Lincoln Log

They are at the Harrington house today Billy wanting to go for a dip and Steve had been excited at the prospect of swimming, an enjoyment he no longer has when he gets older. Claudia is going to pick him up on her way home from the hospital and take him back to her house to save Billy the extra gas of going to the other side of town and then back again to get to the mechanic shop for his shift.

Billy scoops Steve up and tosses him into the water as soon as they are out back in their swim trunks. He squirms and shouts, giggling and screaming as Billy throws him and he sails a good distance before falling into the pool. Steve comes up splashing shouting "Again, again, do it again!" And Billy indulges him for a few rounds before jumping in himself. They stay in the pool, Billy doing laps in between splashing games with Steve and watching him duck underwater dutifully counting how long he can stay under when Steve insists. 

When he starts slowing down, skin going pink despite the sunscreen Billy was sure to put on him, he drags Steve out of the pool despite his protests. He marks Steve go grab a shower, dipping into the Harrington’s room to use their shower for himself. 

Billy tries to convince him he should take a nap, recognizing the way his head starts to lull to the side and he starts yawning every five minutes as a sleepy Steve. He just keeps insisting he is not tired even when he dozes with a bite of macaroni in his mouth. So Billy stoops to trickery. 

Ten minutes after the intro to the Care Bears movie starts playing Steve is out and Billy has a book in hand. He could turn it off, it has done its job, Steve is out making little baby snores where his head rests on Billy’s thigh. He finds it delightful, melodic in a way as the air whistles on a slight gap between his teeth. A gape that has Billy wondering if they self corrected as he got older or if Steve had braces, one of these afternoons he is going to look for childhood photos of Steve and find out. The Harrington’s surely have to have some tucked away somewhere.

The doorbell rings and Billy frowns, everyone should be in school still and Claudia would have called if she was getting off of work early. He looks down at Steve still sound asleep despite the ringing and Billy carefully extracts himself, tucking the afghan around his shoulders before heading to the entryway.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Billy practically growls, less than pleased with his visitor but keeping his voice low so Steve does not hear him and wake up from his nap on the couch. 

"I brought some things for Steve.” Tommy stands in front of him awkwardly holding up a box full of children's toys, worn and well used but still in good shape from what he can see, Billy even recognizes a few from his own childhood. "It's just some stuff we played with as kids. I figured he could borrow them until he's, you know, older again." Tommy gives an awkward shrug, the contents of the box shifting and making a clattering noise. 

"We have toys for him." Billy points out with narrowed eyes, they have gone and gotten him a few things here and there, most of Dustin’s things a little too old for him or collectables, Nancy had even brought some of Mike’s old toys over for him to play with.

"These were some of his favorites growing up. He always came over to play with them. Loved the lincoln logs best." Tommy explains shifting the box again with another clattering, making the lincoln logs tucked to one side more viable. Bill is pretty sure Tommy was his favorite, not the toys but he is not about to say that. No need to stroke his ego. 

“I couldn't find any of his old things in the basement, like no boxes marked toys or anything of the sort. The only thing close was some creepy doll with purple marker over half of her face.” He says it like a statement but it is a question because it felt off, not a single toy saved from childhood, not a stray toy car or a random lego in a junk drawer. 

Tommy has a look on his face that Billy is not familiar with, kind of sick and disgusted, not something he has ever seen on him before. “Stevie never really had a lot of toys, his parents didn’t want him leaving them lying around so they just didn’t get him a lot of things and if he did leave anything around it got thrown away.” Billy is pretty sure his own face matches Tommy’s now. “As for the doll that’s Laura, Carol gave him it, she was his babysitter for a week.”

“Carol babysat Steve?” That math is not adding up.

“No, the doll.” Billy is just more confused. 

“What?” He has a sinking feeling.

That sour face just gets worse, anger in his voice “It was around when they first started leaving Steve home, they’d hire nannies from a service and sometimes they left before the nanny got there. You’ll have to ask Carol or him for specifics, I wasn’t there but Carol was hanging out for a few hours after school one afternoon and the nanny still hadn’t shown up when it was time for her to leave." 

A week Tommy had said, Steve was all by himself for a week. Billy is not sure he wants to hear more but Tommy plows on. "Steve, as I'm sure you know, isn't a big fan of being alone so Carol left the doll with him and told him she’d watch him until the nanny got there. The nanny never showed and it was just Steve and the doll for a fucking week. He wouldn't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for years after that. I don’t know if it’s happened for this version of him or not yet. I think he’s about the age when it happened.”

It has definitely already happened. The one time Claudia tried to give him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he got sick, they just figured he was allergic. Steve to busy to tell them otherwise. Claudia had given him some antihistamines and put him to bed, keeping an eye on him, chalking it up to Steve not knowing he had an allergy. They should have asked more questions about it clearly.

“That’s fucked up.” Billy grunts out as he takes a step backwards pushing the door open wider.

“Yeah… they’re fucked up.” Tommy stands there awkwardly holding the box out like he is not sure what to do with it. 

Billy lets him stand there sweating for a few minutes before finally moving back further and holding the door open. “You coming in or what?” arm sweeping out with the invitation. Tommy nods and scrambles inside, the box clanking and Billy glares at him and holds a finger over his mouth shushing him before cutting his eyes to the living room, good he did not wake Steve.

“Doesn't explain the marker on the doll's face.” Billy’s tone is quiet as he walks into the living room. Tommy follows him after taking his shoes off, careful not to let the box make a lot of noise. Billy shifts Steve enough to sit down on the couch again, Steve is tuckered out enough to not even notice the change in elevation, he just goes on snoring. 

“The doll colony had a cholera outbreak,” Billy’s face screws up as he turns to see Tommy placing the box by the coffee table before flopping into the chair. Tommy gives him a sheepish look and shrugs “we were six and we didn't know what cholera was or the symptoms. One of us had heard it somewhere and just decided it would present in purpling of the face.”

They lapse into soft chatter, catching up and shooting the shit while the Care Bears movie continues to play in the background and Steve softly snores. Either Tommy has lightened up since they last spoke or he was never all that bad and Billy was just hating on him because of his own bad mood. It is probably a little bit of both.

-

“Hello sleeping beauty.” Billy teases, dragging a hand through Steve's hair, wild from sleep, a smile quirking his lips as the kid leans into it and hums as he blinks his eyes open.

“Did I fall asleep?” He asks with a frown, almost a pout. “I wasn’t even tired.” Billy sucks his lips in at the whining complaint to keep from laughing but Tommy on the chair nearby does not hold his in and has those annoyed eyes flicking over to him. “When did you get here?”

“While you were snoring.” 

“I don’t snore!” Steve protests like the idea is offensive before turning worried eyes up at Billy. “Do I snore?”

“A little,” Steve’s lip wobbles and Billy hurries to continue “it’s a very cute snore, isn’t it Tommy?” Billy turns a threatening look on Tommy, he had better not say the wrong thing and make Steve cry..

For a second Billy thinks he is going to, just to piss him off with the wide grin he shoots their way but his look softens as he turns his eyes on Steve “Cutest snore I’ve ever heard buddy.”

“Well I guess that’s okay then.” Steve mutters rubbing at his eyes and letting his head flop back down against Billy’s thigh. For a minute it looks like Steve is going to go back to sleep but he flips over and gives a sigh instead and Billy knows he is ready to get up and do something.

“Tommy brought something for you, why don’t you check it out.” Billy uses his foot to point at the box.

Steve looks between them before scrambling up off of the couch to look into it, eyes going wide as he drags out the lincoln logs. “I love linkin logs,” no one corrects him on the name “I always used to play with them with… oh you I used to play with them with you.” Steve says brightly as Tommy slips down to the floor to sit across from him on the other side of the table.

“I know buddy, it’s why I brought them over, I thought you might want to play.” Tommy shrugs a little awkward until Steve passes him some of the logs and then he is making a little square structure with them.

“I do, thank you.” Steve nods, making his own little thing out of logs. Billy feels a little awkward and forgotten sitting on the couch essentially going ignored. It is not a pleasant feeling. This is what it is going to be like when Steve is his proper age again, he is going to forget about Billy but probably not Tommy they were friends for a long time before their fight. Billy does not have that history with Steve. Before he can get too worked up over it Steve turns toward him, holding out a log in offer. “Billy, will you play with me and Tommy?”

“Sure.” Billy slides down to the carpet next to Steve ignoring the look Tommy is sending him, like he knows Billy is utterly pleased to be remembered and asked to play. “We can only play for a bit kiddo, Claudia’s going to come by in a bit to take you home with her.” Billy reminds, and even though Steve knew it was coming he still protests.

“But I want to stay with you.” Steve makes big pleading eyes up at him and Billy would honestly cave if he could.

“I have to work at the shop tonight.” Steve's whole face falls with disappointment. “Claudia told me she’s going to make spaghetti with mushrooms for dinner, your favorite.” Billy is quick to add, it only brightens his face a little. 

“Will you come over after?”

“I have to close. You’ll be in bed before then.” Billy works closing and then opens the shop the following morning so even if Steve was not going to be asleep already it would be a bad idea, he is slow in the shop when he is tired. Better to have his wits about him when he is messing around with the cars and the occasional bike that comes into the shop. 

“But I'll see you tomorrow?” There is that lip wobble again and Billy can see Tommy across the table looking seconds away from answering for him even though he does not have that authority.

“Yes,” Steve reaches out with his pinkie and Billy hooks them together before he can ask “I promise.” The smile he gets wide and toothy, has Billy smiling too even as Steve asks his next question.

“Do you think Tommy could come over and play again sometime?” Billy turns and looks at Tommy giving him a far less effective hopeful look. It is not like he is about to be swayed by him, it is Steve’s equally and much more effective hopeful look that has him giving in without much fuss.

“I guess.” Billy says it with the most dramatic sigh he can muster. 

Steve just shoots up and wraps his arms around his neck, pressing his face close to his ear. “Don’t worry you’re still my favorite.” and he was not, honestly but he cannot help grinning at the declaration as he hugs Steve back shooting Tommy a smug look, he is still the favorite. Billy ignores the little voice that creeps in adding for now , knowing this will not last forever.

-End