"She's coming," Billy said simply. Tori was coming after all.

Turning around to pull his jacket off, he hung it on my coat rack. He wore this thin teal t-shirt that was like saran wrap around the muscles on his back and arms.

"She's downstairs picking something up for you because she wanted to be a nice guest and thank you for the dinner you're making us. Damn Kat. I've been with her off and on for like five years. Enough is enough. I want this pettiness to stop."

I slammed the door shut, ready to go off on him. I was not the one who cheated on him with Owen, not to mention lying to his face for months about it. He never had a problem complaining about it to me, though, every goddamn day in high school. Yet still, she was an angel in his eyes.

"Pettiness? You like being lied to, then? Deceived?"

"Kat, we were kids." His heavy-lidded eyes closed for a moment. "Let it go. I have."

"Once a cheater, Billy..."

He groaned. "Where the heck is dinner?" he whined, ignoring me like he always did whenever that word came up. Brushing against my shoulder, he stomped through the apartment like he lived here.

"Ugh, you can be such an asshole sometimes," I muttered. I followed him to the kitchen, hearing his sniffs and sighs as he got closer to the food.

"Oh!" He turned to me, the irritation that had tightened the muscles across his back loosened. "You made it!"

I shrugged, hurrying in front of him before he reached the stove.

"Be patient." I slapped his hand away from the handle. He whined again like a child, frowning. I laughed at him. "You do wish to be a gentleman and await your lady's presence before eating dinner, yes?"

"Fine, fine. You will try not to be a bitch to her, yes?" He opened my refrigerator door, pulling out three bottles of Cokes.

"When have I ever been one to play nice with someone I despise?"

"Kat!" He slammed the Cokes down on my counter. "Grow up! You think I like half the folks in town? Or the jerks at my label? Heck no! But I smile and joke with them just to appease them. It's what adults do when they care about something or someone- suck it up and be the better person."

Rolling my eyes at him, I snatched a Coke from his hand. I yanked off the cap with a bottle opener. He reached for the bottle opener, but I tossed it in the sink.

"You can be such a bitch, sometimes," he said, laughing, going after it.

"Well, it is my apartment, isn't it? I can be however I want. And if she doesn't like it, then she can go to hell."

He shook his head, taking a swig. "She really makes me happy. Don't you see that? I don't think I'll ever meet another girl like her."

"What are you talking about? You're only 19 and she's 21. You don't know what else could be out there for you." I downed half of the bottle.

"I don't have to know," Billy murmured, sadly. "And almost 20... in a couple months."

"Billy-"

"You don't understand what it feels like yet." He stared down at the bottle in his hands. "You've never been in love, Kat."

God, that hurt. He was right, but that didn't matter. She betrayed him. How could she do that if she loved him?

"I would never do that to someone I loved, Billy." I tried catching his eye by leaning in. "You wouldn't either."

"You're such an idealist." His eyes bore into mine. There, I caught them. "You have no idea what you would do in her situation."

"I would never be in her situation. I'm not a-"

Suddenly, I heard my front door swing open, and my heart froze. I did not have the friendliest neighbors. A couple of months ago, someone banged on my front door for hours before I heard a round of gunshots. I have always been grateful that my mom left me her apartment when she went off for London three years ago. Really, I have. But she had the most rotten neighbors in the world.

"Relax, it's just Tori," Billy said, picking up on my anxiety.

"You assume that since you don't know the crack addict who lives across the hall." I backed away and raced for the hallway, seeing Billy from my peripheral vision lifting the lid to the saucepan.

"Woo hoo!" I heard him cheer when I saw who it was.

There she stood, Tori Kingston, every bit as beautiful today as she was the last time I saw her three years ago. Her thick jet-black hair fell in waves over her bare shoulders, her deep brown eyes electric as they raked over my body.

"Did you know that you live in the crappiest neighborhood in New York City?" she stood there, mildly disgusted, holding a huge bottle of Manischewitz to her hip. What a great gift from a great guest: cheap white wine.

Tori straightened her black strapless dress. Then she frowned, shoving the wine at me. Strutting past me, her platform sandals slapped against my wooden floor.

I closed the door behind her, locking the three latches on top and turning the two locks on the bottom to the left. If only I had done this ten minutes ago.

Someone was trying way too hard, as out-of-towners tended to do when they came here. That dress screamed Corner of 42nd St. hooker. I admit, I did the same thing freshman year. Well, tried too hard, not tried to be a hooker. I breathed, slept, ate, and showered with my bright red lipstick on. I swore I was Gwen Stefani for at least six months. And Tori probably thought she was Beyoncé in this dress. Yet, here she stood, pointing her nose down at me like she could crap diamonds.

"Not a decent bottle of wine in the entire block. Thank God the record company got us a hotel room, and we don't have to stay here."

I wouldn't let her stay here even if Billy got down on his knees and begged me. And I wish I could get defensive about my apartment, but she was right, which made me despise her even more. I twisted the bottle in my hands, wild thoughts of busting her head open with it popping up in my mind. The image of her blood and brains dampening her beautiful hair made me feel a tad better. I would have to keep that in mind throughout dinner just to stay sane.

Billy groaned loud enough for us to hear, sounding like his mouth was stuffed with food. I rolled my eyes. Not ten minutes ago, he was the one talking about me growing up.

"What the hell did you do to him?" she asked, glaring at me.

"Nothing except satisfy him in a way you never will," I replied through my teeth. I never had an interest in Billy. Ever. But she always brought the worst out in me, which she knew because Billy would see my outrage and side with her.

"Excuse me? You wish, Katie!" And she knew I hated when people called me that!

"What's your problem? You don't have to be here. Leave!"

"Without Billy?" She sneered down at me, snatching the wine back from my grasp. "Have you had enough, Billy?" She called out to him, putting her fists to her hips.

I heard him shuffle some things around in the kitchen before peeking around the wall to us.

"What's going on?" he asked, innocently.

I burst out laughing.

He had ketchup all over his mouth, holding a forkful of fries and chicken, dripping with cheese. He joined in my laughter, then took a bite from the fork.

"Delicious, Kat!" He smacked his lips with a daydream playing in his eyes.

I looked Tori up and down, then forgot about her. Screw her. I grinned at him.

When I peeked around the corner, my kitchen was a disaster zone. There were pieces of charred chicken on the floor, jalapeno peppers and olives all over the table.

"Billy!" I started laughing harder as he stabbed another piece of chicken from the frying pan.

"You're such a pig," she said, nagging him. As if she gave a damn. I glanced over my shoulder, annoyed at her feigned disappointment. She could earn an Academy Award for being fake. In 2011, Billy will win Grammys, and she will win Oscars.

"Kat doesn't mind." he said, picking up a napkin and wiping his mouth.

I walked over to Billy, slapping his chest with the back of my hand.

"As long as there's chicken for me. Is there?" I looked in the pan, not even seeing a tablespoon left. "Billy!"

"You know you don't like it burnt," he said sheepishly.

"Babe, that's so rude of you," Tori whined, speaking for me yet again. So, I countered her.

"It's perfectly fine," I said, grinning at him. "I'm not that hungry anyway. Let's head into the city. We should get to The New School early. I have an assignment."

"Are you sure, Kat?" Billy asked. "I don't want to leave you with this when you get back. Tori and I have to head back to our room after the show. I have a long day of meetings tomorrow."

"It's not that bad. I'll do it tomorrow. Let's just go see the show."

"That sounds perfect, Katie," Tori chimed in, heading for the door already. "I'm in the mood for murder."

A/N: So this actor I chose for Billy is not well known but he's one of my favorites. Those soulful eyes are everything Billy Davis. I could've chosen someone more famous but this one's it. 

Christopher Sean.

Meanwhile, Tori's a straight bitch, ain't she? Sometimes ya just wanna slap her but I certainly loved writing her lines. Bitches have all the fun. 

Comment, vote, and do everything but call her Katie. She hates that name.