billy hargrove imagines

hostage

summary: the one where it's complicated.

word count: 1,173

song: hostage — billie eilish

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you and billy didn't love each other. you just needed each other; the way people need oxygen and fish need water. it was less a relationship and more an agreement. an agreement that you'd be there for him when he couldn't patch his own wounds up. an agreement that he'd be there for you when the loneliness was all-consuming.

it was a possessive agreement. you tried to keep away from him in school and everywhere else. you were too scared you'd see someone hanging off his arm. he was scared of the same.

but he came through your window almost every night, bruises littering his body like constellations. tonight was no different. there was a quiet knocking on the glass, which startled you, like it always did. you hopped off your bed, your bare feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. pushing the curtains aside, you met a chiseled face with tears streaking down the cheeks.

your heart sank as a frown painted your features. you hated seeing him like this, all roughed up, and by someone who was supposed to protect him. you pulled the window up and stepped aside, giving him enough room to climb in.

he threw his leg in through the window and grunted. you held yourself and quietly watched as he clambered in, knocking a few things down off your vanity. you chewed your lip between your teeth, your brows drawing together in concern. a scowl was evident on his features.

"billy," his name came out in a sigh. "what happened?"

"i don't wanna talk about it," he growled. he took a few hesitant steps toward you until he wrapped his arms around your middle and drew you in close to his form. he hid his face in your neck, shaking slightly.

"have you been drinking?" you asked quietly.

he shook his head. "no. why?"

you rubbed his back soothingly. "do you wanna sit on the bed? i can get the first aid kit," you murmured.

he held on to you for a few seconds longer, just breathing you in. you could tell tonight had been worse than usual. you let your fingertips play with the ends of his curly hair. "come on," you whispered. "i'll go get the first aid kit." finally, he retreated from you, moving to plop down on your mattress. you withheld a sigh and slowly opened the door of your bedroom. just as carefully, you closed it behind you. with closed eyes, you leaned your forehead against the white, wooden door. a tear slipped past your waterline, but you quickly brushed it away with your knuckles. now wasn't the time.

you grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom across the hall, making sure to keep your footsteps light and your breaths hushed, so as not to wake your parents. when you reopened the door to your bedroom, you found billy curled up and half asleep on your bed. your lips twitched, desperate to smile at the almost innocent moment, but you stopped yourself.

you gently rubbed his shoulder to stir him. he still needed patching up. "billy. you have to get up."

he hummed in response, cracking one of his eyes open just enough to look up at you. he remained silent for a beat, before speaking up, his voice a low rumble, "you're real pretty, you know that?"

your breath caught in your throat. billy had never called you pretty before. something tightened in your stomach. "and you're delirious, probably from getting hit in the head one too many times."

he chuckled and leaned forward on his elbows, moving up just enough so his nose barely brushed against yours. "and you're an angel," he countered, a small smile on his face. you leaned away from him. you felt sick, but in a good way.

"shut up," you murmured. without another word, you took an ice pack and pressed it against his cheek. he flinched slightly away from your touch, but ultimately leaned back.

"sometimes i just don't get you," he said.

"oh yeah, why's that?" you responded, only half-listening as you took his hand and pressed it against the ice pack on his cheek. he took the hint, and held it himself. you looked through the first aid for topical cream, your frustration mounting as you couldn't find it.

"yeah," he said. "you hate getting complimented."

his words made you abandon your search for the cream and look up at him. you almost lost yourself in those blue eyes. "i do not," you retorted.

"yeah, you do. i've seen you at school. your friends praise you in any sort of way and you wave it off. not even in a humble way. it's like you really don't believe it when people say something good about you."

you quirked a brow. "you watch me at school?" you purposely chose to ignore the rest of his observations. they hit far too close to home.

he huffed. the fingertips of his free hand moved to brush against yours. "you're pretty," he said.

you rolled your eyes. "stop."

his tongue swept over his lips in a quick movement. you felt the coil in your stomach tighten again. "you're the prettiest person i've ever seen in my life."

you scoffed and shook your head, quickly pulling your hand away from his. "i'm serious, billy. this isn't funny."

"i'm not trying to be funny." he shifted on the bed so he was even closer. he let the ice pack fall onto the covers as his hands rested on either side of you. you could tell what was coming. the air crackled with an electricity you'd never felt before. heat rushed to your cheeks, leaving them a soft crimson color.

"don't, billy. you're not going to kiss me tonight and then go on a date tomorrow with some girl whose name you'll forget. you're not allowed to play with me like that." you tried to sound firm, but your words came out weak and exhausted. "billy, please. don't."

but billy hargrove didn't let anyone tell him what to do. before you could pull away, his lips were on yours and his hands rested safely on your hips. despite every ounce of your brain telling you to pull away, your body didn't comply. you leaned into him, your hands tangling in his blonde locks. you felt fireworks ignite in your chest. you'd never been kissed like this before.

you don't know how long you sat there just kissing billy, but your lungs begged for oxygen and forced you to pull away from him. you were both left panting heavily, your chests rising and falling with each breath.

a grin was on his face, one that you'd never seen before. it left you wondering if maybe, just maybe, there could be something more than just an agreement between you two.

but the next day you and billy both went your separate ways. you knew nothing could blossom between the two of you, no matter how many times he called you pretty.