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dreamsmp-au-ideas · 3 years

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More Fire Emblem AU

So next house is The Blue Anteaters, where those from The L’Manberg Alliance reside!

The L’Manberg alliance is the youngest nation of the three, the second nation to secede from The SMP after The Badlands. L’Manberg fought a bloody war over it but victory was achieved. L’Manberg has no king or emperor and is instead ruled by a council of noble families, with one noble representing each family. The Soot Representative has traditionally been considered the main leader. Well, he was until tragedy struck the Soot Family. With a power vacuum currently in the alliance, infighting in the council has increased to an all time high. L’Manberg will need a strong and charismatic leader if it wants to survive. The Anteater is considered adaptive in the alliance and as such was chosen as the symbol. This years students in The Blue Anteaters are

Wilbur- Wilbur Soot is set to be the next leader of L’Manberg. He’s considered charming and friendly by most but those who have known him for a long time can see that something has changed since The Tragedy. The Tragedy involved Wilbur’s entire family being killed, along with many of his guards and servants. It happened when his family was traveling to meet foreign nobles. The family decided to stay in Eret’s family’s territory but while they were there disaster struck. The official story is that a gang of thieves found out where The Soots were staying and killed everyone there. However, most citizens believe that this is to cover up Eret’s family and even most of the nobles believe they had something to do with it. As a result of this, Wilbur is highly paranoid and doesn’t trust easily. He’ll be friendly to you sure, but that doesn’t mean he trusts you. He’s also developed a more violent streak and has many nightmares about his family dying. He’s very good at hiding most of this under a smile and a wave. All it would take is a little pressure for him to crack... Wilbur has a strength in authority, axes, and swords. He has a weakness in riding. He has a crest

Tommy- The ever energetic and loyal retainer to Wilbur. Tommy’s family has a tradition of serving the Soot family. Tommy’s older brother(probably one of The Business Bay boys, but idk who they are. I’ve just heard about them) was Wilbur’s retainer but he was unfortunately killed in The Tragedy. Tommy was very quickly trained to be his replacement and shipped off to Wilbur. While the two were intially hostile to each other, due to the age difference and both feeling mournful over their losses, the two eventually became less like retainer and lord and more like brothers. Despite Tommy being the one who’s supposed to protect Wilbur, it goes the other way around just as often. Tommy is desperate to prove that he’s just as good of a retainer as his big brother was. He struggles at times with a short temper and having a tendency to let his emotions get the better of him. He’s recently made a new friend in Tubbo, who he’s become very attached to, which makes Wilbur happy because Tommy finally has a friend his age. Even if he won’t admit it and will just call the other clingy. Tommy is very loyal to his nation and especially Wilbur and would never turn against him. He has been worried about him as of late. He’s waking up screaming in the night more often than Tommy likes. Tommy has strengths in swords and authority. He has a weakness in bows and heavy armor. He’s your classic glass canon, high offense but low defense. He has no crest

Eret- Eret’s life has been...rough these past few years to say the least. With his family being accused and though of by most to have killed the Soot Family, he’s used to whispers of traitor behind his back. He’s basically a commoner in all but name after his family was taken off of the council. However, Wilbur was suprisingly the one to provide Eret with the funds to go to the monastery, under the condition that he keep it a secret. Eret is here to clear his family’s name, even if he is a bit of an outcast among his classmates. He does eventually make some friends, such as Fundy and Niki. Eret is looking for a chance to prove his loyalty. He has a strength in faith, bows, and riding. Weakness in axes and heavy armor. He has a crest

Fundy- Fundy is a commoner from a small village somewhere in L’Manberg. At least, that’s what he claims. Fundy is actually a forest spirit who longed to see the human world. After sneaking out of the woods and saving enough money, Fundy is at The Monastery. Fundy can transform into a kitsune like beast using his beast stone. He rarely does this and prefers to rely on his own strength in order to blend it. While he tries not to get to close to his classmates due to him living longer than they will, he accidentally does anyway. Fundy is very creative and has learned to make patterns with magic. After completing his paralogue, Fundy can use his kitsune form in battle. Fundy has a strength in bows and reason (wind). He has a weakness in flying and faith. He has no crest

Niki- Niki actually is a commoner who lived in a small village. One day her village was attacked by thieves, but then the knights came and saved them. Ever since then, Niki wants to help people like the knights did for her. She actually meets one of those knights when she arrives at The Monastery, the now retired Philza. Niki saved up enough money by baking and her village helped her out a little. Niki is determined to become a knight so that she can protect her village. Niki is very kind and sometimes has a problem with making her voice loud enough for other to hear. She has high morals. She’s friends with Puffy, Jack, and Fundy. Her and Jack have started a prank war on Tommy due to the fact that they tried to prank him once and it didn’t work. Their other prank attempts have also not worked and Tommy’s not even aware they are doing this to him. She’s also close to Wilbur, which is a surprise to her considering her social class. Niki has strengths in lances and flying. She has a weakness in heavy armor. She’s a Pegasus knight basically. She has no crest

Jack Manifold- The Manifold family was the family sent in to replace Eret’a family. As such, Jack is set to be apart of the council once he graduates. However, he kinda doesn’t want to. Jack wants to become a mercenary and travel Carmine and beyond in order to see what’s out there. He has siblings but his parents his high expectations of him. As a result of this, Jack is a bit of a slacker in school. He’d much rather train than do bookwork, unless it’s geography related. Jack has become partners in crime with Niki. He has a strength in brawling and swords and a weakness in reason. He has a crest.

If Karl chooses to teach The Blue Anteaters, he helps them win the war against SMP. He also snaps Wilbur out of it when he loses it during the five year time skip. Basically it’s the therapy route for Wilbur, hooray! Also HEGEMON DREAM HOLY CRAP

Also Tubbo and Tommy have a paralogue together in this route. If Karl doesn’t do it, the Tommy dies during the five year time skip. If Karl does do it, Tommy is thought to have died helping Wilbur escape his execution (which does not help Wilbur’s mental state at all) before arriving during battle with a small group of defectors from Tubbo’s territory.

Tommy can recuriet Tubbo during battle if they have done their B-level support, even if Karl didn’t recuriet Tubbo. If not, Karl has to recuriet him before the timeskip and then convince Tubbo to come to L’Manberg’s side during battle. Or you can have Tommy murder Tubbo because extra dialogue and we Three Houses players thrive on angst.

Help, I need some ideas for Bad’s house I’m struggling

Oh god. I love Dream’s side of things but at the same time, I love Wilbur’s side of things. Fuck. This is why I don’t do well in choice-based games. It stressful. Oh god.

I love all these characters and I love Eret’s backstory especially. I love that a lot. I love it so much.

Also, ouch! Tommy dying if Tubbo isn’t with him? Oh no. That hurts. Oh d e a r.

As for Bad, uh. Okay. So I’m not sure what to think of but maybe something with the fact that they are neutral with the Church? I’m not sure.

#dream smp #dream smp au #smp three houses au #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #eret #the eret #fundy #nihachu #jack manifold #jack manifold tv #karl jacobs #tubbo #ask #tack-tick

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ruby-whistler · 3 years

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(quicksandblock) hi! I just left you a giant wall-of-text response on your Dream post, and though I think it came across well enough, I just want to state my lack of hostile intent over here as well lol. I know stuff like this that people feel strongly about can get very tense so I just wanted to make doubly certain you know I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything. it kind of sucks that I feel like I need to clarify that but that's fandom culture for you sometimes :P

also, I would love to talk to you about Dream characterization. I think I disagree with you on a lot of different points and I love his character, so I'm very interested in understanding your perspective!

hey, hello! found a c!dream enthusiast/enjoyer, that’s cool, hi! :]

[copied part i put in front of each reply, hence different capitalization]

Alright, so first as a quick disclaimer, I’m going to put a summary of the original post’s points, just to ensure that we’re on the same page;

The post does say:

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because it continuously hurts people who relate to and/or sympathize with him, also dehumanization in general is an inherently wrong mindset

- don’t attack people who sympathize with him because he’s a victim of abuse besides other things

The post never says:

- you cannot hate c!Dream and not sympathizing with him is wrong

- the things c!Dream has done are to any degree excused

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because he’s a good person

- people who dehumanize c!Dream are real life abuse apologists

If you read the post and didn’t get these points from it, i advise you to reread it as I made pretty much all of these abundantly clear.

[end of disclaimer]

i never said anyone could infringe on his human rights! i… literally never said that! i said “they ignore” when characters do it, but that was a run-on sentence, i get how that might’ve been easily misunderstood. but yes, he’s a fictional character, i’d never said people could actually hurt him or anything in that sense.

the thing is, i still find them saying they enjoy it… wrong? the people yelling in tommy’s chat for c!dream to hurt him more were freaking victim blaming pricks, and if what they did was the widespread fandom opinion it would be hurting actual people with trauma. i ask people to look at the c!dream situation with the same severity, because it’s actually happening and it’s highly disturbing, not just from principle, but because of what it leads to within the community.

sorry for comparing his situation to c!tommy, but narratively i believe the prison arc is a deliberate parallel to exile, and comparing his situation to someone they’ve not dehumanized seems to be the only way to knock sense into some people.

i am happy you don’t seem to be one of the people who dehumanize him. you’re not the target audience of this post - neither are abuse victims who project onto him. i know people who c!tommy reminds of their abuser (because of personality traits), or even c!quackity, that’s fine. they’re totally free to hate their respective character, of course, without being,, actually right about them. that being said, majority of this fandom is dehumanizing c!dream and being mad at people sympathizing with him “on behalf of the abuse victims”, not actual victims themselves, and by doing this they are unknowingly hurting other people rather than helping anything, and spreading misinformation as well as making a lot of fans in general uncomfortable. i believe this is something that needs to change in the community.

hating him is fine, but group-based dehumanization in my mind is not. if you go on twitter and search “c!dream” and see 100 people saying they wish the abuse victim you project onto is hurt more (this is not a twitter thing, c!dream tag is the same thing, a majority of the crit is untagged but it,, doesn’t really matter because even tagged hate riles up more people) that freaking sucks and is something that the community needs to work on, not shoved under the rug and pretend it wasn’t there because some people tag it.

“the abuse victims who are hurt by people saying they should be sympathetic towards Dream are in fact just as hurt as the abuse victims who relate to Dream and are hurt by people saying his evil.”

this is not wrong. it’s right actually, but i’m not talking about this fandom calling him evil/unable to be sympathized with/irredeemable. i mean, that’s hurtful dehumanization as well, but this community doesn’t “say he’s evil” it “says he deserves to keep being horribly abused and/or die”.

and… i wasn’t talking about/saying abuse victims should sympathize with him either? i’ve said like five times that people can hate him as much as they want, but dehumanization is another thing. it’s the majority of this community (this post wasn’t targeting abuse victims in the slightest) taking away his positive human qualities, hence believing he doesn’t deserve human rights, and turning him into some sort of punching bag or personification of evil, which i find deeply disturbing since he’s being related to by abuse victims, and also blatantly incorrect to the character.

so, you’d be right, if the situation was what you described. it… really isn’t. the dream smp fanbase isn’t populated by abuse victims in any corner. it’s two small groups, one of them hurt (undeservingly) by a few and the other one hurt (no more or less undeservingly) by a majority of the fandom without anyone batting an eye.

and this post isn’t even about abuse victims in the first place; it’s about dehumanization. while its impact plays a big role in why i wrote this, things like these being widespread in the fandom makes so many people uncomfortable or pressured not to sympathize with a recently made sympathetic character that they might (but could not) relate to. relating to him myself, i might not have a say in this, but my compassion in general made me switch over to the c!dream sympathetic people, not anyone in the community or projection.

the results i relayed here weren’t the only results of the survery. people mentioned pandora’s vault as their reasons for being dream apologists,, over and over and over again. a lot of them mentioned the fandom response specifically.

it’s making the fandom not only unsafe to a small group of traumatized people, but also fans in general, who are equally as important to feel comfortable. hell, the reason dream apologists are such a tight-knit community that accepts little to no outside feedback is because of the hatred that is endlessly nurtured outside, that makes people feel anxious or not safe just for sympathizing with a victim of abuse.

i myself find this a problem that people should attempt to change beyond using crit tags more. feel free to not agree with that, but a lot of affected people do.

i agree the disc finale was actually cathartic! well, that’s a lie, i used to hate c!dream’s guts before that but that was the very instance where i saw a person behind the mask and went “oh, this is a whole mess isn’t it”, but it was,, cathartic to a lot of other people that didn’t use to have intense empathy to inanimate objects as children djskdjsk (i was a weird kid and still am, don’t mind that)

do you know what is cathartic? when a dog terribly bites a child, gets kicked away and gets put in a cage. do you know what isn’t cathartic? …that dog getting repeatedly beaten, starved and abused while trapped in said cage. even in fiction, and i say that as someone who was terribly bitten by a dog.

i don’t mind fictional characters suffering - frick, angst is my jam, i’ll write a character dying over and over again and have fun, but people justify that or make fun of people who don’t by saying openly that they enjoy it,, because he’s done bad things.

here comes the double standard. the exile arc wasn’t cathartic just because tommy burnt down a house, because hell, that wasn’t fair retribution. same goes for dream.

there is a difference between enjoying dark media (something i do frequently and is something i like doing) and open dehumanization and often normalized harassment of people who don’t do the same or condemn that. that is something that in my mind shouldn’t be a mainstream thing in the community.

to be fair, people saying an abuse victim no longer being hurt is “bad writing” or “insensitive” as i’ve seen people say would probably piss me off, but i’m,, not going to harass them. maybe a passive-aggressive vague-post if enough big accounts do it, but i think that’s justified. feel free to disagree - i still respect abuse victims who wouldn’t like that, but people who just don’t want the writers to humanize a character they’ve dehumanized will probably grind my gears.

this community,, isn’t working like this. i wrote this because people are repeatedly being hurt by the community or feel bad in it because of widespread opinions and dehumanization of a character that is as of late written to be sympathetic to the audience. that’s not a disagreement, the people who are actually sympathetic are a minority in the fandom, which would be fine with me, if they weren’t constantly invalidated, triggered and harassed as a direct result of the dehumanization discussed in this post.

besides the fact that the principle of dehumanization applied to c!dream is wrong - and if people find themselves doing that, it’s good for them to find a way to realize that, such as this post, because projection =/= dehumanization, and this post is targeting one, not the other - this is why i wrote this post. i still believe my points are valid and important for this fandom to consider.

you know, we could talk about the characterization right now - but after this i’m going onto a two month long hiatus for the sole purpose of studying the character. i’m not joking, this is what i’m dedicating my summer to. since i’m also closing my asks because of this, i can write this down and @ you when i’m done? :D i’d love to talk about him but i’m going to have so much more evidence after this, so maybe we can put this off for a while if you don’t mind! of course feel free to continue the dehumanization debate in a string of reblogs since it’s pretty much a different debate entirely.

( @zrenia @caketexturepack just tagging some people who responded to your response and might be interested in the continuation of the debate - also curious anon i saw your two asks i was just busy djsjdks please don’t spam about people who replied to me, i have a bad memory but i write this stuff down, actually )

#my asks #discourse #tw dehumanization #tw abuse #tw torture #tw animal abuse #long post

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fairytsuk1 · 3 years

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despite everything, it’s still you | (a)

character: tommyinnit

genre: angst

words: 1.8k

summary: tommyinnit is sent to the afterlife after being killed by dream, his experience as a broken soul in the afterlife is different than he'd imagined.

warnings: head injury at the beginning and it’s a bit graphically described! also depersonalization with the afterlife

notes: a bit different from my usual stuff but i had this idea and wanted to do it!

The last thing Tommy's present body feels is his brain practically leaking out of his ears. The force with which his head is knocked into the ground is too strong, and he instantly blacks out. Dream's fists collided into him much harder than he thought, and it was even harder to try to block each hit as he was instantly overpowered by the godlike man. He just couldn't seem to get away. His soul might have even been connected with Dream's at one point; how could someone live every day of their life and always go back to the one who caused so much pain? It's not a peaceful end; it's gory and sticky with blood splattered on the quickly growing pale skin. When Tommy opens his eyes, there's no Tubbo or blue sky; it's just white. The first thing he realizes is that he's not breathing, but he's not dying because of it. Because, well, he's already dead.

"Dream?..."

His thoughts are there, at least the most important ones. There are some of them that blur together, like watching a movie on fast-forward and not pausing. He couldn't remember his life so far up to his death, and the panic was setting in; what man didn't remember their own life? Was he even Tommy? A thump beats in his chest but looking down...there is no chest at all. In fact, there is no skin, bones, no solidifying figure that could tell him, "ah, I was a person." Tommy doesn't even want to think about what would happen if he didn't know his own name. Would he be lost to time forever?

"What the fuck is going on…?" his finger jabs at the translucent blob of a figure, he's still got limbs, but he looks like a bucket of slime rather than a fleshed-out human, "Hah! I'm like fuckin' Charlie Slimecicle…"

His humor hasn't left him, which warms his heart. Well, he supposes he has no heart as Tommy continues to poke and prod the gelatin-like substance he was hosting. It was weird seeing the ghostly shape of your own body, long legs, and big yet bony hands...it was freaky.

"This is just disgusting, actually. Fuckin' hell…"

He stands and tries to ignore the way he feels weightless; it's depersonalizing. Makes him nauseous to think of how he doesn't exist in the mortal realm, but instead, he's here in some sort of blank space.

"Wilbur!"

Walking, he realizes that he feels loose and lets out a laugh when he twists his body and finds it going farther than any human could. His ghostly capabilities were kinda cool! He had to focus though he needed to find a way to jump back down to Earth if he was dead. As much as he enjoyed being able to touch his toes and squat with his feet flat on the ground, the loneliness was starting to get to him. Though he didn't say anything out loud, being dead was starting to get a little scary. Of course, the lead-up wasn't nice, and he's glad to be pain-free (though he does jerk out of shock once he realizes his head is caved in). There's something about being alive that is just so...he misses it, that's all.

"Wilbur!...Schlatt??"

Tommy walks for a while with no changes to his atmosphere. For a moment, he thinks that he hasn't even been walking with the lack of environmental changes. That train of thought simmers to a stop as he spots a bench in the distant future, running towards it at lightning speed. There's no sound when he runs; his voice doesn't even echo. It's as though this afterlife has nothing in it at all. Like it's made of nothing. Like he's made of nothing. He relaxes into the bench and smiles widely; if only he had his favorite disks! It's like being with Tubbo again, like being kids again! The warm touch of affection kisses his cheek as warmth spreads through him. When can he go back? He's so ready to go back.

"You know, Tubbo, I hope you're not all focused on Ranboo to forget about me! I mean, I'm that one that, you know, died!"

Who is he speaking to? This afterlife is really getting to him, there is no Tubbo here, and there is no Mellohi. The smile fades as he glances around, white on white: white walls, floor, ceiling.

"Whoever the God here is, your heaven is shit."

He shouldn't have said that. The bench rumbles, and he's shocked to see it crumbling underneath him. Chips of wood fly into space, and he scrambles off of it, watching it decompose his very own eyes.

"Ah, ah, wait! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry! Give it back! Give me my damn bench back, you bitch!"

A bigger piece flies off and slices his hand, a glob of his fingers falling off and melting into the ground as he stands panicked. There's no blood, but it suddenly hits him. He isn't even human; this is all he has left. He's lucky to have his thoughts. That is his last tether to all he knows. If he lets himself be broken down, he'll never be human again. His time is limited. He has to find a way out.

His feet take off before he can even realize it, sprinting as he shouts for Sam, Tubbo, Wilbur, and even Phil.

But nobody came. No-one scooped him up and rescued him like they should've. He's only a child, for god's sake!

"What have I done to deserve any of this!? Let me go back! I want to go back!!"

His voice is shaky as he spins, decomposed and blocky trees forming around him like corroded pixels. He could cry, but he's holding it back; Dream instilled that in him. The less you care, the better the ending. The trees fall in shards, and each one that touches him breaks off a piece of him. He's practically melting as he runs through the rain of pixels, each one hell-bent on destroying his soul. Right now, he's no human. It's his soul in the purest form. His feet stick together before pulling apart, and he collapses onto the solid white ground. Everything jiggles, and he thinks he might pass out with the pure shock of taking in everything around him. His body ripples like water as he hears a faint and distant voice call for him.

"Tommy?"

A memory. "My first decree, as the President of L'Manberg, the EMPEROR, of this GREAT COUNTRY! IS TO REVOKE! THE CITIZENSHIP! OF WILBUR SOOT AND TOMMYINNIT! GET 'EM OUTTA HERE!"

Is that his savior? The one who's come for him? The one who caused his life hell in the first place? Well, maybe it was Wilbur who did that. Or Technoblade. Or even Dream, but Dream was his friend even though he struck him so hard he sobbed for someone to help him—

"Hey, Tommy! What the hell are you doing, kid? Where the fuck's your body?"

He's being hoisted up by his arms, and he pushes into Schlatt's chest as he cries and cries. The Ram hybrid grunts and mumbles something before pushing him back to hold his shoulders. He was never one for affection. When Schlatt looks at Tommy, he knows this is the book's doing. Dream, the current owner of the book, had done this all in preparation. The easiest way to bring someone back was to only let their pure soul transfer on, everything else remaining the same.

"It's easier than moving a whole body, right?"

"Whatever, just take the fucking book, man. I'm busy."

Tommy's damaged. He's deformed, and his soul is hot to the touch. He's in agony. He didn't know he could sleep till it was over or relax. He tried to fix things and find a solution like he always does. Now, he was broken like he always was.

"Schlatt I...how do I go back? I don't want to be here anymore! It's fucking shit! And, and it hurts! This isn't some heaven; it's fuckin' hell!"

Dream sat on the prison floor after arranging Tommy's body in a relaxed position, the book open in front of him.

"Time to come back, Tommy."

"Hey, hey! You listen to me! That fucker Dream, you have to be strong! He's messed you up, but this isn't the Tommy I know! You don't fucking cry, and you don't fucking get scared! You're the bravest kid I know!"

Tommy feels flashbacks come to him, slowly but surely. Him rowing to fight Dream, the bravery he had when he fought him one on one. The first disk war...he was so brave.

When he looks up at Schlatt, he sees the man he fought so hard against and won. He clocks in at that moment.

I used to be someone. Now, I'm just like everyone else. Scared and weak.

"You used to be someone, Tommy! You are someone! You just have...believe and know... you're stronger…!"

Schlatt gets all twisty and turny, his vision fading in and out as he feels himself being dragged away from his arms. For a second, Schlatt reaches out, seeing his son in a box. He retreats and opts to yell out as Tommy fights to regain himself. The strength is unrelenting as the young boy's head twists to see his arm pulled like taffy towards a glowing light. It's so pretty; he could almost just touch it and forget it all.

"You are stronger than anyone else, Tommyinnit!"

His head whips back, and he extends a jelly arm, his fight coming back to him.

"If you fucking lose yourself, you'll lose everything!"

"If I lose myself, I'll lose everything…" "You were made to beat this world, and don't you dare fucking forget it!"

It makes Schlatt grin as Tommy's widened eyes get pulled as he's compressed into a singularity. There's a sudden pop, and Schlatt's knocked back as the white walls envelop him. He wants to yell more, but Tommy's already back where he belongs. He's already gone.

"Tommy? Hey, Tommy!"

His cerulean eyes open like he'd just drank an energy drink, a smiling mask staring up at him. For a moment, he wants to shrink back into the floor.

"How was it? How was the afterlife?"

If I don't beat him, how could anyone else?

He snickers, "awful. I'm never going back there again."

Tommy feels determination settle in his soul. After everything, he's still him. If he loses himself, he'll never be able to bring it back. So, the only other option is to fight.

If I win, maybe then, I can know who I am.

#tommyinnit #tommyinnit fanfic #dreamwastaken #dream fanfic #jschlatt #jschlatt fanfic #dream smp #dream smp fanfiction #mcyt #mcyt fanfiction

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okaybutlikeimagine · 4 years

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Harringrove for Australia: Ihni♥

hi there!! the gorgeous and fabulous and fantastic @ihni asked me to write this for #HarringroveforAustralia! and here it is!! ♥

prompt: someone wants to get back at Billy so they do something Very Stupid that leads to Billy getting hurt; guilt and hurt/comfort ensues!

tags: mentions of abuse, bruising, implied (light) blood, past child abuse, hurt/comfort, angst, hopeful ending (♥!)

You can catch it on AO3 here if you so desire!

Word Count: 4,452 (i’m legit the worst i’m so sorry i went over my word limit!)

thank you babe and thanks again @tracy7307 for putting the whole thing together!

(kay time to finish and essay, bye, love you)

---

~On Your Best Behavior~

Steve may not be the smartest kid in school. He’s right at average in even his favorite classes, and, truth be told… there’s not a lot of those. He likes to think he has street smarts, but Tommy always has to show him up; has to remind him what position his “rich boy privilege” has left him in. It’s gotten to the point where he feels like there’s nothing special about his own knowledge. He doesn’t know about history, or grammar, or even music, or movies… some days it feels like he doesn’t know anything. Like everyone’s right when they say his head is just there to carry his hair around.

But if there's one thing he knows… one thing he’s absolutely sure of… it’s that Billy Hargrove is the biggest asshole in all of Indiana. And Steve has met Mayor Kline.

But Billy takes it all. He’s the culmination of every jackass in the state, all rolled up into this punk who can’t seem to keep his fucking shirt on. He saunters around like he owns the place, shoving into Steve in the hallways and wagging his tongue like it’s some kind of… threat or something, Steve isn’t sure.

He just blew into town like a wild thunderstorm a little over 2 months ago and already he’s given everyone grief- at least, everyone Steve knows. He cheats on every girl he’s out with (if the girls of Hawkins are to be believed), he’s in detention every day for mouthing off to teachers, he stole Steve’s friends which… yeah he’s having a hard time reconciling that one because if they left that quickly maybe they weren’t too good of friends but still.

And worst of all, what absolutely takes the cake in the Shit-Show that is Billy Hargrove and his bullying….

He picks on the kids.

He picks on Steve’s kids. He scares Max, he bullied Lucas, he nearly killed all of them with his little stunt with the car that first week he was here. He splashed them with rain water once as he drove past them, he kicked over Dustin’s bike when he was standing outside of the arcade, he dropped Max’s backpack in the mud the other day. Hell, one time they were all bouncing a basketball around and Mike missed it and it accidentally rolled over to Billy (who was leaning against a wall smoking a cigarette) who took out a pocket knife and stabbed it, letting all the air out before tossing it back and walking away.

He’s a jerk. An outright punk. And yeah, maybe the stuff he’s done isn’t criminal. Maybe most of it at this point is just kind of bratty and petty. Maybe Max explained away the Lucas thing pretty definitively (with a lot of “He didn’t mean it that way”s and “You don’t understand the whole situation”s and “He hates all boys who look at me”s and one quiet “It’s his dad who’s the strict one…”), but… but still. It doesn’t matter, he’s still an asshole and people shouldn’t just be able to get away with being an asshole like that.

Yeah, sure, Steve himself was kind of an asshole for a little bit. Yeah, sure, Steve got let off the hook a lot of times for doing some of the same things Billy has done. But Steve had reasons. Plus he was young when that stuff happened. He doesn’t do that anymore.

Either way, it shouldn’t really matter why Billy’s doing it or not. They’re horrible things to do and Billy needs to stop.

Which all leads up to right now, which finds Steve in a diner with Dustin, Lucas, and Mike (because Will and Max had a project they had to stay behind and work on). They’re on the heated topic of Billy because apparently the older boy popped the tires on Dustin’s bike.)

“He’s such an asshole.” Dustin lisps into his soda (that Steve was very reluctant to give the boy, but he pouted about his bike enough that Steve gave in.

Mike nods, mumbling angrily into his french fries while Lucas, across from Mike, rolls his eyes.

“We need to do something about him.” Dustin says again, before getting that sly little grin on his face that lets Steve know he’s hatching a plan.

And if Steve’s honest, it’s a very very childish plan. Mike is even adamant that it’s childish, claiming they could come up with something better before switching his tune with very little convincing, citing Billy as a child. So it really is childish. And Steve knows that because someone did this to him once back in the 5th grade. It pissed him off to no end which, honestly, is the only reason Steve begins to consider it. It’s not like any real harm can come of it, it’ll probably just be more annoying than anything which is honestly what Steve wants.

He mulls over it for a second before deciding: “Yeah. Sure. Fuck that guy… tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Dustin and Mike laugh triumphantly with each other.

Lucas has become stunningly quiet as he takes a big sip of his water.

----

When Steve rings the doorbell around 5:30 pm when he’s sure his intended target will be home, the sound comes out as a far more pleasant chime than he was expecting. He doesn’t come to this side of town very often, even though Tommy used to live on this street back when they were kids. It’s not bad, but Steve definitely notices the dying grass, the empty front yard, the worse-for-wear sidewalk…

He waits patiently, mentally preparing what he’s going to say, while hearing heavy footsteps approach the door in a way that Steve can only describe as menacing.

The door swings open, and there before him, in all his 6’ glory, is Billy’s dad. Mr. Hargrove.

He’s only an inch taller than Steve and yet he carries himself like he’s got a foot over him.

“Can I help you?”

Steve clears his throat. The house is deafeningly quiet, even from the fully opened doorway. It confuses Steve for a second, because any time he drops Max off home and Billy is there, the house is raging with music. And Steve knows Billy is here now, if the arrogant blue Camaro is anything to go by.

“Hello! Mr. Hargrove, right?” Steve offers his hand up, putting on his best ‘good rich boy’ voice that he saves specifically for meeting friends of his parents. “Steve Harrington.”

“Harrington.” Mr. Hargrove says with some kind of bitter admiration in his voice. “I’ve heard about your parents.”

Steve isn’t surprised. Neil takes his hand firmly. It feels like a power move, how hard the man grips, but Steve does his best to rival the strength. He needs to be as credible as possible here.

Steve just isn’t quite sure what to say about his parents. He opts for a charming smile that doesn’t quite disarm Mr. Hargrove like he was hoping.

“So,” Mr. Hargrove begins, letting go of Steve’s now sore hand. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, well Mr. Hargrove-”

“Go ahead and call me Neil, son.” The man says in a way that feels more intimidating than he thinks it should. Steve hears a door close rather harshly from inside the house. Mr. Hargro- Neil grimaces at it for a split second.

“Okay uh… Neil. I just wanted to talk to you about your son. Your son is Billy Hargrove, correct?”

“That’s correct.” Neil’s face stays as stoic as before.

“Well I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but I felt someone should bring it up with you. Your son has been a… a… menace. To a lot of people at school.”

Steve worked through so many words in his head and menace is what tumbles out of his dumb, nervous brain. It’s like he’s holding cotton in his mouth, he feels so stupid.

It does the job though. If human eyes could turn red, Neil’s eyes would be like a firetruck. Or maybe the fire itself.

“He has, huh?”

“Yes, sir.” Steve hates saying sir. Feels he needs to, here. “And outside of school as well. To a lot of little kids and… and even to your younger daughter.”

Steve knows Max isn’t his biological daughter. At least, he’s pretty sure. Pretty sure the dad is Billy’s and the mom is Max’s. But it slips out before he can stop it. More cotton balls falling from his mouth. Still, it’s working as he meant it to.

Right? This is what I’m trying to do?

Because suddenly, seeing the tension in this man’s jaw and the fire in his eyes, Steve’s not quite so sure he wants to be here anymore.

“Oh really? And have your parents witnessed this?”

Steve blinks. He doesn’t really understand the question.

“Uh… excuse me, sir, my parents?” Steve starts to pick at the side hem of his jeans.

“Yes.” Neil’s teeth are clenched. Steve fights not to take a step back. “Your parents. Do they notice too?”

Steve really has to wrap his mind around the question before he can come up with an appropriate answer. This man has heard of his parents, probably because people gossip. If people are gossiping, it’s probably about their money. It’s always about their money. Their influence even though, if anyone were to ask Steve, they don’t really have any. They’re never around to influence the town like everyone seems to swear they do. They just have money, and apparently money talks. As far as Steve is concerned, it’s more of a whisper, but he knows not everyone feels the same way. He knows someone who lives in a house like this, with untended gardens and unpaved walkways, probably doesn’t feel the same way.

He thinks he has an answer now.

“Yes, they have noticed. They think it’s a little… embarrassing.”

Neil looks like he’s going to growl. Steve takes that step back now, even though he doesn’t think about it.

“That’s very interesting.” Neil really might as well be snarling at this point. “Well, thank you for telling me, son. I’ll definitely have a chat with William.”

Steve nods his head and before he can think about it or even say a word, the door is in his face and the man is gone, the only thing left behind being the sound of heavy footsteps.

Steve feels like he’s in a bit of a daze as he walks back to his car, but not before tripping over the crack in the poorly paved walkway. And Steve may not be the smartest kid in school, may not be the smartest kid in Hawkins at this moment, but if there’s one thing he does know, it’s that Billy is getting grounded right now.

He’d call this a success.

---

Billy isn’t at school the next day.

Steve tries to pretend like he’s not nervous about it.

And really, he isn’t all that nervous. Sure, it’s in the back of his mind for most of the day, but he’s not exactly nervous. He's not even sure what he would be nervous about.

It’s not until he sees Max yelling at Dustin and smacking him upside the head that he gets a little nervous.

It’s not like it has to be a particularly special occasion for Max to do something like that to Dustin, but still. There’s something in Steve’s gut that tells him he’s involved in this. If Max’s angry eyes that turn on him are anything to go by, he’s right in his assumption.

“Did you come to my house last night?” She asks like she knows. It’s hardly a question.

“Yes.” Steve shoves his hands in his pockets to keep them from lifting in the air in submission.

“You idiots! What were you thinking?” Max yells, smacking Dustin then Mike then Lucas, who whines that he didn’t want it to happen. She then turns to Steve, punching his arm harshly.

“Woah woah woah, what did we do?” Steve asks like he doesn’t know.

“Like you don’t know, you moron! You- you! Did you talk to Neil?”

Steve is so taken aback that he just nods. Max growls.

“You moron! Never come to my house again!” Max’s face is red with anger, absolutely fuming as Dustin and Mike and Lucas sputter all at once in a vain attempt to make things right. But Max isn’t listening, she’s laying her board on the ground, about to skate away.

“Wha-? Max, what’s wrong? We were just-”

“I don’t care what you were trying to do!”

“Your brother is an asshole! You say so all the time!” Dustin yells in a desperate type of defense. Max’s eyes look far more hurt now than anything else, even as she’s still glaring daggers.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She says and there’s a lot less malice in her voice now. Her shoulders are slumped as she starts to skate away.

Steve can’t take it.

“Max.” It’s in vain. He tries harder. ”Max! Where’s your brother?”

“Stay away from him.” Max calls back, pushing off to skate faster.

The boys all look to Steve, who knows in an instant.

---

At least, he hopes he does. It’s not until he’s about a mile out from the quarry that he starts to have second thoughts about if his gut was right.

He’s driving slowly, mind reeling, heart pumping blood so loudly through his ears that he can’t hear his music, when he sees a figure he wasn’t expecting to see.

Hop?

It is. It’s Hop. Standing above a hunched over boy that Steve is praying is the boy he’s been looking for. He knows it is- no one else has that haircut in Hawkins.

Steve steps out of his car gingerly, does his best to avoid twigs and leaves on the ground as he walks up to the pair to listen in on what they’re saying.

Hop’s face is serious, with a tone to match.

“Look, like it or not you’re still a minor. If you keep not showing up for school your parents are gonna get in big trouble.”

“Promise?” Billy’s voice is weak.

“Har har. Get to class tomorrow.” Hop says, entirely unimpressed. A few seconds go by, the white noise of Indiana bugs fill in the silence between them in the strangest way Steve has ever experienced. Suddenly the air is different. It shifts in a very personal way. Steve immediately picks up on the fact that he shouldn’t be here, right before Hop begins again with:

“… You... know, right? If you need someone to drive you I can-”

It’s soft and sincere and Hop’s hand is reaching out towards Billy’s shoulder gingerly, like he’s going to pet a strange animal, when he catches something in the corner of his eye- and that something is Steve.

Hop clears his throat, and Billy looks over to Hop at the sound.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone.” Hop says, voice void of emotion. Billy turns his head just enough to see Steve out of the corner of his eye before he whips back around. “Stay outta trouble, kid.”

And with that, Hop gives what looks like a sad smile in Billy’s direction before leaving. He gives an odd nod of acknowledgement to Steve as he passes, his face looking rougher than usual. More tired.

Steve takes a couple of steps forward, suddenly finding himself in the position of approaching a strange animal. This “strange animal” that he’s seen almost every day for the past couple of months.

Billy’s still sat on the ground, his legs in a folded up form of criss cross that allow his elbows to hook around his knees. Steve thinks he looks rather small like this. He hasn’t moved to look up at Steve at all. Steve isn’t even sure if the boy looked at Hop when he was here.

“Hey…” He starts, hoping it’ll get the boy’s attention. It doesn’t. “Uh, Billy?”

He’s met with the white noise of the screeching bugs. They stand there until Steve can’t take it, which is only about 3 seconds tops.

“Billy?”

Again, nothing. Billy doesn’t even move-doesn’t even flinch.

“Hargrove.” Steve is stern with it this time.

Steve’s getting impatient, but Billy’s a rock. Steve shifts to sit in his hip.

“Hey, asshole!” He calls a little louder than he needs to when he’s a few feet away. The response is rather instant this time.

“You called?” Billy’s voice drawls and it gets under Steve’s skin like nothing else.

“God you’re annoying…“ Steve groans, exhaustion visible in his face and audible in his voice. He rubs a hand down his cheek as his heart races with the words building up in his mouth. The cotton balls are back. “Hey uh… Why weren’t you at school today?”

He doesn’t know what to expect, but the unattractive snort definitely isn’t surprising.

“Ha…” Billy’s laugh comes out more like a puff of air. “Got some new accessories that I don’t think fit the dress code.”

Billy’s looking at the ground when he says it and Steve almost doesn’t hear. Certainly doesn’t understand.

“What? What are you talking about?”

Billy’s shoulders shake and it takes a few seconds of debating if Billy needs a comforting hand or something to realize he’s chuckling and not crying. The boy shakes his head, curly mullet bouncing in a way that’s far too light for how Steve feels right now.

“Why do you care, huh Harrington? Miss me that much?” Billy looks to his feet now. Steve sees the hint of a smirk on his lips, past his curls. “Can’t handle a day without me?”

“Shut up, it’s not like that-”

“You came all the way out here to look for me.”

Steve pauses.

“I was heading here anyway.” He lies. Billy snorts like he knows it’s a lie. Because he does know.

“Right. It’s fine to miss me, babe.”

Steve’s face burns.

“Don’t call me that.” He hisses, blood boiling where it’s pumping fast through his body. Billy cackles for good measure.

Steve’s got half a mind to turn around. Damn this guy, whatever he got, he fucking deserved it. He’s an asshole. Whatever happened should have happened.

But…

But Max. The image of her red face and tired eyes flashes into Steve’s memory. She was livid. Screaming. Close to crying.

You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Steve didn’t like that. Because how is he supposed to know if no one says anything? How is he supposed to understand if no one tells him?

He sighs.

“Look Hargrove I… I’m sorry. Okay?”

He feels defensive. Billy almost looks at him, but looks at Steve’s shoes instead. Steve still can’t see his face from the shadows of the trees and curls.

“Sorry for what?”

“I… I-” Steve stammers because he didn’t expect a question.

“Use your words, princess.” Billy says on a snort and Steve breaks.

“I don’t know! Okay? I don’t know. It’s just… Max was upset this afternoon and said something about your… your dad, I guess and now I… she made me feel awful and I don’t even know why but I do know I’m sorry, alright? So can you just quit being an asshole and accept my apology and-”

Steve’s eyes wander back to the boy at his feet. Billy’s shoulders are tense. Up by his ears, muscles taut all down his back, absolutely strung out.

“What do you know about my dad?” His voice is dark now. Dangerous. There’s a growl in it. A familiar one.

Steve fights his step back.

“I just… Not a lot. I just met him-”

“Shit.” Billy whispers, loud enough for Steve to hear. His shoulders are shaking- like a leaf in the fall wind and suddenly Steve feels that concern again.

Billy throws his head back, eyes closed and grimace on his lips as he shakes his head in what looks like disbelief, hair falling down behind him as the sun catches him and makes his face light up in a way that's near blinding and Steve knows this is a serious situation and thus is definitely not thinking about how the late evening sun does Billy and his gorgeous skin every favor.

“Shoulda known. The rich and famous Harringtons.”

Steve rolls his eyes at the statement.

“We’re not famous. We’re not even that rich, I-”

And that’s when Billy finally turns his head to Steve. Finally lets Steve see what he’s been wanting to see- that stupidly smug face with that stupidly cocky grin, telling Steve everything is fine and-

And-

“Holy shit… Billy, what happened?”

Billy’s face is more purple than it is tan. The skin around both eyes is bruised, his left worse than his right. There’s a bit of red on his cheek and his lower lip is split. The side of his neck has a few bruises as well, and Steve knows just from looking at them that they weren’t done out of passion- not romantic passion at least. No, rather a far more malevolent passion.

And now Steve notices the way Billy is moving. Gingerly and slow, like everything aches. It probably does.

Good lord…

“Billy?”

Billy’s looking up at Steve with the saddest eyes and it hits Steve like a freight train. There’s no anger to be found in them. Any fire that was there is there for a split second before they just turn tired. Bloodshot and worn and tired. His lips curl up into a grin that carries poison in it.

“I ran into a wall. Fell down the stairs.” Billy says, in a voice that tries so hard to be innocent that it’s haunting. “I’m a real clumsy kid.”

Billy’s voice wavers at that last part and it strikes Steve like a knife to his chest. Because he doesn’t want to say it, doesn’t even want to think it… but he thinks he knows. This happened to him once. Those words sound familiar and they link back to when Steve was 13- the first and last time his father ever backhanded him- and Steve could see the fear in both of his parents faces as they implored him to tell everyone he just fell down the stairs.

Steve doesn’t know what to say. What to do with his hands. Just looks into Billy’s eyes until he can’t anymore. Until he’s fidgeting and his mind is racing and his heart is threatening to rip a hole in his chest and-

“Can you do me a favor?” Billy asks, voice quieter than Steve’s ever heard him.

“Uhm…” Steve has to bite his tongue before he starts babbling.

“Real simple favor.” Billy turns his eyes to his own shoes. “Never come by my house again. Alright?”

Steve’s heart drops. He sees Billy heave a heavy sigh after he says those words.

“Wha-?”

“God, Harrington.” Billy’s exasperated. Tilts his head back and this time the light catches all of that purple on his face. It’s a universe of the most confusing pain Steve’s ever felt and he feels stupid even thinking that. “Can you hear me or do you have too much dried hairspray caked in your ears? I need you to listen.”

“I’m listening.” Steve’s voice is near a whisper. He can’t take his eyes off the bruising.

“Good. Don’t come by my house. Ever again.”

Steve feels a lump in his throat. Billy turns blue, expectant eyes on Steve, who just nods in what feels like shame. The most hideous and painful shame.

“Yeah… yeah okay I uh… fuck Billy. Shit, I’m so sorry-”

“Save it.” Billy stretches his legs out in front of him, head tilting back, face catching the sun.

“I’m serious I-”

“I said save it.” Billy screws his eyes shut. “I don’t wanna hear about it, alright?”

Steve nods, heat prickling the back of his eyelids.

Billy sighs.

“I’ll be back in school by Monday. I’ll be sure to be a real asshole. Make up for lost time.”

Billy’s acting like this is normal. Like this isn’t major. Like Steve didn’t just discover something he’s sure in a million years he wasn’t supposed to see.

The curly haired boy looks up with tired blue eyes and Steve can’t do anything. All he can do is watch this boy ache when he moves and it makes Steve livid. Saddened. Frightened.

“Billy… I don’t know who’s doing this-” A lie. He’s pretty sure. He has a good inkling, at least. He saw that man. “But they shouldn’t be. You don’t deserve it.”

And now all Steve can think about is how he didn’t believe that statement not 20 minutes ago. Any action Billy made always left Steve begging for a comeuppance. The boy’s an asshole, sure, but… no one deserves this.

Steve is boiling over it. Boiling in a cold sweat because it took this- this horrific moment of realization to realize the boy’s just a kid. Like him and Tommy and Jonathan. Just a stupid 17 year old who does some bratty things.

Billy looks up at Steve and chuckles in tired disbelief.

“You don’t deserve it.” Steve implores, made desperate by the disbelief he sees in Billy.

Billy just looks up at him, looking utterly hopeless, utterly defeated.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Neither can take their eye off the other, and Steve’s sure it’s for different reasons, but his mind is racing, rushing, flooding with his own- with his own concern for the exhaustion that he sees, with his fear of how long this has gone on, with his (truthfully, surprising) anger towards the fact that this boy’s beauty has been bruised and bloodied and that’s a new revelation… beauty…

Billy looks away first. He tells Steve to go. Raises his voice a bit when Steve takes a step in the wrong direction and moves to sit with him. Insists he’ll see Steve at school and it’s all a blur as Steve’s voice doesn’t allow him to say anything.

And in a few minutes of his rushing blood deafening him, he’s back in his car and Everybody Wants to Rule the World comes to life through the speakers as he drives away from this boy that he didn’t know he cared this much about until… until maybe too late.

And Steve’s blood is rushing, boiling inside of him until... until a near calm smile rests on his lips. A small, hopeful smile.

Because Billy promised to talk to him Monday. To keep their dynamic going.

Maybe the ball is back in Steve’s court. And if it is, he’s definitely running with it.

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masterofmunson · 6 years

Text

Care For You (4)

Slight!Steve x Reader, Billy Hargrove x Reader 

Summary: Every time he takes care of her, she runs away  

Warnings: language, angst, reader’s a jerk, reader and billy argue, tommy is a tool

 Word Count: 1.5k+ 

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 5

Monday arrives and it’s still business as usual. Her and Steve are attached at the hip. She still struggles to stay awake in class and her and Billy act like he hadn’t spent the night on Saturday. They act like the other doesn’t exist—or she does anyway.

She had to remind herself that Billy Hargrove was well… Bill Hargrove. He doesn’t care about her. He only cares about looking good—or bad, depending on how she looked at it. She knew not to take him personally. She cared about Max. That was it.

The two were complete opposites. Yes, she drinks and goes to parties, but she’s not Carol or Tommy. She cared about her grades more than her reputation. She refused to get close to him. It would just lead to disaster.

On the other hand, Billy’s whole perception of her changed. She’s sweet and feisty all at once. She’s selfless and strong. She saw him.

“Can you believe Tony hired them to play the music for the Snow Ball After Party?” Tommy sneered bitterly as they hung out in the cafeteria, watching Y/n and her friends at their lunch table.

“Huh? What’s that? What’re you talking about?” Billy asks.

“The middle school has a dance called the Snow Ball and the high school has an unofficial after party. It’s just an excuse to drink and party. Tony Valentini hosts it every year at his ridiculously big house. He usually hires a DJ but this year he hired them, Y/n and the Playboys. They’re an unofficial band. Play for community functions and write their own shit.”

He nods and takes a bite of his food. “Are they any good?”

He shrugs. “They’re okay. I think it’s just an excuse for her to flirt with Robbie.”

“Are they together?”

“Nah, she’s just always hangin’ with them and Steve.”

He nods and the bell rings.

When last period rolls around, Billy staunters in fashionably late before taking his seat next to Y/n. She’s writing in a tiny beat up journal. He watches her fondly and peeks at what she’s writing. The words “KING OF MY HEART” are scribbled at the top in her messy cursive and he fights a smile. She looks at him and narrows her eyes at him. She shuts her journal and moves it into her lap.

“What?” she whispers, glancing up at Mrs. Ivanov.

He shrugs. “Nothin’.”

She rolls her eyes and stuffs her journal into her backpack.

The school day ends and Y/n walks out next to Robbie and his twin sister Rebecca. Today was rehearsals for the after party next Friday. As usual, they were in Robbie’s garage.

“Tommy can suck a cucumber,” she spat when she heard about him and his friends complaining about Tony hiring them to play at the party. “We’re going to do great.”

“What do you expect? He’s just bitter that you chose to stay friends with Steve instead of him. You know he’s always had a crush on you,” Rebecca said.

She rolls her eyes and leans against Robbie’s car. “He’s always been a tool, even when we were younger. He’s an asshole and I’m never giving him a chance, especially since he’s a jerk to Steve and Nancy.”

She opens the door to his car and tosses her bag in the back seat. She watches Billy storm off in his Camaro and she rolls her eyes.

When she returns from rehearsals and dinner at Robbie’s house she mutters a tired hello to her family before trudging up the stairs to her room. She grabs a set of pajamas before changing and falling asleep.

She dreams of the lab again. This time, though, she’s defenseless and powerless. This time it’s Steve and the kids.

She’s rooted in place, crying helplessly for the monsters to kill her instead. Screams rip past her throat, calling out their names. Her brother’s lifeless body falls to the ground next to Steve’s.

“Steve! Dylan!” she cries helplessly. Her body shakes as she tries to move over to them. The Demodogs turn and jump on her. Their teeth dig into her skin and screams rip past her throat. She can’t breathe. She’s choking. She’s dying. “El! Dustin!”

“Y/n! Y/n, wake up!” a voice shouts, shaking her awake. She gasps for air and her eyes fly open. She’s shaking and tears stream down her face. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re okay, Y/n. It’s just a dream,” Billy’s voice rings through her ears.

“B-Billy? What’re—what’re you do-ing here?” she rasped.

“Snuck in through your window.”

She lets out a broken cry and her hands shamefully cover her face. Her body shakes and Billy holds her against him. Her sobs are muffled by her hands and Billy hugs her. His hands run down her back. “Do you want to talk about it?” he murmurs against her ear. She shakes her head. Tears slide down her cheeks and her body trembles. “It was just a nightmare. Whatever it was can’t hurt you anymore.”

She shakes her head. “Yes, it can. It already did.”

“What do you mean?”

She lifts her arm up and shows him all the tiny scars littering her skin. He takes her hand in his and laces their fingers together. He holds her hand in his and she relaxes against him, falling asleep.

The next morning, she wakes up feeling a weight on her waist. She groans and opens her eyes. The harsh morning light shines in through her blinds and she blinks to adjust to the sunlight shining through.

She looks down at her waist and finds an arm wrapped around her torso. She turns her head and her eyes widen in complete horror. Billy Hargrove was sleeping in her bed with her tucked into his side. Their legs are a tangled mess and her right hand is tucked in his.

She lets out a surprised squeak and tumbled onto her bedroom floor. Her eyes fly to the clock on the nightstand and it reads 10:45. “Fuck!” she cursed loudly, causing Billy to bolt up in bed.

“Y/n?” his voice is groggy from sleep and he wipes his tired eyes. He watches her run around her room, gathering a fresh change of clothes and her backpack before opening the door and running into the bathroom. She changes in record time and tosses her pajamas into her closet. “Y/n!” he shouts, gaining her attention.

“What?!” she retorts, running a hand through her hair.

“Slow down!”

She glares at him. “We’re late for school, dipshit! God, I’m so dead. My parents are going to kill me!”

He grabs his shoes and stuffs his feet back into them. He runs a hand through his knotty hair before standing up.

“I’m sure they’ll let you sleeping in slide. You’re a good student,” he sighed.

“Not if they find out I was with you! Jesus, I’m so dead.”

He shakes his head. “C’mon then, princess. Let's get you to school.”

She runs down the stairs and opens the garage door, grabbing her bike. She mounts the bike and Billy grabs the handle bars. “What’re you doing?” he asks.

“Riding my bike to school, duh,” she snapped.

He shakes his head. “No you’re not. You’re coming with me. It’s faster.”

She shakes her head. “No offense, Hargrove, but fuck that. I’m not going to be called your slut again because I’m seen with you. I rather not. Plus, literally everyone I know will murder me if I’m seen with you.”

He scoffs. “Why do you care so much about what other people think of you?” he asked.

“I don’t,” she denies.

“Yes you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen with me!”

“Well can you blame me?! You almost killed one of my brother’s best friends and you smashed my best friend’s face because of it. You really think because I let you come into my house when you need to get away from your shitty dad that we’re suddenly friends?!”

“Yes! You wouldn’t let me in if you didn’t think we were friends.”

She laughs bitterly and rolls her eyes at him. “That’s where you’re wrong, Billy. The only reason I let you in was because you said that you had nowhere else to go. I wasn’t going to just let you freeze to death, I like to think I’m a decent human being. I’d do it for anybody. Plus, even if we were friends, we wouldn’t act like the other didn’t exist.”

He narrows his eyes at her. “Even for Tommy?” he challenged.

She grits her teeth at him. “Yes, even for Tommy.”

He smirks at her. “I see right through your bullshit. You care about me, just admit it, Y/n. You wouldn’t be getting so angry if you didn’t think what I’m saying is true.”

“Fuck you, Hargrove. You don’t know anything about me and you sure as hell don’t know enough to make assumptions like that,” she snarled, pulling her bike out of his grasp.

“You like me. Just admit it.”

“Why would I admit something that I know isn’t true? I like gum on the bottom of my shoe more than I’ll ever like you. You think that just because I give you refuge away from your piece of shit dad that I’d fall for your bullshit? You really underestimate me, Billy. Stay away from me.”

She kicks her foot against the driveway and bikes off to school, leaving Billy in the dust.

WOOHOO DOUBLE UPDATE BC I WONT BE ABLE TO POST TOMORROW ENJOY FAM

BILLY TAG: @dannystylesmalik @arronity @xsuperwholockaddictx-blog @buchonians @httperrornicole @codewordpigeon @itstheghostgirl @rainbowfez @itsnotiniah @tah0e @ghostkani @romanceapocalyptic @nistaposebno @dvcremontgomery @ssweet-empowerment @emislayyyy74 @mykingdomismyheaven @leavingtonight-1967 @jvsbe @kassidydem @shyriss-23 @richardbemadden @the—gazeboeffect @barbarairene-k @oldwanderingsoul @therebeltype @cnopps3 @not-a-glad-gladiator @paledragonengineer @buckylovelybarnes @alwayscaughtredhanded @daddy-montgomery @selenedarkbloom @tavia0407 @buckysjuicyplums @irishollynatural @artisticlales @sleepy-rad @his-cocaine-heart @theconscientiouswriter @tremilyteapot @c-ly-g @ace-angel-judas @imaginemarvelbae @mysticalavengers @21hamstreet @hailhydrabarnes @fangirlinganditswonders @deadpools-wife

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #billy hargrove imagines #billy x reader #billy hargrove imagine #billy imagine #billy imagines #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things imagines #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagines #writing #fanfic #lomlbarnes

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