𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 [Stranger Things x Billy Hargrove]

// seven //

"I am on a curiosity voyage and I need my paddles to travel. These books—these books are my paddles. I need my paddles!" - Dustin Henderson

I snatch Billy's jacket from his bedroom floor and wrap it around my shoulders as I hurry after his retreating form. He strides right past the wide eyed woman standing in the kitchen without so much as a glance, but I manage to give her an awkward smile as I follow Billy outside. 

With a start I realise that the sky is already beginning to darken as dusk rapidly approaches. We must have slept nearly all day. 

What time did we get home anyway?

I push away the unwanted, however blurry memories of last night and pull open the passenger side door of Billy's car.

"Was that your mother?" I ask once we're both seated and the car heater is on full blast.

"No," he snaps.

I realise at this point that that was possibly the worst thing I could've said. But I mockingly raise my hands in surrender, "Shit, sorry. I didn't know."

He glances at me for a moment and his eyes soften the slightest bit. 

"Susan is my stepmother," he says, slightly less aggressively than before.

Hmm, interesting. Where is his real mother then?

My subconcious is endlessly curious and I crush her latest inquiries quickly, knowing by now that asking Billy such a personal question would only end badly.

So I do my best to keep the conversation light.

"That makes sense, you two look nothing alike," I point out with a smirk. 

I think back to the colour of the girls hair who he arrived with on the first day of school, it was the same colour as Billy's stepmother.

"Does that mean the younger girl that you were with at school is her daughter?" I ask suddenly.

I know I might be pushing my luck asking so many questions, but I can't help but be so curious about this boy. He's a complete mystery, not only to me, but to everyone else in this small town.

However Billy seems pleased that I've put two and two together.

"Yeah, Max is my stepsister," he says as he starts his car and gets ready to pull out of his driveway. 

But before he can move the car, there's a sudden bang on my window and I jump. I hold back a frightened screech as I turn to see a rather angry looking middle aged man glaring across me at Billy. 

Billy rolls his eyes but gestures for me to roll the window down and I do so without a word. 

The very angry looking man who I assume is Billy's father, leans down until his elbows are resting on the window and it's as if I'm not even sitting there, his eyes are focused only on Billy.