I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! I'm having a bunch of tests at uni and I gotta dedicate all my time to studying ¬¬

Thank you so much for the reviews!

Hope you enjoy this!

Billy had barely moved during the night, but then, he was woken from his deepest sleep when someone splashed him with some icecold liquid. He struggled into a sitting position, cursing under his breath, a shocked expression plastered on his face. "What the fuck?!"

His frown deepened when his eyes found the young woman, who collapsed onto the hard floor, laughing her heart out. The look on his face when the water had hit him, had been the funniest thing she had ever seen. The edgy young man did not truly appreciate it, she knew, but she couldn't help herself, her giggly nature taking over from her more intelligent side. Billy let out a growl, his blood at boiling point, never have been able to stand people making fun of him, no matter who it was.

"I should've somehow recorded this!" She finally managed to say. If eyes could kill, Billy's glare would have done the job by far by now.

"Have you fucking lost your mind?!" He shouted in his outrage, kicking the sheets aside as he got out of bed, coming to stand in front of her, effectively towering over her.

She should have been afraid of him, he was much more intimidating from this point of view, but she wasn't. Julie had not stopped laughing when Billy grabbed her by her shoulders and yanked her up. "You really should have seen your face." She smiled, amused by the fact that he could not control his anger.

"You have no fucking sense of danger! I could have fucking shot you!" He held her in a strong hold, not letting go.

"Oh please!" She laughed, "you were totally caught off guard! Admit it!" Julie raised an eyebrow, hoping for the answer, yet knowing he would never admit anything of the sort. "Anyway, that was my payback for locking me in here." She shook his hands off of her body, turned and walked to the kitchen, Billy followed her.

"You were the one who fucking chose to stay behind." He passed her and reached for the fridge, not realizing how in sync they were acting, 'cause her hand brushed his before she dropped it and found something else to do. While Billy got the milk, Julie started searching the place for eatable stuff and set the table for breakfast.

"And you were the one who wanted to go to that place."

Billy eyed her suspiciously. "You never meant to come here, did you?"

"I didn't say that…" She tried to hide a smile.

"You're such a fucking bitch!" He cursed under his breath, unfortunately for him, Julie heard it all, her hand shot out and slapped the back of his head. Billy dropped whatever he had in his hands, grabbed Julie's arms, pulling her onto his lap. "When are you gonna learn to respect me?"

She smirked, amused. "I don't even respect my own father, what makes you think I'll respect you?"

"I can control you." He replied, his stern blue eyes fixed on hers.

"Like hell you can." She mocked.

"Are you sure?" His voice deepened and he bent down to kiss her neck. As his lips trailed down to her shoulder, Julie jerked her head backwards, feeling him grin against her skin. Billy made his way back up to her mouth, wanting to make a point, he reached for her lips, but Julie slowly pulled back a little, teasing the man. He bent forward more, only to find her backing up even further, avoiding touching his moist sexy lips.

"Yes, I'm sure." Giggling, she got out of his embrace to sit on her own chair, earning herself another stern annoyed glare. "So, did you figure out whatever you had to with your guys?"

"What happened to your hand?" Billy switched subjects fast, since the Rawson one did not please him at all. Sure enough however, Julie wouldn't let it go.

"What is it that you don't want to tell me?"

"It's none of your business. Just stay the fuck out of it."

"Billy…" She insisted but he cut her off.

"No! I fuckin' told you I'd keep you well away from this shit. This has nothing to do with you so back off!" He answered harshly. Julie frowned, shook her head and got up. "What?" Billy got even more annoyed, finding it hard to read her as she walked towards the couch to get her jacket. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Backing off." She answered simply, sliding the jacket on, she would need it as the cold Boston wind had started to blow again.

"Jules, don't be such a brat, you know that's not what I meant." Billy remained seated on his chair, seemingly not in the least worried.

"Yes you did Darley! First you want me to go to that bar with you, then you lock me up in this place and now you speak to me like I am one of your guys. Let me tell you something: I am not! You can't order me around! If I start something with someone, I'm with that person, so that person must be with me and that's clearly not happening here! Isn't that what you want? So yeah, I'm literally backing off!" Julie's voice got louder with each word, and more angry.

Billy got up in a jump when he saw her walking out of the door.

"Where the fuck are you going?!" He called after her as she jogged down the stairs. Julie didn't bother answering, pissing Billy off tremendously. Part of her waited to hear his yell once again as she reached the bottom of the stairs, but all she got was the door being slammed behind her. He wouldn't do anything to keep her from going.

Julie didn't mind walking back home to the Falcon, on the contrary, it'd do her some good, in need of the fresh air to clear her mind and troubled thoughts. She knew Billy Darley was anything but a gentleman and she didn't seek that from him, but he seemed incapable of treating her right. She didn't want, need or require roses and champagne, but she needed him to want her by his side, a feeling much higher than just the sex. She'd been there before, it hadn't worked, she did not plan to let a man hurt her like that again, she'd clear off before he had a chance to.

…

The clock struck one, lunch time for Julie, she took her apron off and tossed it away. Mark walked in the coffee shop and headed directly to her, although she did not see him coming as she had her back turned to him.

"Hey." He greeted her bleakly, hardly any enthusiasm apparent in his voice, but even so, it made Julie jump in surprise.

"Hey!" She smiled. "Where have you been and what happened to you? I went by the hospital to say 'hi' but they said you hadn't showed up."

Mark's gaze dropped to the ground. "Polly has passed away." He explained in a sad low voice. The unexpected explanation for his absence shocked the world underneath Julie's feet.

"Oh my God…" Julie shook her head. Polly had been such a sweetheart towards her, she seemed so healthy only weeks ago. "I'm so sorry." Julie rushed to give Mark a tight comforting hug, which he thankfully reattributed.

"Thank you, Julie. It means a lot. At least she had enough time to meet you. You know, she said she really liked you."

Julie gave him a smile, rubbing his arm in an effort to comfort him. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I've already taken care of everything. She's resting next to grandpa, that's how she wanted it."

"It's good to know she had you by her side."

"She did a lot for me, it was the least I could do for her." Mark's eyes started to overflow with pained tears, surprising Julie at the fact that he didn't try anything to hide it from her.

Julie couldn't stand seeing him like that, probably because she did not know him ever to be sad in any way, always smiling. The broken sadness in his eyes tore her heart to pieces. "Come on!" She grabbed his arm and started dragging him outside.

"What are you doing?"

"Kidnapping you without your permission!" She chuckled at him, Mark, despite his grief, gave her a plain wide smile, following Julie outside.

…

Mark and Julie sat at a corner restaurant, at an outside table, the fresh air would do him some good. Smelling deliciously, the place happened to be one of Julie's favorite cosy places to hang out at. They ordered some stuff, and while they waited, they chatted about any subject that didn't come close to death or any kind of loss.

"Now will you finally explain me what's up with you and that gang guy?" Mark asked after they had fallen silent for some time.

Julie took a moment, taking a long sip of her orange juice before straightening up. This explanation was one she'd rather not have to give, not finding it a pleasant one and knowing Mark wouldn't like to know about her relationship. If one could call what Billy and she had, a relationship anyway, but she could not lie to Mark anymore.

"I… We…" Mark didn't say anything as he patiently waited for her explanation. Julie sighed and started talking. "We are seeing each other." She finally admitted.

"A gang member, Julie? Do you have any idea of how dangerous this is? Of how dangerous he is?" Mark showed concern and some anger, but he did not raise his voice one little bit. She could only tell how hard he handled it because of his tone, not because of the volume.

"I do! But I just can't help it… It just happened." Julie lamely tried to defend herself.

"It just happened? Ju…" He took a deep breath. "Please back away from him. I'm not saying this because he's another guy, I'm saying this because he's effectively too dangerous. He's not a good person to be around."

"I know that. Actually I…" She mumbled a little and sighed frustrated.

"What is it?" Julie lowered her look to her lap and Mark placed a hand on hers, which was on the table. "Are you in trouble?"

She looked up into his blue eyes and shook her head no. "He's just what you expect him to be." As far as the romantic side was concerned for sure.

Mark knew that meant no good. "Then why are you with him?" Julie didn't answer. Mark took his hand off hers and moved up, placing it on her cheek, stating in a soft voice. "You deserve much better."

Julie felt so bad. She was supposed to be comforting him not the opposite, she wasn't here to open up about her fight with her gangster boyfriend. Julie gave him a sweet small smile and took his hand in hers, squeezing it lightly. "Thank you."

A waiter cleared his throat, making them look up, as he placed their plates on the table and left, neither said another word on the subject, starting to eat, knowing it would not change anything.

…

"Fucking care to explain why the fuck there isn't enough fucking money here?" Bones harshly asked his oldest son, who stood in front of his desk, as usual.

The young man straightened his posture even more, all his muscles tensing. If this morning's argument with Julie hadn't been bad enough for him, he still had to face his careless father and the worst part of it all… He wanted his girl back, back in his arms, and he didn't know how. Life sucked really bad and Billy couldn't understand how people expected him to be any different from the person he was.

"That's our night." Billy finally answered, trying to focus on his father's spitting.

"Not fucking enough! If you and your faggot friends can't sell shit right, then put that pretty ass girlfriend of yours on a corner and have her make me some more fucking money!"

Billy nearly lost it, his blood boiling with sudden rage. "Don't fucking dare to talk about her! Nobody fucking touches her but me!"

Bones replied with an amused throaty and very unpleasant laugh. "How touchy! You care about that girl." He stated, not waiting for a confirmation from his son, he continued. "Let me tell you something Nazi. You either work your fucking ass off and get me my money, or I'll send my guys to have some fucking fun with her."

Billy's face grew red in furiosity, he hit the glass table with both open palms and leaned forward, lowering his head to his father's level. "If you or your guys go anywhere near her, I'll fucking blow your head off! You even think about doing something to her and I'll fucking kill you!" He yelled.

Bones quickly got up, pointing a gun at Billy's head, eyes wide with angry shock and somewhat amazement. "Who the fuck do you think you are to talk to me like this?! I do what I fucking want and you're a nobody! You mean fucking nothing on this fucking planet! You're nothing in everybody's fucking life! I'm almost sorry for those fairies who depend on you." Bones finally lowered his gun. "Get the fuck out!"

As always, Billy didn't need a second order, but his strut showed his confidence, he had seen the wondered shock in his father's eyes. Outside, Bodie and Baggy were waiting for him in the black Mustang. Without uttering a word, Bodie hit the gas a second before his old friend slammed the door. He knew better than to start a conversation, he just raced through the street submerged in his own thoughts. They had a lot of shit to deal with and Billy's face told him this was going to be a long day, and not just because of the shit.

…

Julie and Mark stood at the restaurant's sidewalk, ready to say their goodbyes. "Thank you for being by my side Ju." Mark smiled down at her, who gladly smiled back in response.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thanks." He pulled the young woman into a tight thankful embrace. Julie hugged him back, feeling the warmth coming from the sun on her face along with the cold breeze that played with their hair.

At that very moment, Bodie turned onto the avenue, going a bit slower that he wished because of the heavily congested traffic. Billy kept staring out of the window the whole way without saying a word, until...

"What the fuck?!" He shouted, catching Bodie by surprise. "Stop the fucking car!"

"What man?!" Bodie followed his friends furious glare and as he saw the two hugging people on the corner, his eyes almost bulged out of his face. He instantly recognized the girl, Julie, the muffin girl, Billy Darley's girl. "Fuck!"

"Stop the fucking car Bodie!" He had just confronted his father, standing up for her and now he had to see this.

Bodie ignored his boss' orders and hit the gas harder, darting through the cars and speeding as much as he could, not paying attention to Billy's yells beside him. Billy tried to take control of the car, but Baggy, who sat on the back seat, grabbed his arms to hold him down. They could not afford to draw attention to them right now, that would screw their plans with Rawson, that was the only reason why Bodie kept Billy from bolting from the car.

Bodie only stopped when they reached Four Roses. It had been long since he had last seen Billy like that. When his friend had finally calmed down, he had fallen silent, his eyes burning with hate and anger. Bodie knew some plan was forming in Billy's head and he hoped for dear God no one from the crew had done something stupid today, if they did, Billy would surely kill whoever it was.

They walked in the smoky bar, carrying a heavy vibe along. Today would be a whole lot harder than Bodie had expected, and it was only half past one in the afternoon.

…

Mark wondered around the nearly empty hospital, the sun had already set and the moon was taking its place in the sky . Since he didn't work the day before, he thought it'd only be right if he dismissed his day off to make up for his absence, which everybody knew and said wasn't necessary, nobody worked harder there than him.

"Why don't you go home Mark?" Doctor Marie Spell said to him when he walked in the crappy cafeteria.

He shrugged. "Someone might need help."

"The hospital is almost empty Mark. Go home, get some rest." She tried again.

He didn't want to be home alone, that was the simple truth, he didn't want to face his empty house knowing that his much loved grandmother had passed away. Mark finally agreed and left the room, defeated. He slowly walked to the parking lot, where someone stood beside his car, waiting for him.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah." The hooded guy answered before groaning and placing his hand on his stomach, as if being in pain. Mark rushed towards him in order to help. As he reached the man, another one showed up from behind and grabbed his arms, pulling them back, making Mark gasp in pain.

"Let me go!" He hissed. The guy who was supposed to be hurt got up and started throwing punches on his face showing no mercy, while the other held Mark in place. The young doctor did his best to fight back, but two against one proved an unfair fight. He already had several bruises and bleeding cuts on his face when he heard a female yell.

"Hey!!" Julie saw a person, dressed in white, being trashed about by two figures in black. Two against one was cowardice. "Hey!" She yelled again, already running towards the troublemakers. Since their faces were all covered in balaclava's, she had no clue of who they might be. "Oh my God! Mark! Leave him alone!"

"You got the message motherfucker." One of the guys whispered in Mark's ear before hitting him once more, then they ran off. Julie found it really odd how they ran from her, but didn't waste time wondering what had happened, she kneeled beside Mark to take a look at him.

"Oh my God! Are you alright?"

"Kinda." He gasped, blood dripping from his lip.

"Who were those guys?"

"I don't know." Julie's eyes left Mark's face when she heard the loud noise of squealing tires and she saw a red Mustang with black drawings race through the street, away from them.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" She hissed, angrily shaking her head. She'd deal with that later, now she had to take care of Mark. "Come on, I'll help you in." Julie put his arm around her neck.

"No," Mark stopped her, "Not there."

"But you need to get yourself checked out."

"They didn't break anything, you got here before they got a chance to. Take me home, I can take care of myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. They're gonna ask too many questions in here, and I wouldn't know what to tell them, I don't know the answers myself."

"Fine." Julie simply answered while aiding him back onto his feet. On their way to her car, they walked through all the coffee Julie had dropped when she saw the scene, she'd have to hear a lot later about not delivering the ware.

…

"What the fuck was the muffin girl doing there?!" Heco asked Dog, already knowing that he didn't know either.

"Dunno. But she fucked it all up man! She saw us!"

"Ya think I don't know that?! Billy's gonna fucking flip."

"You're gonna tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"That she appeared."

"Are you fucking mad? Man, he'll kill us!"

"You're just gonna lie to him? That'll be worse."

"What the fuck do you want me to say? 'Hey Billy, your girlfriend saw us kicking that friend of hers'?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck man, I don't know! He'll blow our fucking brains out anyway, maybe we should tell the truth."

"Yeah, maybe."

…

Julie followed Mark's directions and drove them to his apartment. Upstairs, he went straight to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. Mark came back to the living room with just his dirty white jeans on, showing off his perfectly built body. Julie swallowed hard before taking the kit out of his hands.

"Sit there." She patted the red sofa spot beside her.

"No, it's fine. I can do it."

"Of course you can. Now sit." It was obvious Mark could take care of his injuries, but Julie felt so bad for what had happened to him, that this was the least she could do to make herself feel better. Mark did as he was told, but as Julie was about to desinfect the wound, Mark started moaning.

"I didn't even touch you yet." Julie half laughed.

"I know, I'm just practicing." He smiled innocently, making her chuckle. She cleaned the cuts, bandaged the big one on his left shoulder which wouldn't stop bleeding, leaving the others to breathe, as Mark had told her.

"Are you gonna press charges?"

"One of them said I had gotten the message… They probably took me for the wrong guy. But still, I think the police should know about it."

Julie kept silent, not knowing what to say. What was she supposed to say? If she agreed with Mark, she'd be betraying Billy, and as much as she hated his guts right now, she didn't want to do that, she wasn't prepared to do that. If she disagreed with Mark, she'd be defending Billy's attitude, which was not an option either, because he had crossed a line. Julie just couldn't get why Billy had done that to Mark, she had no idea of what had occurred to trigger him this badly, she just knew that Billy Darley was the one to blame for Mark's pain.

Finally done, Mark carefully leaned on the couch, letting out a loud sigh, he had a huge purple bruise on his side that wouldn't stop aching.

"You've got yourself a nice place." Julie complimented while looking around. It was small, but really well decorated, some colorfull accessories gave it a joyfull touch.

"Thanks. Now you know the way, you can show up anytime you want."

Julie smiled. "I think it's easier to find you at the hospital."

Mark laughed a little. "You're right… You know, I was thinking about giving it a little break. Maybe live on grandma's ranch for a month or two."

"That'd be good for you."

"You could come with me." Mark suggested, hope simmering through his tone.

"I have to work." She excused herself.

"You could also take a break." He insisted.

"I… I don't know… I'm actually running a little late, I should get back."

"Don't you wanna stay? We could watch a movie or something."

"Maybe some other day. I really have something I need to take care of." She got up, but Mark held her hand.

"Thank you for taking care of me." She had no idea of how good it felt to be taken care of for once, instead of helping people every single minute. It meant more than he could express with words.

"No problem." Julie gave him one last smile before finally leaving his apartment.

…

The very moment Heco and Dog stepped through the door of Four Roses, Billy's stare laid on them. Both guys walked towards the back of the bar where all the gang waited for them.

"How'd it go?" Their boss asked before both had a chance to sit down. Heco shifted uncomfortably on the chair as Dog glanced at him. "What?"

"There were… complications."

"What the fuck do you mean by complications Heco?!"

"Your girlfriend showed up." Heco hesitantly answered, having considered the options.

"Did she fucking see you?!"

"We were covered and shit."

Billy punched the table. "You were told to do one fucking thing. A fucking simple thing!"

"Sorry Billy we…"

"Don't go fucking sorry me! Get your fucking asses up and go sell all the shit we have left in the office. I wanna see the money by morning on my desk!" They didn't need second orders. Billy sighed and ran his hand over his shaven head.

"I'll get us more beer." Joe walked towards the bar. He was there no longer than a minute when he heard the clicks of heels on the floor, cowboy boots. He jumped off the high stoll he had positioned himself on, placing himself in front of the angry young woman before she could pass him. She looked extremely pissed.

"Move Joe."

"Stop it Julie. He's really fucking pissed. He'll do something bad to you. Just don't confront him right now."

"I said move!" Julie shouted, pushing Joe aside. Billy saw everything, his glare on her, waiting for her to stop in front of him. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" Billy kept silent and took a sip of his drink, holding a tight grip on his glass, trying his hardest to keep himself in check.

"I don't know what you're fucking yelling about." He replied calmly, sounding annoyed by her presence and her attitude.

"Yes you do, you stinking liar! Your freaking boys beat the shit out of my friend! Don't try to fucking deny it! I saw the car!"

Billy jumped up, losing it, throwing his glass against the nearest wall, smashing it to a thousand pieces. Some of the guys, who watched the argument, jumped in surprise, Julie slightly shivered, but fought back Billy's furious stare. He grabbed her arm and brutally dragged her to a small suffocating hall, a phone to the side.

"Don't touch me!" She tried to break free, finding him much too strong.

"Stop fucking yelling! You're just like the fucking others!"

"What do you mean?!"

"I busted my fucking ass trying to defend you from everyone and everything that's been happening and you fucking cheated on me!"

"Cheated on you? What are you talking about? You sent your guys after my friend and I wanna know why!"

"I saw you two hugging each other on the fucking corner!"

"You're sick Darley! You really are! His grandma just died! It was no big deal!"

"I don't fucking care!" Billy punched the wall spot beside Julie's head, this time she jumped. "You're mine! Nobody else touches you!"

Julie shook her head and made an attempt to walk away, but Billy blocked her. "Let go of me."

"No."

"Let me go!" Billy didn't, so Julie started to slap his chest. He got so pissed at her, before he realized it, he had pulled his gun from his waistband and had it pressed against his girl's neck. She froze, eyes wide with shocked horror. If Billy meant to scare her, he had now fully succeeded. Julie breathed hard, all color drained from her face.

"Fuck!" Billy cursed himself, knowing he had done something he'd regret. He quickly hid the gun again.

Julie was too shocked to move. She just stood there, with a hand around her throat, trying to catch her breath again. She never thought he'd come to this point, never had realized she could push him to this point.

"I'm sorry." Billy said after a moment, noticing her lack of reaction. "Julie…" He meant to reach for her but she flinched away. "I didn't mean…" Billy couldn't finish his sentence, Julie started walking away before he had a chance to. And again, he did nothing to stop her.

Julie walked past the gang's table, oblivious to their gazes, oblivious to some of them showing her concern. She did not hear Ashley call after her. Julie went to her car and did not even notice the dark blue one, parked across the street, two guys watched her every move. It had been two days.

I'm getting tired of you pushing me 'round
Dragging me down
Making a sound because you wanna
I guess that's why I like messing with you
Putting you through
A lesson or two, because I'm gonna
Before I go my own way
I just gotta say

Leave me alone
Get out of my face
I'm tired in love
Feeling so misplaced
Time for you to go
You still know I'm better off on my own, oh

Leave me alone

This isn't gonna work
Don't call me on the phone
Because I'm all out of words
I'll face the unknown
Thinking about all the ways that I've grown

Oh, Leave me alone

There was the time I thought you were the one
Having some fun
Getting it done
What an illusion
'Cause you were trying to take control of me
That couldn't be, I need to be free of this confusion

Don't give me a guilt trip, because I'm so over it

Oh, leave me alone

Don't turn around and don't look back
I see right through all your selfless acts

Leave Me Alone - The Veronicas