Chapter Text
Billy was only half surprised when it was Max who answered Harrington’s front door. She had a wad of cash clenched in her sweaty palm and Lucas Sinclair hovering over her left shoulder. Billy opened his mouth to ask what the hell she was doing here on game night but the door slammed closed in his face before a single syllable could escape. From within the entryway he heard his sister yell, “It’s not the pizza guy, Steve, it’s just Billy!”
“Did you let him in?” Will shouted back.
“No! Why would I!?”
Billy rolled his eyes; she may not be into tabletop gaming like the rest of the Party, but he should have expected her to be hanging out with El and Lucas. Wherever they went, she tended to follow… And vice versa. Such behavior would have once been gross and irritating, but the new and improved Billy was too relieved that his sister had decent, caring friends to give a shit.
There was a brief series of scuffles, grunts, and two comically loud yelps from Max and Lucas (likely a result of being forcefully shooed away) before the door was pulled wide again to reveal his boyfriend. Steve had a pair of worn green gym shorts and an oddly familiar band tee on, but there was a lot of skin still on open display. Enough to have Billy blushing furiously under the dim porch lights. The older boy crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “What can I do for you this evening, Hargrove?”
“I forgot it was your turn to host the session. I should have brought you some beers or something.”
“Huh?”
Slowly, Billy pulled a sheet of folded paper from his back pocket and waved it back and forth in front of Steve’s face. “It’s my first time playing with your little herd of hellspawn, baby. Dustin and I spent five fucking hours making this Barbarian and writing his tragic backstory while you were unfortunately unconscious. Now are you gonna let me in to roll some dice or what?”
Steve answered him with a grin, pulling Billy into the house by the collar of his (for once) mostly buttoned shirt. He kicked the door closed behind them, fingers already tangling through Billy’s hair to tug him close for a messy kiss. When they came back up for air Steve chuckled and tucked a loose blonde curl behind Billy’s ear. “I forgot you were joining them tonight or I would have put on a decent outfit.”
“You know it’s only going to get messed up, right, baby?”
Steve flushed cutely and buried his warm face in the crook of Billy’s neck. His voice was muffled when he said, “Don’t be a dick.”
“Me? A dick?” Billy clasped his hand over his heart and scoffed dramatically. “Never.”
“Are you going to stand there being gross with Steve all night or are you going to join the campaign?” Dustin’s voice carried loudly from the out in the living room. Steve smiled and shook his head, fondness written in every line of his expression.
"They've been weirdly excited all afternoon and now I understand why. This promises to be an interesting night."
“Oh, it'll be something, babe."
"We're waiting!" Dustin was growing annoyed.
"Alright, nerds, get ready for some major ass kicking,” Billy declared. With one last peck on the lips, he slipped out of his boyfriend’s embrace and stomped around the corner. “Where are my dice? I’m ready to get this show on the road.”
“Which class did you pick?” Lucas asked.
“Barbarian.”
“Finally! We need another tank.”
“Could have used a healer, too,” Mike sighed. “But a Barbarian seems fitting. Billy knows how to win fights and we need that kind of tactical skill to defeat the villain.”
Billy settled in on the empty side of the table and set up his character sheet, accepting the dice Will handed him with a grateful nod and a quiet, "Thanks, kid."
—
Steve was turning into a pile of happy, contented, love-struck goo on the couch; this was one of the best nights he’d had in years. Billy sat on the floor directly in front of him, legs crossed and elbows propped on the table next to his dice and character sheet. His tongue poked out from between his teeth and his thick eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Every once and awhile, usually when he needed good luck before a roll, he'd lean back for a quick kiss on the forehead from Steve. The kids were kind enough to only make disgusted sounds every second or third time that happened, much to the brunette's quiet approval.
The group took a quick break when the pizza finally arrived, scarfing down two or three slices apiece before hurrying back to the coffee table – and their suspenseful battle with a group of bespelled prison guards. Steve chose not to comment on the speed at which Billy ate his own dinner, obviously just as enthusiastic as the rest to start playing again.
“It’s your turn, Colwyn,” Will stated, once they were settled in their spots with cans of pop and an open bag of Twizzlers. Billy picked up his dice and rattled them around his hand, receiving his usual forehead kiss before releasing them onto the table.
“Ah! The favor of your fair maiden has granted you great success on the battlefield!” Dustin crowed. Steve couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. He’d never been called a fair maiden before, and it was weirdly cute. He’d be happy to hear it again, perhaps even from Billy. “You got a natural twenty, dude!”
“Bitchin,” El piped up from across the room, where she and Max were playing Nintendo.
Will rolled for their opponent and smiled up at the Party from behind his Player’s Handbook. “He failed his Con save, which means Colwyn’s attack is fatal.”
The whole party whooped with victorious excitement, though none were louder than Billy. “Woohoo!”
Will turned to their Barbarian with wide, eager eyes. “How do you want to finish off the leader of the royal guard?”
Billy mimed making one clean slice with an invisible weapon and whistled through his teeth for added effect. “One clean blow, if that’s alright with you, Dungeon Master. I’d like to give the battle cry of my clan and decapitate him with a single swipe of my great-axe.”
Will slipped easily into his storytelling voice, his pale hands swirling through the air as he narrated the action. “Colwyn the Barbarian quickly raises his great-axe over his head and screams out a series of words in his native tongue. He slams his weapon into the Captain of the Guard’s fragile human neck and rends it cleanly from his shoulders! As both pieces of the cruel man's body fall to the ground…”
Billy gasped dramatically and pretended to convulse for a moment while the other Party members looked on with a mixture of confusion and glee. The oldest member of the campaign flipped his paper over with a flourish worthy of any Hollywood production, winking at Will conspiratorially. The Dungeon Master swapped Billy’s figurine on the map with a totally different one from under the table.
“Colwyn transforms from a Barbarian wielding a mighty axe into… an elven Prince with a finely crafted silver sword!”
“What!?” Dustin flailed, nearly tipping over. “You guys planned a plot twist behind our backs during Billy’s first session?!”
“The curse is broken at last!” Billy announced in lieu of a direct answer. Steve had to bite his lip more firmly than before to keep from giggling at the slight accent his adorable boyfriend used to differentiate his new character from the Barbarian. Billy tilted his head forward in mimicry of a royal bow, curls sweeping against his new character sheet. “Prince Colwyn at your service, my friends.”
Mike and Lucas stared across the table at their once-enemy, mouths open wide enough to catch flies. Max hid her face behind her hands, stifling giddy laughter even as El won whatever game they’d been playing. Steve couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and pressed a quick peck to Billy’s cheek, whispering in the blonde’s ear too quietly for the kids to catch, “My handsome hero, always saving the day.”
Billy’s mouth quirked up into an easy grin and Steve’s heart fluttered.
Yeah, he thought, gathering a few of those golden curls into his hands to braid absentmindedly. Life is good.
—
Steve held perfectly still while Max and El painted his nails an hour or so later, once all the dice and maps and figurines had been safely stored away for the night. Billy watched with mild envy, which his observant boyfriend picked up on after a few minutes of silence. The brunette nodded toward the basket of nail polishes he’d slowly been acquiring for the girls. “Do you want a turn next?”
“Can’t.”
“Sure you can. There’s plenty of nail polish to go around.”
Max frowned, clearly angry about something, and Billy shifted against the couch. “I really can’t, baby. My Dad… Doesn’t know that I have a boyfriend. He’s not very understanding, if you catch my drift.”
“He’s not so much a parent as an amateur boxer,” Max glared at Steve’s right pinky like it had murdered her favorite muppet. Her opinion of her stepfather was clearly very low. Steve’s breath froze in his lungs when Billy grimaced in distress at her statement; he’d always known their situation wasn’t great overall but he hadn’t known Neil was that dangerous.
“Move in with me,” he blurted. “You’re an adult, right? Just… Leave them behind. Come live here instead. There’s still an empty bedroom at the end of the hall and you can have it, if you want.”
Steve was incredibly grateful that all the boys were in the kitchen, arguing over which snacks went best with Nightmare on Elm Street, because the looks he got from Max and El were enough to turn him totally red. El broke the tension by turning to Billy and calmly stating: “You should definitely live with Steve. He has a bat so he can keep you safe.”
“It’s not that simple,” Billy smiled back a little sadly. Steve’s heart throbbed unpleasantly at the sight and he leaned his head sideways to rest it against his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Someone needs to take care of Max.”
“I can take care of myself,” Max stuck her tongue out. “Anyway, he’s only mean to you because you’re a guy, like him. He’s jealous of the fact your life isn’t total shit.”
Steve was no longer surprised by the snippets of wisdom Max tended to spout at the oddest moments, but Billy seemed taken aback by the idea that his father’s abuse is born out of jealousy instead of disappointment. His voice was solemn when he asked, “What makes you say that?”
“You’ve got pretty good grades, you saved up to buy a cool car, you’re on the basketball team, and you have a solid group of friends. He’s a lonely old drunk who’s losing his looks and hates his job. Of course he’s going to take his drunken, irrational frustration out on you.”
“But-”
“El is right,” Max shot her brother a look carrying far too much understanding for a fourteen-year-old. “You should move in with Steve.”
Billy leaned his head to rest atop Steve’s, sighing quietly. “Okay. If you mean it, baby, I’d be much happier paying you rent than that creep.”
“There’s no rent.”
“You can’t just let me stay here for free, pretty boy. That’s not fair to Robin.”
“She doesn’t pay rent either. There’s no need; I own the house.”
“Shit. I forgot you’re loaded.”
“Well, not as loaded as before, but yeah. Pretty loaded,” Steve teased. “But you will definitely be put to work as a handyman.”
“So does this mean we can paint your nails?” Max beamed. Billy sighed heavily as if put upon and stuck out his work-calloused hands.
“Be my guests, ladies.”
El and Max had claimed the guest room for the night and the boys were all piled into their sleeping bags around the living room. Billy slung his arm low around Steve’s waist and turned toward the front door, “I suppose I should head back for the evening, so it’s time to walk me out like a gentleman. Thanks for letting Max stay over, though, babe.”
Steve scowled and locked his fingers behind Billy’s neck once they reached the privacy of the entryway, letting his forearms rest on his boyfriend’s shoulders. “You’re not staying over?”
“Am I being invited to spend the night, hot stuff?”
The brunette ducked his head and blushed yet again. “I mean… Yeah? If we’re going to be roommates soon, I don't think this is much of a stretch…”
“You should probably talk to Robin about this whole 'roomie' situation before I start packing up my vinyl,” the shorter boy chuckled against Steve’s cheek. “I can just wipe off the makeup before I get home, anyway. Neil won’t notice before he leaves for work.”
“Robin already agreed to let you move in, Billy. We talked about it last week but I didn’t know things were that bad at your place or I would have asked sooner. I was planning a sort of grand gesture to pop the question– not that question of course but, well, you get it.”
“Yeah,” Billy pressed a gentle kiss to Steve’s rosy cheek. “I get it. Bedtime?”
“Bedtime.”
As Billy curled around Steve’s back and held him close, he murmured, “I love you, Steve Harrington.”
Steve brought Billy’s knuckles up to his mouth and left lingering kisses against each and every one. “I love you too, Billy Hargrove. Goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“If you’re in them? Always.”