ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ ᴍᴇꜱꜱ • ʙɪʟʟʏ ʜᴀʀɢʀᴏᴠᴇ

Ten

It took Daisy hours upon hours to pick the right outfit: something that's casual but not too casual, but also something that's smart but not too smart. She rolled her eyes, feeling ridiculous that she spent all that time looking for the right outfit... an outfit she'd first opted for at the beginning of this challenge.

"Sweetie!" her mother called from the living room while she was applying some lipstick. "Your friend's here!"

Shit! Daisy looked at the time. He's early!

"Uhhh... be there in a minute, Ma!" Daisy yelled back before looking back at her reflection, cringing in the process. She'd never put this much make-up on, not for recreational purposes. So why was she so caught up on looking her best? It was just a gathering of friends.

Just friends.

After a few minutes of touching upon her hair and make-up, she picked up her denim jacket and walked out into the living room, where Billy was sat on the couch across from her mother, looking very uncomfortable.

"Ready to go?" she asked, catching him by surprise. He sprung up on his feet, smiling with relief as if she'd walked during an awkward conversation.

"Yeah! Yeah!" he exclaimed almost too loudly.

"I told Billy to bring you back by 11." Mrs Henderson smiled before taking Billy's glass from his hand. Daisy looked down, blushing brightly as she pushed Billy out of the house, barely giving him time to say thank you to her mother and that he'd bring her back by that time.

"Whoa, kitten calm down!" Billy laughed on his way to the car. He opened her side of the door and she slid in almost immediately, closing the door behind her. She could feel her mother looking at them through the living room window, so she decided not to look away from the dashboard. "Eager aren't we?"

"No, just want to wake up from this nightmare." Daisy replied, half-smiling as she looked at him. Billy blinked, and gave her a look from head to toe, whistled and started the car. "What?"

"Nothin', just... you look... nice." he replied.

"Nice? As opposed to the usual...?" Daisy looked at him curiously, one eyebrow raised, waiting for him to continue her sentence.

"I dunno..." he shrugged, rolling his eyes. "A thanks would have sufficed, Henderson."

Daisy shook her head and smiled. "You look nice too, as opposed to looking nice all the time."

"You think I look nice all the time?" Billy sounded shocked and intrigued at the same time. "You're the only one who thinks so."

"Well... you're nice to me." she pointed out. "Both... both socially and..." Daisy paused, biting her tongue.

"Both socially and...? Physically?" Daisy could almost see his smirk playing on his lips from the corner of her eye. "Oh, come on, princess! You're allowed to think I'm nice-looking."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever..." she mumbled as she felt her cheeks heat up and turn pink. "And stop calling me Princess."

The rest of the ride was comprised of awkward silence and directions to the Buyers' house. Daisy wanted to avoid any embarrassing 

"You can park over there." Daisy said, pointing at an opening between a tree and the toolshed. Billy parked his car there and stopped the engine. "Before we go..."

"Behave and no nasty comments?" He cut her off, looking at her with a dead-pan look.  "Heard it all before, Daise."

"I--" She frowned. "I was going to tell you to try and have some fun, but... yes, that too." she admitted and then added, "and ignore anything Steve says. He still thinks you're out to get him or something."

"Hmph, of course he thinks that." Billy muttered, smiling humourlessly. "Then again, what if I am? Hm?"

"Billy, please..." Daisy was about to reach over and place her hand in his shoulder for comfort but stopped halfway. She bit her lip and retracted her hand back. "Be the person you always are with me." She smiled softly. "If you're nice to me, then why not the others? Or at least... Nancy, Jonathan and Robin."

"We'll see." Billy grunted as he got out of the car, closing the door hard behind him, making Daisy jump a little before exiting the car herself. She looked at Billy as he shrugged his jacket off his shoulders a little and put it back on. She had to be honest with herself: Billy was looking more handsome than ever. Did he put all this effort for her friends, the party... or herself?

Nah she thought, shaking her head as they walked to the house. He always dresses up like this. I don't have to be a reason... and I will never be.

They stopped in front of the door and could hear the rock music coming from inside.

"Ready whenever you are, kitten." Billy whispered loudly against her ear, sending shivers down Daisy's spine. She quickly rang the doorbell, her body shaking because she could've sworn she felt his hand on the small of her back.

*

Sorry for the short chapter, but the next one will continue right from here! I apologise for being so late with this only to publish a short chapter but with all that's going on in the world... it's a whole mess!

Please stay safe wherever you are and be patient with one another!

Love you all!