The car was silent for a while, before he fiddled with the radio until the radio was blasting whatever was most popular at the moment. Her knuckles where white as she clutched the wheel like any sudden movement would have them skidding right off the road and into a ditch. Billy doubted that'd happen, she drove slower than his grandma, and she was six feet in the ground.
Unlike the other girls who prattled on about this and that or the other while he slammed his head against the seat and hoped the force would knock him out, Diane stayed silent. After telling him she was still unhappy with him (which what the hell had he even really done?), she had retreated into herself after spontaneously inviting him for a joyride. Her unending silence was like an itch in his brain.
And in that moment he thought it was ironic, the way everyone seemed to find her impossible to read, shrouded in her dark clothes and behind sealed lips, when she was so startlingly transparent. The smile that tugged at the corners of his lip was immediately pressed right down into a hard, angry line.
There was no reason to be that amused by her. When words had failed her, she had shown just how unhappy she was by her pursed lips. Except she wasn't shrieking at him, or crying. Boredom was letting his brain lull back into places he didn't care to think about ever. He didn't do bored, nor did he ever get waited on.
The third song came on. He hated this one, some happy shit about never stopping believing in love. It was bullshit. Leaning forwards he fiddled with the knob again.
In the prolonged silence he wanted to know exactly what she was thinking. He wanted to know why she had upended her living room like an alcoholic searching for a bottle they knew had been emptied long ago; he wanted to know why she wanted to drive - with him - when she had been so stubborn mere minutes ago; he wanted to know what that little crease between her brows was about.
A penny for your thoughts? He wanted to ask and this time he did grin, though it looked more like a grimace.
A penny for your thoughts. Christ, where had he even heard that uttered out loud, and with sincerity? Right in Hawkins, of course. A penny for your fucking thoughts.
Next time some small-town Indiana bumpkin asked him for a god damn penny he'd gladly shove it right where the sun-
"Um, which way do I turn?" She asked suddenly and he was yanked out of his reverie.
"What?"
"To get to the quarry." She clarified, keeping her eyes focused on the road. He was surprised she hadn't drilled a hole into the asphalt yet by the intensity she bore straight into the ground. "I figure you'd know."
"Yeah and why's that?"
"It's where everyone goes when Lovers Lane is full."
"Dobler does know things, then."
"Even the deaf would hear the shrieking that happens in the hallways." She replied, eyes remaining on the road with determination.
"Turn right up here." He answered. She followed his instructions, trusting him out of necessity. "It's almost funny how hard you pretend to be above it all."
"Excuse me?"
The trees grew more sparse as they got closer to the quarry. Fluffy clouds gathered on the horizon. The road began transitioning from smooth asphalt to the unkempt cement trail. It was straight from here on out until the quarry.
"Those dark, frumpy clothes you always wear." He looked at her critically and she shot daggers at the road fully intended for him, "Being the last in and the first out of classrooms; hiding in the library reading next weeks assignment during lunch; walking to school two miles just so you don't have to be crammed in a small shitty bus filled with your classmates . . . get real."
"Not all of us are obsessed with high school popularity you know." Her hair whipped around her face as he rolled down the window, lighter and cigarette carton already in the palm of his other hand.
"You do everything you can so people can't talk to you. Don't know Dobler, that sounds pretty," he leaned forwards into her personal space, the cigarette smoke curling out between his lips, "scared, to me."
"Not going to parties and getting doused in beer doesn't make me scared." She answered through gritted teeth.
That familiar manic expression had taken hold of its eyes again, it did whenever he tried pushing her to her limit. "Feels better to reject someone before they can reject you first."
"Speaking from personal experience?" She shot back.
The edges of his lips began curving into a grin.
He leaned even closer, encroaching into her space and filling her head with cologne and cigarettes. "Drive faster."
Her hands rubbed and clutched the steering wheel tighter. "That sounds like its going to become more dangerous."
"Live a little." Cigarette smoke filled up the front of the car. "Come on Diane, just a little more pressure on the peddle, feel her purr."
Reluctantly she put her foot down a fraction. The speedometer barely moved.
"What's stopping you?"
"We could die." At this speed she didn't dare glance over at him.
"We all die someday."
"Well I'm not interested in expediting that."
"If you're so scared of living you can't even drive right, then why not just die now." He said.
"I'm not scared." She snapped.
His face was daring, eye brow lifted up as he silently taunted her.
Biting her lip she took a deep sigh. Just a little faster. Just a few more miles per hour, if only just to shut him up. But she should know better by now. If Billy received an inch, he'd demand a mile and then the whole distance.
The forest was already a blur. The engine vibrated as the car sped up. They were entering the area near the quarry, soon it was going to be straight road only with nothing but flatland and rocks on either side. Just a little more: she was slammed into the back of her seat along with Billy as she pressed down too hard. She gave a small cry of shock but Billy was ecstatic.
He shot forwards in his seat, one hand on the dashboard, the other gripping the back of her seat.
"Don't slow down." He said, suddenly removing his seatbelt.
"Wh-wh-" She began as he rolled down the window and gripped the outside, hoisting himself to sit on the window frame. If he was saying anything she couldn't hear it over the wind. His one foot was on the seat, the other firmly planted on the car mat.
Grass was beginning to spring in-between the stones the closer they got to the quarry. Right, shit. Quarry.
"Billy-" She yelled.
He hit the car roof in response. No, she was not going to shut up.
"Billy!" She yelled, "You need to get back in."
She had underestimated how close they were. The only way she could stop before they plunged over the quarry was a rapid stop, and if she did so now he'd go flying.
"Billy!" She screamed, and finally he swung himself back in. Already he was hastily trying to find the seatbelt and wrangled it over his form. From his vantage point he had seen the quarry's jagged edge.
She couldn't wait any longer. Her foot jammed against the brake and both of them jerked forwards sharply. But he had clicked his seatbelt in a split second before. The car screeched and slid, bumping as they went off the road. The smell of burnt tire was acrid. The car turned to the side slightly, and then came to a stop, only a stones through from the ledge. She looked out over the window and could see the water that lay far, far below.
They had almost died. She had almost killed them. He might have egged her on but she had risen to the bait. And it was her who was the driver. Technically - well, legally, she'd be at fault for both of their deaths. All because she had become indignant at his needling.
Slowly she rested her head against the steering wheel. She was still alive. She laughed and then groaned as the shamed hit her. She had been raised better. She was supposed to be the mature one who didn't get into reckless situations.
But the giggles from the exhilaration of the whole situation bubbled back up. She had survived, and so had he. She had driven faster and they were both still here, and she had never felt more alive. Finally she slumped back into her seat, hands still clutching the steering wheeling with white knuckles as she turned to look at him, a smile still playing on her lips. Her hair looked like chaos and the blood was thrumming in her veins.
He was already staring at her, and she didn't know how for how long now. He had a strange look in his eye she couldn't identify, like his eyes had grown brighter, lighter.
"What?" She asked, glancing down at her clothes. Except he wasn't looking at her like he was mocking her with lustful look he usually had as his eyes trailed up and down her form. The light in his eyes was almost innocent. Though that would be the last adjective she'd use to describe him.
The small smile on her face faded. She righted herself in her seat. "Right. We should talk."
"Yeah?" His tongue skimmed the bottom of his teeth. "I can think of another language we can use. I can teach you. I'm . . . a very patient instructor."
She shot him a scathing look before getting out of the car and slamming the door. Crossing her arms she marched towards the edge of the quarry. She must've been blinded by the sun or adrenaline, because Billy Hargrove didn't have an innocent bone in his body.
Still, her face had heated up and she swallowed at the way the suggestive words slid off his tongue with charming ease. Diane sped up a little, tempering her features so he wouldn't pick up on it. If he caught even a fraction of her reaction he would gain the upper-hand, and she wasn't good enough in that game to hold her own.
And really, she had something serious to talk about that she couldn't be derailed in. This was too important.
The air was getting chilly and goosebumps erupted on her skin despite the layers of clothing she wore. The crunching of gravel grew louder as Billy traipsed over to her in no particular hurry.
Sparing no time she rummaged around inside her jacket.
Diane took out the black microphone in her pocket and showed it to him on splayed palm.
"The hell's that?" He narrowed his eyes in scrutiny.
"It's a microphone. I found it in my chimney."
"That . . . is why you dragged me out here?"
"I didn't drag you. And yeah, it is. Someone's been recording everything happening in my house."
"Maybe your parents like to get freaky."
"They do not get freaky." She wrinkled her nose.
"Oh Dobler, don't tell me we have to go over this now. You see, when a man meets a wom-"
"I know how that works." She snapped impatiently. Diane didn't know how, but Billy seemed to have an uncanny ability of derailing her focus. "They wouldn't do this. Someone's bugged our house and I don't know why."
"Is the car bugged?"
"I don't know." She admitted. "I just . . . someones been listening into all of our private conversations."
"So?"
"So?" She spluttered. "So why would anyone go through the effort of bugging my house? I want to know what they're searching for."
"And when you find these people who have taken the time to bug up your house you'll what? Confront them? Ask if they're getting their rocks off listening to your parents going at it in the living room?"
"That's the plan, I guess." She answered stiffly. Everything had been impulsive since she had found the device, and telling Billy was going about as well as expected. Except she hadn't needed to tell him at all. But the confession had burst through, needing to be spoken aloud. As soon as she had spoken the words, they had taken more force. They were now a fact thrown into the universe.
Her house had been bugged. Someone was spying on them, and she didn't know for how long or until what end.
"You wouldn't confront a raccoon if it were rummaging through your garbage can."
"Aren't you the least bit curious?"
"Curiosity is just playing stupid games. And stupid games win stupid prizes." He answered. The familiar sharpness shone through his eyes again, signalling some memory only he was privy to.
"Right. I get it. It doesn't involve you so it doesn't matter." She snapped, crossing her arms. Again she battled the feeling that she was completely crazy and there was a rational explanation for everything. That's what she had been taught.
Oh no. Oh, maybe that's what all this was. Her face became blank. In the ensuing chaos she had forgotten to take her daily pills. She hadn't even remembered when she had begun taking them it was that long ago. They were for anxiety or something. Her mom had once told her she was born with it.
After a moment she shook her head in defeat. "Never mind. This was stupid."
She walked back to the car and waited for Billy to finish smoking his next cigarette and apparently contemplate his existence as he stared over the quarry. Finally he flicked it over the edge and trudged back to join her.
He had gotten what he had come for, which was a ride in her car. Well, partially what he had come for. If it had been up to him, he would've have gotten to ride in the drivers seat himself and burnt rubber.
Her irritation only grew on the way back as he continued drumming his fingers against the dashboard.
They hit the main road again that would take her back to her house. They passed several fields looking desolate post-harvest. Large barrels of hay littered some of the properties in large batches. They'd soon be carted off to the seasonal Halloween fair.
The car rolled to a stop at an intersection.
"Huh." He said.
She waited for him to elaborate. But after a few moments of silence her curiosity was gnawing at her and she prompted him, "Huh what?"
He waved his hand out his window. "Looks like our little friends are here too."
The van that had come to her house just hours earlier rounded the corner, turning around a corner just as she was forced to stop at the traffic light.
"They had to have come from Hawkins High. Weren't they just there a few hours ago?" She asked absent-mindedly.
The car swerved as she hastily decided to pull left towards the direction of the van instead of towards her house. All she'd need was just one last conversation with the energy department employees, then she would know she was going crazy with anxiety and would go home. Then take her pills, and wait for the looks she'd get at Hawkins High as Billy no doubt told the people he hung out with like Carol about how loner Diane was a designated loner for a reason.
He stared at her unabashedly. "You're going to stalk them."
"You got something better to do?" She raised a brow.
"Literally anything else."
"Fine, I'll drop you off, where do you want to go?"
"Oh no," He shook his head with a slow developing grin, "I'm not passing off the chance for you to humiliate yourself, Nancy Drew."
"Well I'll just pin it on you if I get caught." She answered smoothly.
"That little plan of yours failed before it even began."
"Yeah and why's that?"
"Because I'm Billy Hargrove." He winked.
The light turned green.
"If we could channel your ego into power you'd put the Hawkins power plant out of business starting yesterday."
At what sounded like a smothered laugh disguised as a cough she glanced over, but he was looking out the window. The collar of his denim jacket was slightly askew and she itched to rectify it. But then she'd be stuck in a confined space with him as he mocked her endlessly for reaching out to touch him.
The pines reflected on the windows of the car. Far ahead she could see the little dot of the van. Dry leaves were upended and spun in large arcs as they raced down the road.
"Now that you can drive I'm sure you'll put this sweet thing to good use."
She snorted. "The only place this is going it back into the garage."
"Probably a good idea. An upper-class girl like you driving around the riffraff of town, what would your parents say?"
"Driving a Camaro doesn't make you poor, either."
"I meant Harrington and the like." He sniffed, acting offended he would even be considered to be in the poorer category of Hawkins residents.
"He's nice." She answered, refusing to add more. He certainly had a few hang-ups, but Steve Harrington was the one she didn't understand yet. Everything about Billy's world centred around cool cars, and being popular and getting together with the most attractive girls he could find.
Steve used to be the reigning king of Hawkins High, but since school began again he had changed. The untouchable friendship trifecta between him, Tommy and Carol had fractured irreparably. Now he hung around the prim Nancy Wheeler and Jonathon Beyers of all people. He was currently in some social limbo between popularity and being a loser. By all accounts he should've been ignored by Billy.
"Why do you want to be with just one guy so bad?" He asked.
"Why don't you?" She replied.
"Because I'm into girls."
He knew full well what she was asking. Diane bit back a sigh. "Why do you care?"
"Well I was thinkin' of studying Psych after graduation, and thought you'd be a great case study."
"You have issues too, you know." She said.
He laughed harshly. "Yeah, well, I didn't just invite someone I don't even like onto a road-trip with me."
She concentrated harder on the road and pressed her lips into a tight line. Then she fumbled with the radio, finally managing to press find the knob. She turned the sound up, hoping it would drown out anything he said in the future.
They were getting closer to the South side of town, office buildings popping up more frequently and interrupting the flowing green of the forest. The van pulled onto the main street.
By the time she was close enough to make the turn the van had disappeared. Her eyes scanned the environment hawkishly. Then did a double take before immediately slowing down. The van had pulled into the seedy bar at the edge of town. The gravelly lot was nearly filled with the residents alcoholics vehicles.
"What are they doing at the bar?"
"Well it's called Happy Hour for a reason." He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand with an air of exasperation.
"On company time?"
His eyes rolled over and he stared at her with the slightest raise of a brow.
"Well I'm going in." She parked the car on the side of the road instead, trying to keep some distance from the people she had impulsively decided to stalk. Quelling the feeling of disbelief over her own actions she reached for the car door.
His hand grabbed her wrist and she whipped around to glare at him. He was far from intimidated. "You won't get in."
"Well not with that attitude." Diane replied.
She swore she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Your face looks like it belongs on a giant poster that says Come to Church, it's real swell to sing about Jesus."
Her eyes flickered to the rearview mirror in response. Why did she had to look like she was barely of age while Billy Hargrove got to look like he was in his early twenties? They were only a year apart in age.
"If I just looked older I'd be taken seriously." The words slipped out of her mouth with a sigh weighed down with years of frustration.
He snorted. "You won't be taken seriously because you don't take yourself seriously."
She opened her mouth to retort but snapped it shut. Focus, Diane.
Instead she forced smile and said, "If I buy you a beer will you go in with me?"
He held up his hand. Three.
"We're on a mission here." She scowled.
"Correction. You are on a mission. I'm here to drink and get free entertainment."
She looked out the window for a moment as she contemplated. She did have the money, but it was the principle. They shouldn't even be in a bar. Both of them were below the legal drinking age.
"Fine."
It was only when he let her go did she realise he had been holding her the whole time. The warmth from his hand had seeped past her sleeve and lingered on her skin.
As she walked cautiously towards the dark door she tried to see if she could find the head of the bouncer in the smoky round window that had been placed into the upper part of the door. She nearly jumped as she felt Billy's hand on her lower back.
He leaned closer, lips brushing the shell of her ear. "Look bored, let me do the talking, and stay behind me."
To her surprise there was no bouncer as he swung the door open. The cloying smell of stale smoke wafted out of the bar and they stepped inside. A jukebox was playing old rock in the corner.
The wooden stools were worn smooth was years of use and the black-and-white laminated floor tiles had begun peeling. She stood partially behind Billy as he walked with ease. "Get a seat in the corner." He muttered.
The bartender glanced up for a moment, saw Billy and then looked back down at the glass he was cleaning. She moved to an empty corner.
As Billy ordered himself beers on her dime her eyes flitted through the hazy room to find Judith and Rob huddled in the corner with a third man she had never seen before. Their heads were close together as they spoke tersely.
She wasn't as thrilled as she thought she would be to find out she wasn't crazy. This meant there was a rabbit hole to follow, and everyone knows Alice ended up lost in Wonderland.
A/N: Sorry for the disappearance, readers. Life has been hectic but I crawled out of the woodwork to keep updating and finish this story. Thank you for all the reviews and the PM's demanding updates.
As for S3: I feel pretty happy I had the same interpretation as the ST writers did on Billy's character which is why I was drawn to writing him in the first place. Not so happy about his ending though.
Anon1: There isn't anyone I had in mind when writing Diane, I just thought her up in my own head :)
Guest1: Thank you! Capturing his character is tricky imo, just since there's that so much nuance in his misguided actions since he was never given the proper tools to tackle his emotions growing up in a volatile household. So hopefully I'll be able to continue keeping him in character while letting Diane push him in the compassion department and having him (eventually) face the fact that he himself is valued.
Cosmo39: Thanks! I love creating OC's but I know they're not popular with everyone lol
Laila3374reads: I got inspired by how character-driven the show is and definetly wanted both Billy and Diane to emotionally drive each other/the plot of the story forwards.