Smoking About You

Chapter Four

Almost a week since Billy had moved into Steve's house, but to the boys, it felt like forever. They've gotten to know a few things about each other, too.

They were both sitting down on the couch watching anything interesting that was playing on the TV

It was simple at first, Billy learned Steve's favorite song was "Dancing in The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen, and Billy's was "Round and Round" by Ratt

Days before Steve bought a cassette deck and agreed to play each other's favorite songs, though for a while, neither listened to music

Whenever Steve passes the deck, he grinned at the name of the last tape put in "I Rock!!" Which had Billy's favorite music for working out

After talking all night, the two learned some unfortunate memories about each other's past and horrible parents

"To shitty parenting," Steve says, raising his beer can, "To shitty parenting," Billy says, raising his can beside Steve's.

There was a while when the boys didn't talk, and they weren't watching the TV but rather glimpsing at one another

Steve would focus on Billy's eyes usually and sometimes his lips. When Billy looked, it was the way Steve gulped, drinking his beer

Once they both finished their drinks, Steve stood up and went to throw the cans away

"So the kids are gonna come over tomorrow, alright?" Steve waits for Billy to reply but doesn't get anything, "Billy?" Steve looks in the living room, not seeing him anywhere

He walked further in the room, noticing that he used to be lazily kicked off on the floor and gone too

Billy was smoking on Steve's porch thinking about a lot of things, but mainly Steve

Billy couldn't stop thinking about how much he was a terrible person to him and why he was

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

Steve opens the door, "Billy? Oh, " He closes the door behind him, standing beside Billy, Steve puts his hands in his pockets awkwardly

"Everything alright?" Steve asks, clearing his throat, "You've been a little distant until tonight."

"Haven't I always been."

"Well, yeah, but tonight you were actually talking to me and not threatening anyone." Steve's laughs, trying not to earn a punch

Billy also laughs, saving Steve from a heart attack, "I'll be back to my old ways one day."

"No, you won't. You've got people with you now."

Billy takes in the last of his cigarette, pressing it against the brick wall behind him and dropping it.

Steve watches as Billy wraps his lips around his cigarette, finishing it off with a slow smokey blow.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦? 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵..𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦

"I'm distant because I'm jealous."

Billy finally speaks up about his jealousy, which stops Steve from staring any longer

"What's there to be jealous of?"

"Of you, Hopper, and Will too..."

"What makes you jealous of me?" Steve says subtly, moving closer, "It's you and Max..if I wasn't an asshole I could've been close to her like you are.."

"Billy, just because you were an asshole back then doesn't mean you have to now. Trust me, she wants to get close to you, too."

Billy turns towards him with a soft smile that drops before Steve could even see

"What about the other two? Hopper and Will?"

"I'm jealous of Hopper because, well, because he got to be the hero of Hawkins, even though I just felt that -"

"Without you, none of us would be here." Steve finishes his sentence, getting a nod from Billy. "And Will, it's that everyone cares about him. He has a group behind his back, but I feel I just have myself."

Steve can't respond in defense because he knows Billy is right, 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Steve was going to say what he was thinking, but all that came out was, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what, it's a good thing I died that day. "

"No, it's not, I could've done anything to stop that monster, but I didn't. I stood there and watched like an asshole."

Billy turns his body to Steve, "Truly Harrington, there was nothing you could've done that day, and I'm glad I died."

"But if i just had," Billy puts his hands on Steve's shoulders, smiling

"No, but Steve, it's a good thing I died. You're right. I am better." Steve is surprised by hearing his first name out of him. He puts his hands on Billy's arms.

"Okay, okay, I'll take your word, Hargrove." Billy takes his arms off as Steve's fingers slowly leave Billy's skin. "Let's head inside it's getting cold," Billy says, motioning towards the door.

Steve opens the door, walking in first, sliding his sneakers off, Billy walks in after, and his eyes follow up the stairs and stop at the door that would lead into Steve's room.

"You coming?" Steve turns around to Billy, who's standing in front of the door, stopping it from being closed.

"Oh, yeah," Billy replies, closing the door behind him, kicking off his boots and locking the door.

Both boys had walked upstairs looking at each other before turning their backs and walking to their separate rooms.

Tonight, Steve learned one of Billy's many secrets he was keeping from him, Steve also realized that just being friends with Billy wasn't going to be enough.

Billy shuts the door to his room, pressing his back against it. He closes his eyes and smiles

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯..𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰

Billy pushes off the door, slipping off his jeans and tossing them before laying down in bed and pulling the covers over

Steve quietly closes his bedroom door before hitting his head against the door and sighing

𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦..𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺. 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶

Steve turns to his bed, taking off his shirt and changing into more comfortable pants, then laying down in his bed

A tingle runs throughout Steve's body. He lifts up the covers and sees

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦?