The Artist / Billie Eilish

Chapter 36

My heart stopped in my chest as he laughed again, nodding his head and biting his lip.

"You..." I stuttered, my mouth opening and closing a few times as I tried to get words out, taking time to process what he was saying. "You want Rose? What the fuck does that mean?"

He rolled his eyes, showing me the pictures he took of Rose and I at the restaurant the other night, and my heart sank. We were smiling at each other in one of them, and then she was on my lap as we were laughing in the next one.

"This one's my favourite," Q growled as he flipped to the next.

My hands were on her ass as she straddled my waist, our lips locked together. He laughed, I shakily sighed.

"So, lemme be more specific," he cleared his throat, stepping back and sliding his phone back into his pocket. "I don't give a shit if you keep seeing Rose. It ain't that deep for me about either of you, I got a girl at home anyways."

He smiled as he glanced down the corridor again before looking into the hotel room behind me.

"And I know she's your girl. So... I guess, essentially, I'm asking for a hall pass."

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to stay calm, but I felt my skin start to heat up.

"A hall pass? What, are we fucking 9? The hell does that mean?"

He laughed loudly, shaking his head.

"Oh, Billie. You're so cute," he ruffled my hair as I smacked him away, the fake smile still plastered onto his lips. "I'll call Steve. I'll get Rose back on the tour, I'll tell him you've broken it off. But..."

He licked his lips, wandering closer to me as he looked down the hall, murmuring into the dead silence.

"She's staying with me. In my hotel room. And... Because you've given me a hall pass..." He raised his eyebrows, smiling and stepping back, his crossed arms indicating that that was the end of his proposition.

I looked at him for a second, dumbfounded, before trying to voice my thoughts. "You do realise... If you're saying you want my permission to sleep with Rose, that even if I said yes, she'd say no? You know that right?"

He laughed, scratching the back of his neck as he shook his head.

"I'm not saying that's gonna happen. I obviously won't force myself onto her, I ain't that kinda guy. But, she stays with me, and... Whatever happens, happens."

My heart continued to beat as quick as can be, loud in my ears, when suddenly I felt a delicate hand on my back.

Q looked next to me as he lit up, leaning in for a hug with Rose as she hesitantly hugged him back quickly, stepping behind me slightly when he pulled away.

I saw her tugging at the bottom of the hoodie, trying to cover her legs, as Q smirked at her.

"You look beautiful tonight, Rose."

I started shaking with anger as I clenched my jaw, Rose awkwardly glancing at me before clearing her throat, looking anywhere but at Q.

"Um, thanks."

A horrible mix of tension and awkward silence surrounded us, and Q whistled as he pulled his phone out again, handing it to me with the photos open as Rose gasped next to me.

"So... What do you say?"

Sighing, I knew what I had to do. My shaky hands began to delete all four photos permanently as Q grinned, biting his lip as I felt Rose stand behind me a bit more.