Metathesiophobia || Billie Eilish

Chapter 12

"So, there's a few things I think you should know before we get to the airport," I say while I fiddled with the ring Henry gave me.

"What's on your mind?" she asks, turning her body to give me her full attention.

"No one can know I'm with you on tour," I say, trying to formulate a good answer for the question I knew was coming.

"Why not?" she asks confused.

"Well, there's this tradition in my family where after graduation you basically disappear for a month. I know it sounds totally crazy, but my family can't know where I am or what I'm doing," I rambled in one breath. She seemed to have caught the most important words because a deep frown was etched into the skin of her normally smooth forehead. She suddenly burst out laughing, looking at me like I just told the funniest joke in the world.

"What?" I questioned with a straight face.

"Wait, you- you're serious? The shit you telling actually the truth?" she asks incredulously, still chuckling uncertainly.

"Yeah, it's a long story," I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Tell me on the plane then. Oh and if you want to avoid paparazzi, your best bet is to probably get out before us. I'll just text my manager to let him know he should send your ticket to you," she says calmly before texting away on her phone. We reach the airport's first entrance and also the place where I was going to hop out. I greet Billie and tell her I'll see her soon before getting out of the car and grabbing my luggage from the back.

I go drop off my suitcases and go through all the security checks. Before I know it, I'm sitting on the plane in business class, waiting for that characteristic green mob of hair to pop up. Finneas's tall figure followed by Claudia and the rest of his family came in sight and I let out a sigh of relief, grateful I didn't accidentally board the wrong plane or something.

"Hi love," Billie says as she looks into my eyes and her lips pulled into a small tired. My heart does a strange little jump at the sound of the endearment, normally exchanged between people in relationships. I write it off because maybe I'm just not used to girls being so comfortable with someone giving me pet names like I notice Billie so often does.

"You tired?" I question with sympathy, watching as she slumped down into the chair next to me.

"I guess you can say I'm not exactly excited for tour. Like, I enjoy performing in front of of all my fans, it honestly feels like we're all just a big family, but the traveling and the press is just so exhausting and draining," she explains, her eyebrows in a constant frown. I stay silent for a moment, thinking of words to try and consolidate her.

"Well, I'll try to make everything more pleasant this time," I say with a friendly smile before reaching over and taking her hand. She looks at me in a way that that is purely ineffable before she nimbly intertwined our fingers. She quickly turned her attention to look out the window before the lights dimed down and the plane started moving.

Her hand felt ice cold in contrast with my warm one. At first I was concerned of how cold it actually was, looking down to see if there was something wrong, only to find her gently rubbing circles with her thumb on the back of my hand.

The plane soon began to pick up speed, that familiar rumble produced by the wheels speeding across the smooth tarmac of the runway the only thing I could feel. That and well, the invisible force pushing me back against the seat. I loved the way my body became so vulnerable to the g force, the feeling so near to an energy rush. Almost as if my body tried to fight back against the foreign force that restricted it's movements, or rather, making it slower.

As the nose of the plane started pointing upwards and the wheels no longer touched the tarmac, the force only increased, making me smile amidst the passengers holding onto armrests or chewing nervously on a piece of gum.When Billie looked at me with a questioning expression, I only now took notice of how I was reacting. She also seemed relaxed, probably way more used to the concept of flying than the majority of passengers here. The grip on my hand was firm but not suffocating, just nice.

The seatbelt sign flashed above me before I heard the clicks of seatbelts coming loose all around me, unbuckling mine with my available hand as well to sit more comfortably.

I looked past Billie and out the little window, which offered a spectacular view of LA in the limbo state of day and night, the sun setting making the clouds starting to gather a deep orange hue. The setting sun also made for a beautiful sight right next to me. The orange shade danced in Billie's light irises making me unintentionally stare a little too long into them, drawing her attention away from the window and to me.

"You good?" she asks softly, the sound startling me and leading my eyes to her mouth, specifically her lips.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I say, clearing my throat and looking away, just now noticing that the whole interaction was oddly suspicious.

"I'm gonna take a nap, if the stewardess comes-," I trail off.

"I'll tell her you don't want anything. Take a nap baby girl, I should probably take one too later," she says, a small caring smile playing on her lips. I nodded my head before getting comfortable in my seat and snuggling deeper into the oversized hoodie Billie lended me after I couldn't find anything in my suitcase that I felt could match my outfit for today. The more I inhaled, the more the ambrosial vanilla aroma she possessed invaded my senses.

"You smell so good," I mumbled as I was on the brink of sleep. I heard her chuckle softly before saying something I didn't quite catch, the humming of the airplane drowning out her voice. It was also the last sound I heard before I drifted into a peaceful, dreamless state of sleep.

-
I've been feeling utterly touch starved since quarantine started. I'm not even a person that likes physical contact like hugs and kisses when greeting that much, but I would take any form of contact with a person, any person, to just fill that gap in me right now.
Stay fresh (and healthy)
- D