XV. hitting you were it hurts.

Nolan and Billy's relationship was complicated. Even before their parents started dating,  they weren't each other's biggest fans. Billy hated Nolan because he was the golden boy, the boy who could do no wrong;  the boy that everybody loved. He had the best grades in school and was the best athlete. Nolan Mayfield was the picture perfect high school boy and even after he got sick, he still had all the love and support from everybody in Claremont.

Billy was the forgotten kid, even by his own father. He was the bad boy who smoked cigarettes and got drunk and showed up to school plastered. He was the boy with an abusive dad and without a mother. He didn't care about his grades, or graduating period. He had a new girl every week because he was afraid of commitment. Billy Hargrove was the loss cause and he was reminded of it every single day.

The two of them were polar opposites and were thrown together by their parents without being asked how they felt about it. Then they were forced to leave their home and move to Hawkins where they didn't know anyone. They were forced to be brothers even when they hated each other.

The way of brotherhood was the give and the take, the fury, and the grief. Fire on the alter. It's a story that always starts and ends in bloodshed.

But the deep rooted anger that Billy had for Nolan went further than that. He was jealous, jealous of how much his dad favored Nolan over him. He didn't even like his step father and he was still liked more than Billy. He was told repeatedly that he should act more like Nolan, be nicer to Nolan, spend more time with Nolan. Everything was always about Nolan. What made it worse was that Billy had nobody to turn to about these feelings. Nolan did have someone. He had Max, and that made Billy hate her just as much as him.

Yet at the same time, there was a part of Nolan that wanted the sibling relationship to work. He wanted to think of Billy as a brother but he made it so hard. He hurt his sister and Nolan cared more about Max than anything. He hurt him to the point where he blacked out even though he knew about his condition. Billy wasn't a good person and most of it was because of his father. But even then, as Nolan stood before his step brother outside of the Byer's home, he hoped there a hint of goodness in Billy so this wouldn't have to end badly.

Unfortunately for Nolan, the banner was torn apart.

"Should've known you'd be here, Nolan," Billy announced and blew the cigarette smoke out of his mouth.

He clutched his fists inside his jacket pockets. He tried to keep his composure. "What are you doing here, Billy?" He spoke.

"Looking for you two little shits, obviously. Where's Max?"

"She's not here," he lied.

Billy slipped out a comical laugh. "Come on, Nolan, stop playing games."

"Why are you here, Billy?" Nolan said once again,  more aggressively.

"So I don't get my ass beat. Cause you know, it's me that he does it to. Not you or Max. Me." He sneered.

Nolan rolled his eyes at his bitterness. "You can't be here, Billy."

"What are you doing here is the better question."

"None of your business."

Billy threw the cigarette down onto the ground. "Since when do you keep secrets?" He questioned.

"I don't have to fucking tell you anything," Nolan snapped. "Now get out of here."

"Let me guess, Harrington's here?" He said, ignoring him. When he didn't get an answer, Billy laughed. "He is, isn't he? You two have been spending an awful lot of time together."

Nolan slowly grew nervous. He tightened his fist so hard that he felt his nails cut into his skin. "Just go, William. Now!" He demanded but the nerves slipped out in his voice.

Steve came walking out the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" He whispered in a panic.

"Helping!" He muttered.

"Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?" Billy voiced, still leaning by his car.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants."

Steve started making his way down to him but Nolan quickly grabbed his arm. "Steve, no." He demanded.

"It's okay." Steve whispered to him. He took his arm back and walked down the walkway.

"What are you doing here, amigo?" Billy taunted.

"We could ask you the same thing. . . Amigo."

"I'm here for Nolan and my stepsister," he said with another cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Little birdie told me they were here."

"That's weird, yeah, cause it's just Nolan and I." Steve lied.

Billy took the cigarette out of his mouth and narrowed his eyes. "Y'know, this situations strange to me, Harrington. It's giving me the heebie jeebies," he jeered. 

"Oh yeah. Why's that?"

"My brother and 13 year old sister goes missing all day and I find them with you in a strangers house." He looked behind him to Nolan. "And you lie to me about it,"

"I already told you Max isn't here," he glared, his hands still deep in his pockets.

He took out his cigarette again and his eyes flickered behind them. "Then who's that?" He questioned.

Nolan looked behind him and saw the kids peeking through the window. When they saw that they were looking, they quickly ducked down, and he sucked in a breath. "God dammit. . ."

Billy shoved Steve to the ground and it grabbed his attention. "Hey, hey, hey, Billy, no!" Nolan shouted and ran forward, shoving him back.

He scoffed a laugh. "So you wanted me to believe it was just you and Harrington? Why's that?" He sat his hands on his hips.

The step brother only glared at him, his chest heaving and he kept his hand up so he wouldn't come any farther.

When he didn't deny the statement, Billy chuckled.  "Oh, I get it. . ." He started walking closer to him. "I had a feeling,"

Nolan held his glare. "What are you talking about?"

"You two suddenly being best friends, you sneaking off all the time, and now I find the two of you
together—" Billy named off, his voice growing dark. "I didn't want to admit it to myself but, I guess I should've known,"

"Known what?"

He got in his face. "I should've known that my brother's a fag—"

Instantly, Nolan saw red and punched him in the face. Billy let out a loud, obnoxious laugh and blood came out his mouth. He spit out on the ground. "Oh man,  brother, you shouldn't have done that."

Before he could say anything, Billy punched him in the face and it made him stumble backwards. He grabbed Nolan by his jacket and swung him around until he crashed into the car. With his back against the hood,  Billy repeatedly punched him across the face until it was covered in blood.

Steve, finally registered what was happening, scrambled to his feet and went up behind him,  grabbing Billy by the neck of his shirt. "Get off of him!" He shouted.

Billy spun around and punched him square in the face, making him fall to the ground again. "I told you to plant your feet." He hissed in his face.

Before Steve could get up, him kicked him in the stomach. When they were both on the ground, Billy stormed his way inside the Byler house.

Nolan's face was covered in blood and his lip was busted. He laid on his side and breathed in sharp and harsh breaths. Seeing the red head, Steve crawled his way over to him. "Nolan, Nolan, can you hear me?" He rapidly spoke and patted his cheek. "Nolan, hey,"

He groaned in response. "Max. I have to get Max—"

"Okay, okay, take it easy," Steve said and grabbed his arm. "Come on," he muttered and started to help him off the ground. Nolan cried in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

He held his throbbing side. "I'm gonna fucking kill him." He hissed through his teeth, which were also covered in blood.

Steve cupped his face in his hands, examining him. "Are you okay? Are you dizzy?" He questioned while his eyes scanned his injures with worry. The old ones were now covered with new ones.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I have to get Max," he said again, not caring about anything else in the world. When he heard the kinds screaming from inside the house, Nolan pushed Steve off of him and sprinted inside.

He saw that Billy had Lucas pinned to the wall in the corner. "So dead, Sinclair! You're dead!" He threatened.

Before he had the chance to take action, Steve stepped in and he grabbed Billy's shoulder, turning him around. "No. You are." He punched him square in the face.

Nolan and the kids let out the same loud gasp and he immediately went to their side. He grabbed Max and pulled her behind him.

Billy laughed obnoxiously when he regained his balance. "Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everyone's been telling me so much about!"

Lucas took the opportunity to get away and he ran back to the group. His friends pulled him into a hug and Nolan stood in front of them.

Steve huffed out an angry breath. "Get out." He demanded and pushed him back by the chest.

Billy stared at him with a blank expression on his face. Suddenly, he swung on him but Steve bent down, avoiding the hit, and he came back up — he punched him in the face again.

"Yes! kick his ass, Steve!" Dustin cheered.

"Get him!"

"Murder the son of a bitch!"

Nolan stared down at the kids like they were crazy.  Steve continued to punch Billy until he fell into the kitchen counter. He let out another loud laugh and grabbed a plate from the counter, hitting Steve over the head with it.

"Billy!" Shouted Max, her eyes wide.

"Holy shit!"

He continued to punch him and Nolan felt more anger bubble in his stomach. Leaving the kids, he rush forward and grabbed the back of Billy's jacket.He spun him around and punched him so hard in the jaw that it caused him to stumble back.

"Nolan!" His sister screamed.

Dustin was the complete opposite. "Yeah! Kick his ass, Nolan!" He encouraged.

"You son of a bitch!" Nolan spat on his face.

Billy grew a dark smile and showed the blood that coated his teeth. "That all you got?" He taunted.

"I fucking hate you!"

He wrapped his arms around his torso and ran forward. Nolan was pushed against the standing shelf and his head banged against the cabinet, breaking the glass, and everything came flying down.

"Holy shit!"

"Nolan!"

"Hit him back, Nolan!"

Steve immediately grabbed Billy again and tried to pull him off, but he backed him up into the living room.
"You got a thing for my brother, Harrington? That's why you're protecting him? Hmm?" Billy ridiculed to try and get under his skin.

Before Steve could respond, he was head butted and sent flying onto the ground.

Max quickly ran over to her brother and fell to her knees beside him. "Nolan! Nolan! Come on, get up!" She shook him.

Her brother groaned loudly. "Fuck." He spat out the blood from his mouth.

"He's gonna kill him!" He heard Dustin shout from the living room. Nolan lifted his head and his eyes adjusted when he saw Billy on top of Steve and he was punching him in the face. He thought about all the years of shit and pain he put him through. The jealousy, the suffering, and the torture and the anger he took out on Max. Billy Hargrove was a bully and he hurt the people he cared for most.

He wasn't going to let him hurt another.

Ignoring the pain he was feeling in him, Nolan scrambled to his feet.

"Nolan."

He ignored Max's warning and stormed past the younger kids into the living room. "I said get off of him!" He yelled and tackled Billy to the ground.

"Come on, Nolan! Get him!"

"Come on, Nolan!"

The step brothers wrestled on the floor. Nolan pinned Billy on the ground and sat on top of him so he couldn't move. "Fuck you!" He shouted and punched him in the mouth.

Billy spat out blood and smirked. "Come on, brother!"

He punched him again and he felt his knuckles split open from his teeth. When he was going on for another punch, Billy head butted him and it caused him to fall backwards. Their positions switched and he was now pinned on the ground and struck multiple times in the face. He couldn't get a breath in.

Fear curled on Max's face as she watched. "Stop!" She cried out.

"He's going to kill him!" Mike shouted.

Billy let out a battle cry and swung both his fist in his face. Nolan's head felt like it was going to explode and he tasted the metallic liquid that formed in his mouth. He had been in this position before when Billy would beat the shit out of him and there was nothing he could do.

He started to not be able to hear anything.

Steve managed to get up from the floor, a bloody and bruised mess, and he grabbed Billy by the neck and pulled him backwards. He kicked him hard in the stomach. "I said leave him alone!" He shouted at him and kicked him again.

Billy laughed like it was the funniest thing ever and got up swiftly. Steve swung at him again but Billy ducked and wrapped his arms around his torso. He dragged Steve to the ground again and climbed on top of him.

Nolan laid on the floor a bloody mess and vision was going in and out. The hearing in his left ear began to waver. He moved an inch and cried out in pain. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move.

"Nolan, no!" Max cried out again and latched onto Lucas's arm.

"Come on, Nolan, get up!" Dustin shouted at his friend, now very worried.

But he couldn't hear him. Blood covered every part of his face and it was now dripping onto the floor. It was bad before when he and Billy would fight, but this was different. It was more violent and targeted. It was like he wanted to kill him.

The fighting was over when Max grabbed a needle from the table and stabbed it into Billy's neck. He grunted from the pressure and stopped his punching. She backed away when he turned to her, his eyes crazy and angry. Billy pulled the syringe from his neck. "The hell is this? You little shit, what did you do?" He freaked out. He moved forward again to grab her but his legs grew weak. When he could no longer keep his balance, Billy fell backwards and landed on the floor with a hard thud.

Shit." Mike breathed out in shock.

Billy started laughing from floor. It wasn't a comical laugh, it was evil. It was sickening. Max grabbed the nail bat and held it in her hands. "From here on out, you leave me, Nolan, and my friends alone. Do you understand?" She threatened.

"Screw you," was all he said.

The angry red head swung the bat and threw it onto the floor, a mere inch away from Billy's crotch. "Say you understand! Say it! SAY IT!" She screamed. Pain and anger dripped from her tongue like poison. All the years of suffering and ache from the abuse she encountered now showed. She tried to hide it but she couldn't anymore, and now they were all finally seeing it.

Her girlhood was stolen by the hands of an angry person that was supposed to care for her. That's what brothers were supposed to do. Nolan was the perfect example of that. But Billy hated her. She was only a kid and yet he hated every part of her. She wished that she could go back to the way things were before when it was just her, Nolan, and their mom. But she couldn't. The least she could do was try and put a stop to it.

Billy looked at her weakly. "I understand." He muttered.

"What?"

"I understand." He repeated and his eyes fluttered close.

When he was passed out, Max dropped the bat. She was shocked by her own actions but she also felt empowered. She took down her bully and she wasn't scared anymore. That was until she saw her actual brother by a foot away from her, bloody and passed out. "Nolan!" She gasped and jumped over Billy. She hovered above him and started to shake him by the shoulders. "Nolan, Nolan! Wake up!"

"Is he alive?" Asked Dustin carelessly.

"Don't ask that!" She yelled at him and laid her head against his chest, listening for a heartbeat. She sighed heavily in relief when she heard a faint heartbeat but she was still scared. She shook him again. "Nolan, wake up! Wake up!" She begged.

He was almost unrecognizable. His face was purple and red and swollen and his lips were cracked and busted. Max saw him like this too many times. Nolan always did everything to protect her and all she did was let it happen. Not this time. Not again. "Nolan!"

Her voice must have somehow got through to him but it wasn't enough, because he started to have convulsions. When she realized what was happening, the fear came back. "Nolan! Nolan!" She cried.

"He's having a seizure!" Mike nearly shouted.

"No shit!" Dustin shouted back.

"Put him on his side! Put him on his side!" Max screamed at them. "Help me!"

Lucas ran on the other side of him and fell down,  helping Max put him on his side. Nolan shook violently. His legs and arm twitched at a sickening angle. His eyes were rolled to the back of his head. It was a scary sight to anyone who had never seen it before but Max had witnessed it so many times. The scariest part was that they couldn't do anything because if they did, it would hurt him.

No matter how many times she was a bystander to his seizures, Max would always cry. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She whispered and tears fell down her face. It was the worst thing she ever witnessed in her life. Nolan was the one person that always protected and he had to suffer with his own demons.

His convulsions continued to the point where he began to drool. The younger kids were freaking out because they didn't know what to do. Max covered her face so she didn't have to watch. She felt helpless. They all did, really. The seizure lasted a while two minutes and the convulsions started to die down, leaving Nolan to pass out on the floor.