Matter of Time(Tom Holland Fanfic)

Chapter Eight: Part I

Billie didn't know why she even made an effort. This wasn't a date. This was just supposed to be two friends hanging out. Friend...since when did she have friends? Well, she had friends back home but that was different. Her group of friends in Hollywood was very small. She could probably count them all on one hand. Sebastian, Tye, and maybe Anthony too if he didn't piss her off that day. Either way, Billie still didn't know what she was doing getting all dressed up for this guy. Maybe she was just vain. 

Yeah, that was it. 

She just had a reputation to uphold.

She was wearing a red a-line chiffon skirt with a random concert t-shirt tucked into the waistband of the skirt. The t-shirt was there to signal that she wasn't trying too hard. Not to mention it was a concert shirt from that HAIM concert she went to last year. Billie paired the t-shirt and skirt combo with a pair of keds. Billie thought the outfit was nice without trying too hard.

The blonde applied her make-up in the bathroom mirror. She didn't want to put on too much since this was just a friends thing and not an actual date. Besides...Billie wasn't into him like that. Billie just went with some eyeliner and mascara. It's not like she was going to a premiere or anything. She might as well just have her hair down while she was at it too.

Billie finally finished and left the bathroom. She momentarily debated whether or not she should wear her sunglasses. It kind of made sense. It was hot out, after all, although the main reason Billie was going to wear sunglasses was to hide her identity. People always seemed to recognize her everywhere she went these days. She supposed that's what happened when you starred in a couple of Marvel films. You just became instantly recognizable. Billie just didn't want people thinking that she and Tom were out on a date. The last thing she needed were for people to think she was dating her new co-star.

Billie took the sunglasses off the coffee table in the living room before heading for the door.

Sunglasses for sure.

"This is actually really delicious." Tom said as he pigged out on a plate full of fried chicken and waffles. Billie watched him in amusement as she took a sip from her glass of sweet tea. They were sitting on the patio of a restaurant in Atlanta. It was nearly night by now so it was surprisingly cool and not as hot as earlier.

"Really?" Billie asked him and Tom nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that Brad's going to be able to tell that I didn't stick to the diet but this is so worth it." Tom told her and Billie smirked.

"This is my greatest achievement yet." Billie told him and Tom paused in his eating to give her a confused look.

"What is?" He questioned.

"Making Spider-Man fat." Billie said teasingly and Tom swallowed his food before smiling back at her.

"That was your evil genius plan all along?" Tom questioned in amusement. "To make Spider-Man fat." Billie shrugged.

"Maybe not fat. Just a little curvy." Billie told him, continuing to give him that teasing look. "You're really scrawny, Holland. You look like you could eat a burger or two."

"Me?" Tom said in disbelief as he looked back at her. "What about you?" Billie smirked.

"I happen to be an actress. I'm actually considered fat in Hollywood." Billie told him as Tom just continued to stare at her in disbelief.

"Are you joking about Hollywood's sexism?" Tom asked her.

"Well, if you can't joke about it..." Billie trailed off jokingly but Tom was still troubled by her sense of humor. It was a kind of sense of humor that you wanted to laugh at but didn't because you weren't sure if it was appropriate or not. "Don't worry. I don't use the same methods the other ones use. I'm from Texas. I sweat it off."

"And that works?" Tom asked and Billie shrugged.

"So far." She told him. Tom nodded but he was still trying to figure her out. That's why he wanted to hang out with her, after all. So he could get to know her a bit. She looked really pretty today, Tom noticed. Not that she didn't normally look pretty but it was just nice being with her somewhere that wasn't on set.

"So tell me more about you." Tom said, looking very curious. Billie was so hard to read that Tom was dying to find out more about her.

"What do you want to know?" Billie asked him and Tom shrugged.

"Did you always want to be an actress?" Tom asked her. "Didn't you say you used to play baseball?"

"I played baseball for a while. I really liked it at first but after a while I decided it wasn't for me." Billie said and that was only half the truth. The reason she quit baseball wasn't that simple. Tom nodded.

"And you joined the children's theater?" Tom inquired and Billie nodded.

"Yeah. I thought it was pretty lame at first but...I don't know. It was a nice distraction." Billie said, wondering if she might've given a bit too much away.

"Distraction from what?" Tom asked. So she had given too much away, after all.

"I'm from a small town. There's not much to do there. Everyone's obsessed with football and hunting." Billie told him but it wasn't the real reason she turned to acting. The only person she had ever told the truth to was Sebastian because he understood. Billie didn't think anyone else would understand. Tom just nodded. He wouldn't really know what small town life was like. He was from London.

"How did you first get into the industry?" Tom asked her curiously and for a moment Billie felt like she was being interviewed. However, she realized that he was just her co-star who was probably curious. It wasn't like he was digging into her personal life or anything.

"I kind of hit it big on the first try with Mad Men. My character Sally was just supposed to be a reoccurring character but as the seasons went on, she became a main character. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time." Billie told him as Tom listened to her intently.

"It can't just be that alone." Tom told her. "You're an amazing actress. Every actor I've ever met always talks about your part on Mad Men...how talented and amazing you are for someone so young." Billie shrugged.

"I didn't do it all on my own. I had the opportunity to learn from a lot of amazing actors like Jon and January. Some of the best, really." Billie explained, seemingly uncaring about the compliment Tom just gave her. "Some actors, like Anthony for example, had Julliard but I had Mad Men as my acting school. I'm a product of the people around me."

"Mad Men sounds like an amazing acting school." Tom remarked as he thought about how intriguing it was that Billie learned everything she needed to know just from growing up on the set of a very popular television series. He supposed you didn't need an actual acting school when you were surrounded by that many talented people.

"I almost quit acting anyways." Billie told him much to Tom's surprise. He gave her a confused.

"What?" Billie just shrugged once more.

"I was planning on just sticking to Mad Men and fulfilling my contract before quitting." Billie said as she told him the story of what changed her mind about acting. "It wasn't until I started filming this one movie which was my third or fourth project outside Mad Men. The movie was being shot in Arkansas which wasn't too far from where I live...well, when I wasn't living in LA for Mad Men anyways."

"What movie was this?" Tom asked her, completely intrigued.

"Mud." Billie told him and Tom's eyes widened a bit in recognition. He hadn't seen the movie but he heard about it. It was supposed to be a really good movie from what he had heard. Maybe he should watch it since he hadn't seen much of Billie's work outside the MCU. "It was scary and overwhelming. At the time I wasn't too sure about the whole acting thing. I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted."

"What changed your mind?" Tom asked and Billie smiled at the memory of her first movie.

"I watched Matthew McConaughey give this long emotional monologue and it just...well, it really changed my whole opinion." Billie said honestly. "It was really inspiring."

"I'd imagine so. He's Matthew McConaughey, isn't he?" Tom said and Billie laughed a little before nodding. Tom found that he liked it when she laughed. She always seemed so mature and cynical but she actually looked her age when she laughed. Her laughter was soft and infectious.

"Not to sound cliché and everything with the all Texans stick together thing but McConaughey is one of the greatest actors I've ever worked with." Billie said, boasting about the famous actor's talent. Tom smiled.

"I bet he is." Tom said and Billie nodded before giving him a curious look of her own.

"What about you?" Billie asked him and Tom shrugged.

"My mum signed me up for dance classes when I was little. Eventually I auditioned for Billy Elliot on the West End." Tom informed her.

"Yes, I think Robert mentioned something about Billy Elliot." Billie told him and Tom's eyes widened in surprise.

"Robert talks about me?" Tom asked in amazement and Billie rolled her eyes. This kid was too much.

"Relax. He wasn't declaring his undying love for you or anything." Billie told him and Tom blushed. "He just mentioned that you were in a really famous musical."

"Are you interested in doing a musical?" Tom inquired and Billie stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. Tom didn't know what he said that was so funny.

"Me? In a musical? You're really funny, Holland." Billie told him but Tom was just confused.

"Why is that funny?" Tom asked her and Billie gave him an amused look.

"I don't dance." She told him and Tom raised an eyebrow.

"You don't dance? Like...not at all?" He asked her, clearly perplexed by everything that was Billie Aufderheide. "A Selena Gomez song comes on and you don't even dance a little?" Billie gave him an unimpressed look.

"I don't listen to Selena Gomez." Billie said, sounding offending that he even suggested such a thing. Tom took a look at her HAIM t-shirt and decided to rephrase his question.

"Okay then...A HAIM song comes on and you don't want to dance at all either?" Tom said and Billie shook her head.

"I just like to appreciate their artistry and their songwriting abilities. I can't do that with Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift for obvious reasons." Billie said in a way that made Tom almost think she was a robot or something. Billie was definitely a weird one. That was for sure.

"What about musicals? Does this mean you don't like them?" He asked her and Billie sighed heavily.