Brighter Stars // Billie Eilish gxg

t h i r t y f o u r

Carmen's POV

"Carmen?" I hear a voice say, softly rubbing my back.

My eyes flutter open. It's pitch black and I was definitely just asleep on Zack's chest.

"Shit, what time is it?" I say, jolting up.

"It's 2:37 am." Zack says, sitting up.

"Oh fuck." I say, rubbing my eyes, and reaching for my phone.

7 missed calls from Billie, and 39 texts.

"Oh my god, Billie is freaking out." I say, looking over at Zack.

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep too. I should've set an alarm." Zack says.

"It's okay, I'm going to call an uber." I say.

"Do you want me to just drive you?" He asks.

"It's like a 25 minute drive, I don't want you to have to do that." I say.

"I would honestly prefer to drive you." Zack says, turning the lights on in the living room.

"Are you sure?" I ask, looking up at him.

"With your track record of bad luck, the uber driver will probably be an axe murderer anyway." Zack jokes, putting his shoes on.

I scoff and reach for the joint on the table.

"One more for the road." I say, placing the joint between my lips and lighting it again.

"I'll abstain this time." He says, grabbing his car keys from the kitchen counter.

I take a quick hit, snub out the joint, then follow him out the door to his car.

He opens the passenger side door for me, and I slide into the seat. He shuts the door behind me and jumps into the driver's seat.

I open my phone to respond to Billie.

──   b <3   ──

i didn't mean to be out so late,

 i'm omw home now

──

I lock my phone then turn to Zack as we start pulling out of the parking lot.

"Thank you for driving me, seriously." I say.

"What's Billie's address? Promise I won't leak it online." He laughs.

I take his phone and pull up the directions to her house.

"There you go!" I say handing it to him.

God, weed works fast.

We silently drive down the road for a while. I look out the window at the eerily calm streets.

"Thank you for trusting me." Zack says, breaking the silence.

"I didn't tell you everything, I fell asleep before I could." I laugh softly.

"I don't know if I could've listened to any more." Zack says.

We pull up to a red light.

"Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I-"

"I love you." Zack says, looking over at me.

I look at him, shocked.

"I know that it's not possible. You're into girls. You have a girl. I know." He says, looking down at his lap."