Wayfarer [Bill Cipher x Reader] [REVISED]

Chapter Two: The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know

Bill turned his eyes back towards the window, "So," he began. "You're not a waitress anymore. But, you're still a student. Whaddya study?"

"Oh, I'm a second-year [major of choice] major," you replied. "Well, not a second-year anymore. A rising junior, technically."

"[Major of choice], huh?" His lips quirked up at the corners. "Not a bad field! You enjoy it?"

"Oh, yeah! I mean, the coursework is a bit much sometimes, but..." You smiled back. "I like it. How about you? What do you study?"

He shrugged. "Nothing, actually," he said. "At least, not right now. Taking a break from school."

"Oh! Really?" Your lips parted. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have assumed—"

He waved a hand. "No, no, it's fine, I get it. I'm the right age, and I'm asking you questions about your school and all, so... it makes sense."

"Still, sorry, dude. My bad," you said. You paused. "If you don't mind me asking... why the break? I mean, I get it, school is stressful and all—"

He laughed. "Yeah, it sure is. But really?" He leaned farther back, drawing one knee up. "Mostly just taking a break from my classmates—well, some of them more than others." He sighed. "Can't exactly deal with them right now."

"Yeah, I get that," you replied. "There's some people I've taken classes with that I'd rather not see again, either." Your face darkened. "Especially Ethan. God, the amount of times he's flaked on our group projects..."

Bill cleared his throat. "Anyways," he said, "forgot to ask you this earlier, but I figure we should talk about it. Didya book a lot of motels in advance? I wanna just wanna heads up on if we're gonna be staying in the same room."

"What? No," you said. "I mean, Mabel and I were kind of just planning on winging it when it came to motels, anyways, so no, not really."

He sighed. "Great! I was hoping for that," he said. "Not that you'd be a bad roommate or anything, it's just... I value my privacy, ya know?"

"Totally, totally," you said, a little warmth climbing into your cheeks. Okay, if you were being honest with yourself, the thought of sharing a motel room with a handsome stranger was... terrifying? Exhilarating? Who knew. But at least this way, there was less of a chance for him to murder you in your sleep, on the off chance that he did turn out to be a serial killer. You breathed a sigh of relief. At the very least there was that.

Pushing down the creeping, squirming awkwardness in your chest, you cleared your throat. "So, uh, about our travel arrangements... we should talk about driving. Like, I figure we should alternate shifts and stuff, so... what shift do you want?"

"Driving? Shifts?" He squinted at you. "Oh, man." He sucked in a breath. "I'd love to help ya, I really would, buuut... I can't. Expired license and all." He pressed his lips together. "My bad."

"Oh, your license expired? That sucks. Have you tried renewing it online?" you asked.

He sighed. "Yeah, well... didn't work when I tried it out. Kept getting all sorts of error messages, saying that they couldn't process my request or whatever. And the line at the DMV... " He groaned.

You groaned a little, too. "Yeah, I feel you."

He sighed. "Just how it rolls, I guess. Hope that ten grand is enough to make up for the whole driving thing." He looked at you. "I mean, you'd be driving alone anyways if I weren't here."

"Well, honestly, not that much," you said. Upon seeing him furrow his brow, you added, "I mean, I was planning on heading home early before this. I mean, drive all the way to Montana by myself?" You pressed your fingers against one of your temples. "I'm not looking forward to that... "