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This would be the first Valentine's Day since... Whatever it was, between the two of them had started.
Steve knew Valentine's Day, or at least, he thought he did. He knew how to buy the flowers and chocolate and a pretty piece of dainty jewelry. But he had a feeling Billy wouldn't overly appreciate those. He and Billy weren't even dating. They were just casually sleeping together (exclusively, Steve's treacherous mind would add).
It wasn't like they went on dates or anything. Sure they hung out together at the quarry or at Steve's house all the time and had a set schedule where they hung out on Fridays after basketball practice because Billy could usually sleep over or go home late without his dad bitching at him. But they weren't dates, they were just hanging out.
So suffice it to say, Steve was stumped. Did he acknowledge the fact that Valentine's Day fell on their Friday? Or did he just pretend to be unaware and act as though it was a regular Friday? Did he buy Billy a gift? Wear something sexy? He had no fucking clue and it was driving him insane.
//
Billy has never been in love on Valentine's Day before. But that was before he met the whirlwind that was Steve Harrington.
Steve Harrington who remembered his favourite flavour (strawberry), his favourite band (Metallica), his biggest pet peeve (loud chewing), and just about every other thing about him.
Billy had been "dating" some girls before during Valentine's Day, and he'd usually just gotten them flowers and eaten them out if that. But for Steve, he knew he needed to do the best he could. Because Steve was a fucking sappy romantic even though he claimed he wasn't. He loved all that romance shit. He was determined to woo his boyfriend, no matter what. To make things better, Valentine's Day fell on their weekly Friday date meaning he'd be able to stay overnight.
("Your mother and I are going to Indianapolis for Valentine's Day, we'll be gone until Tuesday." Niel had said, giving Billy a critical eye. "No funny business, you hear? You're babysitting your sister, no parties. Got it?"
"Yes, Sir." Billy had responded automatically. With Niel gone until the following Tuesday, he could spend the whole weekend with Steve. Max had already arranged to stay with the Chief and his daughter El for the time.)
//
Friday started normally as usual. Everyone knew Steve and Billy were good friends now, so it wasn't weird for Billy to be at Steve's locker in the morning.
When Steve opens his locker, he's shocked when he found a red rose, a pansy, a sunflower and a white lily sitting there primly in a small vase. There was no note attached, but Steve glanced over at Billy who was leaning against the lockers next to him, smirking a bit.
"Looks like someone's got a secret admirer, Harrington." Billy teased, but Steve could see the apprehension in his gaze.
Steve laughed but held the flowers close to his chest for a brief moment before returning them to his locker for safekeeping. "Shut up, Hargrove, you're just bitter no one left anything in your locker."
Billy set his backpack down before pulling out a handful of Valentine's cards. "Doesn't look like nothing to me, pretty boy."
Steve rolled his eyes but felt himself begin to panic. He did have something for Billy, but it was back at his house, hiding under his bed until he decided whether or not to give it to him.
//
Throughout the day, Steve kept finding little gifts. A bag of his favourite candy on his desk in English, a new scarf in his gym locker, and a six-pack of the fancy import beer he loved in the front seat of his car after lunch.
Billy watched Steve find these gifts, feeling proud of himself, but as the day went on and no hint of anything from Steve, he was beginning to worry. Had he done too much? Maybe Steve didn't even want to celebrate Valentine's Day with Billy. Maybe he thought it was a chick's holiday.
As the end of basketball came to a finish, Billy was feeling jittery. The anxiety clawed at his insides as he watched Steve make a free throw and score the winning point for their team.
As they filed out of the locker rooms, Billy could feel the burning weight of the small box in the pocket of his jacket. He kept telling himself that gifts didn't really matter, or maybe Steve wanted to give it to him in private. He knew Steve cared about him... Right?
Billy had to drive Max back home and then to the Chief's place before heading over to Steve's, so they split in the parking lot.
"Why are you so tense?" Max asked as soon as Billy peeled out of the parking lot.
"None of your business, shitbird." Billy groused, pressing a little harder on the gas than necessary as the light turned green.
"Jesus Christ, Billy!" Max snapped as the car jerked forward roughly. "Just try not to kill us on the way home. "
Billy ignored her and instead turned the radio up louder, ignoring her for the rest of the ride home.
They both jumped out of the car to change out of their school clothes and grab their packed bags. Getting back into the Camaro Billy took a moment and just stared at the steering wheel.
"Uh, any day now, dumbass," Max said, snapping her fingers in front of Billy's face to gain his attention.
Billy snapped at the fingers with his teeth making Max screech and smack him on the nose like a bad dog.
"Fucking Christ, Maxine!" Billy swore, rearing back from the smack. "What's the matter with you?"
"What's the matter with you?" She shot back, glaring at her brother.
Billy groaned and ran his hands down his face. "What, what does it mean when you get someone a bunch of gifts for Valentine's Day, and they maybe don't get you anything?" As soon as he asked, he regretted it.
Max knew about him and Steve and it was an unspoken rule that they never talked about it.
Max raised an eyebrow. "It's not even the end of the day, aren't you going to his house after you drop me off?"
Billy shrugged stiffly, turning the Camaro on. "I guess."
Max rolled her eyes. "Steve has a gift for you. I'd bet my skateboard on it. He's like, sickeningly in love with you."
Billy reached out to flick her forehead. "Shuddup." He grumbled, the closet he'd say to thank you.
"Go fuck yourself," Max responded, grinning wildly.
//
After dropping Max off, Billy drove, a bit slower than usual, towards Steve's house. He figured he'd have to suck it up and go in at some point, so he parked a few blocks over like always and made his way to the Harrington house.
He knocked on the door and heard the rapid steps as Steve ran to open the door.
When the door opened, Steve looked flushed. He'd changed into a soft blue sweater and a pair of dark pants. Billy felt that familiar flutter in his chest as he took in his boyfriend. Unfortunately, the reminder of what was in his pocket made the flutters turn sour.
"Hey," Steve said smiling softly. "Come in, everything's always ready."
Steve waited until the door was firmly shut before sliding into Billy's space, pressing a warm kiss to Billy's lips.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Sunflower," Steve whispered, eyes shining as he looked at Billy.
"Happy Valentine's Day, princess," Billy responded, his anxieties slipping away as Steve held him.
"I can't believe all the gifts you got me," Steve said as he pulled Billy toward the kitchen where something was clearly cooking.
Billy huffed a laugh. "What, didn't expect any flowers today, Harrington?"
Steve flushed, moving to the fridge to grab two of the beers Billy had gifted him earlier that day. "I didn't expect anything, honestly." He said softly. It wasn't malicious but Billy still felt stung a bit by the words.
"What kinda boyfriend would I be if I didn't get you something for Valentine's Day?"
Steve stopped dead in his tracks, turning to blink owlishly at Billy, beers in hand.
"Boyfriend?"
Billy's blood ran cold.
Of course, Steve didn't think they were dating. Why would Steve ever date Billy? God, he wanted to punch himself. Steve was obviously just curious about men and Billy was the only queer in town.
Without saying anything, Billy turned on his heel and walked towards the door, feeling like his world had just crumbled around him.
"Billy, wait!"
Billy ignored Steve's calls as he roughly pulled on his boots, struggling a bit due to the shaking of his hands. Whether it was from anger or sadness he didn't know.
Steve caught him quickly, grabbing his arm gently.
"Billy, where are you going?" Steve's voice sounded desperate, and Billy ached to turn to face him, but he feared he'd break into tears if he looked at Steve again.
"Let me go, Harrington." He said lowly.
"No," Steve said stubbornly, tightening his grip on Billy's arm. "I was just shocked, it wasn't a bad reaction! I thought it was just casual! Friends with benefits type of deal!"
Billy finally whipped around to glare at Steve, yanking his arm from the others grasp.
"6 months." He seethed. "6 months two weeks and three days of us being exclusive and you thought that was fucking casual?" His hands were curled in tight fists at his side as he glared at Steve.
Steve looked at Billy shocked, he hadn't seen him so mad in so long.
"You never said anything!" Steve argued, arms flailing. "How was I supposed to know!?"
"All the gifts didn't clue you in?" Billy snapped. "We have a weekly fucking date every Friday!"
"I didn't know they were dates! I thought we were just hanging out!" Steve replied, feeling more and more stupid as the conversation went on. How had he not noticed that they were dating?
"Whatever. I clearly thought you like me more than you do. That should've been obvious from the difference between gifts today." Billy said, turning to leave, hoping Steve didn't notice the tears in his eyes.
"No wait, please! I do, just. Wait here, okay? Two minutes. I can prove it to you, okay? Please, Sunflower. Two minutes." Steve begged.
Billy groaned but stopped trying to leave, but he didn't turn around.
"Two minutes, Harrington. And then I'm gone."
Steve nodded even though Billy couldn't see him and raced upstairs, grabbing the box from under his bed and the flowers he'd picked up after school. He raced back downstairs, breathing a sigh of relief when Billy was still there.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Billy," Steve said softly, holding out the box for Billy to take.
The blond turned and took the box, not meeting Steve's eyes as he opened it. Inside were a handful of things. The first thing was a key on a surfboard keychain.
"To the house, so you can stop knocking all the time." Steve mumbles. "Or if I'm not home and you just need to be somewhere else."
Next was a small polaroid. It was from a party a month or so ago. It was obviously taken by Jonathan. Billy and Steve were both a little drunk and a little high so their inhibitions had been lowered. Steve was draped over Billy's lap, laughing as he spoke to Robin out of frame. Billy was looking at Steve so clearly in love, with a possessive arm around his middle.
"I know you can't really keep it in your room, I thought you could put in the Camaro or something if you wanted," Steve added as Billy held the picture delicately in his hand.
The last thing in the box was a postcard. It featured a beautiful drawing of the ocean with Welcome To California written in a loopy font above it, clearly Steve's own work.
"Turn it around." Steve urged softly.
Billy did as he was told and found a message on the back.
Happy Valentine's Day, Sunflower.
Thank you for the best six months of my life. I love you more than anything. My only wish this Valentine's Day is for you to be my boyfriend, officially. What do you say, tiger?
Love,
Your Steve.
P.S check under the lid of the box.
Billy didn't even bother looking at the bottom of the box before he was sweeping Steve into his arms, kissing him soundly.
"Yeah, I'll keep being your boyfriend, dummy." He said, grinning like a madman.
Relief flowed through Steve as he laughed brightly. "Thank god, at least now I can enjoy it properly."
Billy grinned salaciously. "Well, why don't we enjoy something else now?" He suggested, waggling his eyebrows. "Anything in the kitchen gonna burn?"
Steve shook his head and grinned. "Nope."
"Perfect." Billy grabbed Steve's hand with one hand and his box with the other as he pulled his beautiful, oblivious boyfriend upstairs toward his bedroom.
//
Later that night, as the two lay in bed, basking in the afterglow of yet another round, Steve suddenly remembered something.
"Did you ever look under the lid of the box?"
Billy shook his head. "No, I forgot. Pass it to me, will ya?"
Steve grabbed the box from the nightstand and handed it to Billy who looked under the lid. Steve grinned as Billy's mouth dropped open.
"ARE THESE METALLICA TICKETS?"
Steve grinned. “Maybe.” He drawled, smiling at his boyfriend's reaction.
Billy dropped the tickets to capture Steve’s face in his hands, kissing him softly but with so much fucking love Steve thought he was gonna burst.
“Fuck. I love you so much, Stevie. This is gonna be fucking awesome!” Billy said, smile shining brighter than the sun. Suddenly his face dropped and Steve feared he’d done something wrong. Before he could ask, Billy was off the bed and rummaging in his jacket before pulling the small box from his jacket pocket.
He climbed back onto the bed and handed it to Steve.
“One last present.” He said, looking nervous.
“Another?” Steve asked incredulously. He carefully took the box, flipping it open to reveal a gold pendant, similar to the one that Billy wore around his neck.
“It’s a pendant,” Billy began, softly. “It’s of Saint Dwynwen, she’s the patron saint of lovers.”
Steve looked at the small necklace that now rested in his hand.
“Put it on me?” He asked softly, unable to verbalize all of the emotions that were rushing through him at the moment.
Billy carefully clasped the pendant around Steve’s neck, smiling happily as it rested exactly where his own rested on his own chest.
“Happy Valentine’s day, pretty boy.”
Steve kissed him, short and sweet.
“Happy Valentine’s day, sunflower.”