Riptide

Chapter Nine - Date Night Take 2

That night when the dinner party had started I did my usual routine of fake smiles and charming a bunch of the guests. "Oh Emmalyn, you look lovely this evening." A woman said to me, I smiled at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Foster you look, rather lovely as well." I said, being polite. "You're absolutely precious, oh have you met Mr. Reed's boy yet? You two would hit it off so well." She asked, smiling as she tried to play matchmaker. "I've not met him as of yet." I said honestly, "Well let's fix that shall we?" A male voice said from behind me. I turned around looking up at a boy my age. He was rather cute, but something about him just made me feel uneasy. I shoved that down as paranoia and gave him a playful smile. "You know it's rude to eavesdrop on people's conversations." I chuckled, "But the ones I've been having are rather dull." He smirked, I nodded a bit looking up at him. "Emmalyn Beckett," I said, holding my hand out to him for him to shake. He instead grabbed it and turned it so he could kiss it. "Killian Reed," He said after he stopped kissing my hand. I looked at him with a faint blush on my cheeks, he was rather charming. I then remembered the night out I planned with Billy, for some reason Killian kissing my hand felt wrong now. I pulled my hand away gently before checking my watch. "Oh dinner should be starting soon," I said as an excuse to get me out of this conversation with Killian. He grabs my hand, "Wait, I must see you again some other time. How about next weekend we go on a date?" He suggested handing me a business card with his number on it. "You know it's weird to put your number on a business card right?" I chuckled and he simply shrugged. "Besides I'm sort of seeing someone right now." I sighed, "Sort of? If a woman like you were mine there would be no ambiguity." He smirked, putting his finger under my chin. I stepped back away from him and went to the dining room. 

As dinner dragged on I at some point found my opening and walked away from the table. I headed to my room, soon I realized I had been followed. I stood beside my bedroom door and when the person following me walked in I cleared my throat, it was Killian. "You know it's rude to walk away from dinner." He chuckled, "And it's creepy to follow a girl around." I pointed out going over to the window. As if on cue Billy pops up startling me. I opened the window and he climbed in. "I'm never climbing up to your bedroom window again, next time meet me down the block," Billy chuckled, "Noted," I chuckled, I soon noticed Billy looking at my outfit. "Well I found a plus side to dinner parties." He smirked and I rolled my eyes. "Excuse me," Killian cleared his throat, Billy turned to look at him, his eyes narrowing. "Emma, who is this guy?" He asked, looking down at me. "Killian, the son of one of my mom's business partners." I shrugged, Billy nodded, before looking at Killian glaring into his soul practically. "Shall we get going?" Billy suggests taking my hand. "Yeah sure," I nodded, confused by his reaction to meeting Killian. Billy turns to me and smiles before letting go of my hand and climbing out the window. I took off my heels since I gave Billy shoes that went with my outfit. I then climbed down when I was sure Billy had. When I finally got on the ground he looked at me realizing I had no shoes on. "It's a long walk Emma," He points out. I shrugged about to say something witty but before I could he simply picked me up. "Jesus Christ!" I said in surprise as he simply carried me. "What? I wasn't going to deal with you saying your feet hurt." Billy huffed, I rolled my eyes, "I won't say my feet hurt." I huffed, and he put me back on the ground. At some point though on our way there my feet did begin to hurt, and Billy noticed sighing softly. He simply picked me up and threw me over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing. He simply chuckled as he walked to his car. "Shut up," I huffed, "I look like I'm kidnapping you, this is kind of funny, even you gotta admit it," Billy smirked a bit. I thought about it for a moment before I started laughing. "Okay, you kidnapping someone is what I find the funniest about that whole thing." I joked, and I could tell from the slight chuckle he let out, that he rolled his eyes. When we finally got to his car he set me down on the ground. 

Billy opens the car door to the backseat for me so I could get changed while on our way to wherever we were off to. I got in and grabbed my clothes immediately starting to get dressed. Billy gets in the driver's seat and starts driving. "If you look in that rear view mirror I swear to god Billy," I said as I struggled to get my skirt on under my dress. "Not like I'll see anything, it's pitch-black back there." Billy chuckled softly looking ahead of himself. When I finished getting dressed, I gently tossed my shoes on the passenger seat floorboard, then climbed up into the front passenger seat. I took a deep breath and started to put my shoes on. "You're breathing like you were working out or something." Billy chuckled, "It felt like it." I joked looking over to him. "That's the hardest fight I've been in." I said, still kidding around. "Probably the only fight." Billy chuckled, brushing me off. "No, I took martial arts." I said looking over to him with a serious look. "Huh..." Billy said, seeming like he didn't expect it. "Yep, I did pretty good at it too." I smiled happily, Billy nodded, "Didn't expect that out of little miss wannabe Olympic gymnast." He teased, I laughed. "Oh my god you remember that?" I smiled looking over at him. "You were always doing cool tricks and shit." He said looking over to me then to the road, before looking back at me and realizing I was wearing a skirt. I could tell he was checking me out. "Look at the road before we end up in a ditch." I chuckled; Billy quickly looked back at the road. Eventually we arrived at some diner. Billy parked the car, and the two of us headed inside the place. 

We sat down in a booth, I picked up my menu and started looking it over. "So, what's the deal with you and that Killian guy?" Billy asked, a certain tone was in his voice. "What are you jealous?" I smirked a bit at him, he didn't answer and his expression didn't shift. "Wait, are you?" I asked confused, "Why would I be jealous?" He said brushing me off, "You just shouldn't hang around someone like him." He sighed, "What? Am I all of a sudden Max or something?" I huffed leaning back and crossing my arms. "The way he looks at you, he doesn't have good intentions." Billy said protectively. "Is it how you look at women?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, he went quiet. "It's not how I look at you." He admits, "How do you look at me?" I asked curiously, but before he could answer I heard a familiar voice. "Well, I wasn't expecting to see you here." A male voice said, Billy tensed up looking over to Neil. "Oh shit" I thought to myself, "You must be Beck-" Neil stopped talking when he saw my face, he froze a moment. I decided to play dumb, "You okay sir?" I asked, feigning confusion, Neil's expression changed. "What's your name?" He asked firmly, I looked at Neil then at Billy before looking up at Neil again deciding to behave since it'll turn out badly for Billy. "Emmalyn, my name is Emmalyn Beckett." I said looking Neil dead in the eyes. "You were the girl Billy used to hang around a bunch as a kid. How's your mother?" Neil looked at Billy then back to me. "The very same sir, all grown up." I smiled, "How ironic that you're here in Hawkins," He said as if it wasn't sheer coincidence. "Yeah my mother wanted a change of scenery, bad memories where we were before." I shrugged, "Yeah, I know what that's like." Neil looked at Billy, Billy looked away. "Hey what happened to Becky?" Neil asked looking at Billy, "Nothing, Emma are just friends." Billy said, looking at Neil again. Neil narrowed his eyes, "Seriously, we're just friends." I said, confirming what Billy was saying. "Neil the food has arrived at the table." Billy's stepmother said. "Ah, well it was nice catching up with you Emma." Neil lied before glaring at Billy. "I'll tell my mother you said hi," I said looking Neil dead in the eyes, he turned white for a moment. He knew exactly what I was referring to. "Maybe she'll invite you over for dinner sometime." I smiled looking away and Neil's expression shifted back to normal as if he was overthinking it. "Right..." He said before walking back over to his table with Susan. "The man seems to have a talent for ruining date night." I said under my breath, Billy was tapping his foot nervously. I reached out and grabbed his hand, but he pulled away. I sighed, grabbing his other hand and taking him outside for a moment. 

When we were outside I looked up at him, "Take a deep breath okay?" I said putting a hand on both of his shoulders, or as high up as I could reach. "There's a reason I've been keeping you a secret from him," Billy said, clearly trying to remain calm. "I know," I said gently, moving one hand to his cheek. "We've not ordered any food, why don't we go somewhere else?" I suggested, Billy looked down at me before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He simply nods, "If we do that he'll know he spooked us," Billy said, calming himself down a bit. "If we don't you're going to be tense the entire night, and it'll lead to you lashing out and being an ass then begging for my forgiveness tomorrow." I said crossing my arms, he glared at me for a second before sighing. "Fine you win, where to?" He asked, "Let's go get food to go somewhere then drive to the lake. It's not the same as the ocean but you've always found water to be rather serene." I suggested and he nodded. We went ahead and did just that and when we got to the lake we just stargazed and talked until the night had finally come to a close. He drove me home, and when I got to my room I felt a pit of anxiety in my stomach.