Alone, No More (Harringrove)

Chapter 11//Whiskey Adventure

A/N: Hey  pals, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of love and support for this story, and I can't thank you enough! Please consider following my insta: coffeeisbetterwithbaylee    and just letting you know, I have 11 more chapters written and many more to write. It's a longer story, so I hope that's gucci for you all. I might be updating twice a week now because I have so much to get out

-Baylee

Chapter 11

After being saved for the second time by Billy Hargrove, Steve stood in the parking lot of their school, thankful he hadn't snapped again. Billy stood close to him, draining the life out of a cigarette, his mess of blonde curls going this way and that in the January wind.

"Hey, man," Steve said, catching Billy's attention. "Thanks...again".

Billy nodded slowly, looking perturbed, his thick brows pulled inwards. The air was weird, almost awkward. 

Steve rocked forwards and back on his feet, looking out to the trees lining the school's yard. He had always feared forests, especially now that he knew what had lurked in their shadows, and wondered if Hopper was out there. 

He longed for the weeks to pass by when Hopper said he'd reach out again, trying to find anything to fill the gap in time. Steve looked at Billy, who cracked his knuckles, and thought I wonder if he'd go out for a rip with me.

"-Hey, wanna go, for like, a drive? Er something?" Steve asked, quietly, cringing internally at how unsure he sounded. 

Billy's crystal clear eyes met his gaze, stopping his heart. He wondered, then, if he had made a poor choice; sure go ask some guy who hates you out for a drive, why don't you?!

"Sure, Harrington" replied Billy, keeping eye contact. Steve swallowed, ignoring the weird feeling bubbling in his chest. "I wouldn't mind an excuse to get home late".

And so they did. Steve's nerves tingling throughout his whole body as he hopped in Billy's camaro, noting how clean and tidy it was kept, bracing himself for the wild ride. 

Billy lit another cigarette, a smile playing at his lips, and offered one to Steve who gladly took one. There was an energy in the car, then. Almost like comradery, and it was a feeling Steve hadn't felt for too long. The awkwardness remained, but subsided as the wind cooled their cheeks, as they drove out of their little town of Hawkins.

Steve let out a sigh as he flicked his nub of a cigarette out the open window, he heard billy shove a tape in the tape deck. ACDC started blaring from the speakers, Steve glanced over at Billy with a smile tugging at his mouth, noticing the way Billy's face had relaxed. 

He memorized the way Billy looked so foreign, yet so 'in-his-element'. Steve had never seen him so at peace.

His golden curls bounced on his broad, leather clad shoulders, and his heavy lashes fanned out onto his tanned skin. Steve almost forgot that he was actually beside someone who had beat him to a pulp just last year.

"I gotta place I wanna go, you up to an adventure?" Billy asked, momentarily turning his music down, and looking to Steve from the corner of hie eye.

"Sure," Steve shrugged, noting the speedometer climbing higher and higher. "Got nowhere else to be," he grabbed the door handle, just in case.

Billy's lips curled upwards in some sort of Cheshire-like smile while he pressed on the gas, making Steve's blood pressure soar. Steve was having bad flashbacks to when the kids had kidnapped him while he was unconscious; Billy's own sister in the drivers seat in Steve's car, struggling to drive.