i saw the light;
❛ LONG STORY SHORT ❜
❝ i was faithful to my husband ❞
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EDDIE: If I wasn't completely in love with her before, I was after that.
ELLIE: I thought that everyone was going to be pissed but everyone was hyped. Well...everyone except for Billy.
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"All right, was it just me, or was that, uh...?" Graham started with an excited grin on his face as he practically flew down the stairs. He was walking after Billy, who had a pissed-off look on his face.
Ellie squealed in surprise when Warren wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up before spinning her around. He was always the most supportive of everyone and it made Ellie's heart flutter.
"Not just you, dude." Eddie shook his head, mirroring the look on his face.
"Come on." Graham exclaimed.
"You were incredible out there." Daisy said, slowing down to turn around and look at Ellie. "I loved Getaway Car but I thought singing was just not your thing since it's your only solo."
Before Ellie could thank her, Warren yelled, "A girl flashed me. Lifted her shirt, and there they were."
"Can I talk to you two?" Billy asked, turning to Daisy and Ellie. The two women shared a look but followed him a little further away from the rest of the band. Billy shook his head. "I said we were playing it fourth." Then, he glared at his sister. "And you." He huffed. "What the hell was that?"
"Ask Teddy." Gabriella shot back. "He gave me the chance to publish a couple of singles outside of the band." She tried her hardest to ignore the surprised look on Billy's face. His mouth fell open in disbelief and he went to say something when she stopped him, "He wanted me to get out there before the band goes on tour again. I have the right look for the label and I can give us some publicity that you can't since you have a wife and a kid waiting for you at home."
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ELLIE: Teddy wanted me to date a bit in the music and movie industry. Fans loved that. They loved listening to songs and being convinced that they knew who it was about. They loved to think that they knew everything about those kinds of relationships.
He also wanted me to explore my party-girl persona. To the public, I was supposed to come across as wild, intense, and carefree. (Narrows her eyes) And at the time I think that was who I was. Or at least that was who the drugs and alcohol made me. I don't know. I just never felt like I was pretending. Not before the tour at least.
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"So what now?" Billy narrowed his eyes after a moment of silence. "You're leaving the band?"
Daisy stared between the Dunne siblings as if they were a tennis match. She refused to look away because she did not want to miss a thing. Their dynamic was intense and the most interesting one she had ever seen. When she stared at them, she was glad to be an only child.
"Not unless you kick me out." Ellie held her head high, her fierce blue eyes locked onto his. The wind was blowing her hair into her face and dust into her eyes but she refused to look away and back down.
"I'll consider it if you pull another stunt like this." Billy promised and pushed his curls from his eyes. He moved his glare from his sister to the redhead next to her. "You too."
Daisy gave him a fake innocent grin, her eyes shining with anger and annoyance. "Oh, no, I just thought you'd already played three 'cause they all sound the same."
Ellie stared at the side of her face for a moment. Her smile was patronizing and it made her realize that the only thing she had in common with Billy was her distaste for Daisy Jones. She scoffed and turned on her heel to celebrate with the rest of the band. She was not planning on wasting one of the best days of her life surrounded by the negative energy that Billy and Daisy radiated.
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"Your first single and it hits number one. I mean, how do you top that?" The interviewer asked the band, letting out a slight chuckle.
Ellie narrowed her eyes, confused at the question. He was aware that they had an entire album and tour before Honeycomb, right?
Billy seemed to be having the exact same thoughts as her. He shuffled on his feet and stated, "Well, this isn't our first single, but, uh...yeah, I mean we have an album out; Seven, Eight, Nine."
"That's the one with the song?"
Ellie scoffed. They worked their asses off to even get to record their debut album and people refused to acknowledge that it even existed.
"I think we're just happy that everyone is digging the song and we're happy to be here." Daisy smiled that dazzling smile that was directed at the camera.
Billy cleared his throat. "Yeah. True, you know, it was, it was, uh, great watching them sing our words. Uh, it was pretty incredible."
"So, what do you two have planned for an encore?"
"Well, Daisy has her own stuff going on, and, you know, we're not really looking for...uh, as much as we loved having her sing on our song, that was more of a one-time thing, so..." Billy ranted, oblivious to the look of disbelief that Daisy was sending him.
The interviewer frowned. "Well, I for one am sorry to hear that." He looked at Ellie and smiled. "What about you? Is the reason that Daisy is not joining the band the fact that you guys already have a lead female singer?"
"So it goes... is actually my single." Ellie told him with a broad charming grin. "It is one of the few songs that I will be releasing while I will be recording the next album with The Six."
"How come you don't just sing your songs for the band?"
"I prefer to do this by myself." Ellie lied and ignored the way that her eldest brother stiffened next to her. "I want to keep these two things." She clapped Billy on the shoulder. "This guy is the only lead singer that The Six needs."
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ELLIE: I wasn't about to go and tell everybody that I was going solo on the side because my own brother didn't want me. (Scoffs with a bitter smile on her face) I couldn't look weak. I had to be strong and confident. If a woman in the singing industry back then looked vulnerable, the world would eat her alive and spit her right back out.
The media has always preyed on young vulnerable women. I didn't want them to know that I felt like an outcast in my own band. I wanted them to see me as a confident woman who was trying to make a name for myself. Because that was who I was.
Later that day...when we all got onto the bus and I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, iI heard Karen and Billy talking. She must have thought that I was asleep because she said some things that night that she never would have said in my face.
KAREN: She was awake?
ELLIE: She told him that me being a lead singer would not be "the worst thing in the world".
KAREN: I said, "The crowd loved us. They loved her. Both of them."
ELLIE: I realized how much she understood me. She told him that I only went behind his back because I knew that he didn't believe that I could be as good as him. He denied it and then called me an attention whore.
KAREN: "You can't handle the spotlight being on her for once?"
ELLIE: Back when we were singing at weddings and proms, he let me sing because the crowd was not big. He wouldn't care if I fucked up then. And he didn't care if the twenty men in the room only had eyes on me for three minutes.
KAREN: He said that he would give in a little because he did not believe we could survive their rivalry. But that rivalry was there long before she sang "So it goes...". It was there before Daisy. It was there before he cheated on Camila. It was there even before I joined the band.
WARREN: The Dunne siblings are who brought all of us together. They were the glue. All three of them.
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When Billy and Camila moved out of their shared house with their little girl, Ellie started to feel Camila slipping away from her. Not because she wanted to, but because she was too busy being a mother and a wife while Ellie was busy with her music.
Ellie was the only one in the house when Camila got to her house. Everyone else was supposed to be in Billy and Camila's house so she wanted some peace and quiet.
"Dear angel Lacy, eyes white as daisies/Did I ever tell you that I'm not doing well?/Ooh, I care, I care, I care/Like perfume that you wear..." Ellie trailed off once she noticed Camila leaning against the doorway of her room with an angelic smile on her face.
She was the most gorgeous woman on earth and Billy definitely did not deserve her.
"Don't stop on my account." Camila chuckled softly. "Please go on. I like this one."
Ellie sighed and quickly realized that she could never say no to her.
"I linger all the time
Watching, hidden in plain sight
Ooh, I try, I try, I try
But it takes over my life
I see you everywhere
Sweetest torture one could bear
Smart, sexy Lacy, I'm losing it lately
I feel your compliments like bullets on skin
Dazzling starlet, Bardot reincarnate
Well, aren't you the greatest thing to ever exist?
Ooh, I care, I care, I care
Like ribbons in your hair
My stomach's all in knots
You got the one thing that I want
Ooh, I try, I try, I try
Try to rationalize
People are people but it's like you're made of angel dust
Lacy, oh, Lacy, it's like you're out to get me
You poison every little thing that I do
Lacy, oh, Lacy, I just loathe you lately
And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you
Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you."
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ELLIE: This song was mainly about the jealousy I felt when it came to Daisy. Despite the fact that "Honeycomb" and "So it goes..." were constantly switching in the top three on the billboard, I still felt so envious of her. She did everything so flawlessly. I hated her but she was gorgeous and nice and made my insides melt. Which was something I refused to admit to myself back then.
"Lacy" was also about typical female jealousy and girl-and-girl relationships. I transferred some of my feelings for Camila into that song. A part of me hated her because she would never pick me and I was jealous because she was fine without me but there was always going to be a part of me that would choose her over anyone.
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"Is that going to be your next single?" Camila asked her, an excited smile on her face. Ellie scolded herself for even being surprised by how happy her friend was for her. Camila was nothing like Billy. She was gentle and compassionate. Every fiber of her being was happy that her best friend was getting all of those amazing opportunities.
Ellie shook her head. "Not any time soon. It isn't really a single. I might throw it into an album if I ever get one."
"I'm sure you will. Everyone loves your songs." Camila told her softly and genuinely, now sat on the bottom of her bed. "Why weren't you at our house?" Our house. Ellie tried not to visibly cringe at her words. She did not want to admit that the real reason was her husband. Nonetheless, Camila somehow read her mind. She placed her hand on top of hers, making her drop the guitar into her lap. "Billy wants you there. I want you there. Everyone does."
"I just needed a couple of hours of silence." Ellie said, her hand frozen underneath Camila's. She was afraid to move it even a little in case Camila read it as discomfort and moved her hand. She never wanted her to let go. "Everything is always really hectic here so I saw a chance and I took it." Camila chuckled at her words. "Plus, I have an event tonight."
Camila's eyebrows furrowed at the news. "What kind of event?"
"Teddy got me into this small dinner with some people that he wanted me to meet." Ellie shrugged, "It's no big deal. He just wants me to get out there."
"Ooh..." Camila trailed off and then perked up as she got an idea. "Do you want me to help you get ready?"
"You don't have to..."
"I want to." She was quick to cut her off. "Come on, it will be just like old times."
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CAMILA: I wish I savored the way she looked at me back then. In that pretty green dress and curled blonde hair...red lipstick. (Chuckles) I bet she had heads turning the whole night.
...Don't look at me like that. I was faithful to my husband. From the second I met him, I was faithful to my husband. But, did you ever have someone who looked at you like you hung the moon and the stars? Like you were the Sun? Billy never looked at me like that.
ELLIE: When I got home from the party I got a phone call from Daisy. She got arrested.