we stan billy hargrove in this house

🌸 something soft for this saturday evening! x

--

Shane is in a loose sweatshirt and half covered by a blanket that appears to be fighting to keep them both adequately covered, his hair uncombed and lying messily over what David can see of his forehead. His typically rigid limbs are strung out over Rozanov’s body as if he’d fallen down there to sleep and simply hadn’t been bothered to move. Further down, his hand is in a loose fist at Rozanov’s hip, fingers twitching every so often in sleep.

Shane shifts against Rozanov’s shoulder, and David watches as Rozanov, still unconscious himself, stops mid-snore to hum something unintelligible, pulls him closer, and then rolls his head sideways until his mouth is buried in the mess of Shane’s hair. His chest rises and falls with a slow, contented breath. 

They both go still again, and David very suddenly, very viscerally understands that he was not meant to see this. In fact, that Shane had warned them not to interfere specifically to protect this. 

The phone charger tucked into his palm feels like lead weight.

--

Almost, I didn’t find X and Y

A blanket on sale that she knows is a texture Shane will like, sesame mochi — the only dessert Shane will eat — David’s favourite brand of chocolate covered almonds (Meiji, obviously).

And when Ilya joins their family it takes a while, but Yuna notices that he always reaches for the dried mangoes when there’s a bag open, and he eats the Miss Vickies sweet and spicy ketchup chips by the handful.

So it makes sense to her that she would pick these things up when she sees them at the store and make sure her pantry is stocked for all her boys.

Ilya only finds out when they’re over at his parents on a movie night, and Shane, rummaging around the pantry for snacks groans “at this point, you have more of Ilya’s stuff than you do mine,”

“My stuff?” He asks, completely befuddled.

“Yeah, like the ketchup chips and the dried mangoes. Your snacks take up the whole pantry.”

“My snacks,” Ilya says again flatly, still not understanding. “But you all eat these.”

“I mean sure,” Shane agrees, “but my mom buys them for you. Because you like them.”

“This is true?” Ilya turns to Yuna with wide eyes.

And Yuna smiles softly at him, maybe a little sheepishly at being called out so blatantly, and shrugs.

“I mean, yes, honey. I thought you liked those snacks?”

And Ilya gets all teary and reassures her that he loves these snacks. He’s obsessed with these snacks. They are his favourite snacks.

And he starts noticing how anytime he shows interest in something, it will start showing up regularly at the Hollander household—snacks, candy, that specific Japanese soda Ilya likes with the marble.

which means maybe the centaurs have picked up on the fact that hey, sometimes when shane wants ilya to stop doing something, he taps his arm twice. or if ilya wants shane to move one way, he taps him three times. or if he just wants his attention, its a squeeze. which is all relatively normal, and they probably think its cute that they have an unspoken language for communicating with one another.

"You're lucky to get this locker," he tells Shane before their first practice. "Everyone in this room is always fighting to get it."

"Why, because it's the one next to yours?" says Shane, tugging a curl at the back of Ilya's head just hard enough to pull his head back playfully.

"Well, yes," laughs Ilya. "But this is also the magic locker."

Shane has that look on his face that Ilya knows means he's not sure if he wants to laugh or roll his eyes.

"The magic locker?" he says with a skeptical eyebrow and a fond smile. "I'm scared to ask what that means."

"You'll see. Is very mysterious. Science cannot explain it. You will soon see its power for yourself."

And Shane's laughing now.

"How about you get dressed so that you're not late for practice, Cap? The only power I want to see right now is your ass on the ice."

And Ilya has this stupid grin the whole way through practice that only gets wider when Shane gets back to his locker to find his favourite post-practice protein bar and an ice-cold can of ginger ale. There's a small post-it stuck to the protein bar that says "Welcome to the team, Hollander. Love, the magic locker elves. xx" It's unmistakably Ilya's handwriting.

"See?" says Ilya, delighted at how much Shane is smiling. "Mysterious."

"Super mysterious," he says, pressing a small kiss to Ilya's cheek. "Tell the elves I say thank you."

(inspired by this post)

The Hargrove-Maylfield move to Hawkins. Neil deliberately put Max in the Camaro to reduce the chances and temptations for Billy to turn back.

And so they followed his pickup truck across state lines. As they drove out of California, Billy glanced at his rearview mirror several times, frowning involuntarily. A risky idea occurred to him...

An AC/DC song was playing on the radio, and he began unconsciously tapping his finger to the beat.

The desire that had spontaneously arisen gradually took over his thoughts. As they drove further and further away, he kept his gaze focused straight on the road, his eyes wandering over the car in front of him. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and gritted his teeth.

Max sat in the front seat, arms stubbornly crossed, her head turning now to the right, at the passing landscapes, now forward, at the road. Noticing a change, she cast an irritated glance at him.

Billy's posture was wary, even somewhat uneasy, he fidgeted slightly in his seat. She studied his profile for a couple more minutes, but didn't dare ask what was wrong.

They pulled onto the highway and merged with the traffic. Later, a van with a trailer pulled up in the adjacent lane and pulled alongside Neil's car. Billy followed it and suddenly spotted a right turn in the distance, likely leading to the next town. Finally, a plan had formed.

Max turned back to him. Seeing him stare intently at the road, then at the cars behind him, doubt began to creep into her. They weren't far from the turnoff.

"Billy?" she asked, confused, as he slowed down slightly.

"Hold on tight," his voice sounded choked.

The only warning came when they suddenly made a sharp right turn, just as the van was about to change lanes. Panicked, she gripped the dashboard with one hand and the door handle with the other, looking around. The road sign flashed: Arizona 12km.

which means the first time shane is riding him and is close to finishing and thus shoves him the FUCK back down when ilya is about to sit up and turn them hits ilya like a fucking FREIGHT TRAIN

The kids: Are you guys seriously fighting again? Come on we thought you were over that! Blah blah blah scolding ensues

Nancy: Face goes red as she notices they’re only bruised on their necks and some happen to slip below the collar of their shirts. Even gets flashed a bite mark on Billy’s chest because he doesn’t know how buttons work.

Jonathan: Oblivious