Pen Pals

It had been a long anxious-filled week full of packing, planning, and talking to his star, but it was finally here. 

The fourth of July and his ticket away from his father.

All of his friends, and the twins mom, had rented their RV. They had told the dealer that they were going on a road trip so if anyone did happen to pull them over, then they’d have a through and through excuse.

Billy was brushing his hair and talking to Steve while he brushed his, he put down his brush into the bag and zipped it, it was his personal bag that would be upfront with him and Max in the RV.

He sat on his bed and stared at the sun setting on the shore, that was another thing he was sorta excited about, meeting Susan and Maxine. Mom wasn’t able to send him any pictures, but she gave a small description of how they looked, it was enough for him since she was so great with words.

His thoughts were cut as his dad came barging through the door, he looked frustrated, but otherwise calm. It wasn’t easy getting him this way and there were a few drawbacks, but all in all, he did good.

His father looked around the room suspiciously as he noticed the lack of sprawled out toys and such that used to cover the house top to bottom, the air in the room became tense when he stared Billy in the eye.

“Going somewhere, boy?” He growled

Billy gulped and subconsciously scooted back, he could hear Steve asking what was wrong in his head, but knew he couldn’t respond at the moment. His head was thrown to the side as he held his face, the heat coming off of it was painful all on its own, but the icy-hot glare coming from his father was worse.

“I asked you a question you little faggot, are you going somewhere?” His father was probably going to start yelling if he didn’t answer. The one thing Sergeant Hargrove hated most was not being given a straight and quick answer.

“N-Nowhere sir! I promise, I-I just- “ He was stuttering over his words in fear, his voice mixing with Steve’s and his moms, but they all said the same thing, ‘It’s okay, take a deep breath, be calm. You’re almost home and free. Just hang on a little longer.’

Billy did as such, sucking in a breath as his dad asked him questions, making an effort to answer each one calmly, carefully and most importantly, respectably.

“What’s this bag for you little shit?” Neil grunted, shaking the bag that was by his desk

“Nothing sir. Just supplies for when we’re at the fireworks.” Good. One down and however many it took to go.

“What the hell do you need at a damn firework show huh?” Damn, what did you really need for a show? OH!

“I had snacks and water and a brush so I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends sir. By looking bad. Sir..” Billy had trailed off in the end, getting less confident with each words as the silence trailed on after.

He saw his father's hand go up and flinched, closing his eyes, waiting for the hit to come. Instead he felt a soft hand patting his head and took the chance to look up from behind his dad's hand, his eyes were..soft. 

“Attaboy, Billy, now you’re thinking like a real man, not one of those little pansies your whore of a mother tried to turn you into with all that soulmate bullshit.” His voice was bitter near the end, but his hands never stopped their motion of patting.

It was safe to say Billy was shocked, only saying, “Thank you, sir.” By autopilot. His dad grabbed his shoulder and gave him a soft shake, “You’re a damn fine son, boy, keep it up.” And then walked away with a smile, he even chuckled a bit under his breath.

Billy had felt the tears reach his palm before registering that any had fallen at all. It was almost like having his real dad back, the one he used to have before things got bad, the one who loved him all the time and not just when he was in pain.

Billy shook his head and wiped his face. It didn’t matter, after this he’d be free of his dad altogether and he’d never have to pretend again. He shoved his remaining stuff in his bag, hearing his down yell from downstairs, “Let’s go, William, the show’ll be starting soon!” He still sounded happy, so it took him a moment to realize that it was in fact his dad speaking to him. 

Billy threw his bags out the window and into the front lawn behind the bushes. He asked his mom to drive around so he could grab it quick and they could finally leave. Naturally, she said yes so he made sure to give himself an area that he could grab it quickly.

He slipped on his small bag and did one final sweep of his room. Everything he needed was packed away and the room looked generally bare, like no one was ever here, just what he needed.

He turned off the light and shut his door, hopping down the stairs, “I’m coming, sir!” He shouted, running out the door.

But in his head, all he heard was, “I’m coming, home mama.” and “I’m coming to you soon, Stevie.”

Billy sat in his father's truck , giddy, the man was none the wiser of what was happening, thinking that he was just excited for the fireworks. Hey shared a smile for completely different reasons, his dad patted a hand on his shoulder and kept one wrapped around him as he drove. 

Billy smiled as he looked at the field of multiple families.

‘I’ll be free.’

Steve was sitting in his room brushing his hair when he felt the tightness in his chest, somewhat similar to the king he had a few days ago, but this one felt more like fear. He kept sending messages to Billy in his head, hoping that he was okay. 

He got a small, “I’m okay, can’t talk now” and had a feeling it had to do with his dad. He and Billy started talking about their parents yesterday, Steve talked about how his parents didn’t like him because he was an omega and they stopped coming home anymore. Billy talked about his abusive dad, that he hit him a lot, making him do stuff and then getting upset because he did it right. They both agree that their fathers were shitt and they were excited to see Billy with his moms and baby sister.

Steve trusted Billy and waited patiently for him to message him again. Well, sort of patiently, he busied himself with making a sandwich and chips , vacuumed, swept, and tried to focus on the show until he finally got a message 

“I’ll be free.” Steve sighed in relief, thank god, he was okay. That relief then turned into frustration, 

“YOU COULD’VE SAID SOMETHING YOU BIG BRUTE!” He shouted into the emptiness of his living room, hoping his thoughts portrayed the same loudness. He shook his head and watched the show more calmly, eating his food slower and generally relaxing his whole body again.

He had just finished the last bite of his sandwich when the doorbell rang, his eyes widened as he looked at the time, he had forgotten that Miss Joyce had invited him to go with her and some other kids to watch the fireworks on the hill.

Steve rushed to open the door, only slipping a bit on his socks and knocking into the door, he heard Joyce gasp a bit behind the door, “Steve? A-Are you alright?” She spoke what she hoped to be loud enough for the boy to hear, she’s pretty sure that sound was his head and was about to knock again when the door flew open and there stood a smiling Steve, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Sorry Miss Byers! I slipped!” He had hopped away from the door, slipping on his shoes and jacket at the same time, or at least she thinks that’s what he’s doing. 

Joyce giggled a bit behind her hand and set her bag down to walk in the room to stop Steve, “Here, let me help you, dear.” She spoke soft to big brown eyes that looked at her in awe.

She guided his arms through the arms of the jacket and helped slip his shoes on, tying them securely. She finished by zipping the jacket up and securing the beanie he had on his head, a small frown gracing her features. 

It was no unknown rumor that the Harrington's didn’t take care of their son and were gone more often than not, she would bet money that Steve had never been taken care of like this, at least not from a real mother or mother figure.

She held his small face in her hands and smiled, kissing his forehead, laughing at the tiny gasp that he let out. “Come on, Stevie, let’s go see some fireworks!” She tickled him and relished the laugh he let out, the boy was so recluse that she doesn’t think she would have ever heard it if he and the girls had never become friends.

She took Steve’s hand in hers, walking out the door with both of their bags in one hand and into the car where Jonathan, Will, Heather, Robin, and Tina sat. Tina was a new addition just like Steve, she had been one of the few girls in school that believed in the soulmate stuff too and didn’t like the way everyone was talking about Steve whether he was in the room or not.

Steve sat beside Jonathan in the back two seats, all the girls were sitting in the back, talking about stuff Steve didn’t even want to know about right now. Will was in the front, so very tiny with his big eyes, waving at Steve with a big smile, his hand was sort of drowning in fabric under a dark green sweater that swallowed his tiny body.

Steve waved back just as happy and buckled himself up as they drove off toward the park.

Joyce looked around at all the kids in her car and smiled, she loved happy kids, she loved making kids happy. All these kids came for some troubled reason, but when they were with her, they were happy. 

She smiled and drove toward the park. She’d go back to jail if anyone tried to hurt these kids, in a heartbeat.

Billy had been sitting with his dad for about an hour now, all of his buddies were surrounding them, so it was boring.

Billy sighed in his chair, trying to inconspicuously look around as much as possible for the car. The fireworks were about to start so the crowd was getting settled. He drank some juice without making eye contact as much as possible. 

Billy made a mental checklist and was going over it as much as possible, he’d hate to leave anything here that could give his dad a clue as to where he was. He had just finished it for the fifth time when he heard a honk, there was nothing special about it, but it drew his attention any way, he turned to look and felt his eyes water.

Yellow and Blue? Check.

Sunflowers? Check.

Mailbox? Check.

It was the van.

It was his ticket out of here.

It was his freedom. 

Billy looked closer to see a woman with bright blonde curls and another woman and child with wavy red hair waving at him with smiles on their faces.

It was his mom and his new family. 

Billy wiped his eyes and turned back around, as he heard the fireworks start up all around, leaving a blanket of darkness over the cars and helped with Billy’s escape. 

He felt it all happen in slow motion, this was the round off for the fireworks and in doing so caused lots of sound as well as catching people's attention more than ever. His dad was one of those people.

Billy made the motion to stand up, catching his dad's attention, to which he held up the can of juice he’d been nursing all night. After a beat, he received a nod and his dad turned away again, so Billy saw this as his one and only chance. 

It felt like everything happened in slow motion, he slipped his bag on slowly carefully as he walked, something that wouldn’t seem too suspicious since his dad taught him to keep his bag on him at all times.

He made his way to the trashcan when he felt it, his dad's eyes on him, daring him to make the next move.

And Billy?

Billy was a daredevil if nothing else.

He took a deep breath.

And ran.

“WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR GOIN’ BOY! GET BACK HERE!”

He made it to the hill going down to the parking lot when he heard his father's voice coming closer to him, Billy wanted to look back like he saw in movies, but he also knew that looking back was a setup in life to get caught so he raced forward toward the open van door, his moms new girlfriend calling out to him in open arms, “COME ON BABY, COME ON!” 

Billy rolled down the hill and was almost there when he tripped over the curb when standing up again and instinctively looked back, only to see a raging black figure that looked even more menacing under the glow of red fireworks. Billy pulled himself back up and grabbed his bag, bolting to the van in front of him and jumping into the red haired lady’s arms.

The woman caught him and slammed the door shut, “Diane! DRIVE!” The woman screeched and Billy whipped his head around to see his momma slam on the pedal and maneuver out of the parking lot without looking back for even a second. His momma used to race so it wasn’t too surprising, but he never got to see and feel it cause his dad said it wasn’t proper for a woman.

Billy saw the lights move from the windows and at the last second rushed up to the window and threw the can back as hard as he could, but kept it in his hand, only letting the juice out, hitting his dad in the face with the sticky and sugary orange liquid.

Billy cackled loud and free, identical to his mom’s laugh from up front. Billy waited until they pulled up to his house and the three of them quickly loaded his bags back up before rushing to the state line where his friends were waiting for him. 

They whooped as they pulled up and climbed into their respective vehicles, his mom sent a look to the boys that he didn’t understand, but they just smiled back at her and started their car. 

They had pulled off and after an hour of anxiety and cautiousness, Billy let himself relax and sent a message to Steve in his head, I’m free, Stevie!”  That was all he had energy for before he slumped on the couch beside the woman who helped him.

He stuck his hand out, “Hi, I’m Billy, are you my mommas girlfriend?”

 His question was innocent, but it caused Susan to go red and stammer something fierce which didn’t go unheard by his mom who snorted from the front seat, “Yeah, baby, that’s momma’s girlfriend. Be nice to her and little Maxy, yeah?” She gave him a wink in the rearview mirror, to which he smiled in return. He turned to see the woman guiding a little sleepy red headed girl to her lap and smiled.

Yeah, he could do that.

“Yes momma!” 

Steve had been watching the fireworks with the rest of the kids on the top of Miss Byers van when he heard it ring through his head, 

“I’m free, Stevie!”

Steve gasped loud, cutting over the illusion of fireworks and everything else as he clambered down to meet Miss Byers at the front of the car where she was talking with Tina’s mom.

“Miss Byers! Miss Byers! Miss Byers!” Steve chanted with every step he took toward her, running full speed.

Joyce whipped around to Steve’s voice and was about to greet him when she saw a car coming down the street behind Steve at the same time. Her eyes widened and she felt like she was moving in slow motion as she rushed to grab Steve’s small body, dropping her hot chocolate and pounding against the cold wind on her face. 

“STEVE LOOK OUT!”

“C R A S H!”