ARTIFICIAL // B.E

5

aspen

"aspen." billie called out from across the couch as we sat in the tour bus.

i raised a brow and hummed, though didn't do anything else.

"aspirin," she dragged out in a groan. "as-pi-rin." she pronounced each syllable, though said them slowly.

"what?" i turned to look at her.

"i'm bored." she complained as fell back onto the couch, her head landing in my lap. she looked up at me. "aren't you bored?"

"no," i tapped her forehead with the bottom of my phone. "i'm not."

she let out another groan. "finneas!" she called out as he was walking by. "how much longer until we're at the next venue?"

"i don't know," he shrugged. "an hour, maybe?"

she let out another groan at that. xavier walked by, and he sat on the couch, next to me. he threw his arm over my shoulders. "wassup, hookers?"

"i'm bored." billie told him.

"i'm not; i'm on tiktok." i glanced over at him.

"lemme watch." billie demanded before reaching up to grab one of my airpods.

"so rude." i muttered, though i still placed my phone sitting upwards on my knee as she turned her head in my lap to watch with me.

"wait, i wanna hear it." xavier's brows furrowed.

"i only have two airpods. i don't know what to tell you." i shrugged.

"hold up, hold up, i'm gonna go get mine." he huffed before standing up again.

"you do that." i hummed.

me and billie continued to watch tiktoks on my phone. i got to one video, though wasn't interest in it, so i swiped up to the next one.

"hey, i was watching that." billie swiped it back up.

"i don't care; it's my phone." i scrolled away from the video again.

"okay, so? i wanna watch it." she swiped again.

this continued for about ten seconds before she accidentally refreshed the page.

"look what you did; now you can't watch it." i sent her a look.

she turned her head to look up at me again. "you should've just let me watch it, dude!"

"i didn't want to watch it though." i shook my head.

"i did though!"

"i don't care."

she let out a small huff. "you're rude."

"you're rude." i mocked.

we continued to bicker like children before xavier came back with his airpods in his hands. "here, lemme connect them."

"no, you can have this one, i don't wanna watch with aspirin anymore." billie grumbled as she held out the airpod that she had took from me.

"that would've been nice to know before i messed my bunk up looking for mine." he sent her a pointed look.

i sighed as i placed my hand on billie's forehead, pushing her bangs back. "just watch with me. i promise if you want to watch one that i don't, then i'll still watch it." i sighed.

she narrowed her eyes slightly, then held up her hand, extending her pinky. "pinky promise?"

"pinky promise." i chuckled as i linked my pinky with her's.

we both smiled and scrunched our noses up. i then turned to xavier, being met by a certain look. i rolled my eyes as i shoved his shoulder, then let him connect his airpods to my phone so that we could all watch tiktoks on my phone.

§§§

i squinted my eyes as me and billie walked out and were met by a bunch of paparazzis. we've been on tour for about two weeks now, and i had hung out with billie a few times before tour, but i'm still not really used to the amount of paps that always seem to follow her.

i don't really like paps, and truth be told, they kinda make me nervous.

i tightened my grip on billie's hand a bit as we started walking down the sidewalk, to the small cafe we were going to, to grab a quick snack. she turned her head to face me, a small look of concern on her face.

"you good?" she questioned softly.

"huh? yeah, i'm fine." i mumbled, shrugging off her concern.

her brows furrowed briefly, though she looked forward again, and didn't question it anymore after murmuring a little "okay."

we soon made it into the cafe, where we were met by a short line. we waited patiently for our turn before ordering what we wanted. we then sat around a bit as they prepared our order.

"so, how are you liking tour so far?" billie questioned as she sat in front of me. she was holding my hands over the table, and her thumbs were running over the backs of them soothingly.

i know it's only because we have to act like a couple, but i dunno... sometimes, it just doesn't feel like that's the case.

"i love it. nothing will ever beat singing and performing in front of the crowds that we do, you know?" i raised a brow, though i had a soft smile on my face.

"yeah, i get what you're saying completely. it's amazing. and i mean, i've been longing to go back on tour for nearly two years, so it's just great. it feels like a dream." she explained.

singing and performing is definitely her safe place. it's very obvious she loves it, and that she finds comfort in doing it. 

soon enough, our orders were ready, so we grabbed our things, and we started heading back to the venue, which was only about a block away.

of course, even though our hands were full, we still managed to keep a "flirty body language" or whatever the hell our management had said to do. we were practically one as we walked down the sidewalk, with billie's head laying on my shoulder.

she kept rambling on about how even though we've been on tour for almost two weeks now, she's still really excited about it.

it's pretty cute, honestly.

§§§

a/n these chapters are short as hell because writer's block is a bitch <3

anyways

thoughts?

any predictions?

things you wanna see?

how are y'all doing ? are y'all doing good?

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