Don't Panic - B. Hargrove

FOURTEEN

David was more than nervous. Was he supposed to meet Billy inside or outside by his car? Was he supposed to meet him at all, or was Billy going to find him? His brain was running wild; he couldn't focus on anything else. The skin on his left thumb was irritated from how much he picked at it, and he looked so distressed even Steve picked up on it.
Unfortunately, today was a day without basketball practice where David would have known exactly where to wait, so he ended up standing outside the main building with a perfect view of the parking lot. He had both hands on the straps of his backpack, fingertips softly drumming on the fabric while he looked out for a certain boy to walk by.
Surprisingly, Billy was almost on time. He was wearing a pair of shades with his usual denim and denim look as he approached, making David even more nervous. Billy looked down at him, slightly pushing the shadows back so the tiny boy could see his eyes.
The once-over the other boy gave him was enough to set him aflame in pure panic. The other boy smirked just as if he knew what he was doing.
"You got everything?" he asked. David nodded shyly, averting his gaze to the floor to make the situation bearable. "Good. We have to wait for my sister, though; I have to take her home." 
"I didn't know you had a sister," David mumbled.
"Step-sister. I think she's friends with your little brother and his weirdos." Billy huffed while starting to walk toward his car.
"They aren't weirdos. They're good kids," the tiny boy felt the need to protect Will's party as he stumbled after the taller one.
They were good kids. All of them. They hadn't believed in Will being dead and had helped find him. Unfortunately, their youngest addition and David's close second favorite after Dustin, Eleven, died shortly after.
He still missed her sometimes. Only having known each other for a few hours, that girl had immediately got him." Whatever," was Billy's only response to that. Instead of entering, he leaned against his car,  putting a cigarette between his lips. David stood there next to him, looking lost and feeling even more so. Billy eyed him from the side, making the bubbling panic in his stomach even worse. He felt like the other boy was searching for something on or within him that was doing things to his body on many levels.
He wasn't sure if he liked any of them. The crush on Billy was still an issue. He did not know how to feel. And the possibility of getting screwed over was lingering with every word Billy said to him. It was messy, and David did not like things to be messy,  especially not his feelings. It was freaking him out.
"The little fuck is always late." Billy huffed again with a glance at his wristwatch.
"Maybe something happened?" David pointed out softly, looking up at the other boy from the side, my gaze. "Nah, she's probably with the boys," Billy responded, taking another drag of his smoke.
David wasn't a big fan of cigarettes, but unfortunately, it suited Billy perfectly.
"Maybe you should tell your brother to keep track of her time." the boy added.
"He's not been at school today. He's not feeling well." David waved that idea off and immediately suspected it was supposed to be a joke by the way Billy rolled his eyes at him.
Then he looked at his watch again. "Okay, that's it. Let's go." he decided, throwing his cigarette away.
"But how is she getting home?" David asked, very much concerned for the girl he didn't know.
"Her problem. Get in the car," the other boy said, already opening the door.
"Okay. But don't be surprised if she disappears," David half-heartedly shrugged.
As expected, Billy was caught off guard by that comment.
"What?"
"My little brother disappeared last year. But he's fine now. Didn't understand the panic. I knew he was alright. But the point is... kids get lost here all the time." David shrugged.

Billy stared at him over the roof of his car.  The other boy was good at confusing him, and he was startled long enough for Max to sneak up on them.
" Sorry. " she muttered but stopped jot in her tracks as she noticed David, who awkwardly waved at her.
"Who are you?" she asked, and Billy was well aware of the 'and what are you doing with my brother' swinging with.
So he glared at her.
"I'm David," David introduced himself quietly, and it was almost adorable how shy he got around a 13-year-old girl. 
Max turned to look at Billy, and the boy huffed.
"He's my tutor." At that, Max raised an eyebrow but knew her brother well enough to leave out on the snarky remark.
Instead, she got in the back of the car. With a glance, the boy told David to follow, and with a bit of hesitation, he climbed into the passenger seat. It was a weird drive.
After he had started the engine, David immediately turned, asking Max about her stupid board. And they bonded over it, taking skating and her new friends. Billy wasn't exactly fond of how much they liked each other. It made him look stupid sitting next to them. In addition to that, he didn't like that David was smiling more at his sister than he was smiling at him, and that was, once again, part of the bigger problem.
So he was relieved as he pulled up in front of their house and killed the engine. He watched David closely as Max let them into the house, but the boy didn't show any reaction whatsoever. once again, he was just plainly looking around.
"You can put your things on the dining table." Billy pointed out, gesturing to the table in question.
The other boy marched over, letting his backpack slide to the floor, and then bent over to put his books one by one on the table.
Max passed both of them to bury herself in her room or get out through her window. Today, Billy didn't care where she went as long as she left the two boys alone. Because he was well aware that the way he looked at David at this moment couldn't be passed off as watching just your tutor.
He flinched at that but couldn't tear his eyes off the tiny boy settling into his house, pale fingers flipping through marked pages until he found the right one to start with.
Then he looked up at Billy.
"Do you want me to explain anything first, or do we just start with the begin of the semester?"
"Whatever," Billy said, picking up one of Max's mother:s useless trinkets to pretend to look at.
David tilted his head at him, then looked at the pages again.
"Well... You are aware  of the particulate state of matter, aren't you?"
"Of course. I'm not an idiot." Billy snarled, putting the little thing down with a little too much force.
"Just a bit lazy," David mumbled, scratching the tip of his nose with the back of his pencil.
Billy was surprised by the statement but didn't argue with it. It was the truth. He hated wasting time on homework, so he never did it. And he could not remember sitting down to learn since middle school. He had other priorities.
He had them right now. He listened to Byers tell him about the curriculum and started the lecture on the first part of it. And it went in one ear and out the other. Billy was too busy watching the lecturer. And that image was just too fucking good. He even went so far and obeying as David rather rudely demanded him to sit down because he couldn't handle the pacing any longer.
So Billy sat on the chair, leaned back as far as possible, and studied not atoms but David Byer's face from up close, how his eyes tilted downwards at the corners, how the thick brows matched, and how his lips were surprisingly pink .

He could count the faint freckles and little moles on skin that hadn't seen sunshine in a while. Somehow, that boy was the prettiest he'd ever seen, and he knew the girls at school would call him crazy for that. But the tiny boy was special. Billy leaned forward, gazing firmly at the other boy's lips.
It wasn't a conscious decision, just pure impulse without any thinking to it. But David was sweetly oblivious to his intention as he turned around, snapping Billy right out of it as he asked: "Are you even listening, or am I just talking to myself? I can do that at home, you know."
he said, tone and twinkle in his eyes slightly annoyed.
"I'm trying to listen. You're just very fast..." Billy improvised while getting back in his former position.
"Oh, you could've just said so. I get easily carried away." David awkwardly shuffled on his chair and turned the pages back to the beginning.