Smoking About You

Chapter Fifteen

The week after Steve had gotten Billy his Walkman, he used it quite often, whenever he was scared, or even if he couldn't fall asleep

Waking up in a cold sweat with tears spilling down his cheeks and an ache inside his stomach was beginning to be normal for Billy

Usually laying in Steve's bed, under his covers, in his arms, and his scent surrounding Billy could help him sleep.

Each night he woke up, scared and alone, he wanted to go to Steve but he didn't want to cross over any lines

Steve's house wasn't old, not at all, but this particular night, every step Billy took made a creak

When Billy walked into the kitchen, he grabbed himself a cup to fill with water. As he waited, a light started to flicker.

Billy ignored it at first. He forgot to bring his Walkman with him, 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

He took a drink when walking into the living room. He sat down on the couch, staring at the light

It had stopped flicker so the room was dark, Billy lay down, closing his eyes, trying to fall asleep before morning

The room was cold, Billy never liked the cold, and he preferred the heat, though he does know who does like the cold.

Billy opened one eye seeing the light starting to flicker again. The voices quickly filled his head

He sat back up, brought his knees to his chest, and held tight. He looked to his right and saw the water in the glass shake

There was nothing or nobody that Billy could see making this happen. He figured he was making himself see things again, like always.

"𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺."

Steve was woken up by banging on his bedroom door. He stretched himself out of bed, going as quickly as he could

He opened the door barely, getting to speak before Billy grabbed onto him, "Can I stay here-" He paused his question, "-please?"

Steve was willing to let Billy stay with him, but the shake in his voice made Steve want to pull him in and never let him go

Billy was sitting across from Steve with his knees pulled to his chest again, though this time he rested his head on them

Steve was on the other side of the bed facing Billy. He wanted to ask Billy all the questions going through his head, but he decided not to, not yet.

Though Steve had not gotten much sleep before Billy woke him up, he couldn't fall asleep

He stayed lying next to Billy the rest of the night, and the sun finally shined through his bedroom. He decided to get up once he saw

When Steve walked out of his room, he heard the door knocking, but it wasn't Dustin's kind of knock, someone else's.

Steve went back into his room and put a shirt on while also finding shoes. The knocking continued

He peaked in the bathroom and fixed his hair, "Coming!" He shouted, going down the stairs. When opening the door, he was surprised

The two standing in front of him were Will and El. She was wearing a hoodie to cover her head, "Hi." El said, waving.

"Hey, come in.." He wrapped his arms around the two and closed the door once they were all in

"What are you two doing here? Is everything okay?"

Will and El sat down beside each other and shared a glance, "No..at home, something happened." Will answered

"What do you mean?"

"The phone rang, and Hopper answered. When it ended, Hopper told us it was a man, a russian speaker..and that he was here."

"Here? Do you mean Hawkins?" Steve asked Will. All he got was a nod from both. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳?

Steve sighed, "You both can stay here as long as it will take. Do you want anything?"

El grinned, which made Will smile too, "We haven't eaten yet.." Steve shook his head, "You two have something in mind, don't you?"

Steve was looking for the eggos the two asked for. Once he found them, he slipped them in the toaster

Meanwhile, upstairs in Steve's bed, Billy was beginning to wake up, like he thought his night wasn't restless

He peered off the bed and noticed a pair of Nikes missing from the floor. He got up and went to his room to find clothes.

As Billy was finding his own pair of shoes back downstairs, Steve had called the kids into the kitchen

Billy had heard it and stopped looking going down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, Will passed him

Will was holding his hand to his nose , and Billy heard the bathroom door shut, Billy looked into the living room

He saw his glass of water slip over pouring to the ground, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭?

Billy went by Steve in the kitchen into the laundry room to find a towel, Steve followed him back into the living room

Billy picked up the glass, gladly not broken, and wiped the water, "Oh, what happened?"

"I don't know but," Billy said, "I think something is wrong with Byers." He showed Steve the blood on the towel

Steve hurried up the stairs and knocked on the bathroom door, "Will?" He opened the door and saw Will holding a damp cloth to his nose

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to use the towel, it's just -" Steve smiled, "Don't worry, I can clean it..but are you okay?"

"Um, yeah! My nose just started bleeding, and I accidentally bumped the table.." Steve did not believe Will entirely,  𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

The two went back down the stairs, Will went into the kitchen, and Steve looked for Billy

"Hey El, where'd Billy go?" She pointed outside while wiping the side of her mouth.

Billy was on the porch with a cigarette hanging in his mouth. He was focusing on something in the neighborhood

"Billy?" Steve got his attention, Billy pulled the cigarette out, with the same hand he pointed to a car far away

Steve stood close to Billy and looked in the direction, "What is it?" Steve asked, "That black van..never seen it here."

𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? "Billy, the kids are here because.."

Steve told Billy what happened, exactly how Will had told him, "You think the van belongs to the Russian." Billy jokes

"It might, you scared?" Steve taunted, "Are you Harrington?" They smiled at each other and then walked back inside.

"Таргет требуемая."

"You have eyes on them, then hurry."

"ублюдок."

Billy took another glace outside at the van, and then the phone rang, Billy felt chills on his neck

When he turned to look in the kitchen him and Will both grabbed the backs of their necks

Will quickly dropped his hand into his lap as Steve picked up the phone, Billy gulped, closing the door behind him.

Steve put the phone back, "Who was it?" El asked, "No one, I guess they got the wrong number."