Almost a month has passed since the Zach incident. He quit and when Cory found out why, he stopped pressuring Lili to do things she didn't want to. Lili now understood why Billy followed her around like a protective dog.

Lili returned to work a few days afterwards and that was normal. Sue was still working at Imperial Panda for her mom, but now it seems like she's living there. Sue can't ever seem to catch a break.

Robin still is scooping ice cream with who she always calls 'Dingus'. AKA, Steve. She's always complaining about how she's bored or how she hates that she still had another year of high school to go.

And, Billy is Billy. He hates everyone except Lili and treats everyone like shit. Except for Lili. She considers herself lucky but if you ask her to be honest, she'd say that she wishes that he didn't treat her so differently. She thinks that it might connect to how people treat her like shit in turn.

It was around noon at the Hawkins Community Pool. Rock This Town was playing on the speakers and Heather was getting down from the other lifeguard chair across from Lili's. Lili could see the housewives squirming in their seats as they tried to beautify themselves. Keyword being 'tried'. They all still looked old.

Then, Billy walked out of the locker room. His sunglasses were on and shading his eyes. He played with his metal lifeguard whistle in his hands as the other one threw a burnt down cigarette away. Even with sunglasses on, Lili knew he was looking at her. Even to this day, his glance made her blush madly. It wouldn't matter if they were married or eighty-something year-olds, he would always make her feel like a typical high school girl.

Suddenly, his eyes flicked to the side. A kid was running across the pool deck. I think the fuck not, Billy thought as he brought his whistle up to his lips and blew.

"Hey, Lard-ass!" The whole pool quietened down dramatically. "No running on my watch! I gotta wake you again and you're banned for life."

Billy raised his finger to the poor kid. "You wanna be banned for life, Lard-ass?"

The kid shook his head no.

"Didn't think so," Billy mumbled. He blew his whistle again and the chaos at the pool resumed. Lili walked over to him with a smile.

"You're so good with kids," she sighed dramatically.

"Shut up before I make you," Billy grinned.

"Make me," Lili taunted. Billy grabbed her waist harshly and pressed his lips to hers. A cough broke them apart.

"Hi Billy," Mrs. Wheeler smiled sweetly at the boy.

"Hi." He looked back at Lili who was glaring harshly at the woman.

"C'mon," Billy grabbed her hand and dragged her to his lifeguard chair. He pushed his sunglasses up and climbed into the chair. Lili stood at the bottom and leaned on the chair.

"You're liking this, aren't you?" Lili laughed.

"Liking what?"

"Yelling at people for being stupid," Lili said.it was her favorite thing to do, at least.

"Definitely," Billy laughed. His fingers unconsciously touched his Saint Christopher necklace. Lili smiled. She touched the necklace that Billy gave her in turn. Everyone thinks that Billy is some sort of brute, but he can be so sweet and caring. If it weren't for the public setting, Lili would've cried just thinking about it.

"Hey," Billy tapped Lili's shoulder. She turned and looked at him. "Tonight, I'll pick you up at that curb and we'll go to a motel. Just for tonight."

"Why to a motel?"

"Because I heard that they have a very secluded pool. And that you probably never had pool sex before," Billy smirked. Lili scoffed and hit his arm.

"You perv," she rolled her eyes. "But, sure. If I'm gonna have pool sex I definitely want it to be at a motel."

"Oh come on," Billy whined. "It will be the workout of your life."

"For you, maybe," Lili laughed. "I'm so tired. I'm just gonna lay there."

"That's all I need," Billy bragged.

"Don't make me change my mind," Lili shook her head.

"Fine! I won't, I won't ," Billy threw his hands up in defeat.

Lili looked the pool doors and went to her car to go home. Cory stood outside with a cigarette.

"Late night?" He asked.

"Yeah, well, you're the one who assigned it," Lili rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," he just nodded. Something was off with him, Lili just knew. Maybe he hasn't been laid in a long time or maybe he's just always tired. Whatever it was, Lili was tired of it. She just gave him a tight smile and got in her car.

She parked her car at the cabin. She peeled her head through the door.

"Pops?" She asked.

"Yeah?" He called. He was sitting in his armchair, getting fatter by the day.

"I'm sleeping over at a friend's." Hopper downed his beer.

"Okay," he sighed. He looked at the door beside hi where El and smile were probably making out. Lili tried not to gag as she slowly closed the door.

She walked out and waited by the curb for Billy to pick her up. He finally showed and she got into the car. It was thick with cigarette smoke and his cologne.

"Sweet Saint Christopher, do you get roll down the windows?" Lili gagged.

"Jesus, Lili, I thought you liked the smell," Billy groaned.

"Yeah, in small doses," Lili rolled her eyes. Billy sped off down the road to the motel. Lili noticed that they were on a main road.

"Is it not in Hawkins?" Lili asked.

"It's a little out of town," Billy smiled. He turned his music up so that it was blasting. Lili rolled her eyes and like out the window. A flash of black caught her eye. Since it was dark, she thought nothing of it.

Billy laughed as he sped down the road, tapping his fingers along to the beat of the song. Lili snorted at his excited expression. He gave her a genuine smile.

Lili was about to say something when an object crashed into Billy's front window. He turned the car and it spun into a wall covered in vines.

"Fuck," Lili groaned. She looked at her arm and it was cut up and bleeding.

"Are you okay?" Billy asked her. When she didn't respond right away, he grabbed her face to make her look at him.

"Yes, I'm fine," Lili said. She held her head which was throbbing in pain.

Billy's eyes settled on the crack on his windshield.

"Fuck, no," he grumbled. He got out of the car and Lili crawled out too. "No, piece of shit!" Billy hit his car.

A slight rustling noise caught Lili's attention. She brushed her leather jacket off and looked at the bushes surrounding the couple.

"Billy," she whispered for her boyfriend. He was too busy looking at some sort of goo substance on the crack.

"What the hell?" Lili turned to what he was looking at. She scrunched her nose. Maybe they hit an animal?

The resulting noise sounded again, but this time it caught Billy's attention too. His face settled into a hard expression. He grabbed Lili and pulled her behind him.

"Who's there?" Billy looks around and Lili held her hands out, ready to strike.

"I said, who's there?!" Billy yelled. Suddenly, he was yanked from his feet and his chest landed on the ground.

"Billy!" Lili screamed. Billy's body started to be pulled back at an inhumane speed. Lili sprinted after him and followed him onto the warehouse they crashed at.

"Go! Lili, go!" Billy screamed at her. There was a little hut and a door that led down to a basement. When Billy got to it, he shot his arms out and grabbed the sides to keep from being pulled down. Lili caught up to him and grabbed his arms, sending pulse after pulse to help her get him out.

Just when she thought that she could pull him out, a loud screeching noise pierced her mind. It was like that night with Chuck, only about ten times louder and more painful.

She screamed as she tried to focus on pulsing whatever got Billy and to get him out. Tears streaked her face when she realized that she's losing the connection.

"Go, damnit! Lili, Go!" Billy's voice roared.

"No, not without you!" She yelled back. Then, her body went limp. Her grip on Billy's arms loosened completely and I'm a split second, Billy let go. He wasn't about to drag her down with him.

Lili's body hit the ground and she was out cold.

Billy was thrown out of the basement-like room. The growls from inside were enough to make his stomach churn. Lili laying limo on the ground caught his eye. He quickly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He bolted out of the warehouse and to his car. He set Lili inside then closed his door and peeled out of there.

There was a phone booth on the side of the road and Billy pulled over to use it. He got out of his car and sprinted to it, dialing 911. He waited impatiently. He looked at Lili sitting unconsciously in his car and rage overtook him.

"Pick the fuck up!" Billy yelled into the phone.

"Hello, 911, what's your emergency?" The person on the other line answered. Billy didn't hear because he was too busy looking outside. Soon, the voice faded and he found himself in a world that had weird white specks flying around and vines climbing everywhere. The coulda seemed to be tinted red and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

A group of people were marching towards him. Only their silhouettes were visible.

"What do you want?" Billy asked them.

They didn't answer.

"Hey! I said, what do you want?" Billy asked louder. Thunder sounded and lightning illuminated the red night sky.

The person in front stepped forward. Billy's face won't pale and his stomach dropped when he saw who it was.

It was himself, staring right back at him. He even had on Billy's leather jacket and the Saint Christopher necklace that Lili gave him.

"To build," the other Billy said in a voice that didn't sound like his own. "I want you to build."

"Build what?" Billy asked.

"What you see," the other Billy responded. The real Billy's eyebrows furrowed as he took in the other Billy's answer.

"What? I don't understand," Billy mumbled. I'm an instant, lighting stroke the sky and he was back in the real world with Lili slumped in his car.

"I don't understand!" Billy yelled. The group and the other Billy was gone. As if they were never there.

"What do you mean? I don't understand!" Billy turned to try and find his doppelgänger. "I don't understand!"

Lili's eyes peeled open when the sun hit them. She was laying in her bed at Hopper's cabin. Not at the motel which she thought was weird.

"What the hell?" She mumbled. Her head throbbed and she held it with the palm of her hand.

Hopper heard his daughter wake up and went inside her room.

"How are you feeling?" Hopper asked. Lili looked at him with drowsy eyes.

"What?" She looked around her room. Yep. This was definitely her room. "What happened last night?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Hopper crosses his arms.

"Well, I don't know," Lili made a face. "I can't remember a thing."

"Yeah, you get so shit-faced that Steve had to take you back home," Hopper raised his voice and Lili winced. Steve? She wasn't with Steve last night. She was with Billy. And they were driving to the motel, and then it all goes dark for her after that.

"Oh," she said. She wasn't about to tell Hopper about Billy and the motel.

"Yeah, 'oh'," Hopper seethed.

"Sorry," Lili mumbled. She slowly got out of bed and grabbed her lifeguard swimsuit. Maybe Billy can tell her what happened.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hopper asked angrily.

"Work," Lili rolled her eyes. "I'm an adult now. I can make my own mistakes. I promise it won't happen again."

"Yeah, it better not ever happen again," Hopper nodded. Lili just looked at him.

"I need to go," she pushed past her father. She got into her car and drove off to the pool. She got changed and sat in her chair, like any other day. She waited around for Billy to show up.

Right when she thought that he wasn't going to come in, she saw him walk quickly into the storage room with a gray muscle shirt on. Odd.

She climbed down her chair and went after him. She followed the sounds of bottles opening and someone drinking something. When she got to the storage room, Billy had his back facing her.

"Billy," she said. His head lifted at her voice. It seemed so familiar... no. Nothing is familiar. Not to him anymore.

"Billy, I don't know what happened last night. Hopper said I was drunk? But I don't even remember going to the motel," Lili said. Billy still didn't turn to look at him.

"Did I do anything that-?" Billy's mind flashed with the image of grabbing the pipe that was close to a bottle of bleach he was drinking and hitting Lili on the head with it.

Do it, a voice taunted his mind. His hands shook and his left one slowly inched to the pipe.

"You know I love you and..." Lili's voice broke through his thoughts. It seemed like his old self was climbing back into consciousness.

He turned suddenly and looked at Lili. She noticed that he was drenched in sweat and smelled of chemicals.

"Billy..." she started. She didn't know what to say given his appearance.

"Stay away from me, Lili," Billy said. Lili recoiled as if he shocked her with a taser.

"What? Billy-" she reached out and grabbed his arm. He yanked it out of her hand.

"Stay away," he growled. He pushed past her and left, leaving Lili feeling broken inside.

[UNEDITED]

SEASON THREE HERE WE GO