Stranger Things - Imagines

Billy Hargrove X Reader - Wolves

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Wolves by Jensen McRae. It is such a beautiful and honest song about the female experience, so I highly suggest you give it a quick listen. For this one, Reader and Billy are in their early twenties. I hope you all enjoy it. 

T/W: This chapter had mentions of multiple cases of harassment and attempted assault. If this will negatively effect you, please give this chapter a miss.

You'd been happier than ever as you walked home from dinner with Billy, your arm linked through his elbow as you leaned into his side. It was nice to have evenings like this, whilst the evenings were still warm, even after dark, and you revelled in the chance to actually walk for once rather than having to drive everywhere. 

As you walked, you'd been telling him all about the drama going on between two of the girls in your office. He'd been nodding along like it was the most important thing he'd ever heard, rather than a petty disagreement. 

And then, your eyes wandered a little further down the road to see a girl, no older than 18, and an older man standing at the bus stop. He was standing close beside her, not close enough that they were together, but enough that it was clearly uncomfortable. When you finally got a good look at his face, your hold on Billy's arm tightened. 

Allan Hartman was notorious amongst the women in your life. He was a total dirtbag in his 40s with zero understanding of the word no and a tendency to be pretty forceful with whoever he decided he deserved. He'd been handsy with multiple of your friends, on different occasions, and even the girls you worked with knew the name from their own friends. He was the monster you all warned each other about. He was the person you all worried about when you were walking home alone. And here he was breathing down the neck of this unsuspecting girl.

As you got closer, your grip on Billy's arm grew tighter, drawing his attention down at you until you suddenly pulled him to a halt at the bus stop. You forced a bright smile onto your lips. 

"Hi," you started brightly, drawing both sets of eyes over to you, and you watched as the girls expression shifted to one of total relief. "You're one of Max's friends, right?" you pressed on, watching as she hesitated for a moment before nodding, moving a little closer to you. "I haven't seen you in forever," you kept on, risking a glance over at Allan for a moment, only to find him scowling at you. "Walk with us and Billy can give you a ride home," you told her. "Give us a chance to catch up." 

She nodded, linking her arm through your free one and letting you lead both her and Billy down the street. You stayed quiet for a moment, long enough that Allan would be out of earshot. 

"Stay away from that man," you told her. "The only reason he hasn't caught a case yet is because his brother is on the force," you pressed on, freeing your hand from Billy's arm to hold hers. "He's dangerous," you added. 

She nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Thank you," she murmured. 

"I'm Y/N," you hummed. "This is Billy."

She let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I know," she confessed. "Max was in my grade at school," she added. 

The rest of the walk back to her house had gone similarly, with the two of making polite conversation as Billy watched on in confusion. From what he could tell, you had never actually met this girl before, and now here you were, basically the best of friends. 

Once you'd made sure she was safely home, he'd seemed to slip out of the confused haze as you linked your arm back through his. 

"What just happened?"

You hesitated for a moment. "We just stopped her from going through something really shitty," you uttered, releasing his arm to tuck yourself closer into his side, his arm wrapping around your shoulders on instinct. "That guy was bad news," you added softly. 

"How'd you know?"

"Liz had a run in with him a couple of years back," you murmured. "She was out with her college friends and he spiked her drink. She reported it to Hawkins PD, but they claimed they didn't have enough evidence to actually arrest him. Basically just told her she should be more responsible when she went out drinking." 

"Shit," he breathed out, frowning. 

You nodded. "And then he followed Deb home last year. Luckily, she called her boyfriend from a payphone and he was already coming to meet her, or God knows what would've happened." 

"And this guy is still just out in public?"

You hesitated for a moment. "Yeah," you murmured. "And so is Ronny Parker, even though he attacked that girl down by Lover's Lake last summer. And Gary Delby, even though he was literally stalking Jenna Sheldrake for like 2 years." You paused, taking a deep breath. "The cops just don't care about this stuff." 

"So, you guys just tell each other about these creeps?" You nodded. "Does it help?"

"It did tonight," you told him. "And now, she'll tell her friends about Hartman and they'll tell their friends too. And Hopefully, that'll be enough to keep them safe from him." 

"Yeah," he murmured, looking pretty upset by the whole conversation. "But what about the others?" 

"The others?" you uttered, glancing up at him with a furrowed brow. 

He nodded. "The other assholes taking advantage of random girls. How'd you protect yourselves from them?"

You hesitated for a moment, your tongue darting out to wet your bottom lip as you considered the question. "There's just rules you follow. Defense mechanisms that we all just pick up along the way." You swallowed down the lump in your throat. "Don't walk alone in the dark. But if you do, don't have your headphones on. And don't have your hair up in a pony-tail-"

"A ponytail?"

"It's too easy to grab," you explained. "And you always tell someone where you're going and when. Always carry some form of self-defense-"

"What do you carry?" Billy looked really concerned, his attention focused on your face. 

You quickly sunk a hand into your purse, pulling out your keys and holding them up for him to see. Dangling right in the middle of it was a bright pink self-defence keychain. "My mom got it for me when that girl Barb went missing. She was convinced it was some pervert that took her at the time." 

"How did I not know this stuff?" he murmured, his hand rubbing comfortingly at your shoulder. 

You shrugged slightly, tucking your keys back away. "You never needed to. I can guarantee that Max knows all this shit too," you hummed. "Besides, you know now. That's what matters, right?"

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