Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

I wait for the bell to ring. To see Billy. We're planning to go for dinner after school. Just five more minutes and we can go. "You look anxious to leave," Tommy tells me, laughing at my knee bobbing up and down.

"She's going on a date with Billy," Carol explains to him, a smile filling her face. Tommy scoffs and shakes his head. "Shut up, Tommy. At least her boyfriend is romantic. Unlike you."

I laugh softly. "Not my boyfriend," I shake my head. "But you need to treat her right, Tommy, otherwise she'll leave." He looks a bit attacked by Carol and me. "Trust me, I've been there." The bell rings and I throw my bag over my shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

I practically run out of the classroom and bump into someone. "Steve?" I smile as I see him. I help him pick up his things. "How've you been?" I ask him, standing up again, holding a pile of his books.

He nods his head. "Can't complain," he says to me. "Missed you though, Liz. Haven't heard from you in like a week."

Guilt washes over me for neglecting him a bit. "Yeah, that's my fault, we'll catch up this weekend. We can go to the movies or go ice skating or something," I organize, handing him his books back.

"Sounds good," he nods. "See you then." With that, he walks away, leaving me to head back to the parking lot. I see Billy's car and head to the driver's seat to see a distressed Max in the passenger's seat. "Hey, you okay, kid?" I ask her. She climbs out of the front and into the back nodding her head. Billy looks angry. "You okay?" He nods his head, also, putting the car into drive without saying a word.

We pull up at the arcade and I get out so Max can climb out. "If you're not back in two hour-" Billy begins to warn Max.

"Walking home. Yeah, yeah. I got it," she replies, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Billy raises his voice. "Watch the attitude, shitbird." I get back in the car and Max slams the door. Billy puts his foot down, the tires screeching down the road as Max puts her middle finger up at him.

"Calm down," I tell him, putting my hand on his thigh. He reluctantly slows down, still shaking with anger. "You do realize we're not going to be here in time to pick her up?" I ask him, referring to the hour he gave her at the arcade.

"I don't care," he snaps at me. I nod my head and remove my hand from his thigh, crossing my arms over my chest. "Come on, sweetheart, don't be like that," he groans. "I'm just pissed off that she's a little shit and she doesn't understand I'm trying to look out for her."

"Maybe if you didn't yell at her all the time she wouldn't hate you so much," I tell him, shaking my head. "You barely look out for her, you make her life a living hell."

He shakes his head. "Not even," he disagrees with me. "We're family now so we have to look out for each other whether we like it or not." He huffs out, loudly, clearly not liking the fact they're family now. We both sit in silence, waiting for this journey to be over or at least for the other to apologize. But, we're both as stubborn as each other so we both know that's not going to happen.

He pulls up to a restaurant a little too classy for my liking. I look at him confused and he shrugs his shoulders at me. I'd be surprised if we were to even get served here, we're not really up to the dress code's standards. Despite that being a risk, we take it nonetheless. He laces his fingers into my hand, trailing into the building with me following shortly behind.

Billy stands at the front desk, waiting for someone to greet us and take us to our table. "Reservation for Hargrove," Billy speaks, forgetting everything his parents taught him about his manners.

"Please," I add on. The waiter smiles at me and guides us to our table. The table sits in a secluded corner by a window, overlooking the lake behind it. It's a beautiful view, for sure. The waiter hands Billy and me a menu, before skulking back to the front desk. "We're definitely not going to be back in time for Max," I tell him, scanning the menu options.

Billy doesn't take any notice to me other than a grunt and a nod of his head. I can tell this is all I'm getting out of him for the rest of the day. I sigh, quietly, taking his hand in mine. I hope he stops acting so childish if I show him some affection. He squeezes my hand, lightly, giving me some assurance. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. I raise a brow at him, slowly looking up from the menu. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It was Max that pissed me off. I'm sorry."

A shadow of a smile plays on my lips, my heart fluttering at his apology. "It's okay," I nod my head, appreciating the effort he made to try and make things right again. It's a stretch for Billy to say sorry. Thoughts begin filling my head, making my head feel slightly uneasy. "Why do you hate Max so much?"

Billy exhales sharply, pulling his hand out of my grasp and burying his head in the menu again. "I don't hate her," he grumbles. "But that doesn't mean I tolerate her or that she's not a piece of shit." I accept that is all I'm getting from that matter and I give up, continuing my quest to find the right meal.

An hour passes and the meal comes to an end. Billy insists he pays for the whole meal, which I accept with gratitude. We get back in his car and I pull a cassette out of my bag; it's a mixtape Emily made me for Christmas last year. Billy looks reluctant to let me play my music as our music tastes are vastly different.

I put the tape on and the first song starts blasting through the speakers at full volume. Only You by Yazoo. I hum along to the lyrics and watch Billy scrunch up his face. "What the hell is this shit?" He scoffs, shaking his head at me as I dance to the instrumental.

"All I needed was the love you gave," I begin singing along. "All I needed for another day. And all I ever knew, only you." He looks at me in disgust and turns the music all the way down. The music is the quietest I've ever heard it in Billy's car. I stop singing along to the song, afraid I'm going to embarrass myself.

We pull up to the arcade and Max is still inside. Billy puts on his sunshades and takes my tape out, throwing it in my lap. I can tell he's getting in a mood again. "I don't like this angry persona you put on whenever we're around people," I call him out, not even thinking about what I'm saying.

Billy scoffs and shakes his head. "The hell are you talking about?" He asks me, with a harsh tone in his voice. He violently pushes in one of his rock tapes into the tape deck and winds his window down. "You need to chill sometimes, Beth."

I exhale sharply at him. "That's another thing," I begin, starting to see red. "My names not Beth so stop calling me it!" I yell at him. He holds his hands up, a smile playing on his face, mocking me. Max begins to exit the building, so I get out of the car so she can climb in.

Max sits in her seat and I sit back in mine. "The hell I tell you?" Billy questions Max, his voice staying rather calm.

Max looks at her watch and back to Billy. "I'm not late," she shakes her head at him. He scoffs and turns back to look at her.

His eyes fill with something that scares even me. "You know what I'm talking about," he tells her. I see his eyes behind his shades twitching with anger.

Max takes a few moments of looking at him before replying. "Oh, Lucas?" She asks, to which Billy just scoffs again.

"So he has a name now, huh?" He questions her, the tone in his voice beginning to frighten me. I can feel my palm getting sweaty, fearing his next move. I can't even begin to imagine what Max is feeling right now.

"I-it's a small town, okay?" She stammers out, trying to play it off. "We weren't hanging out." I want to stand up for her and say something, but I'm afraid about how he might react. He always gets so angry and filled with rage around her.

"Hmm," he nods his head once, humming. "Well, you know what happens when you lie," he tells her. I feel my heartbeat quickening. Max denies she is lying to him, which I feel aggravates him even further.

"Billy, I really need to get home," I manage to croak out, ironically lying to him. I need to get the conversation to an end as quickly as possible. Billy nods his head once before putting the car into drive and zooming out of the parking lot. I don't ever want to be in that situation ever again.