melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

iv. CHAPTER TWO

~*~
warning: mature language

     Mary sped past the, "Welcome to Hawkins" sign at top speed, not even slowing as she saw the cop car sitting in the parking space. She nearly slammed her brakes, but she realized that it wasn't Hopper. She needed to find so many people, and she couldn't decide who she'd find first. She didn't know why, but she was going towards the high school. She knew it's where her brother would be, and she needed to see him most. 

     Her car slowed as she reached the parking lot, and she checked the time to see it was time for the kids to be walking out of the high school. Mary paused as she realized how insane this would probably look. She'd been gone and supposedly dead for two years, so what would her brother think seeing her alive and well after all this time? 

     But Mary saw something different than Dustin. She spotted the blue Camaro sitting in it's usual parking spot, Mary immediately getting out of her car. She walked to it in a daze, examining it to make sure it was the real one. She went to the license plate, and surely enough, it had changed. It was an Indiana plate, plus it looked a bit cleaner. 

     The bell rang in the distance, Mary looking to see the doors opening to the school. She walked back to her car, getting in and watching the teenagers walk out. The first person she saw that she recognized made her almost sit up, but she had to stay down. Max Mayfield was walking out of the high school with Lucas next to her, and the two were talking happily. They approached the blue Camaro, Mary smiling lightly at the thought of Billy giving it to her. But then she saw her brother. 

     He had a new haircut, and we taller than she expected. He walked to his own car, getting in and driving out at a safe speed. Mary smiled at the thought of him learning to drive with their mom, or with Steve. 

     Steve. 

     Mary sat up, starting her own car and pulling out. She wanted to see her brother, and confront him, but she knew the questions he'd ask. There was one person, though, that wouldn't bombard her with questions and just sit there in shock. 

     Steve mother fucking Harrington. 

~*~

     The school bell rang, all the students in the lecture shutting their notebooks. Billy began to pack his bag, pulling the Impala keys out to get back to his apartment for the day. He was glad that he had all morning classes, which meant his afternoons were open. Today, though, he wasn't going straight home. He had a therapy session that Jackson was forcing him to go to, so he was going to that first. 

     He stopped the Impala in front of the office, taking a second as he stared at the wheel. He could remember driving the car for the first time. It was his eighteenth birthday, and Mary let him because he was so giddy to just drive it. He took a deep breath, stepping out of the car and walking into the office. 

     "Uh, I have an appointment with Dr. Craig. Last name's Hargrove," Billy said, running his finger through his hair. It was shorter now, no longer a mullet. He'd stared at himself in the mirror one day, then cut all his hair off up to where it was just curls on the top. Then he went to an actual barber and got it styled. 

     "Yes, Mr. Hargrove. Go right ahead," the receptionist said with a smile. He nodded, walking around the desk and to the office down the hall. He knocked, hearing a quiet 'come in'. He opened the door to see his therapist sitting there with a smile. 

     "Billy, it's nice to see you again. Take a seat," she said, motioning to the couch. 

     "Thanks, Amanda," he said quietly. He dropped his bag, sitting on the couch across from her.