Hinder • {Bill Skarsgård}

||Chapter Three||

-April, 2011
Los Angeles, California
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Alcohol and lust filled the air as Bill and Ella stumbled into the complex. They soon found themselves lying in bed, side by side and fully clothed—talking.

It was odd; the conversation had gone so smoothly that neither of them were eager to get undressed.

"I don't really do apartments." Bill said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Where are you staying then?" Ella was genuinely curious. Anyone serious about becoming an actor, lived in Los Angeles.

"Hotel. Apartments are too much commitment." Bill smirked, looking over at Ella to see a blushing grin.

"I paid up front, signed a six month lease. I knew I'd just blow through the savings so, I paid in full."

"How long have you been here?" Bill asked, trailing his tongue across his bottom lip.

"Six months." Ella laughed, trying to cover the devastation of having to move back to New York before the first.

"Where will you go?"

"Back home." Ella sighed in defeat, sitting up in the bed. Bill did the same, clearing his throat.

He could tell she was unhappy about having to leave. "I should've just went to law school. My dad has his own firm... it would've been smooth sailing." Ella drunkenly glided her hand through the air, causing Bill to smile. "What about you, what have you been up to since you've been here? Picking up lonely sad chicks?" Ella joked.

Bill shook his head, pursing his lips while looking down. "Believe it or not, you're the first girl I've picked up since living here."

"Why- why me?" She asked, biting her bottom lip to hide her smile.

"Are you kidding me? I saw you checking me out, this wasn't one sided." Bill motioned his hand back and forth between the pair, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"You're just so... different. I've never seen anyone like you before." Ella admitted, lying back in the bed again.

To her surprise, Bill rolled on top of her; hovering above Ella with his hands braced on either side of her head. He stared down at her, gazing into her hazel eyes. He noticed the brown speck just above her left pupil; the way the outskirts of her baby blues faded into a warm green.

Bill leaned in; his eyes shifting back and forth from her long lashes to her lips as if waiting for Ella to change her mind.

She didn't.

He placed his lips gently against hers, his breathing warm and shaky. Without thinking, Ella ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his lips further into hers, kissing him more passionately.

Her hands trailed from his dirty blonde hair down to his neck, feeling his heartbeat beneath her palms. His tongue grazed across her bottom lip before suckling in her top one, all the while Ella's hands roamed the length of his chest until reaching his belt buckle.

Bill pulled back, continuing to hover above the timid beauty with strikingly large eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, unable to keep his eyes on only one distinct feature of her face.

Ella nodded subtly, still grabbing hold of his belt, waiting for him to make a move.

"I, ah... I don't have a rubber." Bill confessed.

"I don't either." Ella didn't want that to stop what was going to happen; both were too drunk to go back out.

Bill's brows kneaded with a smirk. "You don't practice safe sex?" He questioned jokingly.

"I don't have a sex life. My sex life is about as interesting as archaeological empiricism."

"You stole that from Family Guy." Bill laughed, burying his face Ella's neck to hide his beaming smile. She chuckled warmly, running her hands through his soft hair.

"I didn't know Swedes watched Family Guy." Ella giggled, the sensation of Bill's muffled laughter tickling her neck.

He pulled back again, this time examining her face. "How do you think I learned English?" Bill joked; although there was some truth to the rhetorical question.

Things became quiet for a long moment—the two taking in one another's unique features. Ella swallowed, her gaze settling on Bill's lips. "It's okay- it's okay if we... without anything." Ella spoke softly, stroking the side of Bill's face.