#this be a queue

Hey there, everyone!

I've been really quiet this year, and I know I'm sure you're tired of hearing this, but I didn't mean for it to be this way. A lot of things have happened offline, and continue to happen, and I am trying my hardest to keep my head above water.

I'm not here to give excuses, I'm here to say that I'm trying my best. I'm writing behind-the-scenes where I can. Believe me, every day I sit down and try my best to get something down in hopes of building a story for you guys. Some days it works, some days it doesn't.

My world stopped spinning, and then started again way too fucking fast for me to do anything about it. My goal for 2024 now is to simply survive it.

I can't say thank you enough to my besties @littledemon-lilith and @ofhawkinsandvecna for putting up with me. My brain has not been a fun place to be this year, and they've been right there with me to love & support me.

I'm working on myself. I'm building my life back. I'm trying not to let what happened keep me down. Some days that's easier than others. But just know I love you guys and I can't wait for the day I make my return.

To my TLB readers: Billy and Steve say hello. Billy waved Tank's fin hello to you all and let Tank send you all air kisses and hugs. The three of them are content in my Google docs, watching movies and snuggling and eating as many green grapes as a Little Billy's tummy can handle.

To my Saved from the Flames readers: Bob and Billy are reading The Hardy Boys and eating ice cream sundaes. Billy can't wait to show you the toys his Grandma and Grandpa brought him after his adoption! They love you and want to remind you to always look for the family you can create <3

Shoutout to @ofhawkinsandvecna for their help on this one!!!! This came out PERFECT, I think 🥰

billy’s a pretty easy-going guy. there’s not a lot that tends to upset him, at least not sensory-wise, when he’s Little. 

the hair is a big one. most of the time he wants it up and out of his face because how is he supposed to play if his hair is in his eyes?! 

and the other one is clothes. he hates anything he deems ‘scratchy’. denim is a no-go, it’s only pj pants and athletic shorts for little billy! 

and he really doesn’t like wearing shoes either. he will if there going somewhere, but if he can be barefoot, he will be! 

lord forbid they’re in the car more than ten minutes. billy will kick his shoes off if he’s feeling coordinated enough to do so. 

if he’s not, he just whines and sniffles and cries until steve can reach into the backseat and pull them off while he drives. 

it only takes a few drives for steve to learn to abandon shoes if they’re going to be in the car for more than a few minutes, instead tossing them in the floorboard to put them on whenever they get to where they’re going. 

billy tries not to get grumpy when things dont feel right, but he can’t help it! it’s just too much for him! 

but luckily for billy, most of his sensory issues can seem less intrusive as long as he’s got good sensory input

so he’s quick to self-soothe with his pacifier and his satin blanket, because that makes the icky stuff feel less icky

first of all, everything! so just jot that down. 

but probably his most favorite thing is when billy first wakes up.  

the way he always looks just a little bit confused but then once he sees stevie, he gets this sleepy little grin on his face. and then he snuggles as close as he can to the other. 

and he loves it when billy tries something new. it doesn’t take a genuis to figure out that billy missed out on a lot of childhood activities growing up. 

so stevie starts doing things like finger painting. billy gasped and spent the first ten minutes simply squishing paint in his hands with the most awestruck look on his face. 

nancy and steve split the cost of a sandbox that now sits in the harrington’s backyard. it took some getting used to, but the first time billy dumped sand from the bucket into his lap and giggled, it felt like steve won the lottery. 

they bought sidewalk chalk and billy spent all day decorating the driveway with wide, bright eyes and ended up with chalk in his hair and all over his clothes. 

and the way he cried the next day when it rained really should make steve sad, but it just makes his heart swell that billy cared for his drawings that much. “don’t worry, love, we’ll do it again soon,” steve promises. 

whether for good or bad reasons, billy is brave. now, he does get freaked out by stuff if he’s Little (like thunderstorms) and he sometimes has flashbacks to Starcourt and Vecna. 

but everyday things? billy’s a champ. when max screams out that she found a spider in the bathroom, billy’s the one to kill it. 

steve found a snake sunning itself by the pool? billy scooped it up and tossed it over the fence to freedom like it was nothing. 

so the day billy shrieks at the top of his lungs and yells steve’s name, steve thinks the world is ending. again. 

“what?!” steve gasps as he runs down the hall to billy’s room. “what’s wrong?!”

billy is crouched on his bed, obviously having just jumped up there. his face was pale as he pointed toward his dresser. “a cockroach just ran under there.” 

steve can’t help it, he laughs. “what?” 

“it’s not funny, steve! those fuckers are gross!” billy huffed. “please kill it.”

with a half-hearted shake of his head, steve kicked the dresser to see if he could dislodge the offending bug. as they waited, billy grumbled, “they have nasty antennas and you never know if they fly or not!” 

“come on, bills,” steve laughed. “it’s just a bug!”

just then, a small brown bug no bigger than steve’s pinky finger jetted out from under the furniture, scurrying across the floor. 

billy shrieked again, and steve was laughing so hard that his first stomp missed the creature. 

“steve, kill the damn thing!” billy insisted. “i’m breaking up with you! i’m moving out! this is - OH MY GOD ITS IN MY CLOSET, STEVEN.”

steve was laughing so hard he was crying as he opened billy’s closet door, kicking around the boy’s shoes until the cockroach came scurrying back out. 

this time, steve managed to squish it beneath his sneaker, and billy audibly sighed in relief. 

“billy, love, you’ve faced literal monsters!” steve is howling now, blindly reaching for a tissue from billy’s nightstand so he could pick up the squished bug. 

“and i’d do it again instead of deal with those motherfuckers,” billy grumbled, watching with narrowed eyes as steve carries the tissue across the room and into the hallway. a moment later the toilet flushed and steve re-appeared, still smirking. 

“there you go, my little damsel in distress,” steve smiled, reaching for billy’s hand. still pouting, billy cautiously stepped off the bed and let steve hug him. 

“thank you,” he mumbled in defeat. 

“i’ll always save you from the cockroaches,” steve teased lightly, kissing his forehead. “‘cuz i looooove you.”

A/N: This is the second part of the Apocalypse series I’ve started, please enjoy! You can check out the other parts of this story HERE. Let me know what you think! 

Calum had been driving for hours. Well, he used the term “driving” very leniently. Traffic had been so heavy that his speedometer had not gotten above twenty miles an hour at all this trip. He had stopped a few times when the puppy seemed suspiciously close to peeing on his car seat, but eventually he saw signs advertising a shelter and he began to follow them. It took another few hours before he pulled up in front of the large high school, but even moments after parking, he just had a feeling there was no room for him. But still, he pulled his bag from his backseat and pulled Champ into his arms. “Here’s to hoping, right?” he mumbled before opening his door, nearly hitting the car that had zoomed into the parking spot beside him. “Shit!” he hissed.

But Calum ducked his head and quickly made his way to the front door of the high school, and Calum knew just by the way the lady at the door smiled sympathetically that they had no room. “Nothing?” he asked. “I don’t even need a room or nothing. I just need a corner or something.”