Chloroform (Billy Hargrove)

Chapter 8: The Power of Love

The strong scent of smoke shook me awake, the nicotine-laced air dragging me out of my slumber, replacing the grogginess with the overpowering craving of a cigarette. I sprawled myself out on the bed, turning over onto my stomach, facing the large window of my room. My eyes fluttered open, seeing Billy sitting with his back on the frame. A giant cloud of smoke cascaded out of his mouth, making its way outside into the cold morning air. His lips were cracked and chapped, and from what I could see there was dried blood within the cracks. Billy's eyes shined and glimmered under warm sun that began to peak out from behind the looming grey clouds. He lifted the cigarette to his lips, closing his eyes as he breathed in deeply, the ashes turning a bright orange with the inhale. The smoke flowed out of the corners of his mouth, as his eyes looked over at me, realizing that I was looking directly at him already. He sits up and places his back on the window sill, his eyes locked on mine while he pulled to cigarette out from between his lips, exhaling harshly.

"Do you want one?" His voice was like gravel; rough and coarse, hard to the touch, and cold. I sat up, bunching the covers up, so I had something covering my body, which was shivering from the cold air that was entering my bedroom. He held the cigarette out to me, as I made my way over to him, taking it between my two fingers, his eyes scanned over me, and mine over him.

"...What?" I asked softly, feeling my face go red, a reflex that I was unable to control in these situations. He shook his head a little, shaking himself out of his trance, he cleared his throat.

"It's nothing..." I placed the cigarette between my lips, taking up space in front of him, letting my bare leg dangle outside the window. He took his lighter out, igniting the flame for me. I met him halfway, hovering the end over the light while breathing in, getting the bitter, dry taste of nicotine in my mouth. The smoke escaped from the corners of my mouth, as I turned my head to look outside. The wind blew across my cheeks, freezing the skin over, causing the pale white skin to go a bright red. I glanced over at him out of the corner of my eye, looking at the damage that his father had done to him last night. His lip was caked with dry blood, and his eye was swollen, a purple ring forming underneath his pale blue iris.

"You know...I'm not blind Tess; I see you staring at me. So will you please stop?"

"Why should I? You're the one that came to my house last night and asked to stay, and I let you. So the least you could do is tell me what the fuck happened to you last night!" The volume of my voice progressively raised in anger, as I slumped back against the window sill. He stayed quiet, forcing the smoke out of his mouth with a harsh exhale.

"Why do you care so much? You don't have to know every fucking detail of my home life, and you definitely don't share everything with me, so why should I share anything with you?" I rolled my eyes, tapping off the excess ash that was forming on the end of my cigarette, before taking a harsh drag, letting it burn my lungs freely, taking in the stinging sensation that it caused. The smoke jetted from my nose.

"I don't know what the hell you want me to tell you, Billy. Jesus Christ." I snapped. He squinted at me.

"Tell me why you've been fucking around with Steve Harrington." My eyebrows raised at his demeanour. Was the big bad Billy, dare I say, jealous?

"Maybe it's because he's not fucking angry all the time, and won't explode on me as you do to Max. Also, why the fuck do you care? It's none of your business anyways. I'm allowed to have other friends?" I took a deep drag from the cigarette, jumping at the sound of a car horn.

"...Speak of the devil." He mumbled under his breath, throwing his cigarette out the window. "Better get down there before I beat the living shit out of him." He growled. I bit my bottom lip, nearly drawing blood from the anger that boiled through me, as I got up from the window, throwing the duvet off my shoulders. My eyes darted to the ground, picking up a lone pair of shorts and pulling them on.