Stuck with me

onze - see the light

"See! See, I told you! I knew you had a crush on him this whole goddamn time! Dammit, Jasper! Look, tell Val how many times I said it!"
Smirking amusedly, I turned to Jasper. "A million."
"Make it a million and one!"
I rolled my eyes and tried to get rid of the smile that tugged at my lips, but it was just impossible. It was inevitable; I was becoming a cheesy bastard and loving every second of it.
"Oh, Valerie!" Cam squealed, peppy as a cheerleader. I could've chucked her across the room, if I really felt like it. "See! I told you it's better to just open up. Isn't it great? Don't you feel good?!"
There was no way to put into words how good it felt to open myself up to Billie; I'd admitted it to myself but not quite to Cam and Jasper yet, only because they already knew.
I remembered our phone call the morning after Christie Road. Billie sounded so relieved to hear my voice and I couldn't have felt any more euphoric than I did in that moment. It really is a breath of fresh air to hear someone you care about so much worry about you the same way you worry about them. It was the first time in a long time I actually realized someone gave a damn about me, which is probably a little ignorant because Jasper and Cam are basically siblings. Guess I was just too busy being fed up to realize.
"Val?" Cam snapped her fingers in my face, breaking my thoughts. From across the room, Jasper looked at me in amusement. A smile grew and stayed plastered there on my face.
"Well, when are you seeing him again?" Jasper inquired.
"Dunno. Soon, hopefully," I said calmly.
"I don't mean to be so.. Jesus, what's the word?" Cam said.
"Hmm.. let's see. Any possibility the word you're looking for is annoying?" I teased.
Cam pouted, crossing her arms jokingly, before laughing it off. "Someone's still a smartass."
"Always have been, always will be! Smartass is my middle name!" I chanted.
"I don't mean to pull a Cameron on you," Jasper continued, pulling me into a hug as I stood. "But I really am happy for you now that you're seeing the light."
I laughed at the use of Cam's full name. She punched him in the arm, half playful, half serious. "And what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He smirked. "Exactly the way it sounded."
"Real funny," she grinned, turning to the side.
Then, we left to go downtown in Jaspers BMW. It was kind of ratty and beat up, but that car was my first love. When I get the chance (and the money), I'm buying my own.
See, I could have my dad just buy it for me. We're not rich, but wealthy enough, and the poor bastard would be willing to do it too. But after mom died, I'd had enough of being spoiled. I stopped wanting anything. Now, I figure I should at least buy my own car. It's pretty alright doing things by myself and for myself.
As we were cruising around in the BMW, Jasper came to a sudden halt, jerking me forward. Cam and I both went into a chorus of 'what the hell was that for? you damn klutz'
Then, as we were looking around to find a reason why Jasper had stopped like that, I found Billie sitting against Rudy's, his shoulders visibly heaving up and down. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Is that him?" Cam asked. I nodded.
"Something is wrong," I replied. "Hold on, I'll be back."
Without a thought, I'd swung the car door open and bolted toward him. "Billie, what the hell? Why are you out here?"
When I placed my hand on his back, he was trembling and his breaths were uneven and shaky. For I could see people gaze at him out of the corner of my eyes, but nobody stopped to ask what was wrong.
"Jesus," I mumbled. Cam stepped out of the car and walked over.
"What's going on? Is he in shock or-"
I shook my head. "Panic attack. I'm positive of it; I used to get them all the time. And if he were in shock, he'd just be like, staring or something. I don't know what's wrong."
She nodded. "Take him to the backseat."
Cam had stood up and looked down worriedly at Billie's head buried in his hands while he sputtered out something I couldn't understand a word of.
"C'mon bill," I said softly, trying to steady my voice. "You're gonna be okay, I got you."
I held him by his wrist and gently tugged him away and into the car; he stammered between breaths and broken words as he slid into the backseat, hugging his knees to his chest.
Jasper's worried eyes flickered from the road to the front view mirror as he started the car. I finally noticed the blood flowing evenly down his jaw.
"Are you bleeding? Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?" My voice shook; I regretted it. I didn't want to be scared, but I was.
I lifted his face up by his chin. Billie's nose was busted, and it was gushing blood everywhere. It had streamed down past the corner of his mouth, over his jaw and down his neck and it wouldn't stop. I gave him my jean jacket to hold on it, and he almost refused, but I forced him.
He winced for a second and I flinched. Jasper handed me a box of tissues.
By the time we'd gotten back to Cam and Jasper's house, a sherbet sunset had draped over the clouds. I would've payed more attention if Billie's nose wasn't broken.
We hauled him into the house and sat him down on the toilet seat right away. He winced at my every touch but his breaths slowed.
"Billie," my voice faltered. "What the fuck happened? Who did this?"
He shook his head, a tear slipping down his cheek, and looked down. I was tempted to pull him into my arms, but out of fear of hurting him, I didn't.
"Please talk to me."
His eyes flickered upward, still blurred from tears. He hadn't just been beaten half to death, but he'd been scared, and it was obvious.
"Who was it?" I asked once more.
He half sobbed, half stifled a suppressed laugh. "I'm fucking pathetic."
I waited there for a few minutes, just standing there frozen before sitting down on his knee gently. He grabbed me and held me tight.
"It was my stepdad," he explained, voice muffled into my shirt. "Last night.. He fucked me up, man. I can't move. I don't wanna talk... It fucking hurts. I went to find my mom at work and she wasn't there. They told me he'd dragged her out and I knew something bad happened.. I'm too much of a coward to go and find out."
I stroked his hair. He was talking kinda funny too, and not because he had his face in my shirt.
"Why're you talking like that?" I finally asked.
He took his face out of my shirt and opened his mouth. His tooth had been cracked, and now I was noticing the beginning of a black eye.
"Jesus Christ, Billie," I said. "What the fuck... Why would he-"
"No, no," he said, holding me closer. "I'm fine.. Don't get upset, okay? I'm good."
He wasn't 'good' and he knew it better than I did. He was trying his hardest to steady himself and not scare me. "No.. Billie, have you even looked at your face?"
He swallowed, leaving me unanswered. I wanted to cry for him.
"Valerie," he said in a low, serious voice. "I'm okay. I'm fine, really. I'm alive, aren't I?"
I let out a quivering sigh as he pulled me into his chest. "What are you gonna do if it happens again?"
"I don't know," he said. "All I know is, there's no if. It's gonna happen again. I guess I'll know how to handle it when I get there." 
I sighed, getting off of him and pulling him up with me. "I need to get home, and you're not staying here."
He squinted. "You're not thinking of-"
"You're sneaking into my house with me."

Sorry for the shitty chapter lmao but the next one will be better I prOMise :)):):):))