The Artist / Billie Eilish

Chapter 26

7 hours.

7 hours we'd been on this plane.

And there were still 8 hours left.

I was near losing my goddamn mind by now.

I don't know about you, but I'm super easily bored, and everyone was sleeping...

So I decided to have some fun.

Careful not to wake Billie next to me, I turned in my seat, leaning over to steal Ethan's phone from his lap behind me.

I sent out a few tweets that would for sure embarrass him, but I decided that wasn't enough to keep me entertained, so I threw the phone back onto his lap and huffed, crossing my arms.

As I stroppily looked out of the little window, I heard a low chuckle from beside me, and turned to see Billie smirking at me, barely opening her eyes.

"Bored?" She mumbled, stretching her arms and glancing around at everyone else sleeping peacefully before she rubbed her eyes.

"Yesss, Billie," I pouted, turning in my seat to face her, burying my face against her neck. "Please stay awake with me. I'm dying over here."

I felt her throat vibrate against my lips as she laughed, wrapping an arm around me and looking out at the rising sun. She softly hummed the tune of a song I didn't recognise, and I took the time to press some light kisses along her neck.

She cleared her throat and shuffled in her seat as I tugged softly at her earlobe, smirking before pressing a simple kiss to her cheek and sitting back, laughing when she rolled her eyes.

The pastel glow from the morning sky outside radiated through the small plane, the soft light staining Billie's face beautifully - pinks and oranges reflecting in her blue eyes.

She smiled softly as she watched me take her in, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, before she slid her hand into my own and intertwined our fingers. Licking her lips, she shook her head slightly, looking down at our hands.

"I want to tell you something. Before we get to New Zealand, before anything happens that might make you feel differently."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I nodded silently as I waited in anticipation for whatever she was about to say, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips as she scratched the back of her neck bashfully.

"I..." She took a deep breath, pausing for a second, and then tried again. "I don't care what anyone thinks about me. I don't care how I make anyone feel. I don't feel the need to try and impress anyone, or do something a certain way to please someone, or to... You know. Look nice for someone," we laughed as she kept her voice close to a whisper. "But, for some reason... You changed everything, Rose. I want to say I'm not myself around you, but I am, holy shit - I'm more myself around you than I've ever felt in my life. It's like I'm finally seeing the version of myself that I knew deep down was possible, but I just didn't know how to... Let go of everything I was trying so hard to build up."

She looked back down at our hands, watching my fingers play with her huge, over-the-top rings. I could tell the thoughts in her head were going a million miles an hour, and she was desperately trying to string together a sentence to show this to me, but she didn't have to say anything.

I knew.

... But it was fun to watch her sweat.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous, I'm sorry," she laughed as I kissed the corner of her mouth delicately. "I really really care, Rose. I care about what you think, I care about what I do and say and look like, I ca-"

I interrupted the rambling girl with a kiss, feeling her breath hitch slightly before she relaxed, sliding her hands into my hair.

She didn't have to say anything else. Hell, she didn't have to say that anyway. I already knew.

Billie is a different person around me.

I've seen it.

Around Macy, the twins, even Claudia, she puts up this front that is really recognisable once you notice it the first time.

She's rarely ever smiling, she swears more, she's kind of rough, presenting herself as some big bad bitch.

But, when we're alone, she turns into this soft, delicate, adorable baby who blushes and stutters and always wants to hold hands and ask for kisses.

Both of those Billies gave me butterflies. I just knew the latter wasn't her usual state, so I liked that one a tiny little bit more.

"Yo."

The black-haired girl next to me broke my silence, turning her head against her seat to grin at me, leaning close against my ear.

"If we're in New Zealand, that means bikinis everyday, right?"

•

"I have the new schedules here, folks - drop your luggage and come over here, all of you."

Eventually, eventually, we were off the plane I never wanted to see again and all piled into the huge hotel lobby, leaving our luggage by the couches and wandering over to Steve, who was waving papers in the air.

I heard Billie sigh behind me.

Steve cleared his throat before he began reading from his first sheet, his booming, growly voice echoing through the lobby. "So, this first one is a day-to-day plan. You can all rest up today, then Billie and Finneas have rehearsal all day tomorrow. You guys must be off premises. No distractions. One day to get this perfect, people."

Billie rolled her eyes as there was a slight grumble from everyone, Steve quickly shushing us. "Next, sleeping arrangements. Taking inspiration from Macy's list, I have divided us into pairs of whom will be sleeping in the same rooms for this part of the tour. The pairs are..."

He took a sip from his water bottle, rummaging through his pages to find the right schedule, as I felt the tension grow between the group.

Steve didn't know us. Not really.

He didn't know the pairs Macy knew, he didn't know who would be too random to put together and who liked bunking together.

I made eye contact with Macy as she gulped, and Billie rested her chin against my shoulder.

We all knew this was about to be a total shit show.

"Ah! Found it. Okay, as I was saying, pairings are: Finneas and Claudia, Room 412."

Finneas nodded, raising his eyebrows and shrugging towards the group, as if to say all hope isn't lost yet.

Steve carried on.

"Macy and Justin, Room 413."

Crap. It's happening.

Justin's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced back at Ethan, Macy shaking her head in confusion.

"Room 416, Ethan and Rose."

Billie unexpectedly let out a stunned laugh as Finneas widened his eyes at her, urging her not to speak. Steve looked up from his list, raising an eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?"

Billie slid her hand into my back pocket and rested her other arm on Macy's shoulder, and I could see she was resisting the urge to say something in retaliation.

"No problem," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Steve nodded quickly and glanced back down at his list. "Finally, Billie and our new tour guest Q in room 418. To keep this section of tour running smoothly and efficiently, everyone will stick to these schedules and come to me if there's an issue. No fucking around on this one. I take my rules very seriously, and anyone who doesn't agree can most definitely leave the tour. Got it?"

Everyone quietly mumbled as Steve swiftly turned and marched towards the front desk, informing the receptionist about our presence.

I turned to Billie, holding her jacket to keep her still as she tried to go and get our cases.

"Who's 'Q'?"