GONE GIRL » Billy Hargrove

0.38 » snow

"You're really not gonna tell me where we're going, are you?"
Billy just chuckled, passing the next highway exit.

After another hour of occasional comments on other drivers and small talk, Billy drove off the highway and pulled into a road that went up a mountain. I raised an eyebrow.
"Am I being kidnapped again?" - "You did voluntarily get into this car so this is definitely not kidnapping."

The few trees alongside the street soon turned into a whole forest and we passed a sign.
"Hoosier?" - "Well damn, way to ruin the surprise," Billy mumbled, stepping on the gas again. "It literally said it right there! And probably on some other sign before that but I didn't really pay attention I guess."
He gave me a quick look, slowing down again, and grinned. "Am I that distracting?" - "Yeah." - "Aw."

I laughed. "I mean you do still have a bit of barbecue sauce on tour upper lip, from earlier. Kinda hard not to look at it." - "And you're telling me that now?!"
He began frantically wiping his mouth while my laughter slowly turned into a silent wheeze.

"There's no sauce, is there?" - "No sauce." I grinned at him sheepishly while he pulled into a parking spot.
"That's it, out of the car. Now."
I furrowed my brows as he opened the door on my side, getting out himself right after. With a nervous chuckle I followed suit and immediately relaxed when I saw him grab his backpack from the backseat.

"Hiking?" I asked and Billy shrugged. "It's not that far, just further up the hill. Come on."

He grabbed my hand and I took a few long steps to catch up to him, burying my other hand in the pocket of my coat. I couldn't help but smile to myself the whole time. Just a few months ago… never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined Billy to be someone to like nature so much, let alone hiking. But it made a lot of sense - he could easily get far away from his family.
I felt my heart jump at the thought that I was most likely the only person he ever showed this side of himself.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked after a while and now it was my turn to shrug. "Just thought about how I never thought you were the nature type of guy." - "I'm full of surprises, baby." - "I figured as much."

He rolled his eyes and pulled me into his side as we came to a stop by a clearing. There was a decent layer of snow covering the ground and some thicker tree branches. The sun was obscured by clouds that looked like they would soon be bringing more snow. Hoosier Hill wasn't too high up, but if it got cold enough the snow would stick to the ground in December.

"So what exactly are we doing today?" I asked yet again and Billy placed his backpack on a bench near the hiking trail that went even deeper into the woods.

"Well since we're not gonna be spending Christmas together 'cause you're ditching me to go to Seattle …," he trailed off, and I threw my hands up in the air. "I know, I know. Flight was booked a while ago already. I just like reminding you. Anyway, I thought we could have Christmas a little early. And I wanted at least a bit of snow, so here we are."

I stared at him for a few seconds, bewildered, until he sat down on the bench and pulled me into his lap.
"So tell me, have you been a good girl this year?"
I couldn't help but scoff and roll my eyes. "I'd like to think so, yes." - "Hmm let's see … underage drinking, smoking, theft-"

Holding up a hand to interrupt him I cocked an eyebrow. "Hold your horses there, bucko. When, where and what did I ever steal?" - "That shitty cold piece of stone in my chest," he replied, looking into my eyes with a crooked smile and I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I settled for just staring at him in a confused manner again before placing a quick peck on his nose. This was probably the closest to an expression of genuine feelings toward me since the I kinda like you a few weeks ago.

"Anyway…," he resumed rummaging through the backpack and handed me a small package. "For you," he added after I, again, just stared at him like a confused puppy.

"Open it!"

I felt the blood rush into my cheeks as I took the present from him and opened it. Inside the small package there was a pendant with a paintbrush and a handgun forming an X. My mouth stood open as a smile crept onto my lips, and I looked up at Billy. He was looking at me, almost as if he was waiting for my to throw it into the snow and blow him off.
Instead I closed my hand around it and wrapped my arms around his neck.
Shit, I love you, I thought and I stiffened slightly, unsure if I had just said that in my head or out loud. Billy wasn't doing much aside from placing a hand on my back, holding me close, and I let out a long relieved breath. "I love it. Thank you."

"Hey Lucy," he cooed, voice muffled due to my hair.
I let go and gave him a questioning look. He was glancing up at the sky and only then I noticed the snowflakes dancing in the air all around us.

"Jeez, how'd you do that?" - "A magician never reveals his secrets," he replied and gave a quick wink, before grabbing a handful of snow from the ground and dumping it on my head.

"Um- excuse me!?"

I jumped out of his lap, ran away a few feet and knelt down to make a proper snowball. Billy had opted for using the bench as a shield and seemed to be stacking up on snowballs as well. I used that distraction to fire some poorly made ones in his direction but missing most of the shots, which caused him to laugh at me.

While he was busy getting more snow together I aimed at his head and hit his shoulder. With a scoff he came out of hiding and fired his own snowballs at me, but I managed to dodge most of them. I was trying to scoop up some more snow behind a tree and was suddenly tackled to the cold ground, Billy hovering over me.

"And what are you gonna do now?" He grinned smugly and for a second it reminded me of the gross grin he would always put on in front of everyone. His face inched closer and closer to mine, and when he closed his eyes I took the chance to dump a handful of snow on his head.

He froze for a second and I kicked one of his legs to throw off the balance. As he struggled to hold himself up I managed to roll around so I was now on top of him.
"I'm sorry, did you say something? I'm afraid I had too much snow in my ears and didn't hear you."

Billy stopped struggling and gave me a smile, before my head was pulled down gently and our lips met.

"Merry Christmas."

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A/N: Merry Christmas everybody!🎄❤
Sorry there was a bit of a break but I didn't wanna throw in a filler because those can be really annoying. Anyway, christmas-chapter, yay! I hope you're gonna have great holidays and a good new year!❤
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and commenting and sticking around for so long. Kinda feels like the story is coming to an end soon, doesn't it?
Anyway, again, Merry Christmas ❤