Unexpectedly Enough

Eighteen

Early morning sunlight streamed through the house when Billy awoke, Steve was still lying asleep next to him, his arms sprawled out, one laying across his chest, the other above his head. Billy smiles softly at him before rubbing the sleep from his eyes, slowly sitting up, before standing and tip-toeing across the floor so he didn't wake Steve. He scratched his stomach lightly as he yawned, the sun bouncing off his bare chest, pajama pants clinging to his hips.

He found himself in the kitchen, looking through the fridge, cursing quietly when he realized it pretty much only contained milk and eggs. But at least Steve had bread, so Billy decided on french toast, making a mental note to run to the store later. Billy hummed softly to himself as he cooked, the sizzling from the pan drifting through his ears. He was in no rush, it was the weekend so no work, and Steve usually slept in late. He had just gotten home last night, and wanted to do something nice for Steve after everything he had done for him the evening before. So he finished cooking breakfast, and put everything on a small tray, heading up the stairs to Steve's room where he slept soundly.

He knocked gently on the wall, his soothing voice low and called out;
"Steve?" This caused Steve to roll over towards him, a low groan escaping his lips; fighting waking up. But still, his eyes peeled open and focused immediately on Billy standing in the doorway. As soon as Billy saw Steve's eyes, memories of the night before flooded his mind. It was the first time they slept together; it was slow and passionate, intimate, loving. It was forever burned into Billy's memory.
"Are you hungry baby? I made breakfast", Billy says, walking closer to the bed.
"'M starving", Steve mumbles sleepily as Billy sets the tray in front of him, kissing the top of his head softly.

"Good morning pretty boy, how'd you sleep?"

Steve smiles; "amazingly." But still, he yawned.

"Still tired?", Billy laughs, and Steve nods.

Billy sits next to Steve on the bed, moving a strand of hair behind his ear as he watches him take a bite of french toast, his cheeks puffing out as he chews.
"How about we just have a lazy day, yeah? I'll call Hop and tell him I won't be home, and I'll just take care of you today. Does that sound good?"

And Steve nods, his mouth still full, he tries his best to smile without the food falling out, and Billy can't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looks. So he just grabs the extra fork, and sneaks a bite to which Steve protests, mumbling out a "hey!" Billy sticks his tongue out at him and shoves the fork full in his mouth, making Steve laugh at how childlike he is. But he'd never tell Billy that because he's protest "I'm not a child!" followed by the most toddler like pout Steve's ever seen in his life.

After breakfast, Billy cleans up, washes the dishes, and heads upstairs to the bathroom where he draws a bath for Steve. He fills it with warm water because Steve's been stressed lately; bath salts and bubbles because Billy likes how cute and small Steve looks in them.

"Do you feel like a bath?", Billy asks when he's back in the bedroom, standing above Steve, running his fingers through the brunette's hair.

"That would be amazing", Steve tells him before looking up at him, and Billy can see how tired he is by the dark circles underneath his eyes. He gets lost in Steve's doe eyes quite often, and the way Steve looked up into his own blue eyes made him get lost again. When he regained his thoughts he realized Steve was tracing all the scars that lined his own torso with his finger. Billy hated them, he hated looking at them, he hated that he had them, he thought they were ugly. But Steve thought differently, Steve thought they were beautiful. He thought they showed how strong and brave Billy was, they showed everything he's been through. Steve called them battle scars, and he'd kiss them and tell Billy; "you're so beautiful."

The touch sent shivers down Billy's spine, it tickled a little, and Steve's fingers were quite cold; and Steve knew that. But he liked when it made Billy almost giggle and smile so wide when he did it.
"Come on let's go. Before it gets cold", Billy says softly, rubbing at Steve's back softly as he stood. Steve was in the tub moments later, sighing softly as the warm water washed over him.

"Do you need anything else?", Billy asked as he stood against the door frame.
"Yeah", Steve said; "for you to stay."

And Billy couldn't say no to that, so he found himself walking over towards the tub, crouching down next to it; his arms resting on the side. The tub was cold on his bare chest and arms, but only for a moment, before it felt nice.
"Is it ok?"
"It's perfect."

The water splashing every time Steve moves even slightly is heard throughout the bathroom, bubbles built up to his chin, his hair wet and sticking up in different directions.

"Do you have anything planned for today?", Billy spoke.

Steve sighs, his eyes closed; "Well I was supposed to go down to the store and help Joyce but..." and he laughs, "it's just so comfy."

And this makes Billy laugh lightly, admiration for the boy seeping out of his eyes.
"I'm sure she'll understand, baby. You work so hard and deserve a break."

"Mmm", Steve hums in response, and then it's quite again before Steve speaks.

"When do you think we'll tell everyone...about us?"

And Steve can tell Billy is scared, worried by this question. After everything that happened with Neil, Steve didn't blame him. Billy knew the kids would ultimately accept Steve, but wether or not they would accept him was a completely different question. They had never really liked him before; especially not after what happened at the Byers' house.

"I'm not sure, pretty boy", Billy finally says, and Steve is sitting up now, his face right across from Billy's.

"Baby he cant hurt you now."

"It's not just that, it's the kids. The world, Steve. They've never really liked me, I'm worried what they'll think...", he trails off; "especially Max."

"Max? Why Max?"

"Because", Billy sighs, "I'm her big brother, I'm supposed to be a good role model for her, show her the right path. Not keep secrets from her. And so far I've been pretty shitty at that, don't you think?"

"Billy...", Steve says, placing his hand on top of Billy's arm and rubbing it gently; "she'll understand. It's Max, doesn't she always understand eventually? Especially when it's you."

Billy offers a small smile, "how did I get so lucky?"

"Because you have the best boy in the world", Steve says, and puts his hands up in a cupcake pose for a second before putting them back down.

"Dumbass", Billy says, shaking his head.

Steve fakes being offended before saying; "but I'm your dumbass."

"Yes you are", Billy smiles, and then his lips are on Steve's, and he's happy.