Chapter Text
Steve Harrington is standing in the doorway to the porch, watching the priss Nancy Wheeler being carried out by creepy Jonathan Byers. He’s not moving for a few moments, just staring ahead at the absurd scene.
Then he turns around a little too fast, snorts. And the light hits a little different from this angle – if you’re looking closely (which Billy is, because this is about the only real fucking fun at this goddamn party), you can see that Steve Harrington cried. Red eyes, looking suspiciously glassy. Definitely been crying, Billy thinks with a smirk. For a moment, Harrington seems to be staring off into space, then his shoulders tense. His arms shift a little, falling to his sides—one hand pushing into his pocket and pulling out his sunglasses.
He’s collecting himself, Billy thinks. Trying to get his shit together. Good.
Then their eyes meet. Billy is leaning against the wall, arms spread out comfortably, taking up space. He’s got a cigarette in one hand, the other hanging loosely at his side. A girl is lingering next to him, talking too loudly to her friends and bumping into him occasionally—brushing his side, his arm, his hand as if by accident.
For now, Billy ignores her in favor of Steve Harrington, King Steve, and his pathetic show of being put together. Billy keeps watching him —watching his face change when he realizes Billy has been watching him. Billy grins at him, still holding his eyes. And wow, it really doesn’t take a lot to rile him up – Billy sees that Harrington is turning angry already: he squints his eyes and presses his lips together even tighter. His hand fumbles with his stupid sunglasses.
“King Steve!” Billy shouts, turning a few heads around. “What about your princess, huh?” he continues. He grins, feeling excited and tense, his heart speeding up a little. This guy is just too easy to poke and stir— this is going to be so, so much fun.
Steve tries to play it cool— tries, but fails horribly. Billy can see right through him.
“Fuck off, Hargrove,” Steve mumbles, just loud enough for Billy to hear.
Billy cackles and pushes himself off the wall. Brushing away the girl next to him while doing so, but he doesn’t care right now. She’s a boring high school cow, anyway. No fucking fire. This, though – this is going to be interesting.
The game is on, he thinks.
Steve Harrington is drunk and looks messed up. Impressive, Billy thinks. What’s so special about that boring little bitch that has this guy losing his shit? Billy just knows that Harrington is horrible at playing it cool if he’ll push the right buttons. He knows the type. And right now, Harrington is wasted and sad – and that’s really fucking close to angry and looking for a fight, in Billy’s experience.
Yeah, Billy might actually get a fight out of “the king who turned bitch”, as Tommy called him - so salty about it as if Steve had been fucking Tommy's own girlfriend.
Billy takes a step toward Steve who just stands there awkwardly—twirling his sunglasses, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, glancing sideways. He hasn’t decided what to do and is trying really hard to look unbothered. What a poor fucking act, Billy thinks.
People are watching them now. Some stopped talking, staring at them expectantly instead. With their stupid, boring kind of lives, of course they’re eager for any kind of distraction. Billy has learned so much already about Hawkins.
Billy takes another step. Slow and calculated, swaggering, showing Harrington that he’s serious about this. By now, there are probably enough rumors going around about him that even Steve Harrington must have heard them too—and learned that Billy Hargrove isn’t the kind to step down from a fight. Billy made sure to pick up so many fights in his first few days at the new school that everybody would heard about it—and learn to fear him. It’s called earning respect.
Billy looks at Steve Harrington who has finally stopped pretending that he isn’t about to snap and is looking right at Billy now. It makes Billys palms tingle and his stomach flutter pleasantly. Steve is angry, Billy can see that now, and the fight is so, so close.
„You looking for a fight, Harrington?“ he says with a wide grin. Hoping that this will push him over the edge. There’s a loud cackle and he notices that Tommy Hagan is standing close to him now, a grin stretching all over his face while he is watching Steve Harrington. Looks like Tommy’s eager for a fight, too – watching one, at least. He looks almost as excited as Billy probably does.
Steve says nothing, just watches Billy with an unsure expression. Shit. Billy needs to push him some more.
„Maybe you should be going after the creep instead, huh?“ he says and can’t fight a mean smirk when he thinks about how much this is going to hurt Harrington.
„You know, the ugly one, the one who is fucking your girlfriend right now?“
Tommy and Carol both gasp and giggle, and someone else is laughing nervously. Billy feels the mood of the crowd shift now. Everyone has been kissing Billy’s ass the second he arrived, and most of them weren’t bothered when he got into those fights at school – but this, this was different to those losers. This wasn’t pushing someone around at the cafeteria or making fun of someone’s hair or settling scores over who’s the strongest on basketball court. The losers in this shit hole of a town want a hot bad boy, that’s why they were all over him from the start. But they don’t want an asshole. Especially not if he’s fucking with their golden boy Steve Harrington, their former small town king. He might have lost his popularity, but the crowd is still biased.
Except for the few other real assholes, of course. The’d stick to Billy. He knows that this is what’s going on, but it doesn’t matter.
„What the fuck did you just say?“ Steve hisses. And now Billy can see it: He has snapped. His body is tense, his chin up high and his eyes narrowed. Full of anger. Yes. Suddenly, Harrington is two steps closer and up in Billy’s space faster than he would have thought. Billy blinks and almost takes a step back, but stands his ground.
„I said…“ he starts and pushes two fingers against Harrington’s chest, curling his lips into a smug smirk. „...the creep is fucking your girl right now“, he spits out.
Before he can think of anything else, Steve’s fist is in Billy’s face. Unexpected. Hard. Billy is surprised – didn’t think that Harrington would have an actual punch in himself. Pain flares up violently in Billy’s jaw where Steve had hit him and Billy laughs out loud. He feels the excitement and the rush of adrenaline, dizzying and hot. It hurts really good.
He laughs. „Not bad, Harrington!“
Harrington is staring at him with ridiculously wide eyes, he is looking like a fucking girl right now; shocked – maybe scared. Yeah, probably scared. Of Billy or of his own punch? Billy doesn’t know but it just makes him laugh again; he can’t help it.
This fucking guy is such a joke, he thinks.
After landing his one punch, Steve is standing there with his hands hanging loosely at his sides, not moving. Nobody else is moving really, just gathering around, pushing to get a good look at them, talking, hissing – but Billy can’t understand them, the music is too loud. Even Tommy is keeping his distance, only standing there and grinning like an idiot, his eyes flickering between Billy and Steve. Coward.
Billy lets the excitement build up for a moment, feeling the tingling in his arms, the need to move, to do something. He sucks in a sharp breath, licks his lips. His jaw hurts, a deep, dull ache.
Harrington is doing nothing. Just staring at Billy, watching him.
Billy is breathing hard.
There is a silence between two songs.
And then, Billy lunges forward. His hands are up in Harrington’s shirt, yanking at the fabric and pulling him closer. There's a shrill „Oh my God!“, and then the next song starts, music blasting through the house and reaching them outside.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Billy notices that it’s his Mötley Crüe tape again. Someone must have put it back on, maybe to give them a nice soundtrack for their fight. Looks that Kill is playing.
Steve is trying to wiggle out of Billy’s grip, but he’s either doing it half-heartedly or he's weak as fuck; he hasn’t got a chance against Billy. Billy uses his leverage to shove Harrington backwards, making him stumble. His fucking doe eyes are still wide with surprise, but he’s looking more angry than scared now, Billy thinks. Yeah, that’s it. Grow some balls.
„Get off me,“ Steve hisses between gritted teeth. His hands are gripping Billy’s arms, trying to yank them away, but the angle is off.
Billy shoves him again, much harder this time, really putting his weight into it, and Harrington goes down. He stumbles a few steps back when Billy lets go off his shirt, then he’s on the ground. Billy notices that someone behind him steps out of the way instead of catching Steve. There are drunk gasps and a few giggles. Billy licks his lips and gets closer, shaking out his hand – more for show, to be honest, than because of actual pain. He hasn’t even gotten a single punch in, after all.
But it feels good to have all those eyes on him. Feels good to get the crowd going, heating them up a little with excitement.
He’s looking down at Harrington on the ground, his face distorted in pain from the fall. There’s the rush of adrenaline again. Billy wants to shove him more, hit him, punch him, see his face scrunch up even more. Mess him up. He cackles.
Steve’s eyes are fixed on him, dark and angry. For a moment, he doesn’t move, just stays on the ground.
„Much better, Harrington,“ Billy says. He takes another step towards him. Harrington is scrambling to get up, and now there’s actually someone – a douchey looking guy – trying to help him up. Asshole.
Billy wants to kick him, push him down on the ground again and finally, finally punch him, but he waits. His hand is shaking a little, his palm tingling. But he waits, lets him get up first. Watches Harrington run a hand through his ridiculous hair, either a nervous habit or a desperate attempt at trying to keep up appearances. Billy still waits.
Watches Steve stare at him, dark eyes glued to Billy’s face.
Billy waits. Licks his lips.
Steve watches him.
And then Billy lunges forward, finally smacking his fist into Steve’s jaw, finally returning the favor. He doesn’t pause after it like Steve did, he immediately plants his left fist on Steve’s nose. He wants to see him bleed, and he does. Blood is running through the fingers of the hand Harrington has clutched around his nose.
„Fuck you, Hargrove,“ Steve hisses and takes a step back. His voice is different now, low and less composed. It does something to Billy. It makes his stomach flip with excitement. The music is still blaring from the house, and Billy can hear she’s got the looks that kill / she’s got the looks that kill and the heavy guitars.
Billy takes another step towards Harrington, cracking his knuckles and lifting his chin. „Let’s get it on, Harrington,“ he says.
Harrington is so close to giving in, he can see it. In the way he's looking Billy up and down, the way his free hand is clenched into a fist. He’s already moving to get closer to Billy when someone is holding him back.
Bitch.
Some girl has her hand on Steve’s back, mumbling something. Using the opportunity to get to former king, trying her luck. Steve jumps a little and turns around, stopping in his tracks. He just blinks at the girl, then turns back, but Billy can see that the moment has passed. The fire's gone.
Fucking pussy.
He watches Steve pushing away the girl’s hand – not rough, but not gentle either. His eyes are on Billy. Billy sneers at him, laughing. He doesn’t know what else to do, he can’t to look like the loser here. Can’t let people see that he didn’t get what he wanted.
„Fuck off,“ Steve says again, much more quiet this time. He keeps staring at Billy, and Billy keeps staring back. For a moment, it’s just like a fucking movie.
Then, Harrington shrugs and just shakes his head. „I’m outta here,“ he mumbles. Turns on his heels and stomps away. Still clutching his nose, but otherwise trying his best to look like an arrogant, cocky winner when he’s really not, he’s just a douchebag and a pussy, Billy thinks. His blood is still boiling.
Billy just laughs, though. Loudly, so that everyone can hear him, and a few people even join in, he thinks. He spits on the ground, watching Steve leave. Tommy is at his side again and doing the same and throwing his arm around Billy immediately, pulling him in close and talking some shit about Steve being a coward, just forget about him, what a loser.
Billy lights a cigarette and tries his best to forget about Steve fucking Harrington, enjoy the fucking party instead.