Lost my reputation | B.E.

Chapter 14: silver lining

Narrator: someone

On December 18th, Y/N wakes up in Glendale, completely clothed, tangled in sheets that don't belong to her nor smell like her. Yet, warmth floods her body once her mind registers the sweet, familiar scent and it's an honest struggle to keep her eyes shut, fearing that the all-encompassing feeling of content might dissipate. Y/N doesn't want to break the little bubble of peace and comfort wrapped in fluffy sheets – it's been a while since she's gotten that kind of sleep.

It's quite obvious at this point; Y/N is fairly used to waking up in a foreign bed. She would probably fail at counting the number of one-night stands or fuck buddies she's ever had, but it's not like it would even matter anyways.

Regardless, she knows all too well what it's like to find yourself naked next to a foreign body and seeing it for the first time – with your eyes, this time. It feels strangely naked and alien, to be lying next to a body that's painfully off limit now that the party's over; everyone's sober and the endorphins are gone.

Y/N blinks her heavy lids open, eyes still full of sleep and slightly blinded by the naughty rays of sun seeping through the curtains. It takes a little while to piece everything together, but even without digging into the specific events of last night, Y/N's dreadfully aware that with the morning comes the realization that what happened the night before would probably only ever be fragments of memories.

And that with the sun rising, Y/N's a fugitive.

Except that this time around Y/N doesn't have to leave – she doesn't have to wake up in a haste and grab her discarded clothes piled on the floor, nor hurry out of the room, banging her hip against a piece of furniture she'd been too flustered to notice. Last night, her body had been at peace and had fallen asleep next to someone she feels no shame offering some of her time to. Y/N is certain, she'll never feel like she has to lie about Billie.

So, it's with these first thoughts that Y/N's clouded mind slowly awakens on December 18th, shifting and rolling her body around until she's met with nothing but cozy, empty sheets.

With a twist at the pit of her stomach, Y/N's eyes snap open in alarm, hand full of nothing but bare sheets. The spot next to her is empty, but she doesn't have time to reflect on it – the drop in her tummy, the thought that she might've mistaken the bed she'd woken up in.

As soon as her eyes open, they land on Billie's soft, sleeping frame; a rush of relief hits and Y/N realizes that she's probably under-estimated the size of Billie's bed, almost feeling silly for thinking that the singer could've regretted falling asleep next to her so strongly that she'd felt the urge to flee from her own house.

Now reassured, Y/N relaxes into the comfort of the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, drowsiness long gone; the rush of adrenaline's left its mark, and there would be no point in trying to go back to sleep, especially since she'd rather spend the day celebrating Billie instead of sleeping it away.

Not wanting to wake up her best friend too harshly, Y/N lets her hand travel under the sheets until sneaky fingers find warm, smooth skin. She doesn't mean to wake her up that way – something that would have been qualified as groping if it'd been anyone else - but Y/N's fuzzy mind doesn't register when her palm lands on an unclothed hip, trailing over the side of a breast and stopping along a collarbone.

It's only when she looks up and clear, blue eyes are already looking down at her that she feels her face flush with embarrassment.

Y/N doesn't know if Billie has been asleep until then, or if she'd just laid in bed waiting for her to wake up; she can't quite read the look on her best friend's face, either. Though, it's relaxed and unthreatening, so it's easy for Y/N to recover, wetting her dry lips just before speaking up.