𝐒𝐓𝐔 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐁 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐒.

I had hold of his gown's cuff- why he was wearing it, I don't know. We were walking toward the garage whilst chatting idly.

Tatum stopped me and grabbed his collar, pulling him into her and kissing him intensely.

"Hey Stu..." she started as she ran her finger down his chest, to which he cringed slightly- she didn't notice, I hid my laugh, "you wanna...?"

He shook his head with an exhale, rubbing his eyes, "no Tate, not right now, I got things to do," he replied quickly before grabbing my wrist and pulling me away- Tatum's calls of his name fell upon deaf ears as we entered the garage.

"God," he groaned, sloppily kissing my cheek, "that girl's the biggest bitch I've ever met."

I kissed his knuckles as he tilted the last of his beer into my mouth. His eyes focused on my lips the entire time and feeling desirable felt good, to know that he wanted me as badly as I wanted him.

"I can't blame her for wanting you," I told him as I dropped the glass into the garbage can, "I can hate her for it, but I can't blame her."

He crouched down to my level, feigning sympathy as he kissed my nose, "aw, is my Ivy jealous?" he teased me with a baby-ish voice, stroking the loose hair behind my ear.

"No," I defended myself, pathetically, I may add, "but you will be, when Billy's fucking me and you have to watch."

His grip was instantaneous on my cheeks, squeezing them together like Billy had done just hours before. "Say that again," he spat, lifting my chin up to lock eyes with his, "oh, what?" voice gritty, he leant down to kiss my neck, only ghosting his lips over my skin momentarily. His mocking tone was in response to the muffled words I let out through my squashed lips, he seemed to find them funny. "you're pathetic, Sweetheart. Look at you, I've barely said two fuckin' words and you've already let me control you."

My thighs were rubbing together on their own. trying desperately to relieve myself of some of the wrenching tension clustered between them. Stu scoffed as he slid his leg between mine, prying them apart with ease, "can't wait a few hours, can you? God, behave yourself and me 'n Billy'll look after you, alright?"

I nodded, holding his arm with my two hands. He let go of my cheeks after kissing my lips, and I returned the affection with pecks to his hand before letting go.

"In a few minutes," he started, scooping a few beers into his arms like he wasn't torturing me only moments before, "you're gonna go into the basement, Billy put some stuff down there for you to do; books, jigsaws, that kind of thing. The party's gonna start soon, and I don't want you to get scared, Sweetheart. I'll walk you down there, ok?"

I nodded, opening the beer on the edge of the table, "got it, Bub."

He smiled, kissed me once more and let go, holding the beers by the neck. Three, splayed between his fingers with ease.

He handed the beers to the people who asked, giving them a smile each like he didn't hate them, before walking me to the back of the house. He looked over his shoulder quickly to make sure nobody was following us and cracked the door open, fishing through his robe's pocket for something.

"Take this," he placed a key into my hand gently, closing my fingers around the cold metal. He stared down at our hands, wrapped around each other, for a second before looking back up at me, "lock yourself down there and don't come out until I tell you to, ok?"

I scoffed, pocketing the shiny metal and smirking, "if this goes tits up, shout me, understand? Swallow your pride and ask for help. Tell Billy the same."

He nodded with reluctance, hugging me close to him. "I love you, Vee."

"I know, Stu, I love you too."

𓆈

𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓, 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐁𝐑𝐘'𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐔.

From the basement, I could hear everything that went on in every room. I heard Tatum Riley meet her end, I heard people saying goodbye to their friends and I heard Stu drag Sidney's dad into the kitchen.

It wasn't until I heard the broom-cupboard's door lock (because I know the layout of this house by heart, I've been here that many times) that I got worried.

I could hear her dialling the phone, her dad was groaning through his tape and she was shushing him.

I slipped the key from the table and quickly unlocked the door, sliding through the small crack. Immediately, I could hear footsteps thundering my way and I scoffed when Billy shoved a gun in my face.

He retracted it the moment he rendered my face, looking confused as he pulled me into himself for a hug. I felt the blood ooze from his wounds and he groaned in pain. "If you're hurt, don't hurt yourself more, asshole. Give me the gun and go sit down."

He was doubtful as he handed me the weapon, kissing my forehead. I held my finger to my lips and pushed him in Stu's direction before firing twice into the floorboards and letting out fake sobs.

I knocked my fist against the broom closet, "Sid? Sid, it's me."

I heard her sigh from inside the closet and open the door. I quickly pulled her into me and whispered into her hair.

You're safe now.

It's over.

Don't worry, I've got you.

Whilst consoling her, all I could think about was how she had taken Billy away from me. He was supposed to be mine, I was supposed to be the one who ran my fingers through his hair, I was supposed to be the one who kissed him to make him feel better after a bad day, I was supposed to be the one who spent nights curled up on the sofa, watching movies with himZ

I was supposed to have been with him these passed two years.

Suddenly, the anger was coursing through my veins and I understood why Billy and Stu were so hellbent on finishing what they had started- Billy wanted revenge for what Sidney's mom had done to his family and Stu wanted to help his best friend any way he could.

I walked her into the kitchen, not letting her escape my grasp when she started to wriggle.

"Billy," I called into the space, him and Stu sauntering in after a second.

Sidney looked heartbroken. She was so sure she had escaped death and here she was, about to die. "You bitch!" she roared, slapping me across the cheek. I felt Billy separate us. I opened my eyes to see him wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze.

Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.

And Sidney was dead, life leaving her eyes as she crumbled to the floor.

"The dad's in the broom cupboard," I told him, pointing him idly in the general direction before finding Stu a chair and sitting him in it.

His face was pale, his lips weren't cherry pink anymore and his cheeks weren't rosy-red like they usually were. I bundled a kitchen rag in my hand and held it to the worst wound, kissing his forehead. "It's ok," I mumbled, vision blurring with tears that threatened to spill, "I've got'cha. Just breathe, Baby. You aren't goin' anywhere today."

His head was resting on my chest, his fingers trailing up and down my hips. "I never thought I'd have you," he whispered, more to himself than to me, "you were always this prize that I couldn't reach. Not properly, anyway."

I stroked his head as I listened to his voice.

"I thought we had it, y'know. I though I had you, but then you stopped comin' to school, you wouldn't answer the phone and... well any time I came over you'd slam the door in my face."

I felt the salty tears trickling down my face at that, guilt eating away at my wall of resolve, "I thought it was for the best. You had Casey and Billy had Sid. It was always easier to be on my own than to see you with her." His hands were going limp on my hips and I quickly shook him awake again. "Stay with me, Stu, please. Please, I can't do this without you, not anymore."

He smiled, rubbing his blood-stained hand  over my cheek, "I'll always love you."

Bang!

Billy had forced Sidney's dad to shoot himself in the next room, he had ensured that Randy and Gail had no pulse and quickly ran back into the room.

"What's happening?" he asked, looking frantic as I lay Stu's limp body on the floor, crouching over him and feeling his neck for a pulse. Weak.

"He's bleeding out, call the damn cops, Billy!"

He scrambled to find the bloody phone, quickly dialling 911 and feeding them the story we had gone over earlier that day. I applied pressure to Stu's wounds as he ended the call, hurrying to wrap his hands around my shoulders and hold me close.

"He'll be ok, Babydoll, don't worry."

I nodded, watching my tears fall onto Stu's bloody sweater, placing Billy's hands over the rag and grabbing the gun from the table besides him. "What're you doing?" he asked, looking worried as I held it to my shoulder.

"Evidence," I whispered, squeezing my eyes closed as my finger pulled the trigger. Instantly, I felt my shoulder burning as hot blood leaked from the hole, sliding myself down the wall as the sound Billy's worried shouts began to fill my ears.

I groaned, throwing the gun across the room and holding my shoulder.

"Hello?! Police, we're coming in."

I locked eyes with Billy momentarily and he nodded, "in here!" his voice was urgent and stress-filled, "we need help."

Officers and paramedics began flooding the kitchen.

I could feel people moving me around and holding me still, but my head was becoming heavy and I couldn't answer the simple question of, "what's your name?"

The room faded to black as Billy held my hand.

𓆈

𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒.

The ceiling was a basic shade of white, my eyelids felt heavy and my fingers were the only thing I could move.

"Is she- she's wakin' up! Wake up, Billy, she's wakin' up!"

I groaned, seeing Stu's face loom over me, cheery and excited. "What time is it?" I strained my voice to ask, finally taking note of my dehydration, "and can you get me some water?"

Billy's hand was the next thing I felt, holding my head up slightly whilst he slowly trickled water into my mouth.

"Jesus, how long was I out this time?" I asked again, feeling foggy as the nurses rushed in to see if I was alright.

"A week and a half," one answered, moving her finger for me to follow with my eyes whilst another moved my bed so that I was sat up.

They did a few more checks on me before leaving the room, "they put you in a medically induced coma so that you could heal properly," Billy told me, gently stroking my arm with his fingertips, "you were supposed to aim for your shoulder,Vee, you were a couple centimetres off your heart."

I scoffed, leaning my head back, "at least I'm still alive."

Stu laughed, kissing my cheek at the same time as Billy, "good to have you back."