'You smell that, Max? That's actually shit. Cow shit.' - Billy Hargrove

"Alright so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl.. who- who you just met?" Steve questioned Dustin a few metres ahead of Billy and I on the train tracks.

So far things seemed to be going well, and by things I meant that Billy and Steve hadn't gotten into a brawl yet and we hadn't seen anymore of those creatures that Dustin seems to call 'Demogorgons'.

"Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things.." Dustin quickly retorted. 

"I mean why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve replied, seemingly ignoring Dustin's reply.

I tuned out of the rest of their conversation as my mind wandered elsewhere. Billy had been mostly silent as he walked beside me, occasionally dropping some of the meat from his bucket. I wondered if he wasn't talking because Steve and Dustin were around and he didn't feel like he could speak freely or if he was beginning to question the sanity of myself and the two boys.

I slowed down a little to lengthen the gap between us and the strange pair ahead of us. Billy slowed his pace to match mine and I gently nudged his shoulder with mine to get his attention. He turned to me with a small questioning smile. 

"So do you think I'm insane yet or have you decided to jump on the madness train with us?" I questioned with a laugh. Billy seemed to consider his answer for a few moments, "I don't think you'd lie to me but this whole demigordan-"

"-demogorgon." I corrected with a grin.

"Right, yeah. Well, this whole demogorgon thing is kind of hard to believe until you see it." He replied with sincerity. 

I couldn't blame him for not believing it right away of course, but I was happy that he was considering it no matter how crazy it sounded. I snorted, "Yeah, I know the feeling."

"What do you mean?" Billy raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well- I haven't seen one yet either." I say, turning away from him to stare ahead of me at Dustin and Steve who's faces had suddenly turned grave, as if they were having a really serious discussion. They had gotten too far ahead for me to hear but I wondered what they were talking about.

Suddenly, Billy stopped me in my tracks. With a soft grip on my shoulder, he turned me to face him with an incredulous look on his face. "What the hell do you mean you haven't seen one? Are you telling me you're just going off what those two idiots have said?"

"Well.. sort of. I haven't strictly seen one but I have seen the aftermath of the one that was in Dustin's cellar. Anyways- the important thing is that I do believe them, alright? Nobody could fake the kind of damage that thing did, and besides, why would they bother to make that shit up?" I finished, and began to walk again tugging Billy along beside me.

Billy sighed loudly but kept pace beside me once again. My traitor brain chose this moment to remind me that I still wasn't sure what exactly to call my relationship with Billy. Sure, based on how he was acting today we were finally on good terms but did Billy think we were we just having fun or were we something more serious. 

Eh fuck it, what do I have to lose?

"Billy." I say suddenly, turning to look at him as we walk. 

"Cassandra." He says, giving me an odd look. 

"What are we?"

"What?"

"Well. Last night we.. you know, and I need to know if we're just friends or if we're something else like I know I sound like a complete psycho right now but if I don't know I'll go insane wondering and assuming and overthinking and-"

Billy cut me off with his mouth and I smiled into the kiss, gripping his shirt to keep my legs from collapsing beneath me. When he pulled back, he stayed close enough that our noses were almost touching. 

"Cass, chill. We're whatever the fuck you want us to be."

I smiled, "Well.. I don't want you seeing any other girls for starters." 

Billy smiled faintly, watching my lips as he replied, "Done."

"What should I call you?" I asked, almost shyly.

Billy rolled his eyes at that. "Cass you can call me whatever you want. If calling me your boyfriend makes you happy then do it."  

I grinned, kissed his lips lightly and then we continued on our way. However this time Billy moved the bucket full of meat to his left hand so that his free hand could hold mine and I used my other hand to dump more meat on the ground as we walked. 

I caught Steve looking back at us more than once and I knew he was staring at our joined hands and obvious closeness. I pretended not to notice and ignored the guilty feeling in my gut, feeling like I was somehow letting Steve down. 

* * *

"Oh yeah. This'll do. This'll do just fine. Good call dude." Steve said to Dustin as we approached the junkyard. I watched Dustin grin like an idiot at Steve's praise and smiled to myself. 

 I spotted the other kids up ahead of us before Billy did and couldn't help but swallow nervously. Lucas and Max were speaking quietly to each other beside a huge pile of junk. I could only pray that the presence of Billy's stepsister wouldn't cause too much trouble.

Billy and I finally caught up to Steve and Dustin at the same moment that Lucas announced his presence by yelling, "I said medium, well!" Steve rose from his bent over position where he and Billy had dumped the last of the meat and everyone stared at the approaching pair.

I was the only one who noticed Billy tense and I grabbed his arm before he could storm up to her. "Billy, wait."

He turned to me with a guarded expression. "I don't know the whole story but I do know that you don't like her mum, but please just for today leave her be." He stared at me for a few moments but after he seemed to have come to a silent decision, he gave me a half nod. 

When Max spotted Billy her entire demeanour changed and she looked about ready to run back in the direction she had just come from but instead she stuck close to Lucas. 

"What the hell are they doing here?" Lucas asked, nodding at Billy and I. 

Dustin groaned as if he'd been waiting for that question. "It's a long story dude, but they're here now and apparently they don't have anywhere better to be." He paused for a moment to scowl at us and then turned back to Lucas and Max. "So just go with it for now, alright?"

"Quit whining and help me set this plan up, you idiots." Steve said suddenly and the group of us split up right away to start working on doing just that.

Dustin and Steve moved over to crouch beside an old rusty car while Max started working on moving some scrap metal sheets against an old school bus with Steve, and Billy and I hadn't moved. 

When Steve moved away from Max I nudged Billy in his direction and said, "Go help Steve for a bit." 

When he gave me a look and made no effort to move I rolled my eyes, "I'll be fine lover boy, go on." When I nudged him again, he grinned at my nickname for him and finally headed over to Steve. 

Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and walked over to the redheaded girl. "Hey, Max." She looked up surprised, but managed to return my small smile. "Hey... Andie."

"So you're in on all this demogorgon nonsense too, huh?" I said humorously, trying to keep a scary conversation light.

Max laughed awkwardly, still working while she answered my question. "Yeah, I guess so. Well only sort of. Lucas told me the whole story but I haven't decided whether or not I believe it yet. I mean, I haven't even seen one for myself yet."

"No way! Me neither." I smiled, earning a short laugh from the small girl. 

Her smile disappeared when she glanced behind me at Billy, no doubt. "If you don't mind me asking.. are you and Billy, together?"

I followed her gaze to the boy who had been a complete mystery to me only a few short weeks ago, but now our relationship was a whole other story. I smiled when Billy noticed us staring and he hesitantly returned it. 

"Yes, we are. I mean, I know Billy can be difficult and well.."

"-an asshole?" Max guessed before I could finish.

I snorted to avoid laughing outright but gave her a grin that suggested I agreed. "Yes.. an asshole. And I'm not excusing any of his shitty behaviour, but I've seen a side of him that he doesn't show to many other people and I'm beginning to realise that he isn't quite as bad as I first thought he was." 

Max didn't say anything for a while and when I looked up at her she was watching him with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe one day he'll show you that side of him too." I offered, softly. 

The girl finally turned to me with a half smile, "You know, I've never seen him smile at anyone the way he does at you." 

I opened my mouth, about to reply to her when I was interrupted by a loud bang and Max and I both flinched at the same time. We turned just in time to see Steve getting frustrated at Lucas and Dustin. 

"Hey! Dickheads! How come the only ones helping me out are Andie, the asshole and some random girl?" 

"Fuck off Harrington!" Billy yelled behind him at Steve as he approached Max and I. Billy slung an arm lazily around me when he reached us and kissed me lightly on the cheek. It seemed that he was avoiding yelling at Max by pretending she wasn't there altogether.

"We lose light in forty minutes, let's go!" Steve continued, completely ignoring Billy's previous comment. When Lucas and Dustin didn't immediately hurry after Steve he turned back, "Let's go, I said!"

"Alright!" They chorused as the three of them joined the rest of us. 

We worked hard for the next forty minutes to get the junkyard bus ready for Steve's master plan. Billy helped Max and I haul a ladder inside so that it could stick up in the middle and act as a way to get onto the bus roof, while the rest of the boys armoured up the outside of the bus.

When everything was finally ready, we all piled into the bus and Dustin pushed the creaky doors closed behind us. We were safe for now, but how long would it last?

* * *

thoughts? opinions? as always, i hope you liked this update!

reminder: if you haven't already, please check out the playlist for this story!  i listen to this every time i write & i tend to enjoy playing music in the background whenever i read too

a/n: unedited