Just Out Of Reach • Billy Hargrove x Reader

Emotional Wreckage

Everyone bikes down to the community pool El thinks Billy might be the new host. You were praying he wasn't even though it would explain his weird behavior. You all observe from behind a yellow car "i don't know he looks pretty normal to me" Max lowers her binoculars. "Normal?" Lucas looks at her "how many times have you seen him with his shirt on?" You stifle a laugh "i mean... it's a little weird..." Mike looks at Max "more than a little." Max shrugs her shoulders "he's lounging at the pool which is like the least mind flayer thing ever." You nod in agreement you grab the binoculars from Max to get a closer look "not necessarily..." you head Will on your left. You look through the binoculars Billy is holding an icee cup wearing a white towel over his legs, a long sleeved white shirt, sunglasses, and a blue hat. It was weird for such a hot day it already felt like it was 1,000° degrees outside. "I have an idea" Mike starts to walk up to the pool "boys only!" You bring down the binoculars you, Max, and El all giving each other looks of annoyance. You & Max stay at the car as everyone goes to set up for this elaborate plan you were only semi filled in about. "God i hope it's not you" Max mutters under her breath you agree with her in your head. Night eventually comes the pool is left desolate you were sent in as bait for Billy.

You wait in the storage closet with everyone Mike opens it letting it close shut making the illusion someone walked into the pool. "Pool's closed" you hear Billy from afar "do you hear me!?" Billy yells out "pool is closed!" he yells again now banging. Mike starts talking into the walkie talkie strapped to the dummy in the sauna room. You watch out the windows of the storage room closet door Billy rounds the corner heading straight for the sauna room door. He was out of sight you could only hear El and him speak a few words before Mike yells out "now!" Everyone rushes out of the storage room El closing the door while Mike and Will secure it with a metal pole and chains. You watch as Billy pounds the door "come on!" he yells the chain and pole shaking. It went silent "Max..." Billy whispers looking right into her soul "do it" Max commands Will. You watch Will run to the sauna temperature dial turning it up all the way your heart sinking to your stomach. Billy punches the door again "you think this is funny...?" he asks spitting into the window. "Open the door." he commands before repeating himself over and over punching the door Will runs over to the dial "we're at 220°." Billy disappears from the window completely "it's not my fault" he says through a broken sob you slowly walk up to the door. "I promise you it's not my fault" he repeats as you make your way to the window. "What's not your fault Billy?" Max asks following behind you. You look through the window to see Billy's knees to his chest and him holding his hands together "i've done things... really bad things... he made me do it" he chokes up. You feel even worse than before when he told you about Heather you felt your heart ache for him. He looked lost like a little kid on the beach searching for his mother his eyes glossy and his position of someone who was desperate. You step back letting him talk to Max you couldn't bare the site of him like this.

"Who made you do it?" Max asked him "i don't know it's like a shadow... like a giant shadow." Covering your mouth you hear Billy begging Max his sobs echo from the sauna room. Max continued to talk him immediately getting interrupted by Mike "get away from the door!!" Billy breaks through the window swinging at Max before Lucas hits him with his slingshot. Everyone huddles into a circle as the lights begin flickering you take the front side. Being the oldest you felt the need to protect them you watch as Billy struggles as a black substance takes over his body. He rams rams the door over and over before it breaks the barrier set in place. You quickly move out of the way as El lifts a barbell with powers you had never seen before trapping Billy against a brick wall. You close your eyes not wanting to watch you hear the chaos around you eventually hear sounds of choking. Opening your eyes you see Billy choking El quickly being knocked down by Mike your heart races faster so fast it felt like it was about to burst. You close your eyes again praying for this to end for you to wake up and it would all be over. You hear yelling coming from Billy and El then a crash everything went silent. You open your eyes seeing a hole in the brick wall quickly running over to see Billy lying on the grass. Looking back El was in Mike's arms crying you turn back to see Billy getting up. You quickly crawling out of the room onto the grass calling out to him "Billy!" you follow him from the parking lot into the dark woods.

"Billy! It's me y/n!" you look around but no trace as you walk deeper into the forest you begin to hear a soft whimpering. "Billy!?" you call out again looking behind a trees and bushes "hey... it's me y/n i want to help you." As soon as the whimpering begins it stops you take a deep breath and step further into the forest. Just then something grabs your wrist pulling you down to your knees. You begin to scream but a hand covers your mouth quickly turning to look at who grabbed you see him. His ocean eyes stare right into yours he lowers his hand from your mouth. "Y/n..." he begins to tear up "what you saw back there... that's not me." You scoot over to sit in-front of him on your knees he brings his hand up to your cheek lightly tracing his fingers down. You desperately wanted to believe him but your gut instinct was telling you not to. "Please y/n..." tears stream down his face you grab his hand pulling it away from your face "Billy... i believe you." You wrap your hands around his tears welling in your eyes "but scared for you." He looks down "go..." you feel his hand tense up "what?" Billy's head snaps up no longer crying "go before i hurt you." Sensing the urgency you let go of his hand getting up "i'll come back... i promise." You begin to run back towards the pool not bothering to look back you didn't want to seeing him in such a painful state. Seeing him in pain made you feel guilty you wish you could help him you wish you could take his pain and make it yours.

You make it back to the parking lot out of breath surprisingly no one left. "Y/n!" Max yells out you walk up to her "we were worried sick what happened out there?" You look over to El as she rubs her neck "nothing... i couldn't find him." Max nods. Everyone get on their bikes going back to Mikes housing crashing there for the night deciding to working out a plan in the morning. You wake up to Mike talking "so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer-" you sit up from the chair facing across the couch. "Mrs.Driscoll" Nancy corrects him "what time was this attack?" Mike asks you rub your eyes listening in "last night around 9:00" Nancy replies. You lean your elbows on your knees resting your head in your hands "the sauna test was around 9:00" Will chimes in "well that proves my theory" Nancy smiles. "She's flayed... just like Billy" your stomach sinks "the mind flayer he flays people" Mike explains. You hoped last night was just a horrible nightmare but it wasn't and this comforted it. "Everyone in the car" Nancy commands starting up the steps you quickly follow. Getting into the car you sit in between Max and El driving off to a who knows where. Nancy pulls up to a house "we're here" immediately recognizing the house it was Heather's house. You recognized it from the time you were paired to do a science project together. Her mother was sweet but the entire project felt like a never ending prison sentence. Luckily she never talked about Billy she probably didn't want to start any drama while she had him in her grasp. Instead of feeling a sense of jealousy you felt before it was replaced with a sense of dread. You get out of the car not wanting to know what lied beneath those walls.

Walking into the house you're immediately hit with the smell of chemicals. The same smell you smelled & tasted on Billy's mouth when he kissed you. Gagging you walk into the kitchen seeing the refrigerator knocked over cleaning supplies dripping over the end. "So... i'm guessing Heather got flayed?" you ask looking over to Nancy "unless more rats were here or they had a cleaning party your answer is yes." You shutter walking through the rest of the house each room brought more horror stories. Ropes, cleaning supplies, blood on the carpet, the entire was in house shambles. Walking back to the car you ask Nancy to drop you off at home. Nancy agreed dropping you off at her house to pick up your bike first. You grab your bike waving bye to her as she drives off with everyone else. Getting on your bike you begin to pedal but not towards your house. Out of breath, your knee's scraped up, and tired you arrive at Billy's house. You don't bother knocking you walk right into the house "Billy!" you shout. No one was home like usual you walk into his room sitting down on his bed tears begin to form in your eyes. "I'm sorry Billy..." you mutter wiping your face but it still didn't stop the tears flowing from your eyes. You get up from the bed going over to turn on the stereo turning up the volume to as loud as you could handle. You lay down on his bed grabbing a pillow hugging it tightly hearing the music pulse through the speakers.