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“Hargrove? Jesus Christ, is that you, kid?”
“I doubt Jesus Christ is anywhere near here, Chief,” Billy responds quietly, attempting a joke that neither of them laugh at.
“Billy!” The joyous cry is muffled as Jane races into the room. She’s dressed in oversized pajamas, nearly ready to go to bed. Her toothbrush is still in her mouth. She freezes, however, when she sees him; expression stuck somewhere between the shock of seeing him now and her initial happiness upon his arrival.
The only sound in the cabin is the muted clatter of her toothbrush hitting the ground.
…
This is what he gets, Billy figures, for showing up at Hopper’s cabin at nine o'clock on a Tuesday night. When he’d knocked on the door, he’d heard the TV volume instantly go down and the hushed whispers of an argument between Hopper and Jane. The quiet debate had gone on for several minutes before Jim had eventually surrendered and opened the door. The delayed reaction to his welcome had almost sent him back to his car, on his way somewhere else, before he realized that he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He had come here because he hadn’t known where else to go.
“Do you want me to call someone, kid?” Hopper’s question breaks Billy out of his own thoughts, his gaze immediately shifting from where he’s been studying his boots blankly to meet the police chief's eyes.
“No,” he says quietly, smiling softly at Jane as she hurries towards him, shoving a glass of lukewarm water into his hands before rushing back into the kitchen. Billy thinks she’s making him the last of her Eggos. He feels bad about it but he’s not sure she knows how else to help him. She’s trying her best; he’s seen Max do the same things a million times over when Neil gets angry. He’s learned to appreciate it, no matter how small or odd the gesture.
“You sure?” Hopper asks. His eyes linger on Jane, scurrying about in the kitchen, before returning to stare at Billy.
“Who would I call?” Billy retorts, voice suddenly tired. “You can’t press charges over a fucking haircut, Chief.”
Hopper sighs in return, running a hand over his face as he thinks. Normally, he’d already be grilling Billy for cursing in front of Jane but this is different. This is a situation that he’s not exactly sure how he’s supposed to handle. “Should I call Harrington?” He settles for.
Billy’s eyes widen in terror, which he tries to mask with a forced laugh. “Why the hell would I call King Steve now? Call him over so he can get a good laugh at me?”
“You can cut the crap, kid. I know,” Hopper says softly.
Billy swallows hard. “Know what? That I beat his face in last year? That — ?”
“Steve loves you,” Jane chirps up quietly. Both Hopper and Billy turn to look at her; neither of them had noticed her enter the room with her plate full of Eggos. She notices Billy’s terrified face first, before she meets Hopper’s exasperated look. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to snoop.”
“What?” Billy asks softly. His chest feels tight, as if Neil’s got a tight hand around his heart. He can’t risk anyone knowing about him and Harrington; if word ever got back to his father, a haircut would be the least of his problems. If his father found out that he was still "fooling around" with boys, he’d be lucky if he ever left his house alive again.
“Steve looks at you the way Jim looks at Joyce. Love,” Jane explains quietly, shrugging as she moves to sit down on the couch next to Billy. She misses Jim's widening eyes as she balances the plate on her knees. “Will saw it too.”
“Will saw what too?” Billy croaks out. He’s not surprised the way his voice sounds, as if someone’s cutting all the air off to his body. The situation is all too familiar; Max had seen something she shouldn’t have and let it slip unintentionally. It had ruined Billy’s life even further; something Billy hadn’t even realized was possible at that point.
“You and Steve. Kissing,” Jane scrunches up her face at the last word, sticking out her tongue in mock disgust. “Before Max left.”
“Fuck,” Billy breathes, the reality of the situation hitting him all at once. He’s got much bigger problems than he was prepared to deal with tonight. He knows Jane’s good at keeping secrets; that he and Steve’s relationship would most likely stay safe within the confines of this cabin. But if Will knew? That meant that the whole gang of kids that he hung out with knew. That meant Max knew. That meant he was in danger and he hadn’t even realized it.
“Hey, kid. It’s okay,” Hopper says softly above him.
"Friends keep secrets," Jane whispers next to him. He feels her lean against him in an attempt to comfort him with her presence. "Safe with me."
Billy takes a shaky inhale, rubbing his hands over his face and head. The second his fingertips brush against his buzzed hair, he pulls away as if he's just burned himself. "Maybe you should call Harrington," he mumbles.
Hopper only nods in his direction. Jane wraps her arms around him and squeezes.
...
Hopper's in the other room, talking quietly on the phone to Steve, when Jane reaches up to put her hand on his head. She has a half-eaten Eggo in her other hand and she takes a thoughtful bite as she runs her fingers over his buzzed hair. When he turns to look at her, she speaks.
"Like mine."
"I hate to break it to you, kid," Billy says softly, "but you've got a pretty impressive set of curls on that head of yours." To strengthen his point, he lifts up his own hand, ruffling her curls gently.
Jane giggles in response but her face returns to its serious expression almost immediately. She shakes her head softly, pointing to her own head as she continues. "Papa. Short hair."
The realization of what she's saying comes to Billy like a slap in the face from his own father. It's rare that Jane mentions her past, even with him, who understands more than any of her small crew of friends, and when she does, it always brings Billy heartbreak with her slow healing. "Jane..." he mumbles softly, sympathy heavy in his voice. While he may not understand what she had to endure as a human science experiment, he understands what it's like to have someone control your every movement and punish you for not performing the way that you're expected to.
"Okay," she says softly, setting her Eggo onto the plate next to her and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Still had friends."
Billy's puzzled over her remark but hugs her back nonetheless. He rubs her back soothingly, waiting until she looks up at him to continue.
"Mike. And Lucas. And Dustin. Will. Joyce," she explains calmly. "Still my friend. Even with no hair."
"Good to know," he muses. He doesn't want to hurt Jane's feelings with a lesser response. He's afraid to let her know that her gang of friends' unconditional support doesn't do much for him. The only people he's got in this town are Steve, Hopper and Jane, and occasionally Max. While he's comforted by their support, he knows it won't be the same.
"Grows back," she says, her words muffled against his jacket. Billy squeezes her shoulder to let her know that he's heard her, that he appreciates her kind words, but Jane seems to sense that he's not totally satisfied. It's something she's always been good at. Billy guesses that it's part of her whole superpowers act.
"Cut mine?" She asks quietly, sticking up her head from where she'd buried it in his side. Her eyes gleam mischievously. "Jim has scissors."
Hopper chimes in from the hallway before Billy can respond. The phone is pressed against his chest, muffling his answer. "No, he doesn't."
Jane waits until he's out of the room before she smiles. "Kitchen drawer," she whispers.
Jim's in the kitchen before she's on her feet.
...
An hour later, there's a knock on the door.
"Steve!" Jane cries from where she's curled up at Billy's side on the couch. They've been watching old re-runs of 'I Love Lucy', even if Jane's the only one laughing at the jokes. It's calming to Billy to see her enjoying the show; he's glad that she's found ways to be happy despite everything that's happened to her. It's something he's still working on; something he's not sure he'll ever learn.
Hopper stands from his seat to open the door and Steve practically falls with how fast he tries to get inside the room. When he sees Billy, his keys fall from his hands and clatter against the floor.
Billy supposes some things never change.
...
"Jesus, Billy," Steve says from where he's crouched in front of him. He's holding both of Billy's hands in his; Jane has a calming hand on his knee. Despite Steve's arrival, she's refused to leave his side. Hopper's tried -- and failed -- to bargain with her to get her back to bed. At this point, he's realized he was only fighting a losing battle.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing, Harrington? It's not like you shaved it off," Billy responds. Steve lets out a pained noise at the thought and Billy feels his heart clench. The last thing he wants to do is hurt Steve as well.
"But... your hair... your mom..." Steve's voice trails off as he squeezes Billy's hands gently.
"Jesus, Harrington," Billy snaps, feeling the tears build up behind his eyes. It was a point he hadn't want to make in front of Jane or Hopper; Jane already had issues with her Mom and Hopper had a whole slew of family problems. He'd been too afraid to upset either of them further; it was a problem enough to come to their house, unannounced and seeking refuge for the night. When he'd considered it later, it'd seemed stupid for him to cry over his hair and someone who'd been dead for years now. It's his fault, really, for letting something so easily destroyed represent something that's meant so much to him for so long. He's always known that tying his hair to his mother was a mistake; he just didn't realize how big of one it was until tonight. "You really know how to get to the point, huh?"
"I'm sorry," Steve whispers but it's already too late. Billy knows he's fighting a losing battle with his emotions; he can feel the tears he's been blinking back all night finally breaking through the surface.
Before Billy can pull away from Steve's touch to bury his face in his hands, Steve pulls him closer and wraps his arms around him. Billy collapses forward, hiding his face in Steve's sweater as he begins to sob. He feels small arms wrap around him from behind and Jane's head resting against his back.
"It's okay, Billy. It's alright. You're safe now. You're okay."
Sitting there, with Steve's calm words in his ears and soft kisses to his head and Jane's calming presence behind him, Billy might just believe him.