little things; stranger things littlespace oneshots

♡ 14 - promise ♡

cg!max
little!billy (3)

thank you Soul-evaporated for finally reminding me to get around to a billy and max story!!

Billy groaned in frustration as he furiously wrote on a small stack of lined paper. Ever since his change of heart at the Starcourt mall, he'd tried incredibly hard to turn his life around for the better- it even meant getting decent grades. In retrospect, it seemed like a small ordeal to get worked up over, but homework wasn't something he was used to. Billy didn't want to be doing homework. He wanted to be little.

The essay he was writing was almost finished. He just had a couple more sentences, and he quickly scribbled them down, setting down his pencil and sighing with relief when he finished. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. He zoned out, his head growing a little fuzzy, but he was startled by a sudden voice and snapped back to reality.
"That's some, uh.. handwriting." Max joked at him with a small laugh.
"Oh- wh- yeah. Hey, I'm done with it, though. Thats a problem for another time." Billy laughed.

He got up and sat on the couch, staring mindlessly at the TV. Max sat in an armchair across from him. He felt himself wanting to regress bad, but he swallowed it down. Max was there, he couldn't. It was a secret. To occupy himself, he picked up a random book off of the coffee table and skimmed the pages, pretending to be invested in it. But he couldn't shake off the urge.

Max looked up from her sketchpad, amused.
"A book? Since when do you read books?" she asked Billy. A look of worry flashed upon his face for a moment. Max saw him swallow nervously.
"Um, I've.. I love books!" he lied through his teeth.
"Really?" Max raised her eyebrows. Billy nodded.
"The Great Gatsby?" she prodded.
"Yep." Billy replied, pursing his lips.
"Name one character."
"Um, Gatsby?" Billy replied in attempt to play it
cool.

"That's a load of crap." Max said, getting up and taking the book out of his hands, then sitting down beside him.
"You're hiding something." Max stared at him, her intuition seemingly scarily accurate. Her interrogating made Billy nervous, and he was borderline slipping. He contained it as best he could.
"What? How?" he feigned surprise, but Max ignored it.
"Come on, tell the truth." she pressed, grinning slightly. She knew he was caving. Billy took a deep breath. Was it time he'd tell the truth?

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said smugly, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"Oh, okay." Max backed off, Billy becoming less tense.
"..then you won't mind if I hand you this." she said, shoving something into Billy's chest.
He felt the soft fur on his arms and his stomach dropped. His eyes opened wide as he stared down at at the stuffed animal in his arms. But not just any stuffed animal; Billy's favorite bear plushie. He named it "teddy" and kept it hidden away with the rest of little gear.

The sight of the bear and the soft fur was too much for Billy. To his dismay, he instantly fell into littlespace, unable to resist the urge to hug it closely.
"Now, do you want to say anything?" Max asked again.
Billy only stared back with his jaw shut to prevent any childish lisps from escaping.
"I guess I'll just have to make you talk!" Max exclaimed, tickling Billy mercilessly. "C'mon!"
Billy giggled as he thrashed around.
"Okay! Pl-please, I'll tell you!" he complied.

Max stopped and let Billy catch his breath.
"But, you gots to keep it a secwet." he said with the most seriousness he could muster. Max nodded, putting on a pretend serious expression.
"I'm.. uh, a little." he admitted, his heart pounding in his chest.
"A little what, silly?" she teased him.
"Um, a little.. little..?" he looked away, chewing on the end of his thumb.

"I know." Max replied, grinning. Billy looked up at this.
"Wha'? How 'ou know?" he asked in surprise.
"I knew for awhile." she said, gently pulling his hand away from his mouth. "I saw your pacifier on your bed and looked in the box. You don't hide your little stuff that well." Max chuckled.
Billy became even more embarrassed that she had seen his pacifier. It was so.. infantile. Billy Hargrove didn't need to act like a dumb child to handle his problems. Yet there he was, finding comfort in pacifiers and plushies.

His eyes began to form tears.

"But- but, that's okay!" Max said quickly, to stop Billy from crying.
"You have nothing to be sad about. It's a fine way to deal with stress. I can even help you, if you want." she comforted him, her arm over his shoulder.
"I won't tell anyone."
Billy looked up with hopeful eyes.
"Won't tell? Promise?" he asked, leaning his head on her shoulder. He held up his pinky to her.
"I promise." she replied, locking her pinky finger with his.

- 827 words
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