Sick Like Me

Desert Rose

[1413 words]
~
Laid out in your bed, you listen to the sound of Billy shuffling around in your living room through the open door. After your little moment earlier he made you lay down and said he would finish unpacking the living room for you. Of course, you obliged as you were too worn out to fight back. Your eyes slowly closed as you honed in on the sound of the music still playing in the living room. This focus made you not even realize that Billy had sauntered his way into the room. He didn't speak, he simply walked over to your closet and began sifting through your clothes. You turned over onto your side, facing the wall, as you felt him drop a few items onto the bed before exiting the room once more. After a few moments, the music shut off and you heard him shuffling around again. A few more moments and the music had returned but this time, rather than it being the somewhat calm sound of a softer glam metal song, it was the sound of Seek and Destroy starting. You gave a frustrated sigh at this, knowing that this meant he would soon be getting ready for something. Deep down you knew that he was going to make you go to yet another party even after the situation earlier so you tried to find it within yourself to accept that fact.

You continued to lay there until you felt a hand on your shoulder and a shift in the bed beneath you. "Y/n." Billy's voice was soft, you had assumed this was because he thought you were sleeping. You shifted your head to the side as you opened your eyes to peer up at him. "What Billy?" You asked in an unintentional frustrated tone. He seemed slightly taken aback by this but didn't make that known verbally. "Come here." He stated simply as he slid away from the bed and gestured for you to do the same. Almost as soon as you had stood up from the bed, Billy had pulled you into him, wrapping his arms around you. You rolled your eyes, knowing what was to come. "I know I said we didn't have to go out tonight." He paused and you sighed in frustration. "Fine. Whatever. We can go if it's so important to you." You said in a still frustrated tone, dragging out the words a bit as you did, before he could continue attempting to sweet talk you. He dipped his face down close to yours and a smirk grew across his face. "What can I say? I like showing you off...and seeing you not so...stuck up." Before he could come in any further for the kiss you knew was about to happen, you pulled your face back a bit. "Why's that?" You inquired as you locked your eyes with his. "I assumed you liked stuck up since you seem to think that I am and you like me so fucking much." You continued with a bit of attitude lacing your voice as you spoke. "Or maybe you don't like me as much as I think you do." You finished, your expression unchanged from frustration as you watched him cock his brow at you. He quickly shook his head as the smirk left his face and released you from his grip, causing your stomach to sink a bit in guilt. "Just get dressed. We're leaving as soon as you do." He said, his own frustration lacing his voice, as he walked out of the room.

Once he was out of sight you plopped back down on the bed, elbows on your knees, and threw your head in your hands. "Goddammit." You muttered to yourself as your mind began to race and the guilt in your stomach began to build.

Why would you say that?

Why would you say that?

Why would you say that?

Your mind was almost screaming at you as you sat there in defeat. You stayed in that position for a moment before attempting to brush it off. You lifted yourself from the bed and looked down at the outfit he had laid out on the bed for you. Rolling your eyes, you reached down and grabbed the ripped blue jeans. Once those had been successfully pulled on, you grabbed the denim jacket and paused. No shirt. You stared at the empty spot on your bed with confusion for a moment before looking down at yourself.

He doesn't expect me to wear this shirt to that party, does he?

You heard his footsteps returning to the room and he cleared his throat to announce his presence. "What are you waiting for doll face, take that shirt off and let's go." His tone was now teasing and you could just hear the smile on his face. You looked up at him with confusion and he gestured for you to take the shirt off. "Okay?" You said confused and dropped the jacket back onto the bed before removing the shirt. Billy took a moment to eye you before walking over to you. He leaned over and grabbed the jacket, draping it over your shoulders as he stared at you, clearly satisfied with himself. "Billy." You glared up at him. "What?" His teasing tone was now accompanied by a faux look of innocence. "You don't really expect me to wear this to that party, do you?" You questioned and crossed your arms under the black bra that covered your chest. He didn't respond, just chuckled and left the room once more. "Dick!" You yelled out to him as he left.

You walked out of your room and into the bathroom. As you flipped on the light, you stared at yourself in the mirror. "God, I look like—" you were cut off by Billy walking into the bathroom beside you. "Janet Gardner, Lee Aaron, Darby Mills, Holly Woods—" you raised your hand up to his face and glared at him but shot him a smirk. "I'm gonna stop you there. Let's just go and get this over with." You said before you gave a small laugh at his comparisons.

Someone likes their metal. Goddamn.

You'd admit that you didn't mind too much that he compared you to those women. They were gorgeous. They were like desert roses and to compared to them fueled your ego a bit. Billy saw you as a desert rose, at least that was what you were going to convince yourself of for the rest of the night. Even though you didn't want to go to this party before, after that little ego boost, you felt a bit better about going. You had just hoped he wouldn't wander off this time so maybe you wouldn't end up in a situation like the one at the concert again. You had enough violence for awhile, even if you did find it a little attractive when he got that way to protect you. The violence caused conflicting thoughts and you didn't really want to deal with the constant internal battle.

He's doing it cause he thinks he owns you.

No he's doing it because he cares about you.

The internal fighting felt worse than the physical. You just hoped that tonight there wouldn't be as much internal fighting. Though, you knew it would come up at some point. It was inevitable. With Billy it was hard to tell what he was truly feeling towards you in the moment, especially considering the past you two shared in California now conflicting with his current actions. He seemed to like you...a little more than just like you but something in the back of your mind constantly brought up California which caused you to think that this was all just some ploy for him to get something from you.

You quickly shrugged off your thoughts as Billy led you outside and to the car. You slipped your arms into the jacket sleeves and grabbed either side of the jacket, pulling it closed in front of you to cover yourself. He seemed to not notice this action as the two of you got into the car. "I said I like showing you off. Why are you hiding yourself?" Those words caused a blush to creep across your face as you slowly slid your hands away from the jacket. "Yeah, yeah, just drive." You said, trying to brush off his words and hide your slight embarrassment.