Don't Panic - B. Hargrove

TWENTY-FIVE

Billy had been feeling normal for a few minutes now but didn't dare to move, too afraid to disturb the other boy's rest. Apart from that he feared David's rejection that could come with the lack of helplessness. He liked having the boy in his arms, it felt like he belonged there.
But he was well aware of what an asshole he had been tonight and how logical it would be for the boy to kick him out of the house. Billy didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave the boy who was so strangely distressed. That was dumb.

He was the reason for it after all but he had also the even dumber idea that he could make up for it. Billy Hargrove needed David Byers in his life. The tiny boy was the voice of reason he desperately needed, the scene between Harrington and himself had clearly shown that. Without him, Billy wouldn't have stopped punching. Suddenly, David moved, pulling back his head and ending the intimate touch between them.
"Can you talk? I can feel something is different" his soft voice asked and Billy tilted his face to look into a pair of blue eyes.
"I think so," he responded, his voice just as raspy as in the mornings. "And can you move? It's freezing down here." David asked again. Shakily, Billy lifted a hand to gently place two fingers on the other boy's busted lop that had swollen up.
"You should put ice on that." he pointed out.
"When you get up, I get ice." David shrugged. He moved into a sitting position and held out a hand for Billy to take and pull himself up with.

As if the tiny boy would ever have enough strange to get the much taller, bulkier boy to his feet. Billy appreciated the gesture anyway. But he didn't take it. He pressed himself up with both hands behind his back until he was sitting. His limps still felt weirdly numb, but they supported his weight well enough. David stood up, again holding out his hand. Billy shook his head.
"Don't bother."
"Of course I do." David huffed and reached down, pulling at the other boy's torso to get him to move. Under different circumstances, Billy would have laughed at that.
But this wasn't the time for that, so with a groan, he got himself to his feet. And wavered. David immediately grabbed him by the side to keep him from falling and for that the boy was strong enough.
Together they made it to the couch where Billy let himself fall into the cushions. David joined him, breathing heavily and already fiddling with the hem of his sweater again.
Billy sighed. Of course, now it was awkward.
"Look, I can understand if you want me to go, I just need a few more minutes and I'll be gone." he quietly said, interpreting the other's silence in that way.
David looked at him, pale eyes still wide and weirdly wet as they filled with tears.
"Please don't leave me alone. I don't know if they'll come back..." he whined, voice shaking terribly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Billy was confused.
He only knew that the kids had left with Steve. What was the boy planning with them?
"The monsters are still out there." David elaborated rather unusefully.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Billy bluntly blurred out staring at the boy and his lip.

He decided he couldn't let it swell even more, so he stood up again and limped over to the fridge to open it in one, rushed movement. Sometimes big and slimy fell out and a big maw with circular rows of sharp teeth fell open right in front of his feet.
Luckily, the creature was as dead as it could get.
"What the fuck!"Billy exclaimed in shock regardless.
That was a monster. An actual monster straight out of a horror movie.Slimy, reeking and ugly.
That thing didn't belong here and he had never seen anything even remotely alike.
"The monster." David weekly explained from the couch.
"There are more of those?" Billy ask, terrified while his chest filled with panic.
"The others have gone out to fight them." David nodded.
Billy looked at him, his mouth slightly gaping open. That was not what he was thinking his sister was up to. And it was sure as hell way worse than everything he had imagined.
"Why the hell did they think they could fight them?" he asked in absolute bafflement.
"Because we already did," David said, surprisingly calm.
"What?" Billy was sure his facial expressions were going through the roof as a mix of emotions rushed over them, making David eye him weirdly. "Are you upset?" he asked.
"Yes." Billy nodded aggressively and that outburst made David wince, his whole body jolting back into the couch as if he trying to hide. The other boy immediately knew why. "I'm sorry. I won't hurt you ever again. I promise." he softly announced.

David watched suspiciously as Billy turned again and opened the freezer section to get out a pack of frozen peas. With it in hand, he approached, walking slowly and carefully like a wildlife photographer stalking a gazelle.
He was still wobbly at every step, but David knew what he was capable of. The only thing that kept him from fleeing the scene was the change in Billy's eyes that had turned so soft, he had to trust him.
So he stayed and let the boy take a seat by his side, even enduring how he pressed the ice-cold packaging to his lip, making it sting.
"Can you please tell me the whole story?" Billy asked quietly.
And David did. He told him about the abduction, the upside-down as a concept, and how he and Nancy and stumbled right into the nest of another monster. He explained how they had set a trap and how Steve almost got them killed but had ended up helping them instead and how it things had started to go downhill a few weeks ago.
David had to repeat twice how Dustin had decided to raise the Demidog and how Max was pulled into the whole misery.
He concluded with the events of the night and watched as Billy blankly stared at him. The whole story was a lot to take in.
"So Maxine is in the upside-down right now?" the boy asked and David nodded.
"Most likely."
With a sigh, Billy ran a hand over his face.
"Why does she always manages to get herself in trouble?"
"Don't worry, Steve will protect her with his life."
Instinctively, David reached for the other boy's hand but hesitated to actually touch it. Billy looked up at him, and surprisingly there was no sign of anger at the mentioning of the other boy's name.
He glanced at David's hand hovering awkwardly next to his and just grabbed it, big warm palm folding around David's.
His knuckles were red, crusted blood-covered parts of the skin, gruesome reminders of what he had done to the tiny boy just hours ago. Still, David didn't flinch at it how he had feared he would.

Maybe he was too naive, maybe just plain ass stupid but he had always been quick to forgive especially if he was seeing the tiniest bit of an apology. He was simple like that and when Billy used his other hand to turn his chin so he could inspect his lip again, David had fully forgotten that he was responsible for that pleasure in the first place. Most likely he would regret his pure heart later, as he always did but for now, he was glad for the giggly warmth the other boy was providing him with.
"I'm sorry about that, you know that right? I never intended to hit you." "I know." David breathed out whole-, heartedly.
"But you intended to hit Steve."
"Yeah, I did. Because I told him to stay away from you and he didn't listen." Billy sighed, slight annoyance laced in his voice.
"You told him to stay away from me? But he's my best friend, I don't want him to!" David would hate it if Steve had stopped talking to him because of something stupid like that.
He didn't want to be alone again.
"Not in that way..."Billy quickly shook his head.
"It's not about your friendship... It was about the hand on your leg, about how fucking close you two are. " David tilted his head as he analyzed that statement in his thoughts. It deeply confused him.
Why would Billy care if Steve was touching him? Friends were touching each other all the time.
" I don't understand that." he said after the reconsideration.
" Could you elaborate?"
"Elaborate? " Billy chuckled.
" It's not rocket science."
"Yeah, but I don't get it and I don't like that very much." David voiced what he was thinking and Billy bluntly stared at him before slowly leaning in.
David still didn't get why, but he liked the sensation of it. He liked how Billy licked his lips and how serious his gaze was settled on him. It was almost like he was initiating a kiss...
David's heart beat faster in his chest. Was Billy Hargrove about to kiss him? Was that it?
But it clearly couldn't have been his intention then suddenly, he withdrew. David had been too caught up in the moment to notice the car engine that had stopped in the driveway and only identified the loud, excited voices of his friends as car doors smacked close.
"They're back!" he exclaimed in happiness, immediately bouncing to his feet to throw himself at Steve as soon as the boy came through the door.

Billy just briefly glanced at the two, then his gaze met the one of his younger sister who had followed closely behind the teen. She eyed him suspiciously and she had all the right for it. Billy sighed heavily. He was glad she was alright.
"Billy.." she spoke up, openly surprised to find him still at the Byers's house.
"Maxine." Billy echoed, unable to hide the relief in his voice. The kids were alright.