Knee Socks | Billy Hargrove AU

6

I anxiously tapped my pencil on the desk I sat at, staring at the clock. The day went by agonizingly slow, my head in constant thought about Billy. 

I wanted to confront Steve about what Billy said, but I was not a confrontational person at all unless I had alcohol in me.

The bell rung, meaning it was time to go to lunch. I didn't waste any time scurrying out of the classroom. I knew that Nikki had lunch with me, but she was definitely still mad about earlier. I would have to apologize for that.

I grip the strap of my backpack around my shoulder, adjusting its position on my back. My hands had gotten increasingly clammy, the thought of seeing Billy causing my nerves to run wild.

I pushed open the cafeteria doors, a flood of students waiting to get their lunch surrounding me. I scanned the premises, searching for Nikki but also hoping to see the curly haired boy who messes with my head.

I couldn't spot out Nikki's straight brunette hair or tall, thin figure anywhere. I sighed, deciding I would have to stand in the lunch line by myself. 

I made my way over to the line of students, the loud chatter ringing in my ears. The line was extra long today, considering that they were serving ham subs which is very rare.

I heard a familiar high pitched laugh, raising my head to see Nikki all over Steve at the popular table. She had her leg propped over his, leaning into him while she laughed. That's something she did when she was attempting to flirt. He appeared to be taking the bait, his hand running across her thigh.

I couldn't be bothered to stand in the lunch line anymore, deciding that I would apologize to Nikki on Billy's behalf. Walking over to the lunch table filled with popular kids caused anxiety to surge through me.

"Oh great, it's my fake best friend, Lacey!" Nikki exclaims in front of the entire table. They all looked at me with displeased stares and I put my head down to avoid the looks.

"Nikki, can I please talk to you somewhere else?" I ask quietly, desperately trying to lead the conversation elsewhere. I couldn't handle the glares much longer.

"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of my new friends. The ones I was making while you were busy not defending me to Billy Hargrove," she smirked evilly. Her new "friends" had looks of approval on their faces at Nikki's diss.

At her words, I look up at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Seriously? You think I didn't defend my best friend to some guy I barely know? If you really think that of me than we are not as close as I thought," I state boldly. "I actually did tell him his comment was unnecessary and that he could've been nicer to you." I finish, my heart rate speeding up from actually speaking my mind.

Nikki looks stunned by my words, not expecting me to say that.

"Nikki, you don't have to be so hard on her. She is your best friend," Steve says from behind her and I roll my eyes.

"Don't act all innocent, Steve. I know the reason Billy beat your ass, and you deserved it. I don't know if you thought staying at my house would redeem you, but it didn't," I say, anger building up within me. I look back towards Nikki before I turn to walk away, "I hope you have fun with your new friends."

A plentiful amount of "oohs" and "damn" came from the table as I walked away. My face was flushed red from the confrontation, and it didn't help that almost the entire cafeteria was looking at me.

I hurriedly escaped the suffocation of the cafeteria and made my way to the girls bathroom. I couldn't make it all the way there before I bumped right into Billy.

"Woah, Lace, are you okay?" He asks me, his eyes soft with concern. I take the moment of silence after his question to catch my breath.

I shake my head, suddenly all words escaping me. I feel a tear slide down my cheek, quickly putting my head down and wiping it away. I didn't want Billy to see me cry over something so minuscule.

"Here, come with me," Billy says, placing an arm around my shoulders and leading me away from the cafeteria. I use his body as a shield to hide my tears, not wanting any stray students to see my weakness. 

We enter a dark room, and Billy only lets his arm leave my body to close the door and turn on the lights. When my eyes settle to the brightness, I realized we were in the janitors closet. 

I wiped the tears that fell from my face, looking up at Billy's worried eyes. 

"What happened? Was it Steve? I swear to God-" 

"No, it wasn't Steve," I cut him off defeatedly, not wanting to hear his 'I'll beat him to a pulp' spiel. 

"Oh..." He stays quiet for a moment. "So, what happened?" He takes my fingers in his hands and leads me between his legs as he sits down on a box. The movement makes my skin tingle.

"I went to apologize to Nikki because of what you said but she was sitting at Steve's table and she basically humiliated me in front of all of them" I start to explain, feeling myself getting overwhelmed again. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Slow down, there's no rush sweetheart" Billy says, rubbing his thumb across my hand, calming my nerves significantly. 

"She thought I didn't defend her but I told her I did, and then Steve tried coming to my side but I kind of called him out for his bullshit and then the whole table teased him for it. I couldn't bear it anymore so I walked away," I say in almost one full breath. 

I look back down at Billy and notice he has a full on smile placed on his perfect lips. "What?" I ask in confusion, his smile causing me to smile lightly. 

"You stood up for yourself, I'm proud of you" He says which makes me blush against my will. Why does that compliment mean so much to me? 

There's a silence afterwards that feels like it should be awkward but it isn't. The bell rings, startling me. 

"Well, I'd better to get to class. Thanks for talking to me, Billy. I'll see you around" I turn to open the door but before I could even get hand on the handle, Billy grabs my hand and pull me back to him as he stands up. 

"I'll drive you home after school, meet me near the boys locker room. See you later, Lacey" He says before disappearing quickly out the door. 

I sigh with a smile, feeling slightly happier than usual, and knowing it was all because of Billy Hargrove. 

....

Holy crap it's been awhile since I've uploaded but I suddenly got the inspiration to write again and I was reminded of how hot Billy is so here we are. 

I hope some of you are still reading and if you're new, hi, thank you reading! 

I just want to clarify that Billy's character in this story is extremely less toxic than he is in the actual show. I think I want this to take place as it does in the show, but I have no background of the 80s so it might not be all correct. But let's just say that Billy does still have mommy and daddy issues  and still has Max as a sister, she's just not introduced yet. I probably won't include any of the other kids just because I feel like there's no purpose for them really but we'll see. 

There's also no supernatural-ness stuff in this, sorry! XOXO