𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐭 ~ 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐝

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞 listen to that 'no kids allowed' rule?

No.

She quietly followed behind Billy and Melquiades, she had the hood of her patchy and damaged cloak over her head. Laurie was a quiet girl, so for her, it was easy to follow the two men in front of her to the gambling-house without them noticing. Once she saw them walk into the building she went around and climbed a large boulder so that she could watch through the window. Laurie knew how damn stupid she was being, but she had a sinking feeling in her gut that something was going to go wrong.

"Sit down. You are very welcome...," a man whom Laurie was going to assume was Don said to Billy. Billy nodded, taking his hat off as he sat down and the game began. The men at the table threw money into the middle and Laurie held her breath, peeking through the window just enough for her to ot be noticed by the group of gamblers.

Laurie was beginning to lose track of how long this gambling session was going on for and she felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy. She was so tired, and she really wanted to sleep. Maybe she could just rest her eyes for a moment and check back in later? What was the worst that could happen?

The red-head's eyes snapped shut and she fell asleep, resting her head on the wall as she softly snored while the gambling in the room next to her continued. Hours passed and Laurie was still fast asleep on the boulder by the window and the poker was still going on and it didn't seem like it was going to end anytime soon. Billy sometimes found himself wondering if Laurie was okay being alone in their inn room for so long but he quickly brought himself back to the game. He knew she was safer in the inn rather than being here.

Oh, if only he knew.

Once the money was all won back, Melquiades and Billy decided to wrap it up and go home. Billy pocketed the money and slowly stood up with his friend and left the building without a care in the world. Once him and Melquiased were out of the building and back into the streets, Billy handed him the money that they had won and set off to the inn.

However, he stopped when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a certain red-headed girl napping on the boulder. Billy felt his heart stop for a moment, did Laurie seriously follow him out there? He immediately went over and gently shook her awake.

As usual, Laurie shot up, her eyes fluttering open as she looked around before her eyes landed on Billy. For a moment, she was relaxed but then she realized that she had just been caught and she sighed, tensing up like an abused animal preparing for a blow.

"You shouldn't be out here, kid," Billy hissed, firmly grabbing Laurie and setting her on solid ground again. "You remember what happened today? I told you to stay at the inn, an you deliberately disobeyed me."

"I know...," Laurie whispered.

Billy swallowed, trying to keep his temper from rising. "And what's worse, you put yourself in serious danger. You could've been killed! You're lucky I spotted you before anyone with bad intentions could." Billy sounded like a scared and disappointed older brother.

And that was what he felt like.

She reminded him so much of Joe, if he lost her...

Billy shook his head, clearing his throat as he stared at Laurie, who was just looking at the ground. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Laurie, I'm not trying to be an asshole, okay? Let's just go back to the inn and get some sleep, we can talk about this when neither of us are dog tired."

Laurie just nodded and began to follow Billy, only for them to both be stopped by Melquiades. "Sleep? Who said anything about sleep? And don't say that the kid needs it most, she was more spooked than a hunted doe just three seconds ago. She isn't going to sleep anytime soon. So why don't we go and have some fun, no?"

He had a point, Laurie was now wide awake and she would definitely not be falling back asleep again for a while. Billy sighed and shook his head, looking at Laurie. But before he could say anything, Melquiased dragged them to a nearby party. There was a lot of drinking and smoking going on there. Laurie stuck to Billy like glue as they made their way around, following the lead of Melquaised who joined the company of his friends.

Laurie sighed as she watched Billy and Mel help the two dancers off the stage. The 13-year-old watched for a little bit before she snuck off, stealing a whiskey from an unattended table and taking a sip. She choked a little bit as it was much stronger than she had expected but she quickly got over it and drank the whole thing like it was water. The little red-head noticed that they were walking away and she ran after them, quickly catching up and walking next to Billy as he flirted with one of the girls. Her head felt all fuzzy and she felt like she was stumbling over nothing. She wasn't paying any attention to the conversation the men and women were having, she was too busy focusing on not falling on her face.

Was this supposed to happen when you drank whiskey?

Mel pulled Billy to the side so that they could speak. While the two girls, Maria and Julianna stayed behind. The two girls smiled at the young red-head in front of them. Billy looked back at Laurie, he knew how drunk people acted, so he knew that the kid was drunk as a skunk as of right now, however his attention was yanked back to his conversation with Melquiades.

"What's your name, kid?," Maria asked as Laurie shook her head, her vision still a bit fuzzy.

"Laurie," the teenager replied, her words slurring together.

"First time?," Julianna laughed, noticing the much younger girl's drunken state. Her gaze went back to Billy and Mel. "Would you like to come have dinner with us tomorrow? You can even bring the kid if you want to."

ⅠⅠⅠⅠ

The next evening, as the sun set behind the rolling hills and the sky began to darken, Billy, Mel and Laurie made their way to have dinner like the girls had requested. Melquiades was monologuing about how they had to keep things respectful because these girls' family was very rich and powerful.

"And at least try to say more, Laurie. You can't be so quiet if you want to make a good impression," Melquiades said as he looked over at Laurie, who clutched her sketchbook at her chest and simply nodded, sighing to herself as they came to the house.

Billy knocked on the door while Laurie wildly fidgeted with her hands, the scrawny girl wasn't too sure how she felt about doing this. Within seconds the three of them were let in and seated at a dining table in the biggest kitchen Laurie has ever seen. She sat on a chair next to Billy, her leg bouncing as she fidgeted and listened to the conversations.

"You look very elegant tonight, ma'am," Melquiandes said to Mrs. Buendia.

"Thank you," Mrs. Buendia replied, nodding her head as the food server dished out food onto the plates. Laurie kept her gaze on her plate, not engaging in the conversation but instead listening to it. "My husband is an important person. Why, the president of Mexico, sat in that very chair the little runt is sitting on. He gave my husband a medal."

Laurie looked up at hearing the familiar name she had been given, trying not to show that it upset her to be called that. Instead, she swallowed her anguish and spoke in a polite tone. "I was sorry to hear about your husband's death."

"Death? What do you mean? My husband will be home soon. He's a very important man," Mrs. Buendia countered, causing Billy, Melquiades and Laurie to exchange perplexed looks.

Was she seriously this delusional?

"Do you have any intentions with my daughters, boys?," Mrs. Buendia suddenly asked, causing Laurie to almost choke on the water she drank as her eyes snapped over to the older woman once more.

"No, ma'am!," Mel quickly replied. Laurie could tell immediately that this was a fat fucking lie.

"Watch yourself kid. We are an important family. They must marry well, or they will bring shame on us," Mrs. Buendia warned before she then looked at Laurie, who was eating her food quietly. "Consider putting some more meat on her bones. She looks like a twig."

Laurie sighed, putting her utensils down as she got up, going upstairs to the guestrooms that the sisters said had been prepared. She was tired of those kinds of comments and she was tired of being viewed as an injured puppy that needed to be coddled.

She just wanted to be like everyone else.

She just wanted to fit in.