Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Billy Hargrove X Reader - It Could've Been You

A/N - This chapter was inspired by one of my current favourite songs: It Could've Been You by Hannah Grae. For this one, Billy and Reader are in their mid-twenties. I hope you all enjoy it.

When Billy's relatively peaceful afternoon of watching football on his couch with a beer had been interrupted by a knock at his apartment door, he honestly hadn't expected to find you on the other side of it. He could've found a little green alien on his doorstep, and it still would've been less of a surprise than you. But here you were, offering up an awkward false smile when his brow had furrowed in confusion. 

"Y/N?" he started, leaning out the door slightly to look around, searching for Tommy. After all, Billy hadn't seen you without Tommy right on your heels maybe ever. The guy was practically attached to you at the hip and had been since the moment you'd started dating as teenagers. 

"Sorry to just turn up like this," you murmured, swallowing down the lump in your throat. "I didn't know where else to go," you pressed on, watching as Billy nodded, still too confused by you even showing up to really question why you were here. "Can I come in?"

He nodded again, moving out of the way to let you move past him into the apartment. "Where's Tommy?" he hummed, gesturing for you to sit down as he went to the fridge, pulling out another two beers and holding one out to you. 

You accepted the drink in silence, attempting to delay the inevitable confession. Hell, it was one thing to break up with your boyfriend of almost 8 years, but it was something else to actually say it out loud.

"Y/N?" Billy pressed on, watching as you took a deep breath to steady yourself.

"I left him," you uttered, biting down on the inside of your cheek as you let the words settle. "I didn't really think about where I would go before I actually told him," you added softly. 

Billy hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Shit," he murmured. 

"Yep," you confirmed quietly. 

"What happened?"

A soft chuckle slipped out of you. "He was cheating on me," you confessed quietly. "I'm pretty sure it was with Carol; I always sort of thought he still had a thing for her."

"I want to say I'm shocked, but-"

"But he's always been God awful," you interrupted. "I know you're his friend, but you must still see it, right?"

Billy nodded slightly. "He's a total asshole," he agreed, shooting you a small smile. "But that's not your problem anymore, so good for you."

You snorted slightly at his comment, finally settling back into the couch cushions. "I actually figured it out a couple of months back," you hummed, letting your head fall back, your eyes dropping closed. "He came home after working late and he absolutely stank of some cheap shitty perfume that I never would've worn. And I didn't say anything because I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, you know? But then a couple of weeks later, he came home and he had this hickey on his neck; tried telling me it was a bruise from where you guys had been playing basketball one weekend; claimed he took an elbow to the neck. He genuinely thought I was stupid enough to believe it too." 

You hesitated for a moment, your tongue running over your teeth as you calmed your racing pulse. "And I kept telling myself that it didn't matter because I loved him," you finally pressed on. "But then, I was laying there in bed last night and I realised that I don't think I do love him anymore. And that I've been pretty miserable ever since I met him. And that the only way to fix that was to leave him, you know?"

Billy was watching you when your eyes opened again, your head tipping to the side to look at him. "And how do you feel now?" he hummed softly, seeing the small smile starting to pull at the corner of your lips. 

"I think I'm relieved," you confessed quietly. "I mean, thank God that he refused to propose because otherwise we would have been married by now. At least this way I'm not forty and cursing the fact that I'm still with him. I would probably have hated him and he would've hated me and I would be just wishing that I'd left him or that he had ever grown the balls to leave me." A soft breath slipped out of you. "And we probably would've ended up having kids and resenting them because then we would've been even more trapped in this shitty loveless marriage." 

"Yeah, when you put it that way it sounds like you had a pretty narrow escape," he told you, returning your small smile. "How'd he take it?"

Your mouth opened and closed, silence ebbing between the two of you. "He begged me to stay. Told me he loved me and that there wasn't anyone else and that I was being ridiculous. And then, when that didn't work he told me that I was a bitch and that I would never find someone else who would ever stick around and put up with my shit and then he told me to go fuck myself, so I'd say he took it pretty well." 

"The guy's an idiot," Billy finally breathed, shrugging slightly. "You'll find someone better who treats you better than he did." 

"Yeah?" 

He nodded. "If I'm being honest, I'm pretty sure Tommy was the only one who didn't realise you deserved better than him." You let your head fall back again, taking in a deep breath. "Out of curiosity," he hummed out again, head tilted on its side as he watched you. "Why'd you come here?"

You hesitated for a moment, searching for an answer. In all honesty, you hadn't really considered your options before just jumping in the car and driving, and then, you'd ended up here. "I guess I just thought you would understand why I was leaving," you uttered. "I mean, the girls were always saying how great Tommy was, they all thought he was an incredible boyfriend, but I always assumed that maybe you saw him for who he was."

Billy smiled softly at you. "You want to know a secret?" You nodded, perking up slightly at the new conversation starter. "I never liked him. Thought he was a total asshole. You, on the other hand, were one of the best people I'd ever met, but wherever you went, there he was, so I had to put up with him to keep you around." He paused for a moment. "He was never my friend; you were."

Your expression softened at his final comment. "He told me you guys all hated me," you breathed out. "Said that you all thought I was annoying and that I talked too much and-" your words trailed off. "He made me think that I didn't have anyone else," you finally uttered. 

"Well, you've got me," Billy hummed, reaching out to give your hand a gentle squeeze. "You can stay here for as long as you need."

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