Unexpectedly Enough

Eleven

A week later, for some reason, Hopper still couldn't shake that night from his mind; he was convinced there was something else going on between them. He didn't dare ask Joyce, did he? No he couldn't, because what if there was? Steve and Billy surely didn't want anyone to know, that's why Steve had lied if he did, right?

Hopper was driving himself mad, so he decided to just try and forget about it, until one night he started getting suspicious again.

It was really late, after midnight. It was silent in the cabin, the only sounds were crickets and Hopper's snores. Until a loud, persistent knock came from the front door. Hopper thought if he ignored it, whoever it was would go away, but the knock just got louder and quicker. He eventually forced himself to roll out of bed, and stumble to the front door after throwing a shirt on. The knocking didn't stop, and as Hopper rubbed the sleep from his eyes he said;
"Alright! I'm coming!"

He whipped the door open, startled to see Steve standing there, holding up a very fragile and beaten up Billy next to him. Hopper was shocked, he had never seen anyone so beaten up in his life.
"What the hell? Get in here, quick" Hopper rushed out, practically pulling the boys inside.

Steve set Billy down on the couch, the blonde boy barely conscious as his head rolled back, unable to stay up.
"Billy! Billy! You have to stay awake!", Steve rushes out, patting the boy's cheek gently.
Billy let's out a groan, trying to peel his eyes open. His left arm was draped over his torso, clutching onto his side.

Broken rib, Hopper thought.

"Hop?" A sleepy voice asked. It was El, standing in the hallway, one of Hopper's old shirts hanging off her shoulders and down to her knees.

"El, can you go get the first-aid kit out of the bathroom?" Hopper asked her.

Her eyes widened when she saw Billy and she rushed to find it.

"Jesus, what happened?" Hopper asks.

He can see the faltering look in Steve's eyes before he says; "some guys beat him up, didn't even give him a chance." Hopper doesn't believe this, but he doesn't have time to question it as El returns to his side, the metal first-aid kit in her hands.

"There's blood", She says, her eyes staring at Billy in concern.

Hopper nods a "yeah" and practically has to force Steve aside so he can tend to Billy. El tries her best to comfort Steve, but there's really no use. He flinches every time Billy does, and you can see more pain in his eyes than Billy has.

The ten minutes it takes Hopper to fix Billy up feels like a lifetime to Steve. But when he's finally done and Hopper is washing his hands, Steve rushes back to Billy's side.

Billy whimpers when Steve lightly touches his cheek, and his heart breaks as Billy's eyes fill with tears.
"Shh, no baby don't cry. Please don't cry", Steve tells him.

And Hopper from the hallway decides this isn't his place to listen, but he can't help but want to. He didn't know much about "kid language" but he was pretty sure teenage boys didn't call each other 'baby' on a regular basis. But what did he know?

Hopper tried to get the boys to stay, not wanting them to drive home, but also partly scared for what could happen, because he knew for a fact that Billy sure as hell didn't get beat up by "some guys." He's seen Billy fight, he was good at it. He rarely ever lost, and if he did, it's because he just stopped. Billy could whoop all the boys in the town's asses. So Hopper knew for sure, someone else did this to him.

But Steve decided to take Billy home, telling Hopper that he would be more relaxed there, and he doesn't want to cause any more trouble. So Hopper doesn't argue.