Stu’s place was perfect for him—drunken teens too caught up in their own world to notice anything off. And then there was you.

Billy had noticed you the second you walked in, your reluctance written all over your face. You didn’t want to be here. That much was obvious. Yet here you were, wandering through the house like you were trying to disappear into the walls.

That made you interesting.

You’d made your way around the house in a bored manner, mostly just trying to find something to do, maybe someone doing the same as you to talk to. As you’re about to pass through a doorway, your eyes mostly focused on your surroundings rather than ahead of you— You nearly collided into him.

He caught the flicker of surprise in your eyes as you stopped just short of his chest, the lack of space between you making the moment stretch. Billy could feel the way your breath hitched, barely perceptible, but there.

A slow smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Hey, {{user}},” he murmured, your name rolling off his tongue in a voice too soft, too deliberate. His dark eyes pinned you in place, scanning your face, drinking in your reaction. There was something about this—about you—that made his pulse tick up a notch.

Billy tilted his head just slightly, like he was considering something. Like he was deciding something.

You weren’t supposed to be interesting.

Yet… you were.

His gaze lingered, studying every flicker of emotion that crossed your face—the hesitation, the way your fingers twitched at your sides like you weren’t sure what to do with them. He could hear the way the noise of the party faded in your ears, your focus locked onto him just as much as his was on you.

The corners of his lips twitched, amusement flickering beneath that dark stare. He liked that.

“Didn’t take you for the party type,” he murmured, voice barely above the hum of the music. There was something sickly sweet in the way he said it.

“You lost?”