Assholes w/Hearts of Gold are my Kryptonite

The third time he pulls himself up off the couch and grabs his keys, Max appears from her room, rubbing her eyes, wearing a baggy t-shirt with her rainbow print pajama pants.

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere,” Billy murmurs. “Just…driving. Can’t sleep.”

“I’ll come.”

Billy looks at her and decides that would be ideal.

The only thing worse than the endless nights are being stuck alone in them, waiting for the shadow to come back.

“Get a jacket,” Billy says.

They don’t go anywhere but they go everywhere. Everything in Hawkins is closed by then but they drive around in it anyway before Billy takes them out into the night, carefully avoiding any route that’s anywhere near the Brimborn Steelworks. He finds them the 7-11 the second time they go driving. It becomes their destination. Slurpees at two o’clock in the morning are the new normal as they browse magazines under the fluorescent lights. Max is always in her pajamas as she whirls around the 7-11, picking out candy and accidentally on purpose bumping into Billy until he absently tousles her hair.

Max goes driving with Billy any night he needs it. They listen to his music but he never plays it as loud as he used to. Sometimes they even listen to other bands like the 70′s stuff his mom liked. It fits somehow. Max puts her slippered feed up on the dash and sips her Slurpee and teases Billy about putting on Steve Miller Band when he trashed anything that wasn’t metal before.

“Mom liked this one,” he mutters, turning up. He makes a face at Max as he sings and drives. “Some people call me the space cowbooooy…”

Billy Hargrove deserved so much better. All he got was pain and struggle. I haven’t cried so much in forever.

He was just a broken boy who need a bit of happiness in his life, someone who could love him. His own mom left him with his abusive dad, dad never loved him. I AM SAD AF

Sweetie.