I see, I care. *Billy Hargrove*

5

    You woke up and rubbed the tired from your eyes, You stared at your ceiling for what felt like forever before actually getting up to get dressed. You ran a hand through your slightly messy hair before brushing it out and braiding it out of your face. You threw on light washed jeans and a striped shirt before tucking the shirt in and slipping a belt through the loops. You laced up your dirty high tops before exiting your room.

"Mommy's taking me to the bus stop" Gabbie ran up to you excitedly
"Is she?" You asked smiling Gabbie only nodded rapidly in response. You smiled at her before going out front to wait for Jonathan your bag slung over your left shoulder. You heard the Hargrove's front door open and saw a very annoyed Max walk down the steps towards Billy's Camaro, an equally as annoyed Billy following after her. You thought he looked extra good in black jeans and a black polo shirt.
"Hi Y/N" Max immediately perked up when she saw you. You waved at her lightly "Do you work today" she jogged over towards you.
"Maxine!" Billy yelled after her the annoyance evident in his voice
"Yeah, 4 o' clock sharp" You smiled "you better get going before pretty boy loses all his self control" she smiled and waved before jogging back to Billy as Jonathan pulled up in front of your house.
"Morning" he handed you a bag with a muffin in it and a bottled water
"How do you always know when i don't eat" You asked buckling your seat belt. He shrugged.
"Steve and Nancy broke up" he spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence
"Oh, really?" You asked and he nodded staring intently at the road "Well it's about time" You laughed and he smiled lightly. When we got to school that day neither Nancy nor Steve were waiting for us at his car, in fact his car was parked in an entirely different spot. You shook it off before walking into the school Jonathan at your side. The hall quieted down as you entered. You furrowed your eyebrows lightly before walking to your locker.
"Why is everyone looking at us..." You asked as quietly as humanly possible while opening your locker.
"Not us, you" Jonathan replied just as quietly
"What why?"
"Hey y/n" Rebecca walked up to you, a familiar scent filled your nostrils as your eyes locked onto the leather jacket she was wearing "Billy told you right, about me and him this weekend. God he is so good in bed, right? Oh wait, you wouldn't know that would you" she said smirking
"W-what happened this weekend" You gulped lightly
"Oh so he didn't tell you" she tugged on the collar of the jacket before moving her hair to show the prominent hickeys on her neck. "Maybe you should ask him what happened at the Halloween party" she whispered in your ear. Your throat closed up causing you to loudly gulp.
"I have to go to the bathroom" you spoke before you sped walked out of the corridor
"Y/n?" You heard yelled from a familiar voice as you pushed the door to the music room open as quickly as possible before falling to the floor and having a panic attack "Y/n?" You heard the same voice and saw a blurry figure in front of me. Somehow they managed to calm you down and when your vision cleared you were surprised to see Steve. He smiled sympathetically at you.
"Hi Steve" You croaked out and leaned up against a wall. He took a seat next to you resting his arm on his bent knee,
"What happened?" he asked concern evident in his voice.
"Don't worry about it, it's stupid" You mumbled "Sorry about Nancy" You said looking over at him.
"Hey, its fine. I kinda knew it was inevitable" he clenched his jaw tightly while looking down. The bell interrupted your quiet atmosphere. Steve stood up then offered you a hand to pull you up which you gladly accepted.
"You gonna make it through the rest of the day?" he asked as you walked towards the entrance of the music room. He held open the door for you waiting for a response.
"Yeah i should be fine"
"Um i actually need to talk to you about something, after basketball practice" he said walking backwards
"When does basketball practice end?" you asked
"4:00" he smiled
"I have work at 4" You yelled lightly as he made his way down the hall walking backwards.
"We'll talk as i drive you" he smiled before turning around and walking towards his class. You made your way to class and immediately sat next to Jonathan in the corner of the room
"Where'd you go" he asked and you looked at him
"Bathroom" you smiled lightly. He looked at you skeptically before letting it go and focusing on his late homework. You watched as Billy walked in and made eye contact with you. You quickly looked away and focused on something outside the window
"Can we talk" he stood in front of you and the breath hitched in your throat
"Ok class, Have a seat Mr. Hargrove" You let out a breath as you were literally saved by the bell.

    You exited the music room at 3:45 your guitar in hand and made your way towards the gym. You quietly sat in the bleachers as you waited for Steve to come out of the locker room. Sadly much to your displeasure Billy beat him out and made his wait towards you.
"Come to see me L/N?" he smirked. You ignored him and continued looking at the locker room door hoping that every time it opened it was Steve. "Come on y/n at least acknowledge i'm here" he said softly. You looked over at him before looking away. Hurt immediately crossed his face. You saw Steve exit and made direct eye contact with him. You gave him eyes that said help me and he thankfully got the hint.
"You coming y/n" he yelled across the gym spinning his keys on his fingers. You immediately stood up and quickly walked towards him
"I see how it is L/N" You heard Billy shout. Steve looked at you concerned before taking the guitar from your hands and leading you to his car.
"So, Billy Hargrove huh?" he opened the car door as you both got in.
"I thought so, but i guess not" You rubbed your temples with your index finger and thumb before bucking your seat belt "I don't know why I expected anything different to be honest"
"What makes you say that?" Steve asked pulling out of the parking spot
"He's a player... I know that, you know that, everyone knows it" you sighed
"Well, ill just say don't always believe whats on the outside..." he spoke nonchalantly
"Don't judge a book by its cover" You mumbled
"Exactly, people change people Y/N" he sent you a quick glance
"Like Nancy changed you?" You asked. He cleared the obvious lump in his throat before answering softly
"Yeah"
"I'm sorry.." You said looking at your hands
"No, no its ok really"
"What did you want to talk about?" You looked up at him
"About... Dart"
"Who the hell or what the hell is Dart" he looked at you quickly before focusing back on the road
"What are you doing after class tomorrow"
"Uh nothing that I know of" he stopped in front of the arcade
"Well now you have plans" he leaned back in his seat "Now go you're already late"
"Thanks Steve. You're not so bad"
"Thanks?" he laughed "Hey, do you need a ride home?" he asked as you grabbed your bag exited the car taking your guitar
"Please" You smiled lightly before closing the door and entering the arcade "Keith if you say one word I swear to god" You glared in his direction as you clocked in. You set your guitar in the back room before walking towards the Register. You rested your chin on the palm of your hands and took in deep breaths. The bell chimed as Max stepped through the glass doors.
"Hi Y/N" she smiled widely as you gave her some quarters
"Howdy" You faked a smile, it faded as she walked away. You decided to just work on some homework while you waited for your shift to end.

"Thanks Steve" You smiled as you exited his car and he drove off. You turned around to walk towards your house and saw Billy sitting on the curb in front of it. He immediately stood up when he saw you noticed him
"You can't ignore me forever L/N" he said
"And why shouldn't I" you crossed your arms
"At Least let me explain-"
"There's nothing to explain Billy, you did what you did. I can't be mad because there was nothing going on between us."
"No- Y/N you don't understand"
"Understand what Billy? I understand that you were playing me from the start and that I shouldn't have thought hard about what we 'were' when clearly we were nothing" Your voice surprisingly stayed firm as you spoke.
"But you don't get it-" you cut him off
"I have to go Billy"
"You can't leave me" he yelled grabbing onto locks of his hair before crouching on his knees and putting his head in his hands
"I'm not leaving anything Billy... cause there's nothing to leave" you walked passed him towards your front door. You looked back to see tears slowly falling down his face as he stood up sliding his hands into his pockets nodding his head lightly while looking at you.
"Right" You heard him mumble before I closed the door and racing up to your room

******
*Edited 8/6/20*