HERO ↠ ( BILLY BATSON )

nine

THE TWO TEENAGERS IMMEDIATELY RAN TO THE SUBWAY STATION AND GOT ONTO THE BUS. They both panted as they had ran from the house to there but quickly laughed it off, catching the attention of the very few people on the bus. They sat down, chuckles and giggles still escaping their lips.

"You have very straight teeth," complemented Billy. Lainey gave him a weird look but a smile still danced on her lips. His complement was quite odd, especially for the current situation. "Thanks for the weird complement," she simply replied before turning away from Billy and looking forward.

Billy's face flushed a rosy red. Thankfully, the brunette had turned her head away so she couldn't quite see Billy's embarrassed face.

"You have nice ears." Lainey shot back.

The teenage boy's eyes widened as another smile sneaked its to his lips, "I have nice ears?" he repeated.

She nodded, "I saw your embarrassed face and felt kinda bad. Now that I look at you, your ears are pretty nice."

Billy chuckled, "Well, you have a damn fine nose."

"I'm flattered," Lainey joked before continuing, "but you have amazing nostrils. Damn, would I love to breathe through those holes!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"But I think you have an absolutely dazzling chin." Billy said in an awful British accent. The brunette elbowed him in the arm playfully, "Thank you, love, but yours is quite adequate." she replied jokingly.

Billy's face dropped, "Love?"

Lainey looked over at him, "Yeah. Isn't that what British people say often?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. They-They do." he stammered.

For the next ten minutes there was complete silence. No one said anything to anyone. The only reason they really were silent was because Billy didn't say anything from then on, leaving Lainey to think she said something wrong. She thought about their conversation over and over again but she said nothing to hurt his feelings in any way, shape or form.

Billy got up from his seat, "This is our stop."

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

The apartment that Billy had brought Lainey to was old and grimy.

Lainey looked over at the Batson boy but he had no emotion painted on his face whatsoever. The girl let out a small huff and proceeded to look around the building's lobby. It had an awful stench to it. The smell of garbage and...

"Old people?" she questioned as she stared at an awfully old couple who barely seemed like they could function properly. Billy's fixed on the brunette, "What?" he asked as he fixed his red hat.

Lainey looked back at Billy and laughed, "It smells like old people, right?"

As much as Billy did not want to show any physical emotion, he couldn't help but crack a smile, "yeah, it does." he replied as the two walked into the elevator, more chuckles and giggles emerging from like they did previously.

Billy pressed the button with a 7 on it, indicating that it was going to take them to the seventh floor, "Who lives on the seventh floor of a building?" joked Lainey, running a hand through her brown locks. "Your mother does," replied Billy, stating a good point.

She shrugged her shoulders in response to his words, "How'd you even get her address?"

"It's nothing that you should be concerned about, don't worry," he spoke, digging his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I know but I still wanna how. Why do you care so much about it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Billy gulped, "I just care about you, ya know?"

His words made her smile but she really didn't know how to respond. Thankfully, she was saved by the ding of the elevator and the doors opening. They stepped out and Billy led them down a hallway. "Do you know which apartment?" asked Lainey.

"It's room 104, I think."

From there, they walked down the narrow hallway to room 104. However, when they reached that specific door, Lainey felt her stomach turn. Her chest felt heavy and her eyes began to fill up with tears. She couldn't cry right now, her mother might've not even been in there. It would be better to not get her hopes up right away, right?

Billy caught on to the brunette's actions. He, too, knew that Lainey was quite anxious in both a good way and a bad way, "Well, this is it," he told her, placing a hand on her tense shoulder, "you just need to knock on that door, Lainey."

He was smiling and Lainey tried to as well, but the anxious feeling was basically eating from the inside out, only making her lip quiver at most. Instead of saying anything back, she knocked twice on the door in front of her.

No answer, not even a voice asking who it was.

"Second time's the charm," added Billy and Lainey took his word. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and knocked again twice.

And second time really was the charm.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Stay safe!!
Love, RIV.