Work Text:
You settled into bed, the chill slinking into your room chasing you under your blankets. You had a horror movie ready to play and a bowl of popcorn on your nightstand. Your parents had gone to see your grandmother for the long weekend, leaving you alone to do as you pleased while they were two states away.
You didn't want to be alone. There was someone you wanted there in your bed with you. But you were sure he would think a night alone watching horror movies was lame. Not when there were parties or other debaucherous things to do.
You were just about ready to start the tape you rented from Family Video when the phone rang. You jumped, mentally scolding yourself for getting scared before you watched even a second of the movie.
You picked up the phone, thinking maybe it was your parents calling to check in on you.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Y/N."
You sent an unsure look down at the receiver in your hand. You didn't know that voice. It was smooth and dark and sent a shiver down your spine.
"Who's this?"
"A friend," the voice answered, teasing and wicked.
"I don't think so," you denied, knowing the voice wasn't like any you had ever heard before. It sounded almost unnatural, lending a surreal element to the call. You would have been convinced you were having a nightmare if it weren’t for the way your heartbeat spiked in your chest, causing you to shudder.
You pushed your blankets off your legs, a creeping, restless sensation taking over you. You could feel your flight-or-fight instinct beginning to kick in, but you didn't know what you were supposed to fight or where the hell you were supposed to go to escape the voice.
"Tell me...are you alone in the house?"
A chill of uncertainty washed over you. All those 'stranger danger' talks came to mind, and you instinctively said the only thing you thought would save you from certain tragedy. "No."
"Liar," the voice admonished, an amused chuckle following. "I know you're all alone in that big house of yours. Tell me, how long do you think it'll take for help to arrive? Before or after I carve into that pretty flesh of yours?"
You immediately slammed the phone down, struggling to hang up when it hit the side of your nightstand. You scrambled to grab the receiver and place it back in its cradle, breathing heavy as you tried not to panic.
You went through your options in your mind.
You could run to a neighbor's house and beg to stay there.
You could stay in your room, alone, and hope it wasn't anything to worry about at all.
You could call your best friend and hope that he picked up the phone and not his dickhead of a roommate.
You went with option three, knowing it would make you feel safest of all.
The phone only rang twice before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Billy's voice croaked across the line. It was filled with exhaustion, and you knew you had managed to wake him up.
"Billy?" Your voice trembled and you twisted up your blankets in your fists, trying to hold on to your sanity.
"What is it? What's going on?" You could practically hear Billy going on high alert, alarm and worry flooding his voice.
"I, uh, I got a phone call," you started, instantly feeling like an idiot. What could Billy do? And if there was a psycho after you, then did you really want him in harm's way? After everything that had happened to Billy since coming to Hawkins, you didn't want to add 'psycho killer' to the list of things he would have to face.
"Is everything alright? Need me to come over?" There was a sense of urgency in his voice that had you immediately begin to calm down. It was just a phone call, right? It's not like someone was over here knocking down your bedroom door, butcher's knife held aloft and ready to slaughter you.
"No," you finally decided. "It's just, the guy was being a creep. He said some pretty fucked up things."
"It was probably dumb kids pulling a prank. You know there's a bunch of little shits in this town who don't have anything better to do."
"Yeah," you sighed, trying to settle your nerves. You finally pulled a blanket back up over your legs, settling against your pillows once again. "So, uh," you started, not quite ready to hang up, knowing that Billy's voice in your ear was the only thing working to quell your fears at the moment. "You still going to leave me all alone at Hawkins Community this year?"
Billy laughed, the sound sending a bolt of warmth through you, and you felt yourself relax the tiniest bit. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone needs college to have a future. I'm doing just fine working on cars all day."
"Yeah, yeah," you groaned, rolling your eyes, falling back into the easy pattern of bickering with Billy. It was simple enough to forget all about the phone call from the creep trying to scare you, and let Billy's voice soothe you into trusting that you were safe after all.
A month later, you had managed to forget all about the creep on the phone. You had the start of a new semester to worry about and making time to waitress at Enzo's and hang out with Billy whenever you could. Your plate was full, and you didn't have time to worry about something that was obviously just a dumb prank. You were only going to focus on the important things in your life like work and school and Billy.
When Billy Hargrove and his family had crashed into Hawkins in October of '84, you thought he was a jackass who thought he was too good for the town you had grown up in. He always had a snide remark about the school or other students or the small community of Hawkins, and while you initially couldn't stand Billy, the summer of '85 changed everything.
You managed to get thrown right into the hellfest of a horror show that was happening at the mall on the night of the fourth of July. Even though you thought things had been a little weird around town, especially with the mysterious disappearance and death of Barbara Holland, you could have never guessed a gargantuan, fleshy monster would terrorize Billy, his stepsister, and a bunch of other kids at Starcourt while most of the town was watching fireworks and having a blast at the celebration the mayor had been going on and on about for months.
It was really a wrong time and wrong place situation for you, but you managed to hold your own and even save Billy's life when the huge spider-like monstrosity went after him.
The trauma and fear ended up being a great way to bond with Billy, and by the time fall had replaced summer that year, you were best friends. You helped him get a job at your uncle's auto shop and Billy stayed up late with you before your tests, helping you study so you wouldn't have to worry about failing out of college and disappointing your parents.
You went to the movies together and helped Billy search for an apartment once he had enough money to get away from his abusive asshat of a father. You let Billy drive you to school when your car finally gave up and died on you and you made sure Billy actually managed to eat a vegetable or two so he wouldn't die of malnutrition.
You were as close as you could possibly be without dating, and even though you had had a crush on Billy for the past two years, you knew he only saw you as a friend. And that was alright, obviously. That was okay, because you still had Billy in your life, even if it was only as a best friend, and that was more than enough for you to be happy.
So, it wasn't a big deal for you to be getting ready to go out for dinner with Billy. He was celebrating a promotion and pay raise at work, and you were celebrating an A on your first essay of the semester.
Your parents were out on a date, which left you alone in your house. You were brushing your hair, trying to decide if you wanted it up or down, when the phone rang. You were sure it was your parents checking in on you, or maybe Billy calling to let you know he was about to leave his place. Either way, you were completely unprepared for the voice that greeted you when you answered.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Y/N."
You nearly dropped your hairbrush, fear coursing through you. "What do you want?"
"Oh, come on, now. Is that any way to speak to a friend?"
"You're not my friend." Your hands started trembling and you hastily set your hairbrush down on your dresser.
"But I'm just calling to check on you. All alone in that big house. Must be scary."
"I'm not alone," you bluffed, trying to keep the terrified waver you could feel creeping up your throat out of your voice.
"Is that so? So that wasn't your parents I saw leaving your house half an hour ago?" The voice made a disappointed noise. “I thought friends didn’t lie to each other, Y/N.”
A bolt of fear shot through you. Was this person watching your house? Were they waiting for the right moment to attack you? Were they across the street, watching you from a neighbor’s house? Or maybe they were camped out at the payphone on the corner, choosing the perfect place to terrorize you from.
"I-I don't know--"
"But I know. I know your parents aren't home. I know you always leave the backdoor unlocked. I know just how easy it would be to find you, alone in your room, getting ready to celebrate that A you got."
"How do you know that?" There was a sinking feeling in your gut that told you there was only one way they could really know that. But it couldn’t be true, right? There was no way.
"Because I'm watching you," the voice confirmed, causing a cold wave of fear to crash over you.
You hurried to hang up the phone, hastily pulling your jacket on. You were eager to get out of the house. You didn't even care if Billy wasn’t there yet. You couldn't wait. Not if someone was moments away from breaking into the house. You shoved your feet into your shoes, not caring that the back of one was bent in half, making you limp across your room. You hurried down the stairs, making sure to grab your bag from where you left it hanging on the banister.
You could just imagine someone creeping in through the backdoor of your house, meeting you in the front hallway, their knife slicing right through your gut. You felt all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, stumbling as you rounded the table in the foyer.
You expected someone to ambush you at any moment. You thought there would be pain and screams and your parents finding your bloody corpse waiting for them on the living room rug.
Instead, you made it to the front door, your breaths coming out high and panicked as you fumbled to unlock the front door. You swung it open, pushing out into the night, only to collide with someone else.
A scream caught in your throat as hands came out to steady you.
"Hey, hey," Billy breathed, concern laced in his tone. "What's wrong? You okay?"
"I got another phone call, but Billy, he's been watching me," you insisted, hoping he would believe you. "He knew about my parents being gone and that I was alone and that our backdoor was unlocked."
"Hey, calm down," Billy soothed, running his hands up and down your arms, trying to quell your shivering. "I'm here now, alright? Nothing's gonna happen to you as long as I'm around."
"But what if--"
"No," Billy was quick to cut you off. "No what if's, alright? You're safe. I'm with you."
The adrenaline was quickly fading from you and you felt yourself begin to shiver even harder. "Fuck," you gasped, pushing into Billy's space. His arms wrapped around you, bringing you up close against him. He was so warm and felt so safe that you couldn't help but burrow in closer, taking comfort in his presence. "Just get me out of here, please," you begged, no longer wanting to stay in the house.
"I got you," Billy promised, starting to lead you out to his car. "You're safe with me."
Billy took you out for ice cream and you spent hours in his car, listening to Billy tell you about all the obnoxious customers he saw every day. You didn't even notice when he moved closer to you, his arm coming up to wrap around your shoulders. It felt natural for you to rest your head on his shoulder, delighting in the feel of his laughter soaking into you the closer you got to him.
By the time he drove you home, you realized you didn't want to leave his side. Being with Billy felt right to you and you hated that he was about to leave you while he went back to his apartment. When he pulled up the driveway of your house, you almost asked him to stay. You thought about sneaking him into your room, not caring if your parents caught you or not.
But you didn't, because you were a coward when it came to asking for what you really wanted. Instead, you settled on gracing him with a kiss on his cheek, wondering if it was just your imagination that his head turned just the slightest bit in your direction, as if he wanted to meet your lips with his.
It wasn't until you started drifting off to sleep that you thought about the creepy phone call. Billy had managed to distract you so fully from the all-consuming fear you had felt only hours before. You wanted him there with you, but you weren't sure if Billy felt the same. As far as you knew, he only wanted you as a friend. It was frustrating and painful not knowing his true feelings, but you hoped that if he felt anything more for you, then he would be the one to take the plunge and let you know.
Days and weeks passed, and you didn't get any more threatening phone calls. You were starting to feel safe at home again, so of course, it wasn't long before you got a phone call, and another one, and then another one. One let you know this stranger knew you went to Hawkins CC and another told you he knew about your job at Enzo's. You got the creeping certainty that this person was stalking you and you worried that they wouldn't stop until you were dead.
After every call, you immediately called Billy. He got so used to it that he would start answering within one ring, asking if you were alright and telling you he was on his way over. Billy could be over to your house within seven minutes, meaning that if anything were to really happen, then you would just have to give him a call.
So, when your parents told you they were going out of town for another weekend visit to your grandma, you didn't freak out. You knew that if anything happened, then you could just call Billy.
It was the night your parents left when your situation became even more horrifying.
You started some popcorn, waiting patiently for it to finish cooking in the microwave, while you thought about which movie you wanted to watch. You were filling up a glass with water when you caught your reflection in the window above the sink. You didn't notice anything off at first, but then you noticed there was someone in your backyard.
They wore a black cloak with a hood pulled up over their head. A mask covered their face, instead showing a ghost's face, black plastic for the eyes, nose, and elongated mouth. White surrounded the rest of it, lending a ghastly, eerie visage set against the backdrop of your backyard.
You stumbled back, hitting your hip against the counter behind you. You scrambled for the phone, your brain a whirlwind of thoughts, not sure if you were going to call the cops or Billy or anyone who could help you against an intruder. You rushed towards the phone in the front hallway, cursing when it slipped out of your hand in your haste.
Your hands were shaking as you dialed Billy's number, scolding yourself for not making sure the doors were locked or all the windows were closed. All you could think about was getting Billy there, because you knew he would never let anything bad happen to you as long as he was around.
You saw a shadow move past the front windows, and you pressed the phone to your ear, desperate to hear Billy's voice.
"Hello?"
That wasn't Billy's voice. It was his dickhead of a roommate.
"Randy, it's Y/N. Is Billy there?"
"Nah," Randy answered. "I think he went to see you or somethin'. You two doing it yet?"
"Fuck," you hissed, hanging up the phone. At least Billy was on his way, you couldn't help but think. But what if he didn't make it to your house on time? There was a crazy, psychotic lunatic running around outside your house. It was likely he would be able to break in before Billy could even get to your house.
You took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to decide what the hell you wanted to do. What were you supposed to do? You couldn't go outside, because that was where the psycho was, waiting for you to try to make a run for it. And if you stayed inside for much longer, it would only take one broken window or picked lock before you were no longer safe.
You jumped when there was a knock on the front door. You waited, fight and flight mashing together in your brain, so you stood there in the front hallway frozen in uncertainty.
"Y/N? It's me."
You let out a pathetic, relieved sob at the sound of Billy's voice. You rushed towards the front door, rushing to get it open so Billy could come inside.
"What's wrong?" He asked the moment he saw your panicked state.
"There was--and I--I don't--," you struggled to say, unable to pull in a breath.
"Hey, hey," Billy soothed, stepping away so he could try to make eye contact with you. "Calm down. I'm here now. Everything's fine. Just take a breath, alright? With me. On one, two, three," Billy counted, leading you in a few deep breaths so you could calm down enough to tell him what happened.
Once you finally calmed down, you ushered Billy into the house, triple checking that the front door was locked.
"What's going on?" Billy asked, watching you in concern.
You heard the microwave beeping insistently, so you lead Billy towards the kitchen, figuring you could kill two birds with one stone. "There was someone in my backyard," you explained, pointing out the window above the kitchen sink. You saw the mask again, this time hanging from the branch of a tree, and stumbled back into Billy. His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you close to him.
"It's alright," he said, keeping his voice level. "It's just a Halloween mask, right? Halloween's coming up and someone just probably left their mask in your tree to freak you out. Let me go check it out, okay?"
"No," you refused, turning in his arms to hold onto him. "It's a trap or at the very least a stupid idea. There was someone out there, Billy, I know it."
"Nothing's going to happen to me, okay? I'm just going to grab it and see if they left anything else behind. Lock the door behind me and I'll be right back."
You shook your head, but Billy still pushed away from you, leaving you standing in the middle of your kitchen while he unlocked your backdoor. You watched him as he crossed your backyard, easily plucking the mask from the tree, and turning back towards your house. You saw him turning the mask over in his hands, slipping a piece of paper out of the mask.
He knocked on the backdoor, waiting for you to unlock it to let him back in the house, and then showed you the note that had been left in the mask.
I'm watching you
"Y/N, what the hell is going on here?"
"I think it's the same person who's been calling me and stalking me. Billy," you said, moving to grab the note from him and brandishing it at him, as if he hadn't been the one to find it. "I'm scared. This guy, whoever he is, is messing with me. And I'm scared it's going to go past phone calls and watching my house. What if...," you trailed off, trying to steady your voice when it began to waver from fear. "What if they break in while my parents aren't here? What if they want to hurt me?"
"They won't," Billy assured you. "Not while I'm here."
You took a deep breath, working up the courage to ask Billy what you needed to.
"Would you...," you started, losing your nerve.
"Would I...?" Billy prompted, giving you an expectant look.
"Would you stay here? While my parents are out of town?"
"Y/N," Billy said, stepping into your space. "I'd love to." He bent forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead in reassurance, before giving you a hopeful grin.
Billy went around the house with you, checking that the doors and windows were all locked. You made another bag of popcorn and pulled Billy up to your room, propping your desk chair up against your bedroom door to give you a sense of security.
Billy led you towards your bed, waiting for you to get under the covers before he turned out your lights, leaving your bedroom lamp on so you wouldn’t get too freaked out. He grabbed your copy of Grease, knowing it was your ultimate comfort movie, and pushed it into your VCR. It wasn't long before Billy joined you under your blankets, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shooting you a pleased smirk.
This was totally new territory for you. Billy had been in your room and you had watched a movie with him before, but it had never been with the expectation that he would be staying the night with you. In your bed. In your empty house. Just the two of you.
You sang along softly to the songs, delighted when you realized Billy knew all the words to Summer Nights and didn't mind rewinding to watch Hopelessly Devoted to You in order to watch it twice, since it was your favorite part of the movie. By the time the movie was over, Billy was pressed up against your side, his arm around you, and your head on his shoulder.
Billy's fingers were tapping out a nervous rhythm against your side, prompting you to look up at him. You were so close to him, you could feel his breath on your face, and a thrilled shiver shot through you at the realization.
"Thanks," you whispered, even though it was just the two of you alone in the house. "For being there for me. For always being there for me."
"Nowhere else I'd rather be than with you," he said, his eyes briefly glancing down at your lips before meeting your eyes again. "Y/N, there's something I--"
You cut him off, hastily pressing your lips to Billy's. It felt like the only thing you were meant to do. Billy felt right, you told yourself. He was there for you for everything, and you had wanted him for so long. The fact that he was there to protect you from the phantoms of the night and dropped everything to be right there with you proved that he was the one for you.
Billy immediately pressed back against you, his arms tightening around you. "I got you," he murmured against your lips, his hands trailing down your sides. "I've always got you," he promised, before you shushed him, pulling him impossibly closer to you.
---
Billy let you lose yourself to him, because it was all he had wanted since he met you. You. Just you. And everything you could give him. He wanted your attention and your love and your trust. He wanted to have you in his life every day and he wanted to know everything on your mind and hear everything you could possibly say.
It had taken a little finessing to prove his worth, but he knew in the end you would come around. You would see he was right there all along, ready for you to see that he was perfect for you.
As you drifted off to sleep, safe in his arms, he reminded himself of something he needed to grab from downstairs before he went back to his apartment to pack a bag of clothes.
Even though he had you, he couldn't rule out the possibility that he would need his mask again.
Halloween was coming up, after all.