sigh

well…not in public. not around the kids. not around joyce or hopper. not around anyone who might dare to comment on it.

in public he’s all sharp edges and crossed arms and “don’t touch me unless you want to lose a hand.”

but in private?

well it took a bit of time, but in private he’s a koala.

the second the door closes behind them, something in him just… drops. the tension in his shoulders, the guarded look in his eyes, the whole “i’m tough and nothing bothers me” act disappears completely.

steve barely has time to take off his shoes before billy is on him.

arms around his waist. face tucked into his neck. whole body pressed against him like he’s trying to fuse them together.

steve pretends to be surprised every time.

“wow, someone missed me.”

billy grumbles into his shirt. “shut up.”

but he doesn’t let go.

ever.

steve moves around the house with billy attached to him like a very warm, very stubborn backpack. billy would follow him into the kitchen, into the living room, into the hallway with arms still around him, chin hooked over his shoulder, refusing to give him even an inch of space.

and steve loves it.

he loves the weight of billy leaning on him. he loves the way billy’s fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. he loves the quiet little sigh billy makes when steve runs a hand through his hair. he loves that billy trusts him enough to be soft.

sometimes billy will flop onto the couch first, tugging steve down with him until steve is basically lying on top of him and he’d wrap his arms around him, tight, like he’s afraid steve might disappear if he loosens his grip.

steve loves resting his head on billy’s chest, listening to his heartbeat as billy strokes his back in slow, absentminded circles.

“you’re so clingy,” steve murmurs.

“no i’m not.”

“you literally haven’t let go of me for an hour.”

billy shrugs, tightening his hold. “i’m comfortable.”

steve smiles into his shirt. “you’re so cute.”

billy groans. “don’t start.”

steve just kisses over his shirt where his heart is.

and at night… that’s when billy gets the clingiest.

they get into bed and billy immediately pulls steve into his chest, arms wrapped around him like a shield. sometimes he hooks a leg over steve’s too, just to make sure he’s not going anywhere.

steve teases him for it and billy just mumbles a half-asleep, “whatever” but steve loves these sorta cuddles.

because billy clinging to him isn’t neediness, it’s trust. it’s safety. it’s the quiet, unspoken truth that billy feels most at peace when he’s wrapped around steve.

and steve?

steve holds him just as tightly.

because he loves being needed. he loves being the one billy reaches for. he loves every second of being billy’s safe place.

and if billy wants to cling to him all night?

steve will happily let him.

billy hargrove who finds out and immediately gets his nipples pierced

eddie munson who is surprised but agreeable and... way more turned on by doing it than he should be

It’s like looking at the sun. Or the flash of a camera. Maybe even the sunlight rippling off of the lake.

Either way, he can’t find the words to describe exactly how Billy makes him feel.

The flash of anger in those blue eyes, the way his canines show when he smiles just big enough, the freckles on his nose bunching together as he scrunches his face in disgust, the way his tongue runs over his teeth, the way his laugh sounds in Steve’s car, the sleepy murmur of his voice in Steve’s ear late at night, the heaviness of his limbs as they’re thrown across Steve’s body.

It’s like he’s drowning when Billy’s around.

Which is ironic, he supposes, as he thinks of those red swim shorts that come out from June to August.

And yet, when he’s gasping for air when Billy’s kissing him, he doesn’t want to be helped, or saved, or anything.

He holds his breath and closes his eyes, feels the tightness of his chest as Billy pecks at his lips and holds him close, mumbling something dirty-sweet into his ear as he grabs Steve’s ass, like he always does.

His chest has been tight and full for so long, he’s used to being short of breath, but he’s breathless when he hears Billy mumble something new.

“I think,” the blond whispers into his ear, so low that Steve can barely hear him over the buzz of nothing, “I love you.”

He feels like his ribcage is cracked, suddenly. His eyes are wide and his heart is beating quick, not fast.

Billy pulls back just enough to look him in the eye, a vulnerability there that’s poorly hidden under his usual bravado as he huffs, “And you better love me, too, or I’ll beat your ass.”

He laughs. He can’t help it. It’s startled out of him, his eyes are wet as he grins and shakes his head in amused disbelief, which makes Billy eye him.

“I love you, too,” Steve whispers, pulling the blond close.

Billy loves the stupid little games they sometimes play.

They’ve been together for years, they know just how to get each other off and what to do or say to initiate things, but sometimes it’s fun to pretend they don’t.

Like, Steve just showered and Billy had cornered him in their room, pressing his boyfriend into the door and kissing him, slow and deep, just how his pretty boy likes it. It’s evident with how the towel tents, how Steve’s chest flushes pink, and Billy’s been wanting his mouth on his boyfriend all day so he presses his lips to Steve’s ear and whispers, “You gonna let me eat you out, princess?”

And, usually, that’s enough for Steve to drop his towel. But, instead, he gets Steve’s hands on his chest and the gentlest push.

He furrows his brow and gives that bit of space, just a couple inches, just enough to see the look on his boyfriend’s face.

With pretty pink lips parted and a look of confusion on that gorgeous face, Steve says, “What?”

Which is funny, because he came with Billy’s tongue deep in his ass just last week.

Billy picks up on it immediately and gives him a knowing smile, grabs at Steve’s hips and thumbs at the damp terry cloth of his towel, “C’mon, don’t be shy…” he wets his lips with a quick flash of tongue before leaning in again, murmuring, “I’ll make you feel so good, I promise…”

Steve leans in and meets his lips halfway, a shy little peck before he pulls away, his brown eyes so big and wide, Billy can see the hint of amusement in them. Still, Steve pretends to be shy, muttering back, “But…”

“But, what?” Billy sighs, pulling at Steve’s towel and grinning as he hears it fall to the floor, sliding his hands down his boyfriend’s hips to grab at his ass, squeezing and massaging the fatty muscle there.

“I’ve…I’ve never done that…before…” Steve whispers, his voice trembling with a poorly contained giggle.

There’s a beat of silence, both of them frozen as they look at one another, until Steve’s mouth quivers and then he’s actually laughing, which makes Billy grin even wider, so wide that his cheeks bunch and his eyes crinkle.

“Oh, you’re just such a virgin, hm?” Billy teases, grinning as Steve leans in against him and ducks his head to hide in Billy’s neck, still shaking with laughter as he cringes at himself.

“Shut up,” Steve laughs into Billy’s neck, whining after a moment, “I was doing so good, too…”

“You were,” Billy agrees with a soft chuckle, wrapping one arm around Steve while the other hand grabs at his boyfriend’s ass again, humming, “C’mon, virgin, ask me to eat you out.”

“No,” Steve whines with that shy little smile from before, his face pink as he pulls away from Billy and goes toward the closet to look for something to wear.

Which wasn’t going to happen, not if Billy could help it.

So, he follows Steve and presses himself to his boyfriend’s back, kissing up the side of Steve’s neck until he gets to his ear. There, he whispers, “C’mon, Stevie, I wanna feel your legs on my shoulders and how tight you can get around my tongue…”

“Billy,” Steve gasps, so put-upon that it makes Billy smile against his boyfriend’s ear.

“Just one little taste,” he coaxes him, sliding a hand down to Steve’s cock, which is still hard. He gives it a squeeze, “If you don’t like it, we’ll stop.”

“Okayfine,” Steve breaths out in a rush, eager as always yet putting up a front like he’s indulging Billy as he swats the blond’s hand away and taking those couple of steps towards their bed.

He sits on the edge and Billy follows eagerly, watching very closely as Steve leans back on his elbows, his legs hanging off of the bed, his cock so pretty where it’s resting against his lower belly.

“Good boy,” he can’t help but to say, which makes Steve’s cheeks go red and his legs spread without being told to.

“It’s that easy, huh?” He teases with a smirk, which grows as Steve gives him a little glare that is so familiar.

He steps between Steve’s open legs and kneels down onto the carpet, his eyes focused on the crease just below Steve’s balls, wanting to lean in and nuzzle his way in there, but he doesn’t. Instead, he grabs Steve’s hips and pulls him closer, until his boyfriend’s ass is at the edge of the bed and then he’s hauling Steve’s legs over his shoulders, like he said he wanted to.

Glancing up, he sees Steve watching him intently, his eyes half-lidded and cock leaking against his stomach. Their eyes meet and Steve’s cock twitches because of it.

God, Billy’s obsessed with him.

So, keeping that eye contact, he gets his hands under Steve’s thighs and pushes them up, just enough so that he can lean in and flick his tongue out against sensitive puckered skin.

Steve’s jaw drops with a soft sound of pleasure, his face twisting a little as Billy goes in again, pressing the flat of his tongue against his hole and moaning against it.

“Fuck, Billy,” Steve moans, staring down at him as Billy gathers saliva onto his tongue before spitting onto his twitching rim.

“So nice and wet for me, baby,” he sighs, the act dropped as he leans in again, swirling the tip of his tongue against Steve’s core, pushing his hands up to the back of his boyfriend’s knees to open him up some more.

The sounds his boyfriend makes are almost pornographic, little mewls of pleasure woven into gasped curses and moans of Billy’s name, and it’s not long until he feels Steve’s hand threading into his hair, pulling his face closer.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck,” Steve keens, tossing his head back as Billy bullies his tongue past that ring of muscle, groaning into Steve as he feels his boyfriend clench around him again and again, babbling, “Don’t stop, oh god, don’t stop, please—”

Maybe it’s mean, but he does stop, for a moment. Just to catch his breath.

It makes Steve whine in disappointment, wiggling his ass and hips as if to goad Billy to continue, but he gives the back of one of Steve’s thighs a slap for it. Steve takes what he’s given and he knows that.

Doesn’t stop him from being a brat, of course.

But, Billy loves it.

After another minute, Steve wiggles again.

“Say please,” Billy smirks.

“Please,” Steve whispers, so soft and earnest that it makes Billy’s cock ache in his pants.

He rewards his boyfriend by leaning in again, pressing a sweet kiss to Steve’s hole before spearing his tongue and licking his way inside, groaning as Steve tenses with a little sharp curse.

It never takes long, especially when Steve gets riled up like this, begging Billy to let him cum and bucking his hips when it’s just a little too much.

Then he gets his hand around Steve’s dick and that’s it.

He pulls away to watch Steve cum all over himself, ropes of it painting his stomach as he moans, his face twisted so pretty as he does.

Billy lowers his boyfriend’s legs back to the ground and presses a kiss to his hip, smearing his wet chin across Steve’s happy trail just to hear the brunet bitch about it in that sleepy voice he gets after he’s cum.

He kisses up Steve’s stomach and to the centre of his chest, glancing up at him with a small smirk as he says, like he did the first time he’d had a taste of Steve, “Wasn’t so bad, hm?”

He'd watched Steve toss back shot after shot after his girl had left the party, clearly trying to suppress whatever emotion he was feeling, and Billy knew better than to approach him, and yet...

Knowing better doesn't always mean doing better, does it? Especially when he's drunk.

He blames it on that when he fists the front of the pretty boy's shirt and Steve falls forward with the smallest little tug, his eyelids so heavy as their gazes meet, his lips parted just enough that Billy needs to kiss him.

But, he doesn't. Not yet.

Instead, he offers to take Steve home, and to his surprise, Steve accepts.

He doesn't live far. They climb into Billy's car and Steve's scrunching his nose at the heavy scent of cigarettes and cologne and the loud music that's suddenly playing. He looks so cute, Billy wants to eat him.

But, he doesn't. Instead, he smirks and drives just fast enough to make Steve nervous.

When they arrive to what might be the biggest house in Hawkins, it looks like no one is home. He watches Steve stumble out of the car and laughs at him, gets out and circles the car to help him up from the driveway as Steve whines and brushes the dirt from his palms, leaning all of his weight against Billy as they make their way to the front door.

It's a real nice place, Billy thinks, as he helps Steve up to his room. He guy's room has the ugliest wallpaper he's ever seen, though and he's about to say that but Steve’s heavy-limbed, so drunk, and Billy’s no better at this point, so when Steve’s knees suddenly give out and he’s kneeling at Billy’s feet, his flushed cheek pressed to the front of Billy’s jeans with his big doe eyes staring up at him, Billy's too slow to stop it.

He leans back against the bedroom door and hears it click shut with the motion, tucking his chin and staring down at the pretty boy at his feet. Steve's mumbling something under his breath, sighing heavily as he rubs his cheekbone along the denim, and Billy feels his cock stir.

There's a moment of silence, where Billy's staring down at Steve's thick hair and Steve's stopped mumbling so he can tilt his chin up and look at him again, their gazes once again locked.

That whole thing about not doing better echos in the back of his mind as he lifts his hand from his side and presses his thumb against the line of Steve’s lips, tugging his lower lip down, wondering if Steve will push off of him and tell him to get out but no, instead he feels his stomach flip when Steve’s tongue presses against the pad of his thumb, drawing it into his mouth quietly, their gaze never breaking.

He feels Steve give the smallest little suck and Billy fucking moans.

(there's a lot and it's in no particular order)

Baby Steps by Thei

A baby. He’s holding a baby. There’s a baby in Billy’s hand, and Billy – seventeen years old – is suddenly a father.

lamp-bright rind by nagdabbit

Billy spies on his cute neighbor, his cute neighbor doesn't know how to cook. Luckily, Billy can do something about that.

and i swear (we were infinite)

(A Vietnam War AU.)

If Snow Loves the Trees and Fields by nervoussis

El thinks about it for a minute. Then; "Boys can be stupid sometimes." "Yeah," Billy says miserably, like. That's the understatement of the century. He and Steve. Together and separate. So dumb. "But they are only stupid because they don't know how to talk about the warm stuff in their bellies, they are worried that if they let the warm things free, they will die out in the cold." El continues in that soft, soothing way of hers. "Maybe your Steve does not love this Nancy person in the same way that he loves you. Maybe he loves--" Billy can't handle this. "He doesn't love me." Max takes the phone away. "Do you really believe that or are you scared of what it might mean to you if he does?"

cherry pie by brawls, ToAStranger

Billy Hargrove lives for summer. Endless sunshine, heavily chlorinated pools, roaming ice cream trucks, and unencumbered freedom? There’s nothing better. Even being stuck in Hawkins can’t ruin the summer for him. He eats it up, devouring every day whole.

i'll be his and he'll be mine

Steve had wanted their honeymoon to be as silly and sickeningly romantic as it could get, but unfortunately, the two-week all-inclusive luxury romance package isn’t refundable. Steve could definitely use a breather and he's not about to throw five thousand dollars down the drain like that, so of course he's going to go. He's just not sure why he invited Billy to come along.

Softer Round the Edges by NotEvenCloseToStraight

Four weeks after Starcourt, Steve buries his broken heart in a box alongside a pile of blurry Polaroids, love letters from a secret relationship and the keys to a wrecked, blue Camaro. Four years later, Steve's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere California. The mechanic at the closest shop has blue eyes and blond hair… and a name tag that says Billy Hargrove.

Negative Harmony by E_D_osbourne

Billy only needs one thing in life, and that's knowing Max is safe. Neil stays off his back, Susan can quit compulsively cleaning the house out of stress, and Billy can sleep at night knowing Max is in his nest, safe and sound. He doesn't expect to start to feel that same need extend towards her little pack of runts. And he certainly doesn't expect to have to fight Steve Harrington over it. OR: Secret omega Billy has a soft spots for shitheads.

Back in Business by transcryptidone

Growing up, Steve always knew he wanted to be a dad. As a teenager, he aspired to a camper van with six little nuggets. A whole family together for a full family vacation, no sudden phone calls or business emergencies. Now he's working long days, raking in cash, and divorced. Facing the prospect of starting all over and fueled by the worry that it's too late to have what he's always dreamed of, Steve decides to make use of a high-end surrogacy service, one that offers a mate experience.

Taking Notes by Thei

Billy and Steve switch bodies.

break (like waves) by residual

‘We’re good together,’ Harrington says to the darkness above. Not a question. Matter of fact. He turns to Billy, a smile sweet enough to make Billy want to do something reckless. Something stupid. ‘I’m telling you, heartbreaker. We’re gonna be unstoppable.’ Billy wants to ask. If he means tomorrow. If he means just for the game. Wants to ask if he means forever. He’s never wanted anyone to mean forever before.

don't you try me now by whenyouwishuponastar

In which Steve writes for Purdue’s monthly newsletter and, in his final year, gains a relentless troll in the comments section. Robin tells him not to feed the troll, but that’s impossible—this guy is dead meat and it’s so on.

blood in my eyes by whenyouwishuponastar

In which Steve Harrington grows up watching ink tell a story on his skin. It’s far from a nice story, but Steve can only watch, hope and wait. After Billy Hargrove strolls into Hawkins High, Steve knows the pain and heartache are worth it. But Billy Hargrove hasn’t ever had a nice story.

for want of a nail by sepulchralsmile

Instead of getting there in October, Billy Hargrove rolls into town at the end of November; complete with a broken arm, a head full of stitches, and some newly-refreshed fear of his father. There he meets Steve Harrington: the preppy dreamboat who seems content with hating Billy's guts on sight and is determined to ignore him for the rest of the year. Billy's never been easily ignored, though, and Steve is about to really learn what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. or, another season 2 AU that occupies my mind rent-free

When The Sun Saw The Moon by Memessavedme

When a Blood Moon appears over Hawkins on the 4th of August 1985 Steve doesn’t think much of it, that is until he wakes to the sound of his parents downstairs, Christmas decorations throughout his home and a calendar telling him today is in fact the 23rd of December 1984… No matter how he got there, he decides he has to stop the 4th of July from ever happening but to do so he has to befriend none other than Billy Hargrove to stop him from falling victim to the Mindflayer. Except, is the summer of ‘85 inevitable or can he save Hawkins from it’s impending future?

Star Stuff by justaluckybug

“Yes,” says Robin seriously. “Your love life is a 90s rom-com train wreck because You’ve Got Mail is my girlfriend’s favorite movie, and I’m God.” “I knew it,” says Steve. Steve’s falling in love with an anonymous astrology account, which would be the worst of his problems, if it weren’t for his girlfriend, who’s probably (definitely) cheating on him; his useless best friend, who is Not Helping; and Billy Hargrove, who hasn’t done anything wrong, specifically, but whose stupid hair and stupid face make everything gross and terrible all the time.

despite the loss that set me free by HowCleverOfYou

Steve gets trapped in the Upside Down. Three months later, some things have changed.

How Much Clearer Can I Be by toomanysharks

OR Five Times Billy Tries to Woo Steve Using Different Love Languages and One Time He Finally Uses His Words. Featuring everyone aged up so they can all be working in an office together, for no good reason other than 'I wanted to.'

High Horse (I Ain't Gonna Fence You In) by yllwhornet

billy: hey. hey hey hey hey. i heard you were cool. are you cool. everybody says you were cool. and now you're a little bitch. are you a little bitch. look at me look at me. hey cool cool bitch look at me are you looking

billy is alive au!