Aftermath
“You…”, Agatha stood there, shaking. Only now realizing that Billy was gone, but she was still alive. And Rio was in her arms, perfectly relaxed with no rush to go and find him. You let him escape, she wanted to say, but words weren’t forming into sentences in her head, because it was simply impossible. Rio wouldn’t do that. Rio couldn’t do that. Could she?
“Don’t mention it,” she simply said, now holding Agatha’s arms in her own, “But keep an eye on him, Agatha. If this kid pulls some shitty stunt I will…” the last words got lost in the kiss.
4 months later.
It was a really strange couple of months for Billy.
After the initial shock was gone (Agatha made sure it was gone in the first hours after Rio left, because, apparently, even the happiness caused by their survival could not stop her from yelling at Billy. She knew a lot of curses) they were starting to think about their next steps.
What would life after The Road look like?
Well, it looks not at all how Billy imagined.
Agatha stayed in Westview. She decided to stay near Billy to help him with his magic. (“If I see that you are wasting it like your…”, she groaned in annoyance, “like Wanda did, I’ll take all of it from you and send you to Rio.”) So, yeah, it will be nice, Billy thought. What trouble could it be, Agatha, living in a small town near mine? She already knew everyone and everybody knew her. She’ll fit.
After only three days of Agatha’s simple suburban life Billy realized just how wrong he had been.
What could be worse than a child who lost his favorite toy? A 300 hundred year old witch that had lost all of her magical supplies.
So, three days into her life in a neighboring town (She’s far away enough to not cause any trouble, Billy thought) portal appeared right in the middle of his bedroom. Right when he and his boyfriend were having a makeout session. Right when he took his boyfriend’s shirt off.
“Oh Goddess!” Agatha was standing in the middle of the room with a dissatisfied look on her face. All normal people in this situation would have closed their eyes or looked away, but Agatha’s eyes were wide open. Eddie froze, embarrassed and unsure of his next move. Billy felt the same, “You kids really need some sexual education. You call that kissing? You need a few lessons. Let me tell you some secrets, because I just rocked so many women's worlds…” Billy finally put himself together, stood up, grabbed Agatha’s forearm and shoved her back in the portal.
After that it was clear that they needed some boundaries. The first official rule that they made was “Not to appear at each other's houses unannounced”. It was a great start. The second rule was “Not to be a douchebag” (whatever that means). And the third was “Not to kill or harm each other (intentionally)”.
After one week of their new life Agatha insisted that she would train Billy. She said it was simply a precaution so that he doesn’t kill anyone, but Billy knew that it was also partly because Agatha was bored. So he agreed. He told his parents that he was with Eddie and drove all the way to Agatha's house for the lesson. And then all the back. He quickly realized that the road itself was time consuming and that meant less time for the lesson itself. But it was something that he simply had to put up with.
It was until Agatha didn’t ask him about that.
“Why don’t you just make a portal from your house to mine? I don’t mind.”
“My parents still know nothing about all of this. About you, magic, Wanda.”
“So let’s tell them.”
“What?”
“Yeah, come on. I want to meet your parents. And, by the way, how did you expect to find your brother and be with him without your parents knowing? Your plan was just to disappear and then sneak a random boy to the house?”
No, no way, Billy thought to himself all the way home, Agatha is not meeting my parents. Nope, not happening.
But closer he was to the Eastview, clearer he saw that Agatha actually had a point. So, when he went through the front door and his mother greeted him, words just fell uncontrollably out of his mouth, “We have a special guest for tomorrow's dinner.”. His mom’s eyebrows widened. Fuck.
Agatha must have been really excited to meet his parents because at 7 p.m. sharp, like a clock, the doorbell rang. Billy’s heart was about to explode when his mum opened the door and Agatha greeted her with a soft smile. (“Hi! I am his Antie Agatha and I am gonna teach your son how to kill other people without harming yourself in the process. Nice to meet you. Oh, do I smell Mac&Cheese?”)
Surprisingly, the dinner went well. Against all odds. And he even wasn’t grounded till he’s thirty. That night Agatha made the portal from the old mirror she found in his basement. She even discussed schedule for their lessons with his parent’s. That is certainly something he never thought he would see.
So, they had their routine. Billy would come a few times a week to practice witchcraft and Agatha dropped by almost every day. (“I need a ride”, “I want ice cream”, “New fake witch shop opened, let’s go check it out!”). It really seemed to Billy that Agatha was a child in an adult body. Simply unhinged and spoiled.
Until one day and one question.
“How is Rio?”
He remembers like her facial expression fell and how quiet she went. She didn’t answer.
It was strange, Billy thought, they were fine. They kissed, made up. But he knew that Agatha would never tell him what happened after he left that day so he didn’t push.
And it was then that Billy realized that Agatha was simply lonely.
It was fun to hang out with Agatha. It wasn't bad at all, so he didn’t complain.
So the months passed. Billy learned magic, Agatha thought and was recollecting all of her magic equipment piece by piece. They laughed a lot, they bickered at each other a lot. And, sometimes, they cried.
“Teen, wake up!” Billy opened his eyes, still not quite sure of his surroundings. Familiar voice was calling him and he felt that someone was violently shaking him. His eyes finally got used to the dark and he saw Agatha's face right in front of him. He quickly sat on the bed and pulled as far away from Agatha as possible.
“What the…!” he turned the light on and checked the time. Of course it was 3 a.m. “What are you doing in my room?”Agatha opened her mouth but was interrupted, “No, for starters, what are you doing in my house?”, he whispered, surprised.
“You were screaming in my head”, Agatha hissed, visibly annoyed. Billy looked at her in confusion. She rolled her eyes, “I guess you were having a nightmare and your magic sent a cry for help right into my head. Buy yourself an emotional support animal, for fucks sake, so that i could sleep”, she was sitting on the bed, in her pajamas, in distress. Guilt filled Billy. The memories of the dream were coming back to him and with angry Agatha added to the mix it was overwhelming. He opened his mouth to apologize, but when he looked at her, he saw that her sight softened. She sighted, still annoyed at him for pulling her out of bed at the crack of the dawn, “What was it about?”, she asked, but already knew the answer. The Road. It wasn't the first time and sure as hell wouldn't be the last one. When Billy couldn't find the words to give her the answer, she whispered, ”Scoot over”, Billy listened and she laid down next to him. His head was on her shoulder and it was comforting. But weird. In all the months of her mentoring him, Billy still found it very surreal when she was vulnerable in front of him. When she was more human. It was nice, but he still wasn't used to it. “ The road is wild and wicked, winding through the wood”, she started to sing quietly, like a lullaby. And with that, the magic of niceness from Agatha Harkness was over.
“Get out”, she giggled. Then Billy saw a purple cloud and just like that, she was gone.
And, even if she returned the next night, and then the night after, they never spoke about it. Just, some nights, some particularly bad nights, Agatha would sit by Billy's bed. Sometimes she made fun of him, but mostly, seeing how much those nightmares really affected him, she would tell him stories.
“Have I told you about the time I stole a pirate ship?”
“From a cool pirate? Like a Blackbeard?”
“No, not that punk. But how can a pirate not be cool? So, listen…”
He never told her how much he really appreciated this. Apparently, being so close to Agatha Harkness has had some side effects - he became, maybe just a little bit, but, nonetheless, more emotionally closed. Or maybe just more cautious and less naive.
So, four months later, one day at the lesson, Agatha announced with excitement, “We are going on the school trip!”.
“What?” Billy stared at her, not sure that he understood correctly.
“School trip. To Salem,” explained Agatha, “We need to put some of the witch's history in that little head of yours. So, we are going to Salem.”
“And how exactly are we going to get there?” suspiciously asked Billy.
“On your car, of course”, Yeah, of course, “That is going to be so fun!”