Scream 4

Prologue

Billy Loomis had never been good at adjusting. He was a person of focus, not of flexibility. Change didn't suit him and if things needed to change, he usually was the one in charge.

It had taken him long enough to accept that his mother walked out of his life and even then he never really accepted it. He needed to, though. It was necessary in order to succeed with their plan.

And succeed they did.

Sidney Prescott would forever be part of Billy's life no matter how much he tried to deny the truth. But the past was the past and the only thing left to focus on now was the future.

All the pieces of the puzzle they had dreamed of for so long were finally in place and yet, some of them didn't fit together the way he had imagined it.

Billy Loomis should have been happy. He knew he should have been. But despite himself, a strange feeling gnawed at him like a starving beast, waiting around every corner to stop him in his tracks. Memories followed his footsteps that poisoned his every thought with paranoia.

What if you found out?

The possibility was always present and for the past couple of years it was always there sneaking in the back of his mind; those fucking 'what if's.

"Billy." It was the mention of his name back in the present that cut through Billy's musing. He was sitting at the the same place he always hung out on the rare occasions that you were out of his sight, the warm light of the eternal sunset casting the surrounding trees of the garden in a peachy hue. "Ya're thinking again."

"You should give it a try one of these days." Billy looked up from the joint pinched between his fingers, a small smile cracking over his stoney features as he eyed his life-long best friend, Stu Macher.

Stu scoffed, the sunlight making his rich and wavy brown curls appear blond. "Only when ya take off that RBF 'vry now and then. What's gotten into you?"

Billy hated admitting it to himself, but there was no one else out there that knew him better than Stu. The two have had their fair share of time together and while there was no doubt that Billy knew him from inside out, the same could be said the other way around.

It was because of that reason and their similarities that Billy saw his best mate as an extension of himself and on rare occasions, confided in him. Such was the case now.

"Memories." The word left his mouth with no thought, simply falling out of his head as he let himself relax.

"Memories?" Stu parroted with a note of surprise. "Get your mind outta the gutter, Bills. We double teamed (Y/N) only three days ago."

Rolling his eyes, Billy pushed down the urge to socket his companion in the arm. "That's the only thing you think of ain't it? Sex?"

"24/7." Stu grinned up at him, though there was a rare tinge of seriousness to his crystal blue eyes. "Is it the same shit as usual?"

Billy let the silence speak for itself, taking note of the way Stu let his head fall back with a sigh and threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Fuck... Don'tcha think something woulda happened by now? Let it go for once."

"Like you got room to talk." The irony of that statement didn't go lost on Billy. "Last time this happened you kept asking (Y/N) if she got her period every day for thirty days straight. Made a big ass problem out of nothin'."

The other man pulled a repulsive expression. "Don't blame me! Babies are fuckin problems. All they do is shit 'n cry."

"Sounds like you when you're wasted. Stu, we just can't fuck anything up," Billy stated flatly, returning to business as he took another drag from the joint. He knew very well that bringing the topic up to Stu would undoubtedly lead to trouble that he couldn't be assed with. While they were alike in many aspects, including lying, this matter was not one of them.

"Not now. Not again."

Stu Macher was no stranger to lying. In fact, he was so good at it that barely anyone could see through him and if you asked Billy, that was one of his better qualities.

On the flipside, Stu was more in touch with his feelings than Billy Loomis ever could be, which has proven to be an issue many times before. Stu felt guilty about lying and keeping things from their girlfriend whereas Billy found it as easy as jabbing someone with a knife.

His words partially served as a reminder to both himself and Stu. If the latter picked up on his glimmer of insecurity he didn't show it, merely giving a short nod of the head and a tight-lipped smile that curved dimples in his cheeks.

"You're the man with the plan," came Stu's words, bringing Billy at least partly back down to earth as a wicked smile stretched across his own lips. "You lead, I follow. Just how we always roll."