Don't Call Me Baby (Billy Hargrove)

-Chapter seven-

Emilia

'Can I sit?' Steve questions as he plops down beside me, a cup in his hand and a bored expression on his face. There wasn't any harm in talking to him, I was alone and feeling like total shit, so maybe his company wouldn't be such a bad thing.

'Sure' I mumble as I pick at the grass, already expecting him to question me about why I was out here and not in there with Nancy.

'You're out here? Why?' Steve questions bluntly as he takes a sip from his cup.

'I don't feel parties, it's not my scene' I mumble and he nods, knowing fully well that I hated parties.

'Why are you out here?' I question him and he shrugs.

'Same reason as you I suppose' He says.

Steve and I have known each other since kindergarten I guess, we were always close and his parents would come over to visit mine, and we'd always have play dates. Steve and I were bestfriends before I met Nancy, and before high school came in.

He was always there for me when I had school troubles, or whenever I felt out of place, he was just there. But we separated in our last year of middle school, popularity claimed him and we just stopped talking. We only rekindled contact when he started to date Nancy.

'How are you holding up after Nancy?' I ask genuinely as I give him a reassuring smile, he shakes his head at me and finished his drink off, before he scrunches up the plastic cup and discarded it on the grass.

'I see she's moved on with Jonothan' Steve states bitterly, and I didn't know how to respond to that. They had broken up over an argument a month ago and ever since then, Nancy had been struggling to move on from Steve.

'Maybe it's for the best, Jonothan needs some support right now, and Nancy is really good for him' I say as I reminisce on how much Jonothan has been through this year, I couldn't even imagine what he went through, and right now he was in a good place, with Nancy and Will.

'Yeah, I know, why do you think I've been keeping my distance' Steve sighs as he stares off at the cars infront of us, and I just pat his back.

'You've done a good job so far, just give her some space and try to work something out, and maybe if the times right, try to rebuild a bridge between the two of you' I say and he turns to me with a content smile on his face.

'You've always been wise Emilia, why did we stop being friends?' Steve sighs as he leans onto me and I lean my head on his shoulder.

'Popularity wanted you, and I just stayed simple' I whisper and he  groans.

'Do you remember that time I got you in trouble because I tipped all the flour on the ground, and threw some on you so it looked like you did it?' I laugh fondly at the memory of Steve and I when we were eleven, helping our mothers bake for some cake sale.

Steve sits up and turns to me with a wide smile on his face as he remembered it.

'You were such a little shit, but you always got out of trouble by getting me in trouble. Remember that time we were playing tag and then I pushed you in the mud, and you kicked me in the face, so hard my nose started to bleed' Steve says enthusiastically as I let out bursts of laughs when I remembered the look on Steve's ten year old face, he was so shocked I actually kicked him and I felt pretty bad.

'I used to love going over to your house and eating your mum's cookies and cakes by the way. It would be my highlight of leaving school at the end of the day' I sigh as I feel an overwhelming wave of sadness wash over me, I barely realized how separated we were until now.

We used to be like siblings, he was so close to me, he was like a brother. And he was apart of most of my childhood memories, Steve and I sat on the grass, both lost teenagers both confused about their love lives and whether our future with our partners were going to be the same.

'I hate parties' I say as I stand up and hoist Steve up, he agrees with me and we just stand together. Our eyes locked and we just let the comfortable silence engulf us, until a voice breaks us apart.

Oliver, the guy throwing the party stands not too far from us with a drink in his hand, and a wide grin on his face.

'Oh shit, Steve Harrington and Emilia Reeves, you two love birds wait until everyone hears about this' Oliver laughs causing Steve and I to give him confused looks. He looked completely drunk off of his ass, and looked like he could barely walk.

'Nothing's happening you dick, we're just talking' Steve snaps but Oliver just shakes his head while he begins to walk back into the house.

'What an asshole, just deny anything if someone comes up to you' I say to Steve and he nods before we make our way back inside, it was hot inside and felt tight spaced. Steve broke apart from my side when I made my way to Nancy and Jonothan, Nancy seemed tipsy and Jonothan was still sober.

'How's everything holding up?' I question as I shove past the people to get to them, Jonothan gives me a small smile and nods his head to her.

'I think we're ready to leave, she's getting pretty drunk' Jonothan sighs as Nancy stumbles around, forcing Jonothan to grip her and hold her up by his side. I just nod and look around for Steve, he seemed to have left the room, but my eyes spotted something else.

By one of the couches, stood Oliver and Billy. Oliver whispered something to Billy, and I was praying it wasn't that lie Oliver was making up about me and Steve outside. But as soon as Billy's eyes locked with mine and his jaw tensed, he glared at me from far away and he motioned for me to go over to him with his fingers.

He looked pissed off, so I did the exact opposite. I grabbed ahold of Jonothan and Nancy and ushered them outside and we hurried toward Jonothan's car that was parked down the street.

'Someone's eager to go home, I can't blame you' Jonothan laughs as he starts up the car and begins to drive away. I lean my head against the door and shut my eyes when I respond, the image of Billy sleeping with that girl flashing in my mind.

'I just, really want to forget about this party' I mumble.