Photograph

Twenty Eight

The following days I was exactly what Billie had requested.

Patient.

I was patient with her and she was patient with me.

And, it oddly felt good.

Ever since the night we cuddled, I was checking in with her every day and we would chat and we would even facetime when I was working, or when she was doing her foot stretches or writing or just messing about doing nothing.

She had an interview and a meeting today, and then she was dyeing her hair shortly after— leaving me with an empty slate of a day.

Gracie's first show was soon, it was inching closer, and so I needed to get ready to take photos for that, too. It was such a sudden request, I hadn't had time to wrap my head around it yet.

I hadn't really reached out to my friends either.

I didn't have many outside of Billie's circle as I'd moved here on a whim. They disliked me strongly, it didn't take an absolute genius to see that. Without Billie, I had no one.

And, the ones I did have—

Kates 🔮: been a minute!
U up for dinner or do i have to run into u in the middle of the street to get ur attention?

me: i was running away from someone lol
me: i'm busy later. how abt lunch?

Kates 🔮: ur always busy :(
Kates 🔮: it's raining. i'll just come over?

me: ok! u can help me figure out
what i'm gonna wear for
Gracie's show next week hahaha

Kates 🔮: ur not headliner ur just
taking photos babe

me: alright killjoy
me: don't take too long or
you'll have to meet my parents

Kates 🔮: i wouldn't mind ;)

I rolled my eyes at Katie's statement and heard the front door close downstairs, implying my parents had both left for a business trip or something once again.

They were never around, my parents.

And, when they were, they weren't exactly taking an interest in what I was doing as much as I did them.

They only knew about Billie, and they even barely brushed up on her when she was carelessly brought up in conversation.

She didn't matter to them.

Nobody mattered to them.

Not even I did.

billie: yo just checking in
billie: rob is here giving fin a lecture about
how it's not ok to just randomly be friendly to
new members of tour
billie: he's now lecturing ME about how it's not ok
to randomly post tik toks of said new members
getting their face licked by three dogs at once

me: i thought you were firing him?
me: tour ended ages go?

billie: moms sorting it lawl
billie: gotta go
billie: talk soon mama

/

Soon enough, I heard a knock at the door, which ripped me from my thoughts as I stood infront of it, like it was going to magically just open. A part of me hoped that it was Billie who would come over instead of Katie.

Katie was now here.

I don't know why I was so nervous to see her, it's not like we were strangers or anything. We weren't exactly best friends, though.

I hesitantly swung the wooden door open to see a pair of those blue eyes blinking right back into mine, and I froze.

I had no idea why I was feeling like this.

"You don't look happy to see me at all." She said sadly, but still containing a smile.

"I am, I am." I comforted her. "I was just expecting someone else, that's all."

"Someone that isn't me?"

She shoved past me and into my house, plopping down on the couch and slowly resting her legs up onto the arm of the cosy chair one by one.

"Sadly not, Billie." I said, closing the door behind her before making my way over to join her. "What are you doing here anyway? What happened to the press stuff? And most importantly, where's your other crutch? Aren't there supposed to be two?"

"I was gonna say that the press shit is over." She started. "But from this convo, apparently not. My other crutch is at home and why are you acting like we haven't met before?" She chuckled, straightening out her bright blue shorts that hugged her knees.

"Katie is supposed to be here."

Her face dropped all the way down to her bright blue LV boot. It wasn't sadness anymore, it was more of an embarrassment that hugged her gaze.

I had a feeling Billie and Katie didn't like eachother after the whole incident on the bus.

"Oh. I can go-"

"Stay, Bil."

She shook her head slightly, tripping up over her words nervously as she spoke, as if she was caught in a web and was trying to pry her way out. "No, I- it's aight, I can, uh, leave."

I cocked my head to the side.

"Billie, I told you, it's fine, you can stay."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both our heads whipped around to where the sudden i acknowledged voice was coming from. I had subconsciously opened the door after three persistent knocks intervening with our small conversation and must have let Katie in without even realising the movement.

"Oh, um, hey. Billie is—"

"Just leaving, right?" Katie interrupted, gritting her teeth ever so slightly.

This made Billie sink back into the couch and laugh bitterly. "—Billie is staying, thanks." She mumbled.

Great.