~
Alexis
~
"It's not mine."
I feel like I've said that at least 30 times since the security officers detained me about 15 minutes ago. It didn't work the first 29 times, and I know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, but it's true, so I won't stop saying it.
"Oh, wow, we've never heard that one before," one of the officers monitoring me says sarcastically and I cross my arms with a frustrated huff.
"I don't even use coke! I'll piss in a cup for you to test right now," I say desperately.
The two officers share a look with each other before looking at me again, one piping up, "Possession is still a crime, even if you don't use it yourself. Especially while on federal property and attempting to cross state lines."
I groan and lean my elbows on the table in front of me while burying my face into my hands.
"What about fingerprints?" I ask after a moment and lift my head up again. "I can guarantee mine aren't on that shit."
"So you wore gloves," the shorter guy shrugs off my suggestion.
"But you might find someone else's fingerprint," I insist and he groans, as if the nightmare I'm experiencing right now is such an inconvenience to him.
"Look, kid, we're just here to watch ya until we get in contact with our superiors. We don't have access to some fancy DNA lab or some shit," he says and I frown again, on the verge of just letting out a scream of frustration that would probably make me look crazy.
"Fuck my life," I mutter and rest my head on the cold metal table while closing my eyes and imagining myself anywhere but here.
As it always does in times of crisis, my mind starts to drift to thoughts of Billie. I don't have to think back very far, in fact I think back to just a few hours ago when we were on stage together.
It was magical, and I'll be damned if some bullshit drug conviction for cocaine that isn't even mine gets in the way of us sharing more moments like that together.
I hear the door open but don't move from my position until I hear Chris' voice, and then I immediately lift my head up. He looks at me for a second and he looks concerned, but then his face hardens and he looks away. Shit, he's pissed at me.
"Chris lis-"
"Shut up," he cuts me off and looks between the two guys. "Let's cut to the chase; how much is it gonna cost to get her off?"
I raise my brows in surprise and I'm tempted to tell him not to do this but Chris is about as stubborn as I am, so I know it's no use.
"Are you trying to bribe federal officers?" one of them asks, and I have to bite back a laugh because he's basically a glamorized mall cop.
"Absolutely," Chris replies confidentially. "Listen, fellas, think about it like this: if you turn me down, you're going to keep her in custody for a few hours while twiddling your thumbs and doing boring paperwork before passing her off to your superiors, and they'll barely acknowledge your work and you won't get any compensation that you aren't getting already," he starts and I watch him curiously. "Or...you could let her go and go home richer; without having to lift a finger except to uncuff her and shred the paperwork you started filling out."
"But she's a criminal," one of them says lamely, clearly just trying to talk himself out of giving in to Christ bribe.
"It's, what, a half gram of coke that you've already taken away. Who's she putting in danger?"
The officers share another look then quickly turn their backs to Chris so they can huddle up and whisper amongst themselves. It's only a beat later when they turn around, excited looks on their faces.
"Ten thousand," the taller one says and Chris immediately nods.
"Each," the shorter guy nods and Chris smiles his oh-so-charming smile that he most definitely doesn't mean.
"I assumed. Do we have a deal?" he asks and holds his hand out for them to shake, which they each do after a moment of slight hesitation.
One of them then walks over to me and reaches down to uncuff me. I sigh in relief and stand up while rubbing my wrists all while avoiding Chris' eyes, which I can feel burning into the side of my head.
"Alexis, go join the group. I'll handle the rest," he says and I quickly nod while walking to the door. "We'll talk later."
"Thank you," I say quietly then scurry out of the room, as if I linger too long the officers will change their minds.
I walk out of the room and back towards the airport lounge where I was before all this mess happened, my pace quick. When I walk in the door everyone looks up, and Billie immediately signs in relief and runs over to me.
She tackles me into a hug and I wrap my arms around her tightly as she nuzzles into my neck to get as close to me as possible. I realize quickly that while what just happened was scary for me, it was probably scary for Billie too. Last time she saw me get taken away in cuffs, things didn't go well for us.
Damn it, why do I keep putting her through this?
"What happened?" she asks, not loosening her grip from around me.
"Chris paid them off," I mumble in her war while rubbing her back reassuringly. "They're not reporting me."
She sighs in relief but doesn't let go, and I keep hugging her tightly for as long as she needs me too. As we hug, I lift my eyes to look around the room, my eyes narrowing when they land on Devon.
He looks pissed that I'm back, which just further proves my thought that he's the one who planted that shit on me. When the officers first slapped the cuffs on, my mind went a little blank, and all I could think was It wasn't me. I was too frazzled to think who it actually was, but as my heads gotten clearer, so has the culprit.
Devon must've taken my room key out of my bag when he followed to my gym at the last hotel. I was positive I took it, and I knew something was up when my key ended up on the bed. It didn't cross my mind that someone would plant something though, so all I did was check for stolen items.
Billie pulls back to look at me, and I tear my eyes away from Devon to look down at her.
"It wasn't mine, you know that right?" I ask quietly and she doesn't hesitate to nod, which makes me sigh in relief.
I look into her eyes for a second longer before looking at Devon again. I start walking towards him but Billie immediately grabs me and pulls me back.
"You're a fucking scumbag, you know that?" I call out to him while she holds me, and Finneas quickly springs into action to help Billie hold me back.
Devon plays dumb, his eyebrows furrowed in fake confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"Lexi, calm down," Billie murmurs near my ear when I try to pull away from her again to get to him.
"You put that shit in my bag!"
"That's ridiculous," he says and shakes his head. "It's so sad that you can't accept responsibility for your actions."
"Says the asshole who abandoned his baby mama," I snap back and he falters a bit when people start murmuring amongst themselves.
"Lexi," Billie hisses and tugs at my arm harder. "Stop it. Ignore him before you make shit worse."
"Seriously, Lex," Finneas says quietly and I grunt in frustration but stop struggling against them.
"Just watch your back, man," I say simply and we glare at each other for a moment longer before the lounge door opens and I turn around to find Chris.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asks when he sees me being held by Finneas and Billie like some rabid animal.
"Nothing."
"She threatened me," Devon says at the same time and Chris honestly looks like he wants to rip his hair out and quit his job.
"Right. Alexis, come outside with me," he says and I share a nervous look with Billie, who doesn't let go of me right away.
"It'll be okay," I whisper then pull out of her hold and follow Chris out the door.
He walks to another lounge in silence, and I can tell from how he's acting that I should be quiet for now too. When the door closes behind us he turns to look at me, and when I open my mouth to speak he holds his hand up to shut me up.
"If you try to bullshit me right now, I will lose my fucking mind."
"I'm not gonna bullshit," I say quickly and shake my head. "Chris, you gotta believe me; that shit wasn't mine."
He groans and punches the bridge of his nose, "It sounds like you're bullshitting me."
"I swear to God, it wasn't mine. I will take a drug test the second we get to Florida, okay? All you're gonna find is weed," I say completely honestly.
He sighs and looks down at his shoes for a moment before looking at me, his eyes apologetic now, "I don't think you should come to Florida," he says and my heart drops. "I'm going to pay for a flight back home, and I think you should just go back to working in the studio."
"Please don't send me home," I beg and he shakes his head. "This can't be strike three, that shit wasn't mine!"
"Who's was it then?"
"Devon planted it on me!" I exclaim and he throws his hands up in frustration.
"Why do you hate Devon so much? He gets along with everyone on this tour, and frankly it's childish, Alexis," he says condescendingly and I groan, but don't get a chance to say anything before he continues.
"Look, I was hesitant to let you come in the first place because relationships can cause a lot of issues on tour, and clearly I was right! You've been a distraction to Billie, and on top of that you've nearly gotten arrested once, have gotten arrested, almost delayed the bus because you'd been out drinking all night, shoved reporters, and just generally brought in bad press for the tour and for Billie. Oh, and you're high pretty much every fucking day. Billie might not notice, but I sure as hell do!" he rants and I shrink back, feeling small and ashamed.
I didn't think anyone noticed.
He takes a deep breath to compose himself and as much as I hate to admit it, I can tell there's no way I'm getting out of this. It's clear he's made up his mind.
"Look, I still like you Alexis. And you have so much potential. Which is why you can still work in the studio when you get home. But only if you go home now, not if you stay for the rest of tour as Billie's guest."
"At least let me fly home from Florida so I can get a chance to say bye to Billie for real," I say quietly, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "Please."
He thinks it over for a moment before nodding, "Alright. I'll give you two a day there," he says and I sigh in relief.
"Thank you," I mumble. "And thank you for paying those guys off."
"Let's never talk about it again," he says then checks his watch. "We have to board now, we've already pissed off the airport staff enough."
I nod and walk out the door with him and to the other lounge, where only Billie, Finneas, and Claudia are left.
"Everyone else boarded," Finneas explains.
"Perfect, lets go," Chris says and grabs his backpack from the chair.
I grab my bag silently and Billie follows me, clearly concerned.
"What'd Chris say?" she asks and I sigh as I sling my bag over my shoulder then turn around to face her.
"He's sending me home, baby," I mumble and her face falls. "We gotta walk and talk," I say and grab her hand, leading her towards the gate.
"Okay but you can stay on as my guest, remember?" she says quickly and I shake my head.
"I only keep my job at the studio if I go straight back to work," I explain and she frowns again, her eyes growing sad. "I'm sorry, Bil."
She goes silent, and I let her have a moment to think to herself as we board the plane behind everyone else. We walk down the walkway and onto the plane hand in hand, taking our seats beside each other in business class.
"So you'd be flying home from Florida?" Billie asks after we've both gotten comfortable, and I nod.
"Yeah. Chris said I can have a day," I mumble and look away from her. "I'm gonna fucking kill Devon," I grumble as I glare down at my hands.
Billie reaches over the short barrier between our seats and takes my hand in hers, then laces our fingers together and gives me a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't think about Devon," she mumbles and nudges me to look at her. "Can you please stay? We can find you a different job when we get home."
"Billie..." when I trail off she pouts and I sigh. "I can't give up this job. I love it."
Her eyes well up a bit and she blinks a few times then quickly looks away from me, and my heart clenches.
"Princess," I whisper and lift her hand to kiss it gently. "There's not that much tour left, right? It'll suck, but we'll get through it. We'll talk every day, and I can tour apartments on FaceTime or something."
She perks up a little bit when I mention touring apartments, but still looks upset.
"That means we won't be together on Halloween," she says sadly and I run my thumb over her knuckles comfortingly.
"We have a whole bunch of Halloween's in our future to make up for it together," I assure her but her pout doesn't fade. "We'll make it work," I say gently but confidently, and lean over the seat divider to press a sweet kiss to her cheek. Her lips twitch slightly, so I move my lips to her ear. "I love you, princess," I whisper and a proper smile tugs at her lips.
She turns her head to look at me, and I smile too when her nose brushes against mine in the process.
"We'll make it work," she confirms, but I can see in her eyes that she's still really upset. "I don't know how I'm gonna deal with Devon and tour and everything without you," she says sadly.
"You don't have to deal with anything without me, baby. Just because I'm not literally there doesn't mean I can't help you and support you," I try my best to reassure her and give her a soft smile when she looks at me.
"We got this," she mumbles then leans back in her seat with a sigh. "Come cuddle."
She starts to lower her seat as I get up from my own and walk around to her side. Once it's flat, she scoots to the edge and I squeeze in behind her. It's tight, but neither of us mind.
"Sweet dreams, princess," I whisper and kiss the spot behind her ear gently as I wrap my arms around her body snugly.
"Love you, Lex," she mumbles back, and I feel her relax in my arms as she drifts off.
~
We wake up a few hours later when a flight attendant asks me to go back to my own seat for landing. We're not up for much longer, as they second we get out of the airport and to the hotel we're back in bed and sleeping soundly.
We wake up for a second time mid-morning, and I smile to myself when I open my eyes to find Billie's sleeping face on the pillow in front of me. Her plump lips are pouted and cute little snores slip from between them, and suddenly my heart hurts because I don't know how I'll deal with not waking up beside her every morning again.
After a few minutes, she lets out a cute little whimper and her eyebrows scrunch together before her eyelids flutter open. She blinks a few times until her tired eyes adjust, and when they meet mine she gives me a sleepy smile.
"Mmm morning," she mumbles in the sleepy voice that I love so much.
"Morning, Bil," I whisper and lean closer to kiss the tip of her nose. "Sleep okay?"
She nods and shifts around a bit to get more comfortable as she keeps looking into my eyes. "I don't want you to go," she mumbles and I pout.
"I don't wanna go."
She sighs and presses her forehead against mine. "What should we do today?"
"I don't care, I just wanna be with you," I mumble and Billie smiles softly.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A/N
soooooo I thought it would be fun if y'all picked what Billie and Lexi do for their last day on tour together so put your ideas here!
this isn't set in stone, but depending on a few things i might be ending this book in a few chapters and starting a third one????? idk
how are y'all? i'm overwhelmed and procrastinating by writing this