GONE GIRL » Billy Hargrove

epilogue

The car behind us honked loudly and I jolted up in my seat, almost hitting my head in the process. Steve chuckled, pulling into the driveway to his house and I could already see the door open.

As soon as I closed the car door behind me, Loki bolted out of the house and jumped up and down in front of me, until I sat down on the ground and let him lick my face.
"I missed you too, buddy," I cooed, rubbing his back as he panted, tongue loosely hanging out to the side of his mouth. Steve walked up behind me, kneeling down as well to rub Lokis head.

"Did he give you any trouble?" - "He peed in a corner one time because the mailman made him nervous."
I raised my eyebrows and snorted. "That is the single worst lie I've ever heard from you."

My best friend shrugged as I put Loki on his leash, gave Steve a hug and waved at him before jogging off in the direction of my house. We had gotten home a few hours ago and due to the cold weather my car refused to cooperate, so Steve came to pick me up.

After having arrived at home I gave Loki something to eat and hopped into the shower, trying to act like I didn't see a small square package on the floor.
As soon as I was done showering I got dressed and picked up my leather jacket from my bed.

Coming back downstairs I ran into Cameron who, in his underwear, was carrying two cups of coffee.
"Where are you going? When did you even get back?"
I laughed, while sliding my arms into the sleeves of my jacket. "I came here, showered and now I'm off to see Billy. Okay?"

My cousin nodded, gave me a quick wink and disappeared into his room again. Shaking my head with a smile I skipped down the stairs, went outside and decided to give my car another shot.

This time it did indeed work right away and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for not immediately freaking out. The roads were quite empty this time around, and I assumed mosy people were at Tinas New Years Party. I didn't even know if Billy was at home, probably not, but it was closer to my own house so I went there first.

It took a while for the door to open after I rang the doorbell, and Max greeted me, the reserved expression on her face again that she always gave me when I came to see Billy. Her mother was waving at me from the kitchen and I pulled the small package from my bag, handing it to Max.

"What's this?" she asked, eyeing the wrapping paper suspiciously, while Miss Mayfield came over to us.
"Your Christmas present. I got it in Seattle so I couldn't give it to you earlier." - "Oh you didn't have to!" her mother exclaimed, pulling me into a half-hearted hug and I gave her a smile.

"Is Billy home?" I asked as Max was unwrapping the comic book I had found in the bookstore a few days ago. A smile appeared on her face and I felt even more accomplished than earlier when my car turned on again.
"He's in his room," Miss Mayfield said, one hand still on my back, and I thanked her, making my way to the door, knocking on it.

"No!"

I rolled my eyes and knocked again, now hearing footsteps approaching the door.
"Max how many times do I have to-"

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me confused. Originally we had been supposed to come back on the second of January, but when Cameron decided to bring Alice back we rescheduled the flight.

"I'm surprised you're not at Tina's Party!" I said with a grin and Billy threw me over his shoulder, closing the door behind us again.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back earlier?!" he exclaimed, setting me down on the floor again and I shrugged. "Surprise…?"

He shook his head, smiling, and pushed me against the wall, crashing his lips into mine. He lifted me off my feet again and I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist. His lips moved on to my neck and a sigh escaped my mouth.

"You grounded or are you up for a date?" I asked just before his lips moved back up to meet mine again and I could feel him smile into the kiss.
"Of course. Where to?"

My back was still against the wall and I leaned my head back. "Some roof maybe. Watch the fireworks? I stole some wine from Cameron." -  "Sounds perfect."

Suddenly he spun around and dropped me on the bed, laying down next to me and pulling me into his chest. This was the first time I could fully take in his face again and I bit my lip, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Don't ask about it," he pleaded as I traced the bruise on his right cheekbone with my fingertips. "Doesn't matter." - "Like said, you're always welcome to stay at my place if you need to get out. Just bring earplugs, my cousin's girlfriend is staying over at the moment."

He chuckled. "If I stay at your place they're the ones needing earplugs."
Rolling my eyes yet again I smacked his shoulder, which caused him to laugh even more. There were heavy steps in the living room and we both shot up almost immediately.

"Let's go?" - "Let's go."

Putting on his own jacket and shoes Billy grabbed my hand and opened the door, hurrying to get to the front door.
"Where are you going?" his father asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Out?" Billy sneered and I squeezed his hand.

"You know your curfew, boy!" - "Yes, sir," he mumbled and as soon as the door closed behind us I placed a kiss on the back of his hand.

We drove around for a while until we were almost out of town and came across an abandoned building that used to be a supermarket. It was close enough to town for us to have a good view of the fireworks and it was already dark out.

"What do we do if someone's in there?" Billy asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder after we'd climbed over the fence. "Run?" I suggested and he grinned, nodding.

While making our way up to the roof we didn't talk, cautious in case someone was indeed in the building. I pulled the blankets I had brought from my bag and spread them on the ground, unpacking the food and drinks as well.

"How long till midnight?" I asked and he squinted at his watch in the darkness.

"An hour."

Hawkins wasn't a very big town but the lights looked pretty that night; maybe they had kept them on everywhere just for this occasion.

"Why aren't you at Tina's Party anyway?" Billy shrugged at my question. "They're all just gonna watch that dumb Big Apple Broadcast and get really drunk. I didn't really feel like that today," he explained and I leaned onto his shoulder.
"How was Seattle anyway?" he asked, resting his head on top of mine and I smiled.

"It was good. Really good actually. Once we're done with this place I gotta show you around there. I think you'd like it." - "That sounds good."

For a while we talked about how Christmas had been, we ate, we drank, and we laughed and some stray fireworks caused us to be very confused for  a while.

"Okay, for real this time," Billy announced to me and I sat up straight, smiling.

"Ten."

"Nine."

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

The sound of the church bells was carried over to us by the wind and first fireworks were being lit and shot up into the sky, exploding into a rain of colours.
Billys face was illuminated by the lights and gave me a smile, pulling me into his arms and gently placing his lips into mine. More and more fireworks went off in town and on nearby roofs as peoppe started pouring out into the streets. I moved, now straddling Billys lap as his hands tugged at my hair.

"Happy New Year," I whispered, returning the smile, as we stared into each other's eyes and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He took a deep breath and moved his hands to my shoulders.

"I love you, Lucy."

"I love you too, Billy."