GONE GIRL » Billy Hargrove

0.23 » safe

Cameron dropped me off at the precinct and I took a few deep breaths before heading inside.

"Ah Miss Lockwood, follow me please." The lady at the front desk whose name I constantly forgot said to me, leading me to Jim's office.
"He'll be here in a bit."

I nodded, nervously squirming around in my seat. Just the mere thought of being in the same building as my father made my stomach twitch. When the door opened I jumped slightly and a very tired looking Hopper held up his hands.

"Just me. Don't worry." - "Did she make it?" I asked immediately after he closed the door and he looked up at me. "El. Did she make it?" Now he nodded. "And the others?" I urged him and he nodded again.
"They're all fine."

I slumped back into my seat and felt a smile tug at my lips.

"Don't forget why you're here though." He reminded me and the smile quickly faded, as he opened up a folder.

"The police two towns over picked him up last night and brought him here early this morning. Apparently he was hiding out in some shady motel and when the owner saw the APB he contacted the police immediately."

Slowly nodding, to signal I was following, I felt my muscles tense up.
"If you'll follow me now; like your cousin hopefully told you we'll have you identify him. Just for the protocol."

I got up out of my seat and followed Jim to the back, two other officers catching up behind me. When I stepped in front of the small cell and saw the man slumped against the wall my heart dropped.

"Why hello there." He greeted me, smiling dimly.
"Is that him?" One of the other officers asked me and I nodded. "Yes. That is him."

My father began laughing hysterically and for a split second I had to think of Billy the night before - I quickly banned that thought from my head and turned back around to leave.

"Going already, are we?" He called out after me and stopped dead in my tracks without turning around.

"Go to hell."

Hopper guided me out of the room and asked me some general questions about the process and my lawyer and so on.

When I could finally leave again, Cameron was already waiting for me in the parking lot. "All good?" He asked as he held open the door for me, and I replied with a simple "Yeah." which seemed to be enough for him at the current time.

"I ran into Steve at the grocery store. What happened to his face?" He asked while pulling out from the parking lot, soon back on the road.

"He got into a fight with the new guy I told you about the other day. Those two have been provoking each other a lot the entire last week." - "I see ... That how you got those additional cuts?" - "Huh?"

He shot me a quick glance from the side, a knowing look on his face. "I know you. If anyone were to lay a hand on someone you care about, like you care about Steve, you'd try to intervene somehow."

I didn't say anything. There was no fooling him - he was too observant for that.
"Just try to stay away from trouble for a bit, okay?"

I let out a laugh. "It's not like I stand in the driveway, yelling for life to clock me in the face at any given opportunity."

He took a turn left and we passed the buildings of high and middle school, students pouring out from their cars - it was still very early.

"Sure seems like it though," Cam murmured and I rolled my eyes, turning on the radio in the process.

"Sure does."

∞

It was late afternoon and Cameron was currently trying to figure out what he could make for dinner, while I was staring at the pile of notebooks on the coffee table in front of me. The phone rang once again and I picked up, seeing as Cam was occupied with fixing the mixer.

"Lockwood?" - "Luce!" - "Steve!"

"Cam!" My cousin yelled from across the room, laughing quietly to himself.

"How's your face?" I asked my best friend and he let out a scoff. "Hurts. But I'm alright, I went to the hospital and they fixed me up quite nicely, though I'll be looking like an alien for a little longer."

I chuckled at the image that flashed through my head when he said that.
"I heard you called in sick the entire week?" - "Yeah I uh ... I have to go through my old diaries and stuff. They got my dad." - "What really?! That's great!"

It was silent for a while and I heard him clear his throat.

"Need me to come over?" He offered. "No it's fine. You get some rest and heal up, alright? You deserve a break." - "Still, I'll be home until Wednesday so if you need company just swing by my place, promise?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Promise."

He then filled me in on what else had happened the previous night and reassured me as well that everybody got out relatively unscathed. After hanging up I retreated to my corner of the couch and resumed staring at the diaries.

"You know they're not gonna disappear if you just glare at them like this, don't you?" Cameron asked while putting on an apron and I shrugged. "Worth a shot."
He let out a chuckle as he went back to the kitchen in order to turn up the radio volume, which was currently playing Killer Queen by Queen - one of his absolute favourite bands. When the song ended I got up and grabbed Lokis leash, the dog immediately jumped onto his feet, excitedly wagging his tail.

"When's dinner gonna be ready?" - "Half an hour maybe. Why?" - "I'm going for a walk with Loki." - "Alright, be careful."

I nodded, walking out of the door at the back, heading into the forest with Loki roaming around near me. The fresh air was nice. The thought that I could be out here freely, without the risk of running into my father, was nice.

Things should be okay.
So why wasn't I?

The dog marked a tree, then followed me deeper into the woods. I'd decided to pay the Byers a visit, or at least see if anyone was home over there. The rest of the walk I focused on whatever Loki was doing and my surroundings in general. The sky above the bleak trees was of a dark grey, clouds hanging lowly, as though it was going to rain soon.

A few minutes later I reached the house, knocked on the door but didn't get a response. Peering in through the broken window to the side I saw that all the lights were turned off and just now noticed Joyce's car was gone.

"Back home then I guess, huh?" I mumbled and Loki barked once, as though agreeing with me.

Halfway on the way back it started to rain so we had to run, and by the time I reached the house the rain had developed into a heavy downpour. Cameron took it upon himself to dry our dog with a towel, while I got changed into some sweatpants and a hoodie.

During dinner it was quiet except for the radio quietly playing in the background and the rain drumming against the windows. Even after we finished eating we just sat there, silent, until Cameron downed the rest of his beer and looked at me.

"I'm gonna pick up your lawyer at the airport tomorrow. She was gonna rent a car but they got something mixed up. I'll leave early in the morning so I'll be back around 4 in the afternoon." - "Okay." I said, my mouth feeling dry all of a sudden. I would really have to start working on those diaries now.

There was no escaping it.

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A/N: Alright you guys ... 18k reads and 400+ votes?? oHmyGOd?¿ Thank you all so much, really❤ I'm so happy some people actually seem to enjoy the stuff I write❤
Also, I'm planning on uploading this fic on ao3 as well, as soon as I can sign in at least haha (I'm in the queue for the invites atm).
Besides I have been working on a bunch of other stories, some of them for books/movies and some for video games, so maybe I'll upload a bit of that sometime😊
Anyway thank you all again so much for reading and I hope you're enjoying it still, now that we're moving away from the plot of the show😄❤