Here we go again [Easter 96]

[Billie Parker]

"Billie, I promise you can come back in the summer, it's just not possible at the moment. Easter's when the tourist season starts the pick up again and I really need to deal with it. I just don't want to abandon you, okay?" Billie started to protest, to tell Molly-Rose that she didn't need a babysitter but her cousin just hugged her. "Bills, I know you don't need someone to look after you. You've grown up looking after yourself. But I want to spend time with you. I just think Tess'll be better for you this holiday, okay?" It was the reason Billie was now in London, standing outside Tess' home, feeling uncomfortable. She'd met Tess at Christmas, at the Parker Family Event but she didn't know her all too well - and now she was meant to be spending three weeks living with her.

Billie wanted to shoot herself.

It would be okay, she told herself. Tess would be nice to her, because if Molly trusted her, then surely everything would be okay. Billie trusted Molly with her life, after all. She had to, to let a muggle take care of her at the lowest point of her life, even when she didn't trust muggles. Molly had been the first muggle she'd trusted, hadn't she? It had been her first big step. It meant a lot that Molly liked Tess.

Closing her eyes, she knocked on the door.

[Teresina Sistiani]

Today was a rather nerve-racking day. Someone was going to be staying in Tess's home, and Tess wasn't a big fan on having people she doesn't know in her home, actually she wasn't a fan of having anyone in her home. But for family, she makes the exception. However, with it being a child that was coming to stay -or, more correctly a teenager- that made it a little harder for Tess to agree... But all the same, she did.

Everything was spick-and-span, everything was clean and in it's rightful, neat place. I would like to say it was all perfect for when Billie would get here, but this house always looked perfect, what more could you expect from a neat freak.

Tess gave the place a quick look over just to make doubly sure everything was perfectly neat, but the door went before she could finish her inspection. Tess headed for the front door and opened it instantly, and there she seen standing there, the blonde girl she met briefly at the Parker party. "Billie, right? Come in..." she said then stepped aside so Billie could enter.

[Billie Parker]

"Yeah, that'd be me," Billie replied, trying her best to give her warmest, heart-felt smile - she didn't want Tess to think she was a moody, spoiled teenager within only a few minutes of knowing her. She could hear Cris' words in her head, reminding her that she wasn't a Parker anymore, and she gently reminded herself that this was different, that she didn't have to try hard to live up to everybody's standards; she could be herself here, as long as she made sure that Tess knew how thankful she was for letting her stay and not dragging her back to her Grandmother.

"Thank you, for letting me stay," she said, stepping into Tess' home with her backpack. She let it gently drop to the floor and unzipped her jacket, glad for the small mercy that everything was clean this time and not dirty, like it had been the first time she'd gone to Molly's after living on the streets for the summer. Billie's eyes scanned the place, as far as she could see anyway; Tess' home was immaculate and for somebody, like Billie, who had lived on the streets... the girl wasn't sure how easy it would be to live here. It reminded her vaguely of how pristine everything had been at the Parker home, and how 'proper' Billie had been back then. "Your home is lovely," she told Tess.

[Teresina Sistiani]

Tess watched as Billie looked the place over, but soon she started to do the same thing. Tess was giving the place that last look over, making sure everything was in it's rightful place, which it seemed like everything was. When Billie thanked Tess for letting her stay, Tess's gaze looked back to Billie, and she smiled.

"It's no problem, you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like... As long as you're not a pain to live with" she said, joking over her last words. But of course, even though Tess's last words were meant as a joke, there was obviously some truth in it. I mean seriously, who would want someone to stay in their home if they're not nice to live with?

With the compliment over her home, Tess smiled fondly while looking the living room over once again. "Thank you, I do take a lot of pride in my home, so it's always nice to hear others like it" she replied while looking back to Billie. "I suppose I best tell you the rules?" yes, there are rules to staying in Teresina Sistiani's home! "Don't worry, there aren't many, I just simply ask that you put things back where you found them if you ever do move anything, if you go out and you get in late try and be quiet as I will probably be in bed. And just clean up after yourself... Oh, and one more thing, very important....... No one is allowed in the house".

Tess was iffy about having family here, strangers, other kids and teens what-have-you, they were a world of no to coming into this house.

[Billie Parker]

“I’m not too bad,” Billie laughed, trying not to take offence, because she could tell that Tess was only joking about her being a pain to live with. She knew that she was vulnerable to being hurt these days, but she still had a bit of Parker in her, and she refused to be hurt by a few little words.

The blonde frowned when she heard there would be rules, although the young girl soon nodded over them. They were simple enough, about right to what you’d expect when you came into somebody else’s house. They weren’t too strict – fairly lenient when you thought about it; Tess could’ve given her an eight o’clock bed time or something ridiculous like that.

Billie fixed Tess with a look and cocked her head to the side, trying to work out what was beneath the words, 'nobody's allowed in the house.' She had split up with Daniel a while ago, the day she had thought she was going to... well, she didn't want to think about that now. Their relationship had been on and off, and there had been benefits with that, kissing in broom closets - Billie was known for her slutty reputation. But never, ever would she bring anybody back to a house that wasn’t hers. It just wasn't on. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Nobody else in the house.” It was a promise, and Billie would never go back on her promises.

[Teresina Sistiani]

Tess smiled at all the responses she received from Billie, and from the little the two had spent together so far, Tess was confident to put her trust in believing it wasn't going to be so bad having the younger girl staying here.

With her smile never having faltered, Teresina said "do you want to unpack, or would you like something to eat or drink first?" Tess figured perhaps Billie might have been hungry after her little trip getting here, and if Tess was in the younger girl's position she'd want to eat then get settled in.

[Billie Parker]

Billie tilted her head to the side, her blonde hair falling about her shoulders. "Do you mind if I eat first?" she asked shyly. Normally, she wouldn't be shy - but this was a different matter, and Billie Parker had changed a lot in the past few months, in the time that her blood status had revealed, since the argument with her Grandmother and when her father had been attacked. She felt raw inside, and it was having an impact on her in the smallest of ways.

She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking about how she wanted to get to know Tess first; as a Parker she had learnt to trust very few people, something she did even now, simply because, well people could hurt you. However, looking at Tess and thinking of Molly, she knew she had to give this woman a chance. Maybe a chat whilst she ate would be a good idea.

[Teresina Sistiani]

With a small, friendly smile appearing, Tess nodded and replied "of course. The kitchen's this way" she added with a nod of her head for Billie to follow. "Do you have any favourite meals, or foods? I can get some of it in for you the next time I shop if I don't have anything in already that you favour".

Terasina was confident that she probably did have something in that Billie would like, the fridge and cupboards were packed with different foods, there was bound to be something in there that the girl would love.

[Billie Parker]

"Thanks," Billie replied with a grateful smile, glad that Tess had agreed. "I'm not too much of a fussy eater actually. At home, I always ate whatever was prepared. And during my summer on the streets, I ate what I could afford." She shrugged. At banquets, most of the food had always been too rich for Billie's taste, whereas when her Grandparents had been busy, Billie had simply fended for herself, eating out of the cupboards. She'd never been picky, always going for what she could find - which was easy, as the cupboards were always stocked full of food.

"The only thing I don't really like is eggs," she admitted. "And I do have a taste for coffee." She smirked, because this was a little bit of an inside joke for her. "What about you? Do you have a favourite food?" Billie asked, genuinely interested to find out the answer.

[Teresina Sistiani]

"Eggs?" she repeated while giving Billie a curious, and amused look. "How funny, I'm not a big fan of eggs myself either. I can't stand the smell. It's the same for sprouts as well, I hate everything about them; The smell, the look, the taste... And the after effects they tend to bring with most people too". Of course by the after effects sprouts have, Tess would be referring to none other than farting.

Soon it was simply curiosity on the older woman's face, the amusement practically having completely vanished when she got really curious to what the little smirk was all about on the blonde girl's face. "What?" she asked, now looking and sounding amused again. "Am I missing something here?" she added, still looking amused over the smirk on Billie's face.

"Well I have to admit, I'm a big fan of pasta. Shocking, I know, being Italian and all" she replied with a little laugh over what she likes. "Other than pasta, I have to say I have a weakness for Burgers". Now that seemed like the least-said choice if one was to guess what Tess's favourite foods were, if you know her that is. This is a woman who eats fish, salad and pasta more than anything. But as it was, she does happen to have a weakness for greasy burgers... However, she rarely ever eats them because they are bad for you!

[Billie Parker]

Billie laughed. "Ew, sprouts. Yeah, I'm not a fan of them myself." She shivered. "I think food depends on the mood I'm in though, although I don't eat that much anyway. My boyfri-" Billie paused. "My ex-boyfriend said that I was too skinny," she laughed. "I was just never hungry that much. I guess that came from being used to not eating," she commented thoughtfully.

She smirked again when Tess asked about what she'd missed. "I never ate much, but coffee was something that kept me going in a big way when I was on the streets and in school last year. And I made some new friends, who I would never think I would ever be friends with, over a cup of coffee. And well, yeah. Coffee has become a big part of my life," she laughed. "It sounds kind of weird when you say it out loud." She brushed back a piece of her hair and looked a little bit embarrassed, realising it did sound weird when you said it like that.

The blonde nodded. "Pasta's good. Filling and can be eaten as a snack or as a meal... fantastic, really." She smiled. "Burgers are good too," she admitted. "Although chicken burgers are better, I think, with bacon and cheese. You cannot beat chicken and bacon." She paused. "How do you feel about pancakes?"