Metathesiophobia || Billie Eilish

Chapter 14

It's not long before the car stands still in front of a grand looking hotel, a red carpet stretching from the entrance to the curb where a few chaperones stood waiting to assist us. The doors are opened and Billie's eyes shoot open, that apathetic expression returning to her face. I lift my head from her shoulder before we climbed out of the car, her family following our actions. Billie walked on with half closed eyes, not waiting for the bodyguards or family. I wrap my right arm around her waist as an effort to keep her from falling on her face and she only leans in me while making a little grunting sound in response.

"Almost there," I say encouragingly while we wait for her manager to get all the keys to the rooms. He starts listing groups of twos as he was handing out the keys and I feel Billie's weight increase in my grasp, indicating that she was going to be knocked out sooner rather than later.

"Hey Mike, this kid's going to pass out right now if you don't give us a room," I say, gesturing to Billie, who was getting limber by the second.

"Sure, here's the key, but if you want to share a room with someone else-" he says before I cut him off and take the card from his outstretched hand.

"It's fine, I just want to get her in a bed so that she can rest," I say before I turning around and walking to the elevator. Once we're in, I press the button leading to our floor and a comfortable silence falls upon us as we wait.

"You know I'm the same age as you, right?" she says with convused tone while she adjusted her baggy shorts hanging low on her waist. I look in her eyes and give her a small smile.

"I just wanted to get a room faster, and to be honest, it did look like you were going to collapse at that moment," I say with an eyebrow raised. She hums in response and nudges her head into the soft maroon material of my hoodie after she came in for a hug.

I quickly became aware of her face touching my skin, her warm breath a stark contrast to the cold tip of her nose being nudged into the soft flesh of my neck. We stood there, holding onto each other. A gesture often shared between two friends, but I could feel my heart rate elevate the longer the interaction lasted. The metal doors sliding open caused me to jerk away from her, my natural reaction to get away from this world renowned singer overcoming me because of my fear of being spotted by the paparazzi. This action was not missed by Billie since her face contorted to one of panic and any sign of her tiredness escaped from her eyes as she looked at me for an explanation to my reaction.

"I, uh- I'm just scared someone sees us together...like this," I say softly, getting out of the elevator, Billie keeping up as she walked by my side. When I looked up from the red carpet leading to our hotel room, disappointment was clearly evident in her eyes. "I mean we're just friends right? But you of all people should know by now that the media always twists the facts to benefit themselves," I say with a bitter laugh.

"Yeah..." she drifts off, shoving her hands into her pockets. I sensed that there was something off about her reaction, but luckily the door of our room came into view and the silence that fell upon us after she last spoke was filled with me swiping the card through the door's lock and twisting the handle revealing a grand looking room with a spectacular view of the city. It was the first aspect of the room that immediately drew my attention. Our bags were already standing by the entrance, ready to be packed out for our three night stay in the hotel, but the figure of the city's most popular landmark against the light blue sky made me walk right past and to the floor to ceiling window.

"I could do with a blunt right now," Billie says as I hear her fall onto the bed with a groan behind me. I frowned as I remembered her interviews and even a whole song explaining her views on drugs.

"You smoke weed?" I ask, unable to hide the suprise in the tone of my voice as I turned around to look at her exhausted body spread out on the bed. I see her shrug before she let out a sigh.

"I don't do it at parties or with people since I'm not for that, but when tour gets too much or I'm stressed out about shit, sometimes I smoke just to ease my nerves or help me relax. I see it as a last resort though," she says as she cuddled deeper into a pillow.

I nod, realizing she doesn't see me before looking out onto the city again. The vibe here almost matched that of home, but a little toned down as I looked at the vibrant flowers growing in pots on window sills. White shutters were open and the intricate french designs on the buildings were captivating, I'm sure I could've looked out the window for hours.

"I like that you always notice the small things. You know, the things everybody usually take for granted," Billie says before I looked back at her, trying to analyze what she meant. She was resting her head on her arm while her eyes where fixed on me. Oddly enough, I felt like contorting into myself to escape that tantalizing glare. Her gaze lowered from my eyes to the rest of my body until her eyes stopped at my hand, specifically on the finger with the big shimmering ring sitting upon it.

"You engaged or something?" she said it as a joke, but it wasn't far from wrong. I subconsciously fiddled with it, turning it from side to side.

"No, I just turned eighteen. You think I'm going to sell my soul that quickly?" I asked jokingly, chuckling nervously at the question I knew was next.

"What's the story then?" she asks curiously before she sat up and crossed her legs.

"It's a promise ring," I say after I worked out all the possible responses to her question in my head. She tilted her head, a notion for me to continue.

"Henry, my boyfriend in New York, gave it to me a few days before I left," I say slowly, taking in her response the more I explained. Her eyebrows were furrowed, most likely taking in this new information. The normal response I usually get from people, wasn't coming from her though. She was just...quiet. I'm well enough equipped by now, to know if someone's feeling conflicted or if there's a shift in the energy of the room. That's why I could immediately feel that what I said, was upsetting to Billie. Her mouth opened slightly a few times, as if she wanted to voice what she actually wanted to say, but if it wasn't for our breathing, you could've heard a pin drop.

"Oh," is all she said before she got up from the bed. "I'm just going to go for a quick shower," she says, her eyes looking at anything except me. She walked to our suitcases by the door and dragged hers to the bathroom, the door shutting gently behind her. I heard the water running in the shower a few moments later. It didn't cease.

Later, I surrendered any plan of trying to wait up for her, climbing under the comfortable covers of the duvet instead.

-
Hey guys, I have a few weeks off since some of the teachers are to lazy to work, so ima try and get out a few chapters.
On another note...STREAM my future, because it truly is a beautiful piece of art!!
Stay fresh (and healthy)
- D