Chapter Three

Bill picked up his glass again, looking down at the counter before him. Samantha waited quietly, but after a minute, she sighed. He hadn't said a word at her request and her heart dropped. She was about to get up but stopped when Bill grabbed her arm.

"Bill?"

He let go of her arm but didn't say anything as he pulled the glass to his lips. The edge of the glass hovered just below his lips, but he didn't drink from it. Letting out a sigh, he lowered the glass to the counter again.

"Sorry... You want to go?" he questioned. Bill didn't look up at her as he spoke, and it was almost impossible to hear him over everyone else.

"Well, I would like to, yes," she answered, nodding as she spoke. "But I don't want to leave you here."

"You could always just leave," Bill said, staring at the wall in front of him. "I'm not stopping you."

"Bill, just because I don't really know you personally, doesn't mean I don't care. I'm not going to leave you here by yourself."

Bill finally looked up at her, his tongue running along his lips for a brief second before disappearing. He was silent for a minute as he turned to stare at his hands. He had finally let go of his glass and was now fiddling with one of his rings. Samantha smiled slightly as she leaned towards him.

"Bill, how about we go back to my hotel and get some sleep," she whispered. Bill didn't say anything, didn't move. "It's late, we can go to sleep and see how things are in the morning."

His brow furrowed slightly, his lips parted slightly as he let out a sigh. Samantha watched as he continued to play with his ring. Smiling slightly, she rested her hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her.

"Come on, let's go before it gets too much later. I walked here so I can't drive you to my hotel," she said, laughing slightly. She didn't know how easy the walk was going to be, or if Bill had brought his own car. "If you drove here, we can get your car tomorrow. I'm not going to take the risk of damaging it because thanks to my paranoid mind of thinking that I'll damage it, I will end up damaging it."

Bill turned away and picked up his glass, eying the contents. It was only half full and he slowly swirled it before looking back at Samantha.

"Let me just finish this...then we'll go."

Samantha smiled and nodded, crossing her arms on the counter before her, leaning forward slightly. She could tell that Bill wasn't completely up to leaving; she could hear the disapproving tone in his voice at leaving the bar. While Bill took sips of his drink, Samantha focused on the counter in front of her, thinking of different possible reasons for Bill to be trying to get drunk when on his own. She almost jumped out of her seat when she felt someone grab her shoulder, leaning over her.

"Thanks for the drinks," a voice said, and Samantha turned to look at the man she had been trying to get away from. "They were very much appreciated. But, I still think you should leave with me, not this guy here." He motioned his hand toward Bill, laughing slightly. "He's a bit weird, don't you think?"

Samantha frowned at the man, noticing in the corner of her eye that Bill had frowned as well. She turned herself in her seat slightly, looking up at the man.

"I already told you I didn't come here to meet random guys like you. I didn't come here looking for some stranger to take home and screw," she said, glaring at the guy. He simply rolled his eyes, not really paying much attention to her. "I came here to meet up with a friend, and he's more important to me than you'll ever be. Now, if you don't mind, I'd prefer that you leave me alone."

"No need to get so defensive, I was just saying..."

"As was I, and I'd prefer that you keep your thoughts to yourself. They aren't very important, so there's no need to get so excited," Samantha muttered before turning around again.

The guy frowned and went to say something, but stopped when the bartender came over. His gaze shifted from Samantha to the man behind her, frowning slightly.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked, looking at Samantha.

"No, of course-" the man started, but was quickly cut off.

"I was asking the girl."

The man went quiet, probably glaring at the bartender. Samantha forced herself to keep a straight face, to hold in her laugh.

"Actually, yes, there is. This man won't leave me alone, after I have made it clear many times that I don't want to leave with him."

The bartender frowned.

"Sir, if you don't stop now, I'm going to have to ask that you leave," the bartender said firmly. "I don't tolerate any bullshit in this bar."

During the entire conversation, Bill had stayed silent, finishing his drink. Samantha looked over at him when he set his glass down, smiling when she saw that it was empty. Now that Bill was done, they could leave. She only hoped that the man behind her wouldn't follow her. She really didn't want to have to deal with him following her. Since Bill would be with her, it wouldn't be so bad, but Bill was drunk and she didn't think he would be very helpful to her if anything bad did happen.

"Come on, then," she said to Bill, smiling again. The thought of being with Bill was finally getting to her. Her inner fan was coming to life, but she knew her boundaries. There was no way she was going to let Bill think of her as a crazy fan, a creep or anything bad. "Let's get going."

Samantha stood up, sliding her purse over her arm as she waited for Bill to stand up. He did a moment later, swaying slightly. Keeping a small smile on her face, she held onto his arm with one hand, wrapping her other arm around his waist to keep him balanced. Bill didn't pull away from her, didn't smile or really take any notice that she was holding him up. Knowing that made her want to frown, but she refused to let her smile disappear. They slowly made their way to the door, moving around other people since no one seemed to want to move out of their way during their journey to the door. The entire time, Samantha could feel eyes on the back of her head and knew that the man was still standing at the bar, that he was still watching her.

Bill and Samantha stepped out of the bar and into the fresh air. She took a deep breath, glad to finally be out of the bar. The air was cool and Samantha shivered slightly. The walk was going to be a long one, that Samantha already knew; though he didn't look it, Bill was probably more drunk than he was letting on. Maybe he was a miserable drunk? Samantha didn't know. She just hoped that Bill would be better in the morning, that everything would work out smoothly. As they started walking, she made a mental note to thank her friend for getting sick. If her friend had shown, she wouldn't have met Bill, despite the circumstances that Samantha had yet to learn of.

Reviews

[Manda]

That man needs to die already. He has no friends. Lol.

I did notice a few things here, "I'm not going to take the risk of damaging it in my paranoid mind that I will damage it." I'm not sure what you meant by that, it may just maybe a small mistake... cause we all know that I make those all the time, and that it's really late here.

I also didn't get what you meant by "noticing in the corner of her mind that Bill had frowned as well." Or it may be fine, but I'm just half asleep. lol. I usually don't criticize, but I just wanted to point those out since I'm s****y at reviewing and that's all I could pick up so far in this chapter.

Anyhow, I like it. I like how Bill is a little defiant, but decided to go with her. and once again, creep-man needs to go away, and die.

Hairy man-butt.