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“The fuck you want, Harrington?” Billy doesn’t know which one it is, but doesn’t want to let in to that little fact.

Whichever twin is standing in front of him smirks, temptation, but Billy can see the venom there. Will do him in if he gets too close.

“I’ll tell you if you can guess which one I am.”

“Your mistake is thinking I give a shit what you have to say.” Billy slings his messenger bag over his shoulder and turns away. He’s got lunch and he’s starving.

Harrington’s tailing his ass down the hall, an irritating giggle bubbling from his lips as he keeps pace. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Billy huffs, playing dumb.

“Which one I am. You can’t tell us apart.”

Billy doesn’t answer.

“No, that’s fine,” the guy continues. “We’ve been going to school with the same people since pre k and even they have difficulty sometimes. Tell you a real good way to help you learn, though-“

Billy swings around, halting Harrington in his tracks as they stand chest to chest in the empty hall. “By me bludgeoning you to death so there’s only one left?”

The threat doesn’t have the intended affect. Harrington’s eyes light up with an all to recognizable thrill. Makes Billy want to slam him against the lockers and- He’s not supposed to be doing that shit anymore. The whole reason he ended up in this bumfuck town in the first place.

“Come eat lunch with me and my brother,” he says, eyes flickering down for the briefest second to Billy’s lips.

“And why the hell would I do that?”

“Wasn’t really a request.” Harrington’s staring at him, bold, unflinching. Too confident and cocky for his own goddamn good. Has feelings stirring up in Billy’s gut he’s trying to keep buried down. “But you know you’re curious. Heard all the rumors. Wanna see what’s real and what isn’t…”

Billy ends up following him to lunch, and he’ll blame it on the fact this town has fuck else going on, and this has the potential to be the most exciting thing he’ll face.

The other twin is already awaiting them at the table when they reach the cafeteria. A scowl on his face as soon as he meets Billy’s eyes, Billy knows which one he’s looking at. Kind of impossible not to be able to tell them apart now that he sees them side by side. Maybe it’s just Billy’s presence bringing out the distinction. Makes him feel kind of smug.

“Billy, you know my baby brother Steve,” the other one announces, taking his seat next to his twin.

“We’ve had the displeasure of meeting, yes.” Billy grins, pissing Steve off further.

“The displeasure was all mine.”

“Aw, now come on, children, this is meant to be a fun play date!” Other twin says, too bright and cheery for the current tension at play. “Billy, please, sit down.” He extends his arm out towards the seat on the other side of the table. Billy let’s a few seconds pass before sitting down.

“Fantastic! See, Steven, he can play nice.”

“Fuck you,” Billy bites, but he doesn’t leave.

“He can play mean, too,” he laughs. God, this guy is something else. Probably a freak in the sack. Billy’s just getting that vibe.

“I should probably introduce myself. I’m James. Eldest Harrington-“

“By like, five minutes,” Steve grumbles.

“It’s a touchy subject for baby brother,” James stage whispers, leaning forward towards Billy. “Anyway, as the eldest, I wanted to invite you to lunch with us today because, well, to put it bluntly; you’re the shiny new toy of Hawkins and we wanted to see what you were all about.”

“I’m not a fucking toy,” Billy grits through his teeth. The last thing he needs is some rich fuck thinking he owns everything because of daddy’s unlimited credit card.

“No, no, of course not.” James waves his hand dismissively, sounding not the least bit apologetic. “You’re a person. A very attractive one. We don’t get a lot of California transplants around here, as you can imagine. So my brother and I are curious to see how you…stack up. Against the townies we’re used to.”

It feels like a set up. Every fiber of Billy’s being is telling him not to take the bait, to ignore these hicks and move on with his life because he’s already fucked up bad enough to get sent here, doesn’t want to know the consequences of doing it again.

He makes his decision, the metal legs of his chair scraping against linoleum as he pushes away from the table to stand up. “Well have fun with your fantasies about me, ‘cause that’s all you’re getting.”

He goes to leave, but is stopped abruptly by a hand on his wrist. James. Smirking up at him like the devil incarnate. Guy gives him the creeps, if he’s honest.

“Just let it go, James. He can’t hang. Wouldn’t be any fun anyway.” Steve doesn’t even look up when he says it. Is too busy picking at a loose thread on his sleeve, bored look on his face like he’s above all this.

Fuck that.

Billy’s eyes bore holes through the kid’s skull, fist clenching at his side because who the fuck does he think he is acting like he knows anything?

“Our house is in Loch Nora,” James announces, hand still wrapped around Billy’s wrist. “Sure you can figure out which one. Come by at 10. Don’t keep us waiting.”

Steve looks up then, unsmiling but clearly pleased with himself. Billy would love nothing more than to lunge across the table and make him eat his teeth.

They can fuck right off thinking he’s just gonna come crawling because they said so. The fuck does he look like?

He should leave them high and dry. Keep them waiting all night just to have the satisfaction of seeing them pissed off and blue-balled tomorrow.