“How's your knuckles?” She asks him, focusing on the road ahead. She looks over to Billy, who's only sulking in the seat next to her, silent, and distant.
“Fine. They're just cold.” He mumbles almost inaudibly, staring out the window and watching as the houses blur together. He's been absent from conversation since his fight with Jesse, and Elijah has a terrible feeling of why.
She's thought of all the theories, really.
Guilt. For sticking his nose in places where he felt it didn't belong, feeling guilty for what he did to Jesse. But then again, he beat Steve and felt no remorse, so Elijah ruled it from her list of possibilities.
Anger. Rage and hatred for what the man said, how he touched Elijah inappropriately and made crude remarks, anger that he wasn't there to stop it before it even happened. But if that were true, Billy would've been eager to hear what she has to say about the situation. He would've let her talk about what happened, made sure she was okay. Actually, he would've said something by now. So, that's checked off of the list as well.
And then Elijah settles on regret. He regrets what he did. He intervened when he shouldn't have, at the end of the day it was Elijah's business and he had no play in it. And how dare Elijah witness him standing up for her, when she smacked him firmly to the ground a few days prior, and he stood in her living room, threatening her.
Billy regretted showing the side of him where he's warming up to Elijah. He regrets asking for help when his father gave him a few bruises, he regrets showing up at her house and staying the night, he regrets allowing Elijah to comfort him in her car the next day. He regrets even threatening her to help him.
A part of him regrets even meeting her.
And Elijah knows. She can feel it in the way he stared at her during the car ride, how he avoids her conversation and how he pretended to not hear her when she thanked him for what he did.
And the worst part of all of this? Even if Elijah wanted to, there was nothing she could do to refrain Billy from withdrawing.
—————————————————— At the auto shop ——————
“Another month?” Elijah asks exasperated, baffled by the ludicrous amount of time that the pair had to wait for an ignition cable. “Is there another store we can try?” She asks the clerk.
“There's one in Illinois. You can maybe check there, but there's no guarantee that they'd have stock as well.”
“Do you eat your cables or something? How can there be no stock?”
“Ma'am, there was a rat infestation at the warehouse. Our suppliers are also waiting for new ignition cables. We're waiting for a lot of things, actually. Spark plugs, suspensions, pistons, gaskets—”
“Look, I didn't come here to listen to you spew the mechanical parts of a car. I need an ignition cable as soon as possible. Can I ask you to call me as soon as your manufacturer sends new parts? Will you be able to do that?” She argues, the man taking out his customers service book, nodding at her, waiting for the number. She quickly reads her landline to the man behind the counter.
“Miss—”
“Elijah Harrington.” She answers, watching as the man writes it down on his paper. She hears the front door's bell chime, watching as Billy exits the store after saying absolutely nothing. Like he did the whole car ride. The whole day, actually.
“Okay, I will phone you when they've delivered our stock.”
“As soon as possible?” She asks again.
“As soon as possible, Miss Harrington.” He confirms, Elijah agreeing with herself that it's the best she can do at the given moment. One problem down, one to go still.
She walks outside after bidding her goodbyes. She exits the store, her eyes immediately falling onto Billy. He's clad in his jeans, a skin-tight white shirt hugging his torso, the outline of his abs visible through the sheer material.
“Stare a little longer, I might turn to stone.” He sneers at her, Elijah rolling her eyes, ignoring the comment as she strides to the car, instantly broken out of her Billy-induced trance.
“Jerk.” She mumbles under her breath, climbing into the car. Billy gets in as well, still silent and sulking when he does, Elijah shooting daggers from her eyes.
He's looking out the window again, and Elijah is growing tired of the behavior.
“What's your goddamn issue today?” She counters, seeing Billy rolling his eyes in the reflection of the window. They're especially bright blue today, and like she explained earlier, filled with regret. “You know, if I knew you were gonne resent me for the rest of my life, I would've hit Jesse myself.”
“Why don't you just be thankful for what I did and keep quiet?” He spits.
“Oh? I should be thankful? When was I supposed to be thankful? In the time I was busy pulling you off of him before you killed him, or in the time you ignored me when I did thank you? And don't you tell me to be quiet. I can speak when I damn want to!”
“Elijah! For once in your life, shut your damn mouth. I've been listening to your wit, your sarcasm, your extremely unnecessary and unasked for commentary for a whole goddamn week. I've got a massive headache, and the last thing I need right now is your goddamn incessant voice drilling holes in my skull. Just be fucking quiet.” In times like these, Elijah is reminded why she had fucking hit him on the playing court, why she drew back with such a velocity, why she felt the splintering in her hand hours later.
It was this version of Billy that she didn't like. The one who thought he was justified to any behavior he pleased, whenever he pleased. The Billy who feels he can do and say whatever he wants, without any repercussions or consequences. It was this Billy she had smacked to the floor, and it was this Billy that made her feel like she'd do it in a heartbeat again.
“You know what Hargrove? No. No, I will not fucking keep quiet. I will not sit here and let you berate me, telling me what I'm allowed to do or what I'm allowed to say in my car. I made it very clear to you from the beginning, that I'd help you with your car, as well as offer you a ride to wherever you'd like. I made it clear that I was willing to help, mainly for the fact that it was partly my fault why you got stuck in this situation. From now on, we will only speak to one another when we're dealing with your car, and last I checked, that will be in a month's time. I'll continue to drive Max wherever she pleases, but from here on out I'm your driver to school, and only to school. I'll keep my end of the bargain, but you and me, we're done doing business together. After this car situation is dealt with, I kindly, never want to speak with you again.”
And that's when Elijah came to another conclusion.
Billy might be a broken boy, but you don't get to cut other people with your broken shards.
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