ʙʟᴜᴇ » ᴛᴠᴅ ¹ ✓

twelve

Billie paced around the apartment restlessly. Her footfalls thudding repeatedly on the wood, the sound lulling her into a stressed out trance.

She vividly pictured Damon murdering her, in several ways. Drowning, strangulation, a very long fall off a very high building, the list went on.

What's more, is she could also see Damon pulverising Tyler for her blabbing, let alone once he found out about Caroline. But there was no way to warn Tyler without disclosing the existence of more vampires in the town, especially when one of them murdered his uncle.

Billie's head was hurting with all the complications of the situation, in fact, she was so engrossed with her morbid thoughts that the sound of tapping at the window had her jumping about a foot in the air. Billie stepped cautiously towards Georgie's room where the sound had originated from.

Her heart almost leapt from her chest at the sight of the man on the other side. The unnamed neighbour from downstairs.

A relieved smile spread over Billie's face and she quickly opened the window for him, tackling the boy with a hug when he jumped from the sill.

"Hey." He smiled at her cutely and Billie's heart almost melted. She almost forgot her confusion.

"Good to see you and all, but what are you doing here?" She questioned him, walking backwards to sit down on Georgie's bed.

"Well, you might've forgotten, but I'm your downstairs neighbour. All that pacing was wrecking my head, man." And he did look wrecked. His hair was dishevelled like he was in the process of pulling it out but the smile never wavered from either of their faces.

Billie glanced guiltily at her feet, realising that they were a little sore and they happened to be combat boots. She shrugged with a smile, hoping for quick forgiveness and he only waved it off casually. Billie caught on that he was noticeably lighter on his feet, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Billie wished Damon could compel her problems away too.

He seemed to notice something wrong as he frowned slightly and collapsed into the beanbag against the wall, pulling it closer to Billie. "Is everything alright?"

Harper sighed, wondering where to start, even if she could have told him. She shook her head, downplaying the several issues in her life. "It's nothing, I just... have a lot to think about. Things are moving so much faster than I'm used to it's like... one crisis after another." Billie stopped herself before she said too much and turned to him, lifting up one of his hands and playing with his fingers absentmindedly.

"What about you? Anything juicy on the second floor?" She smiled playfully, hoping to hear good news. He looked into her eyes an emotion she didn't recognise swirling inside. He snapped out of it, a ghost of a grin on his lips.

"Well... Janice down the hall got a pet lizard." He offered the news suggestively. "It escaped the same day, nobody knows where it is but we find droppings here and there." He shivered with distaste and Billie assumed he'd found one himself. She giggled with humour, hoping it wouldn't migrate to the third floor.

He glanced down at his hand in Billie's in thought. "It's gotten better. A few nights ago he just... stopped. He looks at me sometimes like he's thinking about it, but he doesn't." The words were quiet, like he thought they were shameful and Billie frowned, hoping he could just accept it as good luck and be happy.

"That's amazing! I'm really happy for you." Billie told him sincerely. She wanted him to live freely and maybe he would now.

The boy smiled in response and suddenly got a bit fidgety. His grin becoming cutely nervous. "It feels crazy to ask, but... I still don't know your name. You're the mystery girl above me." He laughed at the absurdity and Billie did too. She'd wondered for a while but the second she saw him, everything pushed aside, ready to just enjoy his presence. "And you're the mystery guy below me."