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July 4th, 1985 - the day it all went to shit.
Y/n knew it was a dangerous thing from the start, but there was something about him that had an unbreakable pull to her. Billy Hargrove, Hawkins High newest member and newcome bad boy. Everything about him spelled trouble -- from his speeding, his smoking, his outfits, everything. But did that stop her? No.
Earfuls from her best friend didn't help sway her mind -- all she cared about was the fact that a guy finally showed interest in her, no matter who it was.
Oftentimes she wished it had been someone other than Billy. But the love she felt for him was too intense to just pull away as easily as she had hoped. He had her completely wrapped around his finger and he adored it.
"Can't you see he's trouble?" Amari murmured to Y/n, eyeing him grumpily as he walked away from the lockers, winking at Y/n. "He's not! Just case he looks the part doesn't mean he actually is bad," she defended, holding her books close to her chest. She smiled as he walked away, admiring him behind. "How did I get so lucky...?" she murmured. Amari huffed and shook her head, opting to not say a word. Her best friend was happy, that was what was important. She just hoped she was safe, too.
The first couple of months were great. He was everything Y/n had dreamed him to be -- handsome, respectful, thoughtful, caring... It wasn't until Y/n met his family that she got a glimpse into his true self.
"Hey! Maxine, right?" Y/n asked, smiling at Billy's little sister. "It's Max," she murmured, looking up at you confused. "Wait, you're Billy's girlfriend?" She nodded, hoping she didn't already fuck up. Max fought back a scoff, "Wow, I'm impressed. Praying he wont corrupt you like he's done to everyone else..." she responded, starting to walk away. "Corrupt? Wait, what do you mean?"
"You're like, a soft princess compared to him. He's like, a rough, evil criminal that's trying to steal your crown," she shrugged. "Like I said -- keep an eye out. You seem like a great girl. I don't want him to hurt you," she said under her breath, her eyes showing her sincerity. Y/n furrowed her brows in confusion, looking down at her feet when she saw Billy come back in, sliding off his black jacket.
"You okay there?" he raised a brow in concern, moving behind you to pull you closer to his chest as he guided you into the dining room. "Yeah. Just talked to Max a little," she responded softly. His expression changed to an annoyed huff, "Did she piss you off? I swear, if she upset you--"
"Billy, no! She's a sweetheart," She responded quickly, confused by his sudden jump in firey attitude. "It's okay." He hummed and guided her into the dining room.
Apparently, his father wasn't too impressed with how Billy was acting during dinner. He went out back into the backyard and Y/n could hear the screaming all the way from inside. When he came back, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house before she could even thank Mrs. Hargrove for dinner or say goodbye to Max.
"Billy? What's wrong?" she asked quickly, trying to keep up with him. He just grunted and helped her in the car without a word. He was silent all the way home, simply saying, "I'll see you at school." after she got out of the car, and drove off.
She called Amari that night in tears, afraid she had done something wrong, when in reality she knew she couldn't've. That was the first time she realized Billy wasn't close with his family, especially his father, in the slightest; which was a huge difference to Y/n with her mom and brother, Dustin.
Things continued well until Billy released that she had a friendship with Steve Harrington -- someone he had grown to hate only after meeting him once. He was ready to take on Hawkins High by storm, and Steve was in his way. The Halloween party where Billy made a grand debut to the highschool was a wild success -- minus a small fight between the pair because of Steve.
"I don't want you talking to that guy," Billy said sternly, leaning against his car door, cigarette in mouth. He looked up at her with a dark expression, seeing her face fall. "He's just someone I know because of Nancy. He's dating her."
"Doesn't look like it anymore," he smirked, amused by the fight from earlier. "And if they are, miss Wheeler's a bit of a slut."
"Hey! She's my friend, don't call her that!" Y/n defended, shocked by his uncalled for attitude. He scoffed and opened the door for her, "Yeah, whatever. If I saw you going home drunk with another guy? It wouldn't be pretty," he said coldly, shutting the door as she got in.
Things got even worse between her and Billy after he found out she was still hanging around Steve after he told her not to. After Billy lost Max, and his father forced him to cancel their date, he booked it to Will Byer's house where he was told she could be at. The last thing he expected was to see Harrington there, let alone her in the window with his sister.
"Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?" He smirked, lighting his cigarette. "Yeah, it's me, don't cream your pants," Steve responded, his hands on hips. "What are you doin' here, amigo?" he asked, setting his jacket on the hood of his car. Steve took a few steps forward, "I could ask you the same thing, amigo," he responded coldly. "Looking for my step-sister. Little birdie told me she was here," he said. Steve shrugged, "Huh, that's weird. I dunno her."
"Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch?"
"Doesn't ring a bell, sorry buddy," Steve responded. Billy shook his head and laughed, "You know, while I'm at it... I can't seem to find my girlfriend, either. Know anything about that, Harrington?" he snapped, growing impatient. Steve crossed his arms, "Girlfriend and sister missing, and you think I have something to do with that? Jesus, were you dropped on your head a lot as a child? I said I don't know where they are. Haven't seen Y/n in awhile, either."
Billy took his cigarette out of his mouth and pointed at the window, "Then who are they?" Steve turned around and sighed heavily, "Oh, shit... Listen--" Billy swung an intense punch at his cheek and he stumbled back, Billy grabbing the lapels of his jacket, "I told you to plant your feet, and I also said to stay away from Y/n," he growled, throwing him to the ground and kicking his stomach. Steve groaned in pain as he stepped over him and threw the door open.
"Well, well, well... Two birds with one stone. And with Lucas Sinclair! What a surprise," he walked in, his vision glued to Lucas. He turned to Max with a disappointed sneer, "I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max. And you too!" He turned to Y/n with an accusing finger. "Nancy get all in your head? What, are you drunk too?"
"Billy, Max was with me! Leave her out of this!" she stepped in between them, her jaw clenched as she starred up at him. "I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart.'' he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall, one hand on her hip and the other above her head, "I'll deal with you later," his voice was dark. He pulled away and pointed to Max, "You disobeyed me. You know what happens when you disobey me." he glanced back at Y/n who looked stunned, "I break things." He grabbed Lucas and shoved him back against the bookshelf, some of the items falling off and breaking.
"BILLY!" Y/n yelled out in shock, frozen in place and unsure of what to do. He started yelling at him when she ran up and pulled him back by his shirt, grabbing his arms, "Billy, what the fuck is wrong with you?! Leave him alone--" Billy swung his arm and smacked the side of your face much harder than he intended, and he glanced at his arm then over at you as his expression turned from angry to downright pissed. "I told you, not to get involved, God damn it!" he yelled at her.
Without missing a beat, a furious Steve came back and grabbed Billy by the shirt, punching him square in the face as he fell down with a loud crash. Dustin ran over to grab his sister and make sure she was okay as she started to cry, the sting against her cheek throbbing as her ears were ringing from the screaming.
That was the first night Y/n got a true taste of Billy Hargrove. That night had changed a lot about their relationship -- most notably, whenever he was angry. He continued to be gentle with her and did his best to be a better man for her -- because truthfully, he had fallen hard for this woman. But as the months past it became increasingly harder for him to reject his childhood way of dealing with things, and allow her to help him manage his emotions in a safer way.
It was growing close to their one year anniversary by now. They had been dating for close to 10, almost 11 months, and Billy was already on his way to becoming a better man. However, that did not change everyone else's opinions of him -- especially her family's, Amari's, and Steve & Lucas', most notably.
Her family and Amari had begged her to dump him, he literally hit her, would verbally berade her in any fight of theirs, and to everyone else, seemed awful. But nobody else saw what she saw.
She saw a broken man fighting to become whole again, to heal from the evils his father had done to him. She had helped him heal from that -- showing him the kindness his mother would always show him that he had not felt since he was a little boy. It melted his heart, and broke straight through his bad boy persona that Hawkins High adored.
Nobody else knew about the high speed car rides late into the night, the gentle touches, and hot, fiery passionate moments between them at his house or in the back seat of his car. It was beautiful, and both of them adored it.
Everything was going great for them. Y/n had even gotten a job working at the pool so they could work together during the Summer. This made them even closer, and Billy swore he fell in love more every time he saw her laugh from across the pool, talking with their coworkers about God knows what.
Billy always regretted how hard he could act to her. He loved her more than he could ever thought possible, so how could he have ever hit her that night at the Byer's house? Or any time after that where he got a little too close to hurting her again? Or any time he berated her?
He hated himself, loathed himself for it. But the past was in the past, and he could only move on by remembering her terrified, broken face as she fell to the ground the first time he hit her. He swore he would never see her that broken again, and he kept his word...
Until he couldn't anymore. The moment his car swerved off the road and crashed into that warehouse, that promise was burned to a crisp.
It wasn't like he didn't try to fight whatever was destroying his mind -- he fought it as hard as he physically could. But the creature invading his senses was too intensely, and he succumbed to it's evils. He felt as if he was seeing his life from third person, mortified at how vile he would act to everyone, not just Y/n.
His heart strained in pain as "he" would fight with her, seeing a pure monster instead of the good man he knew he was becoming.
He would lose control of himself before he could even register he had lost it. Her simply mentioning going to Scoops Ahoy with Dustin once, where Steve worked, set him into a fit of rage.
"I told you to not hang out with him, ever, didn't I?" Billy said coldly. Y/n sighed heavily in the passenger's seat of his car, "Billy, I've told you, I have no choice. Amari and Nancy and I see him a lot at the mall, and Dustin adores the guy -- he's there whether you like it or not. I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't fucking good enough, Y/n," he yelled suddenly. "I don't want you hanging with that prick. I know guys like him, all he wants is to get into your pants and I won't let that shit happen."
"Steve?? No! He doesn't like me at all, what are you talking about?" Y/n asked, nearly appalled. "We barely speak since that fight at the Byers. I've told you so many times--" "NO! I've told you so many fucking times to STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" he yelled the loudest he had in so long, starring straight at Y/n as she screamed, "BILLY, RED LIGHT!" He turned and slammed on the breaks as hard as he could, stopping them just before he ran the red light. Her body jolted against the car and she slammed her hand down in anger, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You have no right to scream at me like that!" she started to cry. She raised her hand and Billy snatched it, pulling her body over the console so he could get right in her face, "You fucking listen to me now and listen carefully. I won't tell you again. Drop Steve. Kick him to the curb. I don't give a damn about Amari, or Dustin, or anyone, you listen and only obey me, do you understand?"
"You don't speak to me like tha--" He swung his hand against her cheek and she screamed out in shock as he pushed her back against the seat, speeding off as the light turned green again, "I fucking told you! You listen when I'm speaking to you, and wait until I'm fucking finished! Did I make myself clear!" He yelled, keeping his eyes on the road.
Fuck, stop! Why am I doing this?!
"Billy, what is wrong with you!" she sobbed in pain as she clutched her cheek, tears streaming down her face as he slammed his fist on the console again, "Did I make myself clear!"
"YES! Just get me home! Please!" Y/n bawled, crying into her hand as her cheek & wrist began to throb from the pain. Billy had no expression as he nodded. "Good girl. You know your place." He pulled up to her house and stopped the car, putting it in park as he turned to her with a slight smirk. She didn't even glance at him as she grabbed her work bag and sprinted out of the car, tears still streaming down her face as she ran inside her house.
What did I just do to her...?
That was the last time Billy had seen Y/n for the next week. His possession had grown stronger, and he was losing himself more and more. Eventually it grew so bad that he wouldn't even speak to anyone else unless they were a viable meat bag for his Master. He still felt like there was someone controlling him.
At night, he would try and call Y/n, knowing she was his only true source of comfort and happiness, but she wouldn't respond. Fuck, he couldn't blame her -- he abused her, he hit her, after swearing he would never do it again. He would cry loudly in his room at night as the evils he was committing would pile up more and more. He couldn't tell anyone about it -- any time he did, the invisible strings would be pulled, and he'd lose control again. He was miserable.
He was thankful Y/n was unaware of his sister's attempt to trap him in the sauna.
To make matters worse, even if he came to her house, she wasn't home, nor was Dustin. Something was up, but his Master wouldn't allow him to figure it out. He would just regain control again.
Praying every night that she wouldn't be chosen, he continued his attacks on innocent people until his Master had enough flesh to escape his dark prison. It was July 4th, 1985. The Mind Flayer, as her nerdy brother had dubbed it, was ready to kill Eleven.
He made his way to Starcourt Mall without any fear. In just a few hours, Eleven would be dead, his Master would take revenge on the child that caused him so much pain, and he could be with Y/n again. His optimism came to a screeching halt when he saw Y/n at the Mall with his sister, Mike, and her.
All he wanted to do was scream for Y/n to run -- get the hell out of there, but he couldn't. Once again, his Master took control, and chased them through the alleyway. He was already fuming after being hit by Steve's car, his anger untamable as he followed close behind the group of four running away from him.
Mike and Y/n gently laid Eleven down on the ground, Max rubbing her shoulder for comfort when Y/n heard the door swing open, and her heart nearly stopped. Max got up to go look when Y/n pulled her back down, "Don't. I'll stop him," she said softly, hugging Max quickly. "Just get Eleven out!"
She stepped into the hallway and saw Billy wander towards them, and she stood her ground. "Billy, I know what's wrong with you now, I understand! I know you didn't mean to hurt me in the car, and I-I'm sorry, I should've helped! I should've tried to help. I love you! Please, snap out of--" He shoved her roughly to the side, her body hitting the door handle and knocking her out immediately, with no remorse from his Flayed self. His true self felt like he was banging an invisible barrier between him and "himself", seeing Y/n hit the door and fall unconscious made him scream out in terror.
Y/n! Baby, I'm sorry, I can't stop him!
He stepped over her body and assaulted Mike and Max the same way, knocking Eleven out and carrying her out of the hallway, preparing to bring her to his Master.
10 minutes later, Max woke up and got Mike up, too. "Where's El -- and Y/n?!" Mike's eyes widened as they scrambled up, going outside and seeing her knocked out cold on the floor. Max gasped and started tapping her cheek, "Y/n! Y/n, please wake up, please!" she started to cry from fear.
Y/n slowly woke up, groaning in pain, "Billy...?" she said softly, opening her eyes. Max let out a fearful breath and hugged her tightly, "Thank God, we have to go -- Billy took El!" she said urgently. Y/n immediately got a burst of energy and stood up, following them out of the hall way and running out into the main mall.
Lights flickered everywhere, and loud booms could be heard, and they only grew in volume as they approached the main downstairs of the mall. In front of them, the Mind Flayer stood screaming in pain in all of it's mangled glory.
Billy laid kneeling over Eleven screaming in agony as she desperately tried to scramble away. The fireworks hitting the Mind Flayer was hurting it and Billy, further proving that Billy was not in control the past few weeks, like she had prayed was the case.
Y/n covered her ears as the booms became too much and overwhelmed her, as she began to cry seeing her boyfriend in so much pain.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Max said fearfully. Y/n looked over and gasped as she saw Billy stand between the Mind Flayer and Eleven, who was helpless on the floor, cowering in fear and presumably immense pain in her leg and head.
He started screaming when the Mind Flayer's mouth opened and a large tentacle came gushing out at him. He grabbed it, holding it back from devouring El's flesh as he struggled to keep his stance. His body slid back slightly, his stance wavering as Y/n cried out for him to stop.
"What is he doing?! He's going to hurt himself!" Y/n cried, Max frozen in fear. "He's going to save El!" Mike said happily. Y/n turned to Mike, almost enraged, "He's going to die, Michael!" Mike couldn't care less as long as his girlfriend was alive, and truthfully, he wanted Billy to die, just like the others did.
Mere moments after, more tentacles came out and stuck to Billy's sides and torso. He gawked in pain, and Y/n yelled out in fear as Max held onto her, either girl unable to look away. More and more tentacles made it's way onto his torso until finally, a large one stabbed him directly through the stomach, piercing his skin. He screamed louder than the Mind Flayer roared as blood spewed from every inch of his body, his head slacking back as he started to grow numb, the pain overbearing.
The Mind Flayer let his body drop to the ground, and El scrambled away as the Mind Flayer roared in anger and pain, and collapsed, dead. They closed the gate.
Time felt as if it stopped around her. All Y/n could see was the blood pooling around her lover's body as she sprinted full speed towards Billy, her knees slipping against his blood as she knelt beside him, "Billy! Billy, oh my God!"
"Y/n..." he coughed, unable to move as he started inhaling his own blood.
His hair was matted to his face, strewn in pure agony as his once white shirt was tainted a deep red from the open hole in his stomach. He laid, barely able to open his eyes to look at her, but he forced himself to with all the little energy he had left. His vision was blurry as he looked at her, unable to stop heaving, "I...I'm sorry," he said weakly, his body shaking. "Shh, d-don't speak sweetheart, it's okay, it's--! We'll get you help!"
"S-sorry... for hurtin'... yell... yelling, i..it all, I..."
"Stop talking, damn it, save your strength!" Y/n sobbed as she held his hand tightly, her other hand petting his hair gently to try and soothe what little she could. "Please!"
"I love you, Y/n, I...s...sor..."
His words became slurred as his eyes began to close, his chest's endless heaving slowing to a jarring stop. His head slumped towards her hand as he he took his final breath as Max stood beside you both, "so... so, sorry... b-both... of..."
His eyes fluttered close and his body grew limp his head lolled into Y/n's hand. She screamed out in terror as she saw him grow lifeless. "Billy! No, God, wake up! Please, please wake up!" she and Max's pleas of fear fell on deaf ears as they both shook his body.
"BILLY! BILLY, PLEASE!" Y/n wailed, her tears falling against his body as Max cried loudly, clinging to Y/n's body for any source of comfort.
"What's going on-?!" Steve came roaring over as Mike had already pulled Eleven away and started hugging her. He nearly threw up seeing how mangled Billy's body was, and he felt his heart stop seeing Y/n in such terror. "Oh my god, Y/n..." He dropped to his knees and immediately hugged you, trying to pull you away, "We have to g-"
"NO!" She shoved herself out of his arms and flung her body over Billy's lifeless one, hugging him like he was still alive, "I c-can't leave him!"
"H-He's gone, Y/n! Can't you see that?! He's fucking dead!" Max snapped, her body shaking from the tears as she stood up, her jeans covered in his blood. Y/n looked up at Steve with the most broken look he had ever seen on anyone, ever. He sighed heavily and helped her up, allowing her to sob bitterly against his chest. He rubbed her back softly, trying to soothe her unbearable cries of pain.
Y/n would never know how deeply Billy cared for her -- and would never know how hard he fought, down till his last breath, to try and protect her. Nobody would. And in the end, only Y/n saw how good of a man Billy Hargrove truly was.