West Coast // Billy Hargrove

twenty four // care

Sophie could see it, his hand reaching backwards in slow motion before it connected with her face over and over again. She felt every hit before he moved on to pulling at her hair, not in the fun playful way but where it felt like he was going to pull it out of her skull with the force. She was slammed into the wall and then to the floor and eventually the bed; the part she dreaded the most.

Her eyes were watery as she looked up at him, pleading for him to stop and not do what he was about to do but it was as if someone had pressed mute on her mouth, though her lips were moving up and down and she was trying to form words, nothing was coming out.

The sound of his jeans dropping to the floor echoed in the bright room, so white that it felt like she was in some sort of hospital or institution and felt like she was going to pass out from the blinding lights above her. Brandon hovered above her with that cocky smirk that looked downright evil in this lighting, making her heart beat faster and faster as he lowered himself onto her and begun to rip off her clothes.

"Soph, wake up!"

Sophie's eyes burst open and she realised she was nowhere near Brandon at all or in that same clinical room she'd been seeing for the past few nights every time she tried to sleep. Pushing her body up, she sat upright and tried to steady her breathing that was so erratic that she felt like she couldn't get a proper breath of oxygen. She rubbed the back of her neck that was wet with sweat, the same as most of her body and knew she'd have to go shower again even though she'd only gone a few hours before she'd turned out the light for the night.

"Another nightmare?" Billy asked.

Billy had been staying with Sophie every night to make sure Brandon didn't try and make any unplanned visits. Though she would rather be at Billy's apartment where she knew he couldn't turn up, she didn't want to leave Robin home alone and risk him attempting to hurt her or force his way in.

"Yeah" She nodded "Same one"

Billy passed her the glass of water and she took it from him gratefully, feeling like her body was dehydrated as she gulped it all down and felt her breathing return back to its normal pace. Sophie knew that Billy would try and get her to talk about it but right now she needed to shower. She felt dirty all over and needed to scrub away his touch even if it had only happened in her head. Besides, she wanted to feel fresh after waking up in her own sweat again.

Sophie wondered how long this was going to plague her. She thought that it would end by breaking up with him but it only seemed to amplify her worry now that she knew she had pissed him off. He hadn't approached her since their breakup in the courtyard, he wouldn't try and talk to her in classes and if they did catch eyes he would toss a small smile onto his face and proceed on with what he was doing.

By all accounts, that should make her relieved. To know that he wasn't taking it badly and he was trying to move on without bothering her. So why did she feel this creeping torment inside her that something was wrong and that he was planning something bad to get back at her? Robin and Billy tried to tell her that Brandon wasn't going to do anything and that after being put in his place, he was embarrassed and had given up but they didn't know him like she did. Brandon was not a quitter and certainly not one to take something sitting down.

Sophie was enjoying just being able to do what she wanted and talking with whomever she pleased without worry that Brandon would get annoyed. She definitely liked being able to hang out with Billy and be affectionate out in public as well, holding hands wherever they went. All of that was great and Sophie was appreciative to now experience it but she couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop.

"Feel better?" Billy asked as she exited her bathroom with a new shirt and shorts on.

Sophie nodded and noticed that he had just finished changing the sheets on her bed and replacing them with a fresh set and thanked him for going through the effort, pecking his cheek lightly with a kiss as they climbed under the covers together.