Emma || Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove

012. People Change

*Emma's POV*

At the end of the week, I was still struggling to come to terms with the whole Jane/Eleven situation and the fact that no one had told me anything about it. I decided I needed to get my mind off of it, so I decided visiting Billy would be a good idea. I arrived at his house at around noon. His mom invited me in, telling me Billy had gone out, but should be back soon. She told me I could wait for him in the living room. Max was already there when I got there.

"Hi Emma," she smiled.

"Hey Max," I greeted her, "How are you?"

"Well, Billy isn't home, so pretty darn good," she answered.

"Is he really that bad?" I asked. She shrugged in response and changed the topic.

"So, I know you're my stepbrother's best friend, and we don't really have interactions other than times like these when we bump into each other, but can I ask you for some advice?" She asked, earning a nod from me. "How do you do it?" she began, "How do you get just everyone to like you? Parents, kids, people your age, even Billy. How?"

"I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that dislike me too," I told her, "but in all honestly, I'm just myself. You can't be too worried with what people think about you, Max. Plus, you're awesome, so if people don't like you they're not the kind of people you should even want to associate yourself with."

"You really think so?" She asked with a big smile on her face.

"Are you kidding me? Of course! You're a total badass, Max," I told her, "I wish I was as cool as you when I was your age. Is everything okay? Are you having a hard time at school?"

"Well, no," she said, "Not really. It's just that I don't know, I wish making friends was easier."

"Give people some time," I told her, "They're all going to realize how cool you are and everyone is going to want to be your friend. Kids at your age are a little slow, but they'll come around." The two of us talked for a little while longer, she reminded me a lot of Jane. Both of them were total badasses. I heard Billy's car roar in the distance and I started getting up to go meet him outside.

"Em," Max stopped me, "You can do better than Billy. He's an ass. Dustin told me that Steve told you and it's true. At least the parts about how he is with me and my friends." Her saying that and the sincerity behind her voice made something snap inside me. I offered her a small smile before going outside.

I had to talk to Billy. I couldn't let him go on treating people how he had been. That wasn't the person that I'd become friends with, and it definitely wasn't who I wanted to continue being friends with. I saw his car approaching and I started getting nervous. I didn't know what to say to him or how to even start the conversation. The next thing I knew, he was getting out of his car and walking towards me with a wide smile.

"Ems," he cheered, "What brings you here today?"

"We need to talk, Billy," I frowned, "it's really important, can we take a walk?" He furrowed his brows, but nodded. I walked over to him and we both started heading in the direction of the woods.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"What changed you, Billy?" I asked, "I know that you're no different to me than you were back in California, but what the hell happened to the Billy that was nice and treated everyone with respect?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"When I told you that Steve told me everything, I meant it," I answered, "Max, her friends, how you hit him. Everything. I held it all in for so long because I just didn't want to believe anything he told me, but he and Max have no reason to lie to me."

"Emma, I can explain," he said, "I really can and I will because you're the only person that'll be able to understand me."

"Well then go ahead," I said bluntly.

"My parents' divorce and the move, they changed me. I don't know if you'll be able to understand this part, but when your family is okay and then suddenly your dad does a complete 180 and goes from being this sweet, loving guy with you and your mom to being an abusive monster, it does something to you. It's even worse when you find out that the reason he acted that way was because he was screwing another chick. Oh, but the cherry on top of the cake is him leaving your mom to marry this other person and dragging you across the country to start another bullshit family," he said, his eyes were full of tears and I could feel my eyes starting to well up too, "I hate Steve because he had everything I wanted when I got here. He had his perfect family, his perfect girlfriend and everyone loved the guy. I acted out. I took it all out on Max and everyone else around me, all the anger and frustration I felt. It was wrong, but it helped me cope."

We stopped walking. I looked up at him and he was crying, which hurt my heart. I could see that he was telling the truth. It hurt my heart to see him like that. That hadn't been what I intended to do, see  him hurting I mean.

"When you told me you were moving here, I was beyond excited. It was kind of like having that little sense of normalcy back in my life. I regret it all so much because I don't want you seeing me any differently. I'm still the same old Billy, it's just I've made a few mistakes," he said, "Please forgive me. I can't lose you."

"You'll never lose me, B," I half smiled, "I'm always going to be here for you. Whether you're the toast of the town, or you strike out and you're crawling home."

"Are you feeding me lines from your song, Em?" he asked jokingly. At that point I think we both knew our friendship was going to be okay. I let out a quiet laugh and nodded. "Does this mean I get another chance to make you mine?" he asked. The question caught me by surprise , but what caught me by surprise the most was my response. I felt myself shaking my head no.

"I-I, I'm sorry Billy, but I don't know," I told him, "I can be here for you as your best friend for whatever you need, but I still need time to figure out my feelings after everything that's happened."

"Okay," he said calmly, "Can I just do something real quick?" I didn't have a chance to respond he pressed his lips onto mine. I was surprised at first, but I kissed him back. It was a really nice kiss, but it felt different than the ones we'd shared before. To me, this one felt kind of like a goodbye kiss.