Nightcall - Billie Eilish

30-

Shark's big body was crushing my face, making me groan as I pushed him away. I reached under my pillow, fumbling for my phone.

the screen lit up.

10:43.

last night had felt endless. It had actually ended pretty early though, thanks to Skeet losing it after yet another fight with Lina.

he eventually kicked everyone out, politely enough.

after that, I stuck around with him for a good hour, trying to cheer him up and, mostly, to make sure he didn't turn our vacation into a nightmare.

Dina, on the other hand, stayed with Lina.

they talked for a while, I think.

I eventually went back to my room, secretly hoping she'd come find me.

I waited.

for a long time...

but it never happened.

I grabbed my phone and started scrolling through social media.

a fucking big mistake

last night's situation had blown up. The photo was making the rounds even more than yesterday, comments piling up, and nothing had been done to calm it down.

I set my phone on the nightstand with a sigh and decided to ignore it for the day.

I got up, pulled on a hoodie from my suitcase, and left my room. Shark followed behind, probably as hungry as I was. He trotted along while I headed downstairs.

when I got to the kitchen, I saw her. Dina was standing at the sink, washing dishes.

I approached quietly.

"Hey pretty."

she jumped, the glass she was holding slipping out of her hands. I watched it fall in slow motion, shattering into a million pieces at our feet.

"Shit." Dina stared at the shards on the floor before looking up at me.

she had that shy smile, the one that always made me melt a little, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"I didn't mean to scare you—"

she cut me off before I could finish. "I know, Billie, don't worry."

she set down the towel and headed for the trash can in the corner of the kitchen to grab something to clean up. I watched her, trying to pick up on something in her mood.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not too bad, you?"

"Same. Lina didn't bother you too much?"

"No, she fell asleep pretty quickly. She doesn't really talk about her problems."

"Wait, she slept with you?"

Dina came back with a broom, nodding to confirm.

"She didn't want to sleep with Skeet."

"Oh, okay, she changed her mind about you pretty fast, huh."

she started sweeping up the glass, focused.

I climbed onto the counter so I wouldn't be in her way and stayed there, quiet. I hesitated. I wanted to talk about what happened last night, but I had no idea how to bring it up.

oh God i'm so bad at this.

she bent down to pick up a big shard of glass stuck in the broom.

"Shit, fuck," she muttered, standing up abruptly with her finger bleeding.