Pen Pals

Steve slammed the door to his room to drown out the sound of his father's angry shouts behind him, his cheek still stinging from the slap he got not long ago, it slowly quieted as he heard his parents grab their bags and leave for their flight.

He sat on his bed surrounded by the posters and clutter. He was only 10 years old, it wasn’t fair, all the other kids' parents loved them and picked them up and helped them. Why was he different?

Steve rubbed his eyes and moved his hair out his face to look at his school bag that had a bunch of papers with failing grades spilling out of it from where it was trapped between books. There was one paper in particular that caught his eye. It was the paper that Carol got for him.

Taking off his shoes to hop off the bed and grab the paper, he looked closely at it, it said Pen Pals. Steve remembers Carol saying that even when she or Tommy are busy, he could find someone with pen pals and keep in constant with them so he wouldn’t feel alone. 

Sitting on his bed with the music coming from his cassette player, he got started on a note, this one was going to be sent to someone who was his age. The Pen Pal program was guaranteed to match you with someone who would be the missing piece you needed.

Steve wrote his name, his favorite color, favorite animal, favorite shape, and gender. The paper started to change a bunch of different colors, finally settling on a Brown to Beige to Blue Ombre that reminded Steve of those pictures of the beach, the really pretty ones he always wanted to go to. Then a name was written across it in gold lettering with black outline. 

“Billy..Hargrove?” The name sounded foreign, but right on his tongue.

But now he was at the same obstacle that he always met when he was writing, he couldn’t get his words to flow and match. What was that Miss Carey always said? To let it flow? 

Steve shrugged and took a deep breath, it couldn’t hurt to try, right?

Yes. Yes it could actually. ‘It took 3 hours to do this letter, this Billy kid better like it’ Steve thought as he licked the envelope seal. He was going to have Carol look through it, but some of these thoughts were private and he didn’t want anyone else seeing it except Billy. Steve put on a light jacket and went out to the mailbox after he made sure the address and name were right. He was so excited to finally have a friend, someone who was just for him. Like a soulmate!

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Billy woke up early one morning just as sad and upset as he’d been all month, his mom had left him and his dad alone, moreso him. He didn’t know what to do or how to deal with this, his back still hurt from the last time his dad had one of his episodes. Billy walked down the steps quietly and carefully to see if his dad was still asleep. 

He peeked his head around the corner to see him asleep and knew that he only had a little time to get everything together before his dad needed him again. He got an apple and an orange to eat quickly, when he finished, he went out to get the mail to see if his mom sent him anything, he wanted nothing more than for her to come back and get him. Being in the room with his Alpha father made him scared, even if he was an alpha as well.

Billy grabbed the letters and ran back into his room as swift as possible, the first few were bills, but there were two letters that had his name on it in severely different types of handwriting. 

He hummed and opened the feminine one first, when he unfolded the paper and read the top, he gasped happily, but froze when he heard a creak from his father's bed, holding his breath to make sure he didn’t wake up his father. When enough moments went past, he happily looked back down to his letter and only got happier with each word, his mom was coming back for him!

Dear Sunflower,

  I’m so sorry I didn’t take you with me when I left, I wanted to, with all my heart! However, your father stopped me and ran me out of the driveway until we reached the main road. 

I know you and your father aren’t the closest, but if you really want to stay with him, I won’t force you to go, but if you do want to come with me, we’ll be leaving on the 4th of July so no one will notice us, but it won’t just be me, it’ll be me, you and my girlfriend and her daughter. 

I really do want to keep you safe my little sunshine, but it’s completely up to you. Just come to the blue and yellow van with sunflowers painted on it if you decide to come, my blue camaro will be towed to the back of it and we’ll leave right away. We’ve already collected supplies and money and food. 

Everything will be safe and ready when you come, we’ll be in the woods, go through Pop’s Diner and he’ll let you in through the back with two bags of food.

I can’t wait to see you, baby, I’ll see you soon! 

I love you!

Love, Momma

Billy’s jaw was dropped as he stared at the letter, his teardrops staining the bottom of it, he wiped his eyes and sniffled. His mom wanted him back! He was so happy! The fourth wasn’t for another 5 weeks which made sense since they needed enough to help them get by. He fell back happily on his bed and saw that there was more on the back, he flipped it to look closer, 

P.S. our van has a mailbox on it so you can tell your Pen Pal to mail it there instead so your father won’t see it. 

The mail address will be 5924 Petal Rd. 

Okay? I know your missing piece is going to come to you soon, don’t be dejected, they’ll come when you need it most.

I love you, my little dove.

Billy was confused at first, but it soon dawned on him that his mother had taken him out one day when he was 5 to make a Universal Pen Pal, his mom wanted him to have a better life by having his other half know he was out there. She feared Neil would keep it away from the boy just to make him miserable, so she took the necessary precautions to avoid that for her baby.

Billy couldn’t be happier, everything was finally going right for once!

He set the letter down to pick up the more scrawly one, he didn’t know anyone's handwriting like this. The ripping sound was the only thing in the room as he unsealed the envelope, the first two sentences made today the best day in the world. It was his Pen Pal! His other Half! Billy kept reading with deep focus.

Hi,

My name is Steven Harrington, I used the Pen Pal thingy to find a Pen Pal? And your name came up. I wrote down that my favorite color is blue, my favorite animal is a deer and my favorite shape is a diamond. And I’m also a boy! But you probably knew that. But what you don’t know is that I’m an omega!

Well, I think I’m supposed to tell you some stuff about myself, at least, that’s what Miss Carey said. She’s my teacher! 

I live in Hawkins Indiana and I have two best friends named Carol and Tommy! Carol was the one that gave me the Pen Pal stuff!

It’s really nice here, but it gets too cold sometimes and makes my hair weird, but when it’s too hot, my hair gets all slimy. What’s your hair like? Mine is curly and big and gets in my face.

I like Ice cream a lot and I like burgers too! But I don’t like mustard, it tastes super gross. 

Uhm, I don’t know what else to say..

Oh! I have pale skin and moles EVERYWHERE, my eyes are brown too and super big! I guess I'm kinda normal unlike other kids, but I like being normal! 

I really hope you send a letter back, I feel happier already when I got to send this, the Pen Pal Stuff said it would show up at your address when you wake up so I hope you’re up by now!|

I hope we can always be close forever, okay?

Sincerely, Your Missing Piece

Billy laughed quietly at the letter, at the scattered way the Steve boy kept talking, he was all over the place! Billy was the happiest he’d ever been, his mom was taking him back and getting him out and away from his dad. To top it all off, he finally found his other half and he was the sweetest guy ever.

Billy looked at the time, it was almost 6am and his dad still wasn’t up, he had work at 7. Billy put the letters down and stared at them closely, he should probably pack these away where no one could see them. Billy started packing his things away, he didn’t have much since his dad's last episode, but he had enough to pack away in his two duffel bags and a backpack. 

First He folded the letters and put them in his school binder so it didn’t seem suspicious, then he packed a few shirts and pants, just enough to leave one layer of clothes in the drawers, his dad would just assume he wore it all and needed to do laundry. 

He left the rest of it as is, he’d only pack away a few things at a time over the two months so his dad won’t know, until then, he’d be on his best behavior possible. 

Billy saw the clock say 6:20 and decided to go and wake his dad for work so he could write his letter. It was saturday so he would have a lot of chores to do to keep the house running. 

He sighed in disappointment, but remembered the contents of his letter. 2 weeks. He just had to wait 2 weeks and he’d be happy and free. 

2 weeks

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Steve woke up drowsy and alone, trudging himself out of bed to go find some cereal, not yet wanting to tackle his bed head until later when he remembered that now would be around the time he’d get a letter from his Pen Pal if they sent one back. 

Steve dropped his cereal bowl back onto the table and ran outside his shorts and shirts to step on the stool and get the mail. He pulled out one singular letter and squealed, it was Billy!

Steve hugged the letter to his chest and skipped inside, his inner omega was so pleased that he could scream, but he had to calm down to read the words right. Steve took a deep breath and grabbed a bag of chips, laying on the fuzzy rug in front of the couch.

Hi Steve,

You already know my name, but I can at least tell you some of my favorite things too! My favorite animal is a tiger cause they’re strong and loud, My favorite color is blue too cause they’re like the beach and I really like stars cause they’re super bright. Plus I’m a boy as well!

I think freckles are really cool, especially if you have lots! Then you’re like a constellation! You can be my constellation if you wanna? 

My hair is really really curly and always gets fuzzy when it gets hot, I look like a poodle! I’ll show you a picture one day!

I super duper like burgers too, especially double ones, but I don’t like ice cream, I like popsicles cause they’re super sweet and the dairy won’t make me get sick in the summer.

This letter was the second best thing to happen to me today, my mom is gonna let me go with her on a super long road trip with her and her wife and her daughter. I’m super excited for you to meet her one day, she looks like me, but her hair is longer.

Oh! By the way, don’t send to this address anymore, my dad is here and he’d take all your letters away and I'd never see you again. You have to send the letters to 5924 Petal Rd. okay?  I won’t be able to answer for about two weeks, but I’;ll open them the second I can. I promise!

My momma will keep your letters safe and she won’t go through them like ever ever, she’s super nice and even told me you would be sending a letter, said she had a feeling. 

I’m going to love sending letters and pictures and gifts to you. If you couldn’t tell, I’m an alpha and I’ll keep you super safe all the time and give you whatever you want.

I’ll see you face to face one day, Stevie, talk to you soon!

Sincerely, Your Other Half

Steve was so so so so so so happy, he finally had someone just for him and no one would ever take him away! It was a little saddening that he couldn’t talk to him for two weeks, but he was happy that it wouldn’t be too long. During that time, Steve would be sure to send a letter everyday, maybe some short ones with lots of pictures so he wouldn’t have to worry about writing so much. Speaking of pictures.

P.S. Here’s a picture of me so you can know what i look like, do you mind sending one back? I’ll be okay either way, okay, goodbye for real this time! 

It was written on the back and inside the envelope there was a little picture of who he assumed was Billy. He was beautiful. He has super curly blonde hair that reminded him of noodles, the really good kind that had a glow about them under the kitchen lights and his eyes were the prettiest shades of blue that he’d ever seen, they looked like those marbles his mom had in the vase in the living room where when you looked at it from a different angle, it changed it’s shade. He had on a thin blue jacket and silver grey shorts, he looked comfy, but he was nervous when he saw a few bruises on his legs and ring of purple around his left eye. Speaking of, his skin was different from Steve too, the golden tan had a glow about it that you would probably never find in Hawkins, especially during the winter time. Maybe it was California, the commercials on TV always said it was a paradise unlike anything else. Paradise huh? Billy was his own little slice of paradise.

Awesome!

He called over Tommy and Carol’s houses to call them over, Carol was bringing snacks and Tommy was getting some movies from his dad’s collection. He fixed his hair and clothes, they would be over in about 10 minutes, he wondered what Billy was doing right now.

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Billy had actually done it. He’d kept his dad happy all day and he was none the wiser. He was allowed to go out now, his friends from the pier were waiting for him at their usual spot, he was thinking about if he should tell them on the walk over. 

Don’t get him wrong, he loves his friends and trust they wouldn’t blab, but when it came to secrets, he was scared that their parents would grill them later after he left and get in trouble.

Billy shook his head and played with his drawstring bag, he was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a girlish scream, he rolled his eyes. It was probably Shelby and Twyla, they were always playing around. Antonio, Sebastian and Parker were probably inside the pier shed having their alone time, they were older than him and the girls, they’ve taken it upon themselves to protect the three kids when they saw some kids messing with them.

Billy walked down the pier and as expected, the twin girls were fighting. Again. Shelby was a blonde, her mom let her dye her tips purple and Twyla was also a blonde who dyed her tips blue. It was literally the only way to tell the two apart, they were identical twins that even sounded exactly the same, they tied their hair back when they wanted to confuse a guy to scam like their momma taught them to. 

“Hey Shells, aren’t you gonna mess up your new piercing if you keep playing around like that?” He called out from where he was walking, effectively stopping the fight between the girls as they both glared at him . Billy ran the rest of the way and  gave them a hug, “Yeah yeah, I know, I didn’t check in, but for good reason! I have some big news!”

The twins looked at each other and then back at him, “Wait for the boys to come out.” they spoke and Billy shivered, he hated when they talked at the same time, that shit was creepy and they knew it too. He shook his head, “So where are the guys at anyway?” He looked around and didn’t see their bags, usually they left them out for the kids to know they were there. Shelby giggled and Twyla rolled her eyes with a deep sigh, pointing to the shed area, “They have something going on in there, said not to bother them and stay out of trouble, they should be back soon. Pretty sure I heard Parker moaning not long ago, they’ll be done soon. I hope.” She made a face, scrunching up her nose, Twyla was anti-men and discussing their sec life wasn’t any more pleasing.

Billy put down his bag and looked around. Don’t get into trouble huh? Who did they think he was? Billy ran to Shelby and tapped her shoulder, “You’re it Shellsy!” He shouted and ran, hearing the gawking sound and then the sound of footsteps running behind him, “Get back here William!” Twyla wasn’t far behind her, they always used tricks like this in games. 

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Steve, Tommy, and Carol were sitting on the couch with bags of cheese puffs, empty bowls of Mac and Cheese, and a few candy bags from halloween. They were watching Airplane and Steve took a few deep breaths before pausing the VR, getting the attention of the other two, “What’s the deal Stevie, it was just getting good!” Tommy complained, but Carol’s always been more per- pe- pecetive? Perceptive! Carol was more perceptive than Tommy. She shushed him and gave a reassuring smile to Steve so he could begin talking, Steve smiled back, still nervous, but glad she was helping Tommy shut up.

“O-okay guys, um, Carol, you remember when you gave me that Pen Pal thing right?” He asked and she nodded, but she still looked a little confused. Steve kept talking, “So I used it and I got a match, his name is Billy Hargrove, he’s our age and super nice!” Steve’s eyes started sparkling while he talked, but what he didn’t expect was for Tommy and Carol to look at one another and start laughing. Loudly. Steve tilted his head and curled in on himself, he didn’t know why they were laughing, but he felt like it was a bad thing. 

Carol eventually stopped laughing, Tommy having fallen to the floor holding his stomach. She took a breath before she spoke, “Steve, that Pen Pal stuff is fake! I told you that! The Pen Pal stuff doesn’t actually work, it just changes color and a random name is there. Me and Tommy did it and they just turned pink, all of the cards are like that!” She cackled and Steve didn’t know what he should say. His card didn’t turn pink so she had to be wrong. Billy was real and he was his.

Steve shook his head, “You’re wrong Care! Mine didn’t turn pink and Billy is real! When we’re older, I’ll get him to come to Hawkins! He’s real and he’s mine!” Steve finished with a huff, face red and angry. Carol and Tommy looked at each other and then back at him, shocked, Steve had never yelled at them before, he was always nice. 

Carol took a moment to try and speak, “S-Steve, we didn’t mean it, we’re sorry. It just - that’s how the cards were for us. The cards have always been fake, Stevie, please try to understand.” She tried to calm Steve down, but her words only made it worse. Steve stood up and ejected the tape, there was a tense silence as he shoved the tape in its case and threw it at Tommy. 

“Get out.” his voice was cold and devoid of emotion, making them both flinch, Tommy spoke this time, “Steve, c’mon, it was only a joke you’re being stupi-” He was cut off from  a jab in the ribs from Carol who just shook her head at him. 

Steve picked up the bag of movies and threw that at Tommy as well, “I don’t care! I said GET OUT!” He was screaming at this point, throwing the candy bags at them as the other two started scrambling to grab their shoes and bags, the door slammed shut behind them.

Steve huffed from where he was and wiped his face from the tears that fell down his face. He thought that they cared, they were his best friends, how could they just lie to him like that! They knew that this Pen Pal thing is all he ever really wanted, but they just used it to make fun of him, they weren’t his real friends. He hated them!

Steve wiped his face and sniffed, cleaning up the mess. He needed to write a letter to Billy, he was the only other person who appreciated him and wanted him, Billy wouldn’t lie to him like Tommy and Carol.

He sat at the glass table with another bowl of Mac and Cheese, he had a paper and pencil, a camera and Billy’s picture. He was going to send Billy the best letter ever, even if he was having a bad day, Billy shouldn’t have one too! 

Steve paused, Billy wouldn’t be able to see his letters for another two weeks, he forgot. Shaking his head, he started writing anyway, Billy would want to know all about it the second he got away from his dad. 

PenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPalPenPal

Billy, Shelby, and Twyla were joined by Antonio and Sebastian with a red and shaking Parker on Sebastian’s back. Him and Antonio were both still wearing their collars, but only Parker had on the leash. Billy looked at the leash with a sense of wonder, he’d want to get one just like that for Steve, if he wanted it though, but he couldn’t do that just yet, he’d wait for his last year of middleschool to send Steve stuff like that.

Antonio spoke first, “Helloooo my little bambino and bambinas, como estaasss?” His italian accent was prominent, he was a happy little omega that cared for the kids more than anything, he was that cared for them, a real mother hen when things got bad.

Sebastian pulled a few strands of hair from the front of Antonio’s curly ombre hair, he leaned down and whispered into his ear, “Behave, mon tresor, or I’ll take you back into that room.” Sebastian’s voice was like honey and Antonio whimpered, ducking his head in and nodding, Antonio did anything his Alpha asked if he talked like that, he was only a brat for show. The through and through brat was Parker, the second omega in their trio, he constantly tested Sebastian and knew what he was doing from the start.

Sebastian and Antonio separated, facing the children who looked none the wiser as they spoke to one another, it seemed like Billy was the most excited out of the three. He sat down in the lounge chair and opened a can of Sprite, passing an open Cola to Antonio and opening a Fanta to waft it under Parkers nose, the Russian omega was addicted to Sugar, but Fanta was on the top of the list. 

Big blue and green eyes opened and it took a split second to notice the can, he grabbed it and started chugging the can, the rest of the group rolling their eyes at the sugar addict. Billy got his own drink, a root beer and saw that the sun was about to set soon, it was about time for him to tell the group. 

He cleared his throat, “Hey guys, I’ve got some news, but you can’t tell anyone okay?” He grabbed the attention of the group, they all turned to him with serious eyes, they understood. Good. 

He took a deep breath, trying his best to not start blushing, “So the first news is that I found my Pen Pal he-” A squeal was heard from Antonio and Parker, they always knew Billy would end up with a boy, but a sly look on either side from Sebastian made them both snap their mouths shut so Billy could talk, Seb looked at Billy and nodded for him to continue, “O-okay, so I did the pen pal thing and this boy from Hawkins matched with me! His name is Steve and he has big curly hair and big brown eyes and a ton of freckles!” Billy had this sparkle in his eyes that made the rest of the group give him a soft look.

They knew how broken up he was about his mother leaving and despite the guys telling him to report him, they knew that his father was hitting on him more than a normal parent would, the bruises weren’t hard to miss. This Steve boy would be good for him, at least they hoped.

Parker spoke next, “You sound excited about this Stevie boy, yeah, will we be seeing a picture sometime soon?” He was curious, wanting to know all about who would be getting with the youngest boy of their group, Parker was insanely protective of the child, seeing himself in him more than anyone else. Parker played with the silk strands of Sebastian’s ponytail, using his other hand to take another sip of his drink, the lack of answer from Billy was worrying.

“W-well that’s the other news, but this one is even more important, no one else can know, never ever ever, okay?” Billy quickly got nods from them all, he swallowed, “My mom sent me a letter too, she wants me back, but I have to leave Cali.” The group was taken by silence, but then they were sniffling, they knew he had to go, it was his one chance to get away from his dad without any mishaps. 

Twyla spoke softly, “Do you really wanna go Bills?” She was most attached to Billy, even though she put up a rough front. Billy nodded and she could only smile. “Then we’re going too.”

They all whipped their heads to her, Shelby glared at her, “Come again my dear womb mate?” 

Twyla twirled her straw in her smoothie, “Yep, there’s no way we’re going to let Billy go alone and it’s not like there’s much for us here anyway!” She took a long sip and the rest sighed, although she may be the second youngest in the group, she was stubborn and persistent if nothing else and once she made her mind up on something, that was it. 

They then began to start making plans, Twyla and Shelby would talk with their mom, who loved her girls more than anything and didn’t mind going with whatever they chose. Sebastian was a self made businessman and could go where he pleased, Parker was an orphan, and Antionio’s family were the sweetest people on earth, they would let him go with whatever needed and whoever he wanted.

Billy gave them the dates and times, and they began to pack up for the trip, everything was going according to plan, Billy was going to write Steve the best letter ever when he got with his mom. 

He came home and his dad was already falling asleep in his chair, he cleaned up and put a blanket over him, he was a horrible father, husband and person, but he needed to play nice until the 4th of July.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time since his mom left.