Drowning • Billy Hargrove

Chapter 13

I arrived at the mall and immediately saw Brandon sitting outside on one of the benches.
"Hey!" I say as I walk over to him.
"Hey Kate! I was worried you were going to stand me up."
I laugh. "No, never. Anyways, what do you have planned out?"
"Well I was thinking we could go get icecream at Scoops Ahoy, then we could drive around the town and you could show me all the hotspots."
"Sounds like a plan." I say as we enter the mall.
In the back of my mind, I was worried Brandon thought we were out on a date. But in reality, I was just being a good person showing him around the town.
"I'm going to have to follow you since I haven't a clue where to go." Brandon says, a little embarrassed.
"Yeah that's fine." I say, taking lead.
As we walk to Scoops Ahoy, Brandon started making small talk.
"So are you originally from Hawkins?"
"Yeah! This place is my home."
"Cool." He says, awkwardly.
"Here we are." I say, entering the store.
"Ahoy! I didn't see you there! Are you ready to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain, I'm Steve Harrington!"
I start to laugh.
"Oh my God!" Steve says, turning around with his hands on his head. "I am so embarrassed! I didn't recognize you Kate!"
"Hey Steve! I like the new outfit!" I say, pointing to his uniform.
Steve chuckles. "Oh yeah! I get all the ladies in it!" He says.
"He hasn't got one yet! You're the only one that he hasn't scared off yet!" A voice calls from the backroom.
"Shut up, Robin!" Steve yells.
"It's the truth!" She yells back.
"Anyways, what could I get you guys?"
"I'll have a cotton candy cone, please" I say.
"I'll take a chocolate mint cone." Brandon says.
I grab my wallet out of my purse to pay, before Steve stopped me.
"Don't worry about it! It's on the house." Steve says.
"Thanks Harrington!" I say, smiling.
"Yeah no problem! Are you guys on a date or something?"
"Noooo!" I say. "No we are not! I'm just showing Brandon around town. I'm still with Billy."
I look over to Brandon who has a frown on his face, but immediately turns it into a smile.
"Well have fun!" Steve says.
"Thanks we will." I say, turning around to leave.
"Who was that?" Brandon asks.
"Oh that's my friend Steve. We basically grew up together."
"He seems like a cool guy." Brandon says, licking his icecream cone.
"Yeah he is."

The rest of the night went by pretty smoothly. At times it was awkward because we were still a little uncomfortable with eachother.
I learned that Brandon has two older sisters and a little half brother. He lives with his stepmother, his father and his grandma. They live in the fancy subdivision of Hawkins which was on the east side. Also, I learned that Brandon is moving to Canada after the summer to play professional hockey.
Billy and Brandon were very different. Brandon was more like Steve, a silly guy compared to Billy who was more on the serious side.
Brandon was also very curious about me and my life. He was most interested in Billy, which was was a little strange.
"Thanks for the ride home!" I say, leaving his car.
"No problem! Have a good night!" He says, pulling out of my driveway.

I open the door, shocked to see Billy sitting on the couch.
"Uh, hey?" I say, confused.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" He says walking over to me.
I give him a kiss and laugh. "Well yeah I am! I'm just a little confused."
"El invited Max over, so I gave her a drive and decided I'd stay myself."
"Oh okay." I say, sitting down on the couch, noticing my dad wasn't home. "Do you maybe want to watch a movie?" I ask, as he sits down beside me.
"I was thinking something else." Billy says, smirking.
"I'm not risking it! I don't know when my dad's going to get home and the last thing I need is for him to walk in on us. Also El and Max are here!"
He chuckles. "We can be quiet."
"I'm putting on a movie and you're going to lay here with me." I say, giggling.
"Okay fine." Billy says. "But I get to pick the movie."
"Okay sure." I say, showing him the variety of movies we have.
"I like the Terminator." He says.
So, I slide the tape into the VCR player and we watch the movie, cuddled up together under a blanket.
Suddenly, the front door swings open, causing me to have a mini heart attack. It was just dad.
"Hey." I say, sitting straight up.
"Uh, hi." He says, looking at Billy.
"I'll go get Max." Billy says, standing up.
"I'll come." I mumble, following behind him.
We walk to El's room and open the door. We found the two girls asleep on the floor.
"Damn it." Billy whispers as he walks over and gently picks Max up.
We walk through the living room, past my father and out the front door.
I run ahead and open the car door.
He carefully places Max in the seat and walks over to the driver's side.
I reach over Max and put her seatbelt on and I slowly close the door.
I walk around the car to stand infront of Billy.
"Be careful!" I say as he starts the engine.
"Will do. Come here." He says.
I walk over to him and he plants a kiss on my lips.
"Good night." He says pulling out of the driveway, slower than normal to not wake Max.
I could tell that he cared about his sister but he never showed it.
I turned to walk back into the house when I saw my dad looking at me in the window. All he does is smile at me.