Null- Harringrove

3

When they finally pulled into the empty driveway, the windows of the big house were dark. Steve unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. Reluctantly, Billy followed suit, only wanting to melt into the leather seats of Steve's car.

After Steve unlocked the front door, he took his shoes off near the door, placing them neatly along the wall. Billy kicked his shoes off, but left them messily aligned near the door. Steve groaned and lined Billy's shoes up beside his own pair.

Steve led a mopey Billy towards the living room, and Billy sat down on the couch. Steve turned on the TV, which showed the ending of Charlie's Angels.

They watched a bit of the movie, but as the credits rolled, Steve looked over to Billy. To his surprise, Billy was peacefully sleeping. His mouth wasn't crinkled in a smirk, and his eyes were shut gently. He looked...calm. Unconsciously, Steve smiled softly. He stood up quietly and pulled a blanket off an armchair, then draped it across Billy.

He crept up the stairs to his bedroom. He stripped off his shirt and pants, before throwing on a pair of sweats. Soon, he dozed off.

—-

Around noon, Steve finally woke up. He'd forgotten about the events of the night before, until he approached the couch. The blanket was thrown onto the floor, and Billy was gone. Steve rolled his eyes, expecting nothing else from Hargrove.

He made himself some breakfast, deciding to skip school since he'd already missed a majority of his morning classes.

As Steve was eating cereal and watching cartoons, Billy was sitting on an old dock, dangling his feet in the water. Billy had taken the bus to the address of the party and picked up his car after he woke up, then drove out to the lake.

He was sipping his second cup of coffee for the day, then taking a puff from a joint; his personal remedy for hangovers.

Shortly after he'd arrived in Hawkins, Billy found the lake. It was surrounded completely by a forest. Billy had to park off a country road, before trekking out to the lake. The dock had once belonged to a house that backs up to the lake. It had been abandoned after an apparent fire, leaving it halfway destroyed.

Whenever he didn't have anywhere to go after he got in fights with his dad, he'd come out here. Usually, he'd sleep in his car if he stayed too late.

After Billy ran out of coffee and finished smoking, he got back in his car. He headed back into town, and headed home.

The first red flag was the door. It was unlocked, but closed. Billy just assumed the best, that his dad forgot to lock it. He walked into the house and immediately was hit by the cheesy country music. There were empty beer bottles crowding the kitchen table. Billy's breath caught in his chest, and he moved to leave. The music stopped suddenly, and Billy turned around again. His dad was standing in the hallway, wearing a stained t-shirt and old pants.

"Where were you, you little shit?!" Neil shouted. He walked over to where Billy was and slammed the door behind him, showing that Billy wasn't going anywhere. "Maxine had to show up to school late because of you! And now you're not fucking at school?!"

Neil grabbed Billy by his collar, and punched him square in the jaw. Billy continued to take blows to the face and stomach, his father continuing to shout insults all the while.

When Neil said, "You're the reason your mother killed herself," he couldn't take it anymore. Billy wound up and punched his dad in the nose, feeling a crunch. Neil stumbled backwards, holding his nose in shock, before grinning and moving to attack Billy, but Billy finally pushed back.

Neil stumbled, and they stood staring at each other for a couple of minutes. Then, Neil grabbed his coat from the hook near the door and stormed off to his car.

Billy had dreamed of this moment for months. He'd expected it to be more intense, more triumphant. Instead, he felt the same. Maybe a little heroic, but all together the same. He went over to the front door and shut it, locking it.

Back to his original mission, he grabbed his bag from the foot of his bed and pulled on a pair of shoes. Grabbing his keys, he sauntered back out to his car.

-

He arrived to school right before practice. He walked to the gym, pushing past anyone who stepped in his way. He walked to the locker room, tossed on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and sauntered out to the rest of the team.

"Are we just gonna stand around here like a bunch of bitches, or are we gonna do something?" Billy said.

The Coach blew his whistle and shouted, "Shirts and skins. Billy you're captain of skins, David you've got shirts."

They divided up the team, and jumped into the game. Billy was basically attached to the ball, and the Skins were beating the Shirts' asses. Finally, the game was over, Skins winning. They were able to squeeze in one more game, Skins winning again, but Shirts putting up more of a fight.

They went back to the locker room, heading to the showers. "Don't sweat it Harrington, today's just not your day man." Billy grabbed his towel off the hook and watched Tommy leave the showers. He leaned in closer to Steve, "Don't take it too hard man, pretty boy like you's got nothing to worry about. There's plenty of bitches in the sea, no need to worry yourself about some bullshit like love. Am I right?" Billy asked, raising his eyebrow. He slapped Steve's back and walked off towards his bag.

Billy quickly toweled off and tossed on some sweats and a t-shirt. He fluffed his hair with the towel and tossed it into the hamper. "You're such an asshole," Steve said, walking up to his bag.

"I'm an asshole? Why? Because I'm not gonna let some bitch make me feel 'bummed out'?" Billy questioned. "I only need a bitch for sex, and I can get that without a relationship."

"No, you're just...I care about her, I love her man."

Billy rolled his eyes, "Maybe talk about it with somebody else, I don't give a shit."

Billy tossed on his jacket, pulled on his shoes, and slung his bag over his shoulder. He walked out to his car and noticed a group of 3 girls looking at him from across the parking lot. One of the girls smile and wave flirtatiously. He smirked back and nodded. He got into the car and lit a cigarette, he rolled the window down and let the smoke drift out of his mouth.

The girl who'd waved at him appeared at his window and leaned inside the car, folding her arms to prop up her cleavage. "Hi," she said, with a smile. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing," Billy smirked and leaned his head against the headrest. "Wanna hang out, maybe watch a movie?"