Hey, so i know it's been another week between posts...it's starting to look like weekends are the only real time I'm going to have to go through a chap, edit it to me content and post it. I mean my weeks might end up opening up a little more butt i know for a fact this coming week is a mess..two exams, a quiz, a paper, and metting with my advisor - what! School apparently wants to kick my ass this semester =( haha

Anyway, i just didn't want you guys to think I've forgotten about this story because i certainly HAVE NOT. It's one I've spend more time on than other fics I've started and left half-done. In fact i'm surprised it's taken me this long to be getting so many chapters actually posted because I've been pretty ahead of myself for quite some time =)

But now you have a heads up that there might not be an update until next weekend...or thursday or friday if you're lucky because by then my week will be slowed down enough for me to get back on here, since it's a nice activity for the downtime.

Hope you enjoy; let me know =)

EDIT: I apologize that this was originally posted center-spaced. i didn't intend to do that and didn't realize it until Leeseelee pointed it out (thanks!). So that should hopefully be fixed as a repost this in...sorry for the inconvenience to any readers

What Did You Say?
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place
For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
'The Freshmen' by The Verve Pipe

"Skip class," Billy murmured against Natalie's neck where he was laying next to her on his side.

"I can't…it's too soon to start that habit," Natalie told him, as he knew she would.

It was the first week of classes, and Billy knew he should just be happy she'd spent the night. She wanted to at least make a good first impression on her new teachers and make classes on time, so she'd been staying at her parents'. Her and Paige were now in the process of actually making the apartment happen, so her options were still here with Billy or at her house. She'd been picking home so that she couldn't be persuaded to miss her first class or something, so Billy reminded himself he just needed to let her figure out a routine…and then figure out how to strategically disrupt it.

Still, he had to at least throw the idea out there.

He didn't push it, though, rolling onto his back to let her out of bed. She scurried out to wash up and when he came back he watched through hooded eyes while she looked around for some clothes.

"You remember I'm going to see Vince after classes, right?…don't look like that," she sighed when he scowled.

"Am I supposed to act like it's fuckin' peachy?" he grumbled, looking for a cigarette.

"You could….you know I'm worried about him"

Billy just nodded, ruing the fact that he'd let this conversation start. She hadn't seen Vince much lately and hadn't heard from him either, which worried her.

"I still haven't seen him and I've barely heard a peep from him," she said just as he knew she would.

"He does have other friends," he reminded her; this was an idea he was thankful of lest Vince only look to spend time with Natalie while he was in the city.

"Yeah I know…he's just been weird lately …like sad - sorry, I know you don't want to hear about it," she muttered, pulling her hair back.

"It's fine," he shrugged, sitting up to lean against the headboard as he lit his cigarette.

"…I think he should see someone, but I don't know how to tell him that," she confessed, planting her hands on her hips thoughtfully.

Billy studied that look; she was always fucking thinking, that was for sure. Did he want her thinking about Vince? No. So he paused for a moment to remind himself that he liked that she was a generally caring person so he shouldn't get pissy about this.

"What do ya mean talk to someone?" he humored her.

"Like a counselor or therapist or whatever"

Billy snorted.

"Ya can't tell a man he's gotta go talk to a shrink," he shook his head, blowing smoke out steadily.

"I know; you guys all think therapists are girly and emotional - that's crap. It's good for people," she insisted, throwing her hands up and continuing the hunt for clothes.

"Right, right, all those psych classes," he chuckled, more interested in her ass when she bent to rifle through clothes than the actual topic at hand.

"And what's wrong with that?" she threw over her shoulder. "Why shouldn't Vince go see someone?"

"Maybe he should - to hell if I'd know about that shit. I'm just sayin' he won't like it."

"I know"

"Why're you so worried? So he's been through some shit, he'll deal with it," Billy waved her worry away.

"It's obviously effecting him; maybe he just needs to get it out," Natalie grumbled, peeling off her sleep shirt to put a bra on.

"Women…"

"Sometimes people need to talk about thing. Sometimes they need to get it out and get advice," she told him frustratedly. "It's not girly and stupid - its healthy. Geeze."

"Don't get mad at me," he frowned, studying her.

She just rolled her eyes and tossed aside the shirt in her hand in frustration; she was flustered and now she didn't want to wear that one.

"…you've been to a counselor before, huh?" he realized, reading her well.

"Yeah, so?"

"So….when?" he interrogated; he liked hearing about her life before him on the occasion that it came up…it was different than his; sometimes interestingly so.

"Whenever"

"Ah, c'mon…what'd ya go for then?" he asked, wondering if she'd had some eating disorder or something at some point that he didn't know about.

"…issues with my dad," she admitted.

Billy tried to hide a grin; somehow he wasn't surprised by that.

Natalie gave him a look.

"What?…what, I'm sorry, alright? It's just ironic that big judge Shepherd was the reason his baby had to go to therapy."

Natalie shook her head at him and went back to digging for a shirt; she still hadn't decided on one and it was pissing her off more than it should.

"What? It's not a big deal; I probably shouldda been in therapy for shit my dad did, too - me and Joe both," he muttered around his cigarette, still calmly leaning on the headboard.

"Whatever"

She didn't want to write-off the acknowledgement that his dad had messed him and Joe up some, but she also didn't want to talk about this right now.

"You're mad I'm interested? C'mon," Billy drawled out.

"No, I'm frustrated because it's kind of a touchy subject right now and you're joking about it"

"…right now? When the hell did you see this therapist?" Billy frowned.

"She's not a therapist; she's the school counselor… …I went a couple months ago"

Billy's eyebrows popped up at that while he inhaled.

"…ya didn't tell me that."

"I know. It wasn't that big of a deal"

"…I thought we just established that people go see a shrink when something is a big deal," he twisted the discussion on her.

"…it really wasn't. My advisor told me he thought I should go-"

"Advisor?" he frowned.

"Yeah…the professor that helps me with scheduling and stuff….Dr. Holmes, I've mentioned him before…? He's -"

"Yeah yeah the tall guy who tells the same stories over and over," Billy nodded, waving her on.

Natalie nodded at the proof that he listened to her stories.

"Well…he noticed when I started missing more classes because I never really did before - that was because of you," she grinned. "And then I had that bruise, and I couldn't completely hide it so he asked me about it…and he gave me the school counselor's number."

"And ya went…but ya didn't have to?" Billy squinted his eyes at her.

"Yeah; like I said, sometime's it's nice to talk to someone," she shrugged, pulling on a t-shirt finally.

"What am I - a wall? I got ears," Billy frowned; he didn't like the insinuation that he wasn't good enough for her to talk to.

"…it's more than listening. She's trained to give advice and help out. It's not that I couldn't talk to you…but would you have known what to tell me about how I felt about my parents? I mean, you took care of me - and that was great - but when Dr. Holmes said I should talk to her it sounded like a good idea."

"…guess you got a point," Billy decided after a few contemplative drags. "So what'd you talk about?"

"Why does it matter?"

He shrugged.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"…well she asked me why I was missing classes, and I told her it wasn't a big deal, just running around with a boyfriend," she winked at him, trying to ease his mind about whatever he was fussy over - maybe it was too soon after waking up for serious conversations. "She eventually asked about the bruise and I told her the whole deal with my dad…so then I had to explain you weren't exactly a dad's dream - don't worry, I didn't tell her your name," she added before he could ask.

"I fuckin' figured"

"So then we just talked about how I felt towards my dad for acting the way he did, and how he's hindering my autonomy."

"Aut-what?" Billy tilted his head.

"Autonomy…like, me trying to become more independent," she defined. "And then we just dialogued about balancing a relationship with my parents and pursing the romantic relationship that I chose."

"So you discussed me and us," he nodded slowly, gesturing between them.

"…I guess, but that's not why I went," she promised, stepping into a pair of jeans.

"Well what'd ya talk about?" he continued to pester.

"…she just asked the kinds of questions I'd ask myself to verify that the relationship is worth the problems it was causing. That way I had to say it out loud and acknowledge how I felt."

"…and?"

"…what do you mean "and?" I'm still here, aren't I?" Natalie smiled softly.

Billy narrowed his eyes, thinking this over.

"Go ahead and ask," Natalie sighed, leaning against the dresser.

"…forget it."

"Billy, go ahead; we already opened this door…"

"No, you're right; you're here, so it's fine," he decided; maybe it didn't matter what she'd told some shrink months ago.

"Good…cuz it's basically stuff we've mentioned by now anyway," she smiled, pulling on a hooded sweatshirt. "And she obviously didn't talk me into bailing on you," she added, crawling up the bed.

He lowered his bent knee so she could get to him and kiss him on the chin while he inhaled deeply.

"She try to?" he checked, blowing the smoke to the side when she settled to sit back on his legs.

"Well she was worried when I mentioned you might be in a gang…but who wouldn't?"

Billy conceded to that and thought for a few moments.

"…can't believe ya didn't tell me…."

"I only saw her twice and it didn't seem like a big deal…" Natalie shrugged. "And there was a lot going on at the time."

"Fuckin' shrink tryin' to make ya run out on me," he smirked, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't have even let her try," Natalie winked. "And she's not a shrink…it wasn't real therapy with diagnosis and stuff. I just wanted to be validated by someone impartial that what I was feeling was okay."

Billy nodded even though he wasn't sure how much he understood, but her mentioning that a lot had been going on then reminded him that, yes, there certainly had been. He supposed he couldn't be annoyed that she'd found the most convenient way to cope and ran with it.

"… …so what do you think about Vince?" she asked after a few quiet minutes.

"What about him?" Billy sighed, cracking his neck.

"…I probably shouldn't mention it, huh?"

"…I doubt he'd like it," Billy forced himself to tell her nicely.

He didn't particularly care what Vince liked, but then he could remembered empathizing with the guy when he'd had that nightmare. Okay, so maybe the guy should talk to somebody, but Billy knew he and Vince were a little alike - something he would never be telling Natalie - in the way that they'd had to harden up. Billy wouldn't respond well to the idea he should talk to some damn stranger about personal shit, so he doubted very much that Vince would be any more keen on the notion.

"You're right…he knows he can go to the VA; I'll let him take care of himself. And he says he talks to some war buddies, right?- sorry. You don't want to talk about him," Natalie remind herself with a grin.

"Not really," he admitted with a semi-amused look.

"Sorry, I'm just worried"

"I can tell," he nodded, squeezing her leg.

She held in a squeal and pushed his hand away, tugging her sleeves over her hands as she contemplated the Vince situation. It was hard to tell sometimes if something was wrong or if he was just being himself…plus there was the fact that he wasn't hanging around as much as he might if Billy weren't around.

"Stop thinkin' so damn much," he ordered her, stubbing out his cigarette to pull her closer and thoroughly distract her.

Natalie leaned into him, hands resting on his shoulders, and kissed him back equally as passionate. She pulled away eventually, reminding herself she still had to finish getting ready.

"…I wish I had time to make you breakfast….well, Joe too."

"Why?"

"…I just feel like doing something nice," she shrugged.

"Skip class and I'll show you somethin' nice you can do," he smirked.

Natalie giggled and crawled off of him reluctantly.

"I can't…you're trying to teach me bad habits"

"Skipping class is child's play," he joked, throwing the covers off to finally get up once she laughed and walked out.

"Joe, get your ass up," he hollered from his room, not spotting Joe in the living room. "You're goin' to the office with me."

"That wasn't very nice," Natalie snickered when he entered the bathroom.

He shrugged and lifted the seat of the toilet.

"…you want me to step out?" she rose an eyebrow.

"…this is me caring either way," he shrugged, unzipping his pants to take a piss.

She shook her head at him and looked back to the mirror to throw on some makeup and then muddle out to the kitchen. Joe was there now, looking extremely haphazard.

"Good morning"

"Fuck you," he muttered, scrubbing hard at his eyes.

They all ate a quiet breakfast of cereals and Natalie was the first to have to go.

"I'll see you tonight," she gave Billy a quick kiss. "I love you."

He rested his forehead on hers and started at her a moment.

"Love you"

She straightened with a smile while Joe pretended to gag into his cereal. Billy frowned and kicked his stool, making it teeter dangerously. The younger Darely was none too pleased with this and was still muttering under his breath when she pulled her coat on and grabbed her bag to leave.

Vince and Natalie ended up getting talked into dinner with her parents, so they were there for a while before going to lounge around his place. He was staying at a semi-seedy apartment in a semi-seedy little area…the place looked like more of a glorified hotel room. That was Vince, though; he wasn't dirty but wasn't exactly clean either. He just…was.

They had a couple beers and lounged around, just doing nothing and killing time. It was kind of late but relatively early, given that it was a Friday, when Natalie started feeling a little tired. Sure it was early for that but that's what a week full of classes will do to you after you stayed up as late as you wanted everyday over Christmas break.

"So where've you been, V?" Natalie asked; she'd been beating around the topic of himself all night but didn't want to leave before she at least asked if he was doing okay.

"Around…you know," he shrugged.

It wasn't really an answer, though that's what Vince did…he was just around. He was probably picking up odd jobs helping people he knew here and there…whatever shit would keep him afloat.

"I just haven't heard from you, so I worried."

"Ah, well you're with Billy a lot"

"You know I'd make time for you - I always do," she reminded him, sitting forward in the armchair she'd been curled up in.

"…it's a little different with Billy, we both know that. I can't just hang out with you and your friends….gotta pull you away from 'em to hang out with you," he shrugged, picking at the label of his beer bottle.

"That's not true; Paige thinks your great, Baggy likes you alright, and my friends from school that you've met like you."

He shrugged and sat back.

"It's okay…ain't nothing'"

"It is too. I want to hang out with you while you're here and I want to know you're okay"

"I'm fine…I always am," he grinned reassuringly.

"I know….you should be more than fine, though. I wish you'd come around more…" she told him.

"And hang out with you and Billy? Nah, I don't think so," he declined, shaking his head.

"I know he's rough sometimes…"

"I just don't want to see you with him," he told her bluntly, shaking his head.

"…what do you mean?" Natalie frowned.

"What do you think I mean, Nat? It ain't like I don't know how to be around guys like him; I've known guys like him my whole life. But I'm not gonna sit around and watch you with one," he looked a little disgusted.

"Vince…you don't know Billy"

"I don't have to know Billy; I know the type. Bad for you, mami," he continued to shake his head. "You're just hurtin' yourself and everybody can see it. Maybe your dad ain't dealin' with it right but that don't mean he's wrong."

"Don't think I haven't thought a lot about it…I know it's not…conventional"

"Not logical, more like it. I can't quite figure you out…I don't know if you just want a taste of danger or if you're blinded by, what, how he is in bed?"

"Vince! Don't patronize me like that…I'm not some whore"

Was the sex good? Yes. But it went beyond that.

"Do you know that's not what you are to him? Geeze, what would Connor think, huh?'

"Don't," Natalie shook her head, face falling flat. "Don't say that like he's some trump card you can play."

"But you're not telling me I'm wrong. You know he'd be first in line to kick his ass," Vince told her quietly.

"Connor wouldn't want me to be with any guy," Natalie rolled her eyes, thinking of her conversation with Julia some time ago.

"No he wouldn't want you with that guy…"

"He wouldn't want me to be happy?"

"Were you happy when he pointed that gun in my face, Nat? Quite the fucking temper he's got…"

"Shut up…don't talk about him like you know him," she shook her head.

"Connor would be disgusted, just like I'm disgusted. He'd be disappointed in both of us," Vince sighed, leaning back in his seat.

If she was in a better mood towards Vince she might've wondered what he really meant by his last statement, but she was too upset.

"I don't know when you decided you could talk to me about Connor like that, but I'm leaving," Natalie glared at him, getting up and grabbing her purse off the floor to leave, slamming the door behind her.

All the apartments faced the outside so she walked down the cement walkway and down the stairs to the parking lot. She was pissed so she just stalked around for a few minutes in the cold night air before really realizing she was stuck there; Vince had driven them so her car wasn't there.

"Shit…."

Tears had been stinging her eyes since leaving the apartment and as she dropped to sit on the steps of the building they finally fell out of her eyes. She didn't like hearing Vince talk to her that way but he mostly didn't like Connor brought up and used against her like that. She'd wondered herself many times how her brother would have reacted to Billy…if they ever would've gotten along. She couldn't deny that, no, Connor wouldn't have accepted their relationship without a fight, but he was hotheaded and stubborn like that. She didn't need Vince, or anyone, throwing it in her face.

She let herself cry for a little bit, half wondering if Vince would come out, and finally just took a deep breath and pulled out her phone.

"Hey"

"Billy….what're you doing right now?"

"Just got to the bar with Tommy and Baggy…why, you comin'?"

"…I just need you to come pick me up - I can call Paige," she sighed, getting up to walk down the stairs and stroll the parking lot, more calmly this time.

"No, I'll come right now - why do ya need picked up?" he asked suspiciously.

"I got in an argument with Vince and I left…'

"…ya bring up that therapist thing?" Billy nodded to himself.

"No!" Natalie spat into the phone. "This isn't my fault," she sniffed, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"…the fuck happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Nat"

"…he just said some stuff and I didn't want to stick around"

"So he fuckin' let ya waltz out on your own? Jackass…"

"It's fine. Whatever. I wasn't going to stay," she sniffed again.

"Christ, what the fuck did he say? I thought Vince did no wrong…" he tried to lighten her up.

"Please don't," Natalie sighed. "…you said you were coming?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way," he assured her; he'd dropped her off there once so he knew the building.

"…okay."

They stayed on the phone quietly, the only real noise now their breathing and the radio she could hear still playing quietly in the car.

"…is that you already?" Natalie squinted when a car pulled up on the sidewalk.

"What? No"

"Mmm, never mind," she shrugged.

She supposed it had been a bit of an assumption to think it was him; plenty of people came and went from there after all.

What she didn't know was that one of Ethan's buddies frequented a young woman who lived in Vince's building - a curvy, blonde little thing. Natalie had visited or picked up Vince from there a couple times already, so it was really just luck that she hadn't been recognized. Well, hadn't been recognized until tonight.

Natalie heard a whistle behind her and sighed deeply; maybe it would've been smarter to stay in Vince's room…she could've just ignored him until Billy got there.

Common sense said not to turn around but something made her, and she froze.

"Oh my God…"

"…what?… …what?"

Billy could hear a shaky breath across the line and then a muffled "Hey!" from somewhere, and then a "fuck!" No words came after that, just rustling around the phone.

"Nat! What the hell! Hello?"

Natalie was a little too busy running and panicking to think about the phone clutched tightly in her hand for a minute.

"Nat!" Billy screamed into his phone again; all he could hear was commotion and he needed a damn explanation.

"Billy - it's him," Natalie raised the phone as she ran; she registered that he needed to know….if he didn't get there in time he had to know.

…would he get there in time? And in time for what?

"What?"

"Ethan, he's here," she panted into the phone. "Ow! Shit - I'm okay," she breathed after tripping over an uneven bit of sidewalk.

"Not for long, bitch," someone behind her cackled; there was a couple of them.

"Fuck! What the fuck!" Billy raged. "Nat, you have a knife!"

"I can't…"

"Yes you can! Ya fucking can - you have to!"

Her purse was bumping along on her shoulder; she'd almost thrown it down but she supposed it was a good thing she hadn't. She fumbled with it, trying to run and reach into it at the same time - thank God she'd at least worn sneakers today. Unfortunately her phone got dropped in the frantic fight with her purse. Her panic worsened - that had been her only connection to help. The phone was promptly kicked by other running feet and Natalie's hand was close to the black handle she was looking for.

She wasn't sure how she'd know what to do with it and she never got to find out because a car raced past and whipped into the street she'd been about to cross, cutting her off. A body ran into her, the momentum throwing her into the car. And sending her purse to the ground.

"Look what we fuckin' got here, boys…" Ethan leered down at her.

All she could do was stare at him and shake her head, as if that would dissuade him. He and his cousin had made themselves known in a couple nightmares after she'd first met them, but they'd since faded away…now he was back and he was real.

"This is gonna be real fun, sweetheart"

He grabbed her shoulders roughly and one of his companions opened the back door to the car. She struggled in his hold, knowing it would all be downhill once she was inside the vehicle, but it did little good and she was thrust inside anyway, between Ethan and a nameless man.

"Bodie! Get the fuckin' car and get to Clyde St. now!…don't fucking ask me why!" Billy yelled into the phone. "Ethan and his halfwit faggot friends showed up again that's why…yes that's where Vince lives, Natalie was there. We're searching the place. Get your asses there!" he ended his tirade and threw his phone into the passenger seat in disgust, flying down the road.

He stopped short of the dingy apartment complex suddenly and got out, racing around to the curb to stare down at a very familiar black purse. For a moment he couldn't pick it up, he could only look at it. It's contents would be familiar…a brown wallet with a pink stripe…that damn camera she liked using…gum that she liked to joke and tell him he needed to chew after he smoked…yet there was also a lighter she'd taken to carrying with her since he might leave his sitting somewhere and often didn't pay attention to whether his was almost out…plenty of knick knacks were in that thing.

He knew it was hers but he picked it up slowly and peered in just to be sure.

"Fuck!" he yelled at the empty street.

He opened the car to throw this in the passenger seat and he grabbed his phone, dialing her number. Her ring tone went off not far from him - some slow rock song he still didn't have a title to but by now knew the chorus of - and he whipped around, seeing the small light of the screen on the ground. He let it keep ringing and strode over, bending to pick it up. The screen was cracked, distorting the name Billy that was flashing.

He tapped it off, fuming, and pocketed both phones. He stood there for a while and it took less time than he'd even expected before his car's twin pulled up and guys piled out.

"The fuck's goin' on?" Joe demanded, looking around wildly; they'd likely all expected a brawl.

"They took her; they had to have. They fucking took her and we're gonna fucking find her!" Billy raged. "I want you to search the whole area. Anything that looks like hers, you grab it. You see anyone out loitering the street, you get some fucking answers. They don't crack, go ahead and bring 'em to me. Now."

Everyone hopped to it, spreading out to scour the area.

"What, Joe?" he snapped.

"You alright?"

"…am I alright?"

"What're you gonna do?" Joe tried again, kicking himself for the first question.

"Paying Vince a fucking visit…see where his ass was"

"I'll go with you," Joe nodded; he wasn't sure if he trusted Billy to not wring Vince's neck right now.

"I don't need a fuckin' babysitter. Grab my keys and go search the area"

Billy marched off to drop in on Vince and Joe did as he was told, turning Billy's' car off before disappearing. Billy knew which room was Vince's from dropping Natalie there once, so he didn't even bother knocking, just barged right in.

Vince jumped, startled from where he sat, but he eased back when he saw who it was.

"She complain and send you in? What, you gonna straighten me out?" Vince rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck did you two fight about?" Billy demanded.

Vince ignored him, watching the TV instead, so Billy ripped the cord out.

"I got your undivided attention now, douche bag? Now, what the hell did you do that had her hightailing it out of here, huh?"

"…look, didn't we already play this game? This pissing contest is old. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself," Vince shook his head.

Billy fumed and crossed the room, grabbing Vince's collar to haul him up closer to his face.

"Yeah, she's a big girl," Billy agreed. "She's also a fucking missing girl, cuz you ran her outta here!"

Vince deadpanned.

"The hell did you just say?"

"That's right; she got picked up off the street, motherfucker. Where the hell were you?"
"Aw, man, it was just an argument. How do you know what happened?" Vince demanded answers.

"She was on the phone with me…I was on my way to pick her up cuz of your ass"

"Ah, she didn't have her car…" Vince remembered now.

He stood up, which forced Billy back a step, and he started pacing, running his hand through his hair agitatedly. Spanish was spewing out of his mouth and Billy only gave him a moment of crazy.

"English, asshole!" he demanded.

"Man, I crossed a line, man…I said some shit…"

"I noticed," Billy glared daggers at him.

"That's between me and her," Vince shook his head, knowing the question that Billy left unspoken - he wanted to know. "So what's goin' on … you know who took her?"

Now it was Billy's turn to drag a hand over his head.

"Yeah, I fuckin' know"

"…so wha're we doin' here?"

"My boys gotta find 'em…and we ain't doin' shit," Billy shook his head.

"Bullshit, you're letting me help"

"Fuck you," Billy spat back.

"Who are you to turn down help, bro? Huh? Obviously you got a situation you can't control; let me help you…"

Billy eyed him up. No way. No fucking way.

"You know I can help. I'm not some pansy-ass, white-collar bitch. I'm what she's got left - I'm supposed to be protecting her for Connor, yeah? Who the hell else is gonna want her safe more than me?"

"Me," Billy challenged. "…I ain't gonna let you help me just cuz you're harboring some fucking hard-on for her," Billy doubted Vince's reasons.

"What? I ain't lookin' at her like that, bro - she's the closest thing I've got to Connor; that's all I care about…"

Billy reeled back slightly at that in surprise, wondering if that was some unexpected homosexual confession.

"Oh, fuck you," Vince spat, reading it in his face. "He was like my god damn brother and he died right in front of me. You try losing that brother of yours…you latch on to anything you can. I'm hanging by threads here, man, with whatever connections I got left. I can't lose more family."

Billy had seen friends die…maybe he could empathize.

"…you got that crazy post-traumatic shit?" he checked; he didn't have time for that.

"Nah"

"…ya got your own gun?" Billy checked.

Vince had a point; Vince did know what he was doing and had loyalty to Natalie to get her ass back.

"Yeah"

"Grab it"

Vince sped to the bedroom to the gun case and retrieved what he needed, extra clips shoved into his coat, which he pulled on. He returned to the main room tucking his handgun in the waist of his jeans.

Billy stepped in front of him at the door, pointing at him harshly.

"I'm calling the shots, and don't get in my way. This ain't the army - it ain't legal. If you got a problem with that, don't fucking bother," he stated sternly.

"Ain't a stranger to illegal," Vince promised.

Billy nodded. Natalie had filled him in on some of Vince's past with his shitty parents and worse numerous foster homes. He'd apparently been able to jive back when he was a kid, so they were about to see if he still had it.

"This doesn't mean I like you," Billy decided to clarify when they got to the parking lot.

"Same for you, fucker," Vince responded casually.

Billy would've smirked at his balls any other day but walked stoically down the street now. They waited by Billy's car, silently waiting for the guys returned. They boys hadn't found anything except one little street urchin who'd seen three guys shove some chick into a car and showed them the direction - he'd wanted $20 for the information, but he got Baggy's fist in the gut instead.

"Alright. In. Now, c'mon," Billy ordered, pointing everyone back to the vehicles.

"So…what? He's one of us?" Joe raised an eyebrow, skeptical of this Vince character.

"For now," Billy nodded once, waving Joe into the backseat.

And that's that. R and R.