Don't Panic - B. Hargrove

THIRTEEN

Maybe the pain would burn the thoughts away. Perhaps when his muscles ached and his bones hurt, he would stop thinking about how touching a boy would feel. So he pressed the weight up and down, sweat running over his face, dampening his curls. Up and down. That weight was much heavier than David Byers would be. Billy could perfectly imagine how much of a lightweight the boy must be for going down after being pushed. There was not much to the boy's body; he remembered how bony he was.
A skinny little dude. Even his legs were so thin he could snap them in half without much effort. But they had been strong enough to hold the tiny boy as he had clung to his hips—the tiny boy with a mouth that could be just as big as his brain.

Billy huffed as he pressed the weight up again and held it in place, his muscles bulging and shaking, but he wasn't giving in.
The ideas still popping up in his mind were too unacceptable. He should be thinking about how that chick from yesterday had looked naked or which of her friends he was going to sleep with next. But he couldn't. Even when he had been over her, his thoughts had slipped towards a very similar situation, and he was absolutely spooked by it.
Yet again, he had told himself that it was just the thrill of the forbidden, his brain just trying how to imagine how it would be to act gay and actually fuck a boy so that it knew if it was any different.
Maybe kissing David would have been different if he had known he was kissing a boy. Perhaps that would have been as disgusting as he had always painted being gay to be. Either way, David Byers haunted him, and having touched him once again at the parking lot had only made the strange feeling in his guts worse. He had no idea what he would have done if Steve hadńt shown. Maybe he would have crossed that line again.  There had to be something he could do to make it stop.
Anything. Training wasńt it. With a frustrated groan, he put the weights where they belonged and sat up. If Harrington were actually dating the tiny boy, maybe that would make it better.
But he quickly dismissed the thought, well aware of how he felt when the boys got too close.
That couldn't be a romantic attraction, though. Billy wasn't gay. Never before had he thought about a boy like this. He was almost sure it was David's feminine ways that made him confused. Just a strange kid of curiosity that most likely would pass in a few days.
Billy had been attracted to girls before, and suddenly, he had seen them say or do anything, and he was completely turned off. That was it. He just needed to spend time with Byers to get over that mystery surrounding him.
He just had to solve him like a puzzle, and everything would return to normal. How would he do that? David had proposed to tutor him himself. He just needs to accept that offer. Simple at that. There was nothing more repelling than doing homework together and writing notes. And if everything went how it was supposed to, his grades would benefit from that plan too. It was genius.
„Max!" he called out for his little sister, who was hanging in her room. „What?" she called back.
„Do you have a list of phone numbers of your classmates?" Her red man appeared in the doorway, her brows furrowed in skepticism. „Why?"
„Because I need to make a call!" he barked at her.

At the Byers household, things had gotten weird. David was sitting on the bathroom floor next to the tub where Will was taking an ice-cold bath. He wasńt talking, nor was his big brother.
David had his head on his knees and watched Will stare against the wall. Joyce had asked him to make sure his little brother wasńt hurting while she tried to call Hopper once again. She was getting so desperate she had even considered driving Will back to the lab. But David had pointed out that it was too dangerous without the Sheriff's support, and they were still waiting for Jonathan to come home anyways.
David really hoped he would turn up soon. He was lost without his twin, who was so much better with people. „Doodle," his mother called, and the boy got to his feet to investigate.
„There someone on the phone for you," Joyce told him as she passed him by to take over watching Will.
„Who is it?" David asked her.
„Some boy." she shrugged.
So David assumed it must be Steve calling about homework or the ride to school, but as he answered the phone, he was surprised to hear Billy's voice on the other end.
„Byers." he hummed in contentment as he had heard David's soft hello. „What do you want?" David asked, highly suspicious .
He wasn't in the mood for the boy's weird games.
„Does that offer still stand?"
Billy clicked his tongue.
„Which offer?" David responded, puzzled by the question.
„Tutoring. „ Billy snarled. „What else?"
"You want me to tutor you?" David wasn't sure what to think about that.

Billy hadn't looked too fond of the idea when he had suggested it, and since then, a lot has happened that would make him think it was a bad idea.
"Yes. That's why I'm calling," Billy sighed.
"So yes or no?" David looked down the hall, where the bathroom was located.
"I mean, I suggested it, and I could really help you... but I'm not so sure anymore if I want to." He mumbled.

And it was the absolute truth. Apart from what was going on with his family, he didn't like the idea of spending time with Billy. The other boy was silent for a moment, then he sighed again, this time more intensely. That was exactly the tone Jonathan sometimes used when he tried to explain something to his twin, which he did not get at all.
So naturally, that sound made him you comfortable as it pointed out how stupid he could be. And it didn't matter if Billy meant it that way. David pressed the phone between his ear and shoulder and started fumbling with his fingers.
"Okay, listen. If you tutor me, I'll leave Harrington alone." Billy spoke up, and it sounded like he had to overcome himself to do so.
But David was highly interested in that suggestion.
"You leave Steve alone?"
"Yes. Now could you finally make a fucking decision?" David huffed. "Okay. I'll do it," he said, his voice firm but his belly bubbling in excitement.
"Good. I'll pick you up from school." Billy responded, and without waiting for an answer, he ended the call.

David stood there, looking down at the phone. I'll pick you up after school. Did that mean tomorrow? He wasn't sure if that was possible. Someone had to look after Will. He hung up the phone, then walked back to the bathroom.
Joyce had pulled Will out of the tub and was now busy ribbing him dry with a towel.
"Who was it?" she asked, immediately seeing the confusion on his face.
"A boy from school. He wants me to tutor him tomorrow," he answered, scratching the tip of his nose in awkwardness.
"But I don't have to if you want me to watch Will. I can do that."
She shook her head violently.
"No. You help that boy. Hopper is coming over tomorrow. We're good."  "So you finally talked to him?" he asked, surprised.
"No, but his secretary made an appointment." Joyce huffed. "She's not very nice, but she wrote it down."
"Okay," David said. "Hey Will, what clothes do you want to put on?"

As he laid out what his brother told him to, David's thoughts wandered to Billy again. What was he supposed to teach him? The entire curriculum or what he had missed this year on? With Steve, that was easier.
Steve always made him a list of things he didn't get in class. David highly doubted that Billy was giving his problems so much thought; at least he never looked like it.
So he really needed to bring his all his books. And there was another, big question hovering over them all: where would Billy get him? If they came here, he needed to clean his room.
If they would go to Billy's place, he has no idea what to expect. That was an idea he hated with all his heart. The best idea would have been to simply go to the library. He loved it there, and he would have access to even more books if necessary. But something told him that Billy wasn't the type to spend his afternoons between rows of text.
To be honest, Billy wasn't the type for tutoring either. And David was most certainly not the type for situations like this. An afternoon with Billy. His heart was very fond of the idea, while his brain was already entering panic mod