-Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Stranger Things.

A/N: This is a long one, get your popcorn ready, for a bit of naughtyyyy.

This one is a bit naughty, so full disclosure! 18 only, or read at your own risk!

Also, I just wanted to say to those you that have commented and given kudos on my story, I really truly appreciate it, it's exactly that push I need to keep right, so thank you so much!

Chapter 10: "Do you copy?"

Simply breathtaking,

Was all his lust filled mind could register as she ground her barely clothed body into his, wanting to remove the barriers between them, Billy began undoing the buttons of her shirt, stopping to run his teeth on each new visible piece of her flesh.

"Billy," She moaned, as she fell back into his chest, not being able to handle the contact, but also not being able to break away from his touch. She breathed heavily into his ear at the sensation of it all, arousing him to a point where all he wanted to do was get closer, take all of her, not caring anymore what it meant, if it made him weak or if it put his heart at risk.

As she collapsed into him, she unconsciously rubbed her perfectly soft breasts against his naked chest, causing him to jolt out of stimulation. He groaned at the sensation, moving his hands down her body to caress all of her, wanting to touch every inch of her all at once.

Fuck me, this is insane.

"witchcraft." He moaned in her ear, as he pressed her face further into his neck, attempting to gain better access to the soft skin of hers.

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to focus on something else, anything but the grinding of her hips on top of him. If he didn't, he thought he'd turn into some kind of wild animal, unable to hold back his urges.

Where did our pants go?

With each grind she made on top him, she teased him, he could feel her entrance, warm and slick, he would have been able to just ram himself straight into her, it would be easy, but there's something so hot, about waiting for her to commit, to give herself over.

Give herself to me.

All of her.

Grabbing a fist fill of her hair, he pulls her back, causing her to follow his strength into arching her back, it was rough but not enough to cause more than a giggle of wincing pain, she follows him and obeys his guidance. He begins placing hot kisses down her neck, following through with attention to each breast, sucking a biting on the soft flesh before pushing her back down further to continue his journey south. He began to lose himself in the sensation of it all and was ready to surrender himself over to his desires. He abruptly pulled her back up to catch her mouth to his but as he wrapped his strong arms around her, he noticed that there's nothing to hold.

How can you touch something that isn't there anymore?

Where is she?

He looked around at the empty space surrounding him,

where am I?

"Billy?" She said softly, her voice echoed like an angel in the pits of hell, her feet rippled in the water beneath her as she approached him, he sat vacantly on the end of his bed, everything around them was dark—an empty void.

"—I want to see." She said softly grasping his hand into hers.

"EL GET BACK, DON'T TOUCH IT!" His true self shouted frantically, running towards her side to push her away from his imposter. Just like in the montage she had shown him, she disintegrated in his hands, rendering him powerless once again, unable to shield her from his duplicate self.

"EL CAN'T YOU SEE ME, LOOK AT ME!" He shouted again more desperately this time; he tried pointlessly to grasp her by the arms again —to yank her away from a false security.

He watched helplessly at his other self, pushing her back into the emptiness beneath her, watching the terror on her face, as she tried to claw and grab a hold of something- anything, to break her fall. But she couldn't see him, and he couldn't touch her.

She just kept,

Falling.

--
El had awoken just after 7 o'clock, confused but not at uncomfortable of where she was, she was curled up against Billy's bare chest, the rise and fall of his breathing was as relaxing as a lullaby to her tired eyes. She'd slept soundly, better than she had in years.

-

Safe.

-

He'd never admit it to anyone... but his thick arms were wrapped around her tiny form, providing a blanket of warmth between the two of them- a smile present on his face, as she nuzzled her way into the croak of his neck. – she decided to just ignore the rather large bulge protruding from his pants, not knowing what it was, but knowing that it was probably something that she shouldn't ask about later, at least not to him.

Instead, with nimble fingers she began exploring the curvatures of his body, his defined muscles, a tattoo on his arm, the scars. They were deep, some still red and raw, he had once been unblemished but now he was damaged, his outer core, now matching his insides.

Battle wounds,

Wounds caused by her,

She opened the gate,

She let him out.

A tear slid down her cheek at the memory of the following summer, distracting herself from her emotions, she began to slyly make her way off the couch, then pattered in a mad dash to the bathroom, she splashed her face with some water and then promptly emptied her bladder.

She was pleased beyond belief that she had awakened before Billy, to sugar coat it he would have been less then pleased to have a mouth full of her hair. It wouldn't have been completely true because if it had, why has he slept so soundly… He was still asleep after all, wasn't he?

El made her way out of the bathroom and down the hall, as quietly as she could she wheeled the tv into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, she was feeling good this morning, strong, renewed even, this was the time to try—Hop couldn't wait any longer, especially if he was where she suspected.

The Upside down.

She wrapped her eyes with her old bandana and planted herself in front of the tv, feeling the static, she tried whole heartedly to enter her void, as the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned into an unknown amount of time, she angrily threw the bandana onto the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs to comfort herself.

Need to find him—

She stared down at the bandana as if she was afraid of it, grasping at it as few times before committing to placing it back on, she focused in again this time on a different target. This target caused her heart to race, feeling as though it would beat right out of her chest.

It didn't take long until she was within the confines of the black abyss, water gently splashed beneath her feet as she tried to make out where she was.

An office? A desk? A lab?

No, THE lab.

No… It's gone, no one's there.

Why am I here then?

Her eyes focused in on a man behind a desk, the back of his head was only just visible, the chair he was seated in covering him, leaving only the boundaries of his body in her view, he was talking, --talking to a young man.

"The hole, that the creature has made, it will not be contained for much longer, I suggest we take the girl and have her remove him from—" He started, before being interrupted.

"You leave the decisions to me." Dr Brenner stated firmly.

"We can't wait any longer doctor; he will die in there and then we will have nothing to control her with… we also need to administer the drugs." He countered.

"Yes- we do, but we will stick to the original plan- I will tell you when we will be initiating." He stated assertively.

As if sensing her presence, he looked towards her suspiciously, sending El's heart racing even further.

"What is it Dr.?" she technician asked wearily, as he watched the Dr. stalk towards the other side of the room.

"I'm not sure we are alone…" Dr. Brenner stated cautiously, but his tone said that he was excited-

Excited to have his toy back.

As he approached closer to where she stood, she began retreating backwards, terrified, that he had sensed her.

"Eleven?" He said almost lovingly, scratching the air in front of him.

"Come back home, to papa." He hummed, as he swatted the air in front of him.

--
El ripped the blindfold from her eyes and sent it flying across her bedroom floor, she was dizzy and disoriented as she wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks, she soon slowed her breathing and came to terms with what she needed to do—where she needed to go.

A plan,

She would need to implement a plan and quickly, her mind began racing; what to do, who she should tell, who she could trust, that wouldn't try and stop her.

Max.

During herself and Billy's awkward couch sitting the night prior, he had mentioned that he would be working at the community centre in the morning, sort of a random statement, in a 'not that you care or anything' tone…

He did a water aerobics class for seniors a few times a week, along with the seniors there would always be a few lonely women who liked to sink their teeth into a bit of eye candy, one of them-- not being Mrs. Wheeler and he was glad for that. He hadn't mentioned the reason as to why he did such a boring job, the reason mostly being that they didn't take the class for the exercise. It always ended in a wad of tips at the end of his shift; It was only a slight prostitution of himself, but it was necessary, a few winks and cheeky smiles, he was more than happy to oblige in. In addition, he did engage in a few other tedious jobs one being the odd job of car mechanical work, he loved cars and he loved getting his hands dirty.

-So it was settled, she'd go once he had left for work, that would buy her a good six to eight hours, then she would go to Max's, convince her of her cause and then collaborate a plan, she'd be back before he even knew she was gone.

Jonathan,

He'll be coming—here.

Damn.

Next hurdle she would need to deal with would be Jonathon, he'd most likely be here today and what the hell was she going to tell him? … "She's living with Billy."

That would most likely not go down well- she would need to stall him.

She quickly padded her way back to the bathroom to get ready for the day, her usual low maintenance routine, quick shower, brush her teeth and then run a brush through her dark unruly locks, once she had finished up in the bathroom, she then made her way back to her room to throw on some casual clothes, todays get up; a red and blue flannel and a pair of jeans.

Perfect.

She pussyfooted about her room for few minutes, tidying up all the clothes that she'd thrown on the floor the night before, when she unexpectedly heard an agitated moan coming for the living area, curiously she made her way out of her room and down the hall to inspect the noise, noticing that as she approached closer, it became louder and more upset.

Billy.

He was dreaming, that much was obvious, he was shaking his head back and forth, his face was in what appeared to be a painful scorn and his mop of curls were soaked with sweat.

A bad dream,

A very bad dream.

Disturbed by his distress she quickly went to him, sitting down on the edge of the sofa, she ran her hand across his forehead to move his soaking wet locks away.

"Billy, wake up," she said softly, noticing that he was becoming more stressed by the second.

"CAN'T YOU SEE ME?" he shouted fearfully; his eyes still closed tightly; his face more ridged as his movements became more frantic.

"BILLY WAKE UP!" she shouted this time, shaking him by his biceps repeatably, until his eyes flew open in shock.

He sprang to life, his eyes so wide, that it looked like the lids had been super glued open, his hair and body so drenched in sweat that it looked as though he had just jumped out of the shower.

Being Disoriented and wondering if what he had just dreamt was real or a product of his imagination-- he snatched El roughly by her arms, it his touch hard enough that she gasped in surprise, his clutch constricted her arms into her body and just like a large snake, once he had an unbreakable grip, he pulled her together and in towards his chest. He clawed and fondled her body to ground himself back with reality, he was truly shaken.

Is this real? Was that real?

Another nightmare— well at least it was only one this time,

Slightly less shitty than the normal five or six I have every goddamn night.

"Are you okay" El asked, her face unmistakably worried.

"I'm fine." He hissed, releasing her hesitantly, the craving for nicotine consuming his body, he leaned forward to grab his pack of smokes off the table.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked softly.

"Jesus El, Nothing!" He shouted, angrily flickering his lighter across the coffee table, as he tilted his head up to release his first morning drag of smoke.

"I've got to get ready for work alright, just leave me alone this morning." He shouted angrily, rubbing his fingers into his eyes to wipe the sleep away, he then stomped off angrily slamming the bathroom door shut.

"Jerk" she muttered.

You dick why did you do that.

Billy had a pretty good idea of his sleeping arrangement from the night before, judging by a numb shoulder he had definitely been spooning for a large quantity of the night, he growled in disgust with himself that he let himself sink so slow.

We don't spoon,

We don't cuddle,

We don't talk about our feelings,

And we definitely don't sleep next to each other.

Beds are for 'bumpin' uglies' and sleeping alone.

Couches, apparently are a grey area.

His rules to follow by, stick with them and you won't ever have to worry about catching feelings.

He had admitted to himself when he gave into kissing her, that he wanted her, but he would never let himself go that far unless there was no chance of the two of them falling in too deep and not being able to get out.

--Well her falling in too deep and not being able to get out. There was no chance of that ever happening to him, he was a brick wall, closed off from everything-- expect sex.

He would follow his usual game plan, have his fun, she'd have her fun and then they would go their separate ways, no exceptions, she was going to be no different than any other chick he'd hooked up with before and if she couldn't cope with the way he was and the way that he did things, than it would just be her loss-

My loss.

He put the knowledge way into the back of his mind that he'd with out a doubt until his nightmare—had the best sleep of his life, even despite the numb shoulder.

Peaceful, Full, erotic dreams.

Scaling back from her he knew, was going to be an unpleasant process, he'd have to be mean--cruel even. But it would be worth it in the long run.

Better for both of them.

In a flustered panic Billy finished getting ready, while in the shower he cleaned his knuckles of all the dirt and dried blood and then wrapped them in some gauze. If anyone asked, he'd say he burnt them on something or make up some stupid excuse… He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

He then smoothed out his curls with a bit of product and completed his look off with his red shorts and one of his workout singlets. --it would be a cold drive down, but the community centre was heated and usually got pretty damn warm- especially from his enthusiasm during the classes. So, he felt it was an appropriate wardrobe choice, he came barrelling out of the bathroom and began grabbing a few bits and pieces from the fridge, before chugging down a can of beer.

It's 12 o'clock somewhere.

El watching with peering eyes from the sofa, she had just finished scarfing down her normal morning dose of eggos and now casually watched the tv, her feet were lazily up on the coffee table as she slouched lowly in her seat, Billy had felt her gazing over at him repeatedly and had enough.

"Nice socks." He said sarcastically, his demeaner cold.

"They're dads." She answered sadly as she peered down at the oversized socks that nearly reached her knees.

"I can see that." He replied mockingly

"I was cold." She added.

.

"—Look… I don't want you waiting around for me okay? … Last night… --it was a mistake." He explained, his tone was harsh, but he kept his composure. He still stood casually, cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, he was searching, searching her face to see how bad the damage was—how bad he had hurt her.

It was bad.

El glared at him, trying to see through him, another game of chicken perhaps?

"But-- I thought that--" she started softly.

"No, El-- look we're different, I know that you think we are some how the same- but we're not." He said harshly trudging towards her.

"But—" She started again.

It wasn't enough, she was still fighting, this was going to need to be a bigger blow than he had first thought. He'd done and said far worse to other poor innocent girls before, so why did he feel sick over this? He gritted his teeth and held his breath, bracing himself for what he was going to say next.

You bastard, she'll really hate you now.

"I don't think you get it… I don't want to just drop everything for you, I like to stick my fingers in different pies, I've tried yours and now it's time to move on alright!" He shouted angrily, he watched as she rose from the couch, she began to trek over towards him, her stare unnerving, her eyes wet with tears and her smile that he loved so much, especially when it was him that put it on her face-- was non-existent.

More.

"I have a date." He said coldly, in a final blow.

Why are you like this, look at her face, you're breaking her.

"After work." He finished, his words soft, forced.

"Oh." She said softly, her voice hurt and timid, if she had her powers, she would have smashed every window in the cabin- just like had done that day when she had her argument with Hop… She'd settled her pain into balled fists. Her fingernails viciously tensed into her palms, she squeezed all the strength from hands until her arms gave out and then squeezed again, just trying to release that pain.

"Go away." She gasped angrily; her face was red from tensing.

Billy knew he'd pushed it too far and he regret it, he wanted to walk over to her, tell her he was sorry- that he was an idiot, that he needed her, that she was all he needed—but he couldn't because he couldn't admit it to himself. So, instead he left, he made his way out the door and down the steps.

"FUCK!" He shouted so loudly that his voice echoed off all the trees, an old planter box met his boot, and he couldn't resist the temptation to release his pent-up anger with a solid kick he sent it spiralling into next week.

El wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but his aggressive screams, the sound of boot on plastic- smashing into wood; and the reeve of his car engine was enough to tell her he was storming off.

El being so hurt and angry, didn't even bother waiting for Billy to get out of range of her, she didn't care if he knew what she was doing anymore, or whether he approved of it. She'd do exactly what he said, 'do whatever it is that you came here to do and stay the hell out of my way.'

--

The walk to Max's house did her well, it allowed her some time to cool down and get over the fight and regain her composure, she didn't want Max knowing that she was at all interested in Billy although she was fairly certain that she knew that they were staying together. –in fact, it would most likely be common knowledge given the way Chinese whispers spread through Hawkins.

She reached the door just after 10 o'clock and didn't waste anytime ringing the doorbell, she was surprised however, when Neil Hargrove answered the door-- nose split and all.

"Can I help you?" He said, his voice nasally, forcing her to hold back a giggle.

"I'm looking for Max." she said smirking slightly.

"Oh right, she's just in her room, come in." He said, moving to make way for her entry.

"Max! your friend is here!" He shouted, gesturing for El to come further into the house.

"El! I was so worried about you last night!" Max said barrelling towards her following through with a warm hug.

"Hey, weren't you with my 'flamer' of a son last night?... at the diner… Yeah… it was you." He stated fuzzily.

"You'll stay away from him, if you know what's good for you." He said menacingly as he made his way out of the room.

Max raised an eyebrow at her friend and then pulled her by her arm towards her room.

"Well… We clearly need to have a talk, don't we?" She asked critically, as they quickly made their way in through her bedroom door.

"What the hell is going on with you and brother El? And don't lie to me." Max said abruptly closing the door behind them.

Friends don't lie.

"I thought we were friends—but I was wrong." She answered sadly.

"Yeah he tends to have that affect on people." Max said softer this time, sensing her friend's need for comfort.

"Please tell me you didn't do the nasty with my brother. PLEASE." She said worriedly, covering her eyes with her hands.

"What mean 'doing the nasty'?" El asked honestly.

"Oh MY GOD. HE IS SO GROSS." Max exclaimed loudly.

"Here," She said urgently, as she gestured El to sit down next to her on the bed.

"My mom's Cosmo." She said proudly, as she quickly flicked through the pages to find the right one.

El's eyes appeared to bulge from her head after a few minutes of the pair exploring the centre fold.

"Oh." She said plainly.

"Yep, I told you. HE'S GROSS." Max said disgusted.

"It says this is fun?" El said giggling, as she pointed to a diagram on the left-hand side of the page.

She was surprised, which was no shock. --Any girl who had reached the age of sixteen and not known what sex was; was always going to feel some sort of jolt. But she wasn't totally closed off to the idea either, something to explore later perhaps?

The girls continued giggling to themselves as they finished reading through the magazine, El soon felt her barriers go down as Max began to feel more approachable.

"Billy and… Me… We have been staying at the cabin." She said softly, hesitantly.

"What?" Max asked, confused by the clear statement.

"We have been there, the last couple of days, by mistake." She explained further.

"Oh." Max said shocked.

"And you guys are…. Getting along?" Max enquired further.

El returned her question with a sheepish look, before changing the subject entirely,

"I think I found dad." She said optimistically.

"I…. Need your help… need to get to the lab…. The scientists, I think they're back and I think they're keeping him there… in the upside down." She said quietly, as if afraid someone else would hear.

"El… I don't think…" Max started.

"Please." El said quietly as she looked at her friend desperately.

-

"Okay." She replied.

"You twisted my arm." She added with a small smile.

"Let's ask the guys- We'll go tonight, it'll be better if it's dark, if there ARE people at the lab, we'll be able to sneak in easier then, where did you tell Billy you were going? Trust me, he'll know if you're lying and he'll come after you." She said with a firsthand experience.

"I didn't- he doesn't care, don't worry." She said sadly.

"If you say so, but he is a special kind of stupid, trust me on that one." Max said with a giggle.

"Well let's radio in the troops, I think Dustin should be our main target, he's always the first to get himself into the shit, he'll get it." She stated with thought.

El nodded at her friend in agreeance and then watched as she got up to grab the walkie talkie on her desk.

"I need a phone…. - to call Mrs. Byers with." El stated with urgency.

"okay, that's easy, we'll do that before we go okay." Max replied, before continuing to tune to walkie.

"Does anyone copy? We have a situation, meet at the arcade in half an hour."

--
El was surprised to see that all her friends had shown up to her aid, Dustin was the first to peer through the arcade window, his fluffy hair covered by his usual flat brimmed hat. Just as Max had suspected, totally agreeing on the mission at hand, his first input of course was to request the presence of some muscle… Steve.

"No, you know what he's like, he'll try and talk us out of it." Max protested.

"No dingus, he'll be cool." He countered.

"No." she said, attempting to shut him down.

"This is going to be a group vote Max; we are a democracy and were long before you came around." He said, his tone annoyed now.

"Ugh, fine, whatever." She said defeated.

As Dustin's face became smug with his victory, Lucas and Mike came barrelling in through the door, anxious to know what was going on.

"Is he back…" they asked anxiously before dropping their tone down to a mere whisper…

"…the mind flayer…" they finished cautiously, looking to El for an answer, she only shrugged her shoulders at them, before saying,

"I'm not sure, but I think there is another way in… into the upside down and I think Hop is there."

"Hop's dead El, you know this, Mrs. Byer, she told you… she told all of us." Lucas reminded them all firmly.

"… I heard them say… I saw pap-" She stopped herself from finishing.

"I have to go… While my powers are still working." She said plainly.

"Come on guys, if Hopper is trapped there, then we have to help him…-- We have to go, he'd do it for any of us, no questions asked and if El's wrong then it just means we come back home." Mike reasoned with them, smiling slightly at El to reassure her, there was no question they all knew what needed to be done and just like that the plan was in action.

Two pizzas in, hours of aimless video games and a vote that had shut down Dustin's cause. --"Dana" Mike's new fling came waltzing in through the arcade's door, she was different from what El had imagined, her hair was blonde—long and in braided pigtails, she had a pink dress on, she was a lot taller and stalkier than El, which really wasn't a hard thing to accomplish. She surprised herself also when she didn't feel a bit of jealously in her gut when she saw them embrace in a kiss.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asked shocked, gazing back at his friends to see how annoyed they would be at her presence- given this was a secret meeting.

"Well, Excuse me… I didn't realise I needed an invitation, considering this is a free country and all." She replied sarcastically, frowning at him slightly.

"I… I'll see you tomorrow okay, I'm… -kind of busy at the moment." He said apprehensively, attempting to herd her back out of the arcade.

"Get rid of her." Dustin muttered from behind him, Mike nodding in recognition that this was indeed a catastrophe.

By the time Mike had successfully gotten rid of her, the group were ready to make their way out the arcade and onto the lab.

"You know if we had Steve with us then we wouldn't have to ride our bikes you know… he would have driven us…" Dustin stated childishly as the group mounted their bikes, Max gestured to El to climb onto the back of hers.

"Would you just shut it Dustin, we voted and he's not coming." Mike spat.

"So, it's fine for your 'moron of a girlfriend' to just show up, is it?" He questioned with a raised voice.

"Shut up! At least my girlfriend doesn't make me sing 'the Never Ending story' for a piece of meaningless information, when the world is about the end!" Mike shouted back, noticing that Dustin silenced after that comment, as he began cycling faster in front of him

"Penis Breath." He muttered loudly enough for Mike to hear, ensuring that he got the last word in.

--

Billy wished he had been surprised to see that El was not at the cabin when he had returned. On the contrary, he had expected it. At the odd chance that she would be there, he had stopped at the store on his way home and bought just about every pack of eggos that were in the freezer section. He had no idea if that would be enough, if she would still be too angry with him to even hear him out.

He had never had to, or wanted to redeem himself before- not until now so he had racked to his brain with how he would go about explaining to her why he was such a mess, why he had said what he had said, he couldn't figure out the right words to use to express himself—he was bad at that- expressing himself with words.

The events that lead him up to this unexpected epiphany started when he had finished work that evening, he performed his usual date preparations, showered, fixed his hair, dressed like a God and then with precision, applied his favourite cologne to all his vital attributes that he would be using on his… date.

Candace/ Candy/ Cynthia, she was in for a real treat this evening, a real pounding,

The workout of her life.

Fuck that dream, that wasn't real, this is.

-it could be real, with time.

No.

It can't.

The wonderful art of distraction.

-

They had skipped the mediocre part of the date, both not wanting anything from the other, but body on body. They had been in the back seat of his car, with Billy elbows deep in creamy thighs-- his conquest of the night, the same tall blonde from the party, she looked deep into eyes, checking to see if he shared the same lust filled ones as hers.

– He did not.

He was somewhere else?

"Hey, do you want to do this or not?" She asked frustratedly.

"Because you're kind of giving me a real, 'I don't want to be here vibe'." She added.

Billy didn't answer, he only yanked her back towards him pulling her back in a tooth shattering kiss, it was rough and aggressive, but instead of it causing her to pull back from him again, it made him growl out in frustration.

"FUCK." He said angrily pushing her off the top of him.

"Do you want me to suck you off or something? Like are you having a hard tim-…" She started nervously.

"No." He responded shortly.

"You know a lot of guys have a hard tim-…" she started again.

"NO, it's not that okay. I don't have a problem in that department at all. It's just-- you're not my type." He said coldly.

"Well… I was your type the other night, wasn't I? She asked clearly offended.

"Well, things change."

-

So, now here he was, standing hands full of eggos… ready to grovel?

No.

Ready to give her temporary gate access into his mind?

Maybe.

Yes.

"Where the hell is she?" He muttered under his breath as he popped open another can of beer, sculling it back to kill off his nerves.

Feeling like an actual idiot, he then picked up the walkie talkie off the kitchen table that Steve had given him and left in his car. He stared at it for a few seconds considering if he should use it or not but soon gave in to his desperation and reached out.

"Anyone there?" He asked deeply, running his hands down his face, at how stupid he felt.

So fucking lame.

--

"Copy that, who's this?" A voice responded.

A/N: *Hides behind furniture, closes eyes* I'm sorry for making Billy such a jerk in this chapter, but he was always going to retreat after something like spooning!