November 6th, 1984

The Byers Household

Walking away from the party and Steve, I quietly stood in front of the door. Silently praying that I would be able to actually get rid of the problem that is, Billy Hargrove.

Shaking off any nerves that I had about the situation, I quickly opened to door to find Billy stepping out of his car. "Evening, Eleanor." He stated with a smirk as he stuck his cigarette between his lips, taking a long drag.

"Did we have a date or something I wasn't aware of? Otherwise, why are you revving your engine in my driveway?" I stated, folding my arms in front of my chest as I walked down the porch steps. "Who am I bothering?" He asked, the same smirk still on his lips as he looked around the driveway where only Steve's BMW was parked.

"Besides you and Harrington of course." He continued, blowing out a puff of smoke. "He inside?" He asked, his voice changing slightly as he looked down at his boots. "Yes, actually. So, do you mind leaving?" I stated, gesturing for him to get back into his car.

"I do mind actually. Mind if I talk to him?" He said with a frown, looking back up before a slight sparkle entered his eyes as he looked past me. "Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?" Billy grinned as I heard the door open and close behind me.

Lightly placing a hand on my shoulder, Steve stepped in front of me. "Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants." Steve stated, placing his hands on his hips.

Billy let out a quiet chuckle, before pulling off his leather jacket, leaving him in a red button-up that he didn't finish buttoning. "So, you two.." Billy started, pointing between the two of us. "No. That's- that's none of your business." Steve stated.

"Then, what are you doing here, amigo?" Billy smirked at him, as the two walked towards each other. "I could ask you the same thing." Steve stated. "Amigo." He copied Billy with a roll of his eyes.

"Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here." Billy stated, leaving his cigarette to lazily hang in between his lips. "That's weird, I don't know her." Steve said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Small? Redheaded? Bit of a bitch. Nellie probably knows her." Billy stated, his voice low as he spoke about Max. "Don't call her that." I spoke up, walking up next to Steve. "Doesn't ring a bell." Steve stated, placing his arm in front of me as I tried to step closer to Billy.

"You know, I don't know, this whole situation Harrington, I don't know. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies." Billy continued, a frown etched on his face as he took the cigarette out of his mouth. "And why is that?" Steve asked while I glared up at Billy.

"I mean, my thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you, in a supposed friend's house. And you lie to me about it." He continued, a look of disgust forming on his features as he moved his face closer to Steve's before taking another drag of his cigarette.

Letting out an annoyed chuckle, Steve shook his head at Billy's comment. "Man, we're you dropped too much as a child, or what?" Steve stated, getting an annoyed grin out of Billy who licked his lips. "I don't know what you don't understand about what I just said. She's not here."

Nodding, Billy brought his cigarette back to lips before flashing a glance over at the window. "Then who's that?" He whispered to Steve as I looked over my shoulder to find that the four kids had been watching us. Peeking just their eyes over the windowsill.

"Shit. Listen-" Steve tried to explain but was harshly pushed down by Billy. "I told you to plant your feet." He stated before kicking him in the gut. "Back off!" I yelled, pushing Billy as hard as I could. Which only caused him to drop his cigarette.

"Stay out of my way, Nell. Don't think that I won't hit you too." He stated, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and pulling me away from the ground for a second before dropping me back down.

Losing my balance, I fell onto the dirt before he landed another kick on Steve. Looking towards the house where the party looked back out the window, I scrambled to my feet, running towards the front door, closely followed by Billy.

Once inside the house, I watched as the party ran into the kitchen while I tried to slam the door closed against Billy's frame. But he was stronger than me, slamming his body against the door with full force, and with it went my head into the wall and the door handle between my ribs in the process.

It felt like the wind had been knocked straight out of me. As I fell to the floor, holding my chest as I gasped for air. "Well, well, well." I heard Billy say, as he walked past me. "Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise." He stated as he continued to walk towards the group as I tried to pull myself off the ground, my head screaming at me in the process.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max." He stated, glaring down at Max. "Billy, go away." She tried, returning the same glare. "You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me."

"Billy.." Max whispered, shaking her head. "I break things." Billy stated, and with a grunt he turned and pulled Lucas off the ground like he'd done earlier to me, smashing him into the wall behind him.

Mustering up my breath and courage, I pulled myself off the ground and ran towards the group, as the party began yelling at Billy to stop and leave Lucas alone.

"Get off of me." Lucas cried out as Billy kept his hold on him. "Since Maxine won't listen to me, maybe you will. You stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me." Stepping in front of the kids, I pushed them away from the pair as Lucas glared at Billy. "I said get off me!"

Lucas yelled at him before kneeing him in the crotch causing Billy to quickly let go of Lucas and kneel down.

Pulling Lucas behind me with the others, Billy let out a dark laugh as he started standing back up. "You are so dead, Sinclair! You are so dead." He yelled, turning to face us.

Just as he started walking towards us, Steve came in from the other side of him, pulling him back by his shoulder. "No. You are." He stated quietly, before pulling his arm back and landing a punch against Billy's jaw.

Dustin let out a quiet chuckle as he watched the scene unfold, with Billy being pushed back against the table by the punch's force. "Steve!" Max and I exclaimed as he shook his hand to get rid of the pain.

A maniacal laugh left Billy as he got back up and faced Harrington. "Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh?" He stated, almost sounding giddy that Steve stood up to him. "I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about."

Billy walked closer to Steve who didn't back down. "Get out." Steve said quietly, pushing him back lightly.

A scowl formed on Billy's face before he swung his arm around to hit Steve only for him to duck down and instead land another punch on Billy.

"Yes! Kick his ass, Steve!" Dustin shouted with a smile on his face, "Get him!" The rest of the party joined in as Steve kept landing hits on Billy who just smiled and took every punch. "Kill the son of a bitch!" Dustin continued yelling, as Billy reached for a plate next to him.

"Steve! Look out!" I shouted, but it didn't stop Billy from slamming the plate against Steve's head. "Shit!" Steve yelled, moving away from Billy, holding his face down. But Billy continued to approach him.

"Billy back off!" I yelled at him, pushing Steve out of Billy's path before I felt the pressure of Billy's fist against my cheek and nose, pushing me into the wall.

"I said, stay out of my way." Billy stated, towering over me as I painfully held my cheek in my hand. "Stay away from her." Steve stated, going to land a punch on Billy again, only for him to dodge it as Steve had earlier.

"Don't tell me what to do." Billy stated, before punching Steve straight in the nose, pushing him down to the floor. "Steve!" "Get up!" The party yelled as Billy got on top of Steve and started landing punches again and again against Steve's face.

Max stayed beside me as I reached for the syringe that we had used on Will. Noticing the movement, Max quickly grabbed it before running towards Billy.

Slamming the needle into the side of Billy's neck, he quickly stood up off of Steve and turned to face her before pulling the needle out. "The hell is this?" He slurred, "You little shit, what did you do?" He asked before falling to the ground, but not quite passed out as he tried sitting up.

Letting out a dark chuckle, he fell back down while Max walked towards the other side of the room. "You little shit." He mumbled before Max made her way back over to him with Steve's bat in her hands, raising it high in the air.

"From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" She asked, gripping the bat so hard that her knuckles began to turn white. "Screw you." Billy whispered, staring up at her through half-lidded eyes.

Swing the bat down hard between his legs, Max barely left any room between the bat and Billy's legs. "Say you understand! Say it! Say it!" Max yelled as she pulled the bat out of the floor and back up into the air.

"I understand." Billy mumbled, shaking his head slightly. "What?" Max asked, moving towards him with the bat. "I understand." Billy repeated before passing out.

"Shit." I whispered as the Party and I gawked at Max. Dropping the bat to the ground, Max leaned over to pull the keys out of Billy's pocket. "Let's get out of here." She stated before the boys practically cheered for her causing a smile to break out on the girl's face.

Even though I was happy about Max taking care of Billy, that still left a practically unconscious Steve.

Quickly walking towards him, I dropped down to examine his face as his eyes kept slowly opening and closing. "Did I win?" He mumbled, his words slightly slurred by the pain in his jaw and the blood in his mouth.

"More or less." I whispered back as I pushed some of his hair out of the cut on his forehead causing him to wince. "I'm sorry." I quickly apologized as he slowly grabbed my hand. "It's okay. But Nellie.." He started but slowly stopped.

"Steve? Steve? You can't fall asleep." I exclaimed, worried that his concussion was definitely worse than it seemed. "I don't think we can have our date next week." He mumbled before moving his hand up to his face.

"This isn't too pretty." He whispered as he closed his eyes, his hand dropping back down to his side. "You'll be fine, Steve. Just please don't close your eyes, I'll get the first aid kit." I said to him as Dustin walked over.

"Damn, dude!" Dustin joked as he looked down at Steve's bruised and bloodied face. "Dustin... Just don't let him close his eyes." I whispered to him before standing up and walking out of the room.

Turning on the light in the bathroom, I was greeted by my own bloody nose in the mirror, rolling my eyes I tried to wipe most of the blood away only to wince at the pain I brought myself. "That dick better not have broken my nose." I muttered to myself as I grabbed the kit and quickly ran back out to help Steve.