Billy had to take a few deep breaths first before he knocked on the door at the girl�s house. Despite the �accident� of two days before he doubted they would be happy with the news he�d bring. Tamara opened the door.
"Hey, man" she said cheerily. "All sobered up?"
Billy gave her a disgusted look. "Yeah. Very funny indeed. So original. Hadn�t heard that before." He rolled his eyes.
Tam grinned. "Sorry. Couldn�t resist. Why are you here?" she questioned as she let him in.
"I gotta tell you girls something. Are you all here?"
"Yes, we are. Wait while I call the others."
Tamara walked away leaving Billy in their living room, which was heavily decorated with dragons and LOTR stuff. That felt a bit weird. Just as he studied a poster with the four hobbits, he heard people entering the room and he turned around, immediately settling an annoyed look on his face when he saw Daphne with Orlando behind her, holding her hips.
"Oh so here you are!" he said to the younger man. "I was looking for you."
"For me? Oh you shouldn�t have done that" Orli teased and slipped his arms around his girlfriend, who was looking quite uncomfortable with him showing his affection so clearly and Billy laughed secretly until she gave him a killer-look. The climate in the room was turning a bit cold until Jenny, Tam and Dee came in too.
"Hey, Bill" Dee greeted. "What are you doing here on this indecent time?"
"It�s already�" Daph started, but Dee quickly added: "For normal people."
Daphne smiled satisfied. "That�s alright, then" she replied, and Dee made a little curtsey.
"I am going to miss this" Billy suddenly announced.
"Miss what?" Tam asked, frowning her eyebrows.
"You. Girls�and guy�I am heading back for Scotland the day after tomorrow. I have to get back to work."
"NO!" All of them cried at the same time.
Billy was flattered. "I�m �fraid I�ll have to" he sighed, and trying to lighten the atmosphere, he added: "And at least now you won�t have to cope with me being high anymore."
"We liked that!" Jenny exclaimed. "Don�t go, please" she begged the Scot.
"Why didn�t I know that??!!" Orlando demanded, stepping away from his girlfriend. "You should have told me. I am always the last to know everything!" he ranted on.
"I only told the others this morning. And I�m telling you only now because you weren�t at home when I came by, �cuz you were obviously here." Billy sent his friend an accusing look.
"But you can�t go!" Dee exclaimed.
"Why not? It�s easy enough" Billy replied confused. "I have a ticket and�"
"I don�t mean it THAT way. We are�like the musketeers! We can�t miss one of us."
"The musketeers were with only three, but if you like to look at it that way , just pretend I went off on some secret mission" Billy joked, but the five others in the room didn�t laugh. Billy was going�
Later that day�
"Girls?" Elijah yelled as he entered the house. "Where are you?"
"Hello there. We were just expressing our grief on the departure of our good friend Billy by sobbing uncontrollably" Daphne answered his call, walking down the stairs. "May I offer you my condolences too as I understood he was a good friend of yours too and�"
"Oh cut it out" Elijah told her annoyed. "He�s not dead.."
"Yet" added Daphne quickly.
"Daphne, I have met some really weird people along the course of my life, and I am aware I myself am not the most normal person in this universe, but you�You are completely insane. And if it�s not enough your way of talking is contagious, too" he continued, and shook his head as he noticed he started to talk exactly the way she did.
Daphne grinned. "At your service, my dear Eyeliner" she replied and curtsied.
"What???!!! This time you have gone too far. What did you call me there?"
Daphne shrugged. "Eyelijah, Eyeliner, it�s just a couple of letters that make the difference."
Elijah almost exploded, but luckily for Daphne, Dee came walking towards them, alarmed by the noise.
"Do you know what she called me??" Lij yelled at his girlfriend.
Dee tried her best not to laugh and turned at her friend with a serious angry face. "Don�t you dare to tell him again I thought it was funny" she mumbled to her softly, before continuing in a loud voice: "You really went too far this time, Daphne. Apologize."
"I�m sorry, Elijah" Daphne said, not sounding overly convincing, though. "I promise that in the future I shall call you by your full name, and your full name only." She smiled radiantly and walked away from the two lovebirds.
"I wouldn�t trust that smile, if I were you" Dee mused, before they got on with slightly more important business�
That night, Elijah found out what she meant, as he found a CD with a letter attached to it on his desk.
"ELIJAH JORDAN WOOD" it said. He folded it open and found a short message:
"Better this way, Elijah Jordan Wood? I do ensure you both Eyelijah and Eyeliner is shorter, but if you do insist, I shall call you by your full name only."
He didn�t need to wonder from who it came. He shook his head smiling. Sometimes you just can�t win. But well, this was nice enough a gesture, he thought, as he walked towards his stereo to put Within Temptation�s Enter on.
And that night, was a night to remember. Some awful (?!) things happened in that street in the dark�
"Oh I absolutely adored it!" Tamara exclaimed. "I love operation things and things that involve lots of blood! The others hate it when I put it on while we�re eating�are you alright, Dom?"
"Yeah, just perfect" Dominic mumbled. He severely disliked hospital series, but Tam liked them, and he put up with it for her. "Just don�t offer me something to eat."
"You�re joking right?" Tam asked, and stopped in the middle of the street they were crossing.
"Why do you think I offered you to escort you home?" Dom asked back, grabbing Tam�s arm and dragging her along to the other side of the street. "I needed fresh air."
"Oh. I�m sorry. Why didn�t you tell me?" Tam replied, putting a hand to his cheek. Dom moaning was muffled. "Don�t do that, Tam" he told her, gripping her hand. She turned towards him, eyes opened wide in surprise at the warm softness of his hand on hers.
With his other hand, he tilted her head so her eyes met his. He bent forward and softly kissed her on the lips.
For a moment, Tamara was captured in ecstasy, before she put her own spare arm behind his neck and kissed him back. He opened his mouth and softly pushed her teeth apart with his tongue so they could meet. They both sank away in the deep sweetness of a long-awaited kiss, until something inside the house of the girls fell and made a crashing sound, to be heard all over the street (Just as the cursing that followed it).
The spell between the two was suddenly broken, and Dom gave Tam a shocked look as he pulled back. After a couple uncomfortable seconds, they both ran away in opposite directions�
The next day, LA airport�
"Don�t go!" Dom tried for the last time, clinging at Billy�s arm. "You can�t leave me here with that nutcase."
"Stop being childish, Dominic Monaghan" Billy told his friend. "Elijah, put my suitcase down. I am going now. Guys�" He sighed. "I�ll miss you too. But you can come visit me."
Orlando�s face brightened. "Really?"
"Yes, sure" Billy replied, happy to see his friends brighten up a bit. They wouldn�t really come, of course.
"Now let me go or I�ll miss my plane."
The guys and girls all hugged Billy and gave him some last-minute good advice, forgetting he was in fact the most mature one (well in age at least, I just didn�t wanna say the oldest). He let them and promised to call as soon as he had arrived.
The others waved until he had disappeared in the plane. When it took off, people were shook up at the noise of eight deep sighs.
Billy was truly gone.