Oh, the Irony (Bianca Del Rio/Roy Haylock x OC)

Chapter 9- Glad I shaved

It was odd, really. Such a huge amount of fuss and emphasis around Alex moving out had been created and yet by the time came, it was a quiet, understated affair. With the taxi running in the background and black bags slightly more full than when they were last packed tucked safely away in the back, they hugged. "G'bye, Alex." He managed to say, his arms tightly around her back. She looked up and smiled sheepishly. "It's somehow not very good, is it?" She muttered. "I'll call you every day. I promise."

Unfortunately, as they both secretly suspected, Roy never held himself to that promise. Work got in the way and so did his other social commitments. Generally, he could make himself forget about Alex all day. It was at night when he had trouble. He'd lie on his side, staring at the wall that Alex was parallel to not too long ago and tell himself 'In the morning, I'll call her. Have a catch up.' But of course, he never did.

No, the day they parted ways was boring and un-noteworthy. It was the day they met again that was truly eventful.

It was on a Thursday, that she could remember. The rain was beating down on the windows outside but it was so dark she could hardly see. Besides, that was not what was important. She had to get ready to entertain the masses. Tugging on a large earring she had recently placed in her ear piercing she clicked her teeth. A mildly attractive Latino man wearing a headset peered around the corner. "5 minutes, ladies!"
"Anything for you, sexy!" Called out the queen next to Bianca. The man either didn't hear or ignored her and returned to the corridor. "Good try." Bianca said, only a hint of genuine bitterness in her tone. "Oh, honey. You gotta reel in as many as possible, you know how it is." Retorted the pink haired queen with a giggle, touching up her equally bright hued lipstick. No. Not really. "You do you, Girl."
"I'd rather you do me."
Bianca blinked and went back to fine tuning her accessories in the mirror.

The show went as expected and so the queens decided to go to a bar. Naturally. The pink haired queen from before- apparently called DeeDeeDee of all things- spent much of the evening firmly perched on Bianca's padded hip. "Dee 3," She addressed her neon counterpart, "Don't you think you need to socialise?"
Dee 3 rolled her eyes and let her hand slide up Bianca's arm. "I am, silly."
"I meant with people that aren't me."
"Well, where's the fun in that?"
Bianca felt a sigh rise out of her lungs and she quickly repressed it with large gulps of a fruity cocktail. Moments later, a large bang emanated from the other side of the room which was hardly hearable thanks to the loud and repetitive music in the background. Bianca thought nothing of it until shouts followed and then it was accompanied by the distinct sound of smashing glass. The two drag queens went quiet. Against all instincts, Bianca decided to investigate. "Wait here." She told Dee 3 who nodded with widened and startled eyes. Bianca followed the source of the noise to quickly find a small side room next to the women's toilets. An even louder bang sounded from the other side of the door and Bianca quickly opened it, armed with her heavy, spiked shoe in her hand. As soon as the door opened, a dark figure flew across the room and hit the stone wall with a sickening thud. "The fuck are you doing in here?"  Bianca turned. A tall woman accompanied by a large man and another, more average sized woman stared at her. "Fucking fag." The tall woman spat. "This one of your poofter mates? Come to rescue you?" In her confusion, Bianca only just realised the woman had a British accent. "I don't know them. I just heard noises." She explained calmly, eyeing the man's hand in his pocket. Bianca silently praised the gods for pockets in dresses and managed to angle the screen and dial 99 just in case. "Sure. Listen, clowny-fuck face, stay out of this. It doesn't involve you."
Neither Bianca nor Roy were particularly brave so it was startling to hear herself say "Well it does now. So move. People know I'm here." At the woman's raised eyebrow, Bianca decided to elaborate. "I'm somewhat of a celebrity. Well, among the gay community, anyway. They tend to follow me around and stuff. In fact, its disputable I'm the most important gay figure in this city." She said, hoping her slightly sweaty palms and quaking limbs won't call her bluff. Well, semi bluff. "It's important to note that this is a gay club in the gay part of town you're in right now." She concluded simply. Upon hearing this information, the trio silently turned to one another. "Fuck." The smaller woman said. "We gotta go." They then turned to the figure in the corner that Roy had almost forgotten about. "This isn't over, bitch." The tall woman said in an even tone as they all walked through the doorway. After a few seconds, the figure groaned. Bianca quickly rushed to their side and bent down to look at their face. "You're fucking joking." She muttered. A battered and bruised Alex Barr looked up at her, blood trickling from her forehead past the side of her eye. "It'd be a shit joke, wouldn't it?" She replied weakly, a ghost of a smile on her face. Suddenly, it dropped. "Where were you?" She asked, almost shouting if not for the pain in her ribs. Bianca's painted brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"All those-all those weeks? Where were you?"
"I... I was busy. You could have called me."
She huffed shakily. "I thought I'd be a nuisance. You said you'd call every day. You-you promised!" With this, she began coughing rather violently and, worryingly, a small spot of blood came out of her mouth. "Jesus, they really did a number on you." She mumbled, raking her eyes over Alex's body. As usual, she was covered in baggy clothes, her sleeves down to her elbow and the hems of her jeans almost touching the floor. A couple of seams were torn and a few angry looking bruises were beginning to form on what little skin she had bare. "I think you should go to the hospital, Alex."
"What? So you can leave me again?" She spat hatefully, a scowl that Bianca had never seen before across her face. It soon softened. "Besides, I... I kind of deserve it." She whispered almost. Bianca decided now wasn't the time to drill her by what she meant but instead decided to dial a private taxi. "Fine." She knelt down besides her distant friend. "Alex, you're coming home."

It was around noon the next day Alex found herself staring at the same spot in the wall she used to all those weeks ago. She was on her old bed, laying on her side, facing Roy's bedroom. She sighed. It was a long, pitiful sound made even more pathetic by the sharp intake of breath that followed due to the pain in her ribs. She wet her lips. "Roy." She called out hoarsely. She repeated again until he eventually came barging into the room. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked down at the scrawny, bruised figure. "Look, I know that you've just woke up and whatever..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "But do you mind explaining to me what the fuck that was about?"
Alex's green eyes narrowed and quickly avoided Roy's gaze and instead settled on the blanket in front of her. "It doesn't matter."
"Well, clearly it does or you wouldn't be halfway dead and back in my apartment."
"You're exaggerating."
Roy blinked rapidly. It was true, Alex wasn't exactly on her death bed but that didn't make it any less terrifying for him. "Not the point. Just... Just tell me what those guys were doing?"
"Well, you saw."
"Don't avoid the question. Who were they?"
"Friends of a friend." She said suddenly. Roy paced up and down the room. It was obvious she wasn't going to give him any actual answers although the "I deserve it" from earlier still rattled clearly in his ear drums. Logically, he knew he shouldn't press the issue but a small part of him wanted to know. Wanted to know what went on in Alex's life before she moved to New York and for those people to hate her so passionately. He pinched the bridge of his nose. God, he could feel a migraine coming on. "I can't fucking believe this is happening. This is like an episode of some shitty TV drama, Jesus Christ." He mumbled, still pacing. "You're telling me." Alex interjected with a half hearted cheeky grin that quickly disappeared when she saw the dirty look Roy shot back at her. "If it's any consolation... They probably won't try to hurt me again."
Probably. "And why's that?"
She shrugged. Sort of. The best imitation of a shrug a person with a mostly dislocated shoulder could manage, anyway. "I... The girl. She'd been looking for me. She found me and I, uh. Well, we had a disagreement and turns out she wasn't alone."
"You knew her before?"
She made a non committal murmur of agreement. Roy could feel himself making progress and so he urged her to carry on. "How?"
"Friend of a friend."
He sighed again. What the fuck was wrong with her? This wasn't a joke! This was fucking serious and here she was laughing about it like the stupid bitch she is. Why she couldn't just answer his questions was beyond him. He had a good mind to-
"Are you going to stare out of the window all day or can I put some underwear on?"
Roy felt his breath catch in his throat for a second. "Ah. Sorry about that. There was a bit of blood on them and I figured you'd wanted them washed."
She looked at him for a second before grinning, exposing her shiny little teeth to the light. "I'm glad I shaved now."
Roy's eyes rolled. The dumb hoe. Fuck, it was good to see her again, though. He should tell her that. He should tell her how much he missed her and how sorry-
"Roy!"
"What?"
"Go!"
He scurried out of the door.
Moments later, he heard her voice, muffled through the door, speak to him. "Order me a taxi, if you can. I've gotta go home."
Roy resisted all of his core instincts to reply with "But you are home!" And instead merely said "sure" and pulled out his phone.
He did miss her, though.

-
-
-Honestly my personal life is a complete and utter shambles and while I probably could have uploaded way more frequently than I have I've just been so preoccupied I've forgot. But dw guys I would never forget about this story and no matter how slow the updates are, they will always come
Thanks for reading yo