Neighbourly Love | Billy Hargrove x Army! Reader
Notes: This is based on an idea that @billyssillywilly gave me. I had a fun time writing and researching for this, it's one of my favourites so far!! Please note that reader is female, muscular and has long-enoigh hair ro put into a military bun in this. For my readers who know Call Of Duty: I might have added some people for y'all 😚 Enjoy!
Warnings: Mention of war, mention of sex
You regretted not agreeing to a gated community now more than ever. While you were on deployment in Iraq for almost a year, a new neighbour moved in next door. You didn't think about it much at first, all you wanted to do was catch up on months of lost sleep. And you knew a lot of young couples or singles who liked to party lived on your street, but at least they kept it on the down low so you were actually able to get some good rest. After three days in hibernation you wanted to sit in your backyard with your K-9, Missy, and drink a Mojito but you didn't have any produce for obvious reasons. So it was time for a trip to Target. And while walking to your car that's when you saw him, your new neighbour, for the first time. He was fixing something on his tires, shirtless and in a pair of jeans. "Billy?", you yelled over.
You've lived in California all your life, originally in Los Angeles but then you moved to San Diego for your job. Your entire childhood was spend in Los Angeles, always in the same house with the same neighbours: The Hargroves. Their son, Billy, used to be your friend until he started bullying you after his mother left LA. Ever since then, he has been your sworn enemy, and Billy thought the same of you. Not only did you two insult each other at any chance you got, you also tried to one-up each other academically all the time. Then, he suddenly moved away in October 1984. That was seven years ago, and now he was back.
"(Y/N)?" He looked up at you while walking over to his fence. "Shit, what are you doing here?" He looked you up and down and so did you with him. "I live here. What are you doing here? Didn't you move?" Your eyes fell on a big scar on his chest, then you noticed multiple others on the sides of his torso. "Yeah, I was in Indiana.", he answered. To not be rude, you looked back into his eyes. "Some shithole town called Hawkins. Came back to LA three years ago, moved to San Diego six months ago." Was he all by himself? Well, his father has always been a piece of shit so you couldn't blame him if that was the case. Either that, or he miraculously found a wife in 'some shithole town called Hawkins'. "Still as charming as ever.", you scoffed at his lingo. "Yeah, well, what are you gonna do about it?" He laughed in a dismissing manner, checking you out once more. "You still on your military trip?" Coming from a family with war veterans, you've been wanting to join the airforce since you were a child. Even back when you and Billy were still friends you did. "My 'military trip'" you put those words in air quotes "is my career now. I'm an army EOD." Billy was quiet for a bit, clearly thinking about something, before saying "EOD where the explosive-guys, right?" He should remember all this, you talked about nothing else as a kid. "Explosive ordnance disposal, yes.", you said. "Well, I have to go. See you around." You turned around to walk to your car, which made Billy check out your butt before you hopped into your red Ford F250.
Three hours later and with a full trunk of Target bags, you pulled back into your driveway. As you went to unload your groceries (and the homeware you couldn't say no to), loud music came from the house next door. As you expected, it was Billy. Light was coming out of his garage with half his car parked into it. You didn't pay attention for now, but even after you unloaded and unpacked you heard his music blasting from his garage. He didn't change, after all. "Come on, Missy.", you cooed while getting your german shepherd on her leash. It was time for a walk anyways, so you might as well drop by and ask him to turn down the music. As you left your front door and started walking down the street with your dog on your right. "Hargrove!", you yelled while walking up his driveway. "Hey, Hargrove!", you yelled once again while somehow letting your drill sergeant voice come out. He peaked up from underneath his car, and grinned in a mischievous manner when he saw you approaching. "Already missing me, sergeant?", he asked while getting up and walking towards you. You noticed that he now wore a white tanktop that was smeared with motor oil. "Could you turn the music down?", you asked him as nicely as you could. "What was that?", he asked while looking at you like he didn't hear you - you knew he did. "Can you turn the music down?", you repeated. "What?", he repeated, leaning towards to you. "Can you please turn your music down?", you finally said in a frustrated tone. Billy grinned, said "Sure thing, sergeant." He walked over to his radio, turning down Puppet Master by Metallica. "Didn't know you were such a party pooper, sarge. Saw you at so many party's in our high school days." You rolled your eyes at him. "I'm not a sergeant, I'm an officer.", you said. Missy, who was next to you, kept looking at Billy. She could feel how tense you were and would snap at him if you gave her the command. "Sorry for stepping on your toes, officer.", Billy said with a malicious grin. "Is that all?" You nodded and gave Missy a non-verbal command to stand back up. "That's all. See you around." You turned on your heel and went your way for your walk. As you went down the street, you could hear him turning up the music again.
And he did it for weeks. It drove you insane. You couldn't sleep properly anymore, not even nap during the day, Missy was irritated, and not even you inviting your army friends over helped. "Alex, I swear to god, he's driving me fucking insane.", you said while mixing your third mojito of the night. "He keeps blasting his fucking music, and now he's started inviting the neighbours to his house for partying." Your colleague and friend Alex Keller listened to you rant about Billy while silently drinking his beer. "Every time I ask him, he just says Yes Sergeant and does the complete opposite." Alex handed you a new plastic straw, still not saying a single word, which you used to drink your cocktail. "And when I do finally sleep, I see nothing but the bombs and I can't even get a good night's rest." Now he was finally talking. "Should I go talk to him?", Alex asked. Just as he said that, Metallica could be heard from next door. You thought about his offer while sipping on your mojito, and did agree. Maybe actually talking would help. So Alex went over.
Billy always provoked you with intentions. After noticing how much you came over to ask him to turn it down, he blasted his music regularly. Sure, it wasn't why he wished you'd come over but after your decade-long rivalry he couldn't exactly find another way to get your attention. But what he knew is that raging jealousy came over him every time he saw Alex, who he nicknamed Your Buddy, pull up to your house. He suspected that something was going on between you two, so naturally he turned his music even louder when he saw his jeep in your driveway. And now, as he saw your buddy approach his property, he could barely contain his anger. Thanks to Neil, he swallowed it down and got up from the tires he was fixing.
"Hey, uhm, Billy, wasn't it?", Alex said to him. Billy nodded and reached his hand out for a handshake. "That's me.", he answered while the two shook each others hands. "Can I help you?". It took everything inside Billy to pull himself together. "Actually, there's something you can help (Y/N) with.", Alex said as he leaned against his garage. "Listen man, she's having a really hard time sleeping. And we got back from Iraq just a week ago, (Y/N) needs all the sleep she can get to deal with what we went through." Billy didn't know this, and some form of guilt hit him right in the gut. "Shit, well, I didn't know that." He truly didn't, but he wouldn't admit to turning his music up all the way just to mess with you. So he turned around to quiet down his radio. "I was actually in an accident a few years ago, it really messed with my hearing so I don't notice when something might be too loud." Alex gave him an understanding nod. He was very oblivious for an officer, because while the accident part was true he lied about his hearing. The mindflayer didn't affect his hearing in the slightest. "While I got you here, I have a question.", Billy then added. "Sure, what is it?", your colleague asked him. It was scary how easy it was for Billy to win people over. "Are you, like, (Y/N)'s boyfriend or something?" He needed to know. That was an information he needed for his peace of mind. Although he wouldn't know what to do it the answer was yes. "Oh no, man. I'm just her colleague. I just check on her so she gets help with working through with what she saw in Iraq. Felt like I was the best one to do that after I left my leg in Borjomi." Alex lifted part of his left pant leg up so reveal a good look at his titanium prosthetic leg. Billy, honestly, didn't care. Even though that guy was probably a war hero who saved thousands of lives, all he cared about was the fact that you weren't dating him. But he couldn't say that. "Well, thank you for your service.", he said to him. Alex gave him a smile and a nod before reaching out his hand again. They shook hands, this time as a goodbye, and your friend said: "Always a pleasure, have a good one." He walked back over to your house, where he told you about the encounter.
Billy did actually stay quiet for the most part. Sure, he threw a party here and there, but in comparison to the hours of blasting music that was absolutely fine. However, now he kept complaining about your dog. While Missy wasn't a sweet dog, she was calm enough. You trained her twice a day, even off-duty, to keep her senses sharp and play-wrestled with her to get her energy out. Of course she'd bark from time-to-time, especially while training. But she was really calm besides that. "Does she ever shut up?", he said over the fence as you were playing on the ground with her. "More than you, at least.", you replied while still playing with her over who gets the rope. Secretly, Billy thought it was adorable. Especially now, where you were in shorts and a tank top he could clearly see all the muscles you've build up since he was gone - you've changed so much. The way the muscles in your arm flexed when you tugged on the rope made him feel things he didn't know he had in him, and seeing yout thighs flex as you dug your heels into the ground gave him a big mental boner. "Come on Missy, are you a K-9 or a mouse?", you said while laughing, to which she finally tugged the rope out of your hands. "Good girl, Missy!" You gave her a treat before dusting yourself off. "Why did you name her Missy anyways?" You didn't even notice that Billy was still watching you until he asked that question. "I wanted to name her Missile at first.", you said while looking at your K-9 chewing on a pig ear. "But then I thought that calling for Missile in the middle of potential war ground wasn't the best idea. So I named her Missy, as a short version of Missile." Billy made a humming sound as a response, to acknowledge that he listened to you. "Well, anyways, if I turned down my music for you I'd appreciate if you kept your Missile under controll." You rolled your eyes at him and went back to paying attention to Missy while Billy went back to whatever he was doing before. But that normal, calm question made your heart ache.
You had a crush on Billy in your childhood, until he started bullying you. It was that little child puppylove, but those feelings were real. And if he hadn't changed so much over the years you'd probably be in love with him right now. So that conversations, a normal conversation, stung like a wasp. Missy noticed and went to lick your hand. "You'll always be with me, won't you.", you cooed at her before petting her head.
After two weeks back in San Diego, you went to work at base again. Mostly paperwork about what you did in Iraq, while simulation looking at possible new deployment options. Being away from Billy was also good for you, you didn't have to see him all day or listen to his bullshit. Because ever since that conversation your feelings for him came back in some weird, twisted way. You tried your best to shove them away, even trying to get over them by hooking up with your fellow soldiers.
It was Simon Riley today who followed you home. "Third guy this week, new record.", Billy yelled over while you and Simon stepped out of the cars. "Fuck off, Hargrove!", you yelled back before getting inside with your colleague.
While you and Simon were going at it, the mood was ruined by Billy blasting Metallica once again. He couldn't contain his jealousy, being so angry at your fellow soldier that he somehow wanted to make him go away. There was no way he could physically get into your house, so he did what he does best; annoying you with his music. "Fuckin' hell.", Simon sighted, still inside you. "Told you I had an annoying neighbour.", you said while being out of breath. "Not lettin' this go to waste.", he simply said before continuing.
But he did it so well that Billy could hear you. And the rage inside of him just grew and grew more, it was almost unbearable to him. He let it out by working out, but even that didn't help the way it normally does. And christ, once he saw Simon walking out of your house he could barely contain himself. Knowing that Simon was also a soldier, and twice his size, he went back inside to not do anything irrational.
Weeks passed, but your feelings didn't. They were still very present, and only grew during any semi-normal conversation. So when he stood in front of your door, asking to stay for three days, you were floored. A pipe in his house bursted and flooded most of the ground floor. He got a few clothes out, but had to leave so it could be repaired. Stupidly enough, you agreed against better judgement. "What is that, your trophy wall?", Billy asked when he saw your living room wall; the formal picture of you in army uniform, the badges you earned, pictures of you and Missy in different countries. The one that struck him the most was the one in the middle: You on your graduation day, with your veteran grandfathers and veteran dad, all in uniform. "Your dad was in the military?", Billy asked. You stood next to him and looked at the picture with him. "Dad was in Vietnam from '69 'til '73. Was never quite the same afterwards." He had to be honest with himself, he did not remember that piece of information from your childhood even though the two of you were still friends back then. Actually, he didn't remember much good things from him childhood to begin with. "And your grandpa's?", he continued asking. "Geez Billy, do you not remember any rant I gave you as a child?", you jokingly asked while nudging his shoulder. "World war two, both of them. Gramps and Pawpaw were in Northern Ireland, the 'Red Bull' division." Billy gave an understanding hum before his eyes went to the most recent picture of you and Missy. "Well, uhm, I have a guest bedroom you can stay in. Come on." You guided him upstairs to the room right next to yours. The guest room was much smaller than yours, but had all the necessities; a bed, a closet, a small table with a chair, spare toothbrushes and toothpaste in a cupboard and a bookshelf with some of your old books. "I was gonna make dinner, hope you like deli style sandwiches." With those words, you left him alone in the guest room. He didn't see a point in unpacking his clothes much, so he just left them on the table inside his bag. Next, he checked out the door to the bathroom - just to realise it's connected to your bedroom and the two of you will have to share it. With impure thoughts, he went downstairs into the kitchen.
"Here's yours." You pushed a plate with two sandwiches on ot towards him while already eating a sandwich yourself. With your legs dangling in the air, you were sitting on the kitchen counter while Billy stood next to you. "You always eat like this?", he asked you while taking something from his plate. "In the kitchen or the food?", you asked him. "In the kitchen, on the counter.", he specified. "Oh." You laughed. "I do, yeah. Don't you remember how my mum always let us snack on the kitchen island?" He did remember that. "Kept that habit, yeah?", he asked with a slight smile. You nodded in response and took another bite of your sandwich while feeling your heart beating faster. Most of dinner was spend in silence, until Missy came in the kitchen. A check on your clock told you that it was time for her dinner, so you jumped off of the counter to fill her bowl.
"She won't start begging for food now, no?", Billy asked while finishing up his sandwich. You rolled your eyes at him "Jesus, Billy, stop trying to find shit to complain about." The clinking of the kibble hit the bowl while you continued scolding him. "She's a K-9, trained to sniff for explosives and you seriously think that she's one to actively beg for food?" He didn't say anything, just continued eating while watching you give the food to Missy. You, now a bit pissed, put your dishes in the dishwasher while talking to Billy. "I leave for work at 5, I'll put a spare key on the kitchen counter for you. Don't know when you start working, so if you wanna eat something just grab something from the fridge." You took his now-empty plate from him and also put it in the dishwasher. "I come back at 6, so you need to make lunch yourself. But please, for the love of god" You closed the dishwasher. "Clean up after yourself." Billy just gave a hum, showing he understood. "I'll get ready for bed, just be quiet please." You went upstairs to wash your face, brush out the hairgel from your military bun and whipe down the dirt from your work day. Billy didn't stay downstairs for long, he came into the bathroom as you were brushing your hair. He started washing down with a wet cloth as well. "Do you always work 12 hour shifts?", he asked after a while. You already moved on to applying your moisturiser. "For four days, then I get four days off.", you replied.
"Why the army and not the airforce?", you stopped in your track for a second. He did actually remember what you told him. "Well, I didn't pass for flying planes. Then I thought of being a marine, but they honestly have shit working hours. So I decided on a career in the army. Then I got into the whole EOD stuff.", you simply replied. He nodded while putting toothpaste on his toothbrush. "Isn't it dangerous to detonate bombs?", Billy asked before putting the toothbrush into his mouth. You smiled, gave him a small laugh and he could feel his heart skip a beat. "You ask a lot of questions today.", you said. "It is actually one of the most dangerous jobs you could have. But the mortality rate is only at 2%, so we're pretty damn good." You put your hair into braids for sleeping. "Well, I'll be off to bed. Good night, Billy." You gave him another smile before going into your bedroom. He couldn't get the image of you smiling out if his head, it burned into his eyelids. Even when he went to bed and closed his eyes, he still saw it. His imagination ran wild, from pinning you against a wall to laying next to you while slowly kissing you. He couldn't stop thinking about it. It stayed in his mind so much that he even dreamed about walking along the beach with you, hand in hand.
Next morning, he could hear some clinking from the bathroom and soft music playing. When he got up to brush his teeth, he saw you doing your hair in the bathroom. It was an extremely tight bun that you slathered hair gel on to keep every little hair in place. You were already partially in uniform, your camo pants and shirt with your last name on it. Billy then realised that he has never seen you in uniform ever since he found out you were his neighbour. Every time you came home, you were in civilian clothes. But, oh, did his heart start beating. He thought you were the most beautiful girl he ever saw.
"Morning.", you said to him with a small smile. "Mornin'.", he replied while getting his toothbrush. Billy didn't wear a shirt yet, he was only in sweatpants that hung a bit too low. You had to admit, you did give him a look through the mirror. Meanwhile, ABBA's Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was playing from the radio in your bathroom. He brushed his teeth while sometimes sneaking a glance at you through the mirror. Billy saw the small smile that was on your lips while silently lip-syncing the song, he saw every freckle, every mole and thought you were the most perfect being ever. The feelingin his chest and stomach became overwhelming to him.
"(Y/N)?", Billy said while putting his toothbrush into the toothbrush cup you set out for him. You turned around to face him while putting your hairbrush on the counter, and before you could react Billy leaned towards to kiss you. It all happened so quickly that you didn't have time to react. "Have fun at work.", he said afterwards before walking back into his room.
"And it all happened so quick, I didn't even have time to react.", you finished up your story to your coworker Johnny. "Fuckin' hell, you're in the army and have the reaction time of a sloth." He laughed before eating again. Todays lunch was chicken with egg noodles and vegetables. "I don't exactly have combat reaction when I'm at home.", you said to him before eating another fork-full yourself. "Always have to be ready lass, especially when it's your bitch of a neighbour who you have a crush on." Johnny laughed at his own words, to which you punched him in the arm. "I do not have a crush on him, Johnny MacTavish!" He rolled his eyes at you. "Fuck off, (L/N), I know fucking for compensation when I see it." Guilty as charged.
You wasted time after work by stopping at Target to originally buy some food, but you couldn't help to get a new fluffy blanket. On the way back, you picked up two sandwiches at Subway for Billy and you. So you walked through your front door at 8, just to see Billy in the hallway looking at your military wall. You didn't say a word, wanting to avoid him, and walked straight into your kitchen to unpack. Missy followed you by the heel, not paying and attention to Billy who gave her a side eye. As quickly as humanely possible you unpacked your groceries, threw the blanket on the couch and grabbed your sandwich to go eat in your room. "There's food in the kitchen for you.", you said to him before disappearing upstairs. Missy stayed in the living room and got comfortable in her basket next to the couch. Billy took his food, sat down on the living room couch and started eating.
"Any idea how I can win her over?", he asked Missy after a while. She looked at him and tilted her head. "Oh don't give me that, you know she intimidates me." Once Billy finished his food, he sat down next to Missys basket. "I know I should be nicer, but I can't help it, you know?" She put her head on his leg, to which he started scratching her behind her ear. "I just get so angry when I'm jealous. Really need to work on that." He continued talking to your K-9 about you, how he could make it up to you, how he needs to get less angry, that he doesn't mean it when he acts like he doesn't like Missy. Meanwhile, you left your room to bring some dishes downstairs but stopped in your tracks when you heard him talk. At first, you thought he was on the phone, then you heard that he was talking about you. "Can't you tell her, Missy?" was what made everything click in your brain. He was talking to your dog about you. That confused you so much that you went back into your room and left the dishes on your nightstand for a few more hours.
You didn't see Billy until the next day, when you came back from your last day of work for the week. But the kiss didn't leave your mind. When you walked upstairs to shower, the door of the guest bedroom was half-opened. Your curiosity got the best of you and you took a peek inside the room. Billy was sitting on the bed with books scattered around him, you soon realized that those were the photo albums you kept in the bookshelf. The one in his hand right now was one of the oldest, that also included pictures of you and Billy as children. You could tell by the color of the album. "Are you watching me, creepy lady?", Billy said while still looking at the pictures. You chuckled, then went into the room. "Found our pictures, huh?", you said as you sat down next to him. He hummed in response while flipping onto the next page. There were four pictures, all of which were taken on the same day when the two of you were 8. On the first one, Billy and you were petting a goat. "That was our trip to the zoo.", he said to you. The second picture had the two of you eating ice cream on it. On the third picture were you, Billy and his mother looking at a monkey behind the glas. And on the fourth one, Billy kissed you on the cheek for the picture. The feeling in your chest came back when you saw that picture.
"We were best friends, Billy.", you said while he flipped to the next page. There were pictures from a photo booth of the two of you. "What happened?" He didn't have a good response for that - Billy knew it was because his mother left, but that's about it. Him being alone with Neil didn't help. He was already a bully in school, but was always your friend. "I don't wanna talk about it, (Y/N).", he finally responded. That made you angry, very angry in fact. "You started bullying me overnight for six years and now don't want to talk about it?!", you loudly said while getting up. "Oh fuck you, Hargrove. We see each other again after seven years, you act like a cunt, kiss me and now you don't wanna talk about it." The last five words were spoken in a mocking tone. Angrily, you left the guest room and slammed the door on your way out.
You got a towel and your bathrobe before hopping into the shower. The radio was playing in the background, a bit louder than you usually have it on, with Tina Turner playing from it. You were singing along while shampooing your hair throughoutly, having to get all the hairgel and hairspray out, so concentrated on it that you didn't hear the bathroom door opening. "(Y/N)?", you flinked at first and already raised your hand to the showerhead as a makeshift-weapon, until you realized it was Billy. Thank god you decided to have shower curtains that weren't see-through. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Billy?!", you yelled over the sound of the water. "Get out!"
"Said you wanted to talk, so let's talk.", he replied, just loud enough for you to understand. Billy leaned against the bathroom counter, arms crossed in front of his chest, looking at the shower curtain that separated the two of you. "Oh, really? Are you that much of a perv that you have to do that while I'm showering?", you yelled. Billy was stubborn, he wouldn't move - and you couldn't force him outside without being naked in front of him. "Appreciate it, I usually don't change my mind easily.", he replied. "Look, (Y/N), I'm sorry okay?" You continued showering, since you couldn't do anything anyways, and started applying conditioner to your hair. "I know I was a dick to you when we were teenagers, I didn't know what to do with myself." You scrubbed yourself off with a loofah and shower gel while talking "Then why do you still do it? If anyone should hold a grudge, it's me and not you." Billy didn't know what to say. He can't really be honest with you now, can he? Just tell you that he has feelings for you and either wanted to get your attention or was jealous. What would happen if he did? Billy didn't know if he could deal with more rejection in his life. "You still there?", you asked when he didn't reply. "I'm just...thinking of an answer." You washed off the foam on your skin and the conditioner in your hair while an idea hit you so hard that it almost swept you off your feet. With your feelings for Billy back, so came some fantasies about him. "I think it's easier to talk face-to-face. Wanna come in?" There was silence, then you heard the unbuckling of a belt. A minute later, Billy came into the shower with you. You were turned to him with your back and couldn't see what he was doing, but you felt his hands hold onto your hips. "I still do it because I get angry when I'm jealous.", he said while slowly pulling you towards him. You turned around towards him, soon enough for your chest to squeeze against him. "Why do you get jealous?", you asked him while looking into his eyes. The water fully drenched his hair now, some strands fell into his face. "Because I want you to be only mine.", he said. His eyes starred back into yours. They looked even more blue now, at least that's what it looked like to you. Your hands cupped his cheeks before leaning forwards and kissing him. You were in the shower for another hour.
Billy slept in your bed that night. While getting comfortable next to him, you noticed his scars once more. "Billy?", you asked while leaning down on your arm next to him instead of laying down. "What happened there?" You let your fingers run across the biggest scar on his chest, tracing the white colouring on it. "Long story, you won't believe me if I went into detail.", he said while wrapping one of his arms around your shoulders and suddenly pulled you into his chest. "C'mon, tell me.", you said with a pout. Billy kissed the top of your head before saying: "You know what, when you take some days off, I will take you to the shithole town named Hawkins and have my sister and her friends explain it to you." You nodded in agreement while getting comfortable on him.
"Now I have a question for you.", he said. His hand was resting on your head, making it not possible to look up to him. So you kept listening to his heartbeat. "What is it?", you asked. He thought about what to say for a bit. "So, we've somehow made up in one way or another." You hummed in response. "And we've established that we both have feelings for each other." You let out a slight laught, knowing what he was gonna ask. "Yes, Billy, I'll be your girlfriend.", you said. He kissed the top of your head once again before pulling the covers over you and drifting off to sleep together.
Maybe not living in a gated community wasn't too bad.
