PSL with moretolifethanstupidboys

[fuckboyofhawkins]

Its been a week and a half since Billy appeared outside Steve's window and made it known that he was alive. Steve had been quick to reach the Byers the day after he'd shown up, explaining as much as he could before pulling Billy on the phone with El.

They'd talked for hours. Longer than Billy thought he'd talked to anyone else. Ever.

Along the way he'd asked to see his sister, but at every mention of it Steve stopped him. 'Its for her safety' he would say. 'Or for your own' was another he would used.

Needless to say, he wasn't happy about it. He was starting to get antsy. To get cabin fever. To freak out.

Until El and Will finally told him it was okay. That there was nothing left of the actual Mind Flayer inside him. Well, nothing dangerous anyways. His powers were connected, yes, but it wasn't anything they thought would be bad.

Still, he'd insisted El call Max. "Please just...I can't. I can't just call. Please get her over here." He said, chewing on his lip as he watched her call.

And then after that? He'd been a nervous fucking wreck. He paced the living room and the hall, up the stairs to Steve's room to look out the window and back down.

"Fuck I can't do this!"

Comments

[scoopsspy]

The week had been hard on both of them; Steve hadn't enjoyed keeping Billy locked up and away from his sister or the others but until he was sure that they'd be safe, he just couldn't risk it.

But with El and Will's okay, their assurance that the Mind Flayer itself was gone and all that remained were memories and Billy's new powers, Steve finally agreed to let Billy contact Max. It was El who called, told her to come around to Steve's for lunch and now they were waiting.

Steve watched Billy pace until he finally stopped for long enough for him to grab the younger man's shoulders.

"Hey, you can. You can do this. She's gonna be happy to see you." His assurances are interrupted by a knock at the door. "She's here. Breathe. You can do this. Go answer the door."

[fuckboyofhawkins]

His eyes widened slightly at the knock, feeling like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. He took a breath though, calming himself before slowly turning to the door.

He walked up, standing there for a long moment until he heard a second knock. Max was always impatient and now was no different so he finally pulled the door open, tilting his head as he also pushed up the glass door.

"Hey Max." He said softly, waiting to see how she woulc respond.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

When El had called Max and told her to come to Steve's, she'd been confused and excited. She had't even known they were coming back to Hawkins and it was odd that they were staying with Steve.

But her best friend had called so of course she'd come! She missed them after all.

Her mum drops her off and leaves and she makes her way up to the door, knocking loudly. She waits all of 15 seconds before knocking again. When the door is pulled open though...

"Billy?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He swallowed again, shifting before nodding. A hand came up, absently rubbing at his chest, at the scar. It was something he'd started doing when he got nervous. A tick that Steve had probably started noticing too.

"I...so I'm not dead?" He said, biting his lip before taking a step closer. "I mean...I was, but I'm not now." He didn't continue though, since he knew he would only confuse her and cause more questions.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

Max continues to stare for a long moment, her eyes filling with tears as she looks at her step-brother, the one she'd mourned for the last six months.

And she throws herself at him, arms wrapping tight around his waist as she sobs into his chest.

"Billy!"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He tensed for a moment until he realized she was hugging him. Then his arms wound around her and pulled her in tight against him. He buried his face in her hair, closing his eyes. "I'm fucking sorry, Max. Swear to fucking god, so sorry." He kept whispering into her hair over and over again.

And in just a few moments, he actually let out a sob, holding her tighter. He'd missed her. For fucks sake, he'd missed her so much but he hadn't realized just how much until this moment. He just shook his head as he kept whispering apologies, feeling like none of it was enough.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

For every apology Billy whispered into her hair, Max whispered her own reassurances that it was okay, that they were okay. He was alive, he was back and that was what mattered.

After a few minutes like that, Max pulls back and scrubs the tears off her face before punching him in the arm.

"How long?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He looked at his arm and then at her, scrubbing the tears from his own face as he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, how long? How long have I been alive?" He asked, thinking about it.

"Three months? Little over actually. And no, I couldn't contact you. Fucking Russians had me in some...research facility."

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

"Three months?!" He's been alive for three months and no one knew? She's seen what the Russians did to Steve and can only imagine what they could do when given three months.

"And how long have you been here?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He looked over his shoulder at Steve and El, raising an eyebrow again before looking back at her. "A week and a half." He said before pulling her inside and shutting the door. He didn't really want anyone else seeing him just yet so this was easier.

He pulled her to the couch before sitting down. "I'm sorry, Max. I'm sorry about...everything. All of it. Not just...the um." He still had his moments now and then when bringing up the Flayer was almost painful for him and now seemed to be one of those times. So he went quiet, closing his eyes.

After counting silently and taking a breath he opened them again, clearing his throat. "Not just what happened with the Flayer. I mean before that too."

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

"A week and a half?" And now Max looks mad because she feels mad. Her brother had been back in town, alive for months and they'd kept it from her!

Turning to Steve and El, she knows her facial expression belies her feeling of betrayal. "You knew?"

She goes easily when Billy tugs her over to the couch and sis beside him. Her hand comes up to his face and she cups his cheek gently.

"It's okay, Billy. It doesn't matter anymore."

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He pressed into the touch before smiling at her. "Don't get mad at them. They were making sure it was safe." He murmured softly, knowing they were right even if he'd hated it.

"I'm not...the same, Max. I'm different now. You need to know that." He said to her, slowly looking at them before motioning to Steve. "Go get a cup or something. I need to show her." Just like he'd shown Steve and El and Will. His sister needed to know the truth too.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

Max looks between her best friend and her brother for a moment before nodding at El, who smiles and nods back and she turns her attention back to Billy.

"Show me what? What's going on, Billy?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He waited until Steve brought the cup in. "Just watch." He said to her, waiting for Steve to toss the cup into the air.

A second later it was suspended, unmoving in the open air. If Max looked at El, she would quickly realize it wasn't the other girl. And if she looked at Billy, she would see his hand up, like he was holding it in the air. But his head was turned away, hiding his eyes just like he'd done with El and Will, just like he did with Steve now. Anytime he used his powers.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

Max's eyes go wide when she realises that it's Billy that's holding the glass up in the air. There's no nose bleed, like El gets but he's hiding his face while he does it.

"Billy... what happened?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

"Like I said...I was dead. Then I wasn't. Russians did something...mixed something from the Upside Down in with something the Flayer left behind. Brought me back and left me with powers." He lifted his face just a little so he could look at the glass and it gave Max a chance to see his eyes.

Moments later he was shutting them though. "Don't...look at me though. I just...I don't want you to see."

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

The expression on Max's face when she sees Billy's eyes is shocked, but there's no disgust to be seen. Mostly, she just feels sad; sad that he'd had to go through everything he did only to end up a prisoner and experiment for the Russians before he was able to find his way home.

"I'm just glad you're alive, Billy." Because that was the main thing, right? Who cares if his eyes were creepy sometimes?

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He looked at her again, biting his lip before dropping the cup lightly on the coffee table and pulling her into another tight hug. "I fucking missed you, Max." He whispered into her hair, feeling tears stinging his eyes.

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

Max returns the hug easily, wrapping her arms around him as tight as she can, burying her face into his chest and letting out a soft sob. Six months had been so long and she felt like she'd been one of the only few people who even cared he was gone.

To have him back... her heart felt like it was going to explode.

"I missed you too."

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He hated that it was his fault she was so sad. He really did, but it wasn't like he'd had any control over the situation. He just continued to hold her, keeping his arm around her before looking at the others.

"I don't...think anyone is going to come looking for me. At least not anytime soon." He cleared his throat, looking over at Steve and then at El. He'd been avoiding talking about it, but he stood slowly after letting go of Max.

He ran his fingers through his hair, walking over to the table where the newspaper sat. "I sort of let it slip my mind, but this reminded me." He opened it, turning the front page to everyone. The article was about a huge power and water preservation station in Chicago that'd had some sort of meltdown and blown up after going critical.

"This is where I was. I...um. I did this."

[moretolifethanstupidboys]

Max gets up from the couch and follows Billy over to the table, pressing into his side as he flips the paper around for Steve and El to see.

The article on the front page is something about a meltdown and Max just stares at it in shock, her wide eyes looking between her brother, the paper and her friends, trying to read the reaction of the room.

"You did that? How?"

[fuckboyofhawkins]

He stared at his sister as she stared at the paper and then at him again, asking him how it was him.

"I got mad. They..." He started, frowning deeply before scrubbing a hand over his face. "I wasn't cooperating the way they wanted me to. They made...threats. Against you, El, everyone. To use you against me, to make me...behave."

He ducked his head, breathing out slowly and a bit shakily. He really wasn't sure he wanted to go into detail about this. Wasn't sure how any of them would react or if he even wanted to know how they would.

"It just...started with the guards. But the angrier I got..." He looked down, staring at the floor. "I blew the place up..."