This Means War // Billy Hargrove x Reader

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

When it finally came time to return to school, you were apprehensive to say the least. You hadn't spoken to him at all since New Year's and however much you'd hoped things would be unchanged, you had a sneaky suspicion it wouldn't be. A line had been crossed and you weren't sure what it would mean for your school life.

Would it get out? He would survive the revelation but you were a girl. The taunts of 'whore' and 'slut' were circling your mind already despite them having not even been spoken yet.

You'd just have to trust he'd kept your little whirlwind fling to himself. 

You drive yourself to school that day, Nancy having gone with Jonathan, and it was just like normal for your first few classes. Billy met your eyes when he first came to class but found a seat further away from you, not uttering a word which you didn't mind. 

Well, a teeny part of you did, but you were ignoring that needy little bitch. 

At lunch you sit at your usual table, alone, and pry open your copy of The Hobbit. You were reading it peacefully, taking the occasional bite of your sandwich, when the jeers of Billy's little entourage draws your attention unwillingly. You couldn't help yourself. Knowing he was in the room, you wanted to steal a few secret glances.

There he was, looking horrifically attractive as ever as he sauntered into the room with his friends and... oh.

He had a classmate of yours, Lucy, under his arm as he walked. He was flirting with her, drawing her onto his lap as he sat and whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

Doesn't bother me.

You tell yourself, forcing your glance back to your book though you have to reread the same paragraph three times before you huff in frustration and look back over his way. They were kissing while their friends talked, his tongue buried in her throat.

Nope, doesn't bother me.

You reassure yourself, taking a small bite of your sandwich that does nothing to fill the sudden hollow space in the pit of your stomach. His eyes find yours as he's kissing her, a brief exchange of glances before it's lost again and that's when you realise -- is he trying to make me jealous?

Surely not. Surely there would be no reason for him to do that, but it's undeniable when he looks up once more, only to hide his glace as soon as he notices you already looking. Well, it wouldn't work because you? You didn't give a shit. Nope. Not one. So he could play his childish games and you would be fine.

But... If you had to admit... It did suck just a little bit. 

It had been your idea to cut things off at just sex, you knew that, but it was a pre-emptive strike that you'd initiated on the suggested knowledge that a clean break would be what he wanted. That his conquest of you was the only motive behind his flirtation with you and that now that he'd had it, that would be it. 

But this? 

If it was what he wanted, why would he be trying to make you jealous - in the lunch hall of all places? It didn't make any sense. Maybe he was just toying with you, seeing if you felt anything for him, and if that was the case, well... Two could play at that game. 

The perfect opportunity for such a thing presents itself at the ideal time as well, as a familiar face stops by your table. "Hey, you." Richard says as he approaches, lips cut into a devilish smirk as he points to the seat beside you. "Anyone sitting here?"

Your polite smile was a reflex, though it grows as you notice a certain pair of blue eyes focused in on your little guest. "Dicky. Good to see you again," You fix your attentions to him, setting a bookmark on your page and putting the book down properly. "No, you can sit."

"Do you have to call me that?" He asks, though there was a smile on his lips that showed you he didn't really mind. He sets his bag down under the seat and shuffles closer, his knee brushing against your own every so often. 

"It's your name, isn't it?" You tease, resting your chin on your palm and doing nothing to hide the flirtatious air you were putting on, lids lowered and lips curled into a demure smile. "But if you really hate it, I can--"

"No, no. It's fine, really." He leans his elbows on the table, cutting you off as green eyes hold the gaze you drilled into him. "I kinda like the way it sounds when it comes from you."

Oh, he was flirting back, huh? 

"Smooth," You tease, giggling softly in a way that was cringe to even your ears, but he ate that shit up like Christmas dinner, his lips pursing a few times as he dances around what he wanted to say. "What?" You ask, trying to pry it from him.

"Well, to be honest, I came over here for a reason."

"Shocker."

"I know," He chuckles, shaking his head at his own transparent actions before continuing, "I wanted to ask you out on a date." 

"A date?" You confirm and he nods, awaiting your response a little too eagerly, eyes searching your expression for a hint at what your answer might be. You avoid the intensity of it and risk a look back over across the room, to see if your retaliation had any affect, but were left with only more questions as the man himself was nowhere to be seen. Lucy was in the seat, frowning and huffing as she spoke to her girlfriends, but Billy? He was gone. 

"Umm..." You pause for time, not knowing what to say or if you had won in this silent challenge, but now being stuck on what to do with Richard.

He was hot as hell, and sweet from what you could tell. He liked you and wanted to take you out and show you off, spend time with you and get to know you better. 

You just... didn't want that. Like... at all.

"I don't know, maybe. Can I think about it?" You meet his eyes with an apologetic smile in hopes to buff the obvious rejection. If it wasn't an instant yes for you, it was a no hidden behind excuses. You couldn't help yourself. 

"Sure. Of course." The kind smile he leaves you with makes you feel guilty for having made him think you were interested in the first place, but there was no going back now. It was a shitty thing to do to him, but he'd get over it. "See you in class."

"Later," You wave him off, picking your book back up only to set it down again when your mind refuses to focus on the words on the page. Even your sandwich tasted like ash and grit when you try to eat it, the bitter taste on your tongue unrelenting even if you couldn't figure out the reasoning behind it.

Or maybe it was that you were still refusing to admit to even yourself how your thoughts surrounding Billy had changed. You'd grown closer to him, that was undeniable, but was he really someone you could see yourself with - if that were even a possibility? 

He was aggressive and mean to most people, all kinds of wrong but the initial attraction to him and then disdain was clouded with something deeper now, something lighter that blossomed more the longer you spent with him and you were fighting so hard to ignore it and push it down. You were just worried about how long you'd be able to stuff it down for. 

One thing you knew for sure was that when it finally reared up and made itself known ... Billy would end up breaking your heart. One way or another.