Chapter Text
It had been early that summer when Rose and her mother Dawn moved in with the Harrington family.
Following a recent divorce, Steve's father had found solace in the presence of Dawn when he took business trips down to Chicago. And so the following summer, the mother and daughter were moved into the home, Brady Bunch-esque.
It was odd, the two kids noted, moving in with another college-aged kid.
Of course, neither of these two could afford moving out in this economy, and going into their second year at college was rough as well.
The whole reason Dawn readily agreed to move was the fact that Rose just happened to be attending college of Indiana University, not too far away, this way she could commute.
Rose wasn't excited. The only reason she even decided to go to college in Indiana was that she knew her mother was seeing a guy there, and it was her cheapest option.
But completely uprooting her life for random people and moving away from her friends during an extremely hard transitional period in her life wasn't exactly exciting.
She realized quickly that people assume just because you’ve turned eighteen, you suddenly know everything about being an adult and are capable of enduring almost everything.
But that wasn't the truth, and it wasn't realistic at all. In all truth, the move was hard. Sure, her friends back home were packing at the same time to head off to their dorms, but they got to come back to Chicago on their winter breaks; Rose couldn't.
But what was easier for her mother became what was easier for them, but it was safe to say Steve and Rose simply experienced each other's presence, never getting especially close.
It felt almost perverse when they would have family dinners; something just wasn’t right.
But they became acclimated to each other, and Rose even found herself hanging out with Steve’s friends.
It wasn’t until she was working a shift at the arcade that she ran into him.
He walked into the arcade with such a sound that he didn’t have to speak.
People looked, a few huffed, but the denim-clad man looked unfazed.
There was a certain air of confidence in his swagger that told Rose it was fake.
They eyes he’d make at women within the arcade charmed them in seconds.
She couldn’t blame them as she had caught a glimpse of the man’s ass.
He finally made his way up to the desk, leaning towards her, toothpick dangling from his mouth.
Rose didn’t falter, her face still even as he spoke, “What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?” He said, Californian accent notable.
“You talk to all the girls like this.”
“Only save my words for girls like you, ones that surprise me.”
“Oh no,” Rose began, “it wasn’t a question, I’ve heard about you, Billy.” She said pointedly. Steve had told her vague stories about Billy, telling her to be cautious, though she didnt really know why. She was always taught to be wary when dealing with a lit match.
His face contorted into one of confusion, anger flashing across his face quickly before returning to his false bravado.
Where others saw perfection or a threat, Rose saw a challenge. One she was excited for.
“What does that mean?” He asked suavely, still leaning on the counter.
Rose watched as a family came in, ushering Billy to move along.
She had a job to do, and she wasn't gonna let a random douche bag distract her.
She was leaving this job soon anyway.
She had only gotten the job to help her through her first semester of college.
And god did she hate it.
Every day, it seemed like kids found ways to make every game sticky. She didnt even know how that was possible. They only sold concessions like pretzels and a Coke, so somehow they were constantly spilling Coke on pinball machines, and she had to clean them.
Usually, she found summers going by fast back home; it was definitely because of her friends.
When she was back in Chicago, summers were an unending time of laughing until her ribs hurt, staying up till 1 in the morning, and sleepovers with her three closest friends.
They had all met at different times in Rose's life, but she was able to bring them all together to form one super friend group that she hated being so far away from.
Because she didn't have her goofballs to pass the time, the summer felt like an eternity in this new place.
And for the first time, she found herself praying for school to start.
It was Rose's first day of school, and Steve was determined to show her around successfully.
“We can have dinner together whenever in the dining hall, oh! And French intermediate with Professor Patootie.”
“Patootie?” Rose questioned with a smile as their pace quickened to beat the morning rush of College students.
“Her real last name is Fitzpatrick.”
Before Rose could even laugh, a revving of an engine startled her out of her thoughts.
It was so loud she almost had to cover her ears.
“Fucking Hargrove…” Steve muttered as he watched Billy stepped out the car.
She had remembered this car at the arcade, and a younger ginger girl hopped out of the car before taking off on her skateboard.
“Out here by 5!” The blonde shouted loudly, “I'm not waiting for your shit ass to get back here!”
“Fuck you, Billy!”
“Talk to me like that, and you can skate home!”
Rose was staring, jaw a bit agape as she watched the denim on denim mess walk onto middle campus.
She wasn't surprised he wasn't staying on campus, she had overheard his younger sister talking at the arcade about money struggles.
“You stay away from Billy,” Steve said quickly and quietly as they resumed their walk into the school.
“Why?” The shorter questioned honestly.
“It doesn't matter, just trust me. He’s bad news.” Steve said before turning and walking quicker than before.
“I have class with Professor Click. See you later.”
She felt it was a weird tone shift from once before, suddenly needed to know more.
“Hello princess… where are you off to?” She realized she had bumped into Billy as she stepped back.
“Leave me alone.” She said, taking Steve's advice before turning and going to class.
“You dropped your schedule!” She heard the Californian yell.
Embarrassed, she turned around and grabbed it out of his hands.
“Looks like we have creative writing and French intermediate together, see you then!” He laughed as she turned and walked away furiously.
The next few weeks went as follows: Rose would enjoy Intro to film alone, then be berated with Billy for a class, lunch with Steve, and then a class where she was both berated by Billy with the added pressure of tension rising from Steve's anger.
Weeks went by of this terrible cycle until one day she confronted Billy in their writing class.
They had been asked to pair up with another person, and they would be made to choose a fantasy novel to read together.
So, when Billy sauntered up to her, jokingly asking her to be his partner, she only giggled before agreeing and telling Professor Finch.
Billy was shocked, but Rose kept her cool demeanor as the two found a spot in the library to sit. They had been sent there to pick out a book.
“What suddenly made you change your mind?” Billy said, manspreading at the table they shared.
Rose sighed before standing up to look for books.
“My mind isn't changed at all, I just want to know why the fuck you’re bothering me.”
He paused, looking her up and down, failing to answer the question.
“Tell me.” She pressured, cornering him in the back of a row of shelves.
“Easy tiger.” He said condescendingly, still not taking her seriously.
That was when she dropped a large book onto the tip of his booted toes.
“Fuck!” he grumbled, grabbing at his foot.
Rose only pressed him further, almost pinning him to the wall, “I asked a fucking question.”
Billy looked to the gap between where they were in the maze of books and the others looking for books.
As if to end this compromising position, he blurted out, “I started this as a thing to piss off Harrington, but as the days went on, the more I realized I was falling in love with you.”
It was quick and jarring. Rose stepped back. Letting Billy regain some dignity.
She could tell her lack of reaction was bothering him. It was as if he was growling angrily as his hackles rose.
Before he could lose his cool, she let a soft smile break on her face as she tossed him the new book she was holding.
“Interview with a Vampire. Go tell Professor Finch it's our pick.” He let a smile cross his face as he turned away to do exactly what he asked.
When she arrived back home, she b-lined for her phone.
“No, Velma, you’re never gonna guess what happened!”
She made three calls that night, much to Steve's dismay, as he wanted to use the phone too, but she needed her friends to know what was going on in her life.
“I kind of hate him, like, after everything you told me, I think he’s an asshole…” Her friend Elsie said into the receiver.
“No, but that's just how he is; he’s actually really funny,” Rose said quietly, trying not to let Steve hear.
“Okay… I don’t agree, but whatever you want.”
“Ugh, you’re just like Steve.” She grumbled before hanging up the phone.