish it but my stomach hurts too much.

"Why are you being so nice to me, Billy?" I ask, wanting to get everything laid out in the open.

"I guess I just feel responsible for you getting drunk and passing out after barely drinking that much." He says, but it doesn't answer my question in the way I want it to.

"No, Billy," I say, pushing myself out of his hold. "You don't get to me nice to me after forcing me to do some shit that I have no place being involved in." My voice is calm but there's anger within it.

He doesn't appear to be angry at my words, saying, "I know." His words are followed by complete silence, neither of us knowing what to say.

After what seemed like five minutes, he starts again. "I guess I'm just so used to being abandoned that when you left without a word two years ago, it felt fucking horrible," he says, vulnerability clear in his voice. I take several seconds to process his excuse for trapping me into this deal.

He continues on, "I felt so angry at you that I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me." He pauses, thinking over his next words. "But now I just feel disgusted in myself that I ever put you into that position...and well, I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm sorry." His eyes lock with mine and I feel his pain, his emptiness, his fears all at once.

"I don't know if I can forgive you right now," I tell him, truthfully. "What you did was extremely wrong and hurtful, and no amount of apologies can excuse that." It feels good to stand up for myself and my feelings but it also sucks knowing that I abandoned Billy and in turn, hurt him. It doesn't excuse his actions in anyway, but it still stings my heart a bit.

"I understand," he says, disappointment clear in his tone. "And also, our deal is over. I should've never made it your problem. You can keep all the money I gave you, it's rightfully yours." His words utterly surprise me, and I find myself reaching out to hold his hand in mine.

"Thank you, Billy."

Silence creeps up on us again but it feels comfortable. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. A weight that never should've been there in the first place.

Out of curiosity, I decide to spark another question. "How and why did Steve steal from you?"

At first, Billy doesn't seem entirely open to answer this question. Almost like he's embarrassed by the circumstances. He lets out a sigh and follows with, "Steve changed a lot after you left Hawkins. It's almost like he went crazy being cooped up in our town with no promising future. I mean, I didn't have a future either until I got an offer from a guy who offered me thousands of dollars to do small jobs for him."

I didn't like the way this was going. Was he involved in drugs? Crime? Violence? I mean, I wouldn't put it past him to be involved in violent activities, but breaking the law doesn't seem like the Billy that made me drink a glass a water to sober up.