Struggles (Harringrove)

Skipping

Steve woke up screaming. He bolted up and held his chest. He quickly shut himself up so he wouldn't wake anyone up. No matter what he always has nightmares. Every night. He's always alone. So he just sits in darkness until he falls asleep again and the cycle starts over again.

"Harrington what's wrong are you okay?!" He heard Billy yell as his door swung open. Steve only nodded and wiped away his streaming tears. Billy closed the door softly and walked over to Steve. He sat next to him on the bed and wrapped an arm around him. "It's okay,I've got you" Billy said softly, laying down and pulling Steve with him.

Steve cuddled up to Billy, getting used to the warmth from Billy's bare chest. Steve had his face in billy's chest and Billy had his arms wrapped around the smaller boy. Billy pulled a blanket over them and hummed. He hummed until Steve fell asleep before falling asleep himself.

Billy woke up to some giggles and a flash. He tried to sit up but Steve was now on top of him. He turned his head to the door and saw Max waving a polaroid to get it to show up faster. "I swear to God if you show that to anyone you're dead" Billy said. "Well it's gonna be hanging up on Steve's fridge, also you might wanna wake him up before you're late to school" Max said before walking out and shutting the door.

Billy ran his hands through Steve's hair. "Stevie wake up" Billy said softly. "I don't wanna" Steve mumbled sleepily. "C'mon you gotta take your medicine" Billy said. Steve groaned but sat up. He moved off of Billy and Billy got up and left the room. Steve got up and got changed. He changed into a lavender,oversized, sweater and a pair of jeans. He slid on his shoes then walked out.

He still had a soft smile on his face. He went downstairs and saw Billy making some eggs. Steve made some coffee then helped Billy with breakfast, making some pancakes for everyone. They chatted and laughed together while the group watched. The group was slowly getting used to Steve's odd happiness.

Billy and Steve set up plates for everyone then sat down to eat. Steve took his medicine before he ate. They all ate while making small conversation with each other. They all finished their food and set their plates in the sink before splitting into the different cars and driving off to school.

Classes flew by as they usually do. At lunch Steve and Billy went out to the picnic table but saw Tommy saying something and Jonathan seemingly getting on the defensive. The rest of the basketball team was there standing behind Tommy. Billy handed Steve his lunch then angrily walked over to Tommy. Steve walked over to the table and set both of their lunches down. Billy sat down as jonathan seemed to be handling the situation by himself.

Tommy ignored billy and jonathan,turning towards Steve. Steve scooted away slightly, something he does when Tommy gets close. "You're so pathetic, having to have your friends protect you, you really have fallen from your throne" Tommy said. Steve stayed silent and looked away. "Back off" Billy said pushing Tommy away. "Ooo harrington's got some body guards now" Tommy said. "Hagan shut your mouth" Steve said.

"What are you gonna do, get the rugrats to come after me hm?" Tommy said in that annoying high pitched voice. Billy was about to get up but Steve grabbed his arm and shook his head. "I'm not gonna let him talk about you and them like that" Billy said. "And I'm not gonna let you beat them to near death" Steve shot back. "I won't, I'll just beat him to near death besides he deserves it" Billy said. "No leave it, he'll go away if you just ignore him" Steve said. Billy huffed but obeyed Steve.

"Why are you taking orders from him Hargrove you're the king and he's just a pathetic loser" Tommy said. Billy's face turned red with anger. "Billy cool it" Steve said. "Well if I hadn't 'followed his orders' then you would be on the ground in a pool of your own blood" Billy said. "This isn't gonna end well is it" Jonathan mumbled. "Probably not" Steve replied.

Before anything else could happen the bell rang. Steve quickly ushered Billy away with the rest of the group quickly following behind them. They split off to go to their classes. Steve and Billy had their next class together,which was english. Steve and Billy stopped by their lockers, which were just across from each other,to grab their stuff for their next class.

They walk and talk to each other in the hall. They walk into class and sit in their seats. They sit right next to each other. The bell rings and the teacher walks in and begins passing back their test papers from last week. Per usual Billy passed it with flying colors but Steve,not so much. He doesn't do well in english, he knows how to read but he reads wrong.(Dyslexic Steve headcannon is my favorite Steve headcannon,fight me)

Steve just tucked his paper away in his folder. The teacher passed out another paper and said they may work in pairs. Steve and Billy looked at each other. The teacher sat back at the desk while the kids chose their partners. Of course as soon as she said it everyone went to Billy. Billy declined and scooted his chair over to Steve's desk.

They worked together, mainly just Billy helping Steve to read the paragraphs and questions. Steve was able to answer some questions on his own but Billy basically gave him all the answers. They finished before anyone else did and handed in their papers. "After class may I speak to the both of you,it's nothing bad I assure you" Their teacher said.

"Uh sure" Steve said. The teacher said they can do whatever until the bell rings. Steve and Billy talked. Steve started to doodle in his notebook. Billy watched him doodle. Steve was a great artist, he loved art. Billy has seen a few of Steve's artworks hung up in the schools hall but they always got torn to shreds or vandalized before they got taken down. It was kinda upsetting because a lot of them looked amazing but no one had any respect for Steve.

No one knew what the poor boy was put through. No one would care to listen and no one would believe him if they did. Billy noticed Steve was drawing some sort of monster. It had an open face that was shaped like flower petals. There was five 'petals' and it had a bunch of little dots, maybe they were teeth.

"Whatcha drawing" Billy asked. Steve looked at him before writing something on the paper. It said 'Demogorgon'. "That's one of the things they were telling me about right" Billy asked. Steve nodded. "Amazing drawing Steve,the art class is lucky to have an artist as talented as you in the class" The teacher said while she was walking by. "T-thank you" Steve mumbled out. He smiled a little. He liked getting compliments about his art. The bell rang and Steve and Billy grabbed their stuff but waited until everyone left.

"I've seen how well you work together and Billy I see how well you work with him,as I'm sure you both know Steve struggles quite a bit with this class so Billy I was wondering if you would help him study, maybe tutor him. You can use my room or the library to do so if you need to but I really think you can help him" She said. "I wouldn't mind that at all ma'am, It'll give me an excuse to get out of my shit hole of a house anyway" Billy said. "language young man but that's all I needed to talk about, now off you go before you're late" She said.

Billy and Steve walked to their next class. They had all of their classes together but the last one because Billy doesn't take art. "I don't feel like going to history today" Billy grumbled. "Well we've gotta" Steve said. "We could always skip and do something else" Billy said. The tone in his voice was different, it was deeper,sexier in Steve's opinion. "Besides what does skipping one class hurt" Billy said, gently lifting Steve's face up by his chin. "B-billy no we can't" Steve said. "But we can" Billy said. Steve's face was flashing all sorts of shades of red.

Billy dragged Steve away and to the library. "Billy we'll get caught if we're in here then we'll be in trouble and we'll have to go to class" Steve said. "The librarian is never in here Steve we'll be fine" Billy said. Steve set his bag by the door and so did Billy. "So what should we do now" Steve asked. "Did you not get the hint pretty boy" Billy said.

"Uh- I-" Steve said. He knew what Billy was hinting at but he assumed it was a joke. "Cat got your tongue stevie boy~" Billy said in that same deep and sexy tone, as he gently lifted Steve's face up again. "Billy-" Steve mumbled out. He was interrupted by something pressing against his lips.

(Ahahaha cliff hanger,sorry lol, next chapter should be out soon :D)