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Title: At The End Of The Night
Pairing: Dom/Billy
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine, never happened.
Summary: Billy always goes home alone at the end of the night.
Notes: Happy birthday Trace. You're awesome.
An odd thing happened whenever the boys went out on the town. Dom would show off, Elijah would play the quiet, approached one, Orlando would radiate energy until he pulled someone in, and Billy would go home alone.
Always.
He’d stay to the end; until the closing hour of the bar and take the taxi back with a drunk companion (sometimes even alone in that respect). He would wave Orlando, Elijah, and Dom off with their conquests and head back. Alone. The entire pattern became apparent around the midpoint of the third week of pub-crawls and going on the pull.
“I don’t get it,” Elijah muttered as the waitress brought them their drinks. He smiled in appreciation. “I mean…never!”
“Never never,” Orlando pitched in helpfully.
“Maybe he doesn’t see anything he likes?” Dom grasped at a straw and suggested. Elijah and Orlando both considered this for a moment before shaking their heads.
“He dances with girls,” Elijah commented, “and some guys.”
“And he’s raved about some of them,” Orlando remarked with confusion. “But then he always leaves and goes home alone.”
They sat in silent confusion while nursing their drinks in very quiet contemplation until their fourth –and very discussed – companion, who slid in with a cheerful smile, joined them.
“How’s the field look tonight?” Billy rubbed his hands together and made himself more comfortable in the open corner of the booth, taking the mug into his palm as if it were custom made to perfectly fit there. Orlando, Elijah, and Dom both gave him equal looks that were weighted down with curiosity and questioning.
“It’s on fire,” Dom finally spoke for the group.
But, the trouble was that at the end of the night when Elijah’s stomach was burning from all the drinks he had, and Orlando’s face shined with a gleaming presence of sweat; as Dom cast one last look to their booth, the trouble was that Billy was getting ready to leave alone again. As Dom left with someone on his arm, Billy was hailing a taxi.
Dom couldn’t quite the image out of his head; not while he rejected the man he brought back, not while he lay staring at his ceiling, and certainly not when he called Elijah the next morning. He rubbed at his eyes and scuffed at the carpet with his bare toes as he paced back and forth with his cell phone to his ear.
“Yeah,” drowsy murmuring spoke up after an ungodly number of rings.
“It’s not natural,” Dom rapid-fired words into the mouth of the receiver.
He received a very loud, very disgruntled, very noisy and angry yawn in return as Dom rolled his eyes and made his way to the couch, upon which he plopped himself down and began to aimlessly play with the hem of his shirt.
“Listen, dude, it’s early,” Elijah whined. “Can we please hold off any questions and random statements until at least ten?”
Dom paused and tilted his head from side to side, considering the early time and decided to abandon politeness, and besides, Elijah could turn in for a nap later on in the day if he absolutely had to. Dom clucked his tongue in deep thought, and thankfully, Elijah did not hang up on him.
“Not natural,” Dom grumbled and repeated.
“Fine, not natural,” Elijah repeated in a tired tone. “So I’ve got an idea.”
“Really?” Dom mused, a little more intrigued now. He sat up a little straighter and mulled at exactly what it could be. “Don’t hold out now mate.”
“Fine,” Elijah quickly responded, obviously eager and quite anxious to finish the conversation and crash onto his pillow again. “I have a bet. Since you’re just so concerned with Billy’s social well-being, I bet you that you can’t find the perfect match for him.”
“What?” Dom asked in confusion.
“Find him someone that he actually goes home with,” Elijah said flatly before hanging up. Dom was about to retort something, but all that he heard was the annoying nuisance of the dial tone. Dom held it a little away from his mouth and began mocking at it, rolling his eyes vastly in the process.
If that was the way it went, the stakes were going to be very, very high.
“Two hundred dollars,” Dom trailed Elijah around as they shopped through one of their favourite CD haunts. “That’s got to be way more than enough. I mean, it’s just a matchmaking thing, and after all…I know him better than anyone. So when you lose, two hundred dollars isn’t too much to part with.” Elijah gave him a sideways look and cast a shadowed look of doubt over his features as he put down a CD.
“Dude, I make that in like, a morning,” Elijah scoffed.
“Fine, what’s an acceptable bet?” Dom folded his arms and jutted out his chin in challenge. Elijah stopped his pacing to give actual thought to the challenge and his eyes and face lit up with mischievous delight as he stumbled upon something. Dom felt a tiny wave of fear pass through him as he realized just how devious Elijah could be when prodded.
“Fine,” Elijah announced. “If I win, and you can’t find a single soul that Billy goes home with, then,” he pointed at Dom with a CD’s edge straight into Dom’s chest, “you have to go home with him.”
Elijah walked off to get to the counter and pay for the CD’s, leaving Dom to stand there in shocked thought. His face screwed up in confusion as he opened his mouth once or twice to say anything – he didn’t really know what – before chasing down Elijah at the front of the store in the midst of handing off his credit card.
“What kind of bet is that?” Dom demanded, sounding shrill.
“A good one apparently,” Elijah giggled as he took the bag and they exited the store. “I mean, if it’s got you in such an uproar, then this is going to be classic.”
“How long do I get?” Dom weakly asked, knowing defeat when he saw it.
“Two weeks,” Elijah decided with an affirmative nod, “but we’ll go out every other night so you have plenty of opportunities.”
Dom felt more speechless than he had in ages, and with a grumpy look of sour countenance he nodded his head. When Elijah stuck his hand out, Dom jutted his own out and shook on it.
“May the best hobbit win,” Elijah grinned.
Dom finished chatting with the petite redhead and gave her a nudge in Billy’s direction. He decided that there were some advantages to showing up first, and thanks to his debonair charm, he had talked the girl into having a drink with Billy. She seemed like his type, and Dom prayed that he would go home with her and the bet would be over.
After all, his suffering would only last for a few hours of miserable ignorance then as opposed to waiting two weeks and listening to Elijah constantly remind him of the payoff that their bet would wield.
Then again, what were the odds that this girl wouldn’t work? She was forward, cute as all hell, and had an amazing sense of humour – not to mention very little to few morals. If she had been a man and a few inches taller, Dom would have been shagging her himself. She gave him a brilliant smile before asking Billy if the empty seat beside him was taken. Billy shot a look in Dom’s direction and seemed to let her sit when Dom nodded enthusiastically. He seemed to be rather dismal over the fact that Dom had the intention of hooking him up.
“At work already?” A body came crashing atop Dom’s back and another voice asked. Dom staggered forward with the weight of Orlando on him, and when he shrugged him off, the elf was making Godzilla-like noises while Elijah giggled. Dom gave them a tired look while they settled into a booth. All of Dom’s eyes – both of them, that is – were fixated on Billy and the redhead. Billy seemed to be telling a joke, because she was giggling madly.
“I want it done,” Dom gruffly commented, taking a swig of his drink when Billy leaned in and whispered something to the girl. She seemed to smile obligingly, and something had obviously happened or gone wrong – or possibly both – because she was sliding out of the seat, allowing Billy to put her coat on her shoulders, and then she was walking out the door without a Billy-sized companion.
Dom paused in confusion and didn’t even turn back to see the inevitable teasing look on both Orlando and Elijah’s faces.
“Don’t think about it…” he warned as Billy approached their table. Dom forced a cheery smile. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, she was a lovely girl,” Billy innocently replied, sliding into the booth and seemingly not noticing the mad giggle fest both Orlando and Elijah were partaking in. “The question is, why would you set me up with her when I hadn’t asked for it?”
“I thought you’d be right for each other,” Dom grumpily responded – avoiding Billy’s eyes in the answer – before taking a good long drink of his ale.
When the one-week mark had passed, Dom had begun to panic. It reflected in his choice of suitors for Billy, because each of the Scottish man’s interactions grew shorter and shorter with every potential match. After a few nights of chatty, cheeky, humorous girls, he finally turned his attention towards the male persuasion and sent a few cocky, self-assured lookers over Billy’s way.
The only problem was that none of them seemed to stick.
Billy went home on his own for a whole week.
Two days before the bet was due to expire, Dom reached a state of panic that sanity quickly escaped him. He found himself rapping quickly on Billy’s door in the early hours of the morning, knowing that this would reach resolve only after some quality begging.
“Billy, please!” Dom pleaded, on his last nerve.
The door was yanked open and an irate Billy stood there with tufts of his hair sticking up and a determined, yet drowsy, set to his face. Dom grinned amicably as he pushed his way into the flat and patted Billy on the shoulder.
“What do you want,” Billy murmured in a monotone.
“Look, I can’t lose this bet, Elijah will have my pride,” Dom quickly launched into the explanation.
“Bet?” Billy yawned. “Wait…is that why you keep trying to fix me up with those people?”
Dom shrugged. “Yeah.”
“I knew something was going on,” Billy gave a triumphant smile. He rubbed his eyes and blinked to focus them. “Look, Dom, I’m perfectly happy with what I have. I don’t need some lass or lad trailing on my arm at the end of the night.”
“Billy, you go home alone,” Dom persisted, trying to make him see the light.
“Maybe because what I want is unavailable,” Billy softly commented. “Come on Dom, crash on my couch. It’s late.”
Dom didn’t argue once while Billy tucked him in, placing a warm horse blanket over the entirety of his body and didn’t protest at all when he received a wet kiss on the forehead from two giving lips. In fact, the entire process had quite a nice feel to it. It felt like something he could definitely get used to.
The night before the bet was Dom’s last stand.
The only problem was that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to win the bet or not. He met the perfect young man – witty, charming, short in stature but not in kindness – and had sent him Billy’s way. Billy had given him a knowing glance when he bought beers for the both of them.
And that’s when Dom walked away.
He didn’t turn back once in his exit.
Around three in the morning, a pounding knock came on Dom’s door, awakening him from the very lonely sleep he was indulging in. It had been, in fact, the first time that he had started the night at the bar and had come home alone. He didn’t like it.
He rose himself from slumber to open the door – pausing to slow his walk just to piss off the knocker at the door. It was probably Elijah come to tell him that he won the bet and Billy had gone home with the good-looking bloke from the bar. And he had – secretly in places he would never vocalize – been looking forward to losing the bet and going home with Billy.
He cursed sharply as he reached the door. “Fucking hell Elijah, give me one bloody second, would you?”
He swung the door open, and was met by a pair of awake and determined eyes. Dom felt his breath escape him.
“Oh,” he said.
“You almost won,” the visitor on his doorstep told him.
“Almost?” Dom inquired, his curiosity peaking.
“He really was a great bloke.”
“Billy, so why didn’t you…” Dom trailed off, unsure as to whether he wanted the answer or not.
Billy hesitated. “He was missing something,” he conceded.
“So you didn’t take him home then?” Dom couldn’t keep the hopeful note out of his voice. He found he was beginning to grin a little. Billy pressed into the house, and Dom shut the door so they could speak without the rest of the world eavesdropping.
“Like I said, he was missing something,” Billy repeated. “He wasn’t you.” He shrugged like it was an admission of his guilt. Dom felt drawn to this strange logic and took a few steps closer to Billy.
“Me?” he squeaked.
“I’ve found that there’s only one of you,” Billy conceded. “And, well…I guess you won and you lost at the same time.” Dom stood there, confused to the core, and his face must have expressed that very emotion because Billy continued. “I’ve gone home with you.”
“Really?” Dom didn’t bother to conceal his enthusiasm and grinned broadly.
“If you treat me proper,” Billy teased. He walked to the door. “I’ll be at the pub tomorrow night, and I expect a certain Mr. D. Monaghan, or shall I say Dom M. to be there to buy me a drink and then allow me to go home with him.”
He winked at Dom before leaving. Dom waited all of one minute before rushing to the phone to dial Elijah’s mobile number. He thanked the heavens when the voice mail picked up – the last thing he wanted to be dealing with was an irate and groggy Elijah.
“Yeah, listen mate, uh…you win, okay? So, you won the bet and all, and I guess I’ll be going home with Billy then. Right, bye!” he hurriedly spoke before hanging up. He mentally began to tick down how long until he got to take Billy home.
Less than twenty-four hours later, something different happened.
Billy went home with Dom.
Dom felt it was something he could used to.
end
Pairing: Dom/Billy
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine, never happened.
Summary: Billy always goes home alone at the end of the night.
Notes: Happy birthday Trace. You're awesome.
An odd thing happened whenever the boys went out on the town. Dom would show off, Elijah would play the quiet, approached one, Orlando would radiate energy until he pulled someone in, and Billy would go home alone.
Always.
He’d stay to the end; until the closing hour of the bar and take the taxi back with a drunk companion (sometimes even alone in that respect). He would wave Orlando, Elijah, and Dom off with their conquests and head back. Alone. The entire pattern became apparent around the midpoint of the third week of pub-crawls and going on the pull.
“I don’t get it,” Elijah muttered as the waitress brought them their drinks. He smiled in appreciation. “I mean…never!”
“Never never,” Orlando pitched in helpfully.
“Maybe he doesn’t see anything he likes?” Dom grasped at a straw and suggested. Elijah and Orlando both considered this for a moment before shaking their heads.
“He dances with girls,” Elijah commented, “and some guys.”
“And he’s raved about some of them,” Orlando remarked with confusion. “But then he always leaves and goes home alone.”
They sat in silent confusion while nursing their drinks in very quiet contemplation until their fourth –and very discussed – companion, who slid in with a cheerful smile, joined them.
“How’s the field look tonight?” Billy rubbed his hands together and made himself more comfortable in the open corner of the booth, taking the mug into his palm as if it were custom made to perfectly fit there. Orlando, Elijah, and Dom both gave him equal looks that were weighted down with curiosity and questioning.
“It’s on fire,” Dom finally spoke for the group.
But, the trouble was that at the end of the night when Elijah’s stomach was burning from all the drinks he had, and Orlando’s face shined with a gleaming presence of sweat; as Dom cast one last look to their booth, the trouble was that Billy was getting ready to leave alone again. As Dom left with someone on his arm, Billy was hailing a taxi.
Dom couldn’t quite the image out of his head; not while he rejected the man he brought back, not while he lay staring at his ceiling, and certainly not when he called Elijah the next morning. He rubbed at his eyes and scuffed at the carpet with his bare toes as he paced back and forth with his cell phone to his ear.
“Yeah,” drowsy murmuring spoke up after an ungodly number of rings.
“It’s not natural,” Dom rapid-fired words into the mouth of the receiver.
He received a very loud, very disgruntled, very noisy and angry yawn in return as Dom rolled his eyes and made his way to the couch, upon which he plopped himself down and began to aimlessly play with the hem of his shirt.
“Listen, dude, it’s early,” Elijah whined. “Can we please hold off any questions and random statements until at least ten?”
Dom paused and tilted his head from side to side, considering the early time and decided to abandon politeness, and besides, Elijah could turn in for a nap later on in the day if he absolutely had to. Dom clucked his tongue in deep thought, and thankfully, Elijah did not hang up on him.
“Not natural,” Dom grumbled and repeated.
“Fine, not natural,” Elijah repeated in a tired tone. “So I’ve got an idea.”
“Really?” Dom mused, a little more intrigued now. He sat up a little straighter and mulled at exactly what it could be. “Don’t hold out now mate.”
“Fine,” Elijah quickly responded, obviously eager and quite anxious to finish the conversation and crash onto his pillow again. “I have a bet. Since you’re just so concerned with Billy’s social well-being, I bet you that you can’t find the perfect match for him.”
“What?” Dom asked in confusion.
“Find him someone that he actually goes home with,” Elijah said flatly before hanging up. Dom was about to retort something, but all that he heard was the annoying nuisance of the dial tone. Dom held it a little away from his mouth and began mocking at it, rolling his eyes vastly in the process.
If that was the way it went, the stakes were going to be very, very high.
“Two hundred dollars,” Dom trailed Elijah around as they shopped through one of their favourite CD haunts. “That’s got to be way more than enough. I mean, it’s just a matchmaking thing, and after all…I know him better than anyone. So when you lose, two hundred dollars isn’t too much to part with.” Elijah gave him a sideways look and cast a shadowed look of doubt over his features as he put down a CD.
“Dude, I make that in like, a morning,” Elijah scoffed.
“Fine, what’s an acceptable bet?” Dom folded his arms and jutted out his chin in challenge. Elijah stopped his pacing to give actual thought to the challenge and his eyes and face lit up with mischievous delight as he stumbled upon something. Dom felt a tiny wave of fear pass through him as he realized just how devious Elijah could be when prodded.
“Fine,” Elijah announced. “If I win, and you can’t find a single soul that Billy goes home with, then,” he pointed at Dom with a CD’s edge straight into Dom’s chest, “you have to go home with him.”
Elijah walked off to get to the counter and pay for the CD’s, leaving Dom to stand there in shocked thought. His face screwed up in confusion as he opened his mouth once or twice to say anything – he didn’t really know what – before chasing down Elijah at the front of the store in the midst of handing off his credit card.
“What kind of bet is that?” Dom demanded, sounding shrill.
“A good one apparently,” Elijah giggled as he took the bag and they exited the store. “I mean, if it’s got you in such an uproar, then this is going to be classic.”
“How long do I get?” Dom weakly asked, knowing defeat when he saw it.
“Two weeks,” Elijah decided with an affirmative nod, “but we’ll go out every other night so you have plenty of opportunities.”
Dom felt more speechless than he had in ages, and with a grumpy look of sour countenance he nodded his head. When Elijah stuck his hand out, Dom jutted his own out and shook on it.
“May the best hobbit win,” Elijah grinned.
Dom finished chatting with the petite redhead and gave her a nudge in Billy’s direction. He decided that there were some advantages to showing up first, and thanks to his debonair charm, he had talked the girl into having a drink with Billy. She seemed like his type, and Dom prayed that he would go home with her and the bet would be over.
After all, his suffering would only last for a few hours of miserable ignorance then as opposed to waiting two weeks and listening to Elijah constantly remind him of the payoff that their bet would wield.
Then again, what were the odds that this girl wouldn’t work? She was forward, cute as all hell, and had an amazing sense of humour – not to mention very little to few morals. If she had been a man and a few inches taller, Dom would have been shagging her himself. She gave him a brilliant smile before asking Billy if the empty seat beside him was taken. Billy shot a look in Dom’s direction and seemed to let her sit when Dom nodded enthusiastically. He seemed to be rather dismal over the fact that Dom had the intention of hooking him up.
“At work already?” A body came crashing atop Dom’s back and another voice asked. Dom staggered forward with the weight of Orlando on him, and when he shrugged him off, the elf was making Godzilla-like noises while Elijah giggled. Dom gave them a tired look while they settled into a booth. All of Dom’s eyes – both of them, that is – were fixated on Billy and the redhead. Billy seemed to be telling a joke, because she was giggling madly.
“I want it done,” Dom gruffly commented, taking a swig of his drink when Billy leaned in and whispered something to the girl. She seemed to smile obligingly, and something had obviously happened or gone wrong – or possibly both – because she was sliding out of the seat, allowing Billy to put her coat on her shoulders, and then she was walking out the door without a Billy-sized companion.
Dom paused in confusion and didn’t even turn back to see the inevitable teasing look on both Orlando and Elijah’s faces.
“Don’t think about it…” he warned as Billy approached their table. Dom forced a cheery smile. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, she was a lovely girl,” Billy innocently replied, sliding into the booth and seemingly not noticing the mad giggle fest both Orlando and Elijah were partaking in. “The question is, why would you set me up with her when I hadn’t asked for it?”
“I thought you’d be right for each other,” Dom grumpily responded – avoiding Billy’s eyes in the answer – before taking a good long drink of his ale.
When the one-week mark had passed, Dom had begun to panic. It reflected in his choice of suitors for Billy, because each of the Scottish man’s interactions grew shorter and shorter with every potential match. After a few nights of chatty, cheeky, humorous girls, he finally turned his attention towards the male persuasion and sent a few cocky, self-assured lookers over Billy’s way.
The only problem was that none of them seemed to stick.
Billy went home on his own for a whole week.
Two days before the bet was due to expire, Dom reached a state of panic that sanity quickly escaped him. He found himself rapping quickly on Billy’s door in the early hours of the morning, knowing that this would reach resolve only after some quality begging.
“Billy, please!” Dom pleaded, on his last nerve.
The door was yanked open and an irate Billy stood there with tufts of his hair sticking up and a determined, yet drowsy, set to his face. Dom grinned amicably as he pushed his way into the flat and patted Billy on the shoulder.
“What do you want,” Billy murmured in a monotone.
“Look, I can’t lose this bet, Elijah will have my pride,” Dom quickly launched into the explanation.
“Bet?” Billy yawned. “Wait…is that why you keep trying to fix me up with those people?”
Dom shrugged. “Yeah.”
“I knew something was going on,” Billy gave a triumphant smile. He rubbed his eyes and blinked to focus them. “Look, Dom, I’m perfectly happy with what I have. I don’t need some lass or lad trailing on my arm at the end of the night.”
“Billy, you go home alone,” Dom persisted, trying to make him see the light.
“Maybe because what I want is unavailable,” Billy softly commented. “Come on Dom, crash on my couch. It’s late.”
Dom didn’t argue once while Billy tucked him in, placing a warm horse blanket over the entirety of his body and didn’t protest at all when he received a wet kiss on the forehead from two giving lips. In fact, the entire process had quite a nice feel to it. It felt like something he could definitely get used to.
The night before the bet was Dom’s last stand.
The only problem was that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to win the bet or not. He met the perfect young man – witty, charming, short in stature but not in kindness – and had sent him Billy’s way. Billy had given him a knowing glance when he bought beers for the both of them.
And that’s when Dom walked away.
He didn’t turn back once in his exit.
Around three in the morning, a pounding knock came on Dom’s door, awakening him from the very lonely sleep he was indulging in. It had been, in fact, the first time that he had started the night at the bar and had come home alone. He didn’t like it.
He rose himself from slumber to open the door – pausing to slow his walk just to piss off the knocker at the door. It was probably Elijah come to tell him that he won the bet and Billy had gone home with the good-looking bloke from the bar. And he had – secretly in places he would never vocalize – been looking forward to losing the bet and going home with Billy.
He cursed sharply as he reached the door. “Fucking hell Elijah, give me one bloody second, would you?”
He swung the door open, and was met by a pair of awake and determined eyes. Dom felt his breath escape him.
“Oh,” he said.
“You almost won,” the visitor on his doorstep told him.
“Almost?” Dom inquired, his curiosity peaking.
“He really was a great bloke.”
“Billy, so why didn’t you…” Dom trailed off, unsure as to whether he wanted the answer or not.
Billy hesitated. “He was missing something,” he conceded.
“So you didn’t take him home then?” Dom couldn’t keep the hopeful note out of his voice. He found he was beginning to grin a little. Billy pressed into the house, and Dom shut the door so they could speak without the rest of the world eavesdropping.
“Like I said, he was missing something,” Billy repeated. “He wasn’t you.” He shrugged like it was an admission of his guilt. Dom felt drawn to this strange logic and took a few steps closer to Billy.
“Me?” he squeaked.
“I’ve found that there’s only one of you,” Billy conceded. “And, well…I guess you won and you lost at the same time.” Dom stood there, confused to the core, and his face must have expressed that very emotion because Billy continued. “I’ve gone home with you.”
“Really?” Dom didn’t bother to conceal his enthusiasm and grinned broadly.
“If you treat me proper,” Billy teased. He walked to the door. “I’ll be at the pub tomorrow night, and I expect a certain Mr. D. Monaghan, or shall I say Dom M. to be there to buy me a drink and then allow me to go home with him.”
He winked at Dom before leaving. Dom waited all of one minute before rushing to the phone to dial Elijah’s mobile number. He thanked the heavens when the voice mail picked up – the last thing he wanted to be dealing with was an irate and groggy Elijah.
“Yeah, listen mate, uh…you win, okay? So, you won the bet and all, and I guess I’ll be going home with Billy then. Right, bye!” he hurriedly spoke before hanging up. He mentally began to tick down how long until he got to take Billy home.
Less than twenty-four hours later, something different happened.
Billy went home with Dom.
Dom felt it was something he could used to.
end
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- Elise xx
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