What Did Happen and What Didn't Happen
Now when I caught myself, I had to stop myself
From saying something that I should have never thought of you
'I Caught Myself' by Paramore
_________________________________________________________

Natalie stood in the door of her closet in just dark, worn jeans and a black bra, flicking through shirts to wear out to the bar. I'd been a few days since they'd been out to see the boys, so they were going to the Four Roses again, a fact that Joel was starting to get irritated with. He didn't know exactly where they went off to, just that they did not invite him when the three of them used to go out a lot. According to Paige, he was just antsy because he was putting the pieces together that it meant one or both of them had a guy and he didn't want to get left behind. Guilty over not spending as much time with him as they always had in the past, they promised that they would all go out for dinner soon.

"You alright?" Paige asked from where she was sprawled on her stomach on Natalie's bed with a magazine.

"Mmhmmm," Natalie nodded, thumbing through a few more hangers.

"…are you upset about the whole thing with Joel? Don't worry about it," Paige advised. "It's just because he has a little crush on you…"

Natalie sighed and turned to lean her back against the door jamb of her closet.

"It's just that I do feel bad about leaving him out in the cold, ya know? We've just been doing our own thing half the time; he doesn't even know about me and Billy…"

"Which is good," Paige laughed. "He'd never let you hear the end of it about what a bad choice you were making. Don't you remember how he acted when Billy and Baggy showed up at that party on campus? He practically interrogated us for days, making sure we were okay. No point in giving him a panic attack, yeah?"

Natalie nodded; that was true. She turned back to the closet with the same uninterested look and finally plucked a black tank top off the shelf and thin, little teal shirt to pull on over it. Maybe it wasn't exactly typical bar-attire, but she wasn't even fully convinced she wanted to go out tonight. She checked her brown hair in the mirror and left it as it was, straight with her bangs swept aside, and touched up her make-up a little. She was always concerned with what Billy would think of her, but she was typically confident in her appearance and Billy had made it pretty clear he was liking.

"Smile a little more girl; aren't you excited to see Billy?"

"Naturally," Natalie answered over her shoulder, trying to decide what shoes she wanted to wear for the night.

"Things are still good, right? …still, hot?" she sniggered, waggling her eyebrows suggestively when Natalie glanced backwards at her.

"Yeah," Natalie blushed, biting her lip to hide her wide smile.

Paige just laughed. It had been weeks since Paige had first gotten any dirty details and Natalie had tried to be discrete since then. She could put up and play along with the guys' razzing her some, making suggestive comments about her and Billy, but she didn't talk about it herself a lot, save for a few comments to Paige. Things really were going pretty good, though; they'd been able to work around their schedules, though it was difficult to do so with Billy's since his was much more unpredictable.

"Finally ready to go? I couldn't believe I showed up and you weren't ready yet," Paige teased, rolling off the bed to get her shoes back on once Natalie grabbed her purse.

"Yeah, sorry"

"It's okay…are you sure you're alright? Cuz we could cancel on the guys if you want; ain't like they've never done it to us," the taller girl suggested wickedly; they both knew the guys would be peeved.

"No, maybe a few drinks will cheer me up. I don't know…"

"Out we go, then," Paige ushered her out of the room ahead of her.

They scampered down the stairs softly and cut through the kitchen to leave through the side door so Natalie could grab her jacket on the way.

"Later Mr. S," Paige waved.

"Bye dad"

He didn't respond, just gave Natalie a look before turning back to the refrigerator to get something.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?"

"I got it today," Paige waved her offer away.

"Thanks"

"Soooo…what's up with your dad?" Paige asked with a high eyebrow when she started the car.

"Eh, we just got in an argument…it's not a big deal," Natalie tried to minimize it, tapping her knuckles on the window lightly.

"Well that explains your mood…is it bad?" Paige asked carefully; she knew there were times when Natalie wasn't a huge fan of her dad for being more concerned about work than anything else a lot of the time.

"….umm…I'll let you know in a few days," Natalie decided; she herself was wondering how long this would go on for and just how angry he was.

She couldn't exactly blame him, but she wasn't prepared to elaborate on what had happened the previous evening…

Natalie was curled up in one of the armchairs in the living room skimming through the reading for one of her classes. Her dad was going through some files and her mom was in the kitchen cleaning up after their later dinner -- they'd waited for her dad to get home from office before eating.

There was a knock on the door and though Natalie moved to get up and go answer it, her dad waved her away and went to answer it himself, dropping the papers he'd been reading onto the footstool. Natalie couldn't really care less, turning back to her book before the door even opened..

"…Detective Wallace?"

That caught Natalie's attention; her dad's work didn't usually come home with him.

"Judge Shepherd, we're sorry to bother you…we actually need to talk to your daughter, Natalie-- is she home right now?"

Her heart began to race.

"Natalie? Why do you need to talk to her?"

"We just need to know if she's here, sir…"

"Of course she is. Natalie!" her dad called from the door, making her jump.

Natalie hopped right up and approached the door, finding a tall, pretty black female standing on the stoop and a more portly man standing on the walk way behind her. Both were dressed nicely, badges on display since they could safely do so when approaching a judge's house.

"Good evening, Natalie…"

"Hi"

"Natalie, what's this about?" her father demanded.

"I don't know," Natalie promised, eyes darting back and forth between the two cops.

"Judge Shepherd, we'd really like to talk to Natalie alone…"

"Wait, what's this about?" her dad repeated.

"We just think she might have seen something, sir; it's nothing to worry about, but we do have to ask her a few questions."

"It's okay, dad…"

His eyes were narrowed as Natalie stepped past him outside, pulling the door shut lightly behind her to join the detectives on the walkway in front of the steps.

"Natalie, I'm sure you know why we're here," Detective Wallace told her with a knowing sort of look.

"No, not really," Natalie shook her head, frowning.

"Alright, then what's your relationship with Billy Darley?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked you, what is your relationship with Billy Darley. You've been seen around with him and his gang…certainly more than once."

"Well, I don't know…I just…I mean, we just hang around. It's not a big deal; why? I can't be friends with who I want just because I'm a judge's daughter?" Natalie asked, trying to stay casual.

"Mmhmm," Detective Wallace rose a skeptical eyebrow, eyeing Natalie up and down. "So what is it? Rebelling against daddy? Taking a walk on the wild side for a little bit?"

"What?" Natalie frowned, feeling highly uncomfortable; she still didn't know why there were any detectives involved in who she was or wasn't spending time with.

"You've always been a good kid, right? Never done anything too crazy. I checked; you've never had any kind of record that your dad had to sweep under the rug, so I assume you've been a pretty good kid. That's why I'm assuming that you haven't been involved in any trouble with Billy and his boys…"

"Trouble? No, of course I haven't," Natalie shook her head.

"Right, then I'll ask you this once. Did you see Billy on Monday night?"

Natalie thought back through the past few days; yes, Monday had been the last time her and Paige had met the guys out, so she told Wallace so.

"What time were you with him until? Or was it all night?"

Natalie ignored the older woman's implication; she had, indeed, intended to go home with Billy but he'd gotten a phone call that pissed him off so he had to go and she and Paige had split early.

"I…I don't really remember. It was late, but I'd had a few drinks so I don't know the time."

"Before or after midnight? Do you know?"

"….I think before; I had class the next day."

"Okay and did you see him over the weekend?"

"Yes -- can I ask why you're asking all of these questions?"

"There's been a small crime spree and some signs are pointing to his gang…"

"There's a body involved, so you better be telling the truth, kid," the older detective piped-in.

"…what?" Natalie blanched.

"Let's just stick to the questions," Detective Wallace got her attention back. "How much did you see of him over the weekend?"

Natalie's mind reeled back; she'd seen him periodically around helping Julia with Logan on Saturday and later him needing to fix something because the "boys dropped the ball on some shit." She knew she'd seen quite a bit of him but then Detective Wallace was asking for times and she couldn't be sure if she got it all right. She asked what they did and Natalie was vague. She asked if she'd always saw him that often, if there'd ever been large chunks of time she hadn't seen him, when she started to hang around him, and Natalie answered as best she could.

Then she asked Natalie if she'd ever seen Billy lose his temper; this was a question Natalie hedged a little because, yes, she'd seen him yell at Heco before but she didn't think that was the kind of thing Detective Wallace meant. Had she ever seen Billy do anything illegal? Did she knew Billy carried a gun? Did she know he/his guys had been suspected in assaults, robberies, and murders all over the city?

She went on, drilling Natalie with questions that she started to not understand the relevance of.

"What's all of this about again?" Natalie sighed, arms crossed around her middle uncomfortably.

"…I think we have enough answers. We'll be in touch…and you call me if you think of anything you want to tell us," Detective Wallace decided, taking a small business card from her coat pocket to hand over to Natalie.

"Okay," Natalie snatched it.

"Have a good night"

"You too," Natalie mumbled, turning around to go back inside.

She found both of her parents waiting just outside the foyer in the little hall leading to the kitchen.

"Natalie, are you alright?" her mother asked, bustling right over.

"Yeah," Natalie nodded, slipping Wallace's card into her sweatpants pocket.

"What did she want? What could she possibly have to talk to you about?" her dad drilled.

"A classmate was involved in some stuff…maybe, I don't know. She just wanted to ask me about it," Natalie lied, feeling a little guilty about it.

"Involved in what? That's no beat cop, Natalie; she's a detective. That's serious; what did she want?"

"Dad, she didn't give me a lot of details; she just kept asking questions. She wanted to know if I saw him at a party"

"Who the hell do you party with?" her dad snapped. "First you get stabbed, now you might be partying with someone who's done lord-knows-what."

"Dad…"

"Natalie, did this have anything to do with when you were attacked?" her mom asked.

"No, I'm fine, I'm safe. Look, I don't really appreciate the 20 Questions, alright? I didn't do anything wrong; she just wanted to know if I'd seen a guy around a certain time. I'm not the only one she's asking; it's not a big deal…"

"You were out there for quite a while…" her dad challenged.

"She asked the same damn thing ten different ways--"

"Don't raise your voice to me"

"-- and then she just wanted to know how well I knew him, if I knew any of his friends. I don't see why you're so upset; it's not my fault my name came up in a list of people who were there. I didn't do anything; he might get in trouble but I don't care -- I barely even knew him," Natalie defended herself before going to the living room to grab her book to take her work upstairs.

"We're sorry, Natalie; we just weren't expecting a detective to show up," Her mother sighed.

"Me either"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, I just don't want to talk about it"

"Did you answer her honestly?" her dad checked, eyes narrowed and face hard.

"Yes, I answered her honestly. Geeze," Natalie shook her head, stomping off up the stairs. "Good night."

Her dad hadn't said a word to her since then. Natalie didn't blame him, but she was also annoyed with him. It's not like she hadn't expected him to be curious but it still annoyed her.

Then she'd gone up to her room and fretted around about what she'd said and what Detective Wallace had meant. What had Billy done? Was it even him? She didn't doubt Billy did illegal things, but what had he done this time…?

"Earth, to Nat…we're here"

Natalie blinked and realized they were, indeed, at The Four Roses already.

"Oh…"

"You really do need a drink," Paige laughed. "C'mon."

They walked in and saw the guys at the back table; Paige threw up a wave but directed Natalie straight to the bar for a shot and then beers for each of them to take with them to the table.

"Not wastin' any time, huh?" Baggy laughed.

"Never," Paige quipped right back.

"Hey," Natalie greeted, sitting at the end of the booth next to Billy.

"Hey yourself," he responded in usual fashion, slinging an arm up over her shoulders easily.

"Be good to her tonight, Darley; she's had a bad day," Paige laughed at the annoyed look Natalie gave her.

"That right?…I can think of a few things I can do t' fix that," Billy murmured quieter to her, head leaned down towards her.

Natalie gave him a small smile that was less than heartfelt and he narrowed his eyes at her. He might've pushed the subject if they were alone but settled for trying to stare her down. She didn't want to ruin the evening so she assuaged his concern or curiosity with a soft kiss. He cut the staring-bit but made a mental note to hound her later about what was eating her; Billy Darley didn't like not knowing everything that was going on around him.

The night progressed enjoyably despite Natalie's less-than-stellar mindset. She wanted to talk to Billy about this but she just didn't know how; besides, this wasn't really the place.

As for Billy, he'd clearly given up on trying to figure out what was going on in her head, at least for now. He could tell she was distant to him, so he'd ditched the booth to shoot some pool with Bodie. Now she was sitting talking with Paige, Baggy, and Tommy. Billy was watching them carefully, scowling deeply when Natalie started laughing at something Tommy must've said, swatting his chest lightly. Tommy just smirked and shrugged in a good natured way about the whole thing, finishing off his beer. Annoyed, he glared at the pool table since he had no one else to really take it out on.

It took Natalie a few minutes to notice the woman hanging around the pool table, practically hanging on Billy. He wasn't exactly showing interest, but he wasn't ignoring her either. He was looking at her, talking to her a little bit, and let his hand fall onto her hip when she slid herself between him and the pool table.

"So are you going over there?!" Paige urged her; Natalie hadn't realized she'd been staring quite so much.

"He can do what he wants…" Natalie drug her eyes away just as he was glancing over; this wasn't improving her day, that was for sure.

"Run over there, woman; claim your man," Baggy encouraged cheerfully.

"What am I supposed to even do?" Natalie shrugged; she'd never had to do this before and she was so agitated today all she could think to do was punch the girl in the face…that would probably fly here, actually.

"Go plant one on him," Tommy laughed. "Go, girl; get him!" he cheered, pushing her out of the booth.

"Hey guys, having fun?" Natalie asked, joining the guys at the table.

"We were," the tall blonde frowned, eyeing her up and down slowly.

"Ya know what, why don't you get lost?" Natalie snapped, loosing the casual tone and speaking more firmly that she probably normally would.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. We don't want to catch whatever disease you're carrying," Natalie waved her hand at the woman, remembering Billy using a similar line on a woman the first time she'd ever gone to the Four Roses.

"Bitch ---"

"Aw, no name calling," Bodie laughed, leaning on his pool stick.

"Yeah, you heard her," Billy piped in, too, eyes saying trained on Natalie.

The blonde rolled her eyes at the trio, pissed because she thought maybe she'd had him, and stalked off.

"Took ya long enough t' get over here," Billy muttered, boxing Natalie in against the table and ducking to kiss her.

"Took me long enough…great," Natalie rolled her eyes after breaking the quick kiss.

"I'm kidding…nice to see you stand up to her though…"

"I thought ya mightta popped her one for a sec; you looked pissed," Bodie laughed.

"…thought about it," she admitted a little sheepishly.

Both men chuckled and Billy looked a little amused and somewhat proud as well. Natalie got that maybe Billy had just wanted to see what she'd do about it once the skank and come over, but she didn't really have the patience for the game at the moment.

"Have fun with the game, guys…"

"Aw, Nat…" Billy groaned but she didn't stay; she slipped away and went back to the table, dropping into the seat she'd abandoned.

She sat down and the other three were all laughing an approval; they'd seen the look she gave the blonde. Tommy patted her on the back in a congratulating sort of way. Annoyed, Billy dropped his stick on the table to quit the game -- it wasn't for money anyway -- and stomped back over to the table to drop himself in the open space next to Baggy, across from Natalie.

"Hey," she chirped with a relatively real smile.

"What? All the laughin' stops when I come over?" he asked, eyeing her and the other three.

"What? No…"

"The hell's wrong with you tonight?" he nodded across the table at her.

"What? It's not a big deal…"

"Bull shit; I might believe that if I didn't have a fuckin' brain. Doesn't explain why you're being such a bitch."

"Billy, she's just fighting with her dad. Leave her alone," Paige ordered.

Billy ignored the tone she took with him.

"Oh, things are less than perfect with your old man," he cooed sarcastically. "Don't take it out on me sweetie cuz it ain't my fault."

Natalie just rolled her eyes.

"I need another beer," she pushed herself up out of the booth.

"Yo, me too!"

"Shut the hell up, Tommy," Billy snapped, getting up to follow Natalie up the bar. "She's had enough, Sammy," he barked once he got there.

"Screw you, I'm not even drunk"

"Screw me? Ya better get this stick outta your ass, Natalie, and watch where the fuck ya talk to me like that," he told her lowly, bending towards her ear; they were in public after all, on his side of town and in his place.

Natalie searched his face, trying to decide if this was really a threat or just a reminder to think about where they were. Were they in his apartment or almost anywhere else he might've brushed off the casual slip of the tongue, but not here and, really, she knew that. She was starting to panic a little; clearly she wasn't good at hiding things from him, not when she was so antsy over it to begin with.

"I think we need to talk…"

"Gee, ya think?" he growled, grabbing her arm roughly.

"Ow, let go"

He did as she bid but put a hand on her shoulder to continue propelling her forward down the hall that led to a back room. It wasn't used for storage like it appeared from the door label, but for Billy and the guys conducting business away from "the Office." She'd seen him disappear back there before but he didn't take here there, keeping them in the dim hall instead.

"Well?…start talkin'…"

"…where'd you go Monday night? We were here and you had to take off; what'd you go do?"

"Since when are those the kindda of questions you should be askin'?" Billy asked her slowly, eyebrow raised in honest surprise.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"There's a lot of things I don't tell you and ya know it's for your own good. Now tell me why you're askin'…"

"Some cops came to my house yesterday, well…detectives," she told him, arms crossed around her middle again.

"Let me guess, askin' about Monday," he nodded. "The fuck did you tell 'em?"

"I told them the truth; that we were here until pretty late and then I went home"

"So what's the problem?" Billy shook his head.

"The problem is that there were detectives at my house asking me all sorts of questions. They wanted to know everything…"

"What'd you say?"

"I told the what I knew, a--"

"The fuck does that mean?" he snapped, butting in. "What does that mean, that ya told 'em what ya knew?"

"I just told her what time I saw you…well, about what time. I wasn't sure…what'd you do that night?" Natalie sighed.

"Don't fuckin' ask that sortta shit," Billy shook his head slowly, thrusting a finger in her face.

Natalie took a step back and found the wall.

"…so you did do something?"

"I do a lot of somethings so you gotta be more specific…you tell 'em somethin'?"

"Billy, I ---"

"Did you?!" he raised his voice. "C'mon, I ain't got all night if the cops are gonna come bust in my door on some bullshit, cuz that's the last thing I need right now" he ranted.

"Look, ---"

"No, you look," he spat, throwing his fist into the wall near her shoulder.

Natalie flinched away and turned to look at where his fisted hand still rested. She looked past his arm, eyes locking on a blonde barmaid frozen at the end of the hall, eyeing them in surprise.

"The hell are ya just standin' there for?" Billy barked at her when he followed Natalie's gaze.

"Sorry," the woman muttered, scurrying away back to work.

"Look at me," Billy took her chin to turn towards him, ducking slightly to look her straight in the eye. "Did you say something' ya couldn't take back? If you did, I need to know right. Fuckin'. Now," he growled, ignoring the tears that looked to be building up.

His voice was quieter now but held no less strength and anger in it.

"No," Natalie began to shake her head. "Nothing that'd get you in trouble. She just kept asking all these things…like what days I saw you and when, and if I knew you'd been to jail or if I'd ever seen you do anything illegal --- which I don't think I have. And she kept reminding me you carry guns and talking about some crime spree this weekend that they knew you were behind…then the fat one kept mentioning some body…" Natalie tried to explain, hands shaking.

Billy listened to her frazzled recap, slowly understanding.

"Body?"

"Yeah some guy who got shot"

"Uh-huh. And they say it was me? Wait," he cocked his head when she opened her mouth. "Their exact words -- did they say that?"

Natalie paused, confused, and thought that over.

"No…no, he just kept talking about it…"

Billy nodded slowly and straightened up, letting go of the wall.

"There's always some crime spree goin' on in this city, and there's always people droppin' dead. Bums get stuck all the time, guys gettin' popped and shoved in alleys," he explained cynically. "They can't pin all that shit on me, even if though they'd love to. Who was this cop?"

"Detective Wallace and…someone…"

"Right; she's got some kindda hard-on for me or somethin'. She wants my ass in prison…"

"Billy, I don't un--"

"They were workin' ya over. Found out some girl was hangin' 'round and figured you're a weak link. I don't doubt there was some sortta crime spree, but it ain't me this time. They were just implyin' shit and trying to confuse you and make you break. Ferguson, too, with his dead body bullshit….he was tryin' to scare ya, and obviously he did," Billy explained with a relieved chuckle.

"It's funny now -- great," Natalie nodded, blinking tears away.

"Nah, it ain't funny," he shook his head, heaving a sigh.

He tried to take her chin again and tilt her head up but she pulled his hand down, though she didn't let go.

"They came to my house, Billy; in front of my dad…"

"I told ya, they were just tryin' to scare you…get ya worked up so you'd say something," he assured her. "They wanted you t' start havin' doubts and shit; apparently you did."

Natalie's eyes snapped up.

"I just didn't know what to think. I mean I know you're no angel…I just panicked cuz they were there, and my dad…"

"Don't worry about it," he shrugged; he couldn't be offended she believed he'd done something -- he'd founded his reputation on truth, after all. "What'd daddy have to say about this you and me thing when he heard?"

He was surprised she wasn't under some kind of house arrest shit. Forget the fact that she was an adult…her dad was a judge and he was Billy Darley.

"I talked to them outside; he's just pissed I didn't tell him exactly what it was about…"

"He'll get the fuck over it," Billy shrugged, slowly leaning in to kiss her.

She responded to the light kiss but pulled away after a while when he tried to deepen it too much further. He rested his forehead down on hers, looking down to watch her finger the gold cross dangling around his neck. Her fingers followed the chain up and grazed up his neck, following a line of his tattoo, to cup his jaw. She wasn't meeting his eye, watching her hand instead; he could feel that they were still shaking slightly from their altercation.

"…did I scare you?" he checked, though he was sure he had, resting his arm on her shoulder to toy with her hair.

Natalie didn't respond right away, tracing a finger over the hair under his lip to his chin.

"...yes," she decided to answer honestly, thinking about his raised voice and his fist shooting through the air.

He exhaled deeply through his nose, mouth twitching in an "I figured" sort of look. He hadn't exactly mastered the art of apologizing -- as a rule, it wasn't something he did -- so even though he recognized an apology was likely warranted, he kissed her instead.

Natalie wondered if he'd humble himself and apologize, but the way he kissed her was an adequate substitute, she supposed. His mouth was slow, tender, and when he did circle his arm around her waist it was gentle.

"You alright in that head o' yours?" he finally pulled back to ask.

She nodded.

Billy kissed her jaw, her chin, finally her lips again. When he pulled away again he bit her lower lip, tugging at it trying to get her to liven up and be playful as usual, but it didn't work.

"…you wanna stay at my place tonight?" he offered; maybe she'd cheer up knowing she didn't have to go back to her dad's house.

"…I don't know if that's a good idea," she declined.

"…you sure?"

"Yeah, I think so"

Annoyance flickered across his face but he rearranged himself quickly and just shrugged.

"Ya want that drink?"

"If you're offering," she smiled sweetly.

He nodded and nudged her ahead of him to the bar. Sammy sat two beers down when Billy nodded his way.

"Give us two shots, too," Billy ordered, curling his arm around Natalie's shoulders.

She made a face at the shot but threw it back with him anyway. Billy had seen some older guy at the bar eye-up Natalie's ass, so he ducked to kiss her hard once her shot was gone, sending the asshole a message. He grabbed the beers with his free hand and steered Natalie towards their table before flipping the guy the middle finger.

"And just where'd you two go, huh?" Baggy smirked, kicking Natalie lightly under the table. "He loosen ya up?"

"Shut the fuck up," Billy ordered lightly, popping a cigarette in his mouth. "Might not've been a bad idea, though," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth before quickly lighting up.

Natalie nudged him softly.

"In the dirty bar? Ew," Paige muttered.

"Like you can talk," Natalie teased.

Baggy looked interested at that and Billy let out a couch of a laugh since he'd been inhaling.

"Someone's an exhibitionist? Ya learn somethin' new every day I guess," Baggy smiled happily.

"I've had moments," Paige elected to admit. "Sometimes it makes things more exciting."

"If it ain't exciting, maybe you're just with the wrong guy," Billy informed her smugly, tightening his arm on Natalie; she grinned.

"Yea," Baggy jumped on that bandwagon right away. "Maybe ya gotta test the water a little -- whattcha say?"

"I say you better keep your hands over there and to yourself."

Baggy didn't heed the warning and snaked his arm around her waist to tickle her a little and tease her happily. Natalie laughed softly. Part of her wanted Baggy to know Paige was having problems with her man, Lance, so he might actually have a chance if he was serious, but it wasn't really her business.

"At least you're smilin' now -- keep drinkin'," Billy commented, nudging her beer, which was hardly gone.

She smiled and straightened up to kiss him deeply and slowly.

"…you're sure ya don't wanna crash at my place tonight?" he asked/complained.

"…I shouldn't."

"Oh, shot down," Tommy laughed.

Billy looked up and raised his hand from around Natalie to smack the side of Tommy's head hard.

"Don't ya got somewhere ya better be pretty damn soon?'

"Yeah," Tommy cringed. "Later everybody."

He hopped over the back of the booth after throwing up a short wave, hurrying his way out of there. He was just thankful Billy hadn't given him extra work to do for his unwanted comment.

Natalie turned towards Billy and squeezed just above his knee softly. He spared a sidelong glance for her but after a moment he looked back to Baggy across the table, who was talking now, and dragged deeply on his cigarette.

"…I guess neither of us are in great moods," she muttered, leaning into his side.

"Guess not," he echoed in a bored manner, eyes still on Baggy as he rubbed her shoulder.

Paige and Natalie stuck around for a while longer but came to some kind of silent agreement to head home a little sooner than usual.

"Sorry …ya know, if I ruined your night," Natalie apologized quietly, stopping to talk to Billy when he and Baggy saw the girls out --after all, it was a dangerous place to be outside after dark.

"Nah, ya didn't"

"…you don't have to lie."

"I ain't lyin'," he told her levelly, making a conscious effort not to get annoyed with her since they'd already been down that road tonight. "Its been a shitty day; there wasn't nothin' to ruin."

"Well then I'm sorry I didn't make your day better"

"Don't apologize," he shrugged.

He dropped his head to kiss her, cupping her face in his hands.

"Get a room or lets go," Paige called to them, laughing.

Natalie threw up the middle finger with a smile.

"Alright, go get some sleep…cheer the fuck up," Billy ordered.

"You, too," she attempted to order back, poking him in the chest lightly; directions didn't have the same effect coming from her.

"Get outta here," he rolled his eyes, smacking her ass when she turned to go join Paige.

"It is a nice ass, huh?" Baggy commented.

Billy narrowed his eyes at him, inhaling strongly on his cigarette before pointing a finger at his friend.

"Don't you say that shit"

Baggy just laughed and followed Billy inside.

And there you have it. Chapter 10 is done and done. Let me know what you think with a review! =) Thanks for all the love so far!