When Billy Met Teddy - Chapter 6
Title: When Billy Met Teddy - Chapter 6
Status: Complete
Pairing: Billy/Teddy
Rating: PG for language
Notes: Woah! Three in a row? I must be crazy! But I couldn't leave y'all hanging like that, so I went ahead and wrote the next part. More angst, but we're halfway through the story, so stick with me! :)
Oh, and beta this time was provided by the excellent dread_not.
Okay, on to the fic!
Teddy rested his head against the mirrored elevator wall and stared at his reflection. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he muttered. “I was just supposed to come over. It was supposed to be fun.” And it had been fun. At least, up until he’d been stupid and let his guard down. For once, instead of Ted Altman, so-called Prince of Manhattan High, he had been just plain Teddy, without any status quos or follower mentality. It had been liberating, almost, to ask Billy if they could be friends. But now...
Billy had been right. He was an ass. He stood by and let his friends be jerks just so that they’d like him. Before, he’d been fine with it. With them, he’d found the acceptance that he’d wanted so much, and was willing to pay any cost to keep it. But he wasn’t so sure anymore. So what had changed? Someone finally told me it was wrong. Someone had looked him in the eye and made it crystal clear that he was hurting people, that he was hurting because of Teddy’s actions. He’d never thought of it as hurting. It was just fun and games, a joke that only losers didn’t laugh at. But in the end…wasn’t Teddy the loser?
“I’m so sorry, Billy,” he whispered, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he cried. His sobs echoed in the empty elevator, until a ding told him that the doors were about to open. Quickly, he wiped his face, and, seeing through blurred vision that he had reached the first floor, ran out of the elevator and headed for the exit.
“Have a good night,” a security guard said as he walked out the front doors. Teddy was afraid that he’d start crying again if he opened his mouth, so he simply nodded and hurried along the sidewalk toward the subway.
Along the way, his cell phone began to ring. His heart leapt for a moment at the thought that it might be Billy, but then it sank when he remembered that Billy didn’t know his phone number. Greg, however, did. “Hey, Greg! What’s up?” he answered, trying his hardest to make his voice sound normal.
“Just wondering where you are, dumbass,” Greg replied with a snicker. “I thought you were supposed to call me tonight!”
Teddy sighed with relief that Greg hadn’t caught on to the slight sadness that had sneaked through. Then again, when it came to his friends, Greg wasn’t known for being perceptive. “Yeah, I’m sorry, man. I just needed some help with my homework, but I’m free now.”
“Oh, that English thing you flunked? What the hell was up with that, anyway? You’re usually really good at that grades shit.”
“I just had some trouble, that’s all. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, man, I do. So who’d you get to tutor you, huh? I hope it wasn’t that chick who hangs out with Amanda. For someone that smart, you’d think she’d know how to take a shower.”
Normally, he would have laughed at that. After all, Myra Campbell did stink. But after tonight...”No, it wasn’t her. You know Billy Kaplan?”
Teddy had to pull the phone away from his ear as Greg’s laughter blasted from the speaker. “Oh shit, Altman. You hung out with the fag?” Then he quickly sobered. “He didn’t, like, try to hit on you or anything, did he? If he did-“
“No, it wasn’t like that!” Teddy groaned, a little more forceful than he had intended. “I just went over to his house to study, that’s it!”
“Ooooooh, you went over to his place?” he mocked with a lisp. “Should I call the fairymobile now? When’s the wedding?”
“Fuck you!” Teddy growled over Greg’s laughter, and hung up the phone. He was tempted to throw it into the street, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. He’d probably still get the same shit from Greg and his friends tomorrow anyway.
Dammit! Why did everything have to be so hard? Why couldn’t he just have a normal life? He kicked a discarded soda can, sending it banging into the side of a dumpster. A man digging in the dumpster yelled at him, and he walked off quickly, silently cursing at himself. See? Fucking super-strength! I bet the Hulk never had problems like this...
For a second, he considered running back to Billy’s apartment and showing him his powers, showing the other boy that he knew his pain, exposing himself for the freak he was. Billy would understand, too. Billy would look at him with those deep, strong eyes and say…Fuck off. Yeah, probably. After tonight, there was no use even thinking about talking to Billy again. Billy hated him. Hell, he hated himself, but didn’t know what to do about it. It wasn’t like he could just change, was it? He’d thumbed through a book on change, once. His mother had told him to read it, and while he tried, he really couldn’t concentrate on it. One thing he did remember, though, was that the book kept saying that change takes time, that there are no instant transformations. He’d laughed at that, proving the book wrong by shapeshifting into Captain America, but now he wished that he’d taken the book a lot more seriously. Maybe he could read it when he got home. No, he still had some homework to finish. He’d have to wait until tomorrow.
That was, if he survived it.
Status: Complete
Pairing: Billy/Teddy
Rating: PG for language
Notes: Woah! Three in a row? I must be crazy! But I couldn't leave y'all hanging like that, so I went ahead and wrote the next part. More angst, but we're halfway through the story, so stick with me! :)
Oh, and beta this time was provided by the excellent dread_not.
Okay, on to the fic!
Teddy rested his head against the mirrored elevator wall and stared at his reflection. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he muttered. “I was just supposed to come over. It was supposed to be fun.” And it had been fun. At least, up until he’d been stupid and let his guard down. For once, instead of Ted Altman, so-called Prince of Manhattan High, he had been just plain Teddy, without any status quos or follower mentality. It had been liberating, almost, to ask Billy if they could be friends. But now...
Billy had been right. He was an ass. He stood by and let his friends be jerks just so that they’d like him. Before, he’d been fine with it. With them, he’d found the acceptance that he’d wanted so much, and was willing to pay any cost to keep it. But he wasn’t so sure anymore. So what had changed? Someone finally told me it was wrong. Someone had looked him in the eye and made it crystal clear that he was hurting people, that he was hurting because of Teddy’s actions. He’d never thought of it as hurting. It was just fun and games, a joke that only losers didn’t laugh at. But in the end…wasn’t Teddy the loser?
“I’m so sorry, Billy,” he whispered, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he cried. His sobs echoed in the empty elevator, until a ding told him that the doors were about to open. Quickly, he wiped his face, and, seeing through blurred vision that he had reached the first floor, ran out of the elevator and headed for the exit.
“Have a good night,” a security guard said as he walked out the front doors. Teddy was afraid that he’d start crying again if he opened his mouth, so he simply nodded and hurried along the sidewalk toward the subway.
Along the way, his cell phone began to ring. His heart leapt for a moment at the thought that it might be Billy, but then it sank when he remembered that Billy didn’t know his phone number. Greg, however, did. “Hey, Greg! What’s up?” he answered, trying his hardest to make his voice sound normal.
“Just wondering where you are, dumbass,” Greg replied with a snicker. “I thought you were supposed to call me tonight!”
Teddy sighed with relief that Greg hadn’t caught on to the slight sadness that had sneaked through. Then again, when it came to his friends, Greg wasn’t known for being perceptive. “Yeah, I’m sorry, man. I just needed some help with my homework, but I’m free now.”
“Oh, that English thing you flunked? What the hell was up with that, anyway? You’re usually really good at that grades shit.”
“I just had some trouble, that’s all. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, man, I do. So who’d you get to tutor you, huh? I hope it wasn’t that chick who hangs out with Amanda. For someone that smart, you’d think she’d know how to take a shower.”
Normally, he would have laughed at that. After all, Myra Campbell did stink. But after tonight...”No, it wasn’t her. You know Billy Kaplan?”
Teddy had to pull the phone away from his ear as Greg’s laughter blasted from the speaker. “Oh shit, Altman. You hung out with the fag?” Then he quickly sobered. “He didn’t, like, try to hit on you or anything, did he? If he did-“
“No, it wasn’t like that!” Teddy groaned, a little more forceful than he had intended. “I just went over to his house to study, that’s it!”
“Ooooooh, you went over to his place?” he mocked with a lisp. “Should I call the fairymobile now? When’s the wedding?”
“Fuck you!” Teddy growled over Greg’s laughter, and hung up the phone. He was tempted to throw it into the street, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. He’d probably still get the same shit from Greg and his friends tomorrow anyway.
Dammit! Why did everything have to be so hard? Why couldn’t he just have a normal life? He kicked a discarded soda can, sending it banging into the side of a dumpster. A man digging in the dumpster yelled at him, and he walked off quickly, silently cursing at himself. See? Fucking super-strength! I bet the Hulk never had problems like this...
For a second, he considered running back to Billy’s apartment and showing him his powers, showing the other boy that he knew his pain, exposing himself for the freak he was. Billy would understand, too. Billy would look at him with those deep, strong eyes and say…Fuck off. Yeah, probably. After tonight, there was no use even thinking about talking to Billy again. Billy hated him. Hell, he hated himself, but didn’t know what to do about it. It wasn’t like he could just change, was it? He’d thumbed through a book on change, once. His mother had told him to read it, and while he tried, he really couldn’t concentrate on it. One thing he did remember, though, was that the book kept saying that change takes time, that there are no instant transformations. He’d laughed at that, proving the book wrong by shapeshifting into Captain America, but now he wished that he’d taken the book a lot more seriously. Maybe he could read it when he got home. No, he still had some homework to finish. He’d have to wait until tomorrow.
That was, if he survived it.