come out and play (billie eilish christmas story)

6

"You should get a big tree Willow; it'll fill up all that lonely space in your apartment!" Billie insisted, pointing to one that I would probably have to trim in order to fit through my doorway. I shook my head, laughing lightly.

"Billie, that won't even fit in my apartment! Besides, I think a little tree would be cute," I argued, easily tossing the small tree I had originally picked out into our cart.

Billie scoffed, but reluctantly gave it up, lightly nudging me out of the way so she could push the cart. I grumbled, but let her, having already lost that battle once and not wanting to fight it again.

"Okay, now we just need to find lights. And a shit ton of ornaments. And ribbon. And a star. And a nativity scene," She listed off, turning the cart so sharply into an aisle that it was only on two wheels for a few seconds.

"Billie!" I protested, covering my mouth, and placing my hand on her arm. "You're gonna get us kicked out; quit that!"

Billie merely shrugged, a smug smirk lighting up her face. She glanced at my hand that was still on her arm. I quickly took it away, embarrassed.

I could've sworn that was disappointment in her eyes.

"Do you want rainbow lights or white lights, Willow?" Billie asked before I could question it, picking up a box and reading the label.

"Oh, rainbow for sure," I told her emphatically, nodding my head sagely. Billie snorted and chuckled at me but chucked the box of lights in the cart without a comment.

"Now to the ornaments!" Billie announced, grabbing my hand to drag me along.

When we reached them I chuckled, lifting a butter ornament on one finger, glancing at Billie while blinking rapidly to show how unimpressed I was. She smiled widely and took it from me, putting it in the cart.

My expression dropped, and Billie burst out laughing, damn near doubling over if it weren't for the cart that was in front of her. She cackled for a full two minutes; meanwhile I just stared at her, a faint smile on my lips.

"Oh my goodness, you should've seen your face Willow," Billie was still giggling, while she put the butter ornament back in its place. "You're right though, these are all pretty lame."

"But a Christmas tree without ornaments is even lamer," I thought out-loud, quietly.

Billie pressed her lips together, suddenly looking upset. I felt guilty and tried to fix it.

"Oh, well," I said airily, grabbing some of the less weird ornaments. "Lame is better than nothing!" I said cheerfully, glancing at Billie to see if her expression had changed. It had.

Billie took the ornaments from me and put them back, looking suddenly determined. "No, I've got an idea. On Sunday, my family and I are all making ornaments together, from clay and then painting them. You can come and we'll both make some for your tree," She didn't ask me if I wanted to, just stated that it was happening. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"O-oh, okay! Th-that sounds really great Billie, thank you," I said softly.

Billie smiled and lifted her hands to squish my cheeks. "You're too cute Willow," She said simply before walking off with the cart. Dazed, I followed far behind her, almost tripping over my own feet.

When I finally caught up, she had already found the box for a nativity scene. Giggling, I took it from her, attempted to ignore her shocked expression, and put it back on the shelf.

"We don't need that, Billie! I'm not even religious," I laughed heartily as she tried to dive under my arm to snatch the box back.

Billie paused, her nose scrunched adorably, but her eyes calculating. She charged me, shoving me gently but firmly out of the way and grabbed the box again, turning to face me with her arms crossed, her eyes challenging.

I sighed and shook my head, smiling. "Billie, I swear, I'm not religious and besides I haven't got anywhere to put it. You can replace it with something else, promise," I offered, slowly taking the box away, in fear that I might get tackled.

After a moment of indecision, Billie agreed. "Okay, but I'm getting you a whole band of those singing snowmen things we saw earlier," She called over her shoulder, already walking off.

My jaw dropped, and I quickly shoved the box on the shelf and ran after her. "Don't you dare! Those things are so annoying!" I whined, chasing her.

Billie giggled, glanced over her shoulder to see how close I was. She stopped and turned suddenly, and I struggled to follow.

She called over her shoulder in a sing-song voice, "Try and stop me!"