Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 50

Billy drove me home later that night. I walked into a dark and silent house, due to everybody being asleep already.

I layed in bed, the thoughts of that weird Russian man consuming my mind. The man might've been some random creep, or he could've been one of the Russians who opened the gate.
I tried my best to push those thoughts away to get some sleep, and eventually I did.

I awoke the next morning to my bedroom door being knocked on.
"What!" I yelled from my bed.
The door slowly creaked open, revealing my father in his work outfit.
"I just wanted to tell you that we're going out for dinner tonight." He says.
"Who's we?" I ask.
"You, Billy and I." He responds. "7:00 pm sharp."
"Okay." I say as I roll over and try to find a comfortable spot on my bed.

It was now mid afternoon and I decided that it was time to start my day. Dad was at work and El was at school with the rest of the kids so I had the house to myself.
I figured I'd call Billy to help cure my boredom.

"Hey!" I say as soon as he answers it.
"Hey babe. What's up?"
"Not much. I was wondering if you'd want to come over since I do have the house all to myself."
He chuckled. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Hey!" I say swinging the door open to reveal him standing with flowers in his hands.
"Hey babe." He says, reaching down to kiss me.
"What are these for?" I say, taking them from him.
He shrugs his shoulders and takes off his jacket. "I don't know. I just felt like that's something a good boyfriend would do."
I stop and smile at him. "You are a good boyfriend."
I know deep down that if Steve was here, he would be pissed at me for saying something that hasn't been completely true. But, that didn't matter because I still love Billy, and as far as I know, he still loves me. "Oh and by the way, we're going out tonight."
"Oh okay. With who?" He asks.
"My dad."
Billy raises his eyebrows. "Oh. I guess I have to be on my best behaviour."
I smile at him. "You do then. You don't have to now though." I say while smirking at him.
He smirks back at me. "I like how you think."
And with that, we started to makeout.

A couple of hours later, Billy drove us to the restaurant we were suppose to meet my father at. Sure enough when we walk in, we see him sitting there by himself.

"Good to see you again, Billy." Dad says as we sit down at the table with him. I noticed that the table had three extra seats which confused me.
"Yeah you too." He responds politely.
"So how have you been?" Dad asks.
Billy smiles. "I've been doing good. A lot better now that Kate's back in town."
I smile at him.
"Oh yeah Kate." Dad says, turning his attention to me. "I've got you a job at the station if you want it." 
"Oh that'd be great! When do I start?"
"In about a week. And that is if all goes to plan."
I nod my head. "Okay thanks. Why is there extra seats?" I say, changing the subject.
"Oh, we have some special guests that should be here any moment." Dad responds.
I nod my head. "Speaking of special guests, I had a strange visitor visit me last night."
"At the party?" Billy asks me. "When?"
"It was when I went out to the porch. A man came up to me and asked if I was Katherine Hopper."
Dad glares at me. "Who was it?"
I shrug my shoulders. "It was a Russian man named Alek."
"A Russian man?" Billy asks me. "Are you sure it was?"
I nod my head. "Yeah I'm sure. He had a pretty strong accent."
Dad runs his hands through his hair, seeming stressed. He obviously jumped straight to the conclusion that the Russians were coming back to Hawkins for the gate. "Did you say you are Katherine Hopper?"
I froze, knowing that my dad would be upset by the answer. "Yeah."
He gives me an angry look but that slowly fades away as he looks behind me and starts smiling. Billy and I both turned around to see that Johnathan, Joyce and Nancy just entered the restaurant.

"Nance!" I yell, hopping out of my chair. This was the first time I've seen her since we both left for college over a couple of months ago.
"Kate!" She yells back.
We both meet in the middle and embrace in a hug. After we're done, I let go and hug Johnathan.
"It's so good to see you guys!" I say.
"It's good to see you too, Kate! Sorry we couldn't be here for when you rescued your dad. We didn't know anything about it." Nancy responds.
I smile at them. "It's all good! Come sit." I say, leading them to the table.
Joyce was already at the table, sitting across from my father and beside me. Nancy was on the other side of me, with Johnathan sitting across from her and beside Billy.

After we were all settled in, Joyce spoke.
"Um, we have something to tell you guys."
"What is it, mom?" Johnathan asks.
Joyce looks at dad. "You can tell them." She says with a smile on her face.
"Um, okay." He responds. He clears his throat and speaks once again. "Well, Joyce and I have decided to, you know, take our relationship to the next level, and umm."
Joyce cuts him off. "We're dating is what he's trying to say."
Johnathan and I look at each other with happy looks on our faces. "Finally!" We both say, receiving laughs from everybody at the table.
"You guys aren't mad?" Joyce asks.
"Of course not!' I reply.
Dad smiles at me. "Don't tell the kids, we'll do that."
Johnathan nods his head. "We won't."