𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑. b.e

six

june's exhibition was today—and billie hadn't really specified whether or not she was coming. she'd mentioned the idea of it, and asked for when and where it was, but she'd never given her a clear answer.

june hoped she would show up, but she certainly wasn't holding her breath. she never knew what billie was going to do, and she'd learnt that it was safer not to expect too much of her. billie was unpredictable and busy and june knew that if she relied on billie's ideas of what she may do, she'd end up disappointed.

she didn't blame billie, obviously. She knew she was a celebrity and was busy, and she knew that billie certainly couldn't drop everything to come to her exhibition. she just had... a tendency to hope for more than was realistic. she always had, ever since she was a kid. that was her fault, not billie's. she was forever an optimist. 

june had been there since eight in the morning setting up the exhibition. it was now twelve o'clock and delilah was with her. she was being more of a nuisance than a help, but june enjoyed her presence. oliver was there too, and he soon emerged out of a storeroom and walked up to the two girls.

"i'm gonna go get some lunch from the bakery down the road, want me to get you two something?"

delilah perked up, instantly jumping up from where she'd been sprawled over the couch. she was like a golden retriever sometimes, and june loved her for it.
"i'll come with you! i need a walk."

june glanced at delilah and ollie, "i've gotta stay here, can you get me something you think i'd like? i don't really mind what, you have good taste."

delilah nodded, and soon june was alone again. she finished setting up the last few things and made some excruciating small talk with the exhibition organisers. she was wearing a sage green dress with small silvery details on it. billie had told her that sage green suited her hair perfectly—stop it. this isn't about billie, this is about you. stop it.

she slipped into the bathroom after a gap in the conversation, fixing her hair in the mirror. her hair had looked fine, she was just stressed and procrastinating going out and actually seeing people take in her art. exhibitions always stressed her out—because there was nothing she could do about people's opinions. she just had to watch while they judged what she had spent months, years working on. she couldn't just walk up to them and explain her thinking behind each piece unless they specifically asked. If she saw someone who clearly hated her work, she just had to suck it up and move on.

she hated not being able to explain herself, she had this deep need ingrained into her where she had to over explain every aspect of her life, she couldn't just let people observe her. she hated when people misinterpreted her, although that was what happened more often than not.

shaking her out of her jumbled thoughts, she heard the door open. her eyes flickered up from where they had been fixed on the sink and her mouth fell open in surprise.

"they told me you'd be in here."

june couldn't help the way her eyes lit up, billie had remembered! not just remembered, but she had taken the time out of her day to come. she couldn't control how her lips twisted up into a wide smile and before she knew it she had taken a few steps forward so she was in front of billie.

this was the first time she'd been face to face with billie since she had stupidly listened to billie and visited her after their tense argument. they'd talked over text—the excruciatingly awkward conversation about the tiktok, but they hadn't seen each other face to face in a day. that day felt like an incredibly long time as june looked back on it—although it was likely less about the time and more about the fact that half of it was without any closure.