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.

4. Chapter 4

The alarm on my bedside table began blaring as I leaned over and smacked the snooze button to stop the noise. I closed my eyes and turned over to go back to sleep when I realized that the sun was streaming through the windows. That wasn't a good sign. The sun was usually just starting to peek over the horizon when I woke up. It had fully risen now. I sat bolt upright in bed and looked at the alarm. It was six-fifty. School started at seven-twenty. My alarm had somehow been reset to half an hour later than normal.

"God damn it!" I shouted.

There was no doubt that I would be late today. I launched myself out of bed and went sprinting through my room, tripping over clothes as I began gathering everything I needed for the day. I shoved everything I needed for the day into my bag and threw my hair up into a messy bun with wavy pieces dangling out. It was good enough. I quickly rubbed some foundation onto my face and added a swipe of mascara and some lip gloss on top. I just wanted to make sure that I didn't look dead at school.

Once I was satisfied I had everything, I threw open the doors to my closet and started digging through it. I was having a hard time figuring out what was clean and what was dirty. Eventually, I settled on a pair of mid-waisted light wash jeans and a loose-fitting cropped gray tank top. I would likely get yelled at for my clothes but I didn't have time to find anything else. I slipped on a pair of chunky white sneakers and threw my wristwatch on. I grabbed my things for school and ran out of the room, sprinting to the stairs.

Just as I hit the landing, I heard my mother's voice coming up the stairs. "Rachel! Are you up?"

"I am! I'm coming!" I shouted back.

"Honey! You're going to be late," Dad yelled.

"I know, I know!" I shouted back, darting down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I slipped a little bit as I hit kitchen tiles. "Trust me, it's my sole mission to get out of the house this morning."

As I darted into the kitchen, I grabbed an apple from the counter and took a large bite out of it. "Is that what you're wearing?" Dad asked.

"If you can find me something else to wear in the next thirty seconds, I'll change. Otherwise, I have to get out of here," I snarled.

"Take a jacket, please," Dad said, resigned to the fact that I didn't have time to change.

"Fine," I said, wanting to avoid the fight.

That now meant that I had to find a jacket. "Here. Take this," Mom offered, pointing to the kitchen table. I grabbed a piece of toast from the kitchen counter and shoved it in my mouth. I pulled my leather jacket off the back of the dining room chairs as I took another large bite out of my apple, slinging the jacket over my shoulders at the same time. I went to grab my plate and throw it in the sink when my mother stopped me. "Go. We'll get the plates."

"Thanks. Love you!" I yelled.

"Love you!" my parents yelled back.

They gave me a concerned glance as I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder, darting out the front door. I sprinted to my car and practically launched myself into the front seat. I pressed a foot on the brake and cranked the key in the engine only to be met with a sputtering noise. I cranked the engine two more times, each time met with no response besides the sputtering. It could only mean one thing; the car battery was dead. I banged my hands on the steering wheel in aggravation. Not today.

"No! Come on!" I shouted.

I tried turning the engine over again, this time holding the key in place for a moment. It fought to start but ultimately died out again. I let out a nasty swear as I got out of the car and slammed the door behind me, kicking my tire in annoyance. My only option now was walking, as we only had one other car and my father needed it to get to his office on the other side of town. He would be leaving in five minutes. He wouldn't have time to take me to school as he was a new employee and couldn't afford to be late.

It meant that I had no other choice but to walk to school. I slung my bag over my shoulder and started down the driveway, heading toward the school. I would be at least ten minutes late as I would be walking, but at least I would get there. Maybe the administration would understand my tardiness. I figured that this afternoon I would be able to ask Steve for a ride home. He would be dropping Nancy off anyway. Or, I could always ask Billy... As I began walking, a heard a rumble of thunder. I swallowed thickly. A rainstorm was all I needed.

As I first walked down the road I grumbled to myself, irritated that my car battery would die today of all days. The one day I was already late with rain close. I headed down Maple Street and turned onto the main drive, trying to walk as quickly as possible to beat the incoming rain. I was about a fifteen-minute walk from the school and the storm looked like it would be here in under five minutes. I couldn't even duck into a store to wait out the rain as there were no buildings on the road. If I didn't love my car so much, I would have been tempted to light it on fire.

The first few drops of rain fell on my bare arms after I had been walking for about three minutes. I reached for the zipper on my jacket and pulled it as far up as it would go. A cool breeze had begun with the incoming storm. I groaned, knowing that I should have just told my mother what had happened and missed school. I could have picked up my missed assignments tomorrow or called the school and asked Nancy to grab everything for me so I could have made up my work tonight.

It didn't take long for the black clouds to begin forming over my head. The breeze had picked up and the rain was beginning to spit a little heavier than it had been a few minutes ago. I was about ready to turn around and head back home so that I could avoid being soaking wet at school all day when I heard the rumbling of an engine behind me. I immediately recognized the 1979 Camaro that pulled up beside me. I forced myself to look ahead and avoid Billy's pointed stare as I continued walking toward the school.

Billy rolled down his window, staring at me as I walked, waiting for me to speak first. "Now you're following me," I sighed.

"This is the road to get to school," Billy pointed out. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm walking, Hargrove," I snapped.

"You're aware you have a car?" Billy asked.

"I'm aware that my car battery is currently dead," I replied.

Billy laughed. "Get in. I'll give you a ride."

The last time we had been in his car, it hadn't ended well. "No, thank you," I said.

"You're going to walk in the rain?" Billy asked, looking up at the dark clouds.

"Some fresh air will do me good," I said.

Billy sped up for a moment, but instead of driving away, he turned the car at a sharp angle to cut me off. I stopped at Billy's window, scowling at him. He was grinning at me. "Come on, Rach. I'd love to give you a ride," Billy said.

His blue eyes were sparkling playfully. I smirked as I laid my hands on the window frame, leaning into him. "I'm sure you would," I purred.

"You know me well," Billy teased. We exchanged a small smirk as Billy leaned over, resting one of his hands over mine. He lowered his voice. "Are you nervous to be alone with me?"

I scowled. "Are you kidding?"

"You haven't accepted any of my offers of rides recently," Billy pointed out, grinning knowingly.

The blush flooded my face and ran down to my chest. After our near-hookup in the front seat of Billy's Camaro a little under two weeks ago, I hadn't been in Billy's car. We still sat on his car hood every morning but I refused to be alone with him somewhere that we could easily sneak away in. I knew that the next time we were in the car alone together, it would end just the way it would have the first time, had we not been interrupted by Hopper.

"You and I both know exactly why I haven't accepted," I snapped.

Billy shook his head. "That's not true. We both know what you want but I don't know why you're not willing to go for it."

"Because -"

My voice immediately died as I was about to snap at Billy for the reason why I wasn't planning on sleeping with him. It was partially because Max (who was in the passenger seat) appeared to be listening in, though it didn't look like she understood what we were talking about, it was also because I didn't want Billy to know what was going through my head. I didn't want him to know that I was afraid he would drop me if we hooked up. I scowled and let out a deep breath as I took another route in the argument.

"You're not that great, Hargrove," I told him.

"I'd be happy to prove you wrong," Billy said.

"Too bad you're not going to," I said determinedly, starting to walk off.

Billy shook his head. "Rach, I'm not letting you walk to school. It's going to start pouring. Get in the damn car."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I can walk myself to school."

"In the pouring rain?"

"It's not raining yet," I pointed out. Maybe there was a chance I could make it to school before the rain began. Just as I thought that, though, another loud rumble of thunder sounded. I could see the rain growing heavier in the distance. There was no way I was going to beat it. I let out a breath of defeat. "Fine."

Billy grinned at me before looking over at Max. "Move," he snapped at his stepsister.

"What? No. She was here first. I'll get in the back," I argued.

My argument fell on deaf ears. Billy shot Max a quick scowl as she hopped over the seats and into the back anyway. "It's fine," Max told me.

"You didn't have to make her do that," I told Billy as I walked to the passenger side.

"She said it was fine," Billy argued.

That was just because she was too afraid to argue with her stepbrother. I sighed and closed the passenger door behind me as I climbed into the car. Billy started back down the road. Not even ten seconds after we'd started driving again, it began pouring. I scowled in annoyance as Billy grinned at me. "Not a word," I snapped at him.

Billy chuckled at my irritation as he continued speeding down the road. It was a quiet ride, much quieter than I normally would have been around him as I was acutely aware of Max's presence. We rode in silence for a while, the radio being the only background noise. I felt a little weird sitting in Billy's car again when the last time we were in here, we had almost slept together. This time we had Max with us. I had to watch what I said around the younger girl. Billy likely wouldn't care what he said even with her around.

For a while, the three of us didn't speak and I became lost in my thoughts. It had been just under two weeks since that night we had nearly hooked up. I hadn't been able to sleep once I had gotten back home. I had been too wrapped up in my thoughts of Billy and what could have happened. I had woken up early the next morning and headed out to the arcade, curious if Billy would be there. As I'd expected, he was. He had stopped and invited me for another ride, which I'd denied, but we had sat on his car hood and walked as we had the weekend before.

Billy had spent a long time teasing me about the night prior. Though I had desperately wanted to hook up with Billy while Max had gotten her hour in the arcade, I had turned down all of his offers. The longer we had spent together, the more stubborn I became about our inevitable future hookup. I was becoming better and better friends with him and I knew that it would hurt even more now if we hooked up and Billy began avoiding me, as he had done with all of his other dates.

As I had said goodbye to Billy once Max's hour at the arcade had run out, I had come extremely close to kissing Billy. He had teased me that I could do it (as he had known what I'd wanted) and I had responded with a curse. His realization that I did like him seemed to have only urged Billy to mess with me even more than he had been before. His hands now rested lower on my back than they had before, he spoke with his breath tickling my throat, and he made sure to pointedly stare at my every curve.

When we had gone back to school on Monday, I had been glad to see that Billy was already in his spot, waiting for me with a cigarette already lit. He had offered to give it to me with the condition that I kissed him. I had smacked his chest and taken the cigarette anyway, taking as deep of a drag from it as I ever had. I continued to get scowls shot at me every day from the girls in school who were furious that Billy and I had continued to flirt but he hadn't pumped the brakes on our relationship yet.

We had continued our regular routines throughout the week. Each morning we would hang out on the hood of Billy's car, we would meet up with each other at lunchtime, and we would hang around the parking lot after school. I noticed as the days dragged on that the two of us had begun deliberately search for each other in the hallways. I no longer remained steely-gazed as I walked through the halls between classes - I now found myself jumping excitedly at the chance to talk to Billy.

Over the first week after our near hookup, I began seeking out Billy more and more often just to talk to him. Sometimes it was because I had gotten a good grade on a test and other days it was because something worth gossiping about had happened. Billy had even agreed to spend our free periods on Thursday afternoons in the library. Though we did try to study, I constantly felt his hands copping a feel. It had led us to almost getting ourselves kicked out of the library a few times.

The following weekend I had been invited by Billy to come to the arcade. He had asked me to meet him there early Saturday morning and I had immediately agreed. This time I had worn a bright smile as we had walked around the parking lot. Billy had kept his hand in my back pocket the entire time. That was when I had learned a little bit more about him. Getting Billy to open up was a slow process but I knew that I had made a lot more progress with him than anyone else in Hawkins had.

When we had walked together, I had noticed that Billy was open to telling me a little more about California. He had told me about a little café that he had used to go to every Sunday. I noticed him hesitate when he was about to tell me that he went with someone. I assumed that he meant his mother but I chose not to comment on it. He told me about the time when he was a little kid and was thrilled to catch a wave that he had thought was seven feet tall. I had smiled at the childish glee in his voice.

I liked the little things that I'd found out about him during our conversation that day. He didn't like the cold. He, like me, was used to the warmth of a coastal state. He liked driving on the backroads of Hawkins but missed the coastal drives in California. He missed night surfing, something I said sounded frightening but looked fun. Billy insisted that it was the best kind of surfing. Some adrenaline came with the fear of not knowing exactly how high the waves were. That was the beauty of it.

I told him that I felt the same way about my former home. I told him about Casey and our weekly phone calls to catch up with each other and talk about what had been happening in our lives. Billy asked if I ever talked about him. I had rolled my eyes at him, essentially giving him his answer. I told him that I missed the feel of salt water in my hair. I missed my weekend walks in the park with my parents. I missed the huge sleepovers that I would have with my group of friends in my friend Mitchell's sunroom.

It didn't take us long to realize that we both desperately missed our homes but had found a lot of comfort in each other. I knew that we both reminded each other of our respective homes. The tan on Billy reminded me of the tan I normally had. The sparkle of his blue eyes reminded me of the ocean I'd left behind. It was the reason we both kept coming back to each other. We were each the connection we had to our old lives. We were the two people in Hawkins who understood the other.

On Tuesday of the week after our car escapade, Billy and I had gotten in trouble for our brief interaction after our respective gym classes. I had crawled out of the pool, water dripping off of me as Billy had walked out of the basketball court, shirtless and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. I had walked through the gym to the showers without a towel - which we were supposed to wear when we left the pool - drawing the eyes of most of the guys. Some had whistled, but Billy had been the one to step forward.

I'd stood with a foot popped forward toward Billy. He had placed a hand on mine and gently pulled me into him. I had smiled as water from my hair had dripped onto him, running down his bare chest and arms. Billy had taken my arm without saying a word and had pulled me toward the locker rooms. I knew that neither one of us was thinking of the repercussions that would come from us hooking up. We were stopped, though, when we were yelled at by our respective coaches and Billy had been written up. He had said I would have been worth it.

It was now Thursday. Billy and I had known each other for three weeks now but it felt like we had known each other for about three years. It was probably because we spent so much of our spare time together. It had only been a few minutes that we had been in the car, but I felt weird in the silence. I wanted to talk but I didn't trust what Billy might say in front of his stepsister. Instead, I decided to speak to Max. I hadn't seen any of the girls Billy had brought around try to speak to Max before.

So, I turned back to look at Max. She was fiddling with her skateboard that was resting across her lap. "I've seen you skating before. You're good," I told her.

Max smiled. "Thanks."

"You don't have to talk to her," Billy told me.

"I'd rather talk to her than you," I snapped at him. Max laughed softly as Billy reached over and squeezed my knee painfully. I slapped his arm to make him release me, turning back to Max in the meantime. "Do you know how to do an Ollie?"

"Not yet, I'm still trying to learn it. Are you a skater?" Max asked.

"No, but I had a friend in Florida who loved it. He tried to teach me but I was useless. I could barely go in a straight line without falling," I told her. Max giggled as Billy rolled his eyes. "I've got horrible balance."

"I could teach you," Max offered.

"That could be a long lesson," I said. We both laughed. "If you're willing, though, it could be fun."

Max smiled. "Yeah."

"How long have you been skating?" I asked her.

"For a few years. My mom bought it for me when she and my dad got divorced," Max said.

My eyes shot open. I was a little surprised that Max had mentioned her parent's divorce. "I'm sorry you had to go through a divorce in the family so young, but it's good to know that you got something out of it," I told her honestly.

"I don't think my mom likes that I skate," Max said.

"Ah, who cares what your mom thinks? If you like it, do it," I said. She smiled nervously. "I know the guys in my classes don't like or think that I can be an engineer but I don't care. It may be a little harder to get a job but I know that once I do, I'll be happy."

"Did you ever think that was unrealistic?" Max asked.

"No. But I wanted to be a jellyfish when I was three so I guess unrealistic career goals are kind of my forte," I said.

It was a little surprising to hear both Billy and Max laugh. The sound of their laughter was nice. They sounded almost like real siblings. "You're an idiot," Billy chuckled.

I leaned over and smacked his arm. "Shut up. At least I have fun with my life. Now and when I was little. This place sucks but that doesn't mean we have to stop having fun," I said.

"Didn't I tell you how much fun we could have?" Billy responded.

My face burned as Max stared at us. I hoped that she didn't understand what he was talking about. "Not that much fun," I replied quickly. I ignored Billy's stare and turned back to look at Max with a little smile. "I'd love to take you up on the offer of learning to skate if you're serious, though."

A brilliant smile turned up on her face. "Yeah, definitely," Max said.

Learning to skate could have been something fun to do in Hawkins. "I'll repay the favor but I'm not sure if there's anything I know that you don't - that you'd want to learn, at least," I told her.

Max thought about it for a moment. "Are you good at math?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at it."

"How are you with fractions?"

I smiled at her. "Good enough to be confident that I could help you."

"You'd be willing to?" Max asked.

"Sure. I'm already tutoring one of you. May as well work with the other one too," I told her.

Billy lowered his voice as he leaned over to speak to me. "Should I tell her what kind of studying you offer?"

"No!" I snapped. Billy snorted in amusement as he pulled into the school's parking lot. The rain was still coming down outside. Max, Billy, and I shifted to the doors. None of us had an umbrella. We would have to make a run for it. After a moment of hesitation, Max was the first one to open her door. "See you later, Max."

"Bye, Rachel!" Max called back.

Max threw down her skateboard, slammed closed the car door, and took off toward the middle school. I smiled after her. I sighed as I prepared myself to face the heavy rain. "What do you say we skip school?" Billy offered.

"And what would we do?" I asked him.

"Each other," Billy offered.

His response wasn't surprising. I smirked, leaning into Billy, sitting halfway in his lap. I shifted forward to place my mouth against his ear. "Get your fucking grades up," I snapped.

Billy reached under my thighs and threw me roughly off of himself. I laughed as I plopped into the passenger seat. "Here," Billy offered.

I turned to see that Billy was pulling off his jacket. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Come on," Billy said, nodding for me to follow him.

We jumped out of the car and ran into the heavy rain. It was pouring as Billy and I darted in front of the car. Billy held his leather jacket over my head as we sprinted toward the school. It made me smile. I was glad to see that he was capable of romance, even the little things. We ran under the overhead awnings as we laughed. Some of the students were watching us. The girls were scowling at the vague display of affection between us. Billy pulled his jacket back on as I laughed, shaking out my damp hair.

"Thank you," I told him.

"You're welcome," Billy said.

"Look at you. Almost capable of being kind," I teased, nudging Billy with my hip.

"Oh, come on. I kept you safe from the rain," Billy teased.

I rolled my eyes. "I can deal with a little bit of water, Hargrove."

We walked into school together. I rolled my eyes as Billy threw an arm over my shoulder. It was his way of warning off guys from flirting with me. "I rescued you from a long walk to school," Billy pointed out.

"I should have gone back home," I huffed.

The moment I'd said it, I was met with a senior soccer player named Jason. He had hit on me a few times since I'd arrived in Hawkins. I knew that he was a popular guy and a lot of the girls had crushes on him. "Hey, Rachel," Jason greeted.

"Hi, Jason," I replied.

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" Jason asked.

"Oh, um, I haven't made plans this weekend. I kind of go with the flow," I said.

Truthfully, I was waiting to see if Billy was planning on asking to do something this weekend. "There's a party at Tommy's on Saturday night. His parents are out of town," Jason said. I nodded. Tommy had mentioned it to me earlier in the week and had invited me, as he had with Nancy and Steve too. "Are you going to go?"

"A house party while the parents are out of town... how cliché," I joked, making Jason laugh. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll consider it."

"Save me a dance if you decide to go," Jason said.

"Yeah, sure," I said carelessly.

Jason smiled at me as he walked off. I watched him for a moment before being broken from my train of thoughts by Billy's voice. "Why do you humor them?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We both know you don't want to dance with him."

"Who said that?"

"You don't need to say it, Rach. They bore you. You don't want the star football player or a soccer idiot," Billy said knowingly.

He was right, but that didn't mean that I was going to admit it. "Better than the guy who goes on one date with you, gets what he wants, and then never speaks to you again," I snapped irritably. I wasn't surprised that Billy didn't respond. He grinned at me. "Are you going to the party?"

"If I've got nothing better to do," Billy said noncommittally.

"Meaning Tina?" I hissed.

Billy smirked knowingly. "Would that bother you?"

"You can do whatever the hell you want, Hargrove."

"Like ask Tina to the party?"

"Go for it. I'll go with Jason, as long as that doesn't bother you."

"It won't bother me. We both know he'll bore you stiff."

"And Tina won't bore you?" I asked.

"Nothing with me is boring," Billy teased.

"Well, I'll never find out."

"So you say."

"So I know!" I barked.

Billy laughed as I stormed away in annoyance. Billy followed at a close distance as we walked through the halls together. There were barely two minutes left before the bell rang as we had stopped walking to argue. I headed to my locker with Billy not far behind me. I noticed heads turning to us as we walked. Everyone was curious about what was going on in our relationship. I didn't even know what was happening. I looked back at Billy, wondering why he hadn't left my side. His locker was on the other side of the school.

"Don't you need to grab your things?" I asked him.

Billy shook his head. "No. I have what I need."

Billy reached into his bag and pulled out the checkered shirt that I had forgotten after our first outing at the arcade. He was holding it over my head with a smirk on his face. I gasped and ripped it from his hands, realizing some people were watching. "I knew you had it," I hissed.

Billy laughed. "Don't get so upset. We both know that's not the last shirt you'll lose to me."

"This is the first and last shirt I'll lose to you, asshole."

"Lying doesn't suit you."

I rolled my eyes, stuffing my shirt into my bag. The bell rang as I did so. I scowled at Billy as I tossed my things into my locker and slammed the door behind me. "Bye, Billy," I growled.

Billy laughed at the annoyance in my voice. "See you later, Rach."

The two of us exchanged a dead stare for a moment before my mouth split into a grin. I wasn't that angry with Billy, though I would have liked to punch him in the face. I was just annoyed that I liked him more than I had been expecting to. I was annoyed that I didn't know how to handle hanging around with someone I was interested in. Billy and I walked in the same direction for a moment before he stopped at the chemistry classroom, winking at me as he walked in. I rolled my eyes again.

The school day passed in much of a blur as they normally did. I liked learning but I didn't like Hawkins High School. I missed my old school. I hung out with Nancy at lunch and explained why my car wasn't in the parking lot. The conversation reminded me that I was going to need to get a new battery so I could drive myself around again. First, I was going to need someone to take me to get one. My father wouldn't be home for hours and I didn't want to install the new battery at night.

I knew exactly who I could get to drive me to the auto parts store. I darted to catch up with Billy, who was heading to the parking lot, at the end of the day. "Hey, Hargrove!" I shouted.

Billy turned back and grinned when he saw me. "What's up, Rach?"

"What are you doing now? Don't say me," I snapped.

"Bringing you to get a new car battery?" Billy offered.

"Okay, not the answer I expected, but you're right," I said, making him laugh. "Do you mind?"

Billy nodded, motioning to his car. "Get in. I have to take Max home first."

"Yeah, no problem. I'm not in a rush," I told him.

We waited at the car for a few minutes for Max to come out from the middle school. She came skateboarding up and smiled when she saw that Billy wasn't alone. She greeted me and hopped in the backseat of the car. The three of us headed to Billy and Max's house first. Max and I stayed locked in conversation throughout the ride. We spoke a little bit about my old life in Florida and Max's in California. I spent some of the drive teaching Max about fractions. She needed some help. Once I saw that she did, I agreed to formally tutor Max.

Once we arrived at Max and Billy's home, I took a good look. It was a reasonably nice house that looked big enough to fit the family comfortably. It wasn't as nice as the house my family lived in, but Billy didn't look bothered by the obvious class difference. I turned back and said goodbye to Max, who thanked me for my help before hopping out of Billy's car and heading inside. Once she had gotten inside safely, Billy turned the car around and headed downtown to the auto parts store.

We headed downtown, talking happily among ourselves, laughing and chatting like we were the oldest of friends. I found myself smiling as we talked. It was something I had found about our conversations; we were able to talk to each other freely and feel like we had been best friends for our entire lives. It was comforting. Billy and I arrived at the auto parts store after a quick drive and I picked out the new battery immediately. I paid for it quickly and we headed back to my house.

Billy brought me back home, not needing directions as he had remembered my address from when he had dropped me off a couple of weeks ago. "Thanks for the help," I told him as he pulled up to the curb.

"Yeah, sure thing," Billy said.

As I climbed out of the car, I noticed that Billy was shutting off the engine and climbing out after me. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I can't leave you to fend for yourself," Billy teased.

"Installing a new car battery? It's not that difficult, Hargrove," I pointed out.

Billy straightened up and pulled his t-shirt over his head, leaving himself bare-chested. He grinned at me as my mouth suddenly went dry. "I'll leave if you want. But I'd be more than happy to help," Billy said.

I bit my lip as I stared at him. "Get started. I'll be right back," I told him. Billy nodded confidently, grabbing the battery and heading to my car. I glanced back as I walked up to my front door. "If you fuck up my car, I'll kill you!"

"I can change a damn battery!" Billy yelled back.

I laughed as I headed inside. I just wanted to change my pants. It was way too hot outside to work in jeans. "Hi, honey," Mom greeted. I smiled at her. "What happened to the car? I noticed it was here all day."

"Oh, the battery died this morning," I told her. "I was going to walk but thankfully someone saw me walking and offered a ride. I've got the replacement. I'm going to go hook it up now."

"I'm sorry to hear that but I'm glad someone gave you a ride. Do you need help?" Mom offered.

"No, I'm good," I told her.

There was no way she was going to go outside and meet Billy. Not while we hadn't figured out what we were. "Okay. Try and hurry! Dinner will be ready in about two hours," Mom said.

"Okay!" I called.

It shouldn't take more than an hour to install the new battery. I darted upstairs and pulled off my pants, tossing my bag onto the bed. I was halfway tempted to go back downstairs like that but I knew my mother would kill me. Instead, I changed into the smallest pair of shorts I owned and swiped on a thick layer of lip gloss before heading back downstairs. I walked outside to see that Billy had already opened my car hood and grabbed some supplies, likely his, to start working. I stood back and watched him work as the sweat glistened on his muscular back.

He looked damn good working. I watched with my arms folded over my chest as Billy leaned into the car, his ass firmly outlined against his tight jeans. "Are you planning on helping at all?" Billy asked.

"No, I've got a perfect view up here," I said.

"Winters -"

Billy straightened up to look at me. His movement stopped when he saw what I was wearing. I saw his throat bob as he swallowed thickly. "Problem?" I asked innocently.

"Not at all," Billy replied.

I walked up to Billy and took the cigarette he was puffing on, taking a deep breath. I left a sticky ring of pink around the end of the cigarette that tasted like cherry. "You sure about that?" I teased teasingly.

I froze as Billy walked up to me. He stole the cigarette from between my lips, his thumb brushing over my bottom one for a moment as he popped it in his mouth. "Hand me the wrench, will you?" Billy asked carelessly.

I scowled, leaning into his toolbox with my back to him. I knew that he was watching me. "Here," I said.

Billy walked up to me and took the wrench from my grasp. I waited for him to walk back over to the car, but he hadn't moved from his position in front of me yet. He was close enough that I could feel the heat coming off his body. Billy placed his fingers on my upper thighs, slowly dragging them upward under the hem of my shorts. I noticed his eyes go wide when his fingers ran underneath the hem and up to my hips, passing where the waistband of my underwear should have been.

"Cat got your tongue?" I asked knowingly.

Billy grabbed the strap of my cropped tank top, yanking me into him. I stumbled, breathing heavily as Billy slid one hand down my bare back and under the hem of my shorts. He rested a hand on my bare backside. "Winters, if you keep on like this -"

"You'll what?" I interrupted, grinning at him.

His response came immediately. "I'll fuck you so hard you won't be able to sit for a week," Billy growled, a warning tone to his voice. My eyes went wide. I had never had someone speak to me the way he did. Billy's eyes glittered. "Cat got your tongue?"

"To hell with the car," I muttered.

Billy laughed as he released me. My heart was hammering in my chest as I watched him. I was a little surprised that he stepped back from me and went right back to work. I didn't know how he could do it. I was still flustered, even as we began working. Billy loosened the bolt and used the terminal puller to remove the cable and terminal from the negative and positive terminal. We then removed the clamp holding the battery in place and set the parts and fasteners aside.

"Okay, do you want to pull the battery out?" Billy asked.

"Yeah," I said.

Billy stepped back and allowed me enough room to reach into the hood and wrap my hands around the old battery. I was well aware that leaning forward as much as I had was pulling the daisy dukes up my thighs even higher than they already had been. I wasn't surprised to feel Billy's jeans against my bare legs after a few moments. He was standing directly behind me and wasn't making any effort to try and hide just how interested he was in me. I could feel his interest pressed against my back.

"Hand me the new battery, will you?" I asked.

My voice quivered slightly as I spoke. I blushed, embarrassed, and angry with myself for not acting a little steadier around him. Judging by the puff of air I felt against my neck, he was laughing at my obvious embarrassment. I wished that I could have better control of myself around Billy, but I didn't. My control was lessening every day. It was how I knew that we would sleep together one day. It wasn't going to be much longer at this point. Neither one of us had any control when it came to the other.

"Here's the new one," Billy said.

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the new battery from him and setting it in place.

"I'll hook it up," Billy offered.

"Okay."

Once I was sure the battery wouldn't fall out of place, I stepped back. I smirked at Billy as we hung over the edge of my car. Billy had his head underneath the hood, hooking the new battery up. It wasn't a difficult task and I could have easily done it myself, but in the back of my mind, I knew that it was more time we could spend together. I wasn't going to complain about it. I watched Billy work for a moment, staring at him in silence, but I jumped when the front door opened and my mother walked out. Her eyes shot to Billy.

"Oh," Mom muttered. My face burned red at our appearances as Billy leaned up from his work. He grinned at my mother. "I didn't know you had a friend with you."

"'Friend' is a loose term," I muttered.

"Rachel!" Mom snapped.

Billy nudged my hip gently, wiping the grease off of his hands with a towel. "You must be Mrs. Winters," he said.

My mother smiled as she reached out to shake his hand. "I am, and you are?"

"Billy. Billy Hargrove."

Her eyes twinkled as she sent me a glance. I blushed. "Well, Billy, would you like some tea?" she offered.

"That would be nice, thank you," Billy said. Mom smiled and nodded, walking back into the house. Billy sent me a teasing smirk. "Your mother is lovely."

"Shut up," I snapped, leaning against the side of the hood as Billy went back to work finishing up hooking up the new battery. Once he was done, he leaned up to look at me. "What?"

Billy was chuckling. "Come here. You've got something..."

What did I have on my face? I raised my eyebrows as Billy stepped into me again. This time was a little more innocent. I felt him place a hand on my chin and swipe down, holding my face to stay even with his. His finger brought away some grease. I didn't blush this time as we stared at each other. My heart was fluttering faster than a mockingbird's wings, though. I started leaning into Billy, not thinking of the consequences of a kiss when the front door opened. I jumped back from him.

"Here you go. Hope you like sweet tea, Billy," Mom said, handing us both our glasses.

"Sweet tea?" Billy asked.

He looked confused. "We're in Indiana! I know they have sweet tea here," I told him.

"Well, not in California," Mom pointed out. "Sweet tea is a Southern and Midwestern drink."

"Shameful," I huffed.

"Try it. I'll get you something else if you like," Mom told Billy.

Billy took the drink and downed a long sip. His eyes went wide at the taste but a moment later he grinned. "It's good. Thank you," Billy told her.

I smiled. "Glad you like it. Have fun, kids!"

Billy lowered his voice, sliding a hand around my waist. "Don't worry, we will."

"You have to finish what you started," I whispered back.

Billy rested his hand on my thigh and said, "With pleasure."

There was no doubt that it would please him. It would please me, too. A lump formed in my throat that I forced down as I looked at Billy. I was so close to sleeping with him. It was all that I'd wanted since meeting him, but I was too damn stubborn. I didn't want to lose the very comforting friendship that we had formed over the last few weeks. We sipped our drinks together and chatted amicably as we finished hooking up the battery. I wished that it would have taken longer so he didn't have to leave.

"By the way, how does she know I'm from California?" Billy asked.

"I complain about you," I muttered.

In reality, she had likely overhead me talking about Billy to Casey during one of our phone calls. Billy laughed, knowing that I was lying to him. I turned back with my hose in hand, washing some of the leftover grease and oil from the battery exchange off the front of my car as Billy cleaned up the parts behind me. I was halfway tempted to leave things be, but I knew that I couldn't. So, I turned back and sprayed Billy in the ass with the hose. He jumped in surprise and turned back to me with a scowl. I smiled, having a hard time not laughing.

"What? I thought you said you missed the water," I said innocently.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Billy asked warningly.

"What are you going to do about it, Hargrove?" I teased.

It didn't take me longer than a few seconds to realize what I was getting myself into. I squealed in surprise when I realized that Billy was going to come after me. I sprayed him in the face as I darted off. Billy was laughing as he chased me into my front yard. He was already soaking wet but I wasn't going to stop. I turned back and sprayed him in the chest and pants again as he gained on me. I had forgotten how fast he was. I was a strong swimmer but I had never been a particularly fast runner.

Billy managed to catch me in seconds. He wrapped an arm around my waist and brought me down into the grass. I laughed hysterically as he sat on my legs, snatching the hose from my hands and spraying me in the chest and face. I shrieked with childish laughter as Billy slipped the hose up my shirt to drench my top half. He was pressing most of his weight against my legs as I tried to shimmy out of his grasp. It took me half a minute but I eventually did. He caught me again as I ran toward the street.

Billy caught me in his arms and held the hose over my head, keeping me in place while holding an arm around my waist, soaking me. We were both laughing like maniacs. "No, no! Billy, stop! Stop!" I shrieked, trying to push off of him.

"Billy!"

That wasn't me. The two of us shot apart and Billy turned the hose off. He still had an arm around my waist. His laughter ceased instantly. The smile was wiped off of my face when I noticed the tenseness in Billy's stance. "Hey, dad," Billy said tersely.

He was speaking to the driver of a beige station wagon. It was his father and stepmother. "Where the hell is Max?" Neil asked.

"I dropped her off at home," Billy told his father.

Neil's eyes tracked to me for a moment. I felt Billy's hands tighten on my waist, almost painfully. "To have a water fight with some -?"

"Her car battery was dead," Billy interrupted. I jumped in surprise from the nastiness in Billy's voice. He knew as well as I did that his father was about to call me a whore. "I was helping her change it."

"Go home and keep an eye on Max as I told you to do," Neil demanded.

Neil Hargrove's voice was filled with animosity. I couldn't believe he was speaking that way to his son. Susan remained silent, staring at the car floor. I looked between the father-son pair awkwardly. I didn't know if I should have stepped forward and introduced myself or remain silent. Eventually, Neil drove off in the opposite direction of Billy's house. I turned to Billy, still not pulling out of his grasp, unsure of what I should say. I knew that he was both too embarrassed and angry. There was only one thing I could do.

There was a chance I could try to lighten the mood. "Well, look at that. You finally managed to get me wet, Hargrove," I teased.

Billy laughed appreciatively. "Is it the first time?" Billy asked disbelievingly.

"Get out," I snapped. The two of us stared at each other awkwardly for a moment as I smiled at him. "Thanks for this. I had fun."

"Me too," Billy admitted. He smirked at me. "Also, you have no idea how wet -"

"No!" I snapped, pushing a hand over his mouth.

Billy laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," I told him. I turned around and bent over to grab the hose from its place on the ground. As I did so, I felt Billy slap my ass roughly. I whipped around but Billy was already halfway to his car. "Hargrove!"

"Goodnight, Rach," Billy called.

"Asshole!" I yelled after him.

The second I saw him tomorrow morning, I was going to punch him in the face. Billy turned back as he hopped in his car and winked at me, running his tongue over his teeth flirtatiously. I bit my lip for a moment, forcing myself to turn away before I did something stupid. As Billy drove off, I rolled up the hose and began putting away my supplies. Once I was done, I started the car engine for a moment to ensure that the battery was working before turning it off and heading inside.

Mom glanced up from her spot in the kitchen and immediately noticed that I was soaking wet. "Should I ask?"

"No," I said, blushing. "Can I have a towel?"

My mother laughed and handed me a towel from the laundry basket. I laughed awkwardly, wrapping it around my chest. "Your friend Billy is quite handsome," Mom said.

"Mom -"

"Don't 'mom' me," she teased. I smiled at her. "That's the friend you've been out with lately?"

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"I see why," Mom joked. "Is this a friendship or…"

She knew me well enough to know where my head was at with Billy. "I'm not entirely sure. I think it's a friendship that could maybe turn into something more," I admitted.

"Judging from what I saw out there, it's already something more," Mom teased.

"Oh, how much did you see?" I asked, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Enough to know that you should be happy your father isn't home."

"On that note, I'm going to get ready for dinner."

There was no need to ever have that conversation. There was no way I was going to tell her about my near-hookup with Billy. "Cute shorts, by the way. I liked them even more when you bought them when you were seven," Mom called after me.

"Mom!" I shouted.

She was laughing as I headed to my room. "I'm old, not blind."

It was a good thing that my mother was as understanding about things as she was. Otherwise, I would have been in a ton of trouble for the way I had just interacted with Billy. I was lucky that my mother had never been judgmental about my relations with the opposite gender and she knew a lot of what I'd done. When I finally went to sleep later that night, it was a restless one. I dreamed of Billy, our water fight, and what might have happened had we not been interrupted.

The next morning I dressed in tight-fitting acid-washed jeans, an off-the-shoulder white long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of beat-up boots. My mother gave me a pointed stare; she knew that I had worn the shirt because the back was mostly open. I blushed at her stare. I ate quickly and jumped up, heading to school before Mom said something that alerted Dad to what was going on. I headed to school early and was pleased to see that Billy was already sitting on the hood of his car, waiting for me. I hopped out of the car and headed to him.

"Good morning," I greeted him.

Billy smirked. "Morning."

Billy threw an arm over my shoulder as we walked into the school. His fingers were draping over my shoulders, gently running over the bone. I swallowed thickly as they moved onto my collarbone. I glanced over after a moment and noticed that there were marks on his knuckles. I stared at his hand with my eyebrows knitted. They were beginning to scab over but the marks were fresh. I took Billy's hand in mine and turned it over to get a better look at the healing cuts and bruises.

"What the hell is this?" I asked him.

"Nothing," Billy said, pulling his hand out of my grasp.

"Nothing?" I asked disbelievingly. "It looks like you got in a fight with the wall."

"Leave it alone, Rach," Billy said.

It would have been impossible to miss the warning edge in Billy's voice. I wanted to keep pushing but I knew that it wasn't the right moment. He wasn't himself today. I had already noticed this morning that he was quieter than usual. Typically Billy ran his mouth all morning long. He didn't stop until we had to go to class. Today he seemed to be far less willing to tease or even talk to me. So, I swallowed my curiosity and reached up to his draped hand and linked my fingers with his. I noticed the smile on his face appear as I did so.

We walked together for a moment before I spoke again. "You know, I could use some help with a radiator tune-up," I told him.

Billy smiled, pressing a kiss against my temple. "Just let me know when."

"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble yesterday," I said.

Billy waved off my concern. "I'm always in trouble."

A lump formed in my throat. "Still -"

"You're worth it, Rach," Billy interrupted.

My heart gave a pathetic flutter at the kindness in his voice. It wasn't something I'd heard before now. A large smile turned up on my mouth as I briefly laid a hand on his stomach. I liked it when Billy was like this. It made me feel like maybe I could have trusted him when he told me that he wouldn't leave me hanging once we hooked up. I felt like I might have been making some real progress with him. Of course, just as I thought that Billy put us right back to square one.

"So, who gets to play guy-with-no-future today?"

The smile that had been on my face dropped off as I scowled at them. "What makes you think I'm not looking for something long-term?" I huffed.

Billy smirked. "Call it a hunch."

There was the Billy I had come to know so well. I yanked myself out of his grasp irritably. "Half of the guys in Hawkins who have asked me out would make perfectly good dates," I told him.

"Why haven't you accepted any of their offers, then?" Billy asked.

"Do you think Julie Andrews even considers a project without an offer on the table?" I replied evenly.

"Have you deluded yourself into thinking that's why you keep declining their offers?"

"What other reason would there be, Hargrove?"

"We both know why you keep saying no."

"Because you're an arrogant prick?" I offered.

"You'd just be wasting their time," Billy corrected.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

How highly Billy thought of himself had annoyed me since day one. I was perfectly capable of going out with someone other than him and I was going to prove it. "Mark!" I chirped, spotting him at the end of the hallway.

I ran up to him with a brilliant smile on my face. "Hey, Rachel," Mark greeted.

"What are you doing tonight?" I asked him loudly.

"Uh, I don't have plans yet," Mark said.

"Want to ask me out?" I offered.

Mark smiled. "Are you going to say yes this time?"

"It's worth a shot," I told him. Mark smiled and shook his head. "Come on, third time's the charm."

"I think this is the fifth time," Mark pointed out. I smiled and nodded for him to keep talking. "Rachel, will you go out with me tonight?"

"Wow, I thought you'd never ask," I teased, running my hands through my hair.

Mark laughed. "I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Yeah. You know where the Wheeler's live?"

"Yeah."

"I'm next door. You'll see my car."

"Great. I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," I told him.

It was as easy as I had expected it to be. I'd known that Mark had wanted to go out with me since we'd met. I was positive that it would be a nice night and if it made Billy a little jealous, it would be even better. I gave Mark a little wink and waved him off. Once he had turned around the corner, I turned back to Billy with a smirk. I was surprised to see that he didn't look angry. He didn't have any hint of emotion on his face. I walked up to him slowly, wondering if he was upset with me.

When he opened his mouth to speak, I realized immediately that he was. "Enjoy your date."

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"Nothing, Rachel," Billy said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really. I'm happy for you. You got exactly what you wanted," Billy deadpanned.

What the hell had just happened? I only wanted to make him a little jealous as he had done to me plenty of times before. Billy scowled at me for a moment before turning to walk off. I couldn't even bring myself to call his name. I was too stunned at the turn of events. I had thought that Billy would tease me that I wouldn't have fun on my date. I hadn't expected him to be angry, which he was. I almost went running after him to ask what had happened when I was sidelined by the bell.

The first half of the day went by without me comprehending anything that was taught in my early classes. I was lost in thought throughout the day, wondering what had happened with Billy. I was just messing with him, the way he had done with me so many times before. Why was he suddenly so angry with me? I had accepted one offer of a date. He had been on plenty of dates in his first few weeks at Hawkins High School. His reaction didn't make sense to me.

It wasn't lost on me that Billy didn't talk to me at lunch. Normally, he would have come up to mess with me in the lunch line. He didn't even look at me during lunch. The only time he glanced away from his friends was when Mark had come up to me to ask if I was okay with going out to dinner. I had agreed quickly. As Mark walked off back to the other football players, I caught Billy scowling at my date. He only looked away when he realized that I was watching him.

Even in the hours that followed lunch, Billy didn't speak to me or look at me. It occurred to me during our respective gym classes that Billy was much rougher while playing basketball that afternoon. I tried to head Billy off as the bell rang but I was too slow. I didn't even get a chance to see him. He was peeling out of the parking lot as I'd walked outside. I knew that he had left as quickly as he had to try and avoid me. I let out a deep breath as I climbed into my car, slamming the door shut behind me in frustration.

When I arrived back home, I briefly considered running upstairs and taking a long nap until it was time for my date with Mark. As much as I wanted to hide from the world, though, I knew that I needed to talk to someone. I needed to have some serious girl talk. I turned the car engine off and immediately walked over to Nancy's house. I banged on the door for a moment, waiting for an answer. Her mother appeared but was quickly replaced by Nancy. She gasped in surprise as I grabbed her arm and yanked her across the yard into my house.

"Hi, girls," Mom said.

"Hi, Mrs. Winters," Nancy said.

"How was school?" Mom asked.

"It was great," I deadpanned. Mom's eyebrows furrowed. She knew from the tone of my voice that something was wrong. "Nancy's helping me get ready for a date."

"Oh, with Billy?" Mom asked.

"No," I snapped a little harsher than I'd meant to. "His name's Mark. He's a football player."

"Oh, okay," Mom said, backing down as she realized how annoyed I was. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks, Mom," I said, softer this time.

She nodded at me as I took Nancy's arm and brought her upstairs. We headed into my room and I closed the door behind me. "You're going to go out with Mark?" Nancy asked disbelievingly.

"I guess," I mumbled.

"You don't sound thrilled about that," Nancy pointed out.

"It's something to do," I said, shrugging.

Nancy sighed, pulling me onto the bed. "Rachel, what happened? You haven't been interested in Mark at all since school started and now you're going on a date with him. Come on, I won't judge," she promised.

"It was stupid," I mumbled.

"Tell me," Nancy goaded. I sighed and laid back on the sheets as I recounted the story of how I had ended up accepting a date with Mark. "Wow…"

"Well that's unhelpful," I growled.

Nancy laughed. "You're probably not going to like my answer."

"Why?"

"Did it ever occur to you that you might have hurt him?"

How the hell could I have hurt him? "What?" I sneered, annoyed with her insinuation. "It's Billy Hargrove; he's not going to be upset just because some girl turned him down."

Nancy was shaking her head. "That's not what I mean. I doubt being turned down bothers him that much; he's got a line of girls ready and waiting to accept a date." I scowled at her comment. We both knew how many girls would have liked to go out with him. "I think it's that you jumped at the chance to throw a date in his face."

How was that fair? He had done the same thing to me. "He's thrown dates in my face since we met."

"Do you remember the last time Billy went on a date? Not just teased you about one he had been on. When was the last time he went on a date?" Nancy asked.

My immediate response was that it had only been a few days ago, but I knew that I was wrong. I had to stop and think about it. He hadn't been on a date since the beginning of last week, just a few days after he had begun opening up and talking to me about California. "It's been at least a week and a half," I admitted.

"Do you think Billy could have easily gotten a date since then if he'd wanted?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah," I told her. Billy didn't even have to work to get dates. "It doesn't matter. He hasn't been going on dates because he's bored with the girls here."

"That's not it."

"Sure it is."

"No, it's not," Nancy countered. "It's because he has feelings for you and you know it."

"No, he doesn't."

He liked the way I looked but there was no way that he had any form of feelings for me. "Are you kidding? You're the only person in school he's talked to about California. You spend every Saturday morning together and I know you both look for each other every chance you get in the halls," Nancy pointed out.

"We entertain each other. We both think the other one's hot. We want to hook up. That's it," I reasoned.

"Maybe that's the way it started. Can you look me in the eye and tell me you don't have feelings for him?" Nancy asked.

I wouldn't even try that. "No."

"You want my honest opinion?" Nancy asked.

"Not really, but I could probably use it."

Someone had to tell me the truth because I was positive that I wouldn't come across it on my own. "As annoying as Billy has been and as much as he's messed with you, he's never asked out another girl right in front of you," Nancy pointed out. My heart dropped. She was right. "He's flirted with them, sure, but he's never asked them out with you in earshot."

"You're convinced I hurt him?" I asked her awkwardly.

"I am."

"Whatever. If I went out and slept with him, he would end up hurting me."

"You don't know that."

"I know guys like Billy. He would."

"So, instead of giving it a fair shot you two go out of your way to make the other jealous?" Nancy asked.

"Seems that way," I muttered.

My answer set Nancy off. "Why the hell are the two of you so stubborn? You like each other!" she shouted, smacking me on the shoulder. "Normal people would just go on a date."

"Can we do the lecture later?" I moaned, throwing my head back. Nancy was about to snap at me when I spoke over her. "I know I deserve one! I made a date with Mark that I now realize was a massive mistake but it's too late to cancel."

Nancy sighed but nodded. "Come on, let's see what we can do with you."

"Thanks, Nance. Sorry if I was being an ass," I muttered.

"It's okay. We've all been assholes sometimes," she said. I laughed. "Make it up to me by apologizing to Billy tomorrow."

"Yeah, I will," I promised.

There was no way I could wait until we went back to school on Monday to apologize to Billy. I owed him a massive apology and I knew it. Hell, I owed Mark an apology too and we hadn't even gone out yet. Nancy and I spent the next few hours bouncing around ideas regarding the rough state of my relationship with Billy. Nancy told me that the best idea was to go to Billy in the morning and admit that I was wrong. I hated apologizing to anyone, but I knew that I owed it to Billy.

Once she was positive that I was going to apologize to Billy in the morning, Nancy began helping me get ready for the date. I ended up going with a short red ruffled skirt that I hadn't worn since my mother had bought it for me months ago and a white scoop neck shirt that I had always loved wearing back in Florida. I paired the casual outfit with some older white sandals. I wasn't planning on trying to impress Mark that much, and the knowledge made me feel that much worse about my actions.

"Well, you look nice," Nancy said.

"Thanks, Nance. Sorry for being an ass," I said.

Nancy shook her head. "You're not. You just realized that you felt something more for Billy than you were expecting."

I rolled my eyes, throwing my head back. "God, he drives me insane."

Why couldn't I like a normal and boring guy like Mark? "I know," Nancy said, looking at her wristwatch. "You're about to go out with Mark so you may as well try and enjoy your night."

"Yeah. One dinner date won't be too painful," I said hopefully.

"Exactly. Come on," Nancy said, pulling me to my feet. "Mark should be here any minute."

"Let's go," I said. Nancy and I walked downstairs. My parents glanced up as they noticed us coming downstairs. "Goodnight, guys!"

"You look nice," Mom said.

"Thanks," I told her.

"Is he here?" Dad asked.

"He'll be here soon," I said.

"Have a good night. Don't be afraid to punch him if he gets a little handsy," Dad said.

It was the same warning he had given me every time before I went on a date since I was thirteen. Nancy and I laughed. "Thanks for the advice. See you later!" I yelled at my parents.

"Goodnight!" they yelled after us.

"Goodnight, Mr., and Mrs. Winters!" Nancy called.

"Goodnight, Nancy!" they yelled after her.

We headed outside and I threw my head back, relishing in the cool air. I needed a little breath of fresh air. "Tell me about the date tomorrow?" Nancy asked.

"Definitely. See you tomorrow," I told her.

We exchanged a long hug as Nancy wished me good luck on the date and headed back to her house. I was only left waiting in the driveway for a few minutes before Mark pulled up - he was exactly one minute early. I smiled and waved at Mark as I walked into the street. He was in a nice button-down shirt (buttoned up three more than Billy would have had his) and slacks. He was driving a 1982 Honda Accord. I walked to the passenger side and threw myself into the car.

"Hi," I greeted Mark.

"Hey. You look beautiful," Mark said.

"Thank you. You're not too bad yourself," I tried to joke. It wasn't completely heartfelt, but it went over Mark's head as he smiled at me. "So, what are we doing?"

"There's a nice restaurant downtown I figured we could head to," Mark said.

"Works for me."

Mark threw the car into drive and started down the road. His radio was playing 'Love Somebody' by Rick Springfield. It wasn't my kind of music. "I'm really glad you decided to ask me out. Well, you asked me to ask you out," Mark corrected himself.

I laughed. "Guys don't usually like when you make the first move."

"I thought it was pretty cool," Mark said.

"Thanks."

"You're not like the rest of the girls in Hawkins," Mark commented.

"I'm different. It's a gift," I teased, throwing my hair haughtily over my shoulders.

Mark laughed. "I like it."

"So, how's football been going?" I asked, desperate to get lost in conversation.

Mark spent most of the ride talking to me about football. He told me that football was the one thing he had always been good at. He was always a kid who loved to play sports and football was the sport he'd done the best with. His father had been thrilled that he was a football player as he had been one himself in his youth but had been sidelined by an injury. Mark was hoping to go to Indiana State University and major in physical therapy. I admitted that I did like that he had a plan for the future.

During our conversation, I told Mark a bit about my plans. I told him that I was always in the water but had never been a good enough swimmer to go professional. I had always liked watching my father work on his engineering projects and decided that I'd wanted to do it too. Mark told me that it would be hard (which I already knew) but he believed that I was smart enough for it. He asked if I wanted to go to college in Indiana but I said that I wanted to go to the University of South Florida, which was near my hometown.

We arrived at a nice Italian restaurant downtown and walked inside, hand-in-hand. I hated that I was wondering if Billy would bring me on a similar date. I wasn't completely myself tonight as I still felt guilty about this morning and what was said between us. I tried to shift my focus to the date and our conversation as we took a seat. We talked a lot about our childhoods and families. I told him that I was an only child and about my parents' careers. I did keep up the lie about why we had moved to Indiana.

Mark told me a lot about his life. Hawkins was the only place he had ever lived. He wanted to live somewhere bigger, though. He had a younger brother who was taking after him as a college player and an older sister who was in her last year of college where she was studying to be an elementary school teacher. His parents were divorced, though the split had been amicable. I noticed that Mark spoke very highly of his family whereas Billy was almost silent about his.

As we sat together, we chatted and laughed. I was having a perfectly nice time on the date. Our time together was light. It wasn't like my time with Billy, which was filled with tenseness and anticipation. But that was part of the excitement. I forced myself to enjoy the meal and talk to Mark like we were a normal couple. We laughed about the teachers we didn't like and exchanged stories about other students. I learned that Mark didn't like Tommy either but would go to his party. I told him that I wasn't sure if I would yet.

Until now I had been planning on going with Billy... Or spending most of my time flirting with Billy, at least. I couldn't get the Californian out of my head, no matter how hard I tried. I kept floating back to thoughts about him. Mark was sweet at the end of the date and offered to pay as we finished our dinner. He even offered to get us dessert but I had insisted that I was full. The truth was that I didn't want him to spend any more of his money on me. So, he paid and rose from his seat, extending his hand to me.

We headed outside with Mark's arm around my upper back. I wished that he would have held me the way that Billy did. It would have added a little more excitement. As the date ended, I found myself struggling with what to say to him. I couldn't keep leading him on. There was nothing wrong with the date. It was a perfectly nice night, but there was one massive problem. I was bored. Mark was incredibly nice but he wasn't my type. I had meant it the day I'd met him and I meant it today.

My voice died on my tongue as we stood outside of his car. "I'm really glad you decided to come out tonight," Mark told me.

"Yeah. Thanks for taking me out. I had a good time," I said.

Mark smiled at me as my stomach churned. This time it wasn't from nerves or because I was attracted to the guy in front of me. It was because I knew what was coming. Mark leaned into me and I was too stupefied to stop it. Mark pressed his lips against mine. I tried to kiss him back (or even push him away) but I couldn't bring myself to do anything. I stood there like an idiot and didn't respond to the kiss. Mark remained there for a moment before backing away. I tried to smile at him but was stopped by the look on his face.

"Can I ask you something?" Mark asked.

"Sure," I said.

"Why did you suddenly decide you wanted to go out?"

"Oh..." My voice died. Judging by the look on Mark's face, my less-than-enthusiastic reaction to his kiss had tipped him off to what was going on. "You had asked me out so many times and I didn't give you a fair shot. I was being stubborn. I guess I thought about it and I thought it would be nice to go out and see if there was anything here."

"Really? It's not because you wanted to throw someone in Hargrove's face?" Mark asked knowingly.

Shit. "What?" I asked stupidly.

It was too late to backtrack and give him a real reason that I had asked him out. "I'm not an idiot, Rachel. I was surprised that you had asked me to ask you out. Your one-eighty didn't make sense to me but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I thought that was the truth, but after tonight I realized that I was right. You didn't want to go out with me. You wanted to make him jealous," Mark said.

It would have been impossible to miss the hurt under the anger in his voice. He was right. All I could do was pray that he would accept my apology. "Mark -"

"Tell me the truth," Mark snapped.

He deserved that much. "You're right," I admitted.

Mark nodded. "I know, and I should have known this was why you were so eager to go out."

What could I say now except the obvious? "I - I... I'm really -"

"Come on, I'll take you home," Mark interrupted my pathetic apology.

There was no way I could let him leave without a proper apology. "Wait for a second," I said, gripping onto Mark's shirt sleeve to stop him. "Please, let me explain."

Mark shook his head, gently pushing me off. "You don't need to explain anything to me, Rachel. I get what happened."

"Of course, but I need to apologize," I said desperately.

"Do you feel bad that you did it or do you feel bad because you got caught?" Mark snapped.

My stomach sank to the floor. I hated the realization that he was right. I felt bad for hurting Mark, but I felt worse because I'd been caught. I had wanted to let him down easily. "No, Mark, I shouldn't have asked you out. You're right. I have feelings for Billy and I asked you out because I thought it would bother him. It wasn't right to drag you into it," I told him.

Mark nodded slowly. "It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier."

"Wait, Mark -"

"Come on. I have a curfew to make," Mark said.

It would be before eleven by the time Mark got home. He wasn't at risk of missing his curfew, he just wanted me gone. Feeling horrible about myself and what I'd done, Mark and I climbed into his car. I felt like such an ass. I wanted to be angry with Billy but I didn't have that right. It was my fault. I had now made both of them furious with me. I had fought with people and occasionally said or done some hurtful things, but I had never done anything like this before. I couldn't believe I had. I owed Mark the biggest apology of my life.

The ride back to my house was silent. Even as Mark stopped his car in front of my driveway, I didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, Mark," I said, just wanting him to forgive me.

"Goodnight, Rachel," Mark said noncommittally.

"Can I please say something?" I asked before getting out of the car. Mark stared at me but didn't shake his head that I couldn't. "Mark, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve what I did."

Mark took a deep breath as he shifted in his seat to look at me. "Your friendship with Hargrove never made sense to me when I first met you," Mark said. I nodded. On the surface, we didn't seem that similar. "I get it now. I see why the two of you are so close. You're the same kinds of people. Neither one of you cares about who you hurt as long as you're happy."

His words were hurtful, but they weren't anything I didn't deserve. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Trust me when I tell you that I'm not happy at all, but it's not about me. I used you and you don't deserve it," I said quietly.

"Thanks for admitting it," Mark said coldly.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"Goodnight," Mark replied.

My face was burning with embarrassment as Mark nodded for me to get out of his car. He drove off without looking back. I felt like both an asshole and an idiot as I walked inside. "Honey! You're home early," Mom commented.

She and Dad were curled up on the couch. "Yeah," I said tonelessly.

"How was the date?" Mom asked.

"It was fine," I said. I had to get out of here quickly. I could feel my throat tightening with the threat of tears. "Mark had a curfew to get home for."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dad asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I'm going to go to bed," I said quietly.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Mom said gently.

"We love you," Dad added.

"Love you guys too," I whispered.

Thankfully, they allowed me to go upstairs without another word. I knew they were aware that something had gone wrong but they weren't going to ask me about it. I wandered into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I walked to my bed and dropped without changing or taking off my makeup. I curled onto my side and threw a blanket over myself. I turned to the window and swallowed a thick lump in my throat. I had been such an ass. Both Billy and Mark had every right to never speak to me again.

When the sun rose the next morning I was still exhausted. I hadn't slept well. I had been thinking about Billy, Mark, and Nancy's words all night. I knew I'd hurt Mark but now I realized that I'd hurt Billy too, something I didn't think was possible. It was all because I'd wanted to prove myself capable of being with someone other than him. I knew that I was in the wrong. Billy hadn't been out with any other girls since we had started our quasi-relationship. I was the one who owed him an apology. First Billy, then Mark.

Once I'd gotten downstairs, Mom looked up at me. She was cooking pancakes, which was one of my favorite breakfasts. "Morning, honey. Breakfast?" Mom offered gently.

"You know, I think I'm going to go out for breakfast," I said suddenly.

"Did Mark ask you for breakfast?" Mom asked carefully.

"No, but I have someone else I need to talk to," I told her.

Mom put her spatula on the counter and walked over, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "If you want to talk about what happened last night, I'm always here," she offered.

"Depending on how this morning goes," I teased.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders to hug me tightly, pressing a kiss into my temple. "Good luck," Mom whispered.

I'd thrown on a pair of daisy dukes and a tight white tank top this morning. I scrunched my hair, too. Billy may not have normally accepted my apology so I was going to have to bring out the big guns. I hopped in the car and sped down the road toward the arcade. I could only hope that Billy was planning on bringing Max to the arcade this morning. I arrived at the arcade in a few minutes and parked. I hopped out of the car and headed toward the entrance. This was about the time he'd gotten here the past few Saturdays.

Pushing my sunglasses onto the top of my head, I walked up to the arcade entrance and leaned against the pillar out front. I wasn't left waiting and wondering if the pair would show up for long. Billy's Camaro came screaming up along the road and Max jumped out, in the middle of an argument with her stepbrother. Max didn't even notice that I was standing out front as she blew into the arcade. Billy did, though. He was about to take off but stopped as he was in front of me. He rolled down the window and lowered his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

I smiled at him with her foot propped against the pillar. "Want to go for a ride?" I offered happily.

Half of me was expecting him to turn down my offer. Billy shook his head with a reluctant grin on his face. "Get in," Billy told me, throwing his head toward the passenger side.

Once I was sure that he wasn't going to drive off if I made a move, I pushed off of the pillar and darted over to his car. I ran around the side of the car and hopped into the passenger seat, closing the door behind me. Billy barely spared me a glance as we took off through the arcade parking lot. I didn't know where we were going and I wasn't going to question it. I was too busy thinking about how to start my apology and how to make it sound genuine. Thankfully, Billy did it for me.

"How was the date?" Billy asked.

"It was okay," I muttered dumbly.

"Just okay?" Billy asked.

He sounded surprised. "Yeah."

"Are you going out with him again?"

"No, I don't think so. Mark's nice but he's not my type."

"Who is your type?"

You are. "Assholes, apparently," I said. Billy smirked at my admission. He knew what I meant. "But I'm no better." Billy glanced up briefly as we drove through the backroads. "You were right. I agreed to go out with Mark because I thought it would bother you, and in doing so, I hurt Mark who's been nothing but nice to me, and... I don't know what happened on this side."

"He'll forgive you," Billy said.

Apologizing to Mark would be the first thing I did at school on Monday. He wasn't getting away until he listened to me. I nodded mutely at Billy's answer. I knew that Mark would likely forgive me in time, but I still felt awful. "What about you?" I asked.

"You don't have anything to feel bad for," Billy said.

"You're not even a little upset with me?" I asked, shocked.

He had seemed extremely upset with me yesterday. "Why should I be?" Billy asked. I raised an eyebrow. I didn't understand why he wasn't upset with me. "You spent your entire date thinking about me."

"I did not spend the entire date thinking about you," I snapped.

"No? What about when he kissed you? Was he the one you wanted doing it?" Billy asked knowingly.

No. He was always so cocky. I wasn't ready to let him know that I had spent a lot of the night wondering what a kiss with Billy would have been like. "What about you, Hargrove? When you were with those other girls, were you thinking about them? Did you come close to ever letting the wrong name slip out?" I teased.

"Come close?" Billy asked, glancing at me. "Why do you think Tina doesn't like you?"

It was good to know that Billy wasn't just a jerk with me. I barked out a loud laugh as I smacked Billy's thigh roughly. He was laughing too. I wondered for a moment if he was telling me the truth. It didn't look like he was exaggerating. I hadn't liked Tina since we had met, but I did feel a little bad that Billy must have called my name when the two of them were together. I would have been both mortified and furious if a guy ever did that to me. It did send a shiver up my spine when I realized that he wasn't messing with me. He had called her by my name.

"I don't get how that makes her hate me and not you," I muttered irritably. Billy laughed at me. We remained in silence for a moment before I turned a heated glare on him. "Also, how dare you?"

"What?" Billy asked.

"How dare you think that I would be anything like Tina," I snapped. She screamed that she was a 'vanilla' kind of person. I wasn't. "Being with me isn't amateur hour, Hargrove."

Billy grinned. "You think I'd want you if I thought you were?"

"I think you're interested in any sexually active woman," I replied.

Billy laughed under his breath. "Not just any woman. Not many catch my eye."

"That's a lie," I growled.

"And hold onto it," Billy corrected himself.

It made no sense as to why Billy found himself so interested in me, but I wasn't going to complain. I was glad it had happened. I blushed at his comment but tried to cover it up with an eye roll. "Did you really call Tina my name?" I asked, trying to direct the conversation back to what we'd been talking about before.

"Yep," Billy replied plainly. I shot him a scowl. He didn't meet my eyes but he knew the look I was giving him. "Don't give me that look. Like you never have any salacious thoughts keep you up at night."

"Sure, but I can take care of myself," I huffed.

Billy's eyes shot over to me. I grinned at him, my eyes glittering playfully. "You'd rather do it yourself?" Billy asked.

"If it means I don't have to stop and explain the right way to do it," I admitted.

Billy snorted in amusement. "That's pathetic."

"You're telling me," I agreed.

The number of times I'd had to correct or change what a guy was doing to me was almost comical. Billy glanced at me again as we continued down the road. He turned back toward the arcade after a few minutes. I smirked, leaning back in the seat, knowing what Billy was looking at. My low-cut tank top was hiked up around my waist and my shorts were a size too small, riding up on my thighs. Billy placed a hand on my leg, resting his fingers on the inside of my thigh. I blushed slightly.

As Billy moved his fingers against my leg, I grabbed a cigarette from my pack and lit it, blowing the smoke out. I handed it over to Billy after a moment, who took three long drags before handing it back. I glanced up at him and smiled as he met my eyes. We exchanged a grin for a moment before I looked back at the road. I realized that Billy was bringing me toward a small diner near the arcade. We stopped and hopped out of the car, heading into the diner. Billy wrapped an arm around my waist as we placed ourselves on the same side of a booth.

We smiled at each other as I pulled my knees up to my chest. I was extremely relieved that Billy wasn't angry with me. That meant that I was one apology down. "So, what did you do last night?" I asked him.

Billy smirked. "Do you want to know?"

My face fell. He had gone out and hooked up with someone while I'd felt like an ass all night from my date with Mark. "And here I was feeling terrible all night about what I did," I hissed.

Billy laughed. "Nah, I stayed home after I went for a long drive."

A wave a relief washed over me. "And you didn't stop by?" I teased.

What if Billy had come by? What would I have done? Billy must have been thinking the same thing. "Would you have let me in?" Billy asked, sending me a brilliant grin. I bit my lip anxiously. I would have loved to let him in, in more than one way. He knew it, too. "Did you say you felt terrible all night?"

"I guess I have a bigger conscience than I thought I did," I muttered irritably.

Billy smiled at me as the waitress walked up. "Can I get you two something?" she asked.

My stomach began rumbling loudly. Billy's eyes moved to me and he began laughing. "What do you want?" Billy asked.

"Umm... Chocolate chip pancakes?" I half-asked, half-said.

Billy chuckled, shaking his head. "That's cute." I blushed dumbly as I looked down at my lap. "Can we get a stack? And two black coffees?" he asked the waitress, glancing at me for confirmation.

I nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be back with that in a few minutes."

"Thank you," we told her together.

It dawned on me as the waitress walked back to the kitchen that Billy had known something as little as the way I took my coffee. I pulled my legs back into the booth as I leaned against Billy. He smiled at me, wrapping an arm over my shoulder. "I wondered if you would be at the arcade this morning," Billy admitted.

"Did I surprise you?" I asked curiously.

"I thought you'd be here, but I thought you'd have Mark with you," Billy said.

Another stab of disappointment went through my chest. "Is that what you think of me?" I asked, trying to hide the sadness in my voice.

Billy was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "No. I knew you had only gone to Mark because you wanted to try and make me jealous," Billy confirmed. I was relieved that he knew how bad I felt about my actions yesterday. "I know you well enough to know that you would feel guilty about what you'd done so I figured you'd let Mark down gently."

"I tried, but I'm positive Mark will never speak to me again," I said.

Mark could have made a good friend. I had to try and fix things between us later. "His loss is my gain," Billy said.

I smiled at him as I shook my head. "I was never his to lose."

We exchanged a smile and remained silent for a few moments. Eventually, Billy asked, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I don't have any plans at the moment," I told him.

"Do you want to help me with algebra?" Billy asked.

"Algebra?" I asked doubtfully, arching an eyebrow.

"Scout's honor," Billy said, holding up a three-fingered salute.

I'd known Billy long enough to know that he didn't want to study. He didn't want to study algebra, at least. Maybe anatomy. I rolled my eyes at his hopeful stare. "Sure. I'll meet you at the library," I told him pointedly.

Billy's face fell. "The library?" he asked defeatedly.

"The library," I confirmed sternly. "We're going somewhere in public... for now."

"How about if I show incentive to get better grades?" Billy asked.

"Here you two are."

Billy and I glanced up and smiled at the waitress. "Thank you," I said. She placed the stack of pancakes on the table and walked off. I took the bottle of syrup and dripped it onto the stack, smirking as I dripped some onto my fingers. I licked the syrup off, smiling at Billy innocently as I did so. His eyes darkened. I leaned into him, placing my lips at his ear, brushing them against his lobe as I spoke. "It's like I said. It'll come with all the perks."

My lips gently brushed his throat as I pulled away. I could feel a groan erupt deep within his chest. Billy ran his fingers over my lips, wiping off the leftover syrup to place it in his mouth. "Deal," Billy said.

Billy was the only guy I knew who would have done something like that. We smirked at each other as I pulled back. I was seconds away from kissing him and I knew that he felt the same. The only reason I stopped myself from planting a big one on his mouth was that I didn't want our first kiss to be in a breakfast diner with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes underneath us. I giggled slightly at the thought as I began cutting up the stack. I took the left side of the stack and Billy took the right.

We chatted happily among ourselves while we ate. We joked about what we had spent last night doing. Billy told me that he had come within seconds of calling Tina to hook up. When I asked why he didn't, he refused to answer. I insisted that it was because he knew that he would have rather been with me. Billy reminded me that I'd already known that. I smiled at him, glad that we were both on our way to admitting that we wanted to... be together? Hook up? I wasn't sure.

I'd teased Billy that I'd had so much fun with Mark last night, though I had already told him that that wasn't the truth. Billy didn't believe anything that came out of my mouth regarding the date, though I did notice his jaw tense a little bit when I mentioned our kiss. His reaction made me grin. I had seen him kiss girls in front of me when we had first become friends. Now I was going to tell him - in excruciating detail with a few embellishments - about the one kiss I'd had since arriving in Hawkins.

It amused me to no end that the idea of me even kissing someone else bothered Billy. Every time I mentioned anything about the kiss, Billy had no response. When I mentioned the kiss, Billy insisted that I would have rather kissed him. When I mentioned the type of kiss it was, Billy told me that it must have been boring; closed-mouthed, and innocent. He was right. When I asked Billy what kind of kiss he would have gone with, I was shocked by his answer.

Billy grabbed my hip and pulled me against him. He spoke with a low and gravelly voice. He warned me that it wouldn't be slow. He wasn't a slow and gentle kind of man. He was going to make me forget everything - how to move, breathe, or speak. He would only want to hear me moan his name. He would slam me against the door frame, tearing at my clothes, as he would explore my every curve. Before the kiss was over, I would be begging for him. I felt like begging for him now. His speech was profane and more detailed than I had been expecting.

We were within seconds of kissing each other when I was shocked away from him by the sight of the waitress, who was coming with the check. "Here you two are," she said, handing us the check and staring at us suspiciously.

"Thank you," Billy said, taking the check.

"This one should be on me," I said, reaching for it.

"You'll find a way to make it up to me," Billy teased.

That was a fair deal. I rested my palm against Billy's upper thigh, squeezing it gently. "I guess I could think of something," I said quietly.

Billy's voice turned into a low warning growl. "Rachel..."

"Yes?" I asked innocently.

Billy reached out to my thigh and grabbed it, digging his fingers in harder than anyone else ever had. I gasped from the pain. Billy used his spare hand to drop some cash on the table for the pancakes. Once it was down, Billy grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the booth. I stumbled after him as Billy told the waitress to keep the change. He dragged me to his car and opened the passenger door, tossing me in. I collapsed into the seat as Billy walked around the car and threw himself into the driver's side.

Billy didn't start driving as I had initially expected. Instead, he grabbed me under the thighs and pulled me onto his lap. I closed my eyes and looked up as Billy grabbed at my shorts, pulling the back of the waistband down. His other hand slid under my shirt and began pushing it up. He grabbed my hair and pulled it back. I gasped at the pressure as he pressed his mouth against my throat. He bit the skin there roughly as he shifted his mouth upward. It was brushing against my jaw as I reached for his pants.

Billy slowly moved his mouth against my ear and whispered, "Beg for it."

"What?" I asked, shattered from my haze.

"Beg me," Billy repeated.

The heat of the moment had passed. I shoved Billy back against the seat. "No!" I snapped.

It was the reaction he had been expecting. Billy grinned at me, knowing that he had pushed me into a corner. "You're right. I know that you want me and you know that I want you. I've asked you out. Your turn," Billy said haughtily.

"Are you kidding?" I snapped.

Billy shook his head. "Not about this, Rach."

"Not going to happen," I hissed.

"We'll see," Billy teased.

It wouldn't happen. Billy pressed a kiss against the top of my chest and squeezed my thigh gently. I bit my lip to stifle a moan as Billy threw me into the passenger seat. I let out a loud bark of laughter. We were getting so close. Despite how stubborn we were, I knew that we wouldn't last much longer. We chatted amicably during the trip back to the arcade, despite the previously tense moment. It shocked me how we could be hot and heavy one moment and platonic friends the next. I didn't know how we were able to sit here in relative peace now.

Once we arrived back at the arcade, we jumped out of the car to wait for Max's hour to end. I scowled as I noticed some middle-aged women passing, all giving Billy the eye. Billy smirked back at the women, knowing that I was annoyed. "At least you'll always have middle-aged housewives to give your ego a good stroke," I huffed.

"I'd much rather get a stroke from you," Billy shot back.

I laughed at him. "Thanks, Billy," I said happily.

"For?" he asked.

"Everything," I said pointedly.

He had forgiven me when no one else would have. He had easily become my closest friend in Hawkins. Billy smiled at me. "Anytime, Rach."

We stood together for a moment as a smile split my lips. I thought about heading back to my car for a moment before I stopped, deciding to throw caution to the wind. We had been extremely touchy since we had met but we hadn't exchanged many real hugs. I threw my arms over Billy's shoulders and tugged him into me. He laughed quietly as he pressed his head into my shoulder and rested his arms against my bare back. I shivered as his fingers worked their way into the waistband of my pants. After a few seconds, I pulled away.

I wasn't able to pull back from him as I felt his fingers latch onto my belt loop. "I knew you didn't just have one," Billy said, his eyes focused toward the ground.

"What?" I asked dumbly. I didn't know what he was talking about. Billy motioned down to my right hipbone and I suddenly realized what he meant. I blushed awkwardly. That was a tattoo I could tell him the real story about. "Oh, I had a friend who was a tattoo artist and this was my way of trying to impress him."

"Did it work?" Billy asked.

"Partially. It turned out he wasn't worth impressing," I said.

The one time I had hooked up with my old tattoo artist was okay, but it hadn't lasted more than five minutes. At least the tattoo I had gotten out of it was cute. "Count me impressed," Billy teased.

The tattoo that I had gotten out of it was a wing that rested low on my right hipbone. The ink was so low on my skin that normally I wasn't able to see it as long as I had pants on. That had been the point when I'd gotten it - I knew my parents would have killed me if they'd seen it. The ink ran from my hipbone to the middle of my pelvic bone. The wing wilted from feathers to a shooting star at the end. Billy's hand shifted to the front of my pants and I sucked in a breath as I felt him pull the fabric down slightly.

I pulled his hand back. "If you want to see the rest of it, you've got to at least buy me dinner," I warned.

Billy chuckled. "Oh, I can do far more than that."

We both knew that we had a long night coming. The question was when it would take place. I smirked at Billy, throwing his hand back to himself. I smirked at him again. I knew that we were both trying to hold out but I also knew that we wouldn't last much longer. I wrapped my arms over Billy's shoulders, which he surprisingly didn't object to. He wrapped his arms around my waist in response, resting his palms on my back pants pockets. His fingers wrapped over my rear that didn't quite fit in my too-small shorts.

"Winters," Billy growled.

"Hmm?" I hummed innocently.

"You know how to drive a guy out of his goddamn mind," Billy said.

He wasn't wrong. "If you think this is too much, maybe you can't handle me," I teased.

The moment it came out of my mouth I knew that Billy wouldn't be happy. He didn't like me bringing his manhood into questioning. Billy took one hand off of my rear and grabbed my hair, pulling it up into a makeshift ponytail and yanking it back even harder than he had in the car. I let out a half-gasp, half-moan from the sharp pain as I had earlier. Billy placed his other hand underneath my thigh and lifted me onto the car hood, stepping between my open legs. His fingers grabbed at me hard enough to leave bruises.

"I can keep up just fine, Rach. Can you?" Billy asked.

"Guess we'll find out," I said knowingly.

There was no doubt that we were going to hook up. We both knew it. "Oh, we will," Billy confirmed.

"Gross."

Billy and I pulled back a bit to see that Max had arrived. She was scowling at us, openly groping each other in public. I laughed at Max's reaction, shoving Billy off of me and hopping off the car. "Hey, Max," I greeted her.

"Hi, Rachel," Max said, smiling at me.

Max jumped into the car as I turned back to Billy, resting my hands on his belt buckle, tugging him into me. We were so close that we could almost meet lips. "Bye, Billy," I said quietly.

Billy pushed up my tank top and splayed his open palm against my upper abdomen, his thumb resting underneath the underwire of my bra. It was just barely brushing my bare skin. "See you around, Rach," Billy replied.

My breath seemed to be lodged in my throat. I couldn't remember how to breathe. All I could do was force myself to leave before I did something stupid. I leaned up and pressed a kiss against Billy's cheek. He held my waist for a moment before letting me go. I headed back to my car, feeling like I had just sprinted a mile. I didn't know how or when it had happened, but I was feeling something strong for Billy and I was terrified that those feelings were going to get me hurt.

A/N: Welcome back! As always, thank you for all of the follows and favorites. I always appreciate and look forward to them! Please review! Until next time -A

Vincent FGS91: Yes, I have. We lost a lot of great characters in Season 3, unfortunately. I'm waiting until Season 4 comes out and I finish watching it to figure out how I want to write my version of Season 3. Thank you! I'm doing well. Going a little stir-crazy from being inside all the time but at least I'm safe. Hope all's well on your end!

musicluver246: I hope you liked this one!

Angryfanfic: She will! It will be a little while but I promise Rachel will meet Eleven.