Title: Betrayed

Author: Amy B.

Fandom: Hard Core Logo

Pairing: Joe/Billy

Rating: NC-17

Date: March 18, 2000

Archive: TBF

Betrayed
by Amy B.
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They were almost through their second run of "Ten Buck Fuck" when Billy finally snapped. He stopped playing and waved his hand at Pipe and John to stop, too. When it was finally quiet and Joe was staring at him like he'd lost his mind, he said, "Joe, it's *libRAry*, not *liBERry*. You sound like a hoser."

"So what? We all sound like hosers." Joe took off his guitar and spit casually in the direction of the bass player. "Except Johnny. Don't know what the fuck he sounds like."

Billy couldn't help stating the obvious-- that library thing had been driving him crazy for days. He had to say something, even though he knew he shouldn't. "Nah, you sound worse than a hoser. You sound like a fuckin' hick."

"I do not." Joe snorted and turned back to Pipe, nodding for the count.

Let it go. Let it go while he's still in a good mood.... "Yes, you do." Fuck. Billy almost bit his lip when he realized the words had slipped out before he could catch them.

Joe gave Billy a look--that 'who the fuck do you think you're talking to?' look that Billy knew unbelievably well--and walked over to stand in front of him. "I don't sound like a hick, Bill. Take it back."

Billy thought this was the dumbest thing they'd fought over in a while, but he couldn't help himself, even setting his guitar gently aside so he could do it right. "Yes, you do and no, I won't."

"Take it back, fucker." There was something odd and feral in Joe's eyes, and Billy suddenly wondered what they were really fighting about. He was irritated that such a simple little correction had to become a big deal, and yet his big mouth was opening again...

"No. Hick." And then Billy smiled which he knew was a mistake, but couldn't quite control it. He ducked just in time to avoid the fist aimed at his face, but the next one caught him low in the gut. He stumbled back and took a swing of his own, connecting with Joe's jaw just hard enough to snap his head to one side. When he looked back at Billy he was grinning, and Billy truly felt the depth of his mistake. He stepped back and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Joe, this is stupid. Come on. Let's just play."

"All right." Joe nodded and spoke over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Billy. "Hey guys, why don't you get lost so me and Billy can work out our *creative* differences." It wasn't a question and the other guys were smart enough to recognize that fact.

With a sinking feeling, Billy watched John and Pipe leave the storage room they used as a rehearsal hall. He wished he could go with them, have a drink, a smoke, a toke, a line, whatever, as long as it was away from Joe and that Look.

"So you don't like the way I sing now, eh? It's too hoser-hick for ya?" Joe was playing up the accent he swore he didn't have, but there was no humor in it. There was an intensity in his voice that told Billy that he also knew this fight was really about something else. As Joe stalked closer, Billy stepped back until he hit the wall behind him. For a moment he'd forgotten how small the room was and that the door was on the opposite side.

When Joe's chest was touching his, Billy saw the exact moment the pretense of the argument dropped and closed his eyes. Joe reached out, quick as a striking snake, and grabbed his hands, holding them tightly in his grip. He pushed against Billy with his whole body, pressing and shoving, full contact. Billy started to say something, but his own body reacted in a slow pull toward Joe. His cock strained against his jeans, against Joe, against the hardness of Joe's cock.

All the blood in Billy's body seemed to drain southward, leaving him dizzy with the thrust of Joe's hips into his. Joe's face was right next to Billy's, his breath burning on his cheek as he said in low rough voice, "You got something to say to me, Bill? Hmm? Got something to *talk* about?"

Billy opened his eyes and stared at the first thing in his line of vision-- Joe's ear. He concentrated hard on the curves and swirls and the pale pinkness of the surprisingly thin earlobe holding a small silver hoop. His body was yielding to Joe's, but his mind was whirling with questions and confusion and the observation that Joe's ears seemed rather vulnerable sticking out from his bare head like that....

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts was a mistake because it made his cheek slide against Joe's, his bristly jaw scraping against Joe's smooth one, the corner of his mouth touching hot damp skin. As Joe's hips ground against his, Billy gasped and turned his head again, slowly...slowly brushing his open mouth across the side of Joe's face, desperate to stop but unable to even try. His stomach hurt with the punch he'd taken and something else, something twisting and aching, reaching lower into his groin to wind around his cock in a strangle hold. He swallowed hard and moved his hips. Joe's grunt was heavy in his ear and his chest pressed the breath from Billy's lungs.

"Fuck you, Billy. You wanted it all along, didn't you?" Joe's raspy voice skittered over raw nerve endings, and Billy groaned as whatever tenuous control he might have had slipped silently away into the searing darkness behind his tightly closed eyes.

"I...no...I..." He bit the words off and thrust hard into Joe's pumping hips, surrendering to the aching need, coming hard inside his jeans against Joe's driving body. And in the final act of surrender, he turned his head slightly and crushed his mouth to Joe's, sucking in the hot smoky taste of him. He stabbed his tongue against Joe's, knowing he'd just betrayed himself with a kiss.

Joe pulled his head back and stared at Billy silently with a fiercely satisfied gleam in his eyes. Casually shoving Billy back against the wall as he stepped away, Joe walked over to where he'd left his guitar but didn't pick it up. Instead he pulled a pack of cigarettes from a coat draped over a speaker, calmly lighting a smoke as Billy stared at the erection still forming a visible bulge in the front of Joe's jeans. He dropped his hand almost defensively to the front of his pants where his own shorts were damp with come that was quickly turning cold and clammy against his overly sensitized skin.

In fact, Billy was starting to feel cold all over as Joe continued to smirk at him around the cigarette in his mouth. He cursed himself for giving Joe this power over him. He was sure it was all some kind of stupid game to Joe, but it had been an eye opener for him. He'd just...been overwhelmed by the force of Joe's...Joe-ness, that whatever-it-was that made Billy stick with him even when Joe was trying so hard to live up to his chosen last name.

As Billy peeled himself away from the wall, Joe started to sing again--a cappella, this time. "She started out by the liBERRY steps, lookin' good but, needin' some coin..."

Conceding defeat, Billy nodded and rubbed the tension from the back of his neck. He either had to stop pushing Joe or learn to accept the knowledge he gained--no matter how bizarre or painful-- whenever he did push. He wasn't sure which would be more difficult. He didn't know how many more of these little revelations his nerves could stand.

The End.