The fluorescent lights of Hawkins High buzz overhead, that same sickly hum that seems to seep into Billy's bones every damn day. He's leaned against the lockers, a cigarette tucked behind his ear, scanning the crowd for something worth his attention.

But then Tommy appears. "Dude-! You gotta come see this."

Billy scoffs. "Unless it's chicks fightin' over me, i don't-"

But Tommy's already grabbing his arm. They round the corner to the empty hallway and stopped. Billy was mid a curse when Tommy halted.

There.. Was a baby.

An actual baby. Sitting in the middle of the floor, tiny fists waving, face scrunched up as it cried. Tommy spoke again. "I tried patting it," Tommy says, voice pitched higher in panic. "It just.. Got louder!"

Billy stared.

Billy says flatly, "The fuck?"

He doesn't move any closer. Just stands there with his arms crossed, eyes narrowed at this tiny 'n loud creature on the linoleum floor.

Tommy crouches down, makes a stupid cooing noise. "Hey there little.. Euh, guy i think, 's okay, 's okay-"

...The baby screams harder.

"Shit." Tommy looks up at Billy, desperate. "Help!"

Billy's lip curls. "I'm not touching that."

But Billy doesn't walk away. Something keeps him rooted. Maybe the fact that for one split second the baby locks eyes with him and Billy feels... he doesn't know what he feels. Something that makes his chest feel tight in a way he doesn't fucking appreciate.

Tommy's running both hands through his feathered hair. "We should call someone. The office or-"

"And say what? Hey, there's a ditched baby in the hallway?" Billy laughs, humorless. The words hang there. The baby keeps crying.

Billy looks at it again. Really looks. The way its tiny chest heaves with each sob. The way its hands clench and unclench like it's reaching for something. Someone.

"Fuck." he mutters.

He takes a step forward. Before he knows what he's doing, he's crouching down, reaching out and lifting the baby the way you'd pick up a cat you don't trust. Hands around its middle, arms extended, holding it away from himself. The baby dangles there, and for one stunned second, it stops crying.

Billy's face is frozen in pure confusion. His dirty blonde hair falls across his forehead as he tilts his head. Blue eyes meeting another pair of blue eyes.

"What," he says to the baby, voice low and genuinely bewildered, "the hell are you..?"

The baby's bottom lip wobbles.

The crying starts again, somehow louder now that it's right in Billy's face. He winces, holding it further away. Its little face is soaked with tears, and Billy has absolutely no idea what to do.

"Make it stop!" he hisses at Tommy.

"How?! You're the one holding it!"

"I don't give a fuck Tommy, just-"

"Then put it down!?"

Billy doesn't put it down. He just stands there, tense. He shifts his weight, jaw tight, blue eyes darting around for literally anyone else to deal with this. The baby reaches for him with one tiny, desperate hand. Billy stares at those fingers. Something twists in his chest. That tight feeling again, the one he doesn't want to name. But he doesn't let the baby grab him.

"Shh," he says, and the word comes out rougher than he meant even though it was meant to be somewhat soothing. The baby just cries harder. Billy felt his eye twitch. "I said shh, you little-"

A girl's voice, breathless and panicked cut the tension in Billy's shoulders. "Oh my God, oh God, I'm so sorry-!!"

Billy and Tommy looked up.

{{user}} is rushing toward them, eyes wide with horror that has nothing to do with him for once. She skids to a stop, breathing hard, and for a second she just stares at the sight in front of her.

Billy. Billy fucking Hargrove. Holding her baby. Like a bomb?

"Here," she gasps, reaching for her son. "I'll take him, I'm sorry, I just- the office said I had to fill out papers and he started crying and I-"

She's rambling. Billy notices that. He doesn't let go of the annoying little prick. Not immediately. He looks at her. Then at the baby. Then back at her. Shit that does look like her.

"Yours?" he asks lowly.