Hey so here's chapter 2. Thanks for the feedback so far =) I'm glad you guys saw some promise here, so here's some more. Let me know what you think =)

Reluctant Friends and Family
"Only the gentle are ever really strong." -James Dean
_

Relief and irritation. It was always how she felt when this happened. Relief to see her brother was alright and irritation that his stupid ass had been gone for three damn days.

Three days and she hadn't seen or heard from any of the jackasses, but now it was Saturday evening and a few of them just waltz into the diner, where she worked most weekends, like it was no big deal. It was a little late for the typical dinner time so it wasn't crowded and they easily all sat at a table.

They even sat in her section, just waiting for her to mosey on over but she glared in the general direction and turned away to ring up one of the orders at the register.

"I think they're waiting," Nicole, her tall, curly haired co-worker, informed her with a nod towards the booth the five men had taken over.

Nicole knew the score with Holly's brother and his friends; that both fascinated and repulsed her. She usually fell more on the repulsed side, except for the crush she had on Baggy, which she let show sometimes.

"I don't care," Holly sighed, sliding the bills into the drawer as the customer walked away.

"Well this is a restaurant; you gotta serve him and I'm sure not taking the table for you," she laughed.

"Some friend you are," Holly teased.

She straightened a few more things needlessly behind the counter and then grabbed five things of rolled silverware and five menus.

"Good luck," Nicole whispered with a playful wink and an encouraging smile.

Holly just shrugged and headed over to the table against the wall and sat the silverware down for them to pass around.

"Sup Hol?" Baggy smiled up at her, squeezing her arm lightly from where he sat at a chair pulled up at the end of the booth.

"You tell me," she shrugged.

"Aw, c'mon," he groaned.

"…you look tired," she observed as she pushed a hand through his scraggly hair. "Have you slept this whole time?…have any of you?" she asked, eyes darting around the table.

They all happily waved away her concern. Jame, who'd verbally declared that she was his surrogate sister - his real sister said she didn't want to see him again unless he wanted help off drugs and out of the gang - quickly assured her they'd all crashed for a few hours now and then.

"Just got some shit later tonight and we'll all be back to buggin' ya every day," he finished with a chuckle.

Holly laughed dryly without a smile. She didn't always get Jamie; he was one of the more intimidating looks guys and he didn't talk to her much. He was around a lot though, but always with the guys; she could count on one hand the times he'd stuck around when no one else was there. It was one of said time when he'd told her he liked to come over and make sure she was okay since he couldn't do so with his own sister; she was Baggy's sister and since he and Baggy were as good as brothers, apparently he saw her as legitimate family.

"Stop havin' a cow and give us the damn menus"

And then there was Billy.

He was sitting at the end of the booth and she looked over to him, annoyed, when he piped up. She found right away that his pupils were heavily dilated, which certainly wasn't the shock of the day.

"No reason to be difficult," she rolled her eyes at him, passing around the menus. "I'll be back in a few."

"Billy, man, take it easy for now huh? You know she's just worried we've been gone for fuckin' ever," Baggy sighed; his sister was nothing if not consistent.

Billy gave him a blank look and shifted his attention to the menu while trying to decide if he was even hungry.

Holly watched the table from just inside the kitchen, her eyes landing again on Billy. Just as she sometimes couldn't see how she and Baggy were related, it was sometimes unimaginable how Billy and Joe brothers. Not that she was ignorant to the fact that, yes, Joe did shady things - he helped make drugs, sold drugs, sometimes did drugs, had a gun, and ripped people off…still, he wasn't Billy. Joe was like a beagle to Billy's pit bull; Joe would bark a lot, run around your feet to bug you, and cause some mischief, but Billy would maul you if you weren't lucky.

Holly shook her head and grabbed a stack of coffee mugs and the pot before heading back over to the table.

"We didn't order that," Billy scowled at the mugs.

"I'm feeling nice so it's on the house," Holly answered obviously. "I'll take it you don't want some; anybody else?"

"Fuck that; I do so," Billy butted in, gesturing for her to fill up a cup.

So did the others so she filled each glass.

"What'd we do to earn it?" Baggy inquired.

"Jamie said you guys have something to do tonight, and you look dead," she reminded him, poking the dark hue under one of his eyes.

She would've made a comment about how they were running themselves into the ground so why not slow down because that would probably be more efficient, but this wasn't the place to get any of them riled up and defensive.

"Thanks, ma; can we order now?" Baggy teased lightly, brushing her hand away.

"Is everybody ready?"

They all grumbled noncommittally and scanned their eyes over the menus again. She didn't get it; the menus hadn't changed and the guys were in here at least once a week when she was working. Plus, they nearly always got the same thing, typically some version of a burger. Still, they liked to sit and mull over what food sounded good or looked good in the picture before ordering a derivative of the same basic thing.

Sometimes they were weird.

She waited patiently nonetheless, smoothing out the black apron that was over her khakis and fitted maroon t-shirt with Marcie's scrawled on the chest of it. Only Joe looked ready and he waited for everyone else to decide, so she flashed him a smile. He grinned back and made an impatient face, which she had to look away from lest she laugh at the others' expense.

Her eyes stopped on Billy when she found that he was watching her, eyes narrowed up at her.

"What?"

"Nothin'…I'll take the double cheeseburger. With everything."

Once he'd ordered everyone else quickly hopped to it and ordered too as if this had given them all permission.

"Whattcha think, Hol…fries or onion rings," Joe tried to decide, tapping his menu as he got antsy.

"Just fuckin' order," Billy scoffed.

"I'd go onions rings," Holly offered.

"Okay… …actually, no. Fries."

Holly rolled her eyes but took Baggy's order and then went to put in their order and bring out their drinks.

"Can ya stay and sit for a while?" Baggy requested.

"I have other tables; maybe later"

"Alright, hurry back"

The boys behaved themselves during the meal more than they usually did, which Holly greatly appreciated. It hadn't taken her boss long to figure out that these rough new regulars were associated to her and he'd cornered her about tit to make sure there wasn't going to be any trouble. Luckily he believed her that she wouldn't be trouble, but she always got nervous when they guys got rowdy.

"Hey guys," Holly smiled, pulling over a chair to sit next to Baggy as she brushed a lock of hair back from her heated forehead; even though it was getting later and cooling off it was hot back in the kitchen where she'd been helping out.

"'ey!" Baggy grinned around a mouthful of food, slinging his arm around her shoulders to pull her in and kiss her cheek.

"Can I have some of this," she asked, mostly out of courtesy, as she grabbed french-fries off of his plate.

"So whattcha been up to while I been gone?" he asked, careless that she was stealing his food.

"You mean the whole three days? I've just been working and doing some school work. Nicole's been over quite a bit," she shrugged.

"Ugh, I missed her hot ass?" Baggy groaned ruefully, pleased with Holly's responding laugh.

"…are you okay?" she asked, watching him rub at her eyes.

"Don't start"

Holly turned to Billy to see his finger hovering in the air pointed in her direction. She frowned at the appendage.

"What? I'm not allowed to check on my brother? You do the same with Joe."

"Just don't start bitchin'," he warned, moving the finger closer to her face.

Holly still frowned but was generally unconcerned with the ambiguous warning. She eyed Billy curiously and moved his finger aside with one of her own.

"I wasn't bitching, I was asking"

He allowed her to get his hand out of her face but continued to eye her with narrowed eyes for another long moment before turning back to pick at his fries.

"Ignore it; he's high," Baggy muttered, as if she didn't know.

She rose a skeptical eyebrow at him, though; high Billy was actually often a little more pleasant than sober Billy.

"It's been a bad day - don't worry about it," he added when her eyes widened a little. "It's nothing."

"Hey, Hol…"

She turned to see Nicole nodding behind her to a couple that was getting seated in her area.

"Alright I have to go…I'll bring your checks soon; eat up."

"So you and that Nicole chick?" Bodie asked, nodding to the girl tending to the people who were sitting up on the stools at the counter.

"Aw, I dunno; she's my sister's friend…I think she's scared of me," Baggy chuckled.

"Do it, man," Joe encouraged; he'd seen that ass and those hips…

The guys all laughed a little and Baggy shrugged.

"Tell your sister to hurry up with those checks; we gotta get goin," Billy ordered, checking his watch.

"Yeah…hey, hey Hol," he stopped her, catching her elbow lightly. "When you drop of those drinks can you bring the checks now instead of later?"
"Sure thing"

Holly did so, coming back in minutes to dole out the checks. The guys started digging in their pockets for their wallets right away so she stuck around to wait.

"Are you sure you're done?" Holly asked, nudging Billy's shoulder.

"Pretty fuckin' sure," he rolled his eyes.

"…you barely ate anything," she pointed out; most of the fries were missing but there were only maybe two bites out of the sandwich.

"What are you; the fuckin' food police?" he glared up at her.

"…are you okay?" she asked now.

"Look, do ya want your fuckin' tip or not?" he asked angrily, hands on his cash.

"Excuse me for being nice," she rolled her eyes, reaching past him to take Jamie's money, smiling when he told her to keep the change.

Billy scowled up at her and sniffed, running a finger under his nose as was his habit.

Baggy pinched the back of her knee and gave her a warning look, handing her his money, too. Billy was the last one to hand over his wadded up cash.

"Keep it," he muttered as he stood, forcing her a step back from the booth. "Up. Let's go."

Everybody hopped up with short goodbyes and Holly went back o the register while straightening out Billy's payment. After aggravating him, she decided she wouldn't be surprised if his "tip" was just some change rounded up to the nearest dollar. So she was surprised to actually find a pretty generous tip.

"Moody son of a bitch," she muttered, happily confused.

Thankfully, Baggy did indeed come back that night around midnight. He went straight to bed, though, and crashed until the next afternoon. He'd then been able to take the time to actually apologize for being gone so long; he knew it stressed her out. She was never sure if she completely believed him but she also knew he had an obligation to the gang….

She just reminded herself that he was back in one piece, so she didn't have to kill him. It didn't really happen too often anyway, Baggy going MIA and the whole gang practically falling off the face of the earth as far as she was concerned.
She wouldn't say things went back to normal, because their lives weren't "normal" to most standards, but things went back to what they were supposed to be again. She was still at her cycle of her couple night classes and work, and the guys were back to coming and going whenever they pleased.

So she was completely unsurprised to find Baggy and Billy lounging on the couch when she got back from work. She waved quickly since she was on the phone, listening to her friend go on.

"Aw, look at my sister dressin' all classy. Kindda late, aren't ya?" Baggy asked.

Holly rolled her eyes; she was pretty sure he was born without the capability to develop common manners.

"One second Tash; I picked up part of a later shift for a coworker, Baggy," she explained, covering the phone; if she'd tried to ignore him he just would've asked again louder.

"Couldn't call?"

"…sorry about that, Natasha; it was nothing, but I think the pot just called the kettle black," she went back to the conversation with a pointed look to her brother.

She'd just gotten back from her other job; she worked at the front desk at a hotel in the city a few times a week. The work wasn't exactly exciting or complicated, but it paid better than her job at the diner. It was a large, upscale hotel and basically all she did was bookings, answer phones, helping guests with any questions about the hotel or the area, sometimes taking things to rooms, and other odd jobs. She liked it well enough, but no one there really knew where she was from. Her boss did but he was one of those equal opportunists; he was gruff but had given her a mini speech about how anyone could be anything no matter where they're from.

Great. She liked to picture him giving the same speech to Baggy and Billy.

She grinned into the phone as she thought of this and went to the refrigerator to grab a beer before going to her room.

"Woo-wee, must've been a rough day at that swanky hotel," Billy mocked, watching her walk by with the alcohol in hand.

She flipped him off and continued down the hall as she chatted with her friend. They were on the phone long enough that she wandered back to the kitchen to mix herself a drink and then back again. After she and Natasha hung up she sat down at her small desk to do some reading for her class but got through about two pages when she decided she wasn't going to try; she was going to drink and unwind tonight instead.

She returned to the living room expecting the same scene that had been there maybe twenty minutes ago, but only Billy was there leaning forward in his seat.

"Where's Baggy?"

"Out," he grunted.

She rolled her eyes at this; so he was typical Billy tonight.

She mixed herself another drink and turned back towards the other room. The kitchen was open to the living room so she could see in and she finally took a moment to process what she was seeing.

Billy was leaned forward so that he was hunched to the coffee table. The back of the armchair was blocking her view of what exactly was happening on the table, but from the soft tapping and the way he was concentrating on that instead of the TV she could guess.

"What're you doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"The fuck's it look like?" he shot back.

Not that she could exactly see but she knew it was drugs; he was making lines….bumps, rails - whatever you want to call them.

Billy snorted; it was his preferred method of drug use. A lot of the guys shot up, but injection was too dicey to him; this was quick and just perfect for him. Baggy was of the same mind, too; Holly was always glad Baggy didn't like needles because something seemed more sinister about them to her and she didn't want Baggy having that around the house.

She moved into the living room, dully watching as Billy used the little razor blade to make sure the powder was fine and then expertly formed thin rows with it on the small square mirror.

"Ya wanna blow?" he asked, looking up at her and nodding down at his lines.

"What do you think?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Ya might change your mind someday," he shrugged.

"…and you're doing this here why?"

"Joe brought some broad over; I'm crashin here tonight," he told her, fingers dexterously rolling a bill.

He bent down further and inhaled sharply, one line quickly disappearing. Then another. He straightened and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before sniffing again and rubbing the end of his nose. He swallowed a few times and set down his things, sitting back in his seat.

"Here," she sighed, reaching to wipe remnants of the white powder from the edge of his nose as she walked past to take a seat.

He snatched her wrist quickly and slowly pulled it closer, licking the residue off of the pad of her thumb, sucking it lightly before letting it go.

She was surprised and not surprised at the same time; Billy did whatever he wanted and there was no point in questioning him most of the time.

She dropped onto the middle of the couch and eyed the mirror on the table. She longed to break it for helping her brother and his friends do drugs, but breaking mirrors was bad luck, right? So she didn't because there was enough bad luck going around and she didn't need to attract it.

She watched TV for a while and was thinking about another drink… she might need it, especially if Baggy was going to come back with any of the guys who had plans to do drugs, too. It confused her sometimes that the guys continued to do everything they did regardless of what went on. They all knew people who'd died after getting shot or stabbed, and knew people who'd overdosed and had to go to the hospital for it. Why continue with all the rough lifestyles? She knew enough people dangerously hooked on drugs who'd almost died…drugs scared her.

Not that all the guys were junkies; Heco was the closest to and Billy was always on his ass about it. They always maintained that they just did drugs recreationally….she supposed it was true, but it was a slippery slope as far as she was concerned. No one ever planned to be an addict.

Holly started slightly when something touched her side and she looked down to see it had been Billy running the back of his knuckle over her silk dress shirt; she was still dressed from work. He pinched the fabric between his fingers and rubbed it experimentally.

"…this is nice…"

She smiled and moved his hand away, relaxing back into the cushions. Billy did so as well, kicking his feet up on the table. Holly mirrored that and he nudged her bare feet lightly with his boot.

She twisted her head around to look up at him and, as she knew they would be, his pupils were dilated. The sharp blue of his eyes, always beautiful and yet unholy at the same time, was forced to the edges as he looked down at her. His face was more relaxed than usual; the tension from stress and anger eased as the drug took effect.

She looked away from the dazed eyes and back to the TV as he resumed nudging her foot. She was a little amused by it, but was mostly uninterested in his incessant tapping. She took the remote from his side of the couch and found something she wanted to watch rather than the MMA fighting he and Baggy had been watching. They loved that stuff, as if they didn't see enough violence and blood on the streets.

After a few minutes Billy pushed himself forward with a grunt and grabbed her glass from the table and stood, downing the rest of it before turning to stride over to the kitchen.

"You shouldn't be drinking that," she swatted his leg, thinking of it interacting with and increasing the toxicity of the drugs he'd taken.

"Shut up," he told her snappily, waving his hand though the air dismissively.

Holly huffed but let it go; he knew his body and what it could handle so whatever. She kept an eye on him as he made her another drink, mostly because she wasn't sure how much she trusted him to not load it up on far more liquor that needed to be in one drink. He proportioned it correctly, however, and she turned back to the TV again.

He deposited the glass in her hand and dropped onto the couch again, arm flopped over the back behind her. They were quiet for some time until she felt his arm shift. It grazed her shoulder, and this was of no real concern until he skimmed past her arm to her side. For a moment she wasn't concerned since he'd already found that he liked the fabric….but then he wasn't stopping; he was stroking her.

His hand was cupped around her waist, rubbing up her side sensually. Holly just watched his hand for a moment before darting to look him in the face. He watched his hand on her and slowly drug his eyes up to hers when he felt her gaze. Billy bit his lower lip and let his hand settle on her waist, slipping a little further around her to her lower back.

"Billy…?'

He grinned and leaned towards her, his nose brushing her cheek bone lightly as he turned his face to get at her lips.

"Billy, stop," she murmured.

"Mmm…ya don't want that…"

He pulled his hand forward so there was more room between her back and the couch, allowing him to caress her back.

Holly's heart raced for a moment but took a deep breath to steady herself and lean away from him. She glanced at his face again now that it was a few inches away and his face was screwed up slightly until he met her eye. "C'mon," he urged, twisting his body in towards her. "I feel good…let me make you feel good, too."

She turned her head away when he ducked his head to her but he simply diverted to her neck. He kissed her jaw and sucked at her pulse before licking his way down her throat with his tickling facial hair paving the way.

Holly's mind was racing. His mouth was doing all the right things in all the right places and she forgot for a moment that she wanted him to stop. After all, it wasn't as if they'd never hooked up before.

It was no big deal, really. She wasn't naïve enough to that it was ever going to lead to a relationship; hell, she didn't even want it to be a relationship even if she thought Billy was capable of one. She wasn't looking to wrestle a gang member into settling down - when it came time to settle down for her it was going to be separate from this world. Billy was….Billy. Every now and then things would just come together; events would play out and they had sex - great sex. Holly wasn't typically the one night stand type, but when it came to him she was alright with going their separate ways in the morning. She didn't even feel bad about it because with Billy there was no point in having shame; he didn't, so why should she. They didn't think less of each other; they just had a good time and left it at that.

"Don't," she decided, ignoring her rapid pulse to pull away from him enough that his lips just missed.

He exhaled deeply and straightened to rest his forehead on the side of her head. His breath danced down her cheek for a moment before he removed himself from her and sat back once again. Holly shifted uncomfortably and pulled her legs up to her chest, perhaps to block herself from him.

She ran a hand through her thick, sandy blonde hair and thought through her choice, perhaps regretting it. They could be making out right now, heading to her bedroom soon… …. it just didn't feel okay right now. Sometimes it surprised her that it was ever okay; she didn't like him half of the time, after all, but she was ultimately welcoming when it came to him in her bed. It was always great, for starters, and he was a surprisingly attentive lover…as interested in her getting off as he was in his own pleasure

It didn't escape her, of course, that Billy was the one night stand kind of guy and therefore had many. She didn't worry though because after their first hook up, which she had been pretty drunk for, she'd learned he got tested fairly often and, as he'd put it "wasn't fucking brainless enough to hit it with a tramp without wrapping it."

She watched him. He frowned at the wall for a few moments before relaxing again, but there was something going on in his eyes. Glossy, they darted and weren't focused on anything.

"Are you okay?" she checked, reaching out to run a finger over his cheek.

She couldn't help it; she showed affection physically, with quick hugs or small touches. She was pretty sure she got it from hanging out guys all the time. They didn't go around touching each other softly, of course, but a nudge or playful jab showed how close they were, how comfortable they were with each other. Casual touches were her adaptation of the same principle.

He batted her hand away.

"I'm fuckin' fine…you could make it better, though," he amended, slipping his hand over her knee.

"Not tonight"

"Cuz I took some drugs? It's the fuckin' drugs," he shook his head, irritated.

"No, it's not that….just, not tonight"

He rolled his eyes but nodded slowly, continuing to rub her knee.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong; shut up," he ordered.

She rolled her eyes then, too, and let it go. If he didn't want to tell her, then fine; she'd long since gotten over pushing it with him.

Billy was most resistant to having someone care, unlike Joe who leapt at it. Of all the guys, she was quickest to call Joe a legitimate friend; this was just another way he differed from his brother. She and Billy had their moments where they got on well, but usually he deeply frustrated her and she irritated him in the way that any friend's pesky sister would. The times they were on the same wave length were usually spent quietly because he didn't like to talk much lest things get too "touchy-feely." He didn't like letting her care, not in that way. This was why his hand lingering on her knee was further evidence he wasn't "fucking fine" today…he wouldn't talk with her but he'd let them be close.

His phone beeped loudly after a while and he flipped it open to check the message.

"Wanna go down to the Roses? The guys are there; Baggy too"

Holly mulled the idea over and nodded; she didn't have to be at the diner until the afternoon tomorrow.

"Just let me change quick"

He rolled his eyes.

"Hurry the fuck up or I'm leavin' ya"

She didn't take the threat seriously but she hurried anyway, trading the dress pants for jeans and her nice blouse for a fitted black t-shirt. No jacket was necessary as they made their way out of the apartment; it was still warm for this part of fall.

"How are you even wearing your coat?" she asked, nearing his car.

"If ya wanted me to take my clothes off, ya shouldda said something sooner," he smirked.

She ignored him.

They drove to the bar without talking and found most of the usual guys there when they got to the table. Billy was quiet all night, but Holly decided to forget about her worry for him from earlier; he was a big boy. He wasn't necessarily great at coping but he'd muddle through; they all did.

Instead she spent most of her time up at the bar chatting with one of that bartenders and Kendra, a barmaid. Holly had worked there at The Four Roses before she got the diner job. She didn't even have to apply; with her brother and his connections she'd just been hired on the spot. It wasn't a bad job when Baggy and the guys were there, but she'd gotten far too sick of the comments and the men who tried to play grab-ass when the security of her brother was missing. She'd promptly found another job.

"Do me a favor and see if they need anything? I'm swamped," Kendra sighed; she was off her break now and the bar was busy tonight.

"No problem," Holly agreed happily, trooping back to the table. "What can I get you guys?"

"What's this; got your old job back?" Baggy chuckled.

"I'm just giving Kendra a hand," she smiled, flicking his ear. "So?"

They quickly asked for more beers and wanted whiskey sent back, so she fetched it for him.

"Baggy, bro…your sister has one of the sweetest asses I've ever seen," Tommy sighed, watching her go to the bar.

Baggy punched his arm lightly but otherwise ignored it; Tommy was drunk and he was harmless anyway.

"Good with her mouth, too…" Billy muttered, watching her closely as well.

Baggy slammed his fist on the table and pointed a hard finger at Billy. Unlike Tommy, Billy was a threat. He trusted that Holly was safe with Billy physically, but beyond that there was no telling what Billy would do…break her heart, piss her off beyond redemption…something. Who knew. Baggy trusted Billy with her life, not her sex…or heart, it if came to that - he highly doubted it.

Billy just nodded blandly. He knew that comment had been a little far. Baggy knew he and Holly fooled around sometimes and didn't' say anything, but it was his sister…there was some kind of universal rule about not mentioning a girl's sexual skills to her brother.

Holly returned shortly, oblivious to the comments that had been tossed around about her.

She had a beer with them and enjoyed the company….one of them and yet outside of them at the same time.