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Thirty Two

Several weeks had passed since the first time Allison had heard the thoughts that continued to plague her mind, which had caused her to spend the month of June in hiding, listening to the creature grow stronger with each passing day. She had attempted to outrun it many times, but it's thoughts carried from one end of Hawkins to the other, finding her everywhere that she went.

Hopper, Eleven, and her friends had grown worried, each of them trying to convince her that everything was safe, but she knew otherwise. She didn't know specifics, but she knew that something bad was coming and it had an extreme hatred towards a girl with powers, meaning that neither her, Eleven, or the people that cared for them were safe. 

Allison had forced herself to stay away from Billy, hoping that it would help keep him safe and for a while, she had wavered between wanting to explain herself, or just disappearing from his life without any warning. Reluctantly, she had decided on the latter, knowing that if she went to see Billy in person, he would try to convince her to stay and she wouldn't be able to say no.

She would periodically enter the void to check on him, underestimating how difficult it would be to see Billy but not be with him. Since the night of his graduation he had been hired as a Lifeguard at Hawkin's local swimming pool, piquing the interest of many of the women around town. During the day Billy appeared to be fine, basking in the attention that he received from his admirers, but at night when he was left alone with his thoughts, it became clear just how much pain Allison's absence had caused him.

As the end of June arrived, Allison could no longer ignore the creature's sinister motives or the guilt that she felt for allowing Billy to believe that she had abandoned him. Without telling Hopper or Eleven, she decided to leave the safety of the cabin and venture across town to the pool, hoping that Billy would be willing to listen to her explanation when she got there.

The afternoon sun was beating down on Allison's face as she arrived at the busy parking lot, taking a moment to fix her appearance before joining the citizens of Hawkins who had decided to spend the hot summer day at the pool. As she rounded the corner she spotted Billy, sitting up in the lifeguard chair, several feet above the ground. He was busy scanning over the crowd, when he caught sight of Allison and he slowly lowered his sunglasses to get a better look.

He narrowed his gaze on her and she swallowed hard, trying to remain stone faced as she walked along the side of the pool and slinked into the long narrow building that housed the showers, change rooms, lockers and pool supplies. She moved further inside, finding herself standing in the middle of a dimly lit room, surrounded by empty showers. The floor was wet and it made it easier to hear the set of heavy footsteps approaching from behind.

"Where the hell have you been?", Billy's angry voice echoed off the tiled walls and Allison slowly turned around to face him.

"Hi.", she responded sweetly, trying to evade his question, prompting him to ask it a second time. "Well if it isn't the best looking Lifeguard in Hawkins.", she whispered coyly, still refusing to give Billy an answer, as she looked him up and down.

"Cut the bullshit and tell me where you've been!", he demanded, storming towards her until he had backed Allison up against the nearest wall.

"I've just been dealing with alot lately."

"Is that so? And you couldn't find five minutes out of your busy schedule to tell me that weeks ago? I see how it is-"

"You have no idea how it is! How much you mean to me, or how hard it was to stay away from you. I did what I had to do to keep you safe.", Allison blurted out in frustration.

"Why would you need to keep me safe? Are you in some kind of trouble?", Billy asked, his expression softening as he reached out to caress the side of Allison's face.

"Not yet, but it's just a matter of time and I won't risk having you get hurt. I can't lose you, which is why I came to warn you.", she breathed, blinking back tears. "And now that you know, I should probably go.", she added, stepping away from the wall and trying to push her way passed Billy.

"You're not going anywhere.", he growled, side stepping in front of her to block her path.

"Get out of my way.", Allison ordered, glaring up at him, her nostrils flaring.

"Or what?", he taunted with a laugh, his gaze wandering back and forth from Allison's eyes down to her lips. He smirked as she did the same, slowly inching closer to him, until she couldn't take it anymore and smashed her mouth against his in desperation. "That's more like it.", Billy exhaled hungrily, lifting Allison up against the wall, where she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Billy...we shouldn't...",Allison forced out her words inbetween hard kisses, trying to catch her breath.

"You're right.", he agreed, lowering her back down to the ground where her knees threatened to buckle underneath her. "Let me take you out somewhere instead. We could have dinner, maybe watch a movie?", he suggested, watching closely for Allison's reaction.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

"What if I am? Is that something you'd be interested in?"

"Of course, but-"

"It's not safe, right? Yeah, I've heard that one before. But, come on, if there really is some great evil coming for the fine people of Hawkins, shouldn't we be trying to enjoy ourselves while we still can? ",Billy attempted to persuade her with a charming smile, pausing to let her consider it. "Should we say tonight? Seven o'clock? I'll come pick you up."

"Okay! But only for tonight, at least until I know that it's safe."

"That just means that we'll have to make tonight count.", he crooned, biting his bottom lip.

Shit. I need to go back to work. What if she walks out of here and disappears again?

"Billy, I'll see you later tonight. I promise.", Allison reassured him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. He nodded in understanding and then turned to walk away, leaving Allison standing alone once again.