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Steve woke up slowly, blinking at the bright light positioned directly above him. It took him a second to figure out where he was, but there was no mistaking the aggressively white walls or the overwhelmingly sterile smell permeating the air. He was in the hospital.
When Dustin had called Steve, telling him a demodog had turned up when they were hanging out in the junkyard, he didn’t even stop to think through a legit plan. Kids. Trouble. Protect. The only thoughts in his head.
Sure enough when he arrived, Dustin, Max, Lucas, and Will were hiding in the empty school bus, the demodog circling it as it calculated it’s best plan of attack.
One demodog Steve could handle. It was easy. A well aimed swing of the bat and he’d broken it’s skull open.
But the second one…
The second one had come out of nowhere, attacking Steve from behind and taking him down like it was nothing.
“Why the fuck didn’t I bring backup…Billy’s gonna be pissed.”
His last thought before he blacked out.
Steve gently pushed himself up into a slightly more upright position, wincing at the sharp pain in his shoulder. Guess the dog must have gotten him pretty good. He was alone in his room, contemplating hitting the call button for the nurse to up his pain meds, when a very bedraggled looking Billy Hargrove entered his room.
Billy’s eyes widened when he saw that Steve was awake, but he schooled his features, coming to stand at Steve’s bedside and fixing him with a glare.
“Guess you’re alive then,” Billy said gruffly.
Steve huffed a laugh.
“Guess so…look, I know-
“No you don’t know. God, do you have any idea what would have happened if the dipshits hadn’t called me to back your ass up? If I had gotten there even a minute later than I did…” Billy trailed off, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes.
Steve swallowed hard. When Billy had joined the party, on accident because he just happened to show up when crazy Upside Down shit was happening, Steve had been mildly terrified. Not of Billy exactly, but for the way Billy made him feel. It was like Nancy all over again. Steve could never keep his head on straight when she was in danger. And the thought of Billy being in danger was even worse, considering Steve hadn’t figured out how to tell the other boy he was head over heels for him yet so like, what if Billy died without knowing?
“I’m sorry,” Steve said, voice just above a whisper.
Billy looked down at Steve, tears spilling over as he sat on the bed next to the other boy, brushing Steve’s hair back from his forehead with trembling fingers.
“I almost lost you,” Billy said brokenly and Steve’s eyes widened because the way Billy was looking at him made him think that maybe, just maybe, Billy cared as much about Steve as Steve did about him.
With his good hand, Steve covered Billy’s hand with his own, pressing his lips to the other boy’s palm, not missing the way it made Billy’s breath hitch.
Billy leaned forward, brushing his nose against Steve’s.
“Tell me I’m not reading this wrong,” he pleaded.
By way of an answer, Steve tipped his chin up and pressed his lips to Billy’s and all he could think was, finally. I’m finally fucking kissing him and it’s friggin fantastic. Billy pulled away when Steve tried to deepen the kiss, smiling fondly at him.
“Probably not a good idea when you’re, ya know, injured in a hospital bed,” he teased.
Steve pouted, feeling mildly soothed when Billy curled up on the bed next to him. Sure, the nurses would probably give them funny looks, but Billy could take anyone who took any real issue with it.
“You almost died,” Billy said quietly.
Steve sighed, running his fingers through Billy’s curls.
“I know.”
“Don’t do it again.”
Steve nodded, pulling Billy closer and kissing his forehead.
“I won’t. I promise.”
Billy grumbled something that might have been “damn right you fucking promise” before his eyes slipped shut. He must be exhausted, Steve thought, suddenly realizing he was pretty tired too.
Well, almost getting killed by a creepy ass monster from the Upside Down sucked, but at least he got to fall asleep with Billy in his arms.
Worth it.