In The Crowd - B.E.

Chapter Nineteen - Billie

"Oh good, you're on time today," Finneas says. I roll my eyes.

"I wasn't on time like three times. That's it," I say.

"It was more than three times," he reminds me.

"Yeah, and you can't blame Y/n because she wasn't in LA most of the times I was late," I tell him.

"I never blamed her. Did I think she played a part in it? Yes, a little bit. But I also know that you did it willingly." I sigh.

"Whatever. Let's get going. I want to get this done. I'm ready to start touring again,"

A few hours later, we finish, and I start getting ready to leave. I've literally been counting down the days until we start touring because I know I'll get to see Y/n again. We start touring again on June ninth. It's only May 22nd. Three weeks. As I'm getting ready to drive home, there's a knock on my car window. I see Claudia and roll my window down.

"Yes?" I ask her.

"You mind if I join you?" She asks.

"Join me where?"

"Your place. Finneas has really been stressing me out lately, and I need a break. Besides, I have things I wanna talk to you about." She says. I nod, and she gets into the passenger seat. The first five minutes are silent.

"What do you mean Finneas has been stressing you out lately?" I ask her.

"I think he's stressed out about you guys touring again. But he keeps bringing up your being late a couple of weeks ago and how you'll FaceTime Y/n in the middle of recording and how you'll stop everything and text her," she explains. Nobody knows that Y/n and I are dating yet. It's only been two weeks. I think it's fine not to have said anything yet.

"I mean, she has become like my closest friend over the last month. If she calls, I'm gonna answer. The same way that if you were to call him, he'd answer." I told her.

"I know, and I told him that, but he kept saying how I wouldn't call him as much as she calls you. And if I'm being honest, he's right."

"What do you want me to just tell her that she can't call me anymore?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Just maybe not call her while you're recording?" I sigh and nod.

"Fine,"

"But that leads me to my next thing," she says. "What's going on between you two?" I look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't give me that. You invite a random girl to go to the Oscars with you. You guys both end up with hickeys on your necks the next day. Yeah, I saw those. And now you guys are always texting and calling 24/7. I've seen the articles talking about you guys holding hands and kissing and going on dates before she left. What's going on with you guys?" She asks. I can't help but smile. "Are you guys a thing yet?"

"Yet?" I question.

"Yes, yet. It was gonna happen eventually. I just didn't know when. Come on, tell me. It's not like I'm gonna go around telling the whole world your business," we both laugh.

"Okay, okay. Um, it was a couple of days before she left that we confirmed things between us," I admit. "I just didn't want to tell anybody yet because I don't know if she wants anybody knowing."

"Do you want anybody knowing?" She asks. I stay quiet for a second to think about it.

"I mean, at the moment? No. I wanna just keep it mostly between me and her right now. Maybe in a few months we could become public with it, but if she doesn't want to, we don't have to." I tell her.

"From the very little times I've talked to Y/n I think she's gonna be more concerned with how you feel,"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just a few weeks ago, you were telling Drew and I about the times you and her went out to dinner and how she was always asking if you were okay, especially when paparazzi came around," she reminds me.

"I know. In reality, it should've been me asking her that because I'm used to it. She's not. I've been living with this since I was fifteen. She's never had to deal with it. That's the one thing I'm always worried about and thinking about. What if she can't handle it?"

"Have you talked to her about this?"

"Not yet. I might do it when she comes back to LA in a couple of weeks,"

"Wait, she's coming back again?" She asks.

"Yeah, she's gonna be coming with us on tour," I tell her.

"She is?"

"Yeah, she spent the last month back home in Seattle, and I think she's gonna be back here like three days before we start touring," I explain.

"Yes! I'll finally have somebody to talk to," I laugh.

"You really like her, don't you?"

"Yes. She's really nice. And she's also perfect for you,"

"How so?"

"She's very calm. She doesn't seem to overreact to anything, and from what I've heard, she's good at communicating and talking about things. And she's always making sure you're comfortable. That's something you've needed for a long time." I just smile.

She's right. Most of my past relationships haven't really been the best. I was always getting ignored, and communication was never to best. I just had to live with it. That's also why I avoided Y/n after the Oscars because I just assumed she would want to ignore it, so that's what I did. Which I know wasn't the best thing to do, but it felt like the best option at the time. I'm gonna have to work on that if I want this relationship to work.