Matter of Time(Tom Holland Fanfic)

Chapter Four

Billie sat in the make-up trailer as one of the many make-up artists got her ready for her day on set. Usually Billie didn't like doing this. She really hated being fussed over but that was probably because her mother had always been insistent on doing her hair and make-up all the damn time. Hair and make-up was more of her mother's thing than hers which was why her mother was usually her make-up artist for premieres and events she had to attend. However, Marvel had their own make-up artists for this kind of thing. Billie's make-up artist for this film was the same one she had for Age of Ultron. Her name was Megan and she was a woman in her late twenties. She was a bit too chatty for Billie's liking but she didn't mind her that much.

"Anyways...is there any cute guys back home?" Megan asked her as Billie sat in the make-up and hair seat. She had just finished telling Billie about her wedding last fall when Megan decided to turn the conversation over to Billie. There was indie music playing in the background because Billie was the first one to set and she had been insistent. She didn't think she could stand to listen to Shawn Mendes or Taylor Swift for the entire hour and half she spent in the make-up trailer. She'd much rather listen to HAIM or Florence+The Machine.

"Come on, Megan, you know I'm much too busy for that." Billie told her as she looked down at her phone. She was currently texting her mom who was apparently burning down the kitchen back home. Despite being a Texan woman, her mother was really bad at cooking. Billie wasn't bad when it came to cooking but her mother was a disaster in the kitchen. She was trying to convince her mother to just give up but her mother was almost as stubborn as she was.

"I know but you're a teenage girl. When I was your age I was so boy crazy." Megan said as she applied make-up to Billie's face to make it look like she had a cut across her cheek. They were filming another part of the airport battle today so they really needed to make it look real. "There's got to be at least one boy you like." Billie sighed.

"Fine." Billie eventually relented. "There's this one guy named Tyler." Billie really didn't know why everyone was so obsessed with her love life. A part of her thought it might be because most of the cast were all married with children so they were bored.

Old people...

"Ooh, Tyler." Megan said as she smiled at Billie. "Show me a picture."

Billie just rolled her eyes but she did as she was told anyways. The blonde went through her photo library before pulling up his picture on her phone. She showed the older woman the picture of Tyler from last fall's tailgate party before one of the football games back in her home town. Megan studied the picture as she saw a very handsome African American boy with a million watt smile. The boy had his arm wrapped around Billie as they both smiled at the camera.

"He's on the football team back home. A linebacker." Billie said and Megan nodded. The varsity jacket he was wearing made it obvious he was a jock. "We've known each other for a long time, since we were kids, but we've only recently started hanging out. He's nice." Billie was about to talk about some more but it was then that they were interrupted as a new person came into the trailer. Billie turned in her seat and saw that it was Tom who looked a bit surprised to see her there.

"Uh...I was told that I had to head to hair and make-up first thing." He told Megan, not looking like he knew what to do with himself. Megan smiled softly at the nineteen year old boy.

"Yes, I think Kristen's assigned to you and she'll be here shortly. Have a seat." Megan told him and Tom just gave her a grateful smile before taking a seat a couple seats down from Billie. And just like that, Billie and Megan returned to their conversation like nothing happened. Megan used one of the make-up brushes to help apply more make-up to Billie's face.

"So is it serious?" Megan asked her, trying to get more information out of the incredibly vague girl and Billie shrugged. Tom couldn't help but eavesdrop as he became curious. Was what serious? Where they talking about the movie? Maybe an old injury Billie sustained from filming an action scene? Tom was very interested to know...well, he was interested in all things involving Billie Aufderheide since she was a very interesting person.

"We've gone out a couple times. It's nothing serious." Billie told her nonchalantly. "I'm busy with acting and press tours. He's busy with football. He's hoping to get recruited into Texas A&M so fingers crossed."

It soon became clear to Tom that Billie was talking about a boyfriend or love interest. At first he thought she meant football as in English football but then he was quick to realize that Billie probably meant American football. That was a big thing in the states and even more so in Texas or so he heard. It didn't really surprise him that Billie had a boyfriend nonetheless. It would've surprised him if she didn't. She was very beautiful and not to mention a seemingly unique individual.

"I'm just surprised that you're interested in a football player. I thought you didn't like sports." Megan told her and Billie gave her an offended look.

"I like sports." She argued. "In case you didn't know, I used to be the pitcher on the little league boy's baseball team from first to sixth grade. I have one hell of an arm. Just ask Mackie...he knows. " Tom raised his eyebrows at that.

"You played baseball?" Tom asked in surprise, unable to stop himself from asking the question that escaped his lips. Billie gave him an odd look and Tom blushed because he realized that he had been caught eavesdropping on their conversation. Billie didn't comment on it as she answered his question instead.

"I sure did and I was amazing. Not to brag." Billie drawled and Tom gave her an amused look. He noticed that Americans had a huge habit of bragging and then saying, "not to brag". He just had a similar encounter with the hilarious Anthony Mackie a short while ago as the man bragged about dancing with a famous ballerina during his Julliard audition.

"Last year I even got to throw the first pitch at the Texas Rangers game and I nailed it. Everyone was cheering my name. You should've seen it. I think we won that day because I got the crowd all riled up. It was all me."

"You like baseball then?" Tom asked her as he learned something new about his blonde costar. He hadn't had much interaction with her since that audition all that time ago so he was happy to get to know her a little better.

"I like playing it more than I do watching it but yes. There's nothing else to do back home so baseball was pretty fun." Billie told him.

"Why did you quit then?" He asked her curiously and Billie sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Apparently the coach thought I was too competitive for some reason. I was being too aggressive with the away team and our own team too." Billie shrugged once more as she lied. That wasn't the truth at all. Well, it might've been a small part of the truth but there was more to it than that.

"I have a habit of trash talking people. The school counselor thought it would be better for me if I didn't participate in competitive sports which is the reason my mom signed me up for the children's theater." Billie explained as Tom listened to her intently.

"I couldn't really trash talk people there. Everyone was way more sensitive than in baseball. There's no crying in baseball, after all." Billie then noticed how the A League of Their Own quote went right over his head. The look on his face was evidence enough of that. Geez, how was she supposed to get along with this guy if he hadn't seen A League of Their Own?

"Trash talking." Tom stated, clearly amused by this new information. "Trash talking like what?" Billie just waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, you know the usual." Billie said as she described her short career in baseball. "You throw like a fucking two year old, Miller. Hey, Valdez, you'd think with all that time you spend washing your balls, you'd actually be able to hit one every once and a while."

"How old were you again?" Tom asked her as he stared at the blonde like she was something he had never seen before. He couldn't believe she was actually serious.

"Eight." Billie answered with zero hesitance. Tom just nodded to himself as he tried to process this information. He couldn't really believe a eight year old would say something like that but okay. Maybe things were different in Texas. "What about you? Are you into sports?" Tom laughed before shaking his head.

"No...I'm more of a fan than anything else. Especially football and I mean real football when I say that." Tom told her, going out on a limb and teasing her while he said that. Billie looked surprised but she was actually amused that he was teasing her.

"Okay, I see how it is." Billie said and Megan watched the two teenagers curiously. She hadn't really seen Billie interact with anyone her own age before. Megan supposed the blonde had friends back home but on set everyone else was significantly older than her. The only person that she seemed to be close with on set was Sebastian and that was only because the both of them were incredibly silent and kept to themselves normally. Not too different from their on-screen counterparts.

"Just don't say that around Mackie or Evans. They take football way more seriously than I do." Billie told him, being half serious when she said that but it was actually kind of true. Anthony and Chris were crazy about football.

"Really and how seriously do you take it?" Tom asked her and Billie shrugged.

"Look, I'm more of a fan of college teams. Mackie and Evans are the NFL fans." Billie told him as he listened to her intently. Tom didn't really have a clue as to what she was talking about but he just liked hearing her talk. Her accent was so soothing. "Don't get them started on the Saints or Patriots. You'll never heard the end of it."

"And what team are you a fan of?" Tom asked her and Billie looked at him, wondering why he was so suddenly curious about American sports. Maybe it was because he was in the states now and surrounded by Americans. Billie was pretty sure the only brit they had in the cast was Bettany, after all.

"Texas A&M Aggies. College but they'll always be my favorite." Billie told him before moving on. "Of course, ask me about baseball teams and I'll say the Texas Rangers every time. How about you? What soccer team do you like back in England?" Tom just laughed before answering.

"Well, my favorite football team is Arsenal. I can't play football myself but I enjoy watching a match every now and then." Tom told her and Billie just nodded.

She'd ask him more about the sport but Billie didn't really know anything about soccer just like he probably didn't know shit about baseball. Billie had a couple of friends back home who played soccer but she just didn't find the sport that exciting. Maybe it was because there hadn't been a lot of movies back then that got you real pumped up about soccer. Billie had grown up watching baseball films so, of course, she had become interested in it. Not to mention baseball was some of the fondest memories she had of her father. Well, before everything went to shit, that is.

"Guys, you're really boring me with all this sports talk. This is literally the last thing I expected to hear from a couple of actors." Megan complained and Tom just laughed while Billie smiled.

"Well, excuse us for trying to change things up for once. Did you expect us to discuss our craft or something?" Billie said sarcastically and Tom tried not to laugh even more at the blonde's sarcasm. She was actually quite funny now that he was getting to know her a little bit. More crude than he had expected but definitely funny. Not that Tom disliked her crudeness but he was just surprised by how blunt she could be. Billie then turned to look back at the actor.

"How are you liking it around here anyways? I suppose a congratulations is in order...not that any of us were really surprised that you got the part."

"Thank you and yeah...it's definitely taking some getting used to." Tom said as he blushed at her praise. "The trailer has everything. The fridge is filled with everything and more than a person could ever imagine." Billie nodded.

"Yeah, well Marvel can sure afford it. They never skimp on anything. That's something I learned a long time ago." Billie said as she mentally compared the set of a Marvel movie to every other movie she had ever done. There was a significant difference. Marvel was sure as hell different than any indie film she had ever done. "They literally have a department for everything."

"I was asked to go to Downey Town." Tom said, sounding very amazed at the prospect. "I thought it was an actual place here in Atlanta but apparently it's Robert's base camp."

Billie gave him an amused look but mostly because she thought it was cute the way he pronounced "Atlanta". He kind of said it like "Atlanter". Billie then became disgusted with herself. Ew...was she actually calling his accent cute? Billie didn't find British accents cute. Not that she had anything against British people but after all the hell everyone had been giving her about the new kid, she didn't want to prove them right.

"I know. I went there when we were shooting Age of Ultron." Billie told him. "His place is insane. He's got a garden, personal chef, and everything. The only downside is that the guy is super into sushi and fish eggs." Tom gave her a confused look.

"What?" He questioned, not getting what was wrong with that and Billie sighed.

"It's fine if you're into that kind of thing but personally I prefer my fish deep fried and unhealthy." Billie told him and Tom wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. Maybe she was this time since she looked very serious.

"Are you saying that you've never eaten sushi before?" Tom asked her and Billie nodded.

"Nope. Never." Billie told him and Tom was just mystified at the very idea that someone had never had sushi before. What kind of life was one without sushi?

"I read a news story the other day where this man thought his intestines had fallen out so he took his "intestines" and piled them up into a bag and drove himself down to the hospital." Billie said as she told the story which was her way of explaining why she would never eat sushi.

Tom just listened to her as she told the oddest story he had ever heard any actor tell. It was a story that made little sense and probably wasn't even true. It sounded very exaggerated but Billie looked one hundred percent serious as she told it.

"Turns out it wasn't his intestines but a sixteen foot long tape worm buried inside him because he ate too much sushi. So...no thank you. I won't eat sushi."

Tom stared at the girl like she was some strange creature he had never seen before. He wondered how long she had been storing that story away for because that was oddest story he had ever heard. However, Megan just rolled her eyes at the girl. She really wished that the blonde actress would stop trying to scare this new actor away. He seemed like a nice kid but if Billie kept being weird like that then she was just going to spook him.

"Why would he think his intestines had fallen out? Who would think that they could survive something like that?" Megan asked her. Billie rolled her eyes and groaned.

"I don't know, Megan. He was probably some redneck from Texarkana." Billie told her before moving on. "My point is that sushi is gross. Excuse me if I like my food cooked all the way."

"Well, I'm sure if you tried some sushi from a real sushi place then you would like it." Tom suggested and Billie really doubted that. The thought of eating raw fish made her want to puke but she decided that she was going to be on her best behavior and not get into it with her new costar over sushi. Her mom always said that she liked arguing with people too much. Aunt Linda always said she should've been a lawyer instead of an actor because of that.

"Looks like I'm finished with you today, Aufderheide." Megan told Billie and the blonde was just relieved to be finished with hair and make-up. She hated sitting still for so long and she was just ready to go back to finishing shooting that scene with Mackie and Seb.

"Finally." Billie said as she didn't waste any time getting up from the seat. Tom was a bit sad to see her go since he had been enjoying the conversation they were having. She was the only one that had really talked to him since he arrived. He supposed he could've tried talking to the others but it was slightly intimidating trying to talk to actors like Scarlett Johansson or Paul Rudd. Besides...Billie was way closer to his age than all the others.

"It was nice talking to you, Billie." Tom told her and Billie was taken back by how polite he was. Well, that was weird and she wasn't sure she liked it. His politeness made her uncomfortable so she just gave him an odd look before mumbling a response.

"Yup." She said awkwardly as she left the trailer. Billie didn't really know what else to say to him.

Tom watched her leave in confusion because he didn't think that was a response any normal human-being would give. Megan shook her head in amusement as the blonde exited the trailer, the door closing behind her. Megan already knew the girl too well to find her response surprising but Tom on the other hand couldn't help but be completely stumped by Billie Aufderheide. Just when he felt like he was starting to get to know her, he was left surprised and confused by her personality once again. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily but it just made Tom want to seek to understand her even more. However, something told Tom that trying to understand Billie required a really complicated skill.

Well, he was willing to try, at least.