West Coast // Billy Hargrove

seventeen // change of plans

Sophie let out a sigh as she reorganised the costume wardrobe for what like the fifth time now, her mind always drifting off to Billy no matter how much she tried to push him out of her thoughts.

She felt terrible, guilt had been wracking her brain all weekend after what had happened at the party. Though Brandon was horrible to her, he was still her boyfriend and sleeping with Billy meant she had cheated; she was a cheater.

She felt even worse that her brain was trying to convince her that what she had done wasn't bad and that if it felt so good then it couldn't be wrong and god, did it feel good. Being with Billy after so long made her feel like she was in another realm of existence, the way he could make her feel was something out of fiction and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't lay in bed and ghosted her fingers over where his hands had been on friday night.

"Shit" She mumbled under her breath as she realised she'd once again let her thoughts interrupt the task at hand.

She stepped back from the wardrobe and decided it would have to do, the next competition wasn't for another week and she could just stay late one night during the next few days to sort it out and deemed the rest of the evening a write off for getting any more work done.

Sophie headed out to the lockers and grabbed her belongings and noted that the sky was beginning to darken and she was glad she'd asked Sam to come pick her up because she was not in the mood to have to handle public transport and walking when it got dark.

She had only put her car into the shop yesterday and she already missed the freedom it gave her, she wondered how she even functioned last year without it if she couldn't even go a few days right now.

The rink was mostly empty at this point, just a janitor hanging around and the receptionist waiting for one of the dance halls to become vacant so she too, could leave. Sophie said her goodbyes to them and headed out the front doors, immediately gripping the zip of her jacket and doing it up as the cold evening air hit her.

She checked her watch and noted the time, wondering why Sam wasn't here yet especially when he was always so persistent about punctuality.

"Change of plans"

Sophie whipped her head round to see Billy leaning against the familiar Camaro, tossing the cigarette to the side and stomping on it before pushing himself off and stepping closer to her.

"Billy" She said with a slight gasp "What are you doing here?"

Flashbacks of Friday night entered her mind and she felt her stomach flutter just at the thought.

"Giving you a ride home" He nodded "Sam and Tommy were busy so I figured i'd step in"

She raised her eyebrow at him knowing that it was most likely not the case that they were busy and rather he had convinced them to let him take over.

"Well uh...thanks" She replied, averting his gaze.

Billy held out the passenger door for her and she slipped into the seat, taking note of his chivalry as she tried to not let herself get even more flustered than she already was. After gently closing the door, he moved over to the driver's side and sat down beside her and she hoped he couldn't hear the sound of her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"You wanna grab some food or something?" He asked "Save either of us cooking dinner"

Billy started up the engine, the roar of car infiltrating her ears as it came alive and began to drive out of the parking lot.

"I've uh... i've probably got something in the freezer" She dismissed.

She needed to be careful. Going for dinner was only going to be a slippery slope into something else and she absolutely couldn't let herself get caught up in Billy again, not right now at least.