Billy Hargrove might rule the corridors of Hawkins High as the bully. Yet, behind closed doors at home, he's the victim, tormented by his own father. His mother abandoned him, so he has no defender against his abuser.
But at school, Steve Harrington...
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The roads are lonely that night, as if the entire town has conspired to retreat into the shadows, leaving only Steve's car to fend off the invading darkness.
Steve drives without destination, his hands gripping the wheel as if it's an anchor, stabilising him from the river of emotions threatening to pull him under. That's when he notices a lone figure pacing along the side of the road, in the dim glow of the streetlights.
Recognition smites him instantly. Billy?
Steve slows down his car, his wheels crunching over the gravel, and he continues driving alongside Billy.
'Hey,' Steve calls out, rolling down the passenger window. 'Need a ride somewhere?'
Billy does a double take, and his eyes narrow at Steve. 'Why? What's the catch?'
'No catch. Just saw you walking alone and thought you could use a lift. That's all,' Steve says. 'So, what brings you out at this time of the night?'
Billy shrugs. 'Could ask you the same.'
Steve sighs. 'Just needed to clear my head. A lot's been going on.'
'Tell me about it, or actually, don't,' Billy scoffs, hastening his pace. 'I heard enough, saw enough when you and Nancy—'
'—look, about Nancy,' Steve interrupts.
'—yeah, what about her?' Billy frowns, a cold current flows under his words.
Steve puckers his lips and clenches the wheel tighter. 'You dismissed our kiss ... us ... as a thing of the moment.'
Billy snaps his head towards him. 'You're the one who went off kissing someone else. Your ex-girlfriend, no less.'
The car swerves slightly, and Steve corrects its course. 'Don't you get it, Billy? You calling what happened between us a thing of the moment ... felt like you were reducing it to nothing.'
'And you kissing Nancy felt like what? A bold declaration of your deep and abiding devotion for me?' Billy huffs. 'Trying to get back to a time when you were just the popular guy who got every girl he wanted?'
