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ellewritesandrants · 2 years

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I was inspired to write some Billy and Max wingmanning for each other because of this post from @11willgrahamseyes11 because why not?

Imagine it’s post S3 where Billy survived and Max just found out that Neil had left Hawkins. She heads to the hospital to tell her brother, because that’s what he was, that his dad had just skipped town to avoid paying medical bills he wasn’t even going to be charged for.

“Neil left?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Billy.”

“Figures he got sick of having a queer disabled freak for a son.” Billy scoffed.

Max slapped his shoulder, confident enough to do so after months of proper communication, bonding and actually getting to be siblings and not each other’s burdens to bear.

“Hey! Don’t talk about my brother that way, asshole. And anyway, Neil would have eventually realized he had two queer kids and he’d probably have run even faster.”

Billy eyes snapped to hers.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

A peaceful moment of silence passed before Billy broke it.

“Is it that psychic chick, the one that’s dating Wheeler?”

Max immediately bristled.

“How’d you know?”

“Let’s just say I know what it feels like to pine after someone who’s in love with a Wheeler.”

Max took a good minute to think before it finally clicked.

“Steve? You like Steve?”

“Don’t be so loud, Maxie! But, yeah, I like Steve. Anything wrong with that?”

“A lot. Steve’s a dumbass, Billy.”

“Hey! I think it’s cute. Anyway, that El girl isn’t the most talkative girl in the world.”

“But I like that about her.”

“Well, I guess we’re both saps for people who’ll never like us back.”

“I don’t know. I think I might have a chance if I can convince her to break up with her boyfriend.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Lucas? I broke up with him months ago after he didn’t even try to give you a chance to apologize. If he wanted to get me back, he knew what he should have done and if he doesn’t want to, then good riddance.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. After all, it’s me and you against the world, right, Kill Bill?”

“It’s me and you against the world, Mad Max.”

Since Billy wanted at least one of them to get their happy ending, he gets Max to ask El if she was willing to visit Billy so they could talk about the memories she’s seen and of course, El agrees.

Billy hasn't really had any visitors outside of Max ever since he was admitted into the hospital due to him being in the PICU for the first three months and only allowing a limited number of people inside to visit him. It's been another three months since he was moved to a regular room and the doctors had just cleared Billy to receive more visitors but to keep them to 2-4 people to avoid overcrowding.

None of his so-called friends actually visited but he had somewhat expected it. Tommy had promised to visit after sending a letter checking in but he and Carol were busy at the college their dads bought them into so it left the basketball team who stopped by after practice once to tell him how badly they were doing without him and how they couldn't wait to have him on the court again.

None of Max's friends have been by either but Billy heard from Max about a big fight they'd had regarding Billy and how the boys refused to think that Billy was anything but evil, forcing Max, El and Will to branch away because Will was hurt since he'd also been possessed and therefore, just as evil and El hated how they treated Billy as a monster when he was just as much a victim as she was.

Hopper doesn't really trust Billy but after he allows it on the condition that Max stays in the room which Billy doesn't fight. They have a nice chat about the memories, most of which Max wasn't aware of but it actually helps them since Billy's willing to trust Max enough to bare his soul to her willingly.

After they have an emotional talk about bad fathers who need to be kept out of their lives as well as absent mothers who tried, Billy shifts the conversation more to school because he's been helping Max keep on top of her classes so he offered the same to El.

Max quickly corrects Billy and tells him that El was homeschooled due to her not being allowed to study because of the lab. Billy has the bright idea of tutoring El during the day since he wasn't really doing anything and he was bored out of his mind and running out of books to read that Max would borrow from the library for him.

It would not only give him something to do but also a way to see if Max actually had a chance that didn't involve Max getting hurt. He could also help El who seemed like she really did need help, just like he did.

Of course, they ran it past Hopper who initially wanted nothing to do with Billy Hargrove until Max told him the truth about Neil. Hopper was eventually worn down by El who was tired of being stuck at the cabin with no one to talk to and he agreed under the condition that he'd be there during the first few sessions.

Once Hopper was there, he took the sessions as a chance to confirm what El said and when he really, truly looked at Billy, he saw a reflection of the kid he used to be, abused and alone and he realized why El had wanted to get to know Billy and to be his friend.

It also didn't hurt that Billy was an honors student who used to tutor in California during the weekdays for extra cash and he was used to being a tutor and helping students with their studies.

Hopper worked out a deal with Billy that El would come over three times a week when she was supposed to have school and he would help her for a daily rate.

She progressed in leaps and bounds under someone who was used to working around certain hang-ups and Billy was able to help El, whom he commonly called Jane or Janie to find a way of studying that worked for her that wasn't just reading books and answering worksheets.

Her progress astounded the newly together Joyce and Hopper, leading to her asking if Billy could do the same for Will since he wasn't really talking to the other boys.

Soon, Billy's hospital room became the trio's common hang-out spot after school, with Will and Max either biking, skating or walking together so that they could get help on their homework from Billy after he and El were done with their lessons for the day.

The entire time that Billy had been tutoring the kids, he'd been observing the interactions between El and Max and it really did seem like his little sister had a chance. Of course, there was still the tiny hang-up in the form of Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair who apparently still didn't get the hint that their respective relationships were over.

Since El, Max and Will were all comfortable with Billy, once they were done with their homework and lessons, they usually talked about anything under the sun to help El be more familiar with popular culture and how the world worked so one day, Billy slyly got the conversation to head towards gender expression and sexuality.

He'd learned a lot in California that he couldn't really put into practice in Hawkins but he was reasonably sure that these three kids in particular would be able to accept him and would actually benefit from what he said.

Billy had ended up coming out of the closet to the kids who swore to keep it a secret and he answered any and all questions they had. El was surprised that women could be with other women and men could be with other men or with multiple people because all Hopper and Mike had ever told her was that boys went with girls and vice versa.

This led to Will and El to question their sexualities and to realize that maybe they weren't as straight as they assumed. Will was definitely getting a case of hero worship for the older teen and it showed when he got home, enough that Joyce was able to paint a clear picture of Billy's life which she didn't like.

She came to visit him once without El to confirm her assumptions and she made sure to tell him that he was always welcome at their house after everything he's done for them. Billy had teared up and he'd gotten his first hug from a mom in months since Susan had ended up falling into a pit of alcoholism again.

Joyce had reamed Hopper afterwards for not being able to help Billy beforehand and how Hopper would have to make things up to Billy after he was discharged. Joyce would keep visiting Billy, often bringing food to share and occasionally, bringing Hopper along with her to help the bigger man to see Billy as she saw him, a lonely kid in need of parental guidance.

Almost a whole school year passed with an increase in the tension between Max and El but no action on either side of the pair. Will was El's confidant and he was slowly going crazy about how El ranted and raved about how pretty and smart Max was without doing anything about it.

Billy, on the other hand, was tired about hearing all about how cute and adorable El was from his little sister and while he had partially caused this to happen, he also didn't want to keep hearing about it.

So, Billy made plans. He was getting discharged pretty soon and his physical therapy was going pretty well, enough that he was looking to be in shape and back to peak condition in a few months and that he was being allowed behind the wheel.

Truth be told, Billy had fully recovered by the time he started tutoring the kids but the doctors and scientists still couldn't understand why he was still alive and how he had survived. The past few months were heavily focused on physical and mental therapy to help him get over the ordeal and to be able to live a normal life.

Billy would be forced to take his senior year a year late but he didn't mind since it would allow him to be able to watch the kids for their first year in high school, enough to at least protect them from the worst of it after hearing how badly Will had been bullied before.

The first thing Billy did after getting out of the hospital was to get Hopper to take him to his fully repaired car so he could get over the mental block of being behind the wheel and actually being in control.

After going around town with Joyce in the front seat, cheering him on, he went to pick up the kids on their last day of middle school so they could celebrate.

The entirety of Hawkins was shocked to find Billy Hargrove driving his signature Camaro, thinner and more lithe than before but happier than they had ever seen him, picking up his little sister and spinning her in a hug and immediately pulling Will "the Fairy" Byers into an other hug after.

The rest of the party watched in awe and shock at the scene, not knowing that Will had even talked to Billy after everything. Steve was also equally in shock but it also felt like the first time he had ever seen Billy Hargrove.

After, Billy stopped by the new Byers-Hopper house to pick up El and he invited Jonathan to come with them for dinner at the diner where Joyce and Hopper would meet them. He and Jonathan had had a few conversations since he'd come to the hospital to pick up and drop off Will, El or both of the teens and they'd come to bond over shitty fathers and the small overlap of the musicians they liked.

Weirdly enough, it was the exact same diner that Steve had brought the other boys to celebrate their last day of school since it was beside the arcade. Billy had been half tempted to leave but having Max by his side made him brave enough to brave the stares that followed him.

He hadn't let their glares get in the way of his first real meal outside of the hospital and he enjoyed dinner for the first time in a long time surrounded by people who cared about him.

After he paid using some of the government’s compensation, Max managed to convince him to show El the ropes in the arcade because he had been the one who had taught her most of the tricks that she used to get the high score.

The boys and Steve couldn't help their curiosity once Billy and the rest of the kids entered the arcade and they watched from a distance as Billy blew all of the high scores on all of the machines out of the water without even breaking a sweat.

Max saw this as the perfect time to set her brother up with his crush so she tricked Steve into agreeing into a competition on the basketball shooting game with Billy. Having them play side-by-side ignited the adrenaline rush that Steve used to feel when he was playing against Billy but this time, he was happy and excited and not angry.

By the end of 5 rounds, Billy had trounced him completely but Steve took his defeat graciously, even offering a rematch in swimming in his heated pool.

While the boys were having their friendly competition, the rest of the party, namely Dustin, Lucas and Mike were apologizing to Will, Max and El about not believing them when it came to Billy. It was obvious to see that he had changed a lot from the person he used to be and they wanted their friends back.

Max and subsequently El refused to accept their apology until Billy accepted their apology but Will quickly forgave his childhood best friends. Will had missed playing D&D with his friends and being able to talk them and not just to his family, including his new sister and her crush.

As soon as the friendly competition between Billy and Steve was over, the boys apologized to Billy who decided to be the bigger person and accept it while also apologizing for how he used to be.

Billy's made leaps and bounds of progress in therapy as to why he was the way he was and he was well on his way to become the person he wanted to be which meant forgiveness and understanding on both sides of the party.

The next weekend, Billy got permission from Joyce and Hopper to take El and Max to the mall in the next town over so he could finally get them to go on a date. Of course, Max hijacked his plans by subtly inviting Will to get the boys to watch a movie and of course, have Steve drive them.

While the boys were watching a movie, Steve was wandering aimlessly just as Billy was and in a small mall in Indiana, they were bound to cross paths. Steve couldn't help but want to get to know this new Billy so they ate a snack together at the food court and they passed a few hours getting to know each other.

The mall trip was a success on both ends because Max was finally brave enough to ask El to be her girlfriend while Steve was brave enough to set a date on the swimming rematch they planned to have.

It took a few months of summer loving before Steve finally worked the courage to kiss Billy and ask him to be his boyfriend but he eventually got there even if he had needed the intervention of the party because they were tired of his pining.

The Mayfield-Hargrove siblings were good wingmen to each other and they had a 100% success rate in stealing partners from the Wheelers.

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ickypuppi3 · 13 days

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once again thinking about billy being good with the younger kids—

nancy calling steve up because her mom and dad made last minute dinner reservations and nancy and jonathan have tickets for this movie and this is the last night it’s showing and please steve, holly loves you! and she can hear steve pull the phone away a bit and it sounds like he’s talking to someone and then he says—

“it’s just— billy’s here.”

and nancy’s stumped for a second. because—

“billy hargrove?”

and before either of them can say anything holly’s all billy billy billy! i wanna see billy he’s the best! he does swimming and- and- and now i can do swimming!

and nancy is, once again, stumped because. really? billy? and she can hear murmuring over the phone for a minute more before steve says that they’ll be round in ten and the line goes dead and nancy’s standing there thinking, like- what? but also knowing that her mom would be happy for billy to look after holly because… well. anyway.

she turns to jonathan and he’s like so? and nancy nods and he grins and then she’s like yeah. billy’s coming too i guess and jonathan’s like yeah i guess that makes sense, he’s good with the kids, mom’s always saying and nancy’s like oh neat everyone’s joined the billy hargrove fan club suddenly but she concedes because they get to go to the movie etc.

ten minutes later the doorbell rings and it’s a weird sort of sight, steve and billy standing on her doorstep with an unnatural distance between them, like they’d moved apart the second before the door opened.

they say their hello’s and nancy invites the two of them in, tells them about dinner and bedtimes and then billy says something and suddenly there’s a blur of pink as holly runs full pelt around the corner and all but jumps at him, she’s talking non stop and tugging at billy to go upstairs and see her room because she needs to introduce him to her bears and show him her dolls and dolls house and—

nancy is, well you know it. and steve is looking sort of weirdly proud, a smile on his face as he looks at billy that feels private, like it’s something nancy isn’t supposed to see and she coughs. gets steve out of his little daze and her, steve and jonathan chat for a bit while billy gets the full tour until jonathan says about the time. nancy hovers by the door as they’re leaving and steve just smiles and says—

“we’re gonna be fine, nance. promise.”

cut to the movie finishing, it’s late and nancy makes sure to be quiet as she unlocks the door. she checks the living room but there’s no one in there. she goes upstairs and can see the light under holly’s door so she goes in quietly and is utterly thrown by what she sees. feels like she’s stepped into some sort of alternate universe, which isn’t really out of the realm of possibility, because—

holly’s in bed, fast asleep with billy sat up against some pillows to her left. there’s an open book in his lap and a steve harrington sound asleep to his left. steve’s face is hidden, sort of turned into billy as he lays on his side. the hand not tucked under him is entangled with billy’s and billy’s looking down at him when nancy clears her throat quietly.

she can see the brief panic when billy looks up, can see the way billy goes to move his hand but steve just frowns in his sleep and clutches tighter. billy’s face goes a little pink but she can also see him rubbing his thumb across steve’s knuckles, absentmindedly, naturally, like he does it all the time and—

oh.

nancy starts to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. a little late, maybe, but still ..

anyway. billy wakes steve up and they make their way downstairs, nancy’s slightly in awe at the way billy closes holly’s door silently and walks softly so as to not wake her up, considering it’s billy, and when steve and billy are leaving nancy stops billy for a moment with a hand on his arm, notices he looks panicked again so she just says a quick—

“thank you.”

and billy shrugs, says “‘s fine. she’s a good kid.”

and nancy’s like “yeah .. she really likes you. you’re, uh, you’re good with her, billy.”

and billy shifts around looking incredibly awkward, pink flush back on his face so nancy blurts it out—

“would you— you know if i—”

“you want me to babysit again?”

“mom will pay. obviously. i just— holly likes you. i think i might actually like you now.”

and billy laughs, suddenly. grins. it’s familiar, nancy’s seen this billy a thousand times. he says something about nancy paying for his company and risky business and nancy crosses her arms and rolls her eyes and huffs but it’s sort of fond, now.

now she feels like she understands him a little better.

now she’s seen the way steve and him look at one another when they know the other one isn’t watching.

“you need me, steve’s got my number.” billy says.

nancy nods and billy gives her a little salute, pops a cigarette in his mouth as he walks toward steve’s car.

nancy waves as the engine starts and she goes back inside, goes to her room and thinks about everything that happened in the past however many hours. the next morning holly is, of course, talking about billy non stop over breakfast and nancy has to agree, has to admit that he is one hell of a babysitter, which—

weird, considering. unexpected but, well— sweet. how holly talks about him, anyway.

#he’s actually so important to me him being good with kids is the best thing ever i don’t even care #he’s terrible with teens sure but little kids are way different #steve being the complete opposite of course #so real to me #billy hargrove #harringrove #anyway !#my words #karen’s going in the centrifuge but she can vouch for billy first

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reineydraws · 1 year

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i have a soft spot for fics where billy sort of ends up adopting el and will alongside max. like, these are the kids that get dibs for rides in the camaro haha.

also im unfortunately not participating bc prev commitments but #harringrove for turkey is happening right now if yall want to donate to the earthquake relief funds for turkey & syria and get some art/fic back from harringrove fans! :) check out the tag if you're interested!!

#stranger things #stranger things fanart #billy hargrove #max mayfield #will byers #jane hopper #st eleven #eleven #eleven stranger things #obviously the ones where the party as a whole adopts billy are also very good #but i think it's cute when they end up getting split like this #it's precious when will asks billy for gay advice and maybe has a tiny crush on him #where billy and el bond over bad papas and containing anger and billy learning to find childish innocence again through her eyes #where max finds out about neil and stubbornly decides to get through to billy and when billy starts reaching back that's it.#theyre ride-or-die now.#i like those kinds of fics :') and steve gets the other half and then they co-parent together #billy's all right w the other kids too but whenever i interpret his relationships with lucas & mike #it always comes off more to me as 'these are the significant others of my kids so they are automatically on thin ice'#and with dustin it's always 'this is my boyfriend's little brother'#but will and el and max are billy's directly #i digress!#sometimes i dont post at all and then i post two things in a week! consistency who???

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biillys · 2 years

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gyllenchains: the question was what would he want to see for billy. i didn’t record the other part but he said billy had to die. so i’m gonna walk into traffic

dacre @ stranger con, chicago (9th oct 22)

#'he was constantly trying to push through and break the mould of his father' dacre i need u to know that i owe u my life #gifs #m #dacremontgomeryedit #dacre montgomery #billy hargrove #camaro 67 #something so fucking tragic and sad about the way that so many people believe that the only reason billy could redeem himself is by dying #like.............................................................my brother in christ......if he lived.....and he got to experience life #without neil...................... like if he got to breath some fresh fucking air without his father constantly just. existing. right there #sometimes out of sight but never out of mind....... then my GOD the way he couldve clawed and pieced together a life for himself #a family for himself in him and max #just like. a new beginning #but like. no.#his only redeeming quality was if he fully got himself killed just so the kids could live #wait this isnt me coming for dacre and what hes saying here its me coming for ppl that are like #'actually the only good thing billy done was die. and he deserved it.'#hate that crowd #like its just fucking tragic that ppl that are going though this and suffering constantly at the hands of ppl they should be loved by #are seeing people be like 'well the only way you can make up for the fact that ur a Piece of Work is if you #fucking sacrifice yourself for a Good and Palatable Victim. die bitch.'#but i do get what hes tryin to say here!!!!!!!!!!! i get u dacre!!!!!

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blushweddinggowns · 1 year

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Eddie flicked his cigarette butt as they stepped inside, immediately knocking into a frozen Mike. He was just about to ask him what the fuck before he realized he was staring straight ahead. Eddie looked past him, heart stopping in his chest at what he saw.

Eddie couldn’t quite process what he was seeing for a second. Because to him, that looked like Billy Hargrove, on top of Steve.

His Steve.

He was punching his Steve in the head over and over again. Steve, who wasn’t moving.

Eddie was in motion before he even knew what was happening, going completely off of instinct. It was almost like it was someone else who was unsheathing the knife from his boot as he strode over. It was someone else who cut Billy's cheek open, nice and deep to make sure it scarred. It was someone else who used his shock at suddenly bleeding from the face to grapple him to the ground.

Apparently he hadn’t lost everything that his Dad had taught him.

But that’s when the instinct stopped, and it was all Eddie again. No excuses. He had his forearm braced against Billy’s throat, letting his weight fall so he couldn’t breathe.

Eddie was sure that he had never been this furious in his entire life when he screamed, “What did you do to him?!”

Billy didn’t answer, how could he? But that didn’t stop Eddie from screaming the question at him again. He was struggling to get up, trying to curse with the little air he had left and that just pissed Eddie off even more. He flipped his knife around, using the handle to slam it into Billy’s nose, way too satisfied at the crunch it made.

But hey, adrenaline does crazy things to a man.

Part of Eddie realizes that he should be afraid. This isn’t like him. Just because he was taught this shit didn’t mean he liked it. Steve was the fighter out of the two of them. He was the one who calmed Steve down, convinced him when to it was worth it to let things go. Not the one to slam a knife handle into someone's already broken nose, just to hear them scream.

But Eddie had never been this angry. He’s never experienced the horror of cold rage, not like this. He’s never wanted to kill someone before.

But for now he can’t remember why slitting Billy’s throat is a bad idea. He can’t remember why he shouldn’t be feeling so satisfied at the fear in his eyes. But before anything else could escalate, he could see movement out of the corner of his eye.

Max was kneeling next to them, hands shaking as she stabbed a needle into Billy’s neck, right before Eddie was suddenly being tackled off of him by three twelve-year olds. It didn’t scream good things that Eddie had to be restrained by children to stop him from letting Billy suffocate, but at least it knocked him out of whatever trance he had been in.

He pushed them all aside to get to Steve, barely even noticing the fact that Max had the nail bat in her hands, yelling something at a nearly unconscious Billy.

He scrambled to be next to Steve, feeling ill at what he saw. His nose was bleeding and his eye was swollen and he wasn’t moving.

He gently shook him, praying that he would open his eyes, “Stevie? Angel? Can you hear me?”

Steve made a small noise, but he didn’t open his eyes, he didn’t even move. Eddie could feel that cold rage seeping in again, only rivaled by how scared he was at the fact that he still wasn't moving.

He was going to kill Billy. He was going to fucking kill him for doing this-

“Another reason we should leave.” Mike hissed out to the others.

Eddie hadn't even realized he was muttering that out loud. He was a fucking mess, a mix of anger and worry and panic. He turned to the others, probably looking just as crazy as he felt, “We have to take him to a hospital.”

The kids all exchanged a look before Max stepped forward. She kneeled down next to Billy, digging into his pockets until she found his keys, turning to the rest of them, “I’ll drive.”

A preview to the next chapter (or the chapter after) of this fic

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ginalinettiofficial · 1 year

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idk i just don’t trust ppl who say “billy is a racist abusive piece of shit” but then turn around and reblog jason content like. okay if u have that opinion that’s your prerogative but it’s MY prerogative to point out that it’s weird af to feel that way abt billy and NOT abt jason

#d speaks #st #billy hargrove #jason carver #like if u hate billy that is your prerogative esp as a black person. that said #these are white ppl i’m seeing who’re like billy is so racist!!!! btw here’s my blorbo jason #it’s just like ??????? does not compute #like if we’re comparing things that got said in canon. saying ‘there are types of ppl u stay away from and that boy is one of them’ and #saying to a black kids face ‘i thought u were one of the good ones’ like. those are. very on par with one another #like there are 4 characters on this show who made racist comments: troy. mike. billy. jason.#as far as i remember at least those are the Big Ones #and while i understand not liking billy and having his racism be one of your driving reasons behind that #i do NOT understand turning around and liking jason?????#mike okay! yes he was fully microaggressive to lucas but yeah he’s a protagonist #and the show does a lot to try and make u like him. he was younger than billy & jason and they also played that moment off for laughs so #like i get if you can sit there and be like i have no reason to dislike mike wheeler for his racism #troy tbh just doesn’t get any talk in the fandom so idk how ppl feel about him. he IS the only one to fully use a slur but #he’s also 13 and i’ve seen many ppl in the fandom who define morality based on this middle schoolers are learning high schoolers should have #already learned and should be better narrative so i wouldn’t be surprised if i saw ppl defending troy #but billy and jason are. very on par with one another in terms of the micro aggressions they committed and the level of antagonism #so i am just very thrown by seeing ppl hating one and praising the other like #it’s almost like they…… don’t actually care about racism and are in fact nowhere near as anti racist as they believe themselves to be #and instead just use the term ‘racist’ as a trump card to try and win arguments abt characters they don’t like without ever actually #putting any critical thought into this show and the way racism is intertwined into every aspect of it #because surprise!!!! it was written by blatant racists lmfao #fandom wank #i suppose lmao. wank in the tags at least #also to clarify. i think both billy AND jason are compelling and interesting multifaceted characters #they’re both good antagonists and they both present very good looks at The Type Of White Boy You Meet In Small Towns #stranger things

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reineyday · 1 year

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harringrove canon divergent au where billy still targets and bullies steve and steve gets fed up and he's like "who hurt you billy damn" and billy actually rears back and spooks cuz no one's ever really pinpointed that he's hurting (and lashing out).

billy kinda goes in for one last punch that steve dodges and he's like "fuck you harrington" and steve watches his retreating back and he's like "shit is he actually hurting?" and then he starts lowkey asking max things about their home life that he starts to find sus. starts getting worried about billy and max at home. starts asking uncomfortable questions when billy goes to try to bully him again, which only leads to billy yelling at him to stop asking his sister questions and then avoiding him altogether.

eventually steve puts the pieces together and forms his own opinions after seeing neil hargrove out and about, and the next time billy comes to school with a black eye but his knuckles suspiciously clean and unbruised, he sits down beside him during a private moment and again he asks, "who hurt you billy?"

when billy cant look at him in the eye or respond, steve's heart sinks.

#rei rambles #stranger things #billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #it's just. it never happens in real life *especially* when youre lashing out but. it's nice when people notice you're not okay.#during his lil investigation steve asks joyce if neil's ever shown up at her store and what she thinks of him #which tips off her mom senses lol and she becomes eagle eyed about the hargrove-mayfield siblings #rei writes #uh kinda #this is inspired by the post i reblogged directly before this where dacre says #after playing billy he's found himself trying to practice more empathy toward bully types bc theyre usually bullying for a reason #which is extra cool of him cuz he mentions he was bullied a lot as a kid.#he's such a good role model

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lostlimerence · 2 years

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Broken Seashells

A hand cards gently through his hair, “my little surfer,” she smiles fondly as she raises a towel, ruffles his curls with it, Billy giggles, grabbing onto her arm to keep himself steady.

He’s giddy as they make their way back to the car, he likes the feel of the sand between his toes, loves the gentle fading sounds of the waves crashing on the shore. He follows slightly behind his mother, his little legs can’t quite match her pace. She strides ahead, warm light shining from her, her white dress catching on the breeze, Billy thinks she looks like an angel.

Billy loves her so much his little body is almost vibrating with excitement, he has a secret. He presses his hand ever so gently to the pocket of his shorts and smiles.

Earlier, when his mom was asleep and he was playing in the waves, burrowing his toes down into the sand mesmerised by the way the sea would sweep back the grains then push it back up hiding his feet again, something had caught his eye. A shell, perfectly intact, beautiful even though it had been battered by the sea, strong just like his mom. He’d scooped it up immediately and snuck it back up to his shorts, making sure she hadn’t seen it. He smiles again, he’s going to give it to her at bedtime.

Later, Billy lives through a nightmare, except it can’t be one because he’s not been to bed yet. His mom screams, he hears banging as she opens and closes draws, hears Neil shout “that’s right leave you fucking bitch,” Billy doesn’t like it when Neil calls her a bitch, he dreams that one day when he’s big he’ll punch him in the face and shout “you’re the fucking bitch.”

Billy listens, there’s a little thrill in his stomach as he pulls some of his clothes out of his draw. He tries to think what he will need, makes sure he has pyjamas and underwear, thinks about it for a second before grabbing his bear and stuffing it on top of the jumble of stuff. Finally, he opens his bedside draw and places the shell in a little zip pocket, he’ll give it to her when they’ve left, then he sits, listens and waits.

The thumping dies down and his door cracks open, he jumps up, goes for his bag, tries to keep his smile small (he doesn’t want Neil to see it). “Baby,” his mom whispers as she slips into the room pressing the door shut behind her. Billy looks up at her one hand clenched around the strap of his bag. “Where are we going to go?” Billy asks eyes wide and expectant, and he doesn’t understand the look that passes over her face when he says it.

She looks so sad, like a sad, broken angel Billy thinks as she says “Baby you’re not coming with me, I’ve come to say goodbye,” the words shatter him, he doesn’t understand, he’s frozen as she hugs him gently whispering “bye bye my baby, my little surfer” over and over again. By the time he snaps back to life she’s slipped away and he’s screaming “no,” he’s running to and beating on, the locked front door that he’s too small to open. Then Neil is shouting at him, telling him to “shut the fuck up,” dragging him to his room and locking him in.

Billy cries and cries and rocks himself, she’ll come back he thinks, she’ll come back.

….

He’s eighteen and trembling.

He just needs to knock on number 27.

Number 27, it’s where she lives now, in this house. This beautiful house, on this beautiful street, with its beautiful cars, and its beautiful people, not a place for trash like me Billy thinks.

She’s just behind this door, his mom. His mom who he’d thought was an angel but had actually turned out to be something else (he can’t quite decide what). His mom who used to make him laugh, who used to call him her ‘little surfer.’ His mom who left one night and never came back, his mom who might as well claim some of his blood stains on Neils knuckles, some of his scars carved by Neils hands.

His mom, his mom, his mom….

He knocks.

She answers.

They both go to speak “Billy,” “mom,” there’s a beat of silence, she looks good, looks healthy, happy, rich. Billy knows he looks scruffy, in his tank with his split lip scabbing over, he rubs the back of his neck, looks her directly in the eye takes a breath he’s going to say, I love you mom, I forgive you, but she cuts in her voice soft, her eyes flicking, looking anywhere but directly at him “Billy you can’t be here,” he feels like she’s dumped a bucket of ice over his head.

He’s stares for a second, let’s the comment hang in air that’s thick between them. Then, he lets loose, he screams “how dare you, you left me mom, you left me, what do you mean I can’t be here you left me with HIM, don’t you care, you fucking bitch,” she looks a little scared, maybe a little guilty, lights are flicking on in the surrounding houses, “how could you, how could you, I was a kid,” tears stream down his face.

She’s shaking her head and backing up, he thinks he can see a sheen in her eyes but she doesn’t care enough to stay. So he watches, watches her leave him again as she closes her stupid fucking door in his stupid fucking face.

He stays on the step for a minute, heaving lungfuls of air shakily, fuck her, he thinks, fuck her, and it’s the first time he’s really allowed himself to say it, even in the privacy of his own mind. He turns back towards his Camero, clenches the fist in his pocket hard and winces, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

He pulls out his his fist, opens it and stares down at the fragments of the shell. Shards have cut his skin, what’s one more scar, this one from his mom. Fuck her he thinks one more time, as he discards the bloody pieces on her perfectly mown front lawn.

I don’t need you, I don’t need you, I don’t need you. He repeats this mantra as he starts up the car and pulls away…

Inspo from an @ariesbilly post!

#billy hargrove #stranger things #billy hargroves mom #strangerthings #angst #writing #fic #re-post because I wanted to give this a proper title #I’m british and the amount of times I had to correct mum to mom in this was obscene #this is why i always make jim adopt billy please the kid needs good adults in his life #I absolutely do not know the logistics of whether someone can actually crack a hardy shell in one hand but let’s just go with it’s possible

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pinkkinoko · 2 years

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Ok last one before I scram for the next eight hours to sleep.

About the whole crying thing, whether in this au or in my other au, I’m always thinking that despite Billy being a really smart kid he actually had a hard time developing speech due to trauma. I mean it’s absolutely adorable to think about little Billy just sobbing or throwing tantrums because he’s not sure what he wants to say, or he gets overwhelmed but it’s also pretty sad, because the reality is probably that he developed poor emotional control and didn’t understand how to express his wants or needs verbally due to his family life.

Early childhood trauma has many adverse effects on children’s language acquisition and development, the fact that his father probably regularly got angry when his mother talked back or argued was likely a big factor in Billy feeling that talking was not a good thing; he still needed to express himself in some way, though, so he did it through emotional outbursts, the same way he’d seen his father do. I’m sure his mom would try to help him out and socialize him, probably through local swimming lessons and such, which I think would have been a big help.

Still, trauma during your formative years tends to hold lifelong effects, and I think the way Billy has those nervous trembles (like when he was at the Halloween party and his hand shook while smoking), is due in part to a lack of healthy impulse control. Of course, I would (personally) attribute a portion of it to adrenaline, and some attention-seeking behaviors, which probably came about later when his mom left (looking for validation/attention/praise).

Either way, it’s not that Billy isn’t able to talk or even comprehend the world around him, if anything he’s actually very good at it, but there’s probably some fear response going on that stops him from talking as a sort of defense mechanism. I think he would talk more with his mother (and later Eddie) as time went on. Of course these are my personal headcanons so it’s just a thought, but in case anyone was curious about the crying thing (from my point of view).

#kid!mungrove #mungrove #billy hargrove #it’s interesting thinking how billy might be different if he had Eddie in his life since back then #not sure I have the skill it takes to do all this psychoanalysis tho lmao #sorry if it sounds a kinda dumb #ok good nighttttt

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byler-4-life · 1 year

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Controversial opinion: Will and Billy should have talked to each other, it would have potentially helped Will and Billy because they were the only one who could have understood each other and how it was like to be possessed and controlled by the Mind Flayer. I think Billy was abusive and racist but still, to this day I think it would have been interesting for Will and Billy to talk about their possession.

No <3

#byler #byler ask #not sure why you think it would be a good idea to take the canon gay kid and make him interact with the canon intolerant bigot #i don't want will helping him even if he could #billy can get fucked #anti billy hargrove

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broke-art-girl · 2 months

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"Lily." By Broke_Art_Girl

Fandom: Stranger Things

Summary:

Steve Harrington comes back to Hawkins with a purpose.

Steve Harrington has a child with Eddie Munson that he doesn't know about, when the child is 4 months old Steve Harrington comes back to ask if Eddie wants to be her father.

Words: 9k+

Characters: Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Original character child of Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove. Original character child of Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington. The Party (stranger things) Corroded Coffin (stranger things) Max Mayfield, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Will Byers.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54582946/chapters/138304279

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ellewritesandrants · 2 years

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So I might flesh this out later but I just needed to get it down

Imagine Post S2 where Hopper drops off a still mildly drugged Billy, all angry but when he sees how Neil reacts, he’s immediately suspicious. He decides to follow his instinct and fake leaving via his car. He parks down the street once he know’s he’s a good distance and goes back on foot only to catch Neil beating his son. He arrests Neil and threatens him to ask about Lonnie Byers. When Hopper lets him go the next day, he makes sure to threaten him in front of Susan, Billy and Max when he dropped him off at his house. Neil’s a coward who can’t afford to move either way so he moves to verbal abuse instead. Max tells Hopper who grits his teeth and tells her he’ll find a solution.

Fast forwards two weeks and Hopper comes home to find El and Billy surprisingly bonding after Billy was sent by Susan to give him some cookies. El had never made them and Billy knew how to so he offers to teach her how to make them. They went to get ingredients at Melvald’s with El hiding in the back seat of the car once they got into the town proper. Billy also made her dinner since it seemed Hopper was taking too long. El says he helped free Billy from a bad Papa too. Hopper has a light bulb moment and he asks Billy to babysit and tutor El. He’d heard he was smart from Nancy and he needed someone to help El catch up and he couldn’t always be there to help. Billy could take Max too if he needed to and Hopper would pay him for babysitting and it would keep him out the house. Billy doesn’t immediately take the deal but upon consultation with Max, he takes the deal. Billy usually has both girls after school so El gets to come with the boys to the arcade as long as Billy’s there and she was caught up with her school work. Billy becomes whipped for the two girls who beg him to style their hair and paint their nails. They both got ready together for the Snow Ball, helped by Billy.

Billy apologizes to Lucas and Steve when they first meet at the arcade after everything and while the boys are still wary about Billy, the girls have no problem dragging him into shennanigans like fake home ec classes so they can get Billy to cook and bake for them and pop culture classes from Max so she can blend in. The entire time, Billy semi-relunctantly goes along with everything. They even have field trips to the mall and everything. At some point, the boys wonder what’s so good about Billy when they have Steve and the girls defend him. They have a switcheroo and the boys are surprised to have their homework checked over before being allowed to play D&D and the snacks that Billy prepares for them. They find out that Billy’s a secret nerd who love fantasy and sci-fi and they end up scrapping the plan to play D&D and instead debate the night away about books, movies and series. The boys relunctantly agree that Billy’s cool especially after he agrees to give D&D a try for them which makes Steve feel affronted he starts proposing that the entire Party hang out at his place with Billy and the girls so he can see what everythung’s about. He’s surprised to find out how academic Billy is and how good he is at cooking since Steve relies mainly on microwave and delivery. He sees how Billy interacts with the kids and he finds himself intrigued.

Somehow, the kings of Hawkins High now play babysitters to a group of middle schoolers and everyone is surprised to see the two talking like they’d been friends forever after Christmas Break. They never see them at parties with the boys always claiming they have other plans. Later on when the girls become interested in D&D, Steve and Billy get a chance to talk and it kickstarts a little something between them. Billy is effectively a member of the party by Season 3 and he and Steve are on the cusp of a relationship when the upside down stuff starts happening again. They get Billy in the loop so he realizes when Neil acts a little too nice and he protects Susan and himself from being flayed since Max was with the kids. He uses the walkie-talkie the girls gave him to get Hopper to bring El and they deal with the mindflayer early. With Billy there for brawn, the Russians don’t get a chance to torture Steve and instead, they manage to take care of everything without it causing too much trouble.

S4 would be interesting because with Billy there, there’s absolutely no way that Jason would be the King of the School even if he was dating Chrissy. I headcanon that Billy and Chrissy would be good friends and that Billy would notice Patrick’s injuries and he’d quietly tell Hopper so he could resolve it even before S4 started. I think with Billy there, they might actually be able to have a fighting chance but instead of Max being the sacrifice, it’s obviously going to be Billy who’s been dealing with the complexity of losing his father and his abuser all in one go. Whether or not Steve and Billy are already together is up for debate and if Eddie would be included in that relationship but with Billy there, I think they’d be able to deal with Vecna once and for all.

Also, obligatory reunion hug between Billy and Argyle once they see each other again since they used to be best friends. Whoever Billy’s with gets jealous and he has to kiss the pout of their face which grosses out the kids. They all live moderately happily ever after.

#billy hargrove deserved better #billy deserved better #billy hargrove #billy x steve #billy hargrove au #harringrove #jim hopper #billy and max #billy and el #ellewritesandrants #rewrite #stranger things #stranger things rewrite #billy hargrove redemption #billy hargrove is good with kids #argyle and billy

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ickypuppi3 · 3 months

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# hint: don’t lie to a guy about the whereabouts of his kid stepsister

#sweetiepie of all time #the smile ! would love to see him have a good time would love for him to be happy for once #this scene is crazy when you think about it #billy: well this has been a terrible evening surely it can only get bette-#steve walking out of the byers: gonna come in your pants huh? dropped on your head as a kid huh? you stupid btw?#chill out buddy ! quit poking the bear you know #it’s gonna end bad #harringrove #billy hargrove #ickyposts

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starkstruck27 · 11 months

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Okay wait, but I've got another idea: a Gravity Falls AU. Recently I've been rewatching the show, and I think it has a lot of similarities to ST, so I've been thinking...

Robin and Steve are twins (fraternal, with Robin being two minutes older, and I'm thinking they're, like, 16 or 17 in this AU) and they're sent by their parents to stay with their crazy uncle Hopper over the summer. They live in Chicago, but Uncle Hopper lives in the sleepy little town of Hawkins, and is kind of a mystery. He owns a tourist trap called the Oddity Emporium, and even though he's kind of a stingy, crotchety older guy, he loves them, and the Emporium is where they live.

Robin and Steve move into the bedroom in the attic, and as soon as they get settled, they start to notice some oddities outside of the museum. First, Robin swears she sees a fairy flying around when they're exploring the woods, then Steve is convinced that one of the statues in the town square is in a different position when he comes out of the supermarket, but they have no proof. They try to chalk it up to their uncle's place just messing with their heads, but then, they're exploring the woods one day, and Steve trips and falls into a ditch.

Robin immediately climbs down to check on her brother, and he's fine, but he hit his head on something and they decide to check it out. It turns out to be a chest buried at the bottom of the ditch, and when they finally pry the ancient lock open, they find a book inside.

Steve isn't impressed at first. It's a weird book, what's so special about it? But Robin cracks it open and they start to read, both amazed by what they find. It's some kind of journal, apparently the third in a set, that has a mysterious unknown author, and it details all of the weird creatures and supernatural goings-on that make Hawkins so weird.

At first they don't want to tell anyone about it, not even Uncle Hopper. They don't know why the book was buried, but it seems like there was a reason, right? Maybe it's a government conspiracy or something. But they study it together, trying to figure out who in the crazy little town might have something to do with writing it.

They become friends with Eddie, another guy a little older than them who works at the Oddity Emporium as a handyman/cashier/whatever else is needed of him, and his friends, Gareth, Rich and Jeff. They're the cool kids in Hawkins, rowdy teenagers who just always seem to have the best hangout spots (including a secret ladder that leads to the roof of the Emporium) and the most fun of anyone else in the town. They also befriend some local kids who come with them on adventures, Dustin, Will, Lucas, Erica and Mike. They're all younger than Robin and Steve, but they're pretty cool, and they're more accustomed to the weirdness that plagues the town, so they're pretty awesome to have around.

There's also Mrs. Byers, who runs the diner in town, and her other son Jonathan, who is kind of friends with Eddie and his gang. Jonathan is also Will's older brother, so he and his girlfriend Nancy often tag along on adventures. And of course there's El, the psychic girl who is the centerpiece of the other tourist attraction in town, the Hut of Hypnotism. Her dad and Uncle Hopper have been in a war for best tourist attraction for years, but because El made real friends and doesn't like using her powers (which no one knows how she got) just for him to make money, Hopper often comes out on top. There's the local cops, Powell and Callahan, who are not great at their jobs, but perfect for comedic relief, and finally, the local kook, another hermit who lives in a shack in the woods named Old Man Murray.

Robin and Steve get to know the people of the town pretty quickly, and they find them all pretty amusing for the most part. Even Old Man Murray has his good points. But there's one person that they meet a few weeks into their stay that they simply cannot stand. Billy Hargrove, the rich asshole who's great great grandfather apparently founded the town.

Billy seems just as awful as his parents, who live in the mansion atop the hill with him and his sister, but they kind of have to put up with him, because his little sister is friends with the other kids they're friends with, and he's told to keep an eye on her. But he's still a jerk, snarky and always acting like he's better than everyone else because his family is rich, and he loves to be the center of attention. But as the summer continues and they battle more and more weird monsters, Steve and Robin start to think that he's not so bad.

Especially Steve. Sure, they had a rough start, but after fighting a horde of Goblins, uncovering an ancient tomb with a mummified Native American Chief inside, and working together to capture a vampire that's haunting the old wing of the Hargrove mansion, they've kind of bonded whether they like it or not.

It's about halfway through the summer when things start to get really weird. Firstly, Steve and Robin had to time travel over and over again to make sure the timeline stayed correct and so Steve would still get to keep the pet goat he'd won at the county fair. It was a whole thing. Then, they find out that El's dad, in order to try and get a leg up on Hopper and try and destroy his business, had the second of the three journals, and they had to fight not only the man himself to get it from him, but also some kind of dream demon that went by the name Henry Creel and seemed to enjoy toying with them. They didn't defeat the demon, but he told them that he'd leave them alone until they became important, so they tried to forget about him. And finally, they tell Uncle Hopper about the books, which he laughs off and says is fake, but that some of the things in it would make great attractions at the Emporium. Robin and Steve know the truth, though, and still use the journals to their advantage every time they need to.

Finally, the summer is two thirds done, and Steve and Robin have three major problems: One, they're still no closer to finding the author of the journals. Two, Henry is back, and he's hinting at something big coming soon. Three, Steve has developed a huge, embarrassing, inexplicable crush on Billy Hargrove.

When Robin first finds out about that third one, she groans and tries to remind Steve that all summer Billy was a jerk to him and that they have bigger problems to worry about. But Steve tries to tell her that Billy is changed, he's not really as big a jerk as everyone says and he knows it sounds crazy, but he's pretty sure Billy likes him back. Robin rolls her eyes at first and just tries to focus on their other mission, finding out who wrote the journals, but she can't do it by herself. Every time she tries, Henry appears in her dreams and throws her off course, and it's getting annoying and, quite frankly, terrifying. But eventually Steve returns to help her and they find out that the answer lies much closer to home than they'd realized.

They're walking around the Emporium one day when Robin drops something and it rolls under the porch. She and Steve crawl under to get it, but their combined weight causes a bit of the ground to collapse and they fall into a basement they didn't know was under the Emporium. They're confused, because it doesn't look like the kind of place that Uncle Hopper would have under his house, almost like a bunker of sorts. But the real surprise is when they find not only the journals that they showed Hopper and he never gave back, but the first one, too. He had it all that time.

They're obviously pissed, so they grab the books and find the way upstairs, using an elevator that leads them to a staircase that opens up into the (thankfully empty) gift shop of the Emporium behind the vending machine. They find their uncle and demand an explanation, and he finally tells them the truth.

His daughter was an incredibly intelligent girl. She was always looking for adventures and documenting her findings in the very books they were holding in their hands. This was all before they were born, so they never met their cousin Sara, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Hopper told them that she got in too deep with her mystery hunting, and she encountered Henry Creel long before they did. Only, she made a deal with him, a bad one, and she ended up dead.

Hopper says that the official story that ran in the newspapers was that she had brain cancer, and an aneurysm is what took the young girl away so suddenly. But Hopper knew the truth. Something in those books had killed his little girl, and he didn't know if it was still out there, but he hoped that if he could hide the books well enough, no one would be able to use them to go looking for it. He kept only one for himself, just wanting to hold onto some little piece of her, because it was her greatest passion, and it was all he had left.

After he tells the twins the story, they tell him that they've encountered the same demon, and that it wasn't even their fault, but that they've beat him before. Hopper is amazed, and asks how they did it, but they say they aren't exactly sure, they just knew they didn't give up until he surrendered.

Hopper is still amazed, but he tells them that if they ever encounter the demon again, they're not to engage with him, because he's smart, and he has no qualms about killing for his own gain. He also tells them that he doesn't want them going around looking for any other weird creatures or anything, because if they get caught in some kind of trouble, he doesn't know how to help them and he doesn't want them getting hurt. They say they won't, but they both know they're lying.

Especially when, two days later, Henry comes back, and he says that it's time. He visits them in a dream they end up sharing, and says he's got big plans coming, so he's gonna give them some advice. He tells Robin that she thinks too much, and she should learn to clear her head. Then he tells Steve to keep his friends close, his family closer, and his enemies closest. Then he disappears, and the twins wake up together, scared and confused. But they know that whatever Henry is planning, it's up to them to stop it.

It's a week before they're set to go back home that it happens. They're not sure how, but some sort of rift in the fabric of the universe allows Henry's hellscape of a dimension to leak into theirs, and even more horrifying creatures than the ones they've already seen that summer (and that's saying something, considering they've encountered shapeshifters and bears with multiple heads) start infesting Hawkins and walking around like they own the place. Robin and Steve are both terrified, but they know they have to help fix it, so they start trying to figure out how.

They know it's going to be different than the first time they fought him. That time, they were I the mindscape, where whatever they could imagine would happen, and they could conjure weapons and such. But this time, they're in reality, and they have to rely on their wits and whatever they can scrounge up around them to fight with. They don't know how, but they know they've got to do it.

Finally, they're almost ready to confront the dream demon and fight him with their friends, but before they can get close enough for even one swing at him, he stops them, and starts to monologue, as villains do. He says that it's cute that they thought there was strength in numbers, and he says that that's not how he plays the game. He reminds them of the advice he gave them, and says they're going to need it if they want to save their friends, who he has levitating off the ground by now, all of them frozen and looking terrified. He says that they're going to play a game, and their friends are taken away, flying off to somewhere else in the labyrinth of a palace Henry's built for himself. He tells them that he put one of their friends in each different room of the place, and that they're going to have to go through one room at a time to attempt to save them. Each room will get more and more difficult, and they'll each take a wing of the palace to go through, they can't do it together. They'll get three tries to answer each riddle, and if they can't, then their friend in that room will die an agonizing death. Robin and Steve are terrified, but they stand their ground, and say that they'll do it.

Henry is all too delighted, and tells them that if they manage to do it and get all their friends out alive, then he'll allow them a chance to try and beat him. He's clearly doubting their abilities, and entirely too amused for their liking, but they know it's their only choice, so they accept. And as such, the games begin.

They each get seven rooms. The riddles for Robin start easy, but the answers are so simple that she begins to overthink them, and it almost costs her her second room. But she remembers the advice Henry gave her, and she knows the stakes. She also knows that he never gave them a time limit, so until she's sure she's got the answer, she doesn't even chance it. She saves Mrs. Byers first, then Jonathan, Mike, El, and Erica. The second to last room is occupied by Eddie, and it's one of the simplest riddles, but Robin almost loses again because of the overthinking. She is down to her final try when she finally gets it and saves him, and is finally sent on to her last room, which contains her uncle Hopper. She is timed on that one, but even under the pressure, she's noticed a pattern to all the riddles, they all have something to do with fire, so she figures it out by process of elimination, and saves her uncle.

Meanwhile, Steve is faring a little differently. He doesn't just get riddles with simple answers like his sister, his riddles all have something to do with the person he's trying to save. Something that he would only know if he knew them well. He figures out that this is what Henry meant by "keep your friends close", and once he figures that out, it's pretty much a cakewalk. He saves Nancy, then Murray, then Lucas, Will, Max and Dustin. Finally, he gets to the last room, and he finds Billy inside. This is the hardest room for him, and even though he's not timed, he only gets one chance to get this one right. He thinks about all the other riddles, all of them having to do with either some fear the person had or some kind of thing that could be used against them somehow. And this riddle is one that hardly makes any sense, where the others were mostly pretty simple. Steve tries to break it down bit by bit, like his math teacher taught him to do when they were doing a tough problem, and he finally figures it out. It's asking for the one thing that would make Billy surrender anything for. Steve gives his answer, and it's correct.

After that, Billy drops back to the floor, and the two of them, as well as Robin, Hopper, and everybody else, are teleported back in front of Henry, who is only slightly ticked off that Robin and Steve have figured it all out. But, he plays fair, and tells them that they can take their shot at him. Robin and Steve can't do any kind of sibling communication between their minds, but they did make up a secret language when they were kids, so throughout the battle, they're able to communicate without Henry understanding what they're saying or planning. They talk about the riddles, how all of Robin's had something to do with fire and how Steve's all had something to do with how to gain the upper hand on each of the people he'd saved. It only takes them a second to figure out that Henry was testing them that whole time, because it wasn't just about them being able to save their friends.

It was about seeing if they were smart enough to figure out what his weakness was.

Ultimately, Henry's cockiness led to his own downfall, because as soon as they figured out that fire was his weakness, they found a way to light the sucker up. It hadn't been easy, and they didn't escape unscathed, but once Henry went down, so did all of his minions.

They didn't remember much after that, both of them being too tired and too worried about their friends and the rest of the townsfolk to worry about what happened then, but from what they can guess, Henry died and all of his demons were sucked back into the portal they came out of, and the town was restored to its former glory. There were still weird creatures all around, and it took them a while to repair some of the damage done to buildings and such, but for the most part, Hawkins just went back to being Hawkins.

Soon enough, it was their last day in town, and as they packed up their things and tried to prepare themselves to say goodbye to their friends, they got to talking about Henry and his game again. Robin tells him about how she almost messed up and lost twice, and he comforts her and tells her that she didn't, so it didn't matter, and even if she had messed up, it wouldn't have been on her, it would've been on Henry. She says she knows, but it's still hard, and then she asks him what his hardest riddle was. Steve tells her about the final riddle, how he only got one shot to get it right, and how twisted up the words were so that he almost wasn't able to figure it out. Eventually though, he found out that it was asking for Billy's one weakness, and at this point, Robin interrupts with a scoff and asks how he managed to figure that out.

And now, Steve finally comes clean with her, telling her that after the whole vampire fiasco earlier in the summer, he and Billy started seeing each other. He says that all summer, he'd been wanting to find a nice girl or guy to have a summer romance with, and he finally found it in Billy, and it was around then that he started to get more involved with her and the journal stuff before the shit hit the fan, because he finally had something. He says that he told Billy about Henry once and how he always tries to figure out your weakness to exploit it (in their case, it was the people they cared about) and he says that Billy told him his only weakness would be him and Max. He'd laughed it off as a joke at the time, but he couldn't have been more relieved about it when it finally came down to that stupid riddle. And he's glad he's telling Robin now, because it felt weird to lie to her all that time and now he doesn't have to any more. And Robin is happy for him, really. After all his failed summer romances that she had to bear witness to, she's glad he found someone that made him happy. Even if it was Billy Hargrove.

Finally, their conversation ends, and they have to start getting ready to say goodbye to everybody. They head out to the bus stop that's gonna take them home and everyone is there waiting for them. The kids are all hugging them over and over and practically sobbing as they make them promise to write, the young adults are all hugging them and telling them they had so much fun over the summer and they better come back next year, and the adults are loading them down with snacks for the trip and making sure they've got everything packed. Uncle Hopper even makes sure that Steve's pet goat that he won at the fair is cleared to go home with them (their parents don't know yet and he may have had to threaten the bus driver, but it's for his nephew, so who cares).

And then finally it comes time for them to board the bus. Robin is crying and refusing to let go of Uncle Hopper, the two of them forming a bond over the summer that she says better not be broken by the time they come back next summer. And Steve is emotional, too, over Hopper and everybody else there. But the person that makes him cry the most is Billy. He makes him promise to call all the time, and invites him to come stay with them in Chicago sometime and says that he'll be back to visit as soon as he can manage. Billy promises that all that will happen, and then, just before Steve has to board the bus, he hands him a little present wrapped up in tissue paper. Steve is about to open it, but Billy stops him, and says with a blush pinker than the bubblegum Robin is chewing that he should wait to open it until the next time he misses Hawkins.

That time comes on the bus ride home, after Robin falls asleep next to him and everybody in Hawkins is miles away. It's a scrapbook that Billy must've put together himself, with an entire page dedicated to everybody important and all kinds of pictures from throughout the summer, even before they got together. He got everybody to sign it, and the very last page is just a letter telling him he'll miss him and he's already looking forward to next summer.

Steve can't help the dopey smile on his face as he gets off the bus and immediately runs to a payphone to tell Billy how much he loves it and how many plans he's already making for next year.

#steve would so be mabel #and robin is definitely closer to dipper #i think this would just be fun #also hopper as their grunkle stan and joyce as lazy susan just makes sense lol #eddie is a mix of soos and wendy but is definitely more like wendy #and murray as old man mcgucket is just so funny to me #billy as pacifica also just works #and powell and callahan as blubs and durland is already pretty much canon #el as the good version of gideon is also amazing #and the kids all kind of being like the candy and grenda for them #jonathan and nancy would be like those random characters that show up every once in a while like tyler cutebiker or toby determined #i just think this is neat and i probably put way too much though into it lmao #gravity falls #billy hargrove #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #max mayfield #jim hopper #joyce byers #will byers #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #eleven #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #murray bauman #harringrove

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