pretty boy like you // harringrove

22.

2008

"Karen, did you hear?"

"Billy, of fucking course I heard. Chloe called me at work the second she opened twitter and saw it all over the place."

"Still can't figure out twitter..."

"Shut the fuck up, old man. I'll show you later. Are you gonna ask Steve?"

Is he going to ask Steve? 

It's been twenty three years. Twenty three amazing years, twenty two of them in Cali. The kids and their friends spread out - Max and Eleven to Topanga, Chloe and Karen in Portland. Johnathan and Nancy in Chicago. Will and Mike in New York, Lucas, Dustin, and their respective girls in the other Portland - but Steve and Billy always stayed together. Billy went to college, worked a dead end job, got a degree in English, became a professor. Steve started teaching preschool. It worked for them, but.

It was hard sometimes.

Neil Hargrove got released from prison early for good behavior, or something. He never knew where Max, Billy, or Susan moved to, and he had no contact with any of them. When news got to Billy that his dad (not Hopper, or Ronnie, who he had come to view as fathers to him that he so desperately needed) got out, he went on a bender. Told Steve he was going for a drive and left for two weeks.

Steve never really forgave him. When he came back, saw the look on Steve's face as he opened their front door, Billy was so heartbroken and terrified he thought his heart might stop. (A panic attack, he found out from his therapist later.)

But they had gotten through it, with lots of help from Karen's little sister, Liz. She was the romance guru of all of them, coaching everyone through their issues, despite staying single her whole life.

The girl's band got relatively famous, well known enough that they could support themselves mostly with record sales and part time jobs.

Steve made Billy soft, and sometimes that was so hard to deal with that he couldn't look at him. Sometimes he was so in love with Steve it hurt. And so yeah, he had to ask him. Of course he did. They had been together two decades.

"Yeah. I am. You gonna ask Chloe when Oregon gets through?"

"Man, fuck you."

☆☆☆☆☆

Frantic, Billy ran around, trying to think of where he can buy a ring that's actually nice on such short notice. Then it occurs to him that oh, right, he has a perfectly fucking fine ring that he wears around his neck every day. 

When Steve gets home, Billy crowds him up against the wall and kisses him as hard as he can. "Hello. Christ. You're happy."

"You complaining, pretty boy?"

"Billy, I am forty one years old." Steve smiles, shakes his head. "What's going on?"

"Marry me," Billy says, sounding a little raw and desperate. "Marry me."

"What?" 

"Yeah. Shit. Karen called me today. It's legal in Cali. Marry me. I don't have, like, a ring, besides my mom's, which I'm now realizing is probably too small, but fuck it, right? We've been together all this time and we live together and we're practically married anyway, and not to mention the tax benefits -"

"You don't have to convince me. Of course I'll marry you."

☆☆☆☆☆

The wedding was small. Just the Party, Karen and Chloe, and their respective parents, minus Steve's, minus Neil. It was on the beach, with the sunset in the background. Max was Billy's maid of honor, Chloe was Steve's best woman. 

"Steve, you saved my life. And I don't... I don't say that lightly. I was in such a bad place. I was so angry. I was so scared. And the second I saw you, I was gone. I tried getting it beat out of me, beating it out of you when that didn't work. And then you gave me a chance. And you saved me. You taught me how to be kind, how to be strong. I loved you since the moment I met you and there hasn't been a day since I haven't. You've been with me through so much, and I keep waiting for the day you'll wake up and regret this, but you said yes. You said yes, and I hope that every day for the rest of our lives I can make you as happy as you make me." Billy swiped a tear away, smiling. "I never used to cry before I met you."

"Shit. I just.. I love you. With everything I have. And it's crazy to think about, because I hated you so much. And I almost didn't give you a chance, and that scares me so much. Because what if I had missed that? What if I had said no? And I'm just so glad I didn't. Because you saved me, too. I was so depressed, and dealing with so much, and being around you made that load feel so much lighter. You helped me understand what had happened to me, helped me work through it. And I will never be able to express how much that means to me. And I can't wait to spend my life with you." 

☆☆☆☆☆

Wow guys!! it's over. it's been such an amazing ride and I'm so happy to have shared it with you. Every vote and comment makes my day. I love you guys, and I think I may start a new story, harringrove of course. Depends on if you guys want it or not. 

I love you. Thank you. 

Lilly