#ellewritesandrants

Can you imagine Billy pining away, forever in love with the idea of his soulmate being the one who’ll save him from his situation given that’s what happened to his mom and he finds out that his crush is his soulmate but doesn’t want to tell him yet until he’s made something out of himself, until he’s deserving of love and all of a sudden, he finds out that his soulmate found his soulmate and it wasn’t Billy?

Imagine Steve happily dragging Eddie with him who already looks besotted with Steve and they show Billy the mark that he’s memorized from seeing it in the mirror thousands of times and as soon as he sees the smiles on their faces and the look of wonder in their eyes, he knows for a fact he can’t ruin their happiness. He isn’t selfish enough to do it even others would say he was and all he could do was pretend to be happy and smile at the happy couple.

Imagine Billy pulling away, either out of fear he’d inadvertently ruin their relationship or because he couldn’t stand being surrounded by what he couldn’t have and the kids weirdly enough noticing and trying to figure out what’s wrong. It doesn’t help that Neil’s always been bitter about soulmates and he loved rubbing it in Billy’s face how worthless everything regarding soulmates and soulmarks was. Billy used to be able to ignore it in the hopes of finding his soulmate but now, he knew the truth.

The kids come to a different conclusion, not realizing it was something regarding soulmates but instead, about Neil’s treatment of Billy. If canon, it would be El spying on Billy and seeing him being beaten into a pulp by his dad but in a modern AU, it would the aftermath wherein Max would ask Steve to come visit Billy and he drags Eddie along with him.

Either way, Steve and Eddie find out about the abuse that Billy’s been suffering through and the guilt that Steve felt was immeasurable for not seeing what his best friend was going through, too busy with being in love with his soulmate. With Hopper’s help, they get Neil behind bars but Billy’s a wreck and he needs people to take care of him.

Steve refused to leave Billy alone in the trailer while Max went to school and Susan went to work so he offered to have Billy move in with him and Eddie so they could take care of him. Since Steve only worked part-time and Eddie was in the same year as Billy and could drive them to and from school, it made a lot more sense than leaving him to his own devices.

Billy thinks he’s in a new level of hell as time goes by because getting to know Eddie and seeing everything he can’t have was absolutely painful and heartbreaking on another level. Being surrounded by their care and affection when he’s barely known it his entire life hurts on another level he can’t exactly describe but it’s a pain that hurts so good that he can’t exactly say no to it. His only saving grace is that his mark was casted over due to Neil’s last temper tantrum and there was no way that the boys would get to see it.

Months pass of Billy falling more and more in love with his soulmates who are already in love with each other and it hurts so good. Steve and Eddie never make him feel like an outsider the entire time he’s there but sometimes, his touch starvation reminds him of just how much he’d love to be squeezed in between them in any way possible.

Graduation comes and goes and Billy refused to let his father take his achievements away so he graduated valedictorian, dragging Eddie kicking and screaming past the finish line to graduate. Billy gets to make his speech, loudly supported by everyone and he makes sure to thank his newfound family for all of the support they’ve given him.

Of course, graduation wouldn’t be complete without a graduation party so they all get drunk and party in Steve’s house to celebrate six graduations especially Billy and Nancy who graduated valedictorian and salutatorian respectively. Both Jonathan and Nancy planned to go to the same college in Chicago while Robin and her girlfriend, Heather were heading to California soon. Billy had also gotten into the same college but he wasn’t sure about going because he’d be leaving so much behind, including his soulmates.

By now, Billy was in love with both of his soulmates and unbeknownst to him, they were both plently enamored with him and they’d been trying to build up the courage to ask him out. The party had been slightly delayed because Billy was getting his casts off about a week after graduation and they wanted to do shots, something that really wasn’t advisable with a cast.

Billy had planned to initially conceal his mark using makeup but a large part of him knew that it didn’t matter since Steve and Eddie were happy anyway so he didn’t bother. After all, both Steve and Eddie loved to show off their marks at every opportunity and no one gave a shit about Billy. Somehow, Billy had managed to keep his mark a secret from everyone but he knew Heather had some suspicions.

After some time, the drinking games start and somehow, Billy’s mark is revealed either in a dared striptease or by accident during a dare and it quickly sobers him up. He doesn’t notice at first but then Robin drunkenly pointed out that they had matching marks and the sober gaze of Eddie was too sharp for Billy to meet, instead choosing to run away, stumble to his car and hit the gas to the quarry.

It’s only there that he allows himself to breakdown and to mourn the end of what was a good friendship he had going on with his soulmates because he was sure they would want nothing to do with him now. He’s only just begun to run out of tears when he hears the telltale sound of Eddie’s van, meant to drive Nancy, Jonathan, Heather and Robin home later but was most likely currenly holding the last people Billy wanted to see.

For a moment, he considers running again but his Mama didn’t raise no coward, so he wipes his tears and stands his ground. Steve was a lot drunker than Billy was when Billy had left but it seemed he’d sobered up during the ride because he was clear-eyed when he was grabbing Billy and making sure that the blond wouldn’t run away.

Steve and Eddie trapped Billy in between them, in what seemed like a mockery of his fantasies only to have them play out right in front of him. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that his soulmates would tell him that they wanted him, that they loved him and wanted to take care of him and love him. Sure, it was after an argument about why Billy felt the need to hide but he had expected rejection or at the very least a mutual ignorance of his mark. He’d never considered it a possibility but the two were convinced to try and convince him to give them a chance.

After more than a few tears and attempts to get them to realize they were better off without Billy and his baggage, Steve and Eddie stubbornly managed to convince Billy to try with them. A few kisses convinced Billy to leave his car behind so that they could get it in the morning but for now, Steve and Eddie wanted him in Eddie’s van so they were sure he wouldn’t run.

The entire ride, Billy’s mind was trying to convince him that Steve and Eddie were better off without him, that he didn’t deserve this and that he was a fraud ruining a perfectly happy couple but Steve instinctively knew something was up and he’d had Billy laid across his lap with his hair being stroked to keep the bad thoughts away while Steve affirmed Billy of all of their feelings towards him.

Halfway through the ride home, Billy was asleep and Steve had no problem carrying the younger boy into their bed so that they could finally hold him the way they wanted to. Billy had long since told them of how lonely he felt in his room but as much as they had wanted to invite Billy to literally sleep with them, they hadn’t wanted to cross any boundaries.

Tonight though, all Steve and Eddie wanted to do was to fall asleep holding their newly found soulmate. Billy awoke to Steve’s warmth cocooning him and Eddie coming in to wake him with breakfast in bed. After a hearty meal, Steve and Eddie asked if they could court Billy to show him how serious they were about their feelings for him and Billy found that much like before, he couldn’t say no to his soulmates.

Billy’s practically adopted by Joyce and he helps them realize that Will is acting weird thus preventing the trap from being set. Imagine Jonathan bringing Billy along with him whenever he went anywhere with Nancy and Billy being hated by Nancy since he took her place as top student in their year which infuriates her endlessly. They tell him all about the Upside Down and he helps the team at the lab with keeping everyone alive. He is extremely surprised to see Max with the other kids and while they fight, it’s only because they care about each other. Billy doesn’t meet Steve Harrington properly until that night and he doesn’t get how everything is connected until Jonathan tells him what happened and he laughs at the image of Steve being beaten in a fight by Jonathan before helping them with a monster called the Demogorgon. He’s a lot more chill with Jonathan’s influence so it’ll be so fun for him to literally whale on the demodogs as a form of anger management. He also doesn’t really dislike the kids since he knows for a fact that they’re Will’s friends so they must be somewhat okay since Will was okay.

Unsurprisingly, Billy and El get along like a house on fire after everything that happened which forces Hopper to change his opinion on Billy rather quickly. With either Billy or Max taking up her time, she doesn’t have time for Mike who the siblings both dislike. Billy and Max convince her that she could do better and much to Hopper’s delight, dumps his ass. Billy’s also a lot more comfortable talking to Joyce about what he went through so when the middle-aged mom brigade starts staring at him for too long, practically objectifying him, he’s willing to tell Joyce who tears into them with fervor. The kids spend equal amounts of time bothering Billy at the pool and begging Steve for free samples which Billy complains about to Jonathan who tells him that he signed up for it so he needs to just deal with it.

The events of season 3 still happen with the mindflayer but weirdly enough, it’s with Tommy and Carol who were heading to the motel to have some fun. They immediately target Steve when coming back and he realizes that the mind flayer has Tommy pretty fast and he gets El to take care of it with Billy’s help in holding Carol back without killing her. Later on, Billy helps Steve with the Russians too and he manages to distract the guards well enough for them to escape untortured so they could get back up in the form of Hopper and El.

Dustin was the one who had gotten Steve and Eddie together when he realized the marks were the same and after Starcourt, Billy had been unanimously absorbed into the Party so he knew about it all. Since he survived with a shit ton of damage to himself, on his birthday, he got Max to help him figure out his mark and she recognizes it immediately.

He practically begs her to keep it a secret because even if Neil’s gone, Billy believes he’s basically poison and he ruins everything he touches. He doesn’t want to do that to Steve whom he’s liked since he first saw him and Eddie, who became one of his first real friends. Max reluctantly agrees but schemes to get them to realize. Of course, all of this happens while they’re dealing with Vecna who targets Billy instead of Max.

Billy still forces himself to help them with Vecna even if he is still recovering from Starcourt and when he overexerts himself/injures himself while sacrificing himself for his soulmates, they end up supporting him on either side, unknowingly letting their soulmarks touch. They find out about Billy’s mark just before they run their last plan of using Billy as bait and they have a fight about Billy not telling them and him believing it wouldn’t have changed anything because he didn’t deserve to be loved anyway. They run out of time to fight and Steve makes them all promise to get out of this alive so they can talk about everything. Somehow, they all get out alive, a little worse for wear but alive.

Joyce knows when she sees Billy what’s going on and she doesn’t dare stop for a moment before calling Hopper to come right down to Melvald’s to help the poor boy out. This is pre-first day because Billy still has a few bruises so he quickly buys a few things like concealer, bandages, first aid stuff and all of that and Joyce knows intimately why he would need that. She stalls while Billy is at the counter, asking if he needs anything and asking him how Hawkins has welcomed him. Hopper arrives just after Joyce tells him that she knows he wasn’t in a fight because I’ve had those bruises before.  Joyce convinces him to come to backroom with her and Jim and she gets him to show her everything. Billy’s ribs were still wrapped from the beatdown going to Hawkins and there was a lot of purpling happening in his thighs, back and ribs. Hopper was horrified that he didn’t think to even consider it but it had taken Joyce barely a minute to see the signs.

They deal with Neil Hargrove and they give Billy the option to stay with Susan and Max or to recover first with Joyce or Hopper. He decides to stay with Susan and Max if only for Max. Neil is arrested in front of Susan and Max and when Max sees Billy again, wrapped up in Mrs. Byer’s blanket and actually looking 16 for the first time in a long time, all she can do is hug him and apologize for not noticing things sooner. Susan follows it up with a promise to do better and they soon find a nice little rhythm. It becomes the talk of the town how the Neil Hargrove was arrested for child abuse and how his son has born the majority of it all. He’d walked in, stared at by most of the kids until Jonathan ended up making the crowds stop staring at him because he’d been there once.

Billy doesn’t bother with the king of the school bullshit because as a child abuse survivor he doesn’t want to call any more unwanted attention onto him. Girls sympathize for him and find him attractive while most of the boys just stare at him from far away. Johnathan actually ends up being his best friend and they share a lot of music between them. Johnathan also introduces Billy to Steve and Nancy. Nancy and Billy immediately become study buddies once they realize that they’re in the same classes and Nancy was more than willing to glare at all of the people staring at her new friend. Steve kind of took Billy under his wing in the basketball department, telling him to try out once he’s healed since the team needs some fresh blood. Max is immediately welcomed by Will who had been encouraged by Mrs. Byers to check in on the kids and see how they were. The rest of the Party accepted her with open arms except for Mike who was still bitter about El.

The rest of the events still happen with Steve and Nancy breaking up but Nancy and Jonathan don’t sleep with each other out of respect for Steve and because Johnathan doesn’t want to end up like Lonnie who was abusive and a cheat. They end up getting together with Steve’s blessing though. Throughout everything, Joyce constantly keeps in contact with Billy and Hopper feels bad about misjudging Billy so he checks in a lot too. When he finds Billy injured by a demodog after protecting Steve and the kids, he goes equally ballistic. Since Billy has a good support system, he feels free to be more vulnerable and open with everything. He eventually opens up to Joyce about the abuse he endured at his father’s hands after Johnathan invites him over for dinner a few too many times. Hopper ends up taking care of more than a few misdemeanors where some kids tried to bully Billy and Johnathan. Will had seen it going down and he radioed Hopper since he knew that while Billy could defend himself very well, he didn’t need to anymore.

Billy fixes his relationship with Max, skateboarding with her again and helping her with hair, nails and makeup that she knows Susan doesn’t have time to show her. He also comes out to Susan who admits to having known he was gay and doesn’t care about it because he’s family to her and Max. She used to be homophobic but then, she saw the atrocities Neil did because of it and she couldn’t condone it. It didn’t matter who he loved because she still loved him. Billy steps up at home and finally takes over in the kitchen because he’s always loved cooking but his father told him it was a woman’s job. He was banned ever since Susan came into their lives. Susan encouraged Billy to cook and even learns from him whenever she has the time. He’s a really good cook and he takes over grocery shopping and cooking in order to lighten the load from Susan. She really appreciates it. Max also loves it because Billy’s cooking is at least 10x better than her mom’s and she loves using Billy’s baked goods as bribes for her friends or as extra income since he stress bakes but calorie counts so he doesn’t know what to do with the excess. Joyce is absolutely enthusiastic whenever Billy offers to help in the kitchen because he’s a better cook than she is and she loves learning from him.

The housewives still attempt to watch Billy when he takes up the lifeguard position but he feels comfortable enough to tell Susan and Joyce about it who shame the women so badly that they apologize to Billy for their actions. When Hopper finds out, he’s pissed enough to want to take the women into custody but Joyce and Susan tell him that they’d already handled it. This is the blurb I posted here.

Billy also becomes very close to Will and El. Billy becomes Will’s gay mentor of sorts and they have this inside joke of calling each other William. Billy protects Will from all of his old bullies and makes sure to praise the kid for his art. Billy and El also bond over bad fathers but she eventually becomes like a second little sister. Max and El are very close too from the start. El doesn’t feel ostracized when she realizes that Max is Billy’s sister and they end up bonding over a lot of girl stuff. They usually invite Will and Billy with them whenever they’re doing activities because Billy’s good at protecting them while also helping them figure out if something was cute or not. Eventually, Robin joins the group but Nancy is still up for debate, especially after she and Johnathan break up.

Steve and Billy become a really good pair on the court and they eventually get scouted for sports scholarships. Billy also helps Steve in studying once Nancy and Steve break up. Even though Steve is a whole year above Billy, he has no problem helping Steve and even managed to get his grade point average up from a B- to A- which made Steve’s parents very happy for the first time in a while. Billy is universally loved and doted upon by all of the parents because he’s polite and loves to help out around the houses whenever he can. The Sinclairs love him because he teaches Lucas with basketball and he supports Erica’s dreams of becoming a scientist. Mrs. Henderson trades recipes with him and she loves when he visits since her pets love him. The Wheelers avoid him because of what happened but strangely enough, little Holly Wheeler prefers Billy as her babysitter and not Steve.

Billy becomes the second babysitter of the gang and he happens to be one more loved by the parents than the kids. The kids prefer Steve since he gives them junk food and allows them to do their own thing while Billy usually cooks a healthy meal for them and forces them to do their homework which he checks over before allowing them to go wild and have fun. Surprisingly, none of them find out that Billy knows how to play D&D until he gives a throwaway comment when passing out snacks during one of their campaigns. He mentions something about needing to roll a 13 if they wanted to have a chance of surviving and that basically catapults him into their favorite spot, making Steve feel very jealous.

Dustin loves debating Sci-Fi and mystery thrillers with Billy and since Billy’s very academically inclined, all of the nerds come to him for help on their homework on the rare occasions they need it. They also managed to rope him into DMing a campaign after he reveals he used to DM back in California when he was younger. It was one of the best ones they’d had and no one could complain. He helps Will come up with his campaigns whenever Will asks for help. Steve feels like he was replaced because he was the original babysitter but Billy loves spending time with Steve and he actually lowkey has a crush on Steve so he does it all to impress Steve.

During S3, Billy doesn’t end up getting possessed since he has no reason at all to go Brimborn. Instead, it’s one of the police officers and Jim quickly cottons on to one of his men being possessed so he, Joyce and El team up to get the situation fixed before it escalates. Thankfully, there were no casualties and it was resolved pretty quickly. Dustin still finds out about the Russians so, Steve, Billy and Robin are there with Erica and Dustin. They manage to avoid getting caught, drugged and tortured by the Russians since Billy’s smart and decides to actually tell Hopper about the Russians before they do anything. They manage to prepare before going down the elevator so somehow they managed to get the blueprints and get out. They get the blueprints to Hopper who calls in military reinforcements because Russians and the kids all stay out of the ensuing chaos, minus El who had to come with them to close the gate. It’s resolved without too much damage but the mall was still closed down since Russians had invaded it. Hopper gets out alive and no one of importance dies. The Byers don’t move to California because there was no reason to since Hopper was alive. They instead moved to a bigger house and made sure Billy could share with Johnathan and Max with El.

It gets even worse the next year because Steve graduates and decides to take a gap year so he and all of his friends can start Uni together. He hears secondhand how the kids decide to join the Hellfire club, headed by Eddie and how the kids all like him. They manage to con Billy into occasionally joining in but he’s usually busy with Basketball at that time with Lucas who made the team. Eddie and Billy apparently become good friends since Billy’s tutoring Eddie so he can finally graduate.

Love Triangle Time! Billy notices the hanky and alerts Eddie that he’s queer. Eddie wants to pursue Billy. Billy still likes Steve but he’s kind of losing hope about it and Eddie is very persistent but still a gentleman about it. Steve is jealous of Eddie for spending so much time with his best friend but once he gets to know Eddie a bit more, they bond better. Each one thinks that something is definitely happening between the other two but because Steve and Billy are emotionally constipated and Eddie isn’t as bad, he’s the one who confronts them about it and they eventually decide to throuple.

What if Steve and Eddie had been dating and Robin had confessed and subsequently been rejected by Vickie so they decided to fuck Hawkins and go to California after the Byers? Maybe, Eddie and his band had managed to get more success in California, having regular night gigs and doing well enough that Eddie could stop dealing on the side while Steve and Robin did what they did best and worked in retail together.

Maybe, a few months after the honeymoon stage has passed and they both started to get busy and to see other options available there, Steve and Eddie realized they weren’t working out so well and they decided to break up amicably, still remaining good friends and even wingmanning for the other when needed. It just didn’t work between them since they both had a tendency to dominate and even if they were willing to take turns, here in California there were a lot more people out and about that they could be with that could satisfy their needs too.

After a year or two of peaceful cohabilitation between the trio, they get a new neighbor and lo and behold, it’s a boy their age and his little sister. Imagine Steve and Eddie’s surprise when they see a blue Camaro park outside their building with a blond Adonis behind the wheel who ends up moving into the apartment next door. Imagine Robin’s surprise when she and the boys see a fiesty redhead trailing after the blond who introduces himself as Billy and his little sister, Max as the their new next-door neighbors.

Imagine Eddie instantly spotting the black handkerchief tucked into the boy’s back pocket, immediately telling Eddie that he had a chance and that they might actually work well together in bed if his handkerchief was any indication. Imagine Steve drooling over Billy doing laps in neaby community pool where he also swam, practically almost falling all over himself to introduce himself to the blond who flirts back and invites Steve to shoot some hoops sometimes.

Imagine both Eddie and Steve deciding they want to pursue Billy only to realize that the other is also planning to do the same. Imagine the absolute confusion they would have because it’s the first time their tastes have overlapped since they dated and neither of them are willing to back down so they just decide to let the best man win.

While Eddie and Steve were having a weeks-long mini war trying to figure things out, Robin had already befriended the siblings, happily inviting Max to her yoga classes and being surprised when both brother and sister joined her. Apparently, it had been one of their first bonding activities after Billy had gotten custody since a friend of theirs ran a studio and gave them free passes.

Robin was quickly made aware during lunch that Max was a budding baby lesbian like her while Billy was an out and proud gay man since they hadn’t wanted to deal with any more bigots after having escaped their own version of the house of horrors. Robin easily cut the tension by telling the siblings that she was a lesbian herself and her two roommates were pan and bi respectively. Billy had gotten curious over how they had gotten into that living situation so Robin detailed how they had left Hawkins after a few rejections and near disownments to have a fresh start.

Billy then shared how he and Max had ended up there after his dad had been jailed and Max’s mom succumbed to her alcoholism. It’s been Billy and Max against the world for more than three years and they’d learned how to care and love each other as siblings throughout that period. Billy had managed to finish his double major in Psychology and Social Services in UC Berkeley with a full ride thanks to his valedictorian status and a sports scholarship he got playing basketball. Max had finished up her high school and was now studying in the university nearby so Billy had decided it was time for them to move.

Billy had applied to be a social worker for the local office while he was working on his master’s in psychology so he could eventually be a psychologist to help abused children like he was which of course, made Eddie and Steve want to be with him more. For all of the fighting between Eddie and Steve behind the scenes, it was actually Robin who introduced those two dinguses to the supposed love of their lives.

Billy was charmed by both Eddie and Steve but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship so he initially stayed away until the two boys decided to corner Billy and tell him about their agreement in dating him. Billy found it so ridiculous that these two boys really made rules to protect their friendship while they pursued the same guy that he couldn’t help but give them a chance.

Billy starts going out on dates with them individually with him not realizing the boys were constantly trying to one-up each other on dates just so they could steal him away. A few months in, he ends up confiding to Robin about how great dating both Steve and Eddie is and how he finds it so hard to choose between them. Robin accidentally reveals they used to be together but that they eventually split because they weren’t all that sexually compatible but everything else worked out well between them.

It gives Billy the great idea to try and rekindle their romance so he doesn’t have to pick between them so he orchestrates more and more group dates between them. Movie nights become the three of them cuddled together on the couch with Billy in the middle. Eventually, they move movie nights into Steve’s room which used to be Steve and Eddie’s room and suprisingly, the three of them fit comfortably well in the California King with Billy in the middle.

The first time he kisses either of themon their first monthsary , the two boys play rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first. The first time he makes out with either of them two weeks later, Billy ends up trapped between the two in Steve’s bed, trading partners every so often. Billy ends up telling them two boys 6 months later that he really wants his first time with them to be together and neither Steve nor Eddie can say no to him when he shows off the flexibility that yoga gave him.

It soon becomes a common enough thing for all three of them to fuck and then smoke weed in bed together and they shotgun kisses to get high because Billy becomes remarkably clingy when high and Steve does too a little bit. It’s after one of those fucks that Steve kisses Eddie for the first time in literal years and they end up making out in front of Billy. Eddie eventually realizes that they don’t know how Billy would react to them kissing since it wasn’t part of the deal but when they turn to look at him, their pretty little blond baby is wide-eyed and turned on and he’s not even trying to hide it.

After their first night as a throuple, the next morning brings actual conversations about relationship boundaries and they explain all sides of the story, including Billy’s machinations to get them back together again. Of course, the two boys have to punish their baby boy for tricking them but Billy enjoys their punishment. The three of them become an official throuple that morning and on their unofficial anniversary, they move into the boy’s apartment while Robin moves in with Max who had her girlfriend, El move in too.

Okay but imagine Billy so sick and tired of being beaten and about to be taken away from the only family he’s ever really known even if he hasn’t talked to most of them in years because of Neil.

Imagine him deciding to just fuck it, and run straight back to the old family compound that Neil never deigned himself low enough to enter, bringing all of his belongings in the car that he painstakingly built for himself in secret with his Tio Felix’s help.

Imagine him running straight to his cousin Argyle’s house where they call an early family meeting to figure out how to pretend that he wasn’t there even if his car was in the front yard.

Tio Felix drives it to his garage for safe keeping and the guest room that they kept for him after all of these years was very quickly fixed up by his literal dozen of cousins.

The adults figure out the story they’ll spin for Neil all while Billy’s abuela stands by the telephone, ready to call the nice policeman neighbor who might be the only one willing to help them if Neil ever came.

Much to Billy’s expectations and to the family’s anger and surprise, two weeks of tension passed by with not a single visit from Neil and the only thing telling Billy that they had arrived in Hawkins was a shitty letter Max had sent him telling him that she missed him but she understood why he left now.

He was half tempted to drive down to Hawkins to get her out because he was worried Neil was beating her instead but thankfully, the letter talked about the tantrum Neil threw at him leaving.

Neil wasn’t stupid enough to get physical with either of them because bruises on girls were much more scrutinized by the public but Susan had talked to Max about divorcing Neil once she had saved up enough.

Billy was able to graduate high school top of his class with an MVP and trophy for basketball with his family's support all while working part-time at his uncle's garage, learning all he could so he could use it on the mechanical engineering degree he was planning to pursue in UCLA on full scholarship to be the first member of his family to graduate from university in the USA.

He had kept up communication with his little sister and that's why he was so shocked when out of the blue, the summer he graduated, Max called him up to tell him that Neil and Susan had died.

He had immediately driven down, bringing his best friend and favorite cousin, Argyle for support because he wasn't sure how he'd react if he went by himself.

When they got there, Max told them that Neil and Susan had died in the mall fire with 27 other people and that they'd managed to get Max and her friends out but they weren't able to make it out.

Billy immediately asked who she was staying with and who he could talk to about taking custody of her. The police station was in shambles because their chief had also died in the fire but thankfully, Billy arrived just in time for him to talk to the CPS officer who came down from Indiana.

Since Billy was not only of age and working, had a place to live with and multiple relatives to help him, the officer was more than happy to file the paperwork to get it over with since more than a few kids lost their parents in the fire.

Max had stayed with her best friend, Jane who had been taken in by Mrs. Byers who was a single mom who had lost her boyfriend, the Chief in the fire. Mrs. Byers had her own handful with two sons but she had opened her doors to two daughters who needed a mom and Billy couldn't be more thankful.

This was why when Mrs. Byers (Call me Joyce!) had confided in him that she was planning to move out of Hawkins for good after all of this, that Billy had instantly suggested she move out to California where his family was.

He had been planning to take Max back to California and he'd already told her about it and she'd agreed but Billy had allowed her to have the last two weeks in Hawkins to say goodbye.

His family had understood and they'd started to make arrangements for where Max would sleep and how they'd get her to acclimate to everything after her loss.

Billy had managed to convince Joyce about moving up to California so two weeks after Billy, Max and Argyle had returned home, they were greeting their new neighbors, the Byers with the addition of Jane Hopper, who had been adopted by Joyce.

It had been really difficult for both girls to leave behind Hawkins and subsequently, their boyfriends behind but with each other literally across the street, their friendship blossomed into a sisterhood that everyone around them kind of expected.

Billy had done his absolute best to help the Byers get acclimated to living in California, teaching them basic Spanish to help them get bonus points from the neighbors and even using his leftover reputation to smooth things out for the teens about to enter high school, making it absolutely clear that he won't allow anyone to mess with his little sister and her friends.

Joyce had been basically adopted into the family by Billy's abuela who knew the struggle of raising multiple kids as a single mother due to losing her husband too early and the Byers found themselves quickly folded into the Molina family.

Jonathan very quickly became one of Billy's best friends since he got along really well with Argyle and Billy and Jonathan were able to have deep conversations revolving around their abusive fathers and to have someone understand that kind of experience.

Of course, at the first sign of trouble in Hawkins, Billy was more than willing to drive them in a van he borrowed from his Tio Felix cross country back to Hawkins, driving like an absolute madman to avoid the bastards trying to steal his sister's best friend, all while trying to make sense of the fact that they were dealing with alternate dimensions and powers.

It had been an absolute surprise for Billy to be thrust into the world of the Upside Down but with Billy behind the wheel, they managed to make good time, even being able to help with the actual Battle with Vecna and they'd managed to make a pitstop at Chicago to get Jane's sister, Kali.

It was Billy's first time to meet the people that Jonathan had told him about. He finally got to meet Nancy, Jonathan's on and off girlfriend who seemed like they were back on since they were kissing as soon as they saw each other.

He also got to meet Steve whom Jonathan said was a hot ex-asshole who turned over a new leaf and he'd even saved a cool-looking stranger named Eddie who riffed the new Master of Puppets track by Metallica which got not only Billy's respect but also his interest.

With the rest of the teens on hand to help deal with this Vecna bastard, they were able to finally defeat him. Billy had been completely blindsided by the sudden attack on his psyche and the sight of his abusive father back in the flesh but he had powered through and he had gotten his closure at being able to punch the lights out of his father.

When he came out of his weird trance, he woke up surrounded by his family and the friends of his little sister plus the new friends he'd made along the way.

The biggest surprise of the night was the fact that Chief Hopper was, in fact, still alive and held prisoner by the Russians and that after that experience, he had no more interest in dealing with crime, choosing instead to retire with Joyce in California to finally be able to relax.

Surprisingly, both Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson wanted to go with them to California, being completely sure that they had no more things keeping them at Hawkins and they both wanted a fresh start.

it had been exceedingly jarring for Billy to go back to college and to his regular life but he managed with his new friends and his family by his side.

Of course, it didn't help that there was some weird kind of competition going on between his new friends, Steve and Eddie for his attention while they were also flirting through their fighting.

After a few months of having to watch them all painfully interact, Nancy, who had changed colleges to be closer to Jonathan, finally had enough and she staged an intervention with Argyle and with Steve's best friend, Robin.

Imagine it’s post S3 where Billy survived and Max just found out that Neil had left Hawkins. She heads to the hospital to tell her brother, because that’s what he was, that his dad had just skipped town to avoid paying medical bills he wasn’t even going to be charged for.

“Neil left?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Billy.”

“Figures he got sick of having a queer disabled freak for a son.” Billy scoffed.

Max slapped his shoulder, confident enough to do so after months of proper communication, bonding and actually getting to be siblings and not each other’s burdens to bear.

“Hey! Don’t talk about my brother that way, asshole. And anyway, Neil would have eventually realized he had two queer kids and he’d probably have run even faster.”

Billy eyes snapped to hers.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

A peaceful moment of silence passed before Billy broke it.

“Is it that psychic chick, the one that’s dating Wheeler?”

Max immediately bristled.

“How’d you know?”

“Let’s just say I know what it feels like to pine after someone who’s in love with a Wheeler.”

Max took a good minute to think before it finally clicked.

“Steve? You like Steve?”

“Don’t be so loud, Maxie! But, yeah, I like Steve. Anything wrong with that?”

“A lot. Steve’s a dumbass, Billy.”

“Hey! I think it’s cute. Anyway, that El girl isn’t the most talkative girl in the world.”

“But I like that about her.”

“Well, I guess we’re both saps for people who’ll never like us back.”

“I don’t know. I think I might have a chance if I can convince her to break up with her boyfriend.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Lucas? I broke up with him months ago after he didn’t even try to give you a chance to apologize. If he wanted to get me back, he knew what he should have done and if he doesn’t want to, then good riddance.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. After all, it’s me and you against the world, right, Kill Bill?”

“It’s me and you against the world, Mad Max.”

Since Billy wanted at least one of them to get their happy ending, he gets Max to ask El if she was willing to visit Billy so they could talk about the memories she’s seen and of course, El agrees.

Billy hasn't really had any visitors outside of Max ever since he was admitted into the hospital due to him being in the PICU for the first three months and only allowing a limited number of people inside to visit him. It's been another three months since he was moved to a regular room and the doctors had just cleared Billy to receive more visitors but to keep them to 2-4 people to avoid overcrowding.

None of his so-called friends actually visited but he had somewhat expected it. Tommy had promised to visit after sending a letter checking in but he and Carol were busy at the college their dads bought them into so it left the basketball team who stopped by after practice once to tell him how badly they were doing without him and how they couldn't wait to have him on the court again.

None of Max's friends have been by either but Billy heard from Max about a big fight they'd had regarding Billy and how the boys refused to think that Billy was anything but evil, forcing Max, El and Will to branch away because Will was hurt since he'd also been possessed and therefore, just as evil and El hated how they treated Billy as a monster when he was just as much a victim as she was.

Hopper doesn't really trust Billy but after he allows it on the condition that Max stays in the room which Billy doesn't fight. They have a nice chat about the memories, most of which Max wasn't aware of but it actually helps them since Billy's willing to trust Max enough to bare his soul to her willingly.

After they have an emotional talk about bad fathers who need to be kept out of their lives as well as absent mothers who tried, Billy shifts the conversation more to school because he's been helping Max keep on top of her classes so he offered the same to El.

Max quickly corrects Billy and tells him that El was homeschooled due to her not being allowed to study because of the lab. Billy has the bright idea of tutoring El during the day since he wasn't really doing anything and he was bored out of his mind and running out of books to read that Max would borrow from the library for him.

It would not only give him something to do but also a way to see if Max actually had a chance that didn't involve Max getting hurt. He could also help El who seemed like she really did need help, just like he did.

Of course, they ran it past Hopper who initially wanted nothing to do with Billy Hargrove until Max told him the truth about Neil. Hopper was eventually worn down by El who was tired of being stuck at the cabin with no one to talk to and he agreed under the condition that he'd be there during the first few sessions.

Once Hopper was there, he took the sessions as a chance to confirm what El said and when he really, truly looked at Billy, he saw a reflection of the kid he used to be, abused and alone and he realized why El had wanted to get to know Billy and to be his friend.

It also didn't hurt that Billy was an honors student who used to tutor in California during the weekdays for extra cash and he was used to being a tutor and helping students with their studies.

Hopper worked out a deal with Billy that El would come over three times a week when she was supposed to have school and he would help her for a daily rate.

She progressed in leaps and bounds under someone who was used to working around certain hang-ups and Billy was able to help El, whom he commonly called Jane or Janie to find a way of studying that worked for her that wasn't just reading books and answering worksheets.

Her progress astounded the newly together Joyce and Hopper, leading to her asking if Billy could do the same for Will since he wasn't really talking to the other boys.

Soon, Billy's hospital room became the trio's common hang-out spot after school, with Will and Max either biking, skating or walking together so that they could get help on their homework from Billy after he and El were done with their lessons for the day.

The entire time that Billy had been tutoring the kids, he'd been observing the interactions between El and Max and it really did seem like his little sister had a chance. Of course, there was still the tiny hang-up in the form of Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair who apparently still didn't get the hint that their respective relationships were over.

Since El, Max and Will were all comfortable with Billy, once they were done with their homework and lessons, they usually talked about anything under the sun to help El be more familiar with popular culture and how the world worked so one day, Billy slyly got the conversation to head towards gender expression and sexuality.

He'd learned a lot in California that he couldn't really put into practice in Hawkins but he was reasonably sure that these three kids in particular would be able to accept him and would actually benefit from what he said.

Billy had ended up coming out of the closet to the kids who swore to keep it a secret and he answered any and all questions they had. El was surprised that women could be with other women and men could be with other men or with multiple people because all Hopper and Mike had ever told her was that boys went with girls and vice versa.

This led to Will and El to question their sexualities and to realize that maybe they weren't as straight as they assumed. Will was definitely getting a case of hero worship for the older teen and it showed when he got home, enough that Joyce was able to paint a clear picture of Billy's life which she didn't like.

She came to visit him once without El to confirm her assumptions and she made sure to tell him that he was always welcome at their house after everything he's done for them. Billy had teared up and he'd gotten his first hug from a mom in months since Susan had ended up falling into a pit of alcoholism again.

Joyce had reamed Hopper afterwards for not being able to help Billy beforehand and how Hopper would have to make things up to Billy after he was discharged. Joyce would keep visiting Billy, often bringing food to share and occasionally, bringing Hopper along with her to help the bigger man to see Billy as she saw him, a lonely kid in need of parental guidance.

Almost a whole school year passed with an increase in the tension between Max and El but no action on either side of the pair. Will was El's confidant and he was slowly going crazy about how El ranted and raved about how pretty and smart Max was without doing anything about it.

Billy, on the other hand, was tired about hearing all about how cute and adorable El was from his little sister and while he had partially caused this to happen, he also didn't want to keep hearing about it.

So, Billy made plans. He was getting discharged pretty soon and his physical therapy was going pretty well, enough that he was looking to be in shape and back to peak condition in a few months and that he was being allowed behind the wheel.

Truth be told, Billy had fully recovered by the time he started tutoring the kids but the doctors and scientists still couldn't understand why he was still alive and how he had survived. The past few months were heavily focused on physical and mental therapy to help him get over the ordeal and to be able to live a normal life.

Billy would be forced to take his senior year a year late but he didn't mind since it would allow him to be able to watch the kids for their first year in high school, enough to at least protect them from the worst of it after hearing how badly Will had been bullied before.

The first thing Billy did after getting out of the hospital was to get Hopper to take him to his fully repaired car so he could get over the mental block of being behind the wheel and actually being in control.

After going around town with Joyce in the front seat, cheering him on, he went to pick up the kids on their last day of middle school so they could celebrate.

The entirety of Hawkins was shocked to find Billy Hargrove driving his signature Camaro, thinner and more lithe than before but happier than they had ever seen him, picking up his little sister and spinning her in a hug and immediately pulling Will "the Fairy" Byers into an other hug after.

The rest of the party watched in awe and shock at the scene, not knowing that Will had even talked to Billy after everything. Steve was also equally in shock but it also felt like the first time he had ever seen Billy Hargrove.

After, Billy stopped by the new Byers-Hopper house to pick up El and he invited Jonathan to come with them for dinner at the diner where Joyce and Hopper would meet them. He and Jonathan had had a few conversations since he'd come to the hospital to pick up and drop off Will, El or both of the teens and they'd come to bond over shitty fathers and the small overlap of the musicians they liked.

Weirdly enough, it was the exact same diner that Steve had brought the other boys to celebrate their last day of school since it was beside the arcade. Billy had been half tempted to leave but having Max by his side made him brave enough to brave the stares that followed him.

He hadn't let their glares get in the way of his first real meal outside of the hospital and he enjoyed dinner for the first time in a long time surrounded by people who cared about him.

After he paid using some of the government’s compensation, Max managed to convince him to show El the ropes in the arcade because he had been the one who had taught her most of the tricks that she used to get the high score.

The boys and Steve couldn't help their curiosity once Billy and the rest of the kids entered the arcade and they watched from a distance as Billy blew all of the high scores on all of the machines out of the water without even breaking a sweat.

Max saw this as the perfect time to set her brother up with his crush so she tricked Steve into agreeing into a competition on the basketball shooting game with Billy. Having them play side-by-side ignited the adrenaline rush that Steve used to feel when he was playing against Billy but this time, he was happy and excited and not angry.

By the end of 5 rounds, Billy had trounced him completely but Steve took his defeat graciously, even offering a rematch in swimming in his heated pool.

While the boys were having their friendly competition, the rest of the party, namely Dustin, Lucas and Mike were apologizing to Will, Max and El about not believing them when it came to Billy. It was obvious to see that he had changed a lot from the person he used to be and they wanted their friends back.

Max and subsequently El refused to accept their apology until Billy accepted their apology but Will quickly forgave his childhood best friends. Will had missed playing D&D with his friends and being able to talk them and not just to his family, including his new sister and her crush.

As soon as the friendly competition between Billy and Steve was over, the boys apologized to Billy who decided to be the bigger person and accept it while also apologizing for how he used to be.

Billy's made leaps and bounds of progress in therapy as to why he was the way he was and he was well on his way to become the person he wanted to be which meant forgiveness and understanding on both sides of the party.

The next weekend, Billy got permission from Joyce and Hopper to take El and Max to the mall in the next town over so he could finally get them to go on a date. Of course, Max hijacked his plans by subtly inviting Will to get the boys to watch a movie and of course, have Steve drive them.

While the boys were watching a movie, Steve was wandering aimlessly just as Billy was and in a small mall in Indiana, they were bound to cross paths. Steve couldn't help but want to get to know this new Billy so they ate a snack together at the food court and they passed a few hours getting to know each other.

The mall trip was a success on both ends because Max was finally brave enough to ask El to be her girlfriend while Steve was brave enough to set a date on the swimming rematch they planned to have.

It took a few months of summer loving before Steve finally worked the courage to kiss Billy and ask him to be his boyfriend but he eventually got there even if he had needed the intervention of the party because they were tired of his pining.

Somehow, during his recovery, Steve had been a constant by his side, initially becoming his best friend and later on, becoming more on Steve's insistence after having a bisexual crisis resolved by Robin.

Billy and Steve had been happy in the beginning but not everyone was supportive of their relationship. Everyone distrusted him and basically told him that he doesn’t deserve Steve.