Don't Panic - B. Hargrove

EIGHT

It was cold; the wind nipped at David's skin like sharp razors as he walked from lantern to lantern, the street empty, the asphalt glistening wet in the light. He was silently shaking with every step, and even the pieces of what was left of his skateboard vibrated with it.
David would never even consider going to a party again. It had been even worse than expected. As soon as he returned home, he would bury himself under his blanket and not come out till Monday morning. And even then, there would still be a chance he would just call a sick day. That awful had this party been. But without his skateboard, it would take some time to actually get home.
And he would arrive without any body heat left and flushed blue like an iceberg. And all that chaos because his two best friends were after the same girl, and he was beginning to be rather annoyed about how much that interfered with his life, although only partly affecting him at all. It was just a mess, and he hated it.

From afar, his sensible ears picked up a roaring engine and loud heavy-metal music blaring into the night, so he took a step to the side, just in case he was barely visible, and the next second he was bathed in headlights as the car drove by with full speed. David just rolled his eyes at it.
He really should have tried to get a license himself. A car of his own would be nice right now.
Much to his surprise, the car had stopped down the road and even started to drive backward. Great. Perhaps he was getting picked up by one of these sex offenders his mom had warned him about—just his luck .

But as the car came to a halt next to him, engine howling, it was none over than Billy Hargrove, who leaned his head out of the window, looking rather pissed.

The boy had no idea why, but when he saw David walking alone, shivering, he just had to stop. He hated it, but his guts had demanded to stop and get him to save. He had looked so lost, so devastated; there was just no other option.
So he had slapped his wheel in frustration and drove back. That didn't mean he was happy about his decision, though, so he glared at that tiny boy who did such weird things to his morals.

" Ey, Weirdo. Get in the car. I'm giving you a ride. "  David squinted at him, watery eyes roaming over his face.
"Aren't you drunk?" he asked quietly, and Billx groaned.
"Want to freeze to death out here?" he snarled, nodding at how the boy was shivering like a leaf.
"Not particularly much, no," David answered, grasping his broken skateboard tighter.
"So get in and tell me where you live. I don't want to stay here all night." The boy glanced at him one more time, then seemed to be defeated as he rounded the car and hopped into the passenger seat.
And even there, he looked awfully lost as he hugged his belongings.

"Cornwallis, by the woods." he muttered his address, and Billy stepped off the brakes and continued the ride, having an idea where they were heading.
Only the radio blared as they followed the road. None of them felt the need to talk to each other. At least until Billy felt him stare at the side of his face; how his eyes bored into his skin drove him absolutely mad.

"What?" he barked out, meeting the other's gaze provocatively.
"Nothing." David shrugged but didn't look away.
"Then why do you fucking stare?" Billy demanded to know in the same harsh tone.

"So I don't have to watch how the car wavers."  the tiny boy answered.
Billy averted his gaze to the street again.
"What are you talking about? It's straight going like an arrow.

" And to him, that was true. But it was also confirmed that he had swallowed a lot of beer at that party.
"Yes. An Arrow technically wavers when shot." David responded, unbothered.
It was wild how someone could remain unfazed by Billy's bad mood.

"Do you ever shut up?" he hissed, gripping the wheel so hard the white of his knuckles was showing through his tanned skin.
That boy better stops doing that to him.
"You never told me to." David's voice cut right to him once again, and he couldn't help but scream in his face:
"Shut up!"

And there was still no sight of fear. The boy just nodded. And suddenly, there was just the Dio again.
For an entire song and Billy had almost calmed himself again when David spoke up: "Thank you, by the way. I was freezing."

And this time, he wasn't staring at Billy but watched the darkness fly by through the window instead. They had just passed by Steve Harrington's home, and Billy noticed how David's gaze rested on the boy's car parked outside for a moment too long.

" They forgot you, didn't they?" he asked, partly curious and even a bit sympathetic.
"Yes. I didn't plan on walking home. I didn't plan to go to that party in the first place."
"Why not?" Billy found himself asking and simultaneously asking himself why.
"Because of people like you. Popular ones." the other boy said, softly smiling to himself.

And Billy laughed out loud, which ended in a drunken giggle. Somehow that had been incredibly funny. The car wavered even more, and David pressed his eyes shut, which made Billy giggle even more.
Maybe he was drunker than he had thought, but he was beginning to enjoy the weirdo's company. He was odd but also kind of funny.

David, on the other hand, couldn't explain himself why Billy's behavior had changed so suddenly that he couldn't dismiss it as another misreading of tone. He seemed almost joyful. But that wasn't necessarily good, as his driving got worse by the minute.
"Are you okay?" David asked, tilting his head as he took in the other boy's rosy cheeks.
"Peachy." Billy grinned, briefly glancing at him with glossy blue eyes. David remembered what his mother used to say about his father about how the alcohol needed a moment to kick in sometimes. This must be the case. So he was thankful when Billy pulled into the driveway and didn't hit  Joyce's car while parking. But still, David didn't like the idea of Billy driving home like this.

"You can crash in my room if you want. Get home in the morning. When you're less drunk, " he suggested, and his heart beat faster, thinking about another boy spending the night.

"I'm fine." Billy shook his head. He'd been way worse.
His fingers searched his pack of smokes on the dashboard, having difficulties grasping it. But when they did, he pulled out a single cigarette in the most trained fashion, immediately putting it between plumb lips. Lazily he flickered his lighter, trying to light it but missed multiple times, his vision too blurry.
David eyed him for a while, then leaned over, taking both the lighter and the cigarette.

"Hey!" Billy protested, but David just ignored him, pulled back, and climbed out of the car. He stood directly in front of the hood, holding up the lighter.

On. It's cold." he called towards, and like a dog, he Billy followed, leaning onto the tiny boy for support as they entered the house, not even batting an eye at the two younger boy's on the couch gawking at the strange duo.

"You're heavy." David said as he let Billy fall into his bed.
The other boy just hummed, ultimately giving in to the bliss that was spreading through his body. Vaguely he felt how his shoes were pulled off and how David rolled him over to rest on his side. 
Then a cold hand tugged him into a fluffy blanket like a burrito. It was warm; it was cozy.
"Are you all right like this?" whispered a soft voice in his ear.
And Billy hummed. He was more than all right. He was very comfortable. "I'm in the living room if you need anything," David whispered again, his hot breath hitting the delicate skin of his neck.
"Noooo, don't go," Billy responded, eyes already shut but nodding at the free space beside him.
"I don't think that's a good idea..." "stay!" Billy said louder, even considering opening his eyes again. Yet, he felt the mattress move, and then he could feel the other boy lying next to him.
"Is this okay?" David asked into the silence.
"Peachy." Billy yawned, stretching out an arm to drape it over the tiny boy. Now it was time to sleep.