Love in London

Chapter Eight: Lilies and Lovers

The trio wandered down the streets in the direction of Billie’s hotel. They saw a man standing with a cart. In the cart was an assortment of lilies, ranging from calla, stargazer, white, to fire, goldband, and morning star. Ash walked up to the man and spoke to him quickly. After a moment he handed the man some money and, in return, was handed a bouquet of White Calla, White, and Goldband lilies. He walked back and handed them to Billie.

“Here! I figured your hotel room could use some life. It’s kind of plain.” Ash smiled and flashed Levi a smug look. Levi glared back at him, his stomach knotting. Billie smiled, carefully looking over the flowers.

“I just hope they last; it’s usually overcast and they may not get enough sun…” Levi poked her side, giving her a face of mock hurt.

“And what’s wrong with overcast?”Levi looked away and shrugged.

“Nothing, it’s actually my favorite type of weather.” Billie watched him for a moment, noting his ears were pink on the tops, but shrugged off the strangeness of the conversation.  Ash watched the two interact thoughtfully, before walking towards the hotel again.

“Hey. It’s kind of late. You two should just stay the night. As long as someone doesn’t kick me out of the bed. Again.” She glared at Ash.

“Sorry not sorry.” He laughed, sticking his tongue out at her. Levi paused, thinking it over.

“Is there another bed?” Billie nodded, ignoring Ash’s attempts to poke her cheek to bug her.

“Yeah, it’s just we fell asleep on the same bed last night was all. We can share again while you have the other. Or Ash gets the couch.” Ash winked at Levi and watched Billie flush. She gently pushed Ash away as he kept commenting on her cheeks being red as they continued up to the room, a silent mutual agreement for the sleepover.

Billie slowly opened her eyes, noting the absence of Ash from her left and the gentle snoring of Levi for across the room. Smiling, she sat up and stretched before hopping out of bed to poke Levi’s face in an attempt to wake him.

“Wakey-Wakey eggs n bakey, Gingee.” The only response she received was a low groan as he reached out and yanked her into the bed with him. After a couple of minutes of her cheeks burning and him cuddling into her shoulder, she began to tickle his sides.

“You freaking cuddlemonster! Get up before Ash sees us or I’ll never hear the end of it!”

“Too late for that.” Billie jumped, snapping her head to see Ash grinning at them holding coffee.

“You guys are a cute couple. When can I expect the wedding invitation?”

“If he didn’t have a bear hug on me I would smack that grin off you.”

“Nah, you like being in that position too much.” Billie glared, trying her hardest not to blush even more, and failing miserably. Suddenly she felt herself being pushed off the bed and the rough feel of carpet meeting he face.

“Dude, you just can’t win with sharing beds.” She groaned, flipping Ash off as Levi looked at them, his eyes wide and face bright red.

“Why was she even in bed with me?”

“You yanked me into it when I tried to wake you up, Cuddles.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair as he watched her get up of the floor, mentally cursing himself for doing that.

“Just give me the damn coffee..” Ash rolled his eyes and handed over one of the cups. He reached into the paper bag and handed him a glazed donut as well.

“Hey where’s mine?” Billie plopped down on the couch. He handed her the other mug and the bag and sat on the edge of the mattress.

“So….That was a bit awkward, right? It wasn’t just me who felt awkward?” Ash looked between the two of them. Both of them glanced at each other and looked away.

“It’s not a big deal, Ash. It’s fine.” Billie took a drink of coffee as if to punctuate her statement.

“Well where are we going today?” Ash asked in a high pitched voice. He wanted to sound like everything was alright but yet he watched his best friend worriedly. No one said anything for a long time.

“What if we just stay here? I mean..I don’t know either of you very well.. We could just get to know each other.” Levi looked at them nervously hoping they’d say yes. Billie blankly stared at him for a moment before a smile slowly spread across her face.

“I’m down with that.” Billie looked at Ash for a yes. He smiled and nodded.

“Sounds like fun!” Levi sighed in relief and smiled.

“We could watch movies too!” Billie grinned at the two of them.