Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Billy Hargrove X Reader - Always Forever

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song I Love You Always Forever by Donna Lewis. I hope you all enjoy it.

You were exactly sure what had drawn you to sit in on Basketball practice rather than going to study in the library like you were supposed to after school. Of course, there was the obvious answer of your uncontrollably massive crush on Billy Hargrove, which you had continuously denied all throughout the last semester. 

You'd decided early on that if anyone asked, you would claim that the library was too quiet for you to get anything done. You needed a little bit of background noise, and the boys on the court would supply that in droves. So, you were sitting on the bleachers with your books propped open on your knees, looking up every now and again to risk a glance at Billy, who had lost his shirt pretty early on in their training. 

It was getting increasingly more obvious that you weren't actually retaining anything that you were reading, but there was part of you that really couldn't care less. This was far more enjoyable than sitting in a stuffy library with old Ms Monarchs looming over your shoulder whenever she got the chance. And of course, you couldn't complain about the view, either.

When you lifted your head to look at Billy again, he was already looking in your direction, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips when he caught your straying eyes, watching as you startled slightly before forcing your attention back to the book in your lap. Well, there goes your excuse. Billy was definitely aware of your true intentions of watching him. 

You swallowed down the lump in your throat as you glanced up again, finding him standing at the bottom of the bleachers, grinning up at you. "What are you working on?" he called up to you, chuckling when you glanced around you to check that he was actually talking to you. 

And then, you were holding up the textbook, putting it on display for him. 

"History, huh? You any good at it?"

You hesitated for a moment. "I'm passing," you answered quietly, your mouth hanging open when he started scaling the bleachers to kneel on the one in front of you, taking the book out of your hands. 

"When was the Boston Tea Party?" he uttered, eyes flitting up to look at you over the page. 

"Shouldn't you be practising?" you returned quickly. 

He shrugged slightly. "Coach told us to take 5," he answered quickly. "Come on. Boston Tea Party?"

You hesitated for a moment, your tongue dipping out to wet your bottom lip. "December 16th 1773," you finally told him, watching his smile grow as he nodded. "It was in response to the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to transport tea into North America and sell it without paying taxes, but the colonies still had to pay taxes, so they were pissed about it-"

"Not sure Mrs Click'll give you a passing grade if you use the word pissed in your essay," he teased, flipping the page. "But you nailed it," he added. A soft chuckle slipped out of you, causing him to look up at you again. "What?"

You shrugged slightly. "Just confused as to why you've decided I need a pop quiz."

You were biting down on your bottom lip as he flipped the book shut, straightening up slightly. "Well, I felt a little guilty for being such a distraction, Sweetheart," he hummed, watching as your smile faltered. He had definitely caught you staring at him and now he was going to make fun of you for it. God, this was going to be humiliating. He'd probably tell all of his friends too- "And since I was getting so distracted too, I thought I'd just come over and give you a hand."

Your brow furrowed slightly, staring at him in pure confusion as he released a soft snort of laughter. 

"Coach was giving me a tough time for missing the net so often, but what does he expect when there's a pretty girl sitting up here watching me, huh?"

"I can go if it's a problem-"

Another laugh slipped out of him as he caught your hand, stopping you from gathering up your bag. "I don't think you're picking up what I'm putting down, Sweetheart," he hummed. 

Your expression completely shifted as his words registered. Billy Hargrove thought you were pretty. He was watching you too. He was distracted because of you. 

"There we go," he teased. "She's finally getting it."

"I'm not usually this dense," you defended quietly, swallowing down the lump in your throat.

He was smiling so softly at you that your mind had gone totally blank, returning to your staring with little concern for the fact that he was looking right at you. 

"Well, you're passing History, at least," he chuckled. 

"Hargrove. Fall in," the coach called out, watching the two of you with his hands on his hips from the other side of the court. 

Billy winced slightly. "Looks like my 5 minutes are up," he uttered. 

"He looks mad that you aren't already on your way over," you informed him, glancing over his shoulder again to look at the coach, who was now scowling at the two of you. "He's gone red as a tomato," you added, glancing back at Billy to find him grinning at you. 

"Stick around?" he asked, head tipping to the side like an excitable puppy. 

God, how you would even go about saying no to him when he looked so sweet when he was asking? "I've still got another chapter to read," you told him. "But with all the distractions, I'm sure it'll take me until the end of practice to get through it."

He nodded, pushing up off of the bench in front of you with a bright grin. "I'll make sure to be as distracting as possible, Sweetheart," he told you, clambering back down to the court, and giving you a quick wave as he ran over to where everyone else was gathered on the sidelines. 

"Nice of you to finally join us," the coach announced, sending you another withering glare before setting up teams for the next scrimmage. It had only taken a couple of seconds before Billy was glancing back at you again, grinning like a kid in a candy store when you immediately returned the eye contact, leaving your textbook shut in your lap. 

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