One

by awalkerlifeforme

Rachel has always known she was adopted; her parents never hid it. But she has a secret and when it nearly comes out, her family moves to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Her second chance at life quickly changes as she discovers a secretive government and a girl with a familiar story. But the simplest part of her new life is also the strangest: a handsome young man named Billy.

7. Chapter 7

Unlike most mornings, it wasn't my alarm clock chirping away that woke me up. Instead, it was the soft snoring of someone underneath me. It was Billy. I peeled my eyes open slowly and groaned as I stared out the window and into the sun. I had never closed my blinds last night after Billy had climbed in my window. I was almost a little nervous to look at him. I had seen him under the harsh bathroom lights in the middle of the night but I hadn't seen him in the light of day yet. I slowly turned my head to look at him, knowing I had to do it.

It was the most relaxed I had ever seen Billy since meeting him. His face wasn't tense or teasing and his normally well-styled hair was now ruffled all over his head. I could see the cut on his cheek; it was smaller than it was last night and was scabbing over. His bare chest was a few shades darker than it was last night as the bruises were beginning to heal. Billy's arms were around my waist as I slept almost on my stomach against his body. I was turned into his abdomen with one hand resting gently on the non-bruised part of his chest.

Billy and my legs were tangled together with the sheets thrown in a mess around us. I pulled the sheets up around my chest for a moment as I rested against Billy. It was about ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off and I wanted to spend that time with him. This was the side of Billy that I had wanted to see since we had first met. This was the real Billy Hargrove and I knew that I wouldn't ever look at him in the same light after seeing him the way he had been last night.

It had occurred to me in my dreams last night that Billy might have begun pulling away from me. I didn't know how he would react now that he knew I was aware of what was going on in his home. He might have been okay with it, but Billy was a tough guy. He wouldn't want to be gentle around someone. I wanted to wake Billy up and start talking to him about last night, but I didn't want to push it. I knew that he would have to come to me and talk when he was comfortable, not because I was curious.

Not wanting to wake Billy from his peaceful rest, wondering if he normally got much of a chance to sleep at home, I turned off my alarm clock, pulled myself gently out of his grip, and walked across the room. I stood in the mirror as I started brushing my hair out. I had slight bruising under my eyes from the lack of sleep. I continued pulling my brush through my tangled hair as I began to hear some rustling behind me. Billy was either awake or moving around now that I wasn't pressed against him.

There was some gentle padding on the floor behind me a moment later that told me that Billy was awake. I sighed softly as Billy walked up behind me, still clad only in his boxers. I looked up in the mirror to meet his eyes and stare at his reflection. He looked tired but acutely aware of what was going on. I stood in silence, unsure of what to say to him. I wanted to let him come to me. I dropped the hairbrush on the counter and looked at Billy again. A long silence passed between us as we stared at each other.

Eventually, I knew that I had to be the first one to speak. "Are you okay?" I asked carefully.

The answer was 'no,' but Billy would never have admitted it. Instead, he nodded wordlessly as I stared at his reflection. He didn't speak as he walked up behind me. I sucked in a deep breath as Billy wrapped one hand around my body to hold my opposite hip. His spare hand was placed against my right shoulder and he rested his chin against my left shoulder. I smiled at him, closing my eyes in relaxation at the feeling of his breath on my throat. He may not have wanted to talk about it, but I knew that he was grateful for me.

"Thank you," Billy said quietly.

"Of course," I responded. I turned around in Billy's arms and looped my hands around the back of his neck. We met eyes as I wound my fingers through his long strands of hair. "Will you promise me something?"

"What?" Billy asked.

"You'll come here if this happens again," I offered gently.

Billy laughed humorlessly as he began shaking his head. "When," he corrected.

The fighting between Billy and his father must have been worse than I had initially thought it was. I swallowed uncomfortably as I nodded my confirmation. "When," I repeated.

"Now will you promise me something?" Billy asked.

"Anything," I said honestly.

"You'll dress like that every time," Billy said.

I laughed under my breath. "I promise. Your turn," I prompted.

"I promise," Billy repeated.

We exchanged a playful smile but the grins quickly became strained. I knew that Billy was uncomfortable being so close to someone. I didn't know exactly how to approach our changing relationship, but I wanted to try something. I wanted Billy to warm up to the idea of being able to talk to me about his relationship with his father. I slowly slid my hand down to Billy's face but he caught my wrist to stop me from going any further. There was an unspoken agreement of what we had to say to each other before pressing forward in our relationship.

"Is this what you wanted?" Billy asked seriously.

My stomach churned with nerves at the sudden turn of the conversation, but I refused to back down. "To know that you're a human being with feelings? Yes, this is what I wanted," I said.

"I'm not easy," Billy replied.

It would have been a lie if I had told him that being with me was easy. We all had our secrets and problems. "Wouldn't want you if you were, Hargrove," I told him, throwing back his words from one of our earlier meetings in his face. Billy smirked at the memory. "You wouldn't have come here if you didn't think I could handle it."

"Can you?" Billy asked teasingly.

"I want to," I answered.

It was easy to tell that being with Billy in any sense was going to be difficult, but I wanted him. Somehow, my words still seemed to surprise him. "No one knows about this," Billy said, referring to the abuse between himself and his father.

"I figured," I said immediately. The last thing I wanted was to push him around about his relationship with his father before he was ready to say anything. "No one will hear about this, Billy. This is your business and it stays between us."

"You're sure this is what you want?" Billy asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Why?" Billy asked.

Was he that insane that he didn't realize that I had feelings for him? It didn't matter that he had a twisted family life. "Last night didn't change the way I feel about you. If anything, it made me see you in a different light. It's not a bad one. You have my word that this doesn't change anything between us," I promised.

"You're sure?" Billy asked.

"We all have secrets," I said honestly, feeling my heart sink into my stomach. "I'm glad you told me this one."

Billy leaned into me slightly. "Last chance."

"I'm not backing away," I said boldly.

We stared at each other for a moment before Billy moved forward to close the tiny gap that we had had between ourselves and pressed his lips roughly against mine. I gasped slightly from the pressure as Billy tightened his grip around my back and lifted me against himself. His hands wrapped into the strands of my hair, tugging the knotted strands back almost painfully hard. The kiss was hot and heavy, just as I had been expecting. Billy wasn't the type to ever go slow, especially not after the night he'd had.

Though I had known that the kiss was coming from a mile away, I was still slightly surprised to feel Billy kissing me. It wasn't a standard first kiss filled with nerves and awkward movements as we attempted to figure each other out; he was kissing me as if he would never get to kiss me again and there was no learning curve. We kissed with teeth over tongues over lips with no intention to ever stop. Billy's hands were wrapped into the fabric of my shirt and I heard the thin material begin to rip under the pressure of his fingers.

My body melted into Billy's as he continued to kiss me, pushing me a few steps backward. My thoughts and worries began fading away as fog took over. I had kissed plenty of guys before and some were very pleasurable, but I had never kissed someone like this before. I'd never kissed someone with the desire to never break the kiss. Billy tightened one hand over my hip and placed his other hand on my thigh, lifting me and throwing me roughly onto the dresser.

Bottles of perfume and tubes of makeup went crashing onto the carpeted floor as Billy reached under my thighs briefly to shove me back against the mirror, his hands wandering up to tear at my hair. I knew that the heated kiss was partially to get out his frustration and partially because we had both been so desperate to this since meeting each other. The payoff was well worth the wait. I ran my fingers down Billy's bare back, my nails biting into his skin. Billy hissed eagerly, yanking my hair again.

Both of us were breathing heavily through the kiss as Billy trailed his hands down my arms and eventually landed behind my knees, pulling me forward and yanking me into him. He wasn't even bothering to hide how much he wanted me - and I refused to hide how much I wanted him. I ran my fingers up Billy's chest to tangle into his sandy blonde hair, keeping him pressed against me. I could feel the rumbling low in his throat as the fabric in my shirt began to tear.

We remained locked together for what felt like hours before Billy lifted me off of the dresser and carried me across the room. My arms were linked over Billy's shoulders but my grip was broken when he dropped me onto the bed. I leaned up from the mattress just long enough to grab him by the back of the neck again and pull him into the sheets with me. Billy hooked one hand around the back of my right knee and placed the other behind my neck, effectively trapping me against him.

We each explored the other's bodies as our hands worked everywhere around each other. We were both breathing heavily through the kiss as I reached down to undo the knot in the string of Billy's boxers. I was sick of waiting. We had waited for each other long enough. His hands were bruising against my body as Billy's fingers tightened against the lace of my underwear. Billy finally broke the kiss after a few minutes, shoving my face to the side as he began kissing down my throat.

Billy's hands worked underneath my shirt as he began to push it up my torso. I leaned up from the mattress long enough to allow him to pull it over my shoulders and off my body. Billy didn't wait longer than half a second after removing the shirt from my body before tossing me back into the sheets. His mouth was trailing down my body in open-mouthed kisses as I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. I reached to his waist again and continued yanking at the strings on his boxers.

No sooner had I loosened the knot than a voice startled us out of our lust-filled haze. "Rachel!" Mom yelled from directly underneath us. "Are you awake yet?"

Both Billy and I jumped so badly that we nearly knocked heads. Even though I had locked my bedroom door last night out of precaution, I pulled the blankets over myself out of instinct. "Yeah, Mom!" I yelled back, trying not to sound too breathless. "I've been up for a while."

Billy was breathing heavily in my face, resting over me. "Maybe I should go say good morning," he teased.

"You want me to kill you?" I snapped.

"Do you want breakfast?" Mom yelled up.

"Sure," I called back.

"Bacon and eggs or pancakes?"

"Oh, pancakes sound good," Billy said happily.

"Shut up," I muttered in response. "Pancakes, please!"

"Come downstairs!" Mom ordered.

"Be there in a few minutes," I responded.

It was too bad that it was a school day, which meant that Billy and I weren't going to get the chance to continue exploring each other. I smiled bashfully at Billy as I leaned up against the mattress, keeping my sheets wrapped around my waist. "You're going to hide now?" Billy asked bemusedly.

As if he had challenged my pride, I dropped the sheet from my form. "I'm not hiding," I said honestly.

The moment I began leaning forward, I raised onto my knees so that I could straddle Billy's waist and push him back against the sheets. This time he didn't fight me and instead went along with my actions. I leaned down to meet Billy's lips and smiled at the giddy feeling I was getting from him as we shared a slow and lazy kiss - very much unlike the one we'd just broken. Billy was running his hands along my bare back and through my hair gently. Long minutes passed before I convinced myself to pull away from him.

"But you do have to go," I told Billy.

"We can't stay in bed all day?" Billy groaned.

"We have school," I pointed out.

Billy huffed under his breath. "What fun is school? I'm much more entertaining."

As much fun as it would have been to roll around in bed with Billy all day, there was no way I could skip classes. "I agree, but I also have a calculus test today," I told him.

Billy pressed his nose into my throat. I moaned deeply and smirked as I felt Billy tense against me. "Blow it off," he groaned.

As much as I would have loved to blow off a very annoying calculus test to roll around with Billy, my GPA and parents wouldn't appreciate it. My head seemed to be filled with a thick haze as Billy leaned up, pressing his lips against mine in a somewhat sweet and slow kiss. Billy's demeanor shifted to one a little bit gentler than before as one of his hands slid down my spine to rest against my rear, pulling me into his lap. I breathed out through the kiss, running my fingers through his soft hair.

It was a few minutes before Billy broke the kiss. "You proved it, Rach."

"Proved what?" I asked dumbly. Billy pulled back to stare at me and I began laughing almost immediately as I remembered that I had told him not long ago that I had once started hooking up with guys to prove nasty (and untrue) rumors about me being bad in bed wrong. "You haven't seen anything yet, Hargrove."

Billy smirked. "Show me."

We stared at each other for a few moments before I decided to go for it. I took my flat palms and shoved Billy back against the bed. He hit the pillows with a grunt as I climbed over his lap, kissing the top of his chest. I could feel Billy's body tense as I kissed my way down his chest and torso. I hooked my fingers into the waistband on his boxers as I moved downward and had them lowered down around the 'V' at his waist, tracing my tongue along it, before my voice called up to me again.

"Rachel!" Mom shouted again. I twitched in surprise and backed a few inches away from Billy, who groaned irritably underneath me. "Come downstairs. What the hell are you doing?"

"Me," Billy growled.

I laughed quietly. "Just trying to find my outfit," I yelled downstairs.

"I like you better without anything on," Billy commented.

Fearing that there was a chance Mom or Dad might hear him, I slapped my hand over his mouth to keep him from speaking anymore. "I'll be down in a minute!" I shouted before turning back to look at Billy regretfully. "I think that's my cue."

Billy nodded. "All right." He leaned up to press a gentle kiss against my mouth. "I'll get ready to go."

We exchanged another small and gentle kiss before I hopped off of Billy's lap so that I could start getting ready for the day. I was already incredibly late and every moment we were together, I was making it worse. I realized that, as I began getting ready, Billy was still laying in bed, just watching me get ready. I smiled at his reflection in the mirror as I started walking around the room. Billy laid back in the sheets, taking my stuffed tiger and holding it in the air, laughing at it.

"Give Tigger back," I demanded irritably.

A massive grin turned upward on Billy's mouth. I felt my cheeks burn with annoyance and embarrassment. "Tigger?" Billy repeated bemusedly, turning the bear over in his hands. "That's adorable, Rach."

"Shut up," I growled awkwardly. "He was the only thing I came to the orphanage I was adopted with."

Billy's head snapped up so that he could meet my eyes. Pity and guilt flooded them as he placed Tigger gently back on the sheets; it was gentler than I would have expected. "Sorry," Billy mumbled.

"It's okay, you didn't know," I told him honestly. It was no big deal and I was impressed that he had been so kind about my silly stuffed animal. "Don't feel bad for me. I ended up with a pretty good life."

Billy nodded blankly. "Yeah."

It had occurred to me since realizing what his home life was like last night, that even though my life had started a lot rougher than his had, I had ended up with a much better childhood than he had. My parents loved me. His parents were either careless or abusive. I shook my head clear of my thoughts as I pulled on a beige bra and a pair of ripped-up jeans. I was still looking for a shirt that I could wear when Billy walked up behind me; he had pulled his jeans on and he was holding his torn shirt between his fingers.

"Thank you for last night," Billy said quietly.

"Of course," I replied.

Billy placed a hand underneath my chin and tilted it up gently so that he could press a kiss against my mouth. "And for this morning," he added.

"My pleasure," I teased gently. I pushed myself gently up onto my toes so that I could reach around Billy's neck and pull him in for another kiss. "There's more where that came from, Hargrove."

Billy grinned. "I look forward to it, Winters. I'll see you at school."

"Can I count on you to come today?" I asked playfully.

A small chuckle escaped Billy's throat as he walked to my window, threw his legs through the opening, and turned back to look at me. "If you're going to be there? Absolutely," Billy teased. I smiled at his almost annoying confidence. "By the way, did how much time did you spend going over all my schoolwork?"

My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Billy already knew I cared for him; I didn't need to make it more obvious. "Oh, I got to school a little early and started working. It wasn't that big of a deal," I said carelessly.

Billy nodded. "Sure."

The sound of his voice told me what I already knew. We exchanged a knowing smile as I glanced at the floor. We both knew that what I had done for him yesterday was a romantic notion but neither one of us could bring ourselves to say it out loud. We weren't there yet. Billy leaned forward and tilted my head up so that our lips could meet in a final kiss. "Bye, Billy," I whispered as we pulled apart.

"See you later, Rach," Billy replied.

With one final smile tossed back at me, Billy threw himself gently out of my window and started climbing down the trellis. I crossed my room a moment after he had vanished from view and closed my window, throwing my curtains closed afterward to make sure that my parents wouldn't suspect anything that had happened last night if they wandered into my room today. I leaned over to grab my shirt off of the floor, tossing it over my shoulders, and fluffing my hair before heading downstairs.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked the moment I hit the landing. My tongue seemed to lodge itself in my throat as I came up with a good answer. "I don't think I've ever seen you take that long in the morning."

"Yeah, I just couldn't find any of my stuff," I answered vaguely.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked disbelievingly. "You're flushed."

"I had a weird dream last night. It's no big deal," I said, desperate to wave off her concern.

If Mom somehow found out what had happened in my bedroom a few minutes ago, I would have never heard the end of it. "If you say so. Here are your pancakes," Mom said.

"Thanks," I replied.

Once I took the plate from Mom, I walked over to the kitchen table to dig into my pancakes. A few minutes after we had both sat down to eat, we were joined by my father, who greeted us and went about reading his paper. We ended up having a very normal breakfast together, talking and laughing as we watched the weather and morning news. As much as I tried to focus on my parents, my mind kept coming back around to Billy and our encounters both last night and this morning.

As I curled up in my kitchen chair, I felt the tenseness in my legs and the strain in both my arms and waist. It was from the way that Billy had held and grabbed at me earlier. I tugged the waistband of my jeans up a little bit higher when I realized that my waist was bruised from the way he had been touching me. I was positive that my arms and legs were both littered with bruises as well. As I shifted my clothes, I wondered what Billy was thinking and if he was going home or heading straight to school.

Desperate to think about something else, I started a quiet conversation with my parents as the television continued to drone on about the news. I laughed with my parents as I shifted around in my chair. I hadn't been this excited to go to school in months. I just hoped that no one would notice my excitement as I hadn't exactly been thrilled to go to school since starting at Hawkins High. It was just because Billy had made going to school far more interesting and now I couldn't wait to see him today.

As the three of us chatted back and forth among ourselves, I picked limply at my pancakes. I tried to convince my parents that I was fine from the revelations of my early childhood last night - which was mostly true - and that I was just eager for the weekend - which was also true. I smiled as my parents chit-chatted happily, but my focus was firmly locked on my encounters with Billy last night and this morning. I was so curious about our relationship that I couldn't wait to find out what we were, or what we were becoming.

After about twenty minutes of mindless chatter, I rose from the table and took my plates with me. "Okay, I'm going to head out. I'll see you two this afternoon," I called back to my parents.

"Have a good day at school, dear," Dad called back.

"Thanks, Dad. Love you!" I shouted.

"Love you, too!" he replied.

We smiled at each other and I pressed a kiss against my father's cheek. As I released him, I turned around and walked into the kitchen. I washed off my plate and threw my coffee mug in the sink before turning back toward the foyer. I stood in front of the floor-length mirror, fixing my hair and clothes before I left. I pulled the collar of my shirt up a little higher, realizing that there were some red marks from Billy. I could see them on my waist too; I smirked at the sight. I knew that Billy would be pleased that I wasn't hiding them.

As I twirled my hair around my fingers mindlessly, Mom walked up behind me. "How are you feeling today?" she asked.

"Really good," I answered.

"Really good?" Mom repeated, a bemused smile gracing her lips.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she knew something was going on. I smirked at her as I sipped my water from my cup. "I think I've finally made some serious progress with Billy," I told her vaguely.

It would be even better if I got the chance to figure out what we were to each other. "Is that so?" Mom asked, grinning. I hummed my confirmation. "In that case..." I raised my eyebrows curiously as Mom leaned forward to unbutton the highest button that I'd had closed on my shirt. She lowered her voice as she leaned into my ear. "A little lower on the neckline."

We both laughed as Mom wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed the crown of my head. "You being a bad influence is always appreciated," I joked.

"Tell Billy I said he's welcome," Mom teased.

I laughed again. "I will."

After a brief moment of silence, we smiled at each other again and I hugged Mom before turning back to grab my things. Once I had my keys, backpack, and sunglasses, I headed outside. I unlocked my car and started throwing my things inside, my mind consumed with thoughts of what Billy was thinking. I wished I had thought to get into his head before he had left, but he also deserved some privacy. It simply drove me insane thinking that I would have to be patient with the person I was the most eager to get to know.

A horn blared behind me and I turned to see that it was Billy with Max in his Camaro. So much for having to be patient. Billy roared up to my driveway and smirked as he rolled down his window. "Get in," Billy told me.

Max watched curiously as I stalked up to the driver's door of the Camaro, leaning into the open window. "Didn't we just say goodbye literally half an hour ago?" I asked quietly.

"What's your point?" Billy asked.

We stared at each other for a moment before my lips split in a smile. "I don't have one," I admitted.

Billy grinned as he repeated, "Get in."

"Hang on," I told him.

Billy nodded and waited patiently as I crossed my driveway back to my car. I took my things out of the passenger seat and closed the door as I locked the door behind me, heading back toward Billy's car. He smirked as I hopped into the passenger seat that had recently been vacated by Max. "Nice shirt," Billy teased as he looked at my shirt.

I'd decided to wear the shirt that I had taken from Billy after our near-hookup during Tommy's party. His shirt that I was wearing now only had two buttons done up and it was tied around my waist to hold it in place. "Thanks. It was just something I had laying around," I said carelessly, turning toward the backseat. "Hey, Max."

"Hi, Rach," Max greeted happily.

Billy arched an eyebrow at the nickname as I turned back to sit normally. "But she doesn't get yelled at for it?" Billy asked irritably.

"No," I said blankly.

"Why not?" Billy huffed.

"Because she's cool. You suck," I told him. Billy leaned over to whack me on the arm. "Ow!"

"I'll make you walk," Billy warned.

"No, you won't," I countered.

"Want to bet?" Billy dared.

"Sure," I agreed. If we were going to make a bet, there was no way I was going to lose. I rested my hand gently on Billy's knee and slowly began to worm my way up his leg. "What do I get if I win?"

"Me," Billy answered.

"I'll take that bet," I told him. We smiled at each other as I looked back at Max. I didn't want her to potentially overhear me blatantly flirting with her stepbrother. "How are fractions going?"

Max shook her head. "I don't get them."

Fractions weren't easy and most kids struggled with them. "Is that what you're doing?" I asked Max, motioning to the notebook that was laying open in her lap. The younger girl had been scowling at the notebook since I had jumped in the car. "Hand it over."

"We're multiplying fractions," Max explained, handing me the notebook.

"Ah, I can do that," I explained. "May I?"

Max nodded and laughed as I slipped out of the passenger seat and hopped into the back with Max. The two of us spread out our paperwork as I tossed my hair back into a messy bun. I spotted Billy looking at me in the mirror and I winked at him as I went back to the schoolwork. Max and I spent the few minutes of the ride to school talking and going over multiplication with fractions before we eventually arrived at school. As Billy pulled into the school, I tossed everything back into my bag and hopped out of the car.

Max threw down her skateboard as I crossed to the front of the car and joined Billy. Billy threw an arm over my shoulder as we said goodbye to Max and headed toward the school. I could see the usual glares being thrown my way by the girls in school. It made me roll my eyes. If only they had seen us this morning; I just wasn't sure how far Billy would be willing to go with me in public. I didn't even know what last night had meant to him, but I was determined to find out. I nudged Billy's shoulder playfully as we walked.

"Not that I don't appreciate the stalking, but when are you going to ask me on a real date?" I teased.

Billy smirked. "What are you doing tonight?"

"You tell me," I said vaguely.

"Be ready at eight," Billy replied.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

My outfit was going to be dependent on what we were doing. Billy smirked at me again, purposely ignoring my question as he released my shoulder. "I'll pick you up at eight," Billy said.

"Well, what am I supposed to wear?" I asked.

"Nothing works," Billy suggested.

I started laughing as I shook my head. "Hargrove!" I barked after him as he walked off.

"I'll see you at eight!" Billy yelled back.

That was pretty much useless. Billy looked over his shoulder and sent me a small wink before turning away and heading toward the main building. I rolled my eyes at his antics with a fond smile on my face as I stared after him. "What's that dumb smile for?" Nancy asked, appearing at my side suddenly.

"I've got a date with Billy tonight," I chirped.

Nancy's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Yeah. A real date, Nance," I said excitedly.

"How did this develop in the few minutes you two were together this morning?" Nancy asked curiously.

My cheeks burned slightly as I grabbed Nancy's arm and pulled her out of the courtyard with me. "Uh... We didn't just see each other this morning. He spent the night last night," I admitted.

Nancy's eyes went as wide as the saucer plates we had at home. "What?" Nancy gasped.

"It's not what it sounds like!" I replied immediately. Although I would have loved to go all the way with him last night or this morning, I knew that it wasn't the right time. "We didn't sleep together. He came over late last night and we just... talked. I invited him to stay once it had gotten late."

There was no way that I could or would tell Nancy about what was going on with Billy at his house. I would have to make up a lie. "That seems oddly innocent but I like it," Nancy joked. I smiled at her. "I didn't expect it."

"Well, we kissed this morning," I admitted.

Nancy smiled fondly. "It's getting better!"

I laughed awkwardly as I continued, "It may not have been a completely innocent kiss."

That was perhaps the nicest way I could have described our date this morning. Nancy laughed, smacking me good-naturedly on my shoulder. "Good! You two have been dancing around your feelings for each other from the day you met," she pointed out. I nodded my agreement. "You two deserve to go on a real date and see if your relationship could be more."

It was a strange thought to have; what could Billy and I become? "I think it might," I said.

Nancy nodded, smiling. "What are you two doing?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. He won't tell me," I huffed irritably.

Nancy's eyes widened as she smiled at me. "Wow. Maybe Billy Hargrove is capable of some kind of romance."

There was no way that he was capable of romance. I refused to believe that considering the conversations we'd had since our first meeting. "Yeah, right," I huffed, a little annoyed at the thought. "It's been a long time since I've been this excited for a date."

"You'll tell me everything in the morning, right?" Nancy asked excitedly.

"I'll be over first thing," I said truthfully. Nancy was the only person in Hawkins I was comfortable enough with to have girl-talk and I was going to take full advantage of it. We both giggled at her eagerness. "Come over after school today to help me pick out an outfit?"

"Of course!" Nancy chirped as the bell for our first period began to ring. "I'll see you at lunch."

"See you then," I replied.

As we both headed to our respective classes, I let the fog take over my brain. I didn't pay a lick of attention during any of my classes. I knew what we were studying as I tended to get ahead of my work. Instead, I began thinking about the date that I would be having with Billy tonight. I was curious about what we were going to do. It felt like hardly five minutes had passed before the bell began to ring for lunch. I practically threw myself through the lunchroom doors so I could talk to Nancy about my ideas for date outfits.

As I got in line for my lunch, I walked up with Mark, who I had run into in the hallway. I was standing in the lunch line with him, chatting about his next football game that was slated for next Friday. I was about to grab a bread roll when Tina reached for the same roll from the other side of the line. I grabbed the bread from underneath her as Tina shrank back. She had been a lot quieter and had mostly avoided me since our blowup the prior day. I noticed that Billy was standing two people behind Tina in line with Tommy between them.

"Hey, Rachel," Tommy greeted, never one to miss an opportunity to poke at a tense or awkward situation. I broke eye contact with Tina to glare at Tommy. "Planning on giving us another show today?"

Billy quirked an eyebrow at me from across the line. "I don't know," I growled at Tommy, looking back at Tina. "Have anything to say to me, Tina?"

"You're lucky that I didn't report you," Tina snarled.

"For what?" I asked facetiously. There was nothing she could have reported me for. I would have happily walked away yesterday. "You reached out to grab my hair first. I didn't start that fight, I just ended it."

Mark gently rested his hands against my back, starting to nudge me along. "Leave it," Mark said, lowering his voice so that I was the only one who could hear him. "She's not worth it."

"I'm going to break her nose," I muttered.

Mark tightened his grip on my waist warningly, pulling me along with him. He didn't want me anywhere near Tina, which was probably a good idea. "I know you will, and you'll get yourself expelled in the process. Come on, leave her alone," Mark warned.

"Fine," I mumbled.

We didn't get more than three steps from the lunch line when I heard Tina speak again. "You're not that intimidating, Rachel," Tina called. I whipped around to scowl at her. "You like to think you are and you've fooled Billy into believing that, but it's an act and anyone with eyes can see it. Billy will see it soon enough."

Tina and I glared at each other as I tossed my plate down on the table with Steve and Nancy, who were both looking at me like I had lost my mind. "In case I didn't make myself clear yesterday…" I told Tina, trailing off.

Thankfully, Billy hadn't been standing far away from us. I wasn't sure how he would feel about what I was about to do, but I didn't care. I crossed the cafeteria and grabbed Billy by the lapels of his jacket, yanking him into me. Billy grunted as I pressed a rough kiss against his mouth for everyone else to see. Billy seemed surprised but he laughed into the kiss as he lowered his hands to grab at my ass. There were loud gasps from the students and immediate chatter as I broke the kiss, smirking at him.

Once I was satisfied that I had made enough of an impression, I turned back to Tina, who was staring open-mouthed at us. "It's like I told you yesterday - he's not interested," I called to her.

A few beats passed before Tina whipped around and stormed away from us. Mark snorted under his breath at my antics, winking playfully at me before turning away to sit with the rest of his snickering football friends. "What did I miss yesterday?" Billy asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later," I said through my laughter.

Billy grinned eagerly. "Well, since everyone knows now."

Billy reached out to take my hand as he began pulling me along with him. "Like you would have hidden it that long anyway," I chuckled.

"Nah," Billy confirmed.

We smiled at each other as Billy wrapped his hand up around my wrist and started dragging me along with him. We wandered down the school halls for a few moments until we came to an opening that led to one of the supply closets. Billy shoved me down the hallway and I nearly tripped over myself until he pushed me up against the wall and captured my mouth in a rough kiss. Any hunger that I'd had for my lunch vanished as it was replaced with a hunger for Billy.

Billy ran his hands up my bare stomach and settled them underneath the hem of the shirt that I was wearing. My mouth split into a grin as I wrapped my fingers into his belt loops and yanked him into me. We were going to get into a ton of trouble if we were caught, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I ran my hands up into his hair and tangled my fingers in his long locks. Billy took the ends of my long hair and bunched them up against the lower part of my skull.

The tips of Billy's fingers ran down my spine and reached into my waistband, pulling me into him. I laughed into the kiss as I ran my hands underneath his shirt to rest against his bare chest. Billy's tongue chased mine around my mouth as we kissed, the rough textures on the wall scratching into my back and leaving what I was sure were going to be bright red marks. I eventually took the lead and shoved Billy backward so that his back was now pressed into the wall. He grunted from the pressure but his lips turned up in a smile.

After laughing for a few moments, and exchanging a longing kiss, the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch hour. I pressed a small kiss against Billy's mouth as my way of saying goodbye. "Leave with me," Billy muttered against my lips.

"I've still classes to get to and you've got to bring your sister home at the end of the day," I reasoned.

"She can skate home," Billy replied.

No way was I letting Billy force Max into having to skate back to their house. "Mm-mm..." I disagreed, pressing a long kiss against Billy's mouth and speaking through it. "You can wait for our date."

"Come on, Rach!" Billy groaned, pulling back from me.

"Get to class, Hargrove," I snapped.

As much as I would have loved to leave with him, I knew that I had to be the responsible one. Billy rolled his eyes as I winked playfully at him, shifted my clothes back into place, and walked back toward my next class. On my way out, Nancy and Steve were quick to corner me. Nancy laughed as I smoothed my hair out in a way-too-obvious manner. "I thought you just said you had a date with Billy," Nancy joked.

"I do, tonight at eight," I told her.

"That's what you do before the date?" Steve asked disbelievingly.

Steve may have remade himself since starting to date Nancy, but that didn't mean that he wasn't a player a few months ago. "Okay, grandpa, how about we talk to some of your exes?" I snapped.

Steve flushed. "Point taken."

"You realize that you're both going to get detention if someone sees you next time," Nancy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it'll be so worth it," I joked.

Even though Nancy smiled, Steve didn't look any more convinced that I should have been going out with Billy. "You're going out with him?" Steve groaned.

"Who else should I go out with? Someone like Tommy?" I suggested.

It wasn't like my date with Mark had gone well. I wasn't interested in anyone like him and most guys at Hawkins High School were exactly like him. I needed someone different. "Hargrove is exactly like Tommy!" Steve barked.

If only Steve had been able to see Billy when he had visited me last night. "He is not! Come on, guys. Try to be a little supportive," I begged them. I was certain that most people weren't going to be. I needed my friends at my side. "I know that Billy's got an edge and doesn't get along with most people, but I've seen other sides to him. He's not the kind of person he seems like he is."

Nancy looked a little guilty over the way she had been speaking about Billy, but Steve still didn't look moved. "Weren't you the same way, Steve?" Nancy asked her boyfriend.

Steve flushed again. "Yeah, I guess," he admitted.

"Tell me to have a good time tonight," I ordered him.

"Have a good time..." Steve said begrudgingly.

"That sounded so sincere," I growled.

"I'll see you before you leave for the date," Nancy said. All three of us started heading toward our respective classes when Nancy turned back. "Wear that cute red skirt!"

It was one of my more recent purchases from the thrift store that had become one of my favorite places to go with Nancy. "Oh, that's a good idea!" I yelled.

"That thing is a napkin!" Steve barked.

"That's the point!" I called back over my shoulder.

To keep Steve from yelling at me even more, Nancy began tugging him along with her as we both laughed. The remainder of the school day passed in a bit of a blur, but I did hear most students talking about my relationship with Billy. The girls scowled at me as I passed and the boys chuckled, thinking that my going out with Billy meant that I was an easy target. The teachers were barely able to get a word in edgewise between the many conversations about our relationship. They only grew even louder when the final bell rang and I walked out to Billy's car.

Billy was already standing there and waiting. I smiled at him as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. The two of us hung out at his car as we waited for Max to arrive. Billy seemed a lot less tense than he normally would have been having to wait for his stepsister. I couldn't help but wonder if it was because I was with him. Most of the time we stood there, I was wondering how much he was into me when it meant more than my body. We shared a cigarette as I sat on the hood of his car with him in between my legs.

Billy snatched my cigarette from my hands and began smoking it himself. "Hey, get your own!" I snapped.

"I'd much rather have you," Billy said.

The argument died on my tongue as Billy pulled me against him. Our lips met in a kiss as Billy rested his hands on my thighs. Not caring that every student in the parking lot was watching us, I threw my arms over Billy's shoulders as we kissed. We remained locked together even as mutters and whispers followed us. Billy and I only broke apart when we heard a small chuckle in the background. I broke away from Billy to smile awkwardly at Max, who was watching us with a vague grin.

"Hey, Max," I greeted.

"Hi, Rachel," Max said happily.

We smiled at each other again as I sent Billy's stepsister a friendly wink. Max was right. Billy did like me more than I had realized and so far it seemed that he did want to be with me. Billy hopped into the driver's seat and sped out of the parking lot with 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' by Kiss blaring over the radio. Billy's hand rested on my thigh as we drove down the road; he sent me teasing grins as we drove. The windows were down and I rested back against the headrest with my eyes closed. I loved the feeling of being on open roads.

It was a few minutes later that we pulled up to my house. "I'll get you at eight," Billy told me.

"Sounds good. See you then," I said. Billy squeezed my thigh as I hopped out of the car. "See you later, Max!"

"Bye, Rach!" Max yelled back. "Have fun tonight."

"Thanks." I closed the door behind me and turned back to my house. There was someone I needed to bother. I headed up the driveway and walked through the front door, closing it behind me. "Hey, Mom!" I shouted into the empty foyer.

"Hi, honey!" Mom greeted, poking her head out from the kitchen. "How was school?"

"Eh, you know, it was school. Come upstairs with me!" I goaded.

"What?" Mom asked.

"I've got a date with Billy tonight and I need a second opinion on my outfit," I said.

"So that was what you meant by progress," Mom teased.

"Yeah! Come on, help me out," I said.

At least Mom was willing to play my games. She and I started digging through my closet and dumping out my clothes so that we could figure out what I would wear. I eventually settled on the tight red skirt Nancy had mentioned earlier. It was high-waisted and skintight with silver clips running down the sides. I took a low-cut white spaghetti strap shirt and threw an acid-washed denim jacket over my shoulders as it was cold out. Mom helped me curl my hair and I threw on some light makeup to even out my skin tone and make my eyes pop.

Almost thirty minutes later, there was a gentle knock at the door. A moment later, Nancy appeared in my room. "You look beautiful," she said, giving me a once-over. "Billy will love it."

"Yeah?" I asked, irritatingly nervous about our date.

Nancy nodded her confirmation. "Very lovely, Rachel," Mom said, running her fingers through my hair. "Billy's one lucky guy."

"Yeah, he is and he damn well better know it," I said, smoothing out the wrinkle I noticed in my skirt.

All three of us laughed. "Can we offer you dinner, Nancy?" Mom said.

Nancy nodded. "Sure. Thank you, Mrs. Winters."

The three of us headed downstairs to eat the dinner that my mother had left out for me once I'd gotten home. I chatted with my parents and Nancy as my father shook his head chidingly at my outfit. He still wasn't fond of my clothes. Nancy and my mother both stepped in for my defense to argue that it was a cute outfit and worth wearing. Dad rolled his eyes and went back to the news, telling me that he didn't want to hear anything about the date other than the news that Billy kept his hands to himself. We all laughed.

Nearly two hours after Mom, Nancy, and I had started finding a date outfit for me, Nancy stood from the dinner table. She was glancing at her wristwatch. "I've got to go home and finish my homework," Nancy said. We nodded at her as she pushed in her chair behind her. "Have a good date! Tell me all about it in the morning."

"Absolutely. Come over first thing," I told her.

"Good luck," Nancy whispered.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Nancy and I exchanged a quick hug as she turned to leave. The two of us exchanged a knowing grin as she walked off. We both knew the kind of gossip that she was looking forward to hearing. Once Nancy had left, I smiled at my parents as the three of us stood from the table and went to our evening routines. Mom was standing at the sink as she did the dishes. I crossed the dining room to walk into the living room and toss myself on the couch with Dad to watch the news for a bit before my date.

All I needed was to watch some mindless television. I was trying to settle my racing thoughts. Right now, my mind was firmly locked on thinking about Billy. I both wanted and needed to try and calm down before Billy arrived. I tried to get lost in announcements about the weather and sports, but I was far too entertained with the thoughts of my upcoming date. I wanted to know what we were going to do and how he would act on an actual date. Instead, I kept watching the clock.

At just a minute past eight o'clock, I was surprised to hear a knock at the front door. "A knock. That's proper," Mom joked.

"And surprising," I mumbled, jumping up from the couch to walk into the foyer. I stood in front of the mirror to check my hair and makeup for a brief moment before turning to the door and throwing it open. I smiled at Billy, who was standing on the door stoop. "Hi."

Billy grinned back at me. "You look beautiful."

My cheeks warmed slightly. "Thank you." I noticed that Billy's eyes were trailing up and down my body. I looked him over and smiled. He was wearing a pair of tight light-washed jeans and a nice black shirt that was unbuttoned well down his torso. His curly hair was brushed back behind his ears and he was wearing cologne that smelled wonderful. "You're not so bad yourself," I commented, trying to wet my lips that had suddenly gone dry.

Billy grinned, his dark eyes slowly peeling themselves off of me. He glanced at my parents, who had both walked up to stand behind me. "Mr. Winters. Mrs. Winters," Billy greeted politely.

They both smiled - Dad's looked a little bit more strained than Mom's did - as I stepped aside and allowed them to pass. Billy shook both of my parents' hands. "Nice to finally meet you, Billy," Dad said. Billy nodded his agreement. I walked onto the front door stoop as Billy wrapped an arm respectfully around my waist. I noticed Dad's eyes follow Billy's hands. "Have a good night, kids."

"We will," I called back.

It felt like Billy was going to hesitate and continue speaking to my parents, but I grabbed his hand and started pulling him along. "Home by twelve. Bonus points for eleven forty-five," Mom called after us.

"Got it!" I yelled back. Billy and I turned back to my parents long enough to send them a small wave. They closed the door behind us as Billy and I headed to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and I smiled. "And he's a gentleman to boot."

"I told you I know how to treat a woman," Billy said.

It seemed that Billy only knew how to treat a woman well when he wanted to do it. He closed the car door behind me and crossed in front of the car to climb into the driver's side, starting the engine. "Want to tell me what we're doing now?" I asked eagerly.

Billy glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes as he rested a hand on my thigh. "You don't leave much to the imagination, do you?"

"No, I don't. Please tell me what we're doing."

"No," Billy said firmly. "Just sit there and look pretty."

The look in his eyes was enough to tell me that there was no way he was going to tell me what we were doing. I figured that this time I would let myself be surprised. "Alright, I can do that," I told him.

We both sat back in our chairs as we chattered away mindlessly. Billy teased me for the schoolwork that I had done for him while he was out of school. I rolled my eyes and insisted that it wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't know how to get him to drop the topic, so instead, I started messing with him. I ran my hands up and down Billy's thighs, smirking as I saw his leg muscles tensing under my touch. Billy squeezed my knee tightly to make me release my grip on him.

About five minutes after we had left my house, Billy slowed down and pulled into a dirt drive. "Here we are," he announced.

There wasn't a building or parking lot insight. I glanced out the window and smiled when I realized that he had pulled into a clearing in the woods that had a perfect view up at the stars. It wasn't a typical first date for Hawkins, but I thought it was beautiful. "Here I thought we were heading to the movies or dinner," I teased.

Billy shook his head. "Nah. Those are too boring."

From what I had heard about Billy's dates, he had either brought them straight home with little chatter or taken them to a movie - where they rarely watched the movie. I had never heard of Billy bringing someone to the woods. It could have been taken as Billy wanting to hook up somewhere private (which I was positive was part of it) but I had a feeling it was more than that. He had brought me out here because it was a chance for us to talk without being interrupted.

Talking wasn't something I would have thought Billy would want on a date. "But you didn't bring me home?" I asked him.

We smiled at each other as we both threw our doors open and climbed out of the car. "Nah. You're better than that," Billy said, motioning me to follow him to the trunk.

"Damn right, Hargrove. Don't you forget it," I teased, jamming a finger into his sternum.

"I doubt you'd let me," Billy replied.

"Never," I confirmed. We smirked at each other as Billy walked up to the trunk and popped it open. I raised an eyebrow and watched as Billy pulled out a small checkered blanket and a bowl of snacks like chips and cookies. Okay, not what I was expecting. "A moonlit picnic?"

"You said you liked the outdoors. I figured this was a good place to start," Billy said carelessly.

The tone of his voice told me that he was determined to play off the romantic gesture as something that should have been obvious. "Would you look at that?" I teased, nudging Billy's shoulder. "Billy Hargrove has a romantic side."

Though that wasn't something he would easily admit. We stared at each other for a moment and I smirked as Billy glared at me. A few seconds passed before Billy smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. We both chuckled as he grabbed the baster and blanket from his trunk and we walked a little further into the clearing. Eventually, Billy stopped and threw the blanket on the ground. I took a seat on the material and he followed a moment later. He laid the bowl of snacks between us so that we could eat as we talked.

"What made you do this?" I asked curiously.

"What?" Billy asked.

Though I knew he wouldn't be comfortable with it, I wanted to know what was going on in his mind. "You're not the kind of guy to plan a romantic first date. What spurred this on?" I prompted.

Billy shook his head. "It's nothing, Rach."

Doubtful. If there was anything that Billy had done for us that was 'nothing,' it wasn't this. "Okay," I said blankly. I smiled at Billy and leaned forward to press a small kiss against his mouth. "Well, even though it was 'nothing,' I appreciate it."

Billy nodded. "Sure thing." I leaned back on the blanket as I started shivering slightly. I hadn't gotten used to the icy air in Indiana yet. Thankfully, Billy noticed my small movement. "Are you cold?" he asked.

"A little bit. I'm still getting used to the cold weather here," I admitted.

"Here." I watched as Billy slipped off his leather jacket and smiled as he slipped it over my shoulders to rest there. "Better?"

Even though the weather was still chilly, my cheeks warmed up at the sweet gesture. "Much. Thank you," I told him. I glanced at Billy out of the corner of my eyes and quickly noticed that the cut on his cheek was much smaller today. I took his chin gently in my hands. "Your cheek is looking better."

"All thanks to you," Billy replied. "You may want to consider becoming a nurse."

"Yeah, right. I would not have good bedside manner," I said, chuckling at the thought of me being a nurse.

Billy shook his head. "I doubt that."

"You don't count," I shot back. I leaned forward toward the basket; it looked like Billy had almost filled it to the brim. "Alright, I'm going through this."

"Go for it," Billy urged.

We smiled at each other as I dove into the basket. There were cookies and brownies and something even more surprising resting at the bottom of the basket. "What?" I gasped, pulling the container out. "You found key lime pie? No one sells it up here!"

A small grin turned upward on the edges of Billy's lips. He looked amused by the excitement in my voice. "You mentioned that you missed it and Susan was telling us at dinner the other day that they sell it at this bakery across town," Billy answered. I smiled at the sweet gesture that he had made. He didn't have to go across town to pick up the pie, but he had just because I had wanted it. "She wanted to get one but my dad thinks it's disgusting."

"It shows that your dad has poor taste in many things," I said.

Billy grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. We smiled at each other again as I cleared my throat. I could tell by the look on Billy's face that he wasn't comfortable with this conversation. "Hand me a slice of the pie, will you?"

Billy nodded. "Sure."

We watched each other with a small smile as Billy cut out a piece of the pie for me. He handed it over and for a moment, I thought about eating it but I ultimately decided to mess with him. I took my finger and swiped a bit of the whipped cream, licking it off. As expected, Billy's eyes darkened as he watched me. I knew that he was going to kiss me and that was why I took another swipe and instead of licking it off, I swiped it onto Billy's nose. He backed away from me and laughed.

Billy nodded as he wiped away the whipped cream from his face. "Alright. If that's how you want to play things..."

The tone of his voice should have been enough to tell me what was going to happen next. I watched as Billy took a large swipe of cream from the pie and smashed it into my face. I laughed hysterically, falling to the ground as Billy lept onto me. "Stop!" I shrieked, trying to writhe away from him.

"You started it!" Billy shot back.

We both laughed hysterically as Billy wiped whipped cream across my face. I laughed like an idiot as I attempted to press back against his chest to get away from him. It wasn't working. Billy didn't let up from his assault on me until he had completely wiped off all the whipped cream onto my face. I laughed happily as I leaned onto my knees and kissed Billy, spreading the whipped cream across his face. We smiled into the kiss as I took a scoop of the pie with my finger, broke our kiss, and popped the pie into my mouth.

A stupid giggle escaped my mouth as we smiled at each other and Billy leaned forward to press another kiss against my mouth. We shifted around for a moment until I had propped myself in front of Billy, who sat with his legs crossed as he pulled me into him. I smiled as he handed me a napkin to wipe myself off. He turned around and began rifling through his bag, pulling out a brownie and splitting it in half, giving me the larger piece. I smiled excitedly as he placed the additional desserts on the napkins in front of us.

Billy linked our fingers together as I shifted on the blanket again and turned to throw my legs over his lap. His leather jacket was resting against my shoulders, shielding me from the icy wind. I smiled at him as we shared the small brownie. This was one of the simplest dates that I had ever been on - a moonlit picnic - but it was one that I knew I would cherish forever. This wasn't a date that he would have planned for anyone. Tonight was showing me that Billy did know how to be romantic.

We sat in silence for a few moments as we ate and I looked around. The clearing was lovely but not easily spotted from the main road if you didn't know where you were going. "This place is beautiful. How'd you find it?" I asked curiously.

"When we first got to Hawkins I knew that I had to find a place to go whenever I got into it with my dad," Billy admitted honestly. My chest constricted with the thought that Billy had already known the moment he had arrived in town that his father would eventually hurt him. "I found this clearing when I was driving around with Max one afternoon."

"How often have you been here?" I asked hesitatingly.

"A few times," Bill answered vaguely. My stomach churned at the careless comment. How bad had things been? Had they always been as bad as they had been the other night? "That was the worst fight we've had since moving."

At least that made it seem like things normally weren't that bad. "Has it always been like that?" I asked.

Billy nodded. "Yeah. He's been a dick since I was a little kid but it got worse when my mom left."

It was surprising that Billy was so willing to talk about the darkest part of his life. I didn't imagine that he had told anyone about his mother leaving before. It was the kind of thing most people wouldn't even talk to spouses about. I wasn't sure why Billy was willing to discuss his familial issues with me, but I was glad that he was talking to someone about it. Still, I didn't want him to feel like I was pressuring him into telling me something he wasn't ready to discuss.

So, I laid a hand on his knee to stop him before he said something he didn't want to say. "You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to," I said earnestly.

"Do you mind?" Billy asked.

"Not at all," I said, smiling gently.

If anything came from tonight, I wanted it to be that Billy knew he could trust me with anything. "My mom was the best," Billy said softly. I smiled, glad to know that he had had at least one supportive parent. "My dad was awful to her - hit her and screamed at her all the time - but she would never let him hurt me. She always stepped in whenever he would come after me and he'd just turn it around on her. She tried to keep me out of the house as much as possible to avoid him, so she'd take us to the beach and we'd spend hours out there."

"Teaching you to surf?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah. Only took one trip for me to fall in love with it. She bought me a board to learn on and would take me at least once a week. She would stand on the shore and watch while I surfed. Us being out all the time didn't sit well with my dad though and he got even worse," Billy said, pulling up his sleeve to show me a long but thin scar on his arm. I had to fight to not lay my hand on it. "I tried to pull my dad off her one night but he threw me off; I hit the counter and cut my arm open."

My eyes remained on his scar for a long time. I could see where the edge of the countertop had sliced Billy's arm. It looked like the cut had been deep which made my heart race. If he hadn't been careful - if the cut had been a little bit deeper and his father had refused to take him to the hospital - there was a good chance that he could have bled out. Billy rolled his sleeve back down to keep me from seeing the scar any longer. I wondered if he regretted saying anything, but he kept talking.

"They were throwing shit and hitting each other. When it was finally over he wouldn't let me go to the hospital and my mom was too afraid to sneak out with me. She patched me up and I went to sleep. She was gone the next morning," Billy admitted. I reached out and took Billy's hand, my heart breaking for his hard childhood. "I called her every day for weeks. She kept saying that she just had to take some time away and couldn't come back yet. I begged and pleaded for her to come back but she never did."

"Eventually she just stopped answering my calls and vanished. I don't even know where she is anymore. I mean, it was seven years ago," Billy continued. My eyes became misty even though Billy's remained hard. I supposed that it had just been so long since Billy had lost his mother that he had gotten over it. Of course, no one ever got over being left by a parent. "My dad got even worse once she was gone. He only had one target left to take his shit out on. About a year later he met Susan and married her and Max came too."

We remained silent for a few moments until I figured out what I wanted to say to him. "You didn't deserve that. Any of it. Neil doesn't deserve to have you for a son. He doesn't deserve to have any children," I told him honestly.

Billy shrugged off my concern. "It doesn't matter. It's over."

"It does matter," I insisted, placing my hand on his knee. "It matters that you know that you didn't do anything. Parents have one very simple job - love and care for their children. Yours didn't do that and mine didn't either."

Billy didn't smile but I could tell that he appreciated my reassurance. "We're a fucked up pair, huh?"

I laughed at his careless nature. "We complement each other well," I told him. "Thanks for telling me about your childhood. I know it couldn't have been easy."

Billy shrugged again. "I'm not sure where it came from. I've never told anyone about that."

It was a polite way of telling me that he wasn't completely comfortable with opening up to me as much as he had. "I'm glad you told me. Know that you can keep telling me anything," I said honestly. Billy grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger and pressed a small kiss against my mouth. "Well, since you've been so honest with me, maybe it's my turn."

"Only if you want to," Billy insisted.

It felt like I was going to explode if I didn't tell someone about what I had recently learned about myself. I had to talk to someone who wasn't my parents about this. "It turns out that I'm Russian," I spat out.

Billy's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked.

That probably wasn't the best way to bring up the revelation that had been bothering me so much the last twenty-four hours. "I had a long conversation with my parents yesterday about where I came from and they admitted some things about me that I never knew before," I explained vaguely.

"Like what?" Billy asked.

"I always thought that my birth parents gave me up after a few weeks and then I spent the next two years in an orphanage," I said as tonelessly as I possibly could. "According to my parents, I was left on the doorstep of the orphanage."

Billy still looked shocked. "You were just left there?"

"That's not that uncommon," I said, reassuring the idea that plenty of kids were abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage. The way that I had been abandoned wasn't a story exclusive to me. "Most people giving up their babies don't want to have to address why they're doing it."

Billy huffed under his breath. "Why bother having a kid?"

"I've asked myself that question a lot. I'm sure you've asked it too," I said gently, hoping that I wouldn't upset him. Billy didn't respond but judging by the look on his face, I knew that I was correct. "I should have known that I was Russian."

"Why's that?" Billy asked curiously.

"I can speak it," I admitted bluntly.

Billy's eyebrows shot up. "You can?" he asked.

My lips turned up in a vague smile. I'd never admitted to someone that I could speak Russian. "Da," I said, switching to my native tongue. "Ne znayu, gde ya eto uznal, no ya vsegda mog govorit' na nem."

It was extremely difficult to not laugh at the look on Billy's face. I figured he had thought I meant I knew a few phrases, not that I was a fluent speaker. Billy's eyebrows shot up in surprise at my perfect Russian. He nodded vaguely as he stared at me. "I'm not going to lie, that's kind of hot," Billy admitted, making me laugh. "What did you say?"

"I'm not sure where I learned how to speak Russian. I've been able to speak it for as long as I can remember," I explained, giving Billy the barebone explanation of how I had learned to speak Russian. "I suppose it was my first language. The person who left me at the orphanage doorstep left a note that was pinned to my blanket. My parents didn't tell me about it until last night."

Billy raised a curious eyebrow. "What does it say?"

How would he believe it? I hardly believed it. "It's mostly nonsense. It was written by a man named Vladislav. At least, that's the name he used in the letter. He mentions that I wouldn't be able to remember anything he wrote about by the time I got the letter. I guess he was right about that," I said, unable to remember the man who had saved my life. "He begged me to understand that he took me to try and save my life and give me a real future. Apparently whatever happened to me where I was born altered the course of my life forever.

"According to Vladislav, I was born to parents who were the designers of and participants in Project МКУльтра, which was a covert Russian government operation to develop mind-control techniques which could be used against enemies. The subjects, many of who were unwitting, suffered extensive use of psychedelic drugs, physical and mental abuse, sleep deprivation, and malnourishment, among many other experiments. He was trying to free those patients for years.

"I was the first person who Vladislav was able to free. He mentioned that I was the first in a line of children born to those participants and designers. He said that they would stop at nothing to make me one of them, whatever that meant. All he said was that if he hadn't taken me when he had, I would have been subjected to torture in its cruelest form until I was what they wanted. I don't know what he meant - he just said that I had been through enough in my time there and that he couldn't let me become a machine.

"The United States was the only place Vladislav thought I would be safe. He warned me to be careful and that he feared the people from the place I was born would find me again. He just ended the letter saying that he hoped he would see me again one day," I finished my explanation slightly awkwardly.

We sat in silence for a long time. I could tell that Billy was trying to figure out how he was supposed to react to what I had just told him. It wasn't something easy to swallow. The girl you liked telling you that she was Russian and part of a secret government operation raising superhumans. He seemed to be having a hard enough time with things now. I wondered how he would feel if I told him that they had been at least moderately successful.

We remained in the tense silence for a few minutes before Billy started laughing. "And I thought my life was fucked," Billy said carelessly. I laughed, feeling just a little bit better as I whacked Billy over the back of the shoulder. "Do you believe it?"

It took me a few moments to figure out how to express the way I felt about the place I had been born. "I believe the place I was born was dangerous and that I'm better off being far away from it," I explained vaguely. It was impossible to know if Vladislav had been telling me the truth. "I don't know what I believe about it; I can't remember anything from that early."

"Then I'm glad he got you out," Billy said sweetly. I smiled at him as he started chuckling. I knew that he was trying to avoid being too in touch with his feelings for too long. "We make quite the pair."

"We certainly do. Billy and Yelena," I joked, accentuating the Russian accent on my name.

"Yelena?" Billy asked curiously.

"Supposedly it's my given name," I told him.

Billy thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I like Rach much better."

Hearing Billy refer to me by my nickname was enough to bring a smile to my face. This was where I belonged. "So do I." We smiled at each other as I breathed out deeply. It had been a long time since I'd been on a date that had gone this well. I'd never been on a date where I enjoyed the person I was with so much. "I can't remember the last time that I went on a date and talked about something important."

A small grin turned up on the edges of Billy's lips. "I can't remember ever going on a date," he admitted.

My eyebrows shot up. "Never?"

"Never."

How was he telling me the truth? I had seen Billy go out with a couple of girls since we had met. "There's no way that's true. You're hot and an asshole," I pointed out, making him smirk proudly. "You're catnip for women. Come on, you can tell me. When's the last time you took a girl out on an actual date?"

Even though I was telling the truth, Billy was adamant that he had never gone on a date. "I don't take girls out, Rach. I take them home."

At least he wasn't trying to lie to me about the kind of person he was. "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or offended," I said honestly. Billy chuckled. "Why didn't you take me home?"

"You're better than that," Billy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I leaned forward to press a kiss against his mouth. "You're regretting not bringing me home, aren't you?" I joked, my lips brushing against his.

Billy laughed. "Rach, I've never wanted someone so badly in my life."

"Having to chase a girl is probably good for your ego," I said.

It wouldn't be too bad for Billy to have to chase me for a little while. I just didn't know how patient I could be. "You know what else is good for my ego?" Billy asked. I shook my head. "Knowing that you started a fight for my heart."

Damn him. I wished that I hadn't said anything. I laughed at his confidence, shoving his face to the side. "As I said, Hargrove, I didn't start the fight. I ended it," I said proudly.

"What happened?" Billy asked curiously.

"Tina asked me where you were yesterday and didn't take kindly to me telling her that you two had only fucked and now you weren't interested," I explained.

A few seconds after I had stopped speaking, Billy burst into a fit of laughter. Once he had calmed down, he was still shaking his head. "We should've met years ago so that you could have been the one to end my hookups when I got sick of them."

As much as I liked being around Billy, he was the biggest pain in the ass that I had ever met. I laughed again, knocking Billy onto his back in the grass. "I think not," I snapped. A moment later, I leaned down so that I could press my mouth against Billy's ear. "If we had known each other years ago, you wouldn't have needed to hook up with them."

It was the truth. With how much I liked Billy, there was no way that I would let go of him once I had him. Billy's fingers tightened around the strap of my tank top as he pulled my body flush against his. I sucked in a deep breath. "Maybe that's true. You should know now that you'll never want to hook up with anyone else," Billy said confidently.

That was true. "What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked.

"What's the offer?" Billy replied.

One that I knew he couldn't refuse. "My parents are heading into Indianapolis for the day to watch Death of a Salesman. It's a late show so they'll be gone all night. It's a big house with no one around to keep me company," I teased.

Billy's blue eyes darkened as a wicked grin appeared on his lips. "We can't leave a beautiful woman alone with no protection."

"Of course not. That wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do."

Billy grinned. "They'll be gone all night, huh?"

"All night," I confirmed, wrapping my fingers around Billy's belt to tug at him. "Better get some rest tonight, Hargrove. You'll need it for tomorrow."

Another prideful grin appeared on the edges of Billy's lips as he watched my hands hover over his waist. I felt my blood pounding through my veins as Billy lifted himself to kiss me roughly, throwing me off of his waist and into the grass. One of his hands dug almost painfully into my ass and the skin on my thigh as he hiked my skirt up. His other hand wound up into my hair as he began tearing at the strands. I started breathing heavily as I pulled his tucked-in shirt from its hold in the waistband of his jeans.

A second barely passed before Billy wrapped his hands around my thighs and he rolled me over his body, shoving me back into the grass again. I grunted in surprise as I felt his fingertips digging somewhat painfully into my back, his nails breaking the skin there. I pulled Billy's shirt open and threw it off his frame. Billy shoved the jacket that I had borrowed from him earlier off of my shoulders as his fingers traveled down my body. I could feel his fingers worming their way toward my waist again.

Billy was likely going to end up leaving bruises littered around the lower half of my neck and chest from the way he was kissing me there, but I didn't have half a mind to stop him. My short skirt was hiked up around my waist as Billy hooked his fingers into my waistband, tugging the material down around my legs. I backed away from Billy just long enough to kick them off of my feet and away from us, where it was likely going to get lost in the bushes.

The following ten minutes (that wound up feeling much more like an hour) were filled with things that I had done before, but this time felt different. The rings that Billy was wearing on his fingers were cold compared to how overheated my skin had become. The stubble of his short mustache rubbed against my skin, causing goosebumps to erupt. Billy's voice had grown into more of a growl than anything else. His teeth were bruising me from the pressure against my skin, but I made sure to make it very obvious that I didn't mind.

Strands of my hair had been torn out from our rough movements. Billy's handprints were littered over my thighs and stomach. My throat was sore from groaning loudly. The only way that I was getting breaths was by gasping for air. My spine was strained from how far I had been bending my back. My heart felt like it was threatening to explode in my chest. When Billy had brought me as far as I could go, he let up on me without warning. I pulled my head up from the grass to stare at him blankly.

"What are you -?"

"We have to get you home," Billy interrupted, sending me a shit-eating grin. "Bonus points for eleven forty-five, remember?"

My jaw just about dropped at his words. I couldn't believe now was the time Billy decided to follow the rules. Our heavy breathing was echoing through the woods as I stared sidelong at him and started chuckling mirthfully. "Who would have thought that Billy Hargrove would be the kind of guy to care about a curfew?"

"I'm not that kind of guy, Rach," Billy teased.

"Yes, you are," I said breathlessly. My voice was shaking along with my pounding heart as we stared at each other. Both of our faces broke into smiles a moment later. "I'm expecting you to finish that tomorrow, by the way."

Billy smirked. "Oh, I intend to do much more than finish it."

We smiled at each other again as Billy clambered back to his feet. His shirt and jacket had been discarded in the grass. I looked around for my underwear but quickly realized that I wasn't going to find them. Instead, I settled on shifting my shirt and skirt back into place and pulled my shoes back on my feet. Billy grinned at my general discomfort and discombobulation as I tried to find my clothes and slow my heart rate back to normal. I knew that Billy had been planning on doing this to me all night.

Even as the minutes passed and I checked my makeup to ensure that I hadn't wiped it all off and that my hair didn't look like it was mussed from any type of sex, Billy watched me carefully. I occasionally felt Billy's hands run across my lower back or his lips brush against my jugular vein as he walked around, picking up the mess that we had left behind. As we finally walked back to the car, I felt Billy's hands run from my outer thigh to rest against my ass.

We walked back to the car together and I smiled as Billy opened the door for me. He wasn't a gentleman but he did care about me and care about what I thought of him. I leaned up to press a kiss against his cheek as I clambered into the car and he shut the door behind me. Once I was settled in my seat, I let out a breath that I was certain I had been holding since we'd stopped fooling around. Billy hopped into the driver's seat after a moment and started the engine.

Though the car engine was rumbling impatiently beneath us, Billy made no indication that he was going to start driving. Instead, he looked at me and grinned playfully. "You okay?" he asked.

"Great," I said numbly, not trusting myself to say much more as my heart was still pounding. "You're still coming over tomorrow, right?"

Billy grinned at me. "All over."

I had to look away from how badly I was blushing. "Good. Who would have known that Billy Hargrove is the type to please a woman first?"

"It's always ladies first, Rach. I know that."

"Hargrove, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful… friendship," I said, trailing off as I realized I was unsure of what we were.

Billy shook his head. "I could never be friends with you."

His words didn't make any sense to me at first. I had thought that we were friends. I glanced at Billy as he turned to me and smiled. That was when I understood what he had meant. He meant that he could never be just friends with me. I felt the same way about him. I placed my hands over his on the gear shift to stop him from leaving the clearing. Billy's hands left the steering wheel like it had burned him as they went immediately to my waist and back to help me hop into his lips. Our lips met in a heated kiss.

Billy pushed me back so that my tailbone was pressing against the steering wheel. We both laughed as the horn blared under my weight. Billy ran his hands to my hair and slid them back down to hold me around my butt, pulling my body against his. I could feel just how excited he was for tomorrow. I slid my hands down to the button on his jeans and undid it. I had just managed to slide my hands underneath his waistband when a knock sounded at the window.

We jumped apart and snapped our heads to attention to see Hopper standing just outside the car with his arms folded and an annoyed look on his face. We both smiled at him. "You two can't ever go see a movie?" Hopper growled.

"Hi, Hop. We were just on our way home," I lied.

Hopper looked like he would have believed that the sky was pink before he believed me that we were heading him. "Yeah, it looked that way," Hopper snapped. The older sheriff was constantly telling me off for doing something inappropriate. Hopper looked away from me and scowled at Billy. "Take her home, Hargrove."

"Yes, officer," Billy said, rolling up the window as he cranked the engine and took off down the road.

"Something to look forward to," I teased quietly.

Billy chuckled. "You're not going to be able to walk when I'm done with you."

If there was ever something I wanted to be the truth, that was it. I laid my hand over the bulge that had grown in Billy's jeans. "What makes you think you'll be able to?" I asked him.

Billy looked away from the road long enough to meet my eyes. "What time are your parents leaving?"

"Eleven," I answered.

"I'll be there at eleven-oh-one."

A small smile pulled at my lips. I leaned over the center console so that I could press another kiss against Billy's mouth. "I look forward to it." I shifted back in my seat as we broke out of the woods and back onto the main road. "I'm glad you showed me this spot," I said after a few beats of silence.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"How will you ever top this date?"

Billy glanced at me for a moment and huffed. "What makes you think you're getting a second date?"

Why did he always have to ruin a good thing? I laughed, whacking him over the shoulder. "You know that you can't resist me. After all, you'll be there at eleven-oh-one, right?" I teased.

Billy smirked. "On the dot."

We settled back in the car seats for a while and watched the road as we headed back to my house. "This was nice, Billy," I said, breaking the silence. "I'm glad you asked me to come out."

"After last night you didn't give me much of a choice," Billy half-joked.

If he wanted to take me out, I wanted it to be because he liked me, not because he wanted to make up what had happened last night. I also wanted to make sure he knew I didn't mind what had happened last night. I sent Billy a sad smile. "You don't owe me anything for last night. I would have been happy to do it, no matter what had happened in the morning," I told him honestly.

"Why?" Billy asked curiously.

It was sad to know that he had never had someone care about him unconditionally. "Do you need me to say it?" I asked. "I care about you, Billy. I don't want to see you in trouble or getting hurt."

Billy briefly glanced over at me as we pulled up to a stoplight. He hit the brakes without looking away from me as we jolted forward in our seats. The red light still glowing on us, Billy leaned across the seats and pressed a long kiss against my mouth. He held my chin tightly and refused to release me, even as I saw the green light filtering through my closed eyes. We kissed for such a long time that I saw the lights change another four times before we finally broke the kiss.

We smiled at each other as I began to blush from his piercing stare. "Greenlight, Hargrove," I said bashfully.

"You're that eager to get away from me, huh?" Billy teased.

"I'm eager to get away from you before we start something that we don't have enough time to finish tonight," I admitted.

A wicked grin appeared on Billy's lips. "We'll never have enough time." I smiled at him as he took my hand and pressed a kiss against the back of it, releasing me as we pulled into my driveway. Billy glanced at the dashboard clock. "Eleven forty-five. Would you look at that?"

"Right on time. Thanks for the ride and tonight."

"I'll walk you up."

"Okay."

We both smiled at each other again as Billy pulled up next to my car, shut off the engine, and opened his door. I was halfway out of my seat when Billy opened my door the rest of the way and offered me his hand. I smiled at him as I took his hand and linked our fingers together. Billy closed the door behind me and we walked up together to my front door stoop. We turned to stare at each other as I blushed. I wasn't sure what to do when we turned to face each other, standing in front of the door to my house.

Before either one of us could make the first move, the front door opened, startling me but making my goodbye with Billy that much easier. "We've won our bonus points," Mom teased, standing just behind the threshold.

All three of us chuckled. "I had a good time," Billy told me politely.

"Yeah, I did too," I said. "I'll see you soon?"

Billy nodded. "Absolutely." I was extremely pleased that Billy settled with a kiss on the cheek to say goodbye in front of my parents. "Goodnight, Rach," Billy said.

"Night, Billy. Thanks for this, I had fun," I told him.

Billy's eyes glittered teasingly. "Oh, me too."

"Goodnight, Billy," Mom said, drawing his attention to her. "Thank you for getting her home safe."

"It's my pleasure. You both have a wonderful night," Billy said as Dad appeared in the doorway.

Dad nodded, smiling at Billy. "You too, Billy. Drive safe!"

Our quarter all waved at each other happily. As Billy walked back to his Camaro, I smiled at him. Our evening might not have been the most traditional date in the world, but I was glad that we had finally gone out. Even though we teased each other and our relationship leaned heavily into the physical, we were coming to care very deeply about one another. That part of our relationship could grow with time, after all. Billy had even proven that he was a gentleman for most of the evening too.

Naturally, right as I had thought that I saw my forgotten thong hanging out of Billy's back pocket. I slammed the door shut before my parents could see it. "What was that about?" Mom asked, startled by my sudden reaction.

I almost swore that I could hear Billy laughing through the door. "It's just the wind," I explained weakly.

"Okay," Mom said doubtfully, throwing the deadbolt on the door. "Well, now that he's gone, it was a good date?"

"It was a really good date. It was probably one of the best ones I've ever been on," I told her honestly.

"You look happy," Dad commented.

"I am," I said.

My parents exchanged a pleased smile. They had wanted me to be this happy since the move. "We're glad to hear it. Billy's a nice young man," Mom said.

No, he's not. "Yeah, he is," I lied.

"You should get some rest. It's been a long week," Dad said.

"Yeah, I will. I'll see you guys before you go?" I asked.

"Of course. Goodnight, love," Mom said.

"Night, darling," Dad said.

"Goodnight, guys."

My parents and I exchanged hugs and kisses as I turned and headed back upstairs, holding my skirt tight to my frame. I walked into my room and closed my door behind me. I glanced toward my window and threw the curtains open. Billy was still in the car, currently hanging out of his car window. He had my thong dangling from between his fingers. I scowled at the smirk on his face but a smile appeared on mine quickly. I slid my window and leaned over the edge.

"You're an asshole," I hissed at him.

"You like me anyway," Billy countered.

"Unfortunately, that much is true," I chuckled.

We grinned at each other as Billy tossed my thong somewhere in his backseat. "I'll call you before I leave tomorrow," Billy called up.

"Goodnight, Billy."

"Night, Rach."

The stirring in my gut reminded me that I was nervous about what was going to happen. I felt the butterflies in my stomach and knew that my relationship with Billy was leading me toward trouble, but I couldn't help it. I liked spending time with him and liked the feeling that I had when we were together. I watched Billy roll up his window and back the Camaro out of my driveway. I watched him drive off for a moment and lingered at the window, knowing that our relationship wasn't good but too interested to walk away from it.

A/N: Welcome back! It's been a hot minute but that's what happens when you completely uproot your life to start a new job! I'm glad to be back and it's great to write this story again. Thank you so much for reading and the follows and favorites you've given the story in the meantime. Please review! Until next time -A

Angryfanfic: I promise I'm going to reveal Rachel's powers soon! Sorry about the long wait but I hope you've liked this one!

Vincent FGS91: Oh you should have! I could have put my Google Translate skills to the test lol. Yes! We're getting into the meat and potatoes part of the story. Now that would be an interesting addition to the story... I do like to put strains on my OC's with their parents as I'm sure you already know. I like it! I hope you enjoyed the new update!

TurtleyLiv: That's okay, I like to read a lot of fanfiction too. I do agree that it can be hard to read them since a lot of the time the characters either become shells of themselves from the original stories or the story doesn't go the direction it seemed like it should have. I appreciate your compliment! I work hard on this story so it's always lovely to see people appreciate it. I hope you liked this chapter!

Guest: I'm so glad you love the story! I hope you liked this chapter!