The Actress and The Artist

Chapter 36: Twenty-One

"Happy birthday." El said softly to Max, kissing her temple as her hand found its place on her hip.
"Thank you." She smiled, leaning into her side as the party went on around them. "How did you manage to book this place anyway?" Max asked as they stood in one of the most sought after spots in the city, somewhere she had wanted to go to for years.
"I have my ways." She smiled back, her eyes glimmering mischievously in the purple lighting. "Do you want a drink?" Eleven asked her.

"Yeah, please. What do we have?"
"Anything you could possibly want." She said, showing her the massive table full of different drinks.
"Oh wow..." She looked at them all, "I'll just have sprite." El nodded, pouring her a cup and handing it to her before pouring herself one. "No alcohol yet?" She asked.

Jane shook her head, sipping some of her drink, "I'm quitting."
"Really?" Max furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "How come?"
She shrugged, "You don't like the stuff."
"You're quitting because I don't like it? I don't mind if you drink El, you've already asked me before."
"I know, I know. But it's not good for me anyway, fucks up my head." She remembered what it almost made her do. She swore to Billie not to drink as much as she was, but for Max she wouldn't drink at all.

Max laughed, "Yeah, it makes you forget who you're dating."
"Shut up." El chuckled, leading her back to the main part of the party, "I remembered, it just took me a second."
"I'm kidding, it was cute. And look at you, quitting before you're even 21." She joked.
Jane smiled, rolling her eyes playfully. "Ah stop it, you're gonna make me blush." She said sarcastically, suddenly feeling a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Billie come from behind her.

"Happy 21st Max!" Billie smiled, "Do you mind if I borrow Jane for literally just a second?"
"Not at all."
"Meet me in the back room." She murmured near El's ear so no one else around them heard before walking away.

"I'll be back in a minute." El said to Max, setting her cup down before kissing her softly.
Max blushed as they pulled away, nodding. "I'll be upstairs."

El opened the door to the backroom, seeing Billie sitting on the armrest of the sofa, her arms crossed.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
"Huh? What did I do?" She frowned, sitting down beside her.
"I thought we made a deal for you to stop drinking!" She whispered loudly, locking the door so no one came in.
"I know, I'm not drinking! It's lemonade!" El replied.
"Really?" Billie asked suspiciously. "Coz you better not be lying."
"Go check for yourself if you don't believe me." She replied.

"Alright smart-ass, I believe you." She rolled her eyes, sighing as she leaned back on the sofa. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted to speak to you about. I wanna talk about the show."
"The show you want me to do with you?" She asked.
"Yeah, what do you think?"
"It's gonna be a big change, that's for sure. You have like 10 times the amount of people I have."

"I know but just imagine how fun it'd be. The fans would love it, I promise you."
"When is it even happening?"
"June something, the date keeps changing but we'll find out soon."
"What about Finneas? Does he want me there?"
"Oh more than anything. He's literally learning your songs just for this moment."

El thought for a moment, "Okay. Okay fine, we'll do a show together."
Billie grinned, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." She nodded, chuckling as she got pulled into a massive hug.

"Ugh this is gonna be so fun you don't even understand. They're gonna be so hyped when they see you come on stage."
"Yeah yeah." Jane rolled her eyes playfully, "But I wanna know the date as soon as you know."
"Of course yeah. It's gonna be in Chicago so we'll get a flight for you and Max if she wants to come too. Do you think she'd want to?"
"Well duh. This is crazy we're even doing this."
"I know. Hey, thank the paparazzi for making us two meet. Now come on, let's go back. I want coke- the drink not the drug!" She explained as she left the room.