GONE GIRL » Billy Hargrove

0.4 » happy halloween

After he had already failed at convincing me to come to the party, Cameron seemed rather discouraged about everything. He didn't even want to dress up anymore, but I guessed he was trying to lure me in through pouting and puppy-eyes, and to be honest he was pretty damn good at those.

"Cameron I told you I have to finish some artwork to send out next week. The earlier I get through with this the better." - "And what exactly are you doing that for this time?" He asked while changing his shirt. "For a children's book that is going to be released in a few weeks," I explained, sitting down on the couch.

"Didn't you do some Horror stuff the last time I was here?" - "Cam, that was three months ago." - "...Right."

He dropped down next to me and put an arm around me, tugging at my messy bun. "Okay then I guess I won't stop you from making your own money." - "Thanks." - "Mhm," My cousin hummed, closing his eyes for a minute before jumping onto his feet within a split second.

"Alright then I'll call you when it gets critical," He said excitedly and headed towards the door. "You know you are actually supposed to be the responsible one here?" - "Not today, Love."

With a grin he wished me a good night, I told him not to overdo it and he just left, laughing.

I stayed on the couch for five more minutes before making myself another cup of coffee, just to be able to stay awake until god knows when. At the moment, sleeping seemed like the least clever thing to do anyway.

∞

The phone rang at 11:45 while I was currently finishing up on the colored parts, so when I tried to pick up the phone it slipped from my hands at least three times.

"Hey um Tina here." She sounded pissed. "Cameron said I should call his girlfriend to pick him up? So?"

Girlfriend? Tina had probably tried making a move on him and he just blurted out something to save himself, so it couldn't be that bad. Or he actually forgot that he didn't have a girlfriend and just made one up, or mixed something up in general.

Either way, it definitely was time to go pick him up.

"I'll be right over," I said, quickly hanging up again. I washed my hands, took a last swig of my coffee, threw on my leather jacket and left the house.

To keep myself awake I blasted some Mötley Crüe on the way to Tina's, singing along at times, until I pulled up into the right road and immediately decided to park on the side opposite the house.

The moment I turned off the engine and my own music was cut off, it immediately continued on once I opened the door. There were people dancing, making out and doing other equally awkward stuff scattered all over the place and I quickly lit myself a cigarette, taking a deep drag before heading towards the house.

"You know you wanted to stop. Get your shit together already," I silently scolded myself, puffing out some smoke while crossing the street. Some guy in a toga threw up in the driveway and I immediately turned to the other side, until I noticed Jonathan getting out of his car. "Did Nance really convince you to come?" I yelled over the music and he shrugged, heading into the house without a reply.

"Okay what the fuck," I mumbled to myself, throwing my cigarette to the ground before following Jonathan inside, immediately regretting that decision. There were way too many way too drunk people all at once.

Exactly why I hated parties.

Well, no escaping it now. Jonathan had disappeared as well so I just decided to go and look for my cousin.

Pushing past sweaty teenagers with smudged makeup and halfway torn costumes I made my way through the living room, carefully trying not to miss Cameron in the crowd.

"Well hello there!" Someone yelled behind me and I turned around, only to find Billy standing in front of me with his arms crossed. "I thought you wanted to avoid trouble?" - "I'm trying."
He laughed, when suddenly Tommy appeared next to him, eyeing me sceptically.

"You!" He screamed with anger in his eyes, flailing his arms into my direction but missing me by a few inches. I'd almost forgotten about the maths book incident earlier this day.

"Look, Tommy, my dude, as much as I'd love to have a chat with you right now I have to go." I patted his shoulder while he held onto the wall to avoid falling over. "So how's life?" I asked while still scanning the room. "Looks like Hawkins has a new keg king, and Steve Harrington has been topped once and for all," Billy explained proudly and I rolled my eyes.

"Congratulations I guess. Major achievement." - "Why so mean?" - "I'm not being mean, I congratulated you."
Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, the smug grin appearing once again, which was my sign to leave.

"Luce!" Someone said and I finally spotted Cameron, only a few feet away from me. I gave Billy a quick nod just to be polite, then headed towards my cousin who immediately dropped himself into my arms. Somehow I managed to rearrange his arms to a more comfortable grip around my shoulders, and began manoeuvring him to the front door, and from there to the car.

"How's the stomach?" I asked before opening the door. "Good, don'orry," He assured me and I raised an eyebrow, but made sure to get him into the car and even buckled his seatbelt for him.

One last look to the party I saw Jonathan's car was gone as well and the guy in the toga was laying on the lawn. Seemed like I didn't really miss out on anything.

∞

"There, you lie down and relax and I'll get you everything." I covered Cameron with his blanket and he looked at me with a sheepish smile.

With a sigh I got some Advil from the bathroom, a glass of water, and I dug out the huge Teddy Bear from Cams closet. Happily pressing the bear to his chest my cousin thanked me, already half asleep.

"Well then, good night." - "Nighh," He muttered, giving the bear a goodnight kiss, and I closed the door before he could profess his undying love to the stuffed toy.