IF WE WERE MEANT TO BE // Billie Eilish

Chapter Thirty Five - Out of Us

Francis' PoV:

"Hello! Oh my God, I missed you so much!" Claudia squeals as she opens the door to her Air BnB and embraces me in a hug. "I'm so glad you two are finally back together!"

Finneas nods at me and smiles to say hello, then shoots Billie a look, reminding her to be on her best behaviour.

"Francis?" Elliott says coming over. "Why are you here, I thought-"

"You thought wrong." Billie answers, interrupting her and taking my hand. I squeeze it and smile, feeling much more confident to face Ell with her by my side.

"Clearly." Elliott answers, looking with disgust at the marks on my neck from earlier.

"You gonna take another picture?" Billie hisses through gritted teeth, noticing her facial expression.

"Bil." Finneas says firmly from across the room. I notice how upset Claudia looks - this must be such a horrible situation for her.

She rolls her eyes, then guides me away onto the balcony.

"Was that you playing nice?" I laugh.

"Bitch, I could've kicked her ass but I didn't." She answers innocently.

"Please try. For Claudia." I ask with a seriousness to my tone. She begins to give an over exaggerated grunt in response, but I give her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to dissolve into a childlike sweetness.

"Yo, I'm gonna get some takis, I'm too hungry to wait for dinner. Want anything?" She asks.

I shake my head and rest my forearms on the balcony rail, the bitter cold air of London stinging my skin. A coat is wrapped around me from behind.

"Damn, that was fast." I chuckle, turning to her. Instead, Elliott is stood beside me and I instantly feel colder than I did without the jacket.

She looks more vulnerable now that we are alone. Her eyes look at the ground, scared to meet mine.

"I am sorry." Her husky British accent says. There is sorrow in her voice - one that can't be faked. "I was jealous and angry and I-"

"Don't." I stop her, almost laughing through my words. "Don't even attempt that bullshit. You have no idea what you put me through."

"I read all the articles about Luke. He was a great guy. I'm sorry that you didn't get to mourn in peace."

I look away from her and try to pull myself together as I feel my eyes begin to water. I can't tel whether the tears are from sadness or anger.

"What are you gonna do now that you and Billie are back together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you gonna go public?"

"We're not even in a relationship."

She looks at me with puzzled eyes. "What about before?"

"This is none of your business." I snap back, becoming more insecure, but it's obvious that my answer is no.

"So you're not in an exclusive relationship and she doesn't want the world to know that she's with you. Francis, do you know how that sounds?"

"I didn't want to be in the public spotlight."

"And I bet she was all for it. I bet she never even suggested going public in the first place."

"Stop fucking twisting things." I reply, defensively.

"Then stop choosing to be ignorant. You're a secret. You don't deserve to be treated like that."

"I'm sorry, since when did you start fucking caring about me? Was it the day you leaked that photo of me and her kissing? Yeah, because that was a fucking shit show of love and support."