Dream Boat ▷ Billy Hargrove

There's Always Reasons (10)

"I see you think it's okay to bring more whores under my roof when I'm gone." The man growls.
I wince at the word he uses for me.
This must be his father.
Billy pushes himself off of his bed, looking more angry than ever. "Don't you dare fucking call her a whore again." He approaches his father with clenched fists.
Without warning his father slams Billy up against the wall by the collar of Billy's jacket.
He sighs. "I thought..." He still holds him against the wall. "That I taught you not to talk back to me."
Then he lets go of Billy.
"Now it seems clear to me that you're a piece of shit that will never learn." He pulls his arm back and slams his fist into Billy's face.
"Stop!" I scream, standing up. His father throws another punch at Billy. Tears fill my eyes. "Please, just stop!"
After one more blow his father steps away. He turns to look at me.
"Do yourself a favor and find yourself someone better. He's only going to treat you like shit." With that he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. Billy sinks down to the floor holding his bloody face.
I fall down to my knees next to Billy with tears streaming down my face.
This is what Billy was going to explain to me. It's not his fault he's the way he is. It's his father's. His behavior is a result of the abusive environment he faces from his father every day.
"Billy?" I move next to him and wrap my arms around him to comfort him.
I see tears welling up in his eyes.
"I guess you got to see it firsthand instead of me explaining it. Lucky you." He wipes his eyes quickly to hide his tears.
"This is my fault," I say.
He glances down to look at me with his eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell are you saying?"
"If I wasn't on your bed, then maybe he wouldn't have called me what he called me and then you wouldn't have gotten mad." I stammer.
Billy moves out of my grasp to fully look at me.
"Jesus Christ, you're seriously blaming yourself." He shakes his head. "He has no right in calling you a fucking whore! If you think for a damn second you are to blame for him calling you a whore... Jesus. There was no way in hell I was just going to let him speak that way to you. Got it?"
"Yes."
He's right but... I still feel like this is all because of me.
"Let me see your face." I pull his hand off of the right side of his face.
He stares into my eyes as I study his injuries. He has a busted lip, a forming black eye, a forming bruise on his cheek, and a gash on his forehead.
I start to cry as I look more at what his father did to him. How could a human being do this to their own child?
"Hey," Billy wipes a tear from my cheek. "It's okay.  C'mere." He pulls me into his chest and lets me cry.
It feels so safe in his arms.
"I'm so fucking sorry." I murmur against his chest.
"Don't be. It's been like this for as long as I can remember." He sighs.
"It's just not fair. It's not fucking fair."
We stay in each others arms for a little while longer until I look back up at his face and notice that it's getting even worse.
"We need to get you cleaned up. And bandages." I say. "We have a ton of first-aid stuff at my house."
Billy sighs. "I can't drive. I can barely see out of
my right eye."
"Lucky for us, I can. Where are your keys?"
He snorts. "You think I'm gonna let you drive the best thing I own? No."
I roll my eyes. "Billy, Just trust me. I'm a good driver, and my house is only 10 minutes away."
He narrows his eyes at me. "If you crash it, I will literally kill you."
"No you won't, because I won't crash it."
"Jesus, fine. They're in my back pocket."
I stare at him waiting for him to reach into his pocket for the keys.
"What are we waiting for, Princess?" He asks me.
I frown. "For you to grab your keys?"
"I think you should grab them for me." He smirks.
Oh my god. He literally wants me to touch his ass.
"I hate you," I mutter as I reach into his back pocket and fetch his keys.

We leave by climbing out of his window. I start the ignition and immediately back out of the driveway.
"So you're a slow driver." He mutters, holding his black eye.
"No, I just don't go over the speed limit like you happen to." I drive in the direction of my house.
"The speed limits are too slow."
"Of course you think that."
I drive us to my house without crashing the camero like Billy said I would..
I help him Billy into my house even though he can walk.
"Your brothers aren't home?" Billy asks as I sit him at the kitchen table.
"Nope." I say as I grab the first aid kit and a bag of frozen peas.
"Hold this against your eye." I hand him the bag of frozen peas. I then grab a bandage and bandage up the gash on his forehead.
"Look at you, playing nurse." Billy jokes.
I ignore his comment and inspect his busted bottom lip.
"My lip gets busted all the time. It hurts like a bitch and there's not much we can do about it." He says. Then he brings his face closer to mine. "Except this."
He takes me by surprise and presses his lips against mine for a short, tender kiss.
I pull away after the short moment. That was my first kiss.
"Mm," Billy smirks. "It already feels better."
I stare at him with wide eyes. Did that seriously just happen?
He furrows his eyebrows in concern. "Why are you staring at me like a deer in headlights?"
"N-No reason."
He studies my face for a moment more.
"That was your first, wasn't it?"
I hide my face in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it, Princess." He says. "We all start from somewhere."