Original auther: harringtonsteve

Friday nights were reserved for one thing: Date Night.

With you and Steve, there was a fifty percent chance that date night would end in the two of you up at the Henderson's with Dustin and whoever else had ended up there for the night. That night, however, was different. You'd made Steve promise that the Party wasn't going to be involved. You loved them, but it had been two weeks since you'd been out on a proper date.

Steve smirked to himself as he walked up the steps and knocked on the door. You'd been grinning all day, practically bouncing on the balls of your feet anytime he so much as mentioned tonight. And the kiss that you'd given him before he'd driven Dustin home had made his head spin. He glanced to the door and knocked again, a little more insistent that time. He looked down at his shoes, making sure that everything looked good. The door opened, and his teeth raked across his lower lip, the smirk spreading across his features as he looked up - and froze.

"Mrs - Mrs. Wheeler?" He choked out, the smirk long gone in favor of wide eyes and a mouth hung open. Your mother was mirroring his expression, her hand across her chest, covering up the incredibly indecent clothing that she was wearing. The robe that she was wearing stopped mid-thigh, and he was terrified to look any lower. The robe was hanging open, exposing far more than any boyfriend should see of his significant other's mother.

"Oh, God. I thought you were Billy," she mumbled, her voice soft. Steve's eyes widened, choking on the breath that he'd just tried to take in. Her eyes widened as well, realizing what she'd just said.

"You thought I was who?"

"Oh, Steve, I - Y/N isn't here. You can just go-"

It occurred to Steve that you actually had told him to meet you at Benny's instead of picking you up at your house. Something about studying over at Lauren's before the date. He should have apologized, and walked away. He should have just shrugged. He should have done a lot of things, but all that he managed to get out was a hysterical, "You thought I was Billy?"

What was he supposed to do? Warn her about how much of a giant prick he was? Maybe that was why she liked him, though, because he was a giant prick. Or because he had one.

Oh God, he was going insane. He sees too much skin of Karen Wheeler one time, and he lost it.

"Steve, I really -"

"Does Y/N know? Does - Ma'am, I've heard what the other mothers are saying, I just - He could be your kid." This wasn't his business, it really wasn't. But all Steve was able to think about was that the rumors were true and that you were going to be sick.

The Wheelers marital troubles weren't necessarily a secret, but it wasn't something that was really talked about, either. No one was oblivious to the mounting tension, but you and Steve didn't really talk about it. As far as he knew, none of you really talked about it. Even with you and Nancy, who only had ten months between you two, it wasn't really spoken about much. Mike wouldn't even acknowledge it, just throwing himself into school and the Party.

"Steve, you should really go." He was jarred from his thoughts as she spoke. The mention of her oldest child had apparently annoyed her - or made her feel guilty. Steve would've felt bad, but he was half sick from knowing that your mother was having an affair, and half sick from thinking about the size of Billy's dick.

By the time he made it to the diner, he'd worked himself into a full blown mess. He walked into Benny's, trying to focus on his breathing. His hair was the closest it had been to looking like bedhead in a long time. He spotted you in the back, the slope of your shoulders a familiar sight. But it was when you tilted your head to the left, that's when his heart sank even more. Billy was sitting across from you, a serious look on his face as the two of you talked.

You and Billy weren't friends, but you were as friendly to him as you were to anyone else. Steve walked to the booth, giving Billy a frown as he approached the booth. "What's going on, Hargrove?"

"Wheeler here is just, uh, helping me out with a problem." Billy was shifting in the seat, the vinyl squeaking from under him. Steve looked between the two of you. The look on your face wasn't one he'd seen before, but it didn't look that great. "Well, uh, I'll let you two get on with whatever's going on tonight-" Steve rolled his eyes. "-And head out. Thanks for the jacket, Wheeler. You're a fucking lifesaver."

"It's no problem, Hargrove."

Steve watched as Billy scooted out of the booth and headed towards the door, a denim jacket clutched in his hand. "What was that about?"

"Um, nothing. Just Billy needed some help with something."

"His jacket?"

"Yeah. That. He just - It's weird. Can we eat first? Or order before I talk about this?" You were avoiding Steve's gaze as he sat down. It made his stomach sink.

"Yeah, that's fine." It felt like the waitress was taking her sweet old time in getting to the booth. The seconds were dragging on and stretching out into infinity. Eventually, though, she managed to make her way back to you guys. You ordered a chocolate banana milkshake, which solidified Steve's theory that something was wrong. Chocolate banana was your go-to comfort food. After the rest of the food was ordered, Steve fixed you with a frown. "Spill."

"You know that my parents are having some issues, right?" Steve nodded. "My mom is - Jesus, this is fucked up - Billy thinks my mom is trying to make a move on him."

Steve gave another nod of his head, silently wishing that they could've just gone to Dustin's for the night. Life would have been so much easier. "What do you think?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, Billy looks like he walked off the cover of one of her erotic novels. It's her dream come true." Steve bristled at your words, and you laughed. "Babe, c'mon. You know I'd pick you over a sex god any day."

Steve didn't want to laugh. He really didn't, but a chuckle escaped despite himself. "Would you really?"

"I mean... I'd be up for a threesome."

"Lies. You'd pick a sex god over me. I'd pick a sex god over me."

"Yeah, but I'd still pick you over Billy."

"Even if he was a sex god?"

"If he took the dick from his personality and applied it to his actual genitals, then maybe. But now? No." Steve let out a loud laugh, causing a couple of the customers to glance in your direction. You sobered up a little at the thought of Billy. "Do you really think that she would - she would cheat on my dad?"

"I don't - I don't know. I really don't." He was looking down at the table. You frowned a little, but the drinks arrived, your milkshake being set in front of you with a flourish. You offered the waitress a small smile and glanced over to Steve. He was still looking pointedly at the table.

"You don't know, or you don't want to tell me?"

Steve pressed his lips together, finally dragging his gaze up to you. "I went to your house to pick you up, because I forgot about you studying with Lauren. And uh, your mom answered the door." His words were coming out low and stilted, his fingers drumming against the top of the table. Your heart was sinking.

"Okay?"

"She was, uh, dressed - um, well... she had a robe on? But it was - you - I didn't - she - she thought I was Billy. And uh, judging by her clothing, I'd say she was, uh - her and Billy were... You know?"

You pressed your lips together. Steve could see your eyes start to get a little glassy. "She and Billy weren't going to do anything. The other week, Billy came over to pick Max up from a campaign, and Mom accidentally spilled some shit on Billy's jacket. So she offered to wash it for him, and told him he could stop by to pick it up. So earlier today, Billy asked me to grab it for him. And, uh, explained everything else to me tonight."

"Everything else?"

"She's been trying to make a move on him for weeks, ever since around Halloween, I guess? Billy doesn't have a reason to lie to me, and I just - Mom isn't his type." Your fingers were clenching into a fist under the table. It sucked, it all sucked.

"What do you want me to do? I don't - Whatever you need me to do, babe. I'm here," he said, his voice strong. "I'll even make jokes about it in front of them to make your mom and Billy uncomfortable."

"But Billy isn't -"

"Yeah, but fucking with Billy is always fun." You thought about it for a moment and nodded slowly, a smile stretching across your lips.

"Okay, yeah." His eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Fucking with Billy always makes me feel better, and honestly? Laughing about how messed up this is is probably the only way I'm going to get through this."

Steve just grinned at you, motioning for you to take a sip of your milkshake. You picked up the cold glass and took a long drink. The cold liquid soothed your stomach. Or maybe it was Steve, pulling me through.

Just like always.

The game had been close. It had been against your rivals out near Warrenville, and you'd spent most of it jumping to your feet and screaming. Twice, your father had to tug your arm to get you to stop screaming at the ref for the shit calls. Steve kept glancing up to you and grinning.

Billy kept looking over to you and wincing.

It had been two weeks since that night at the diner.

It made sense now, why your mother had started to insist on going to all of the basketball games. She'd kept telling you it was because she wanted to support Steve, but that had never sat right with you. You hadn't meant to, but you'd started picking up on the little things. Like how her eyes wouldn't stray away from Billy's form, or how she'd barely listen to your father. How she'd always ask about school, and how your friends were.

Honestly, it kind of sucked.

By the last couple of seconds, Hawkins was up fifteen points, and the fans were already screaming. The moment the buzzer sounded, the fans were darting down the bleachers and onto the court. It was easy to find Steve, who was already easing his way through the crowd towards you. His arms wrapped around your waist, planting a kiss against the top of your head. You leaned against him and grinned. "You played great," you said, raising your voice to be heard over the cacophony of the gym. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Billy heading in your direction, only to freeze when he realized just where he was walking - and who was there.

"Mr. Wheeler, hey!" Steve called, locking eyes with Billy. A slow smirk stretched across his lips, raising his chin just a little towards Billy. Billy choked on his own spit, and started to sputter. Your mom just looked between Steve and Billy, the expression on her face unreadable.

You were trying not to snort.

"Well hi, Steve. That was a great game." Your father, oblivious to the fact that Steve hadn't actually been talking to him, clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder. "You guys are playing better every game. You especially, Mr. Hargrove. You might be getting MVP this year."

"What's MVP stand for again?" Steve asked, adopting a lighter tone of voice. "Most valuable pen-"

You jabbed your elbow into his ribs, causing him to gasp out. He started to laugh, though, almost snorting as he rested his chin on your head. By some miracle, only Billy had figured out the ending to that sentence. Your mother would've probably murdered Steve if she'd heard it.

"You're pushing it, Harrington," Billy muttered, stepping closer to you and Steve. Your mother was trying to inch her way closer to him, and he looked a little terrified.

"I'm sorry, you want me to start talking you up to Karen? Because I'm sure she'd just love to know that you're free on Thursday nights, since I'm the one that watches Max when she's at the Byers'." Steve tightened his grip around your waist just a little as you started to tremble from trying to hold in the laughter.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, hey, Mrs. Wheeler!" Steve called, getting her attention. "Did you want me to watch Mike this Thursday, because I've got Ma-"

"Hey Steve, remember we've got that extra practice on Thursday?" Billy interjected, shooting Steve a pleading look. It was a sight that you'd never thought that you'd see. It was almost impressive.

Mom was looking between the three of you, her brow furrowing as she tried to figure out what was going on. If she thought about it long enough, you didn't doubt that she'd figure it out. "Come on you guys," you said, pulling away from Steve to grab at his hand. "We're going to celebrate the win, Mom. I'll see you later."

You led the boys through the crowd and out of the gym, bursting into laughter the second you broke into the hallway. Miraculously, it wasn't as filled with people. Steve leaned down to kiss you, but you shook your head at him.

"What? Why can't I kiss you?"

"If Billy's going to be my dad one day, I don't wanna kiss in front of him. I can't kiss in front of my future dad, Steve."

"I fucking hate you two so much right now," Billy muttered, stalking passed you.

"Love you too, Future Dad!" You yelled after him. Steve was shaking his head as you turned to look at him. "Too much?"

"Honestly, I don't think it's enough. I actually went to the store and got him a 'dad-to-be' book and a t-shirt that says new dad on it." Your eyes went wide as you started to laugh. It was the kind of laugh that had your head tilted back and your shoulders shaking. Tears were coming out of your eyes.

"Are you serious?" You sounded so light and happy. Steve's heart squeezed in his chest.

"Absolutely. It's in my car right now. I'll show it to you after I shower?" You leaned up and pressed a kiss against Steve's lips.

"You're really great, you know that?" Steve just shook his head, grinning as he pressed a quick kiss against your forehead. You watched as he headed off to the showers, yelling something to someone. He glanced over his shoulder before he rounded the corner, and threw a wink your way.

So your parents marriage might have been crumbling, but life wasn't all that bad.

In fact, it was kind of okay.