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warnings: none
It was night time, and that meant it was time for Ruth to go back to work at the diner. Mondays weren't that busy for her, so she was glad that she got a break from people coming in and bothering her.
Billy, on the other hand, had different intentions. He had convinced his dad to let them go back to the diner for dinner that night just so he could see Ruth again. Billy didn't know why he wanted to see Ruth again, he just did. He liked her for some odd reason, and her company was pleasing to him.
Ruth was minding her own business, working on her homework during her shift while only a few people were sat in the diner. Her shift ended in an hour, and there probably wouldn't be dinner because she knew that Steve was having dinner with Nancy and Barb's parents. She felt bad for them, all of them. Barb's parents lost their only child, Nancy lost her best friend, and Steve was just someone who was hit in the crossfire.
Ruth was pulled away from her thoughts as the bell above the door rang out. She shut her notebook and shoved her work under the counter, head picking up to see Billy standing across from the counter. He had the same clothes on that he'd worn to school, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"I'm so sorry, sir, but we don't allow smoking in here," Ruth teased him, pulling out her notepad as a habit.
"I like it when you call me 'sir'. Makes me feel good," Billy smirked, puffing out smoke to her. Ruth scrunched up her nose, leaning back to cough and wave her hand in front of her face.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, setting her notepad on the counter.
"Need the same thing as last night," Billy told her.
"There's several other places around town that you could've gone to, but you came here. What you doing, Hargrove?" Ruth asked. "What's your game?"
"No game. Just need some burgers," he shrugged, smirking at her with the same stupid smirk she'd seen the night before.
"So you're telling me that your family loved the burgers from here so much that they needed to come back after a day, and they sent you to do it again?" Ruth questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"That's exactly what's going on," Billy lied to her. Ruth knew he was lying, and she was sure that he was joking with her. But, she didn't want to question it. He was attractive, and she hadn't dated anyone ever. How ironic that is. The Queen of Hawkins High School had never dated anyone, and was also a virgin. But she wouldn't dare let anyone know that part.
"So, same order as before?" Ruth asked, grabbing her pen from her shirt pocket.
"You bet, angel," Billy smirked. She rolled her eyes, writing down the order. She turned and gave it to the chef, then turned back to Billy.
"That'll be-"
"Ten seventy-two," Billy interrupted. He pulled out fifteen like the previous night, holding it out to her. "I've got it covered. Keep the change."
"Thank you," Ruth said with a small smile. She began to put away his money, and this time Billy didn't walk away from the counter. As Ruth placed the change in the tip jar, her eyes glanced to Billy. "D'ya need anything else?"
"Just wondering when you're free next," Billy told her with a smirk. "You know, there's still that party tomorrow night. I could pick you up, take you home."
"Is this your subtle way of asking me out?" Ruth asked, raising an eyebrow at Billy.
"What if it is?" he asked back.
"I'll let you take me home, if you could beat the keg record," Ruth told him, shrugging slightly. "Which is currently held by," she flourished her face, "yours truly."
"Wouldn't expect that from you, angel. Should be easy enough," he said, shrugging again. "What is it? Thirty seconds?"
"A minute," Ruth told him. Billy rose an eyebrow at her in surprise, a small laugh escaping his lips.
"You're lying," he said.
"I'm not," Ruth answered. "New Years is wild."
"Okay. A minute. I can do that," he said with a small nod. "Impressive, angel. Impressive."
"Do you even remember my name? Do you know my full name?" Ruth asked. This time she wasn't wearing her name plate because she'd left it at her house. It didn't matter anyways, but it was a coincidence in that moment. Billy seemed to hesitate, his face writing fear that he'd actually just screwed up. But he smiled, tilting his head at her.
"I can't believe you'd doubt me, Ruth Harrington," he said with ease. The cook rang for his order, Ruth's head turning to look at it. She grabbed the bag, holding it out to Billy. "I'll see you tomorrow, angel." He turned and walked out of the diner, Ruth watching as his Camaro sped away from the diner. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face, knowing the dangerous game she was playing.
At around 8:00, Ruth finally got off for the night. She was driving home from the diner when she felt a sudden chill go down her back. She furrowed her eyebrows as it almost felt like something from the Upside Down, but they'd gotten rid of everything. As far as she was concerned, nothing had come in or out of the gate since the lab started working on it. A good five minutes after eight, Ruth got the same cold feeling in her neck. This time she slammed her brakes, taking a deep breath as her eyes were wide with fear.
She took a step out of her car, looking to the world around her. It felt like she was in the upside down, and she could see flashes of the ashy place in her head. Her skin was riddled with goose pimples, and her heart rate was beating faster than it ever had. She finally realized that she'd slammed her brakes in front of her house, turning to see the porch light was on for her. Ruth took a deep breath, reaching into the car and grabbing her bag. She jogged up her driveway, ignoring what just happened to her.
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Halloween was the most hated holiday by Ruth Harrington. She hated that people were assholes for a day and randomly scared everyone around school. She avoided people at all costs, and would just wait to see everyone at the annual Halloween Party. This year Tina was hosting, and usually at Tina's party's, one thing went wrong.
Ruth went through her day easily, without any hiccups. She avoided Carol and Tommy during lunch, and ate in the bleachers. But, reality caught up with her when she was walking out to her car. Billy was sitting against his, smoking a cigarette with some sort of annoyed look on his face. She wanted to ignore him, considering he was still trying to impress her.
But, she seemed to have caught his eye. Billy had looked away from the spot he was staring at, a smirk growing on his face when he saw Ruth beginning to throw her things her car. He took another drag of the cigarette before kicking off his car to go talk to her. Right as he was about to take her wrist to spin her around, Ruth turned and caught his hand.
"Quick reflexes," Billy said with a small laugh. "It's just me." Ruth laughed nervously, feeling whatever he was at the moment. It wasn't exactly happy, but he seemed somewhat satisfied. "So, our deal still on?"
"Only if you're up for it," Ruth shrugged. "It'd be sad if you tried and failed."
"Let's say I don't beat you. Do I get any reward for that?" he asked, his free hand slipping around her waist. Ruth's eyes met his, and she thought she stopped breathing in the moment. "Sensitive to my touch, are we, angel?"
"You wish," Ruth responded with a small chuckle. Billy smirked, taking one step closer to her.
"If I don't beat your record, I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want me to stick around," Billy told her in a low voice. "Now, if I were you, I'd let me stick around. I've got some... ideas lingering around up here about you." Ruth hummed at his words, Billy putting his mouth right near her ear. "Between you and me, I'm going insane just thinking about it." Ruth bit her bottom lip to suppress her breathing, not wanting to show him how this was affecting her. Billy pressed a light kiss to her neck, then brought his head back to look at her. "I'll see you tonight, angel." He turned and walked back to his car, Ruth grabbing the top of hers to make sure that all just happened. She breathed out a shaky breath, then pushed herself off her car. She pulled her keys from her pocket, looking to see Billy already getting into his own with his step sister climbing in, too.
Ruth didn't know what this boy was doing to her, but she loved it.
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i thought i'd throw y'all an update
these two are chaotic as hell
very very weird mix
but i think you're going to like them
i hope you enjoyed, angels!