mistakes like this {harringrove}

i love you

darkness was cold, but the pain was far worse than they could've ever imagined the impact to be.

steve gasped loudly as light surged back into his vision.

he groaned and looked over at billy, who laid unconscious, throw between the distressed back and front seats.

steve's leg burned in agony as he pulled it from underneath the crushed dashboard.

he managed to crawled to billy, picking him up and opening the door before causing the both of them to fall out of the car.

steve could only taste blood and limped to the side of the road, then over to the grass, with billy in his arms.

his spotty vision filled with rapid tears, "billy!" steve shook him gently, "please don't leave me" "please, please" steve begged, attempting to check his pulse with a violently trembling hand.

it had seemed they only met yesterday, with billy arriving in hawkins, forcible changing the pattern of the school, changing steve.

under the rough, hostile exterior, was someone who genuinely took interest in steve; even if steve got frustrated. this was something he never truly had before.

steve always envied the fact that billy didn't really care what others thought of him, because steve frequently thought about how his peers viewed him, even though he knew it didn't matter.

he leaned down and felt the faintest of breaths before he kissed him gently and called out for help.

steve noticed the large gash in his upper arm becoming more aggressive as he fell onto his back next to billy in the damp grass.

"i love you" steve mumbled, fading into unconsciousness, laying curled up next to billy's side.

the police and ambulance arrived quickly to the scene, seeing as though the camaro was totaled and no other person or vehicle was with the two injured boys on the interstate.

steve was in and out of reality when he realized he was actually in the ambulance. he looked over at billy with an oxygen mask covering a portion of his face.

"is.." he strained, "okay?"

the man only turned and glanced at him, "we're not exactly sure of his current condition" "there may be underlying damage"

steve's heart ached while he listened to the sirens and oxygen machine whirl, making melodies of worry and fear swirl his mind.

he awoke disoriented in a white hospital room. steve tried to sit up and get out of the bed just to yelp in pain, then came to the realization that his leg must be broken or fractured.

"fuck" he swore under his breath, before a nurse walked into the room.

"how're you feeling, mr. harrington?" she said, looking over a clipboard full of paperwork.

"well my leg feels pretty broken, so"

she chuckled, "it's only a fracture and minor burns"

"where's billy?"

her eyes skimmed over his, "mr. hargrove is getting an mri"

"oh gods" steve filled with anxiety, "c-can I see him later?"

"it depends on his healing time" she drifted off

"what's that supposed to mean?" steve's expression made the nurse look down upon him.

"would you know of any possible reasons as to why mr. hargrove may have had multiple, more recent, concussions?"

"no, i don't know, why ask me?" panic rushed his words out.

she only took a few notes on her clipboard then silently left.

steve looked around the small room, it was undoubtedly familiar. he felt as if he were just here, but not in this room, in this building, before right now.

there was a pair of crutches across from him, lying against a chair. steve bit down on his lower lip as he limped to retrieve them.

finally, he managed he get into the hallway. when the nurse was taking notes he was able to see billy's room number on the end of the paper.

still, the building seemed all too familiar, but he carried on.

billy was lying stiff on the hospital bed, steve had never seen a more pure form of him.

his hair was pushed back out of his face revealing a long line of stitches from behind his ear to nearly his cheek and a small section through his eyebrow.

billy's eyes fluttered open slowly at the sound of steve entering the room.

he limped over to one of the visitors chairs across from the hospital bed.

"mm pretty boy" billy mumbled "come to see me so soon?"

steve rolled his eyes, "sure, whatever you have to tell yourself"

billy sat up slightly, "hey, don't pretend like I didn't hear you in the grass"

this caused steve to slowly began to recall what he had said, turning red, "that's not fair!" "i thought we were gonna die, okay" he crossed his arms over his chest.

billy gave a small laugh, "i thought so, too" "apparently there was another drunk driver and they crossed over the line and rammed into my poor camaro"

steve faked a pout, "poor billy and his bad boy camaro" "at least we're alive"

"yeah" "and now i know for sure you love me" he smirked, "come here, you lovesick boy"

steve dragged himself over the edge of the mattress and sat down near billy's chest. he shivered at the cold touch of billy's hand against his stomach, pulling him closer to his body.

steve noticed a black outline running down the center of billy's forearm, almost like ink in billy's veins. steve instantly recognized it as what will byers had when he was possessed.

he jumped up from the edge of the bed, forgetting about his fractured leg, letting out a cry in pain and a string of profanities as he thudded onto the tiled floor.

"w-what the hell is that, billy?"

billy's brows furrowed, "i- don't" "steve, i don't know"