.𖥔 ݁ ˖꩜ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ꩜ ˖𖥔 .

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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : 【 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵. 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 7 】

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐅𝐅  not fantastic for Molly. Steve spent the entire morning figuring out how he should reconcile with Nancy and Molly had to sit there and smile for him while still keeping her other friends' secrets for them. What's more is that she had to mentally prepare herself for the results of a terrible decision she made the previous day.

She felt so foolish for allowing herself to be alone with him, though there were far worse places she could be than a public park in the middle of the day... at least she hoped. She didn't go out a lot, especially on weekends, and with all the spies for Hawkins Lab already out and about, who knows what other spies are out on the prowl. She didn't regret helping Max though. If she was friends with Will's group, she must've been a good child, and good children don't deserve to be shouted at or worse.

A little after midday, Molly got ready to head out first for Lincoln Park where she was supposed to meet Billy. Steve, not noticing, continued rambling to her about Nancy.

"So do you think flowers or would that be too much? Or would that not be enough? But I don't wanna come off as desperate-"

Suppressing a groan, she paced back towards Steve, reached her hand out and entered his mind, made him slap himself in the face before exiting his head.

Steve rubbed his cheek with his jaw hanging open, "Why?!"

"I don't know anything about relationship things! What I do know is how to whoop some annoying boy's ass at basketball, and that is what I am going to do now. You're a relationship guy, figure it out."

She tied her shoes, grabbed Steve's basketball and pulled up the hood on her hoodie before heading outside.

˖𖥔 .
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

When she got to Lincoln Park, Molly took a look around. There was no one else around. That was both relieving and worrying. Eh, she'd have a better chance at taking down Billy than other Soviet spies. Let's just hope he doesn't take it that far.

Though he'd never admit it to a soul, Billy had spent the morning in anticipation of his one on one rematch with Molly. Max nearly made him late, the little shit. Good thing she agreed to skate home... But not that it mattered if he was late. He could simply say she was early. God, why did the thought of disappointing her frighten him? It's not like either of them gave a shit about each other. Well, at least that's what he thought until she came up to his car after school. It felt so out of left field, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He knew all this was just the preamble to what she really wanted, and even if it was a little unnecessary, he considered it a win, a sign that he finally wore her down.

With the familiar sound of revving and distant rock music, Molly knew Billy had arrived. She watched as he parked his Camaro and emerged, taking a drag from a cigarette.

"Getting started without me?", he called over to her after a blow of smoke.

She shrugged, "I like to stay prepared."

He took off his brown leather jacket revealing a tank top and some baggy blue shorts. He stamped out the cigarette and jogged over.

She passed him the basketball, "Shall we get started?"

Like always, the game was riveting. The lack of spare players made it both easier and more challenging somehow. Yes, it was always nice to have a helping hand, but they both found it was easier not having to rely on anyone but themselves; less unpredictable moves, lower chance of failure.

As she started getting tired of Billy's usual show-off moves, Molly got comfortable enough to show off some skills of her own.

"Want to see a magic trick?", she said as Billy went to swipe the ball from her.

However, mere seconds before he would've had the ball in his hands, Molly stretched her free hand towards him and went into his mind and held him back from getting the ball. She was impressed. She had to work a lot harder to hold him back than anyone else such as Steve or Jonathan (yes she had tried it on him before and his confusion was hilarious). Though, she didn't waste any time in letting go quickly and scoring. It was just quick enough of a grasp for Billy to have no idea what happened.

And that was true. Billy had no clue what had happened. It was so strange, it was like this static sound in his head, but it wasn't frightening in any way. After the initial fear of having a heart attack subsided, it was somewhat calming, like a gentle wave of softness on his brain. It was startling and he couldn't understand it, but he wanted to keep feeling it.

About an hour into the game, naturally the two grew sweatier. Billy was the first to take his shirt off.

"You prideful lion. You can't stand to keep your shirt on, can you," Molly quipped.

"Prideful lion? The hell does that mean?", he scoffed.

She rolled her eyes, trying to think of an English slang equivalent, "It means... it means you're a poser."

"Really? How am I a poser?", he asked, smirking.

"You're a total poser, you just..."She stuttered while miming out the actions, "It's all those tricks you do! You know, you do those little jumps and the fancy throws, it just- It makes it look like you think everyone's looking at you."

He snickered, "Well, you were. "

She rolled her eyes, "Fine, two can play shirtless."

As she turned around and started taking her shirt off, she could feel Billy's eyes widening.

"I'm wearing a sports bra, idiot," she told him.

She tossed her tank top next to Billy's and waited for him to pick up the ball and continue. But he didn't. He just kept staring at her.

Molly grew suspicious. Shit. Clothing is protection, she shouldn't have removed it just to prove a point. What if it was all an act? What if he was a spy sent by the Soviets to kill her? What has she done?... But he still made no move towards her. Her eyes darted around. They were still completely alone in the park.

Finally she blurted out, "Are you going to attack me?"

He finally snapped out of his daze to say, "Why would I do that?"

"W.... Well, why were you staring at me like you were preparing to attack?", she shot back.

He gave her a confused look and said, "I was... I was staring because you're beautiful."

Her eyes widened, "What?"

"You're hot, okay? Big fucking shocker," he scoffed before picking up the ball, hiding his embarrassment, "It's so annoying when girls do that."

"Do what? Receive compliments?," she asked, still confused and now a little offended.

"When girls like you act like you're above it all and you don't need guys to call you pretty and you act like we're the biggest assholes in existence for paying attention to you," he elaborated while shooting hoops.

Molly frowned at him, snatching the ball from the net, "Well maybe it's because girls like us aren't used to having anyone pay attention to us and we got used to it and now we don't know how to feel when guys finally do start paying attention to us because it feels like some weird mean joke!," she explained as she dribbled it to the other side of the court before scoring.

Her words made Billy think. At first, he thought 'Bullshit. Sure, she'd be a low-average in California but Hawkins is the most boring shithole he'd ever been to and in comparison to all the other girls here, she's a total bombshell. She could've had every boy at her feet, but instead she's playing this whole social outcast routine'. But why? It had to be more complex than her just not wanting to be popular. The blush on her cheeks painted that picture well enough. Could it be something at home? The more time they spent together, it seemed the more about her questions flooded his brain.

Molly held her composure but underneath, she felt so disoriented. She knew she had some influence on Billy (that had nothing to do with her powers), but she never expected him to say to her face with unmistakable sincerity that she was 'hot', let alone 'beautiful'! And then he had to go and spoil it and make her hate him again.
Wait a minute, she was supposed to hate him. All her friends did. He was an idiot, a bully, a jerk, and generally everything she expected to dislike about Americans. But something about being in that court, alone with him in the park, challenging each other to something they both enjoyed and had to put their passion into... a selfish part of Molly felt this was one of the nicest days she's had in a very long time.
But she'd be a fool if she let herself get caught up in an idiot. She may have been a spy but she knew she was still a teenager, and she knew even more that teenagers could be idiots, and Molly could tell this douchebag could very much make an idiot of her if she gave him the chance.

They continued playing, however both their games were thrown off and after another half hour of playing, Billy finally called it, "Do you wanna take a break?"

Molly sighed, "That... is probably wise."

She picked up her tank top as she walked over to the water fountain to get a drink. Billy got his water bottle out from his car. The two put their tops back on and slumped down next to each other on the fence around the court.

"Where are you from?", Billy asked, breaking the silence, "Everyone says you're a foreign exchange student but they all just say 'Europe'."

It frightened Molly how close she came to saying Leningrad. She really was becoming too comfortable with Billy.

"Poland."

"What was it like growing up there?"

Molly truly had no idea what to say. No one ever bothered to ask that before. It was always 'is it nice there?' or 'what's it like?'. Never had she been asked about her childhood. She'd never been to Poland in her life. She wasn't even fluent in Polish, only being taught the basics for her cover training. Instead, she told him what her life was like in Leningrad without saying Leningrad.

"It was cold. But my family always kept me warm," she knew it was cheesy but it was true. She'd never felt colder than after she lost her family, "It was beautiful and ancient. A lot of people had fear, but we took care of each other. I miss it with all my heart."

"Do you ever think about going back?"

"I would if I could. Perhaps someday, if everything points the right way," worrying she'd give something away if she kept talking, Molly turned the question back on Billy, "What was it like growing up in California?"

"Hot. Hot as hell. I always liked the beach. I got pretty good at surfing for a while... It was beautiful."

She could tell how much he was holding back. She knew it wasn't the time to push him.

"Why do you act so weird?", he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "How do you mean?"

"Like... like earlier. I was just looking at you and you thought I was gonna 'attack' you?", he said.

"Well... I don't know how much I can trust you," she shrugged.

Billy was stunned by this. No one had ever said that to him before, but the more he thought about it, the more he understood Molly.

"But did you really think I wasn't just staring because you're hot?", he asked

"Well, yeah. No one ever tells me I look good. So how can I assume I do?"

Shit. Why did she have a point?

"Since we're getting all the invasive questions out of the way, what's your family like?", Molly asked.

Billy's face turned to stone, "I live with my stepmom, my stepsister Max, and my dad."

That response was all Molly needed. She liked Billy... sometimes. She liked the boy who played basketball with her and told her she was beautiful. She didn't like the dickhead who hated Steve, who said stupid things about women like he understood all their problems, and who cared about what Tommy H and the rest of his droogs thought. She didn't like the horrible guy who scared his sister and hated her friends. If she knew anything, the kind of hate she saw in Billy's eyes when he looked at Steve or Lucas, that kind of hate can only be taught. She liked Billy, and she could tell Billy liked her back, but she didn't want someone else's hate guiding this boy towards a dark path.

"Who do you live with?", Billy asked, breaking Molly's train of thought on how she planned to hopefully save him from whatever terrible demon lived with him.

"Steve Harrington," she told him, "I know, you fucking hate him for whatever reason. But he's my friend. He gave me a home when I had none. So if you have a problem with him, I'm afraid you have a problem with me... Speaking of, why do you hate Steve?"

Billy felt so caught off guard. She seriously didn't know? Or was she just trying to get him to admit that he's jealous of Steve because he likes her? Dammit, was she a conniving genius or just completely oblivious?

"I won't judge you if it's insanely petty. Trust me, I don't think anything can surpass what happened at the Halloween party," she chuckled.

"What are you talking about?", he tried chuckling along with her.

She raised her eyebrow at him, "Well, I don't know how you remember that night but I do recall you telling me that my friend doesn't give a shit about me, that my other friend is creepy and also my boyfriend somehow, and that I was making a mistake when I tried to leave. You certainly know how to treat a girl."

"Ah," he sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't remember that stuff."

"Jokes on you, I remember everything," she muttered bitterly before getting up and bouncing the basketball towards the hoop, "And you still haven't answered my question. Why do you hate Steve?"

Although he felt bad about it, Billy pulled some bullshit out of his hat, "It's 'cause when I came here, all anyone cared about was 'King Steve' and I guess felt like I had to fight him for the crown."

"You felt had to fight him in order to gain popularity?", She raised her eyebrow before shrugging, "Okay, as much as that sounds like the popular kids, I say bullshit. You don't care what these 'hicks' think of you, you already believe so strongly that you're hot shit. Tell me the truth."

"Oh come on. Well, what makes you think I hate him, huh? I'm just riling him up, that's all, just teasing," he got up and tried taking the ball from her.

She dodged him as swift as ever before shooting the ball through the hoop, "Well, first of all, you haven't even denied that you hate him until now. And second, the reason I think you hate him is because you always stare at him. Not like you stare at me though. With him, there's this... rage. This silent, murderous hate that I've never seen in another person here. And I saw you look at Lucas that way yesterday too."

"Who's Lucas?", he asked.

"Max's friend," she elaborated.

"Oh. Him", he muttered.

"It's strange, you seem so joyful playing basketball, so lively. Yet when you look at those two, it's as if you wish a slow and painful death on both of them," she said.

"Jeez, was your mum a thesaurus? What's with all the flowery words?", he exclaimed, making another move for the ball.

These Americans have such an expressive language and they refuse to use any of it.

Gulping back her disappointment, she reiterated, "I'll say this once more. Why do you hate Steve?"

"Because of you."

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, it's just 'cause... ugh, he doesn't deserve you!"

Molly stopped moving and stayed silent for a few moments, the ball slipping from her hands.

He sighed, "I... I didn't want it to come out like this, but... I thought after this I could take you for a drive, we could go out somewhere. What do you say?"

Molly couldn't believe what she was seeing, or hearing. Billy Hargrove, the new king of Hawkins High, the boy who had every normal girl foaming at the mouth since he first pulled into town, had turned into a coy, nervous, sweet boy. No longer a king, simply a boy.

She opened her mouth to say anything, explain that she had nothing romantic with Steve, ask how or why a single living thing, let alone him, could have feelings for her, or even respond to his proposal of a date, they were interrupted when Steve's car pulled up next to Billy's.

Steve stuck his head out of the window, "Molly! Code red! We need your help now! Get in!"

Molly's eyes darted between the car and Billy. Will's friend, Dustin was in the car. There could be real danger. She quickly grabbed the basketball and dashing off to the car.

"I'm sorry, I have to go!", she called after Billy.

In a moment of desperation, Billy called back, "Just meet me back here! At ten!"

Molly bit her lip in frustration, "I make no promises!"

Molly felt bad for leaving him that way. The more time she spent with Billy, the more her selfishness was getting the better of her. Despite how much she found herself beginning to care for Billy in that moment, her friends needed her and knowing the usual reason Steve and Dustin would ever be in the same room, it probably meant the end of the world. That was something she couldn't compromise over her own selfish feelings.

As she jumped into the car, she asked them, "What's going on? What happened?"

Dustin sighed, "Long story short, we need to get a bunch of meat to lure a creature from the upside down towards the junkyard so it doesn't eat any more cats."

Molly blinked, "... Steven? Anything to expand upon?"

"He was keeping a pet slug to impress a girl and it grew and ate his cat," Steve explained.

"Ahh, this wouldn't have anything to do with that cool new girl, Max, would it?", she teased him.

"Oh my god, you're just as bad as him," Dustin groaned, "Also, if we're gonna talk about crushes, what the hell were you doing with Billy Hargrove?"

"We were playing basketball together," she shrugged.

"Yeah and he just asked you out on a date," Dustin raised his eyebrows at her, "Seriously? Billy Hargrove?"

"I wasn't expecting him to do that! We were having a brutal battle of sport and I never would have participated if I had known he'd do that!", she exclaimed, knowing she was lying through her teeth, but that was nothing new for her.

"Ugh, teenagers."

Billy couldn't believe it. He finally gets this close to taking the girl of his dreams out on a date and Steve fucking Harrington has to show up demanding Molly aka his second girlfriend before she can even get a word in. He swore, if this asshole kept Molly from meeting him tonight, he could kill him. He could kill Steve Harrington.