Billie, Mike and Tré had played both days in the festival, and were awaiting a phone call to see if they would be signed. Lucy was the only one in the room when the call came – the three band mates all practicing. She took the phone and smiled at the receptionist. The record label politely asked her to pass on their message, and she immediately went to find the place she knew they'd be practicing.
"Lucy!" Tré greeted in his usual excitable self. She smiled and stood next to him.
"Mike, Billie get over here," she shouted, waiting for them to be stood in front of her.
"Got some news?" Billie asked with a small frown.
"Yeah..uh there was a phone call from the record company," she told them "they said they said they don't think they're the best thing for you at the moment, the guy on the phone said he'd be all for signing you right now, but if you're going to reach your best, they think it's best if you figure yourselves out first," she explained. The three guys all looked a little deflated by the news, and Billie sighed
"I guess that's us heading home then," he murmured. Lucy smiled softly
"You'll get signed in the future guys, anyways, didn't Larry from Lookout say he'd help you on the album?" She reminded them. Billie smiled
"We need to finish recording that when we get back," he murmured. Lucy hummed
"Just wait a few years..record labels will be dying to sign you guys," she smiled.
They stayed in LA for a few more days, exploring and generally enjoying the excitement of being in a new city. After a week they were definitely ready to be home, missing that sense of reality that didn't seem to be as readily available in LA.
--
Billie had asked his friends to come round a few days after getting home, telling them he was breaking up with Lauren and he might need backup. In reality, he was a hoping she wouldn't hurt him if his friends were there.
The doorbell rang, and Lucy gave Billie's hand a reassuring squeeze as he stood up and went to let Lauren in.
"We need to talk," he told her "in my room," he added softly, leading her up and turning to face her.
"Billie what's wrong?" She asked "you're worrying me," she added quietly. Billie didn't say anything for a moment and she took his hand, frowning when he pulled it back.
"I don't think we can be together anymore," he told her. Lauren stared in shock
"What?" She asked quietly. Billie sighed and looked down
"There's a few things," he told her, looking back up and making eye contact, she raised an eyebrow and he sighed "I know you've been cheating on me, and you treat me like shit anyway..and I kissed Lucy the other week," he admitted. Lauren slapped him hard "please just go," Billie pleaded quietly. She grabbed a handful of his hair
"You do not get to fucking tell me what to do after the shit you just pulled," she spat, shoving him back and hitting his head into the wardrobe, cracking the mirror, then shattering it into a million pieces around him with the second hit. Billie clutched his head, groaning and sliding to the floor.
"Please don't do this," he whimpered, she kicked him in the stomach a few times before crouching down by his head
"You're so fucking pathetic, you know that?" She told him quietly "I've tried my best to help you, but you're so determined to fuck up your life and just focus on that stupid band of yours, you'll never actually make it," she told him
"You're the pathetic one, at least I managed to keep it in my pants for the most part," Billie spat. Something in Lauren snapped, and she unleashed everything she had, clawing at his face, hitting and kicking him.
Lucy, Mike and Tré had been sat watching shitty cartoons for a while, when Lucy stood up.
"They've been up there too long, I don't like this," she told the other two, going up the stairs and opening the door. She froze for a minute, taking in the scene in front of her,
"What the fuck get off him you psycho," she yelled, grabbing Lauren and tying to pry her off, swearing when Lauren scratched the back of her neck. When she saw the state of Billie, she yelled for Mike and Tré to come and get her out of the house.
"Twitch look at me," she murmured, holding Billie's face and making him look her in the eyes.
"M'head really hurts," he muttered pitifully, sniffing and looking up at Lucy again.
"I know..just get on your bed..Mike can you go grab the first aid kit in the kitchen and some tweezers," she called out as she helped Billie up and into his bed, sitting by his head and tending to his cuts and bruises while playing with his hair in an attempt to get him to sleep a little.
