CHAPTER 6 – CRUEL SUMMER

Penelope woke up with the worst hangover headache. She groaned, cursing the sunshine in her eyes and last night's drinks, and most importantly, the annoying sound of her alarm. She slammed the clock on the ground, smashing it just enough to throw the batteries out of it, and buried her head under the pillow. What the hell had happened last night?

She vaguely remembered going to a party, even though whose she couldn't really remember. She remembered getting there, dancing, and then pouring herself shots of tequila one after the other, until the room was spinning with her when she danced. What she didn't remember though was how she'd gotten home or why she was missing one shoe.

But then again, Penelope figured none of this should have surprised her. For the last couple of weeks, all she'd done was drink herself to oblivion and then somehow still miraculously find her way home. At first, she'd done it just to piss her parents, as if seeing their daughter in this state would bring some sort of parental instinct in them and they would realize how substantially they had fucked up by leaving her alone on her graduation day. But when she'd seen that their parents only saw this as another way to turn all the blame on her and say how incompetent she was, she continued with the drinking just to have an excuse to get out of the house and do something to forget how awful her life was right now.

And she'd kept this habit up, until just a few days earlier, she had finally come up with the best escape plan. All summer, she would look for the best paying job in Hawkins and save enough for fall, so that she could run away to Chicago without telling her parents and wait until the late admissions in the spring to enroll into one of the universities there that had psychology majors. It was the absolute perfect plan, and once she would be there, free from her parents and everything that meant Hawkins, she would get a job in Chicago and everything would work out just fine.

So, Penelope had started with the first step, finding a job in Hawkins. With another hangover, she'd walked around the small town and caught wind of the fact that the best available job she could get right then was at the Hawkins Pool as a lifeguard, given that a spot had just become available. Hearing that, Penelope had almost yelped with excitement. So she would get paid to sit on her ass and yell at kids or teach them some swimming lessons. It sounded like the easiest job there was.

She'd gone there and to her surprise, they had hired her on the spot especially after hearing she'd been in the swimming team for the first two years of high school. From there, they'd told her everything she needed to know, and that she would start in a few days, filling in for Heather Holloway who had just quit.

And now today was her first day. And she was going there with a hangover.

She got out of bed with another groan and went straight for her closet, taking out the swimsuit they had given her after the interview, putting it against her body and thinking it wasn't all bad at least, red had always suited her.

So, thirty minutes later after she got ready, Penelope came downstairs and grabbed the first snack out of the fridge she found, without bothering to answer her parents where she was going, just like she didn't bother to tell them anything these days. And because she'd decided as of late that she was completely off the rails and she loved it, she stole the keys to her dad's car without him noticing and climbed inside with a smirk, knowing damn well she was going to get an earful for this when she would be back and not caring at all.

Yes, Penelope decided as she drove away in her dad's car. Being officially off the rails suited her.

She parked in front of Hawkins' pool building, surprised to see how many people were there so early in the morning, and went in with another curse at all the sunlight that didn't help her headache in the slightest. She walked to the main desk where she was informed that she would spend 5 hours on the pool ground, supervising everything until the next lifeguard would come to change shifts, and then another 5 hours at the front desk until closing. Sounded easy enough to her.

She spent her shift on the lifeguard chair bored out of her mind, with her dark sunglasses on to make her hangover less visible, and found that the only eventful thing happening all day was a kid managing to drown in 5 feet pool. But other than jumping in the pool to save an idiot kid and blowing her whistle at running assholes, Penelope could say this was better than she'd expected.

She looked at her clock now and saw that it was 10 minutes to 2 o'clock, which meant her change of shit was coming. She climbed down from the chair wondering if she would have time to catch a smoking break before the person she was supposed to change places with would come, but then figured the pool wouldn't go apeshit if she left for ten minutes.

She reached for the bag at her feet to take out the pack, and froze mid movement.

~Soundtrack: Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer ~

The door at the end of the pool coming from the main desk opened and through it walked none other than Billy Hargrove, with a cigarette dangling from his lips as always, and wearing a pair of brown sunglasses and a whistle around his neck, identical to hers. He wasn't wearing a top, which should not have surprised Penelope considering Billy would take any opportunity to display himself, yet what did surprise her were his red shorts. Because they matched her bathing suit.

Shit.

This couldn't be happening, Penelope thought. She knew she would change shift with another lifeguard, but there was no way in hell that would just happen to be Billy Hargrove, the guy she'd avoided for weeks now. How had she not known about this before taking the job?

For a split of a second, she looked at him before thinking over her next move. His hair was even curlier than usual, and his perfect chest looked like it was goddamn glistening, and considering the trail of women that stood there just gawking at him, Penelope supposed it was all a show for the audience. She even wondered before she could help herself how much time he spent in the mirror – which she knew he did given that she'd seen him through the window to his room, and also given that no one just looked like that – all because he wanted to catch the attention of the girls and middle aged women that were practically devouring him with their eyes.

Penelope cursed herself for wasting time wondering about that, and started thinking of a way out of any interaction with him. She had spent weeks avoiding him and they were neighbors, how difficult could this be? After all, Penelope Skye wasn't one to handle confrontations with ex flings very well, especially after how awkward she and Billy had left things.

She turned around, figuring that if she went through the parking lot and went around back before he could see her, it would go smoothly. So, as quick as she could, she took a right and began walking away, locking her eyes to the ground. And that was why she didn't see the person in front of her until she bumped into his chest.

Firm hands grabbed her elbow, and as soon as she looked up, she couldn't help the next words coming out of her mouth.

"Fucking hell."

Matt laughed loudly, the same kind of obnoxious, annoying laugh she remembered. "It's good to see you too, Penelope."

It was her first day on the job, her first real day of summer, and it was all starting so cruelly. She was trapped between an ex hook up who would spot her anytime now and figure out they were working together, and her one and only ex, who'd been on her nerves ever since the break up. Whoever was up there sure didn't feel like throwing any favors her way today.

"Yeah whatever," she mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see that through her sunglasses. "I gotta head out."

She started walking away, bumping into his shoulder aggressively as she passed him, but she should have known it was never going to be that easy with Matt, because before she could take another step, he caught her elbow again, less gentle this time, and turned her around to face him.

"No, no, no, you're not getting away so easy this time, babe," he said, trying to make his voice sound friendly despite the grip on her arm. "It's been a while since we had a nice chat you and I."

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

"Oh, c'mon –"

She took off her sunglasses this time and looked him dead in the eyes as she spoke next. "I suggest taking your arm off unless you want me to rip it off of you myself."

And just like that, Matt's expression turned from fake friendly to a face Penelope knew he made when he was trying to seem dangerous, but ended up making her take him even less seriously. "You've been avoiding me for too long, Penelope. Now I hear all the school is talking about you being Hargrove's new bitch."

She couldn't help but let out a humorless laugh at that. "I'm pretty sure it's the other way around."

"Is that really who you left me for? That scumbag who screwed his way through the entire high school? I thought you were better than that."

And that was when she decided she'd heard enough of it. She knew the drill with Matt, knew that one of these days she would have to break his nose in order to get him off of her, but she also understood that her first day working at the Hawkins Pool, surrounded by all those kids, was neither the time nor the place to do that. But she wasn't going to shut up either. Not when people like him thought they had a say in whatever she wanted to do with her life.

"Now listen to me, you little dipshit," she moved in closer, dropping her voice and putting a hand on the arm he used to hold a grip on her. "I don't wanna make a scene on my first day on the job, but I will if I have to. What I do, or who I do it with is no longer any of your business. So back. The hell. Off."

She pushed his hand away finally with an abrupt gesture, making sure to let her eyes show how much she meant every word. But she should have known it was never going to be an easy business.

"I don't think so, babe –"

And just as she was about to interrupt him and cause the so promised scene, damning all the consequences to hell, another voice came from behind and cut Matt off.

"She told you to leave her alone. Are you deaf, or do you want to hear me say it too?"

And it seemed like whatever small piece of mercy the universe had left her with today was gone now too, because coming to a stop right next to her and shooting daggers in Matt's direction was Billy.

Penelope had expected him to spot her and show up sooner or later, but she had been so caught up in this fight with Matt that she'd completely forgotten that another one of her problems could show up and get right into the fray. She supposed this was what happened when you just swept things under the rug, hoping they won't bother you again.

She turned towards Billy, feeling like this was starting to look like some sort of movie scene, where two guys would get into an argument stinking of fragile masculinity over a girl whose opinion no one bothered to ask for, but decided against letting it escalate further.

"Billy –"she started, and just like in the previously referenced movie scene, no one let her finish her sentence.

"Well," Matt interrupted, his voice full of passive-aggressiveness. "If it isn't the man of the hour. Billy Hargrove."

Penelope rolled her eyes so hard, it felt like she was going to pop them out of her head. And if anyone would have given a damn enough to listen to her, she would have laughed at Matt's attempt to seem tough. In fact, knowing exactly the kind of temper Billy had through rumors and through some live examples, she would have advised her ex boyfriend to take his chances while he could still walk out of here without a broken nose or worse.

Not like she would have minded that much seeing him get what he deserved.

Billy crossed his hands against his chest, looking completely unbothered despite the fact that Penelope knew Matt was one wrong sentence away from getting his ass kicked. "Is there a reason you're bothering my girl, Matty? Because we can settle the matter right here right now."

My girl.

He had to be freaking kidding her.

Matt took a step closer, in another attempt at showing bravado, and practically growled the next words, "She's not your girl."

And that was it for Penelope.

" .believable," she spoke louder this time, pushing Matt away from Billy and coming to stand between them. "I'm not gonna sit here and watch you two princesses have a pissing contest," she looked between the two of them, giving the last pointed look to Billy, before going past him and bumping his shoulder on her way. "Go fuck yourselves, both of you."

She didn't look back as she said the last words, sure that if she was going to stay there and listen to them bicker over who was whose, she would either throw one of them in the pool, or knee the other one between his legs, and she was positive both of those things would have gotten her fired. But her jaw was so clenched it felt like she was about to strain a muscle.

What right did any of them think they had over her? She had gotten used to Matt and his stalker behavior, and how he would pop up now and then like an unwanted thought. Matt she could handle. But Billy? She hadn't seen that one coming.

Her first thought after hooking up with Billy, apart from admitting it had really been a memorable night, it was that it had been a mistake she didn't particularly want to repeat anytime soon. She had been angry and sad and vulnerable, and lonely most of all because of her parents, and she had let that cloud her judgment for a few hours. She hadn't thought that spending the night with Billy would mean anything, considering that everyone in high school believed they'd already hooked up, and none of their opinions would matter in two months when she would be gone. But she hadn't foreseen this. Billy Hargrove being jealous. Billy Hargrove calling her his girl, even if just to annoy Matt. Billy Hargrove being like that stubborn stain on a shirt you couldn't make disappear no matter how hard you scrubbed.

Why was it so hard for any of the men in her life to realize that she was no one's?

She reached the changing room at a fast pace, slamming the locker door shut as she grabbed her oversized red shirt and pulled it over her swimsuit. How was she supposed to spend another five hours here at the main desk, when Billy would be outside just a few feet away from her? How was she supposed to concentrate, when her nostrils were flaring just thinking about what had just happened?

She turned around, ready to go outside and catch a short smoking break, given how badly she needed one, when she saw Billy leaning against the door, looking at her.

Oh, she was just done with today.

She opened her mouth to either curse or yell at him, or just to tell him to get out of her way, when he spoke first.

His voice was harsh, as if he was meant to be the angry one here. "You can't seriously be mad about what just happened."

Penelope let out an incredulous scoff, ready for the second wave of anger to kick in. "I can be whatever the hell I want to be, Hargrove."

"The guy is a dick!" Billy yelled, clearly not caring about whoever would happen to be in earshot. "You told him yourself to back off and he didn't listen. And it's not like it's the first time I've helped you get rid of him. Get a fucking restraining order already if you don't want me in the middle of it."

She stopped for a second, trying to get a hold of herself and failing. She wanted to ask what he was doing here, and what had happened with Matt, and why he would even care if she was mad or not. But she did neither of those things.

She took a step closer to him, letting her exasperation show.

"I handled him just fine until now without you," she saw him roll his eyes at that, and couldn't stop herself from continuing. "And don't act like that was about you helping me out. You're just two full of themselves dudes who act like this is a movie and you have to flash your big dicks and testosterone so you can fight over me like I'm some piece of meat."

Billy shook his head and muttered under his breath. "Save me the stupid feminist speech."

Penelope paused again, thinking about how this was just so typical of any privileged guy she'd run into, to believe that being borderline possessive was a masculine thing to be, and women had to woo over it instead of getting angry. But he was right there with one part. She was not going to bother with a speech she could never get a guy like him to understand.

She let out a long sigh, running a hand through her hair. "God, and what the hell are you even doing working here?"

"I can ask the same thing," he retorted. "So what now, Lopes? We can't even work in the same place anymore without you going out of your way to avoid me?"

"Of course I'm avoiding you," she answered without hesitating, and threw her hands up in exasperation. "I mean look, seconds into seeing you again and you throw a jealousy fit."

Billy rolled his eyes a second time now. "It wasn't a jealousy fit. Jesus, Penelope. But you're on company time, and that asshole was bothering you. I was just –"

"You were just what? Being nice? Excuse me if nice isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe you, Hargrove."

"I'm not fucking jealous," he repeated, looking like he'd rather walk out right now than have this conversation. Good, Penelope thought. She wanted him to be as done with her as she felt with him right about now. "I don't give a shit who you do or don't do it with. Get that in your head already."

Penelope simply blinked at that, taking a few seconds to process. It was one thing to act jealous in front of Matt and her and everyone else who wanted a front row ticket to the show for that matter. But to not even have the guts to admit it was another deal. She'd been wrong to ever get herself tangled with someone like Billy, she gave herself the final verdict as she nodded once and took another step closer.

"Good. You better remember you said that," she said in a low voice, unwilling to let him get the best of her temper anymore. "And we're both on company time. So get to work and stop bothering me."

She slipped past him again without a second glance, and walked faster towards the main desk, thinking that if this was only happening in the first day of working on the same job with Billy Hargrove, she didn't want to see what the rest of her summer would look like from now.

o-o-o

~Soundtrack: Sam Smith, Normani – Dancing with a stranger~

The shift that Billy had to return to after his fight with Penelope must have felt like the longest five hours of his life. He just sat there, not really paying attention to what he was supposed to do, and counted the minutes until he would be able to get out of there. Because right now, being in the same space as Penelope, even if she was just working at the front desk, felt suffocating.

Of course I'm avoiding you.

He couldn't remember the last time he had fought with someone like that who wasn't Max or his father. Frankly, he'd never even bothered to get into screaming arguments with chicks because it was all just a waste of time, and he thought no girl was worth the trouble, especially after he'd already gotten the sex he wanted out of them. But even after she'd rocked his world, Penelope kept on messing with his head too, like he was still her plaything. Maybe it should not have surprised Billy by now.

But even as he knew all he did about what he should or shouldn't do, Billy still couldn't help those words she'd spat from getting the best of him. If he thought a vein was about to pop out of his head after seeing douche Matt still bothering her, when she'd flat out admitted she didn't want to be anywhere around him and then decided to call him out on his bullshit, then it was as if all the anger had come surfacing back at once.

Excuse me if nice isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe you, Hargrove.

And she'd been right. Billy Hargrove wasn't nice. He was a mean son of a bitch, that's what he was, and he sure as hell wasn't one to get upset over a girl who didn't give him the attention he wanted. Even if that girl was Penelope Skye.

He didn't know why he let this bother him so much. He was everything Penelope thought him to be, and the only mistake he'd done after sleeping with her had been not to turn his back first. But he was ready to turn it now. After all, there was nothing less disturbing than the fact that he'd called Penelope his girl in front of Matt, when she wasn't, when he didn't want her to be, or that he'd let himself get jealous after he'd already gotten everything he'd wanted out of her. He wasn't jealous. He wasn't anything for Penelope.

Good. You better remember you said that.

But one thing Billy knew for certain. He needed to get Penelope Skye off his mind for tonight. And he needed alcohol for that. So the first thing he did five hours later after he finished his shift was go home, get back into his normal clothes, and head straight to the party that Tommy H. had told him about yesterday.

He didn't know much about the party, just that the guy who hosted it was some college dude named Ashton, and that they had enough alcohol to get him blasted for tonight. So, he picked up Tommy and a few of his friends on his way there, and walked into what he hoped was the night that would make him forget all about the nagging headache Penelope was starting to give him.

He needed to forget that husky voice of hers, or those impossibly perfect long legs and that body she had, and the memory of it rocking back and forth on top of him all night long. He needed to forget every curve of her shape he'd memorized, every sensible spot he'd found on her skin, every way he still thought about how she tasted. He needed to forget everything about Penelope that drove him crazy, including both the good and the bad parts.

So, as soon as Billy arrived there and lost himself in the deafening music and in the three shots of liquor Tommy had poured him to get ready for the keg stand he was about to do, he figured there was only one way to make her go away. And that was to start looking for someone who could put whatever Penelope had to shame.

One advantage there was to this Ashton's party was how many college chicks he'd invited, because the whole room was roaming with them, and Billy found it the easiest thing to look for a good enough looking one. After drowning those shots and doing the keg stand, and all those cigarettes he'd burnt through, he felt himself lost in the alcohol already, which was why he didn't really pay attention to the first girl who clung to his arm.

She was a redhead, he noticed. Full lips, an even fuller bra, pretty enough, but it dawned on Billy that there was nothing particularly outstanding about her. Still, he didn't want to think about that. She was here and she wanted him, and it didn't matter that she didn't know to tease him the right way, or mess with him or smoke like a chimney but still smell like mint and citruses. It didn't matter that her eyes weren't sky blue. All that mattered was that she would have to do.

So, he let himself not care. He did shots off her body, he let her drag him into a drunken dance, he let her whisper in his ear all she wanted him to do to her. He let himself prove Penelope right in thinking nice wasn't a word that described him at all.

He was now in the middle of the room with her, with everyone dancing around them, either drunk or on their way to that, and she was tracing her fingers under his jacket and onto his naked chest, so without thinking about it, Billy acted. He grabbed her head and pulled slightly at her hair, crashing their lips together. And there was nothing electric about it. It felt messy and raw, and he could taste her vanilla lipstick, but that, combined with the alcohol was enough to shut his mind down. He kissed her in the middle of that drunk, dancing crowd, and forgot what he was supposed to forget about while his hands moved all over the girl's body, whose name he couldn't remember.

But then, when the kiss broke and he took his eyes off the girl, Billy remembered.

o-o-o

Penelope hadn't planned on going out tonight, quite the opposite in fact. She'd been set on cutting tonight short after work so that she wouldn't have the same problem with a hangover at work the day after, but it was an understatement to say that there had been a slight change in her plans.

There was one thing Penelope did best after someone pissed her off, and that was something impulsive. The fight with Billy had left her so infuriated with the entire situation, that she knew this was a problem only alcohol could drown. Throughout the rest of the shift, she'd shaken her leg under the table thinking about everything, about the nerve Billy would have to have to show up like that and get his nose in something that was none of his business. She was a free woman, and maybe Matt had pissed her off and she'd tried to get rid of him, but that didn't mean she couldn't have anyone else she wanted. In fact, she'd thought as she was leaving work and going home to change, maybe somebody new was exactly what Penelope needed. A complete stranger.

So, she put on some of her best clothes, bought a new pack of cigarette and went to the only party in town she knew about, at some guy named Ashton. She got there, feeling the music blasting all the way through her veins, and eyed the first arm candy she could spot. He was tall, with short hair and piercing green eyes, and she could practically trace his muscles through the tight shirt he wore. He was perfect.

Getting his attention was easy enough after that. She made him grab a couple of drinks after some small talk, not bothering to hide how this was just hunting for sports to her. By the third beer, she had the guy hooked. And by the fifth, she was tipsy enough to want to dance.

She dragged the nameless guy on the dance floor, where everybody was just as drunk as she was about to be, and hooked her arms around his neck, swaying her body to the hypnotic music playing. He let his hands rest on her hips, feeling how she moved, and danced like that for a while until her back ended up turned to him and her arm hooked around the back of his neck, while he was tracing kisses from her ear to her pulse point.

She closed her eyes, thinking this was what she needed. To prove Billy and everybody else that she was no one's, that she was free to do whatever, even if that meant being pushed into someone else's drunk arms out of pettiness. But she wanted to forget Billy so badly, to forget all the ways he was still sticking around, all the ways he could still make her angry, all the ways she could not get rid of him.

But she was getting rid of him now, she thought as she still danced against the guy. She let her head fall back, enjoying the moment and the alcohol in her system, and realized that this was as far away from Billy Hargrove as she needed to be.

She opened her eyes, ready to turn around to face the guy and bring their lips together, so she could get lost even more. But as soon as she did that, she regretted it immediately.

Because in front of her stood Billy. And he was kissing another girl.

And just like that, everything froze. She couldn't hear the music all around her anymore, couldn't feel the lips on her neck or the hands on her waist pushing her against a meaningless body, couldn't even see that there were other people around them. All she could see was them.

His hands were bringing her body closer, and her hair was red and wavy and beautiful, just as the rest of her body seemed to be. And the kiss was hungry and needy and sloppy, and Penelope could not believe it. He was kissing someone else while her knuckles were clenched by her side.

If Penelope had been sober enough to think, she would've realized it was unreasonable to feel like this was the worst shock she could have gotten tonight, because it was exactly what she'd gotten angry at him for doing just hours before. He'd been irrationally angry on Matt, without any logical reason either, and now here she was, unable to tear her eyes off that kiss while her blood was boiling in her veins.

What was wrong with her?

Their kissed stopped and when Billy pulled back and lifted his eyes, it was like they involuntarily found hers. And Penelope recognized the look on his face and the way his body seemed to freeze too at the sight of her, because she was sure she looked just the same. So for a few seconds, all Billy and Penelope could do was stare at each other, as the other person in their arms was unaware of the realization that was hitting both of them.

She was jealous. She'd seen Billy kiss another girl right in front of her, after her big, pompous speech about how he had no right to be jealous, and now she was the biggest hypocrite of them all, just because she wanted to rip that redhead off his body. And there was no sense behind what she was feeling right now.

All of a sudden, the air around felt suffocating. The music felt too much, the stranger kissing her neck too nauseating and Billy's eyes too hard to look into anymore. So she turned around and mumbled something to the guy about how she wanted to get out of here alone, before pushing his hands away and heading straight for the door.

She slammed the door behind her and walked down the stairs and across the lawn, running her hands through her hair and letting out a long sigh. There was definitely something wrong with her, she declared as soon as the fresh hair hit her face and sobered her up just enough. There must have been, otherwise she couldn't explain the pit in her stomach she was feeling.

Why did she think her toys had no right of finding someone else to play with after she'd tossed them? Why did she want to be selfish while also wanting no one else to tell her what to do? And why was Billy Hargrove still one of her problems? God, she had to put her thoughts together.

~Soundtrack: Harry Styles – Adore you~

She sighed one more time, leaning against the first car she found, and looked up at the summer sky. The neighborhood was silent, except for the muffled music coming from inside, and the air was hot enough to make Penelope feel like there was still something suffocating her. But the sky above her head was full of stars and a crescent moon, so at least there were some benefits to a clear summer.

The front door opened all of a sudden, interrupting her thoughts, and Penelope didn't want to look to see whose footsteps she could hear coming down the front stairs, because she wasn't ready to face what she knew was expecting her if she lifted her eyes. After all, it was almost getting like a vicious circle by now, how she would look up and he would be there. She wondered for a second how much of that was her fault.

"I didn't know you were going to be here tonight."

Penelope still didn't look at Billy as he spoke. She couldn't figure out how he'd meant for that to sound. Accusatory? Apologetic?

She didn't bother finding an answer before she replied. "Yeah, me either."

And she knew she meant for that to sound like getting rid of him was like trying to find a way out of a labyrinth. Difficult and making her feel scared of what would wait for her at the end.

She finally let their eyes meet and saw he was standing a few feet away, keeping his distance. She must have really done a number on him to make someone like Billy Hargrove keep his distance. And he looked different, too. Upset and drunk and like he wanted to ask questions she didn't want to answer.

"Why did you leave, Lopes?" he broke their staring contest after a few seconds, voicing exactly the kind of questions she was worried he would demand answers to. She was too drunk for this.

And that was why she gave an unusual reply. "Why did you come after me?" she couldn't find a way to make that sound less bitter. "It looked like you were having fun."

"Yeah, it looked like we both were."

She should have not answered that. She should have turned her back and walked away and let him think that whatever he chose to do in his free time was meaningless to her. But alcohol always had a way of loosening her tongue when saying what she thought was a dangerous thing.

"What would you have had me do? Put on a show like you were doing for everyone else to see?"

And there it was. The bottled up resentment, scratching the surface.

Billy took a few steps forward, lessening the distance between them, but still not enough to enter each other's space. Penelope finally noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath his leather jacket, which made her breath catch a little at the sight of his chest again, creating a flash in her mind of all the ways she'd touched him that night.

No. She wasn't supposed to think about that. She had to focus.

"And was that bothering you?" his eyes flashed with something Penelope couldn't place as he asked another risky question, like he was itching for her to say yes, to say that it had bothered her. To say the truth.

But there were several reasons why she wouldn't, her pride being the main one. So, she let out a sarcastic scoff. "I don't care what you do, Hargrove. It's none of my business."

"Funny, because when I said that today, you didn't believe me."

The blow hit Penelope unexpectedly. It was true, he had said he didn't care what she did or who she did it with today after his jealousy fit, and she had seen right through it just as he was seeing her lies now. So why the hell was she having this conversation with him instead of walking away?

"That was different," she said quietly under her breath and looked down at the ground, like a child who still kept on lying after being caught.

"You're right," Billy surprised her by admitting, just as quietly as her, making her lift her eyes again and look at the serious expression on his face. "Because I was lying. Because it did bother me to see you with Matt. Just like it bothered me to see you with whoever that was now."

Penelope was sure that she couldn't hide the surprised look on her face by now. She gulped once and looked into his eyes as he took a step closer, closer than she would have like but still not close enough.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm drunk and tired of your stupid games. You say you don't wanna see me again but then you show up here with another dude and you storm out when you see I'm with someone else, too, like you're jealous."

"I'm not –"

"Jesus, Lopes," he interrupted her abruptly, voice louder as he spoke now. "Aren't you tired of just running away like that? Be honest for just one fucking minute."

Penelope didn't know what that truth he was asking out of her was. She didn't know why any of this had bothered her, why she was still thinking about their night together, why he was the only toy of hers she had not put aside for good and forgot about, but instead let him stay in front of her like that, pushing every boundary she had set for herself a long time ago. Why could he just not shut up and comply like the rest of the guys before? Why did he have to be so infuriating? Why was Billy Hargrove the only one who not only wouldn't back away at the craziness she brought along, but demanded to follow suit too?

Eventually, she swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke. "What do you want me to say, Billy?"

He took a step closer, finally getting close enough that there were only a handful of inches separating their bodies. She could smell him again, enough to make those memories in her head flash faster before her eyes of that night, when he'd been exactly what she'd needed. She remembered his mouth on every single place that she wanted him to touch, his hands running down her bare back, his annoyingly soft and curly hair.

Involuntarily, her eyes flew to his lips when he answered her forgotten question.

"Admit we had a great time, Penelope," he spoke softly, and his hands found hers reluctantly, merely touching their fingertips together, just as the music inside changed and turned from loud and obnoxious to something slower and magnetic, almost as if on cue. And it was as if just like that, she got swept in a haze. "Admit you still think about that night, just like I do."

His hands went on their path and brushed the back of her hand gently, then continued up her arm in a touch so soft that it almost made Penelope wonder if this was really Billy who was touching her. She looked up from his lips to his eyes and grew sure of the fact that there would never be a time where their ocean blueness wouldn't make her want to dive right in, get lost and drown.

"Admit you don't want to see me with someone else, just like I admit I want to kill every son of a bitch that thinks about touching you."

His hands reached her shoulders now, and there were no traces of uncertainty in his eyes anymore, while she was practically swimming in doubts. But God, he was a fire she just wanted to walk through again and again just to feel the burning one more time.

"Admit you want me again."

Finally, his fingertips brushed past her shoulder and up to her neck, sending shivers all over her back as his hand lastly cupped her face. Her eyes flew closed in spite of every warning signal inside her head, and he took that as a sign to move in closer.

After all, as his lips were just a second away from hers, she figured he wasn't asking much. He wasn't asking to dig under for the real reason they kept coming back to each other, he was only asking for what was obvious as it was. She wouldn't have to say anything in return, just to let their bodies speak for each other again. He was only asking for one more night, nothing more and nothing else.

So, without wanting to waste any more time thinking, Penelope closed the distance between them and brought their lips together, closing the door to any sense left in her that alcohol hadn't drowned. She let her hands fly to the back of his neck without pulling at his hair or digging her nails there, but just letting her body melt into his, let it give into whatever he was offering.

Billy rested his other hand on her waist and she arched her back into him while tasting the strawberry vodka on his lips, feeling as if whatever this was, it was not like any of the rest of their kisses. The others had felt like a surge of electricity going straight through her body, lightning up every forgotten sense, like it was just a way to burn out whatever temporary rush they thought they were chasing. But this…this felt like none of that.

This felt like more, like it wasn't about in which bed they would end up, his or hers. Like they wanted to seek out whatever answers this confusion had brought along, like they wanted each other in ways they weren't aware of yet. Like she wanted him to adore her with his lips. Like kissing any other guy at that party would never make her feel like this was the only thing she'd ever want to do instead. It felt like all of those things and more.

But above all, it felt dangerous. It felt new. It felt like so much more than she'd anticipated.

With the realization of what she was doing hitting her all at once, Penelope put a hand on his chest and pushed him back, struggling to catch her breath.

No, she told herself as she tried to put her thoughts back together. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want something new, something more or something that made her want Billy Hargrove to herself. She didn't want to feel this confusion and didn't want to hear her body's protest at the lack of his warmth against hers, and above all, she didn't want her heart to race like that in her chest.

Not for him.

She finally looked up at his taken aback expression, and spoke the words she knew she should have said from the beginning.

"No."

His mouth opened to protest, to call her out on her bullshit most likely, but she interrupted him before he could get the chance.

"I'm drunk. We're both drunk. And we're both obviously stupid."

And she said those words while the taste of his lips was still fresh on her tongue, and while she was still trying to grab a hold of herself. She said those words completely convinced of the fact that they were the right thing to say, because neither of them wanted to lurk underneath whatever that kiss had woken up.

So, without waiting for his reply, Penelope pushed Billy's body aside and moved past it, speaking over her shoulder as she walked away, "Just go home, Billy."

Because whatever it had woken up, it was no good. For either of them.

AN: Okay so we officially have only one more chapter to go. Damn, this went by fast.

So a couple of notes on this chapter. I got some feedback lately from someone saying the Billy I'm writing isn't exactly in character with the Billy in the show, simply because he's a little nicer in here. And I feel like clarifying that. He is LESS of an asshole, indeed, but that is simply because I'm not writing that side of him with Penelope. I feel like it was just like when he was flirting with Mrs Wheeler in the tv show, he was never rude or mean as we saw him with other characters, simply because he had no reason to be. I feel like that can apply to the Penelope situation too. Plus, I'm going along my theory that Billy had deeply rooted abandonment issues caused by his mother, and he associates that with what Penelope is trying to do to him, leaving without him having a say in it. I went with that and made it cause his infatuation with her, so I suppose that could cause a trigger in him that makes him act differently. After all, this is *SPOILER ALERT* the same Billy who died for El, a little girl who showed him affection for like 5 seconds. So I don't know if it makes sense for either of you as it does for me. But anyway, I'm always open to feedback, and things I could have done or shouldn't have done. I'm all eyes!
Anyway, with that being said, thank you so much for reading and sticking with the story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far! Y'all awesome. And sorry for the long ass note.