Insomnia // Billie Eilish

Chapter 12

I made sure my makeup was hiding my bruised eye and the dark marks on my neck before I knocked on Billie's door and pulled my iron pills out of my jacket pocket, popping one in my mouth. Finneas answered the door. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied quietly as he pulled me into a hug.

"How've you been?"

I shook my head. "Fine... is Billie home?"

"She's up in her room." He pointed upstairs.

"Thanks." I walked up the staircase and stood in front of her door for a minute before lightly knocking and opening the door.

Billie walked out of the bathroom with a towel on her head, a toothbrush in her mouth, and nothing but an oversized hoodie on. "Hey, Fin, is that you?"

"No, sorry. It's me."

Her cheeks turned red and she held up a finger before returning to the bathroom. She came back out without her toothbrush and towel. She also now had pants. "Are you okay? Why didn't you text me? I was so fucking worried!"

She sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside her. "Yeah."

"What happened last night?" she asked.

"Nothing," I lied. "My mom took my phone and deleted your number, but that's it."

"Okay," she replied, clearly not completely convinced.

We sat there and talked about whatever came to mind for about an hour until Billie pointed out something that I was hoping she wouldn't. "You're wearing a lot more makeup than usual, Kenz," she pointed out, running her finger over the makeup on my neck. She frowned at me. "Look up."

I swallowed and changed the subject. "Are you thirsty? I'm a little thirsty."

"Look up," Billie said sternly.

I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears threatening to spill and then opened them again. She rubbed at the makeup until it was off. "Did... did Matt do this?" I assumed she was talking about the dark bruises on my neck.

"No. Of course not." I furrowed my eyebrows.

She walked into her bathroom and came back with a small wipe. She tried to wipe at my makeup, but I leaned back. "Stop." She tried again and I raised my voice a little this time. "Billie, stop!"

"What are you hiding, Mackenzie?"

"Nothing!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you."

"Well, you don't have to." I stood up, stepping away from her.

"If there's nothing to hide, take it off." She raised an eyebrow, holding out the wipe.

I sighed, sitting back down. "Well, maybe there is something, but I don't want you to see it."

"I just want to know that you're okay." She sat down next to me. "Are you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," she said slowly. "So then why won't you take your makeup off? I'm not gonna judge you or anything."

"Well, I know that but..." I sighed as I thought for a minute. "You're not going to tell anybody?"

"Of course not."

"Don't be mad."

"No promises." She took the wipe and started taking off my makeup. "Oh my God, Mackenzie. Who did this?"

I didn't answer.

"Was it Matt?"

I shook my head.