Archive of Our Own

Steve hated to admit it, but sharing a dorm with Billy was the best. Yeah they fought in high school, to the point Steve was seriously hurt. But now that they were out of Hawkins, Billy away from his dad, he mellowed out. They turned out to be pretty decent friends, it was kind of nice to have a male friend closer to his age.

Their room was always clean, they respected each other's space, and would bring things back for each other. The days Steve decided to use the communal kitchen to make food, he’d always make enough for Billy. The days Steve had a late night, Billy would bring him coffee or snacks. If he was being really generous, then it would be both. 

On the days where they both were busy, they would alternate who would buy food. It was a great system that both of them enjoyed. Steve was surprised that they lived seamlessly with each other. 

He groaned as he hung up the phone, stretching out from the weird position he ended up in. He groaned when a hand started massaging his neck. 

“Which brat was it this time?” Billy asked. 

“Who else?” Steve snorted. “Dustin had to tell me all about this campaign Munson dragged him through this time.”

“Don’t sound too jealous there, Stevie.” Billy snickered. 

“Shut it,” He tilted his head back, looking at the younger man upside down. “Did you finish your paper?”

“Not yet, need to edit it then I’ll be good.” He steps away, going over to his own desk and dropping his things onto it. 

“Kay, you get to work. I’m going to go make something for dinner.” Steve gets up, going over to pull some ingredients from the mini-fridge and shelf beside it. He puts the things in the tub that has some dishes in it and is mostly used for transporting things to and from the kitchen. 

“What are we having today?” The blonde drapes himself over Steve’s back. 

“Was thinking fajitas. Sounds good?” He picked up everything, shrugging off Billy and heading to the door. 

“If I’m not cooking, I’m not complaining. But if you must know, sounds delicious.” He smirked. “Don’t take too long, pretty boy. I’ll miss you too much.”

“Awe, Billy.” Steve cooed mockingly. “I feel so loved!” 

“Good, now go make me food.” He smacked Steve’s butt, laughing at the scowl he got in return. But he does leave and make them food. As he’s sauteeing everything, he hears some of the girls come into the area. He barely pays attention to them, only tuning in when he hears them say Billy’s name.

“Seriously though, I heard from one of the people who used to go to school with him how he would sleep with anyone. So why is he so hard to bag now?” 

“I honestly have no clue, I tried as well and nothing. Just smiles and turns away.” The brunette huffs. “It’s not like I want to date him, he doesn’t even seem interesting. Only a one and done.”

“Right? He’s pretty, but definitely not boyfriend material.” The red head giggles. 

Steve feels a little pissed for some reason. Why the hell do they not want to date Billy? Yeah he was a dick, hell, he can still be one, but he was interesting. He loved literature and was working to be a teacher. 

He quickly washes and dries all the dishes he used before moving their food to bowls in the tub, knowing Billy liked building his back in the room. He grabbed his things, glaring at the girls a bit before he left. He walks into their room, halts after the door is closed and watches Billy work at his desk. 

It feels unfair. How the hell could those girls think that about him? He beelines for his own desk, dropping their food off there before going over to Billy. He pulls the other man's chair back, ignoring the confused noise as he straddles his lap and drops down, pulling him into a hug and hiding in his neck. 

“You okay, pretty boy?” Bills asks hesitantly, wrapping his arm around his back. 

“I hate people,” he mutters. 

“I mean, same. But you’re too happy to hate people, what happened?” Billy moves one of his hands up to run through Steve’s hair. 

“Heard someone say something about a friend. Didn’t like what they said and I just needed a hug.” He squeezes a little tighter, relishing in the fact that Billy does so in return.

“Do I need to kick someone?” The blonde chuckles. “Don’t like it when my Stevie is upset.” 

“Nah,” he finally pulled back. “What you can do is eat the food I made and inflate my ego.”

“That I can do,” Billy smirked, patting his thigh. “But you’ll have to get up, sweetheart.”

“Ugh, fine.” Steve pushed himself up and moved over to his desk. Billy followed along and groaned at the spread. 

“Sweetheart, if you asked me to marry you right now I’d say yes.” He started putting together his fajitas before going back to his own desk. Steve rolled his eyes, making his own.

“Yeah right, I refuse to be the one to propose. You’d have to ask me, lover boy.” He snickers at the scoff he gets in return. The groan the other man releases though makes him blush. “Dear lord, don’t cream your pants.”

“Can’t help it. I’ve never had food this good until we lived together.” Billy turns around, catching his eye before winking. “You’ll make a good wife, Harrington.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Steve waves him off. They both focus on their own desks after that, either watching something on their laptops or doing more work. In Steve’s case, it’s both. He splurged on the second monitor for his desk, hating being limited to one. He didn’t know how Billy did it. 

“You done?” Billy drops his chin on top of the brunette's head. “I can go wash up.”

“Yeah,” Steve says absentmindedly. He barely even notices Billy leaving, too absorbed in his report and listening to criminal minds. 

So yeah, he doesn’t notice when he leaves. But he for sure notices when he comes back because all of a sudden, he’s pulled from his desk, pulled off his chair and thrown onto the bed. He yelps when Billy falls on top of him, confused as hell to what is going on. 

“I don’t care,” Billy mutters. “They can say whatever the fuck they want about me. I don’t care.”

“Oh,” Steve blinks. “They were still talking about it?”

“Not being very subtle either,” he snorts. “Although on a more positive note, they have solidified my claim that you have a very nice ass.”

“Shut up,” he laughed, smacking his arm. 

“Hey, nothing wrong with appreciating the ass ets.” He wiggled his eyebrows, laughing at the scoff he got in return. “Seriously though, I’m fine.”

“If you say so,” Steve started running his fingers through Billy’s hair. 

The two of them were always tactile, even before they lived together. That would mostly be because of Billy, who always had to be touching Steve even when he was bullying him. But since that night, it had increased. Steve would just have the urge to sit closer to the other man, so he would. Which would then lead to Billy either wrapping himself around him or dragging Steve into his lap. 

Not like he minded though, it was nice to have this much contact. He didn’t even have this much contact with Nancy when they were dating. The newest way for Steve to study was to sit on Billy’s lap while he’s at his desk and read over his shoulder. It was weird, yes, but comforting. 

“Hey, Billy do you have-” One of the guys across the hall, in the same program as the blonde, opens the doors and stops when he sees the position they are in. “Uh, sorry for interrupting?”

“Just studying,” Billy shifts Steve so he is leaned over the other shoulder, making it easier to look at the guy that walked in. “What’s up?” 

“Just wanted to see if you had the outline for the test, wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything.” The guy, Steve thinks his name is Connor, just rolls his eyes at them. 

“Yeah, here.” He passes a piece of paper over to him, not bothering to get up. 

“Wow, not even going to bring it to me?” Conner snorts, walking in fully and taking it.

“Nope, Stevie here doesn’t like to get up as soon as he’s comfortable.” Billy smirks, patting his back. 

“You guys are cute together,” Conner snickers. 

“Hmm?” Steve finally looks away from his book and sits back so he can talk to them. 

“You guys are cute,” he passes Billy the sheet back after taking a photo of it. 

“Thanks?” He gives him a confused smile. And Billy is suspiciously quiet for once, so he doesn’t fully know what happened. Conner leaves after that, thanking Billy on his way out. 

“You good?” Steve looks him over, not sure what the expression on his face is for. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it sweetheart.” The look disappears, moving into a relaxed smile. 

“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?” He leans back in, wrapping his arms around the younger man's shoulders. 

“Course,” He squeezes back. “Now I do have to finish this.”

Steve stares at him a bit longer before shrugging, going back to his previous position of being draped over Billy's shoulders. 

The touches didn’t stop, but weirdly enough, Conner won’t stop glaring at him. He doesn’t get why though, the last time they talked, everything was fine. He tried to be polite about it, but for some reason he kept getting glared at.

“Okay, what the hell is wrong?” Steve snapped, having passed him in the hall and got shoulder checked. 

“I just hate people who lead others on,” Conner scowls.

“What are you talking about?” Steve throws his hands up, confused as all hell. 

“Look,” Conner sighs. “You’re not even gay.”

“Yeah,” he says slowly, confused on where this is going. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re not gay, so stop leading men on.” He snaps. “It’s cruel.”

“Okay, hold up.” Steve raises his hands, taking a breath to calm himself a little. “I feel like you are twenty pages ahead of me in this conversation. So let’s start with the easy part. You’re mad at me because I’m not gay and am supposedly leading someone on?”

“Yes,” the other man crossed his arms, giving a look Steve could only assume was supposed to be threatening, but it mostly just irritated him. 

“Alright, shall we actually talk this through instead of you making accusations?” He said calmly, treating this like some discussion he would have to wind Dustin down from. “To start, yes, I am not gay. But if you really must know, I’m Bi.”

“What?” The angry look on his face morphed into a confused one. “Wait, since when?”

“Probably always?” Steve snorted. “But I just don’t advertise. Having a homophobic parent kind of does that to you.”

“Hold on,” Conner looked severely confused right now, but way less angry so that was a win. “Then were you flirting this entire time?”

“Oh,” Steve blinks. “No, sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I’m with someone.” 

“The fuck? That’s even worse!” Conner seethes. “If he was just obtuse then it wouldn’t be a problem, but you’re just misleading him!” 

“Wait,” Steve blinks, feeling like he is getting a headache from the whiplash this conversation is giving him. “Can you please be more clear? Did you not think I was leading you on?”

“What? No! Billy!” He didn’t know if he should feel offended by the disgusted look he got initially. 

“Billy,” Steve said slowly. “You’re getting mad at me, for supposedly leading Billy on.” 

“Yes” Conner nearly yelled, looking completely frustrated. 

“Billy, as in my roommate Billy.” Steve watched him nod before going on. “Who is the man I am with.”

It went really quiet after that, Conner staring at him with his jaw dropped and looking like his brain just fried. Steve just patted him on the shoulder, not really knowing what to do. He’s kind of happy Billy has a friend like this, but wonders what the hell made him think he and Billy weren’t together. He walked in on them when he was sitting on his lap for christ sake!

“But he said you were straight and would never go for him,” The other man looked so confused and lost. 

“Wait, what?” Which is now Steve confused even more. This conversation was frying his brain.

“The day after I walked into your room, Billy pulled me aside and told me you two weren’t dating and that you were straight.” Conner just looked so done now, which was fair. Steve was ready to march into his room and throw something at his boyfriend. 

“Fucking hell, okay. I’m going to go deal with that mess. Thanks for telling me.” He didn’t even wait for a reply, just turned around and headed to his room. Which was his original destination. 

He opened the door, dropped his bag on his bed and moved over to Billy’s desk. Grabbing the pencil from his hand and moving some things over so he could sit on the wood. The look he got in return almost made him laugh, but he needed to sort this situation out first. 

“If you wanted attention princess, all you had to do was ask.” The blonde snorted, leaning back into his chair. 

“This is me asking,” Steve grinned. “But seriously, we need to talk.”

“Everything alright?” Billy asked hesitantly, looking Steve up and down. Like he was trying to read from his body language what was going on. 

“Apparently not,” Steve hummed. “My boyfriend seems to think we aren’t dating.” 

“Boyfriend.” Billy says evenly, voice and face carefully devoid of emotion. God, Steve hated how he got so good at hiding his emotions and putting up walls. 

“Yes,” he nodded. “So can you please tell me why you don’t think we’re dating?”

The younger of the two just looked up at Steve in shock, clearly confused, but if Steve read him right, slightly hopeful. Steve just gave him a gentle smile, waiting for Billy to process it all. 

“We’re dating?” He said in a small voice, now looking up at Steve in awe. 

“Yeah, Billy. We are.” Steve chuckled, reaching out and tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. 

“Since when?” Billy reached out, pulling Steve to sit on his lap. It was hesitant though, like he couldn’t fully believe it was real. 

“The day after I heard those girls talking in the dining area. I came back from class and saw you bent under your desk trying to find your pencil.” Steve snickered at the memory. “I seem to remember saying ‘Cute butt, let’s go on a date.’ Which, by the way, you agreed to and we went out for burgers and saw that god awful movie.” 

“The new halloween movie wasn’t that bad,” Billy gets side tracked, used to defending movies to Steve. 

“Billy, it was bad.” He chuckled. “You just wanted it to be good because you have a strange fascination with that series.” 

“I-” he pauses, sighing. “Okay, fine. It was bad. But that was weeks ago. Are you saying I have been unaware of our relationship for that long?” 

“Yes,” Steve nods, snickering at the look he got in return. 

“Then why haven’t you kissed me or anything? I definitely would have known then.” He whines, dropping his head to rest on Steve’s shoulder. 

“Because I was trying to let you lead. I wasn’t sure how fast you wanted this to go.” Steve sighs. “Though, I could have asked sooner, but I was enjoying the cuddles. I didn’t want to push.” 

“God dammit,” the blonde groaned, now dropping his head back to look at the ceiling. “Can you please be more clear next time?” 

“How much more clear do I have to be?” Steve laughs. “I literally asked you on a date!” 

“Yes, but we say shit like that all the time! I don’t know how many times I either asked you to marry me or said I would say yes if you proposed!” Billy glares when Steve just continues to ask. 

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re dense.” He yelps, laughing loudly when Billy picks him up suddenly before throwing him on the bed. They both grin as Billy climbs up over him, settling himself on top. 

“So, when exactly should I say we started dating? When I first asked you out or today?” Steve reaches up and runs his fingers through soft, blonde hair. He had convinced Billy to use his hair care routine and now basks in the soft strands. 

“Seeing as you asked me out by complimenting my butt originally, that one.” Billy smirks. “Or we could just say it took us a couple weeks to finally get together.” 

“So pretty,” he smiles. “But so dense.”

“It’s weird, you’re supposed to be the dense one.” Billy whines. 

“Brains doesn’t always mean you’re smart,” he snickered. 

“Wait,” Billy pushed himself back up, looming over the older man. “You’re not gay.”

“Bi,” he shrugged. 

“Oh,” the blonde blinks, a slow grin coming on his face. “Thank god.” 

“Us dating should have been your clue,” he snorts. He watches as the smile slips off his face, morphing into something more hesitant, yet sad. He had a feeling he knew where his mind just wandered too, very used to the self depreciating ways of his roommate. 

“Hey, want to know a secret?” Steve whispered, happy when he saw the curious look. “You were my bi awakening. Something about you in the showers when we first met really did me in.”

He grinned at the blush and smile it got from the normally confident man. He pulled the other man back down, wanting to cuddle with him. The other man always put up walls, so him showing these little slips made Steve happy. He felt trusted. 

“So,” Billy started. “Does this mean I can sleep here tonight?” 

“Course,” he carded his fingers through the soft, blonde locks. “Do you have to finish what you were working on?”

“I should,” Billy huffed, dropping down to lay on top of Steve. “But I don’t want to leave now.”

“How about we order in and work while we wait? Once it’s here, we can call it quits for the night and get comfy.” He moved his hand so it was on Billy’s back instead, running his fingers up and down. 

“Stop that,” Billy grumbled, getting up. “I won’t want to get up if you do that.”

“Whoops,” he chuckled. 

“Fine,” the blonde pushed himself up and off the bed. “But I want a burger.”

“Can do,” Steve pulled out his phone, putting in their order before moving to his own desk. He paused before sitting down, going over to Billy. He spun his chair, leaning down and gave him a quick kiss. 

“Steve,” Billy whined. “You’re such a brat.”

“I know, but no doubts now, right?” He grinned. 

“You idiot,” Billy grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a longer kiss. Steve chuckled and pulled away after a couple seconds. 

“Get your work done, Hargrove. We can make out later.” He walked over to his chair, setting up his laptop to get work done. 

He couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he worked. It felt like something was missing this entire time, and now that he knew it was because they weren’t on the same page, it felt better. He could hear Billy humming as he worked, something he only did when he was really happy and it just made it better.

After that night, things were great. Conner made fun of Billy a couple times for being dense, but it was all in good fun. Billy was even more clingy now that he knew they were dating and Steve loved it. It was why he felt like what he was doing now was fine and he hoped Billy liked it. 

It was Steve’s day off and he usually had to do homework, but figured he could do it afterwards. He was lucky to have parents that sent him money on a regular basis as long as he was in college. It meant he could save whatever he didn’t need at the time, helping him make bigger purchases and save for when he knew they would cut him off.

He wasn’t stupid, he told Robin and Eddie his plans and they cheered him on. His parents had more money than they needed, so he was going to play the perfect child, get good grades and when the time was right, he would come out. Eddie had cackled and called him a genius while Robin just shook her head, but admitted she thought it was hilarious and smart. 

“Should probably tell Billy though,” he muttered to himself as he pushed the bed where he wanted it. He grinned and pulled out his phone, taking a photo and sending it to the group chat he had with his two friends. 

Not even a minute later, his phone started ringing. He rolled his eyes and picked up. “Eddie, you know you have fingers right? You could just type.” 

“Yeah, except I’m currently rolling some joints and that would be a waste of time.” The older man laughed. “And aren’t you moving a little too fast, Stevie?”

“Nah,” Steve put his earbuds in and got back to moving things around. “He already sleeps with me every night, so this just makes it easier. I love sharing a bed, but need a little more space.” 

“Something wrong with twin beds richie rich?” Eddie snickers. 

“Oh shut it, how’s your song writing going?” He grunts as he pushes the desk in the place where his bed once was, moving to do the same to Billie’s. 

“Loving the noises, big boy. Getting me all hot and bothered.” Eddie cackles. “But it’s going good, would you mind listening to our newest recording?”

“All for you, hot stuff. And yeah, you know I’d do anything for you.” He teases. 

Ever since Robin introduced the two of them, they loved to annoy her by flirting with each other. Both of them knew it wouldn’t go anywhere though, Eddie was happily single and Steve was head over heels for Billy. Neither of them knew how to interact without the playful flirting anymore though. 

“Careful Stevie, might get some ideas.” Eddie practically purred, cursing a bit after that.

“You good?” Steve finished pushing the dressers where they needed to go and looking at what he did. He pushed both beds to one corner, the dressers parallel to it on the opposite wall and their desks were by the door where their beds used to be. 

“Yeah, neighbours started arguing and startled me. I accidentally made a mess.” Eddie grumbled. 

“It’s only one more year Eddie,” Steve moved over to the memory foam topper he got, laying it over the beds. “Then we can get the apartment and you’ll be out.”

“I know,” the metal head sighed. “I’m nervous that I’ll fail again though.”

“You won’t,” he grabbed the new sheets and started making the bed. “I gave you not only my notes, but the one’s nancy helped me write. You’ll pass, get the hell out, then come live up here where you’ll be able to focus on your music.”

“Who knew one day Steve Harrington would be my best friend,” Eddie snorted. 

“I know right, I really had to lower my standards.” He snickered. He was about to say something else when his earbuds were ripped from his ears. “Ow!” 

He looked over and saw Billy glaring at him. He blinked and went to smile, but realized how pissed off Billy looked. He pulled his phone out and unplugged his headphones. “Hey Eddie, I’ll call you back.”

“Everything okay?” The other man sounded a little worried. 

“Yeah, just send over that demo and I’ll listen to it later.”

“Alright, bye Stevie!” Eddie said before he hung up. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, not liking how he looked even more pissed off after he ended his call. 

“Lowered your standards huh?” Billy spat out. 

“Uh, yes? But it was only a joke.” He blinked, very confused. 

“Oh? Then how about moving in with Eddie. ” Billy scoffed, crossing his arms. 

Steve blinked, staring at the man in confusion. He thought back over his conversation with Eddie and it dawned on him. “Oh, shit. No, Billy, it's really not what you think.”

“Oh, really? Enlighten me then.” He scowled.

“So, to start, me talking about lowering my standards was about me being friends with Eddie. And the apartment? Robin, Eddie and I agreed before I even came out here that after the first year we would be getting an apartment together.”

“Eddie,” Billy seemed to have calmed down a bit. “Like Eddie Munson?” 

“Yeah, Robin introduced us to each other a month after working at scoops. We’re like the three musketeers with six shared kids.” Steve chuckled. 

“You were planning on leaving me?” Billy’s walls went back up.

“Originally, yeah.” Steve shrugged. “But now, I am testing out bringing you with me.” 

“Testing?” He calmed down again.

“Billy, babe. Look around our room.” Steve chuckled, motioning towards all the work that he was doing. “Yes we shared a space, but now we will fully share a bed.”

“If it works out, then I’m dragging you to live with us.” He took a hesitant step forward. “But I should warn you. Eddie and I do get flirty, but it’s all jokes. I even flirt with Robin.”

“Promise?” Billy asked hesitantly. 

“Yes, god. I really like you Billy.” Steve finally closed the distance, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, wrapping his arms around Steve. 

“Don’t worry about it,” He grinned. “This might be awful of me to say, but I love that you were jealous.” 

“Get used to it,” Billy snorted. “I’m not exactly level-headed.”

“Just promise to hear me out before you go off the deep-end?” Steve pulled back, planting a kiss on his forehead. 

“I’ll try,” Billy leaned into it. “So, pushed our beds together?”

“More room to cuddle now,” Steve wiggled his eyebrows. He laughed at the eyeroll he got in return. “We good?” 

“Yeah,” Billy flushed a bit. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries, now come on. Help me finish making the bed.” He went to put his phone down and saw a message from Eddie. He decided to play it on the speaker, letting Billy listen as well. When the bed was made, he flopped down on it, calling Eddie back and putting it on speaker for Billy to listen.

“That sounded like a dumpster fire,” Steve grinned at the squawk he got. “But better than the garbage other people play in the genre.”

“You have shit taste, why did I send that to you.” Eddie groaned. 

“Cause I’m pretty and you seek my approval,” Steve winked at Billy, who was watching Steve in amusement. 

“Ugh, all you have going for you is how hot you are. It will never work between us, big boy. Your music taste would ruin us.” Eddie said dramatically and he could picture him waving his arms around.

“At least you don’t room with him,” Billy chuckled, dropping down to sit beside Steve on the bed. “I thought it sounded great.”

“Oh,” Eddie went quiet. 

“We listened to it while making the bed, figured Billy would be able to help you a bit more as he actually likes metal.” Steve shuffled closer, moving to lay in Billy’s lap. 

“You really think it was good?” Eddie’s voice was small. 

Steve felt his heart ache, Eddie was so used to backlash from people about his music. When Steve had first heard it, he didn’t understand it, but he knew the skills and talent it took and how much effort Eddie put into it. So while he might tease the guy, he did make sure to tell him how awesome it was that he could play like that.

“Hell yeah, what’s your band's name and are you on spotify? I want to look up your other songs.” Billy took his phone when Steve offered it to him, digging into the other man's pocket to pull out his own phone. 

“Corroded Coffin and yeah we are, that track you heard is one we are currently working on.” Eddie started sounding excited again.

“You should see them live, they’re great performers.” Steve said as he messed with Billy’s phone. 

“Awe, Stevie.” Eddie cooed. 

“Don’t cream your pants,” Steve snickered. 

“Too late,” Eddie cackled before he cut himself off sharply. “Wait, shit. Sorry Billy, I should probably stop saying shit like that now.”

“You’re fine,” Billy smirked. “You can flirt all you want, just know he’s mine.”

“Damn,” Eddie muttered. “That was hot.”

“Right?” Steve laughed. “And fair warning, he’s mine as well.”

“Ugh, this sucks. Two perfect guys are dating each other.” Eddie whined. 

Steve starts laughing, passing Billy his phone back. “There, you now follow the band as well as Eddie on all accounts.” 

“Cool, I’ll check out more of your music. Oh and when is your next live? I know a couple people who might be into it.” Billy passed Steve his phone back, scrolling through his own. 

“Oh! Um, we’re playing at a bar in Indiana next month.” He sounded so excited. 

“Great, text Steve what we need to know and we’ll be there.” The blonde grinned down at Steve. “For now though, I’m going to steal my boyfriend away.”

“Ugh, gross couple. I’ll talk to you later Stevie and don’t forget to tell Robin about the new development!” 

Billy chuckled as they hung up, playing with Steve’s hair. “So, are we going to talk about how our beds are suddenly way more comfortable?”

“Oh, I didn’t want there to be a crack in the middle, so I found a good deal on a memory foam top.” Steve grinned up at him. 

“Is my rich boyfriend actually good at saving money?” Billy teased. 

“I mean, I’m not rich, but yeah.” Steve smiled at the confused look he got. “I’m not rich, my parents are. And I know they’re going to cut me off when I come out, just biding my time for now so I can save up.”

“Huh, that’s pretty conniving.” The blonde looked at him weirdly. “Won’t they demand the money back?”

“Not if they think I’m spending it all on partying and such. Little do they know that I’m taking it out of the account they have access to and depositing it into another.” Steve looked past Billy to the ceiling. “Honestly, I hate doing it. So I only take what I need.”

“What do you mean?” Billy’s fingers continued to run through his hair. 

“My dad sends me five grand a month,” Steve muttered, scowling a bit. 

“Fucking hell,” Billy choked out. 

“It’s hush money for not telling mom he’s cheating on her. With multiple different women. I caught him a couple times, so every time he gets caught, he adds five hundred dollars more.” 

“You’ve caught him ten times?” The look of disgust on Billy’s face manages to get a laugh out of him, even if it’s a little one. 

“Yupp,” he gives Billy a small grin. “Little does he know every time I found out, I told mom anyways.”

“Hold on,” the blonde looks confused. “If it’s hush money and you have told her, how are you still getting it?”

“I told mom the first time it happened,” he sits up, moving to lean against the headboard instead. “The only question she asked me was how much he gave me. When she found out, she told me to take the money and start saving it.”

“So that’s what I did. When it happened the fifth time and I was getting $2500 a month, she set me up another account. Told me to move it all over and be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?” Billy asked quietly, shuffling to lean against his side. 

“For when she divorces him,” he snorted. “She has enough on him because of me that when she leaves, the prenup is null and void. She’s holding out until I’m out of college and on my own.” 

“Wow,” Billy grabbed his hand. “She’s strong.”

“Huh?” He blinks. “I mean, yeah she is, but what do you mean?”

“When my mom left, she just left without saying anything. No goodbye, nothing.” The blonde looked down at his lap, shaking his head a bit to get rid of the thought. “You’re mom though, not only does she know, but she’s preparing both of you. She is making it so both of you are set up afterwards and protecting you. She’s a good mom.”

“Yeah,” Steve grinned. “She really is.”

“Now, can we talk about how comfy this shit is.” Billy grinned, pushing himself down to lay flat on his back. “It’s like sleeping on a cloud.”

“Only the best for the number one thing in my life,” Steve leaned over Billy, kissing him gently. “My back.”

“Wow, I see how it is.” Billy snarks. Steve yelps when Billy flips them over so Steve is underneath. His face heats up and he blinks stupidly up at the smug man. 

“Huh,” he smiled a little. “That was hot.”

“Yeah? You like me being able to throw you around?” Billy teased. 

“Maybe not throwing around, but manhandling, yes.” Steve chuckled a bit when Billy leaned down and started kissing his neck. “That tickles.” 

“Oh?” Billy chuckled, moving to a different spot, making Steve squirm a bit. “Here too?”

“Billy,” Steve laughed. 

“Hey, Billy. Did you-” Their door opened and both of them looked over to find Conner standing there. “Son of a bitch, lock your door at least!”

“Knock!” Billy snapped back. 

“What do you need, Conner?” Steve pushed Billy back, sitting up and giving him a smile. 

“Notes,” he sighed. “God you two are just going to keep getting more insufferable.”

“And you’re just going to keep getting lazier with your notes.” Billy climbed off the bed, going over to his bag he dropped when he came in. He pulled out his notebook and passed it over. 

“You write faster! I can’t help that,” Conner whines. 

“Take it and leave. Also, I expect it back tomorrow and knock.” Billy shoved him out the door, closing it and locking it behind him. He turned back to Steve with a smirk. “Now that he’s gone, shall we see where else you’re ticklish?”

“Hurry up and get over here, you ass.” Steve chuckled. It turned into a loud laugh when Billy jumped back on the bed and yanked him down to lay again. 

When they’re both relaxing later on, Steve resting on Billy, Steve can’t help but start laughing. “Robin and Eddie are going to hate us.”