Chapter Text
Steve Harrington was fucked.
When he’d gotten into college it had seemed like a miracle. He’d been on the waitlist, meaning he spent the better half of the summer paranoid that he was going to have to go to community college in Indiana and live at home under his parent’s thumb for another couple of years. So when that beautiful letter came from UCLA, telling him that he’d been accepted, he literally jumped for joy. Until he found out the reason he got in was because his father made a hefty donation to the school’s fund to renovate the library. But the important part was that he would be several states away from his family. And hey, he didn’t have to declare a major until his junior year. Plenty of time to figure out what he wanted to do.
“Yes, Nance, I promise I’ll call when I get there. You know, there’s even this nifty thing called a cellphone, so I can text you from the road.,” Steve said, rolling his eyes as his ex girlfriend fussed about him roadtripping by himself.
“I’m allowed to worry Steve. It’s a long drive to do alone and, let’s face it, you don’t have a great sense of direction,” Nancy said, pulling the bag Steve had been trying to fit into his overly stuffed trunk out of his hand and tossing it in the backseat instead.
“That’s what GPS is for Nance,” Steve reminded her because seriously, did she think this was the 80s and he’d be driving with only an old faded road map as his guide?
“I know. I’m sorry, I sound like a mother hen. It’s just, with Jonathan and I headed to New York and you headed to California I feel like it’s the end of an era,” she said, her bottom lip wobbling a little and okay, now Steve felt like a dick. Sighing, he pulled her in for a hug.
“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. There’s always skype. Plus, we can meet up on holidays and stuff,” he said, pulling back just as Jonathan was coming out of the house with the last of Steve’s bags.
“Here ya go, man. Don’t know why you need this much stuff considering you’re gonna be living in one room that you have to share with another person,” he groussed, rolling his shoulder and wincing in pain.
“Thanks, dude,” Steve said, choosing to ignore the rest of the comment as he shook Jonathan’s hand and pulled him in for a bro hug.
“Promise you’ll make it back for Christmas,” Nancy said seriously, her eyes looking a little wet.
“I promise,” Steve told her, only half sure he was telling the truth. He knew once he was out of here, he wouldn’t exactly be eager to come back. The more distance between him, his parents, and their plans for his future, the better. “I gotta get going,” Steve said, giving his friends each one last hug before hopping into his car and putting the key in the ignition.
The drive to California had been a surprisingly awesome few days. Steve, knowing his attention span wasn’t always the greatest, was worried he’d be bored stiff and itching to pull over at every rest stop he passed for something to do. Instead he put his iPod on shuffle and just drove, enjoying the time to be on his own before he was sequestered in his dorm room with a stranger. He let his mind wander, trying to imagine what his roommate was gonna be like. He was kind of hoping for a nerdy type that kept to themselves; easy to live with and not bringing back loud douchey frat guys who would keep Steve up at all hours ideally. Not that he slept much these days anyway. Steve swallowed. He didn’t want to go down that road.
The truth was, even with the gate to the Upside Down closed, Steve hadn’t really slept. Not since their first encounter with the Demogorgon two years ago. And then, just when he’d started getting back to a semi regular sleep schedule, the fucking Demodogs showed up. Everytime he closed his eyes he was back in those tunnels, terrified, but knowing he had to keep the kids safe. God, it had been so long he’d almost forgotten what it was like to sleep without nightmares plaguing him all night.
Steve shook the thought from his mind as he pulled onto campus, peering out the window to get a better look at the sign that would supposedly tell him where he needed to go. His eyes landed on Dykstra Hall as he followed the arrows around the campus. A cheery looking volunteer in a bright orange t-shirt approached his window.
“Hi there! First year?” she asked, smiling so wide it looked like it hurt.
“Uh, yeah,” Steve said, offering her a smile back and feeling pretty proud when her cheeks turned pink. Good to know he was still considered hot outside of Hawkins, Indiana. He’d been a little worried considering he’d seen a fair number of hot shirtless dudes who were tan and buff and drool worthy. Not that he was complaining. Eye candy was eye candy.
“Okay, so just pull up behind that car in front of you and as soon as they move you can take their spot and start unloading!”
Steve nodded, watching as she bounced away to chat with one of the other volunteers. The owner of the car in front of him returned shortly, looking exhausted from lugging all their stuff into the dorm, and pulled out so Steve could pull up. He slung a bag over each shoulder, making a quick stop at the check in desk to get his key, before heading up the stairs to his room.
The door was propped open when he got there, which he assumed meant his roommate was already inside. Steve snorted at the nametags on the door. They were laminated Pokemon with their names written across them. His was on a Squirtle and his roommate, Billy according to the tag, was on a Charmander. Hmm, Billy. Steve was reminded of the asshole back in Hawkins which automatically put a bad taste in his mouth. He shook his head, pushing the door open. Whoever this Billy was, he couldn’t be as bad as that Billy.
Steve stopped dead in his tracks.
His roommate had his back to him, but there was no mistaking that hair. No one else wore their dirty blonde curls in a mullet like that. And those jeans, so tight if there was a nickel in the back pocket you could tell whether it was heads or tails. Before Steve could hightail it out of there and request a room change, his roommate was turning around and Steve was met with the bright blue eyes of Billy fucking Hargrove. Blue eyes that widened the second they landed on Steve.
“Harrington,” Billy said, surprise evident in his tone.
Steve couldn’t say anything. His voice caught in his throat as he stared at the boy in front of him. The boy who had beat Steve’s face to a bloody pulp the night the world could have ended. The boy who, for reasons Steve tried not to think about, had plagued his thoughts ever since he showed up in Hawkins.
Apparently Billy didn’t know what to say either as he stood there staring back at Steve, lips still parted a little in disbelief.
“I thought you were a year behind me,” Steve blurted, because apparently that’s what his brain decided was the best thing to say in this situation.
Billy frowned.
“Graduated a year early. Jesus, did you sleep through graduation? Our names are next to each other in the alphabet, dipshit,” Billy said and yep, that sounded like the Billy Steve knew. Still an asshole. Apparently nothing had changed.
After Billy had smashed his face in, he’d avoided Steve like the plague. He still checked him a little too hard in basketball and glared at him in the hallways, but the snide remarks were a thing of the past. Steve had wondered if it was because Billy felt guilty, even entertained the idea that the boy had changed. Now he was pretty sure he’d imagined it all.
“Right I’m...I’m gonna go request a room change.”
Billy huffed a laugh, crossing his arms.
“On the first day? Good luck. They don’t let you switch unless you can find someone willing to switch with you and since I’m guessing you don’t know anyone yet, I’d say you’re stuck with me,” Billy said, grinning with his tongue between his teeth in that stupid way that made Steve wanna punch him.
Steve vaguely remembered reading something like that in the pamphlet he’d gotten in the mail about living on campus. Shit. That meant, for now, that Billy was right. They were stuck with each other.
“Whatever,” Steve grunted, sidestepping Billy to throw his stuff onto the bed empty bed. He jolted in surprise when Billy touched his shoulder, immediately flying backwards and pressing himself flat against the wall. Billy blinked at him.
“Didn’t realize you were so jumpy. I was just-
“If we’re gonna be stuck like this then it’s whatever, but I don’t...just don’t touch me, okay?” Steve said, feeling embarrassed at the sudden outburst, but not enough to keep quiet about it.
Billy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Look, Harrington-
“Just don’t,” Steve cut him off. He’d faced literal hell hounds. He’d beaten a monster with a baseball bat. He’d seen things that were absolutely fucking terrifying. But right now, nothing scared him more than Billy Hargrove, because Billy Hargrove was a whole different kind of danger. A danger that Steve was so not ready to face.
Something close to hurt flickered across Billy’s face, but he was quick to cover it with a sneer.
“Have it your way, Princess.”
Billy was stalking out of the room before Steve could respond. Letting out a sigh of relief, Steve slumped against the wall, his shoulder on fire where Billy had touched him.
Yup.
He was fucked.