In The Crowd - B.E.

Chapter Fifteen - Billie

Y/n is giving me directions to where she's taking me to dinner. In all reality, it's me taking her. I'm the one driving. I can't believe I actually admitted my feelings for her. Will it get anywhere? I hope so. But she's right. We don't know each other that well. We've only really known each other for a couple of weeks, and we've only been really talking and being friends for a week now.

"Turn right," she says, and I do so. "And we're here." She has a big smile on her face.

"You know, if I knew it was gonna be fancy, I would've dressed up a little better," I tell her.

"You look fine. Besides, it's not as fancy as it seems."

We make our way inside, and we get seated and given menus. We both order water and take our time looking at the menu. I look up at Y/n. I see her smiling at her phone. Who is she texting that's getting her to smile like that? She looks up at me and puts her phone down.

"I'm sorry. I was texting Michael back. He's been covering for me," she says.

"Covering you for what?" I ask.

"For me being here. I knew my parents would never let me come here with someone they don't know, so I told them I was staying with Michael for a while,"

"But aren't you eighteen? You can do whatever you want,"

"Not when I'm still living with my mom. She has this idea of a perfect family that does everything just right, and it all has to be by her standard."

"That sounds horrible,"

"A little bit. But she's still like my best friend. And besides, ever since my stepdad came into the picture, she's been getting better. He's always telling me it's because my dad died and then not too long later my little sister died and she's so scared of losing more people that she wants everybody to be safe and within her reach so she can do something if something bad happens." I nod.

"I'd say he's got a point,"

"I agree. It's a little overbearing, but it's really not that bad. I mean, if you think about it, I am in another state with a stranger and staying with that stranger," I smile.

"That is very true. But are we even really strangers anymore?" I ask her, and then the waiter comes over asking if we're ready to order.

After about half an hour of us being here, people start noticing that I'm here. Goddamnit. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. Shit! Some people are taking pictures. I hate those people. If you want a picture, just come ask for one. It's not that hard. And since I put my hair up, I'm so glad that I decided to cover the hickeys on my neck with makeup. The media would've loved seeing those. They would've created so many stories. Y/n notices all the people and looks at me.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

"It's okay. I know going out with you will probably end up with something like this. We can leave if you'd like," she says, and I shake my head.

"No, I don't want to create a habit of just leaving every time I get noticed in public with you," I tell her. "Unless you wanna leave."

"This isn't for me. I'm asking for you. We can do whatever you want. If you want to leave, you can go to the car and I'll get boxes and pay for our food and I'll be out there soon. If you want to stay, we can do that, too." She says, her voice staying calm. She doesn't look away from me. I smile. "What?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"So, what do you want to do? We can do whatever you want," she says.

"We can stay, but can we get the check now? Just so we can leave," I ask, and she nods.