accompanied | billie eilish

five

aria

the next morning, i wake up in the tour bus to everyone stamping around excitedly. their movements are amplified by the bus's portable frame, the whole vehicle rocking as a result.

"what's going on?" i ask, sticking my head out of the bunk and promptly being walked into by billie.

"oh shit- my bad, sorry dude," she laughs, helping me out of bed. "everyone's getting ready to head to the music shop in this city."

right on cue, sam yells from the front of the bus "hurry up everyone, i need my guitar strings!"

"you coming?" billie asks, one of her arms still holding me up.

i my head as i slowly try to wake up and figure what kind of day today is for me.

"okay yeah i'm gonna stay here," i say, nodding. "have fun, though. oh, and tell tyler to find me a guitar strap, he'll know what i mean."

"oh, are you sure?" billie frowns. "i think we were gonna go somewhere else afterwards."

i shake my head. "i'll stay here. have a slow morning, see if i can get some songwriting done," i say lamely.

"oh... okay," says billie, still not looking very happy. "i guess i'll see you later." she rubs my arm before letting go of me and heading to the front of the bus to join the others.

i wait till they've all gone before i leave the bunk area, pacing up and down the bus a few times to check that i really am alone.

damn, this doesn't happen often on tour.

what's so appealing about a music shop?

i take the opportunity to shower in our shitty little tour bus shower and get changed into some clean clothes, and then i do actually sit down with my songs notebook, at the table right at the front of the bus; watching the people on the street from the safety of the bus's blackout windows, while my hair drip-dries down my back.

i write for a while, and then find myself gazing up at the ceiling. the shapes stained into the malleable material of the ceiling by various things over the years seem to form a face. it whispers to me, telling me things i just can't quite hear.

"go away," i mumble, looking back down at my notebook. i think for a few moments and begin to write; after a while, the doors to the bus slam open and all the other bus residents come stumbling in, chattering loudly.

"hi ari!" yells billie, making a beeline straight for me, closely followed by sam. he passes me a paper bag which i nod at, and slip into my hoodie pocket.

"did you get round to that songwriting," says billie with a grin, clearly assuming i didn't.

"i did, actually," i reply proudly. "but then i got block so i stopped."

"want me to take a look at it?" billie offers. i shrug, and pass her my notebook open on the page i was working on.

she nods, her eyes flickering over it for a few moments before she leans back and yells "hey finn, come over here!"

finneas makes his way past the gossiping hair and makeup artists to the front of the bus. "what's up?"

"aria wants help with this," she says, passing him the notebook.

he also scans over it before nodding and grabbing the nearest guitar.

"i like the chord pattern." he speaks slowly, tuning the guitar to accustom the pattern before trying it out.

"i wrote it with a pick in mind," i say helpfully, offering him one which he accepts gratefully.

"okay, sick chord progression," he says after a moment. "but, what if we changed this..."

over the next few hours they help me compose the rest of the lyrics.

"i'm liking how this sounds," comments ashley, dropping down onto the sofa next to me as i begin to tap out the drum sequence onto the tabletop. "will this be an eilish song or a vision song?"

"why not both?" finneas suggests.

"well, may this be the first of many vision-eilish songs," ashley laughs warmly.