BLOOD THIRST

IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING. That was the only thought running through Grayson's mind as he walked the streets of Hawkins the next day. He was pondering, but really that was just an excuse to ditch school and walk around town. He couldn't stop thinking about how he threw away everything, his friends, his relationship, all for Steve Harrington and yet he still ran right back to his girlfriend. Although he was angry, a small part of him understood. Hawkins was a scary place to be different.

Much to his surprise, he saw Nancy and Jonathan running across the street towards the movie theater. He expected to see Nancy at least out on the town with her boyfriend, but not with a Byers. Jonathan always gave him the creeps and not just because of his family's reputation. He soon realized what had drawn the girl's attention when he looked at the sign. It read "All The Right Moves" and then in red spray paint, "Starring Nancy The Slut Wheeler." So, Grayson assumed the apology hadn't gone well the previous day. Public slut-shaming was never Steve's forte, though, especially since Steve had spent some of his own time getting around their small high school, so it must have been Tommy or Carol that put him up to this. There was no way it didn't have to do with Steve since Nancy didn't seem to piss off anyone else in town that often. She did piss off Grayson occasionally, but that was really just for existing and dating Steve Harrington, but he wasn't behind this. His alibi? he spent last night crying, alone, as one does on a regular night.

Proving his suspicions correct, Grayson heard the unmistakable sound of Tommy's obnoxious laugh. Grayson watched as Jonathan and Nancy ran into the alleyway next to the movie theater. Ever curious, he followed, but he stayed behind the corner.

"Tommy, you write like a three-year-old," Carol joked, causing Grayson to snort and then immediately cover his mouth so he wouldn't be discovered.

"Shut up!" said boy defended, even though Grayson knew it was true. Even with a pen and paper, his handwriting wasn't far off from chicken scratch.

"I didn't know you could spell," another girl, Nicole, said. She was another friend of Carol's that hang out with them on occasion. She seemed to be just as nasty as Carol, so Grayson had never taken time to get to know her. From what the dark-haired boy could see, Steve was just watching, letting this happen. Nancy must have done something terrible to him because he knew Steve was the leader of that little friend group. It was rare the Harrington let his friends take the reins.

Grayson watched as Nancy stormed over to them, eager as to what was going to happen next. He was lucky the movie theater was right there so maybe he could run in and grab some popcorn for this.

"Aw, hey there princess!" Carol greeted in her signature malicious tone.

"Uh oh! She looks upset!" Tommy chortled, meanwhile Nancy paid no attention to them.

Instead, she walked straight up to Steve and slapped him across the face. After everything that happened between them, Grayson would admit it was a pretty satisfying thing to watch. He was surprised he had gone this long in their relationship (if you could even call it that) without slapping the boy himself. He must have better self-control than he used to.

"What is wrong with you?" Nancy seethed. Jonathan was following her and Grayson had a bad feeling that things were about to get very bad very quickly. So, he followed Jonathan into the alleyway, giving up on hiding.

His eyes met Steve's, but Grayson looked away. He wasn't here to get Steve back, he was here to prevent a fight from breaking out. He placed one hand on Jonathan's shoulder, holding him back.

"Just wait," he whispered.

"What's wrong with me?" Steve asked, his eyes going back to Nancy, "What's wrong with you? I was worried about you. I can't believe I was actually worried about you."

"What are you talking about?" Grayson was also curious as to what Steve's answer to her question would be. Clearly, Steve knew something he wished he didn't and Grayson was waiting for him to enlighten them.

Carol cut in, her smile fake as all hell, "I wouldn't lie if I were you. You don't want to be known as the lying slut now, do you?"

"Clever, not," Grayson muttered under his breath, not realizing Jonathan had wedged out of his grip.

"Speak of the devil," Tommy called out once he noticed Jonathan, "Oh, and Grayson's here, too! I guess it's a party of cheaters now."

"What the fuck are you talking about Tommy?" Nancy asked her attention diverted from Steve.

Tommy just snorted, his eyes locking with Grayson's, "Yeah, I know all about you and your fag ex-boyfriend, Gray. About how he dumped you after he saw you with our boy, Steve, here."

Grayson couldn't breathe. He really hated confrontation and this was the ultimate form of that. He was not in the mood to deal with the consequences of his actions, so he stayed silent.

"Tommy stop talking," Steve instructed through gritted teeth, "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Right now, all I know is that Jonathan here had his arm around my girlfriend."

"Oh, we'll get back to that," Nancy was seething now, "Look, I don't know that you think you saw, but it wasn't like that. It doesn't even look like I'm the one cheating, now. Will someone please explain to me how the fuck Grayson ties into this? I'd like to know."

Steve sighed, but he wasn't backing down, "You and I were on a little break after our argument, that doesn't matter. What does matter is this. I saw you with him. What... you just let him into your room to... study?"

This must have struck a chord with Nancy, but before she could say anything Tommy cut in again, "Or for another pervy photo session?"

"We were just—"

"You were just what?" Steve asked, stepping closer to Nancy, "Finish the sentence." When she couldn't, the boy shook his head, "Go to hell, Nancy. At least I waited until we were on a break."

"So what? That's it?" Nancy scoffed, crossing her arms and suddenly gaining a backbone, "He puts his arm around me and I'm a slut but you go fuck a boy and I'm somehow at fault?"

"We actually didn't fu— you know what? It's not important," Grayson shrugged, stepping off to the side to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Well, he was pretty sure he was a target at this point.

Jonathan reached forward, grabbing Nancy's arm, "Come on, Nancy, let's just go."

Steve had been about to walk away, but as soon as Jonathan spoke he turned around. Slowly, the dark-haired boy inched behind Steve, not wanting to be near this at all. "You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed. I always took you for a queer—" Ironic. "but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family. I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother. I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it's a disgrace to the entire—"

Jonathan whipped around and connected his fist to Steve's face before he could finish the sentence. As soon as skin made contact with skin, Grayson was running over there to try and get the situation diffused, but instead, Jonathan just punched him, too. He fell back, clutching his nose that was most definitely bleeding. With that, he watched as Steve tackled Jonathan and it launched into a full-fledged fight. The most Grayson could do was get up and stumble out of the way.

While the fight went on, Carol turned to Grayson (who was still bleeding) and asked, "So did you two really hook up? I always thought you were gay, ya know. I don't care, though, I'm a bitch, maybe, but my cousin's gay so I don't really have a choice but to be cool with it."

Her statement surprised him, but his only response was, "Gee, thanks, Carol. Your acceptance really means so much to me." She just shrugged and turned back to the fight at hand.

Tommy jumped in and attempted to break them up, but he just got caught up in the whole thing. Grayson was already bleeding so he wasn't going to bother. Steve was on the ground with Jonathan laying on punch after punch. The sound of sirens was getting closer and closer, much too close for Grayson's liking. Although, if cops showed up, he would be thankful for something to break up the fight. Carol and Nicole ran as the cop car came down the alley, but Grayson and Tommy tried to pull Jonathan off before the cops got to them. Finally, the cops got Jonathan off, but Grayson, Steve, and Tommy all went running. One of the deputies chased after them, but they got away, thankfully.

At some point, when they were in the clear, Steve stopped Grayson and let Tommy keep running. Shouting, "We'll catch up!"

Before he could question what was happening, Steve pressed his lips against Grayson's. The boy happily obliged and kissed back, tangling his fingers in the boy's brunet locks and ignoring the fact that his nose was probably broken. It tasted metallic and was more painful than anything, but Grayson didn't care. Despite all the blood and bruises, it had to be one of their most electrifying kisses to date. Something about running from the cops together really got them going.

"What was that for?" Grayson asked as soon as they pulled apart, clutching his still bleeding nose.

"Because I could," Steve shrugged, out of breath, "My girlfriend hates me and my friends know I like boys so what's the point in hiding anymore? Listen, you get home, we'll catch up later. I'm gonna go catch up with Tommy and Carol. Okay?"

Before he could respond, Steve ran off in the direction of his friends, leaving Grayson dumbfounded in his dust.

There's only like one and a half episodes of season one left and I still have nine chapters YEET! Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter I felt it was about time I squeezed Grayson into the plot of season one! Also, I felt it would have been awkward to thoroughly explain it in this chapter, but it'll be explained how Tommy knew about Grayson, Matthew, and Steve in the next chapter!