In The Crowd - B.E.

Chapter Sixteen - Y/n

"Good morning, sleepy head," Billie says as I walk into the kitchen. She was making breakfast.

"How long have you been awake?" I asked.

"About an hour. I just got up and started making breakfast," she says.

"Since when did you know how to cook?" She rolled her eyes.

"I've always known. I just don't do it often," I just watch as she's cooking. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just watching you,"

"Mhm, well, it's done. Are you hungry?" She asks, and I nod. "Good, here," and she hands me a plate.

"Thank you,"

-

"Would you like to join me today?" Billie asks me while standing outside the guest bathroom, watching me put on my makeup.

"Join you where?" I ask, looking at her in the mirror.

"The studio. To work really,"

"I can do that?"

"Probably not, but I can do whatever I want, and I want to bring you with me. That is if you wanna come," I smile and no.

"I want to. When were you leaving?" I ask.

"In just a few minutes, hurry up," she tells me.

"Well, I'm done. Let's go," She drives us there, obviously. When we get there I see that Finneas' car is already here.

"He's gonna be so pissed," she says.

"Why?"

"Because I'm late. Come on, let's go," we get out of the car, and she opens the door for me. She walks by me and interlocks our fingers, and I follow her to wherever she needs to be. She opens a door, and we're greeted by a very annoyed Finneas.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asks her. I see Claudia sitting on the couch, and I go join her.

"I woke up late," Billie tells him.

"Oh, here we go again," Claudia mumbles. I look at her, and she has a look on her face like something bad is gonna happen.

"Billie, this is the fifth time this week that you've been late. You really need to get your shit together,"

"Oh, my God! It's really not that big of a deal. We are on our own time. I could just not show up if I really fucking wanted to," I look at Claudia again.

"What's going on?" I ask her.

"Billie has started to come in late over the last two weeks and it's starting to piss Fin off. He really wants to get everything done, but Billie doesn't ever feel the need to do things in a timely manner," she explains.

"Is it my fault?" I ask, and she looks at me confused. "Well, I've been here for a week now, and that's when she started being late. Is it me making her late?"

"Unless you're keeping her from leaving, then I don't think it's you. Besides, I think Billie just doesn't care right now, and Finneas doesn't understand that. She's got so many things coming up, and she's got so much on her mind that I think getting shit done is the last thing on her mind."

"Oh, is she okay? I've asked her what's wrong before, but she's never really said much," I say.

"Well, she's obviously not gonna tell you," she smiles.

"What do you mean? Why not?" She shakes her head.

"Nothing. That's stuff Billie should say," she says.

After a couple of hours, they take a break. Billie grabs my wrist and pulls me with her. I decided not to question it. We walk outside, and she lets go of me. She stays quiet and just starts walking along the sidewalk. I follow her. After a few minutes of silence, I finally say something.

"You okay, Billie?" She stops and looks at me.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just needed some fresh air. Finneas really pissed me off earlier, and I just need to be away from him for a little while. " I nod. She sits on the sidewalk, and I just look down at her. "Come on," she says, telling me to sit next to her. I do. The moment I do, she grabs my hand and rests her head on my shoulder. We just sit there in silence and watch the cars drive by.

"You know," I finally break the silence. "You're an amazing singer." She smiles.

"Thanks," she says and looks at me.

"What?" I ask. She just shakes her head, and then before I know it, she kisses me. I can't help but kiss her back. She pulls away and smiles. "You feel better?"

"Yes, I do," she says. I smile.

"Hey, Billie," we both turn to see Claudia. "Finneas wants you back inside. You guys are almost done for the day." Billie nods, gets up, and helps me up. I noticed how her entire mood changed the moment Claudia said anything. She walked inside, walking right past Claudia, who was looking at me with a smile on her face.

"What?" I ask her.

"You guys seem to be getting real comfortable," I smile.

"Shut up," I say and walk by her.

"Wait," she says and grabs my wrist. I look at her. "What's that on your neck?" Oh shit. I forgot to cover those. How could I forget?

"Um, it's nothing," I say, moving my hair to cover it.

"It's fucking hickeys," she said with a stupid-looking smile on her face. "When did that happen? With who? Billie? You better fucking say Billie."

"I don't think I should be the one telling you this," I say.

"Oh please. It's not like she's here to stop you. Besides, she won't know that you told me," I sigh.

"Whatever. Yes, it was Billie. It happened after you and Finneas had dropped us off at her house after the Oscars. Neither of us really remembered until the next night. We were both so hungover we didn't really remember shit until we saw the hickeys." I told her.

"So, you guys had drunk sex?"

"Oh no. God, no," I said. "It was just a really intense make-out session with very minimal amount of clothes coming off."

"Mhm. So what are you guys now?" She asked.

"I'm not so sure. We went out on a date the night after the Oscars and we haven't really talked about any of it since."

"Well, even the friendship is pretty new. I'd say don't rush it. But if you want to that's fine too. You guys do what you want. I mean, I've seen that you guys have gotten close while you've been here. But it sounds like you've gotten a lot closer than I thought you were," she says with a smile on her face.

"Shut the fuck up. Come on let's go. They're probably wondering where we are," I say and we walk back. I really want to know what's happening between us.