IF WE WERE MEANT TO BE // Billie Eilish

Chapter Twenty Six - I Fucking Dare You

A/n: I rewrote half this chapter so for those of you who read it, please scroll down to the point with the * where the new writing begins

Francis' PoV:

"Francis." Billie says in a low, quiet voice, searching for something in my face to show her what I'm thinking. "Yo, you gotta give me something. We can't sit in silence forever."

I'm sat on the floor by the window, looking out at the bustling streets of LA. All I can think about is how many of the passerby's know - how many of them are talking about Billie and I right now.

Her phone starts to ring and she gives me one more pleading look before picking up.

"Hey, Danny. Yeh, I know it's bad- Dude, I ain't telling you shit about who it is- Because it's my fucking life- I know- This is all dumb as hell, bro- Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

She listens intently for a while but I can't hear Danny on the other end of the phone.

"Are you sure?"

She hangs up, anger rising through her body.

"I'm gonna kill that fucking bitch. Elliott: she's the one who took the picture. I don't care if she's Claudia's sister or not, she's dead."

I don't reply, each breath feeling heavier than the previous. My eyes are burning, my fingers are slowly going numb. Suddenly the idea of being seems so much harder - everything feels like it's weighing me down, it all feels like so much effort.

"Francis? Billie?" Madison says timidly, entering the room. I remain still, not looking to her as she takes a seat. "Pictures of me driving you two away have been posted. My phone's blowing up - people are trying to match my instagram pictures with girls in them to the leaked photo of you two kissing. Francis, it's only a matter of time before they find out it's you. I'm sorry, I would deactivate my account but I'm a YouTuber and it's my own source of income so I-"

"Yo, it's not your fault. It's Elliott's." Billie responds.

"Wait, are you serious? Does Claudia know?"

"I think Finneas told her."

"Fuck."

Through the window, a girl on her phone notices Madison's car parked outside the apartment block. She stops, taking a picture of it and then types on her phone for a few more moments before moving on. A few minutes later, one by one, people start to surround the car and walk up to the front door of the building, buzzing all the different flats bells.

"Who the hell is that?" Billie says, startled.

Paparazzi start gathering in the pavement, taking pictures of the car and apartment block.

"Shit." I whisper to myself, getting up and shutting the curtain.

"What happened? Did they see you?" Mads asks concerned. I walk around the apartment closing all the blinds as they follow me and help.

*

"Danny's got security coming to get rid of the mob."

"They'll just come back!" I yell, losing my temper for a quick second, before regaining it. "Bil, you're an international celebrity kissing a girl. You really think they're gonna stop looking?"

"It's fine, we'll just sneak out of work, or meet up at Finneas and Claudia's flat on weekends..."

I look over to Madison, she nods and leaves. Billie continues listing ways of us to see each other without being caught.

"Billie." I reply with exasperation. "How many objects do we have to face before we realise-"

"No, you're not saying that shit to me. Ever. Those objects were because of other people and we can't-"

"This is not Mike. This is not Elliott. This is not Danny or Finneas or God knows who else. This is me, telling you that I don't want to live like this. I don't want to constantly fear when I'm with the person I-" I immediately stop myself.

"Go on. Say it." She says coldly. "Tell me you love me! I fucking dare you!" She yells, almost laughing through her words.

"Stop." I barely whisper.

She scoffs, a disgusted look on her face. "I will never beg to be loved."

"Then don't!" I scream back. "What good has our connection ever done either of us?"

She's taken aback, in complete shock at what I just said. "That first time we saw each other, in the day before we spoke at the nightclub. You were with Madison and Gray and I got out of the car. We saw each other for a split fucking second and I was already fucking lost in you."

"I remember." I reply weakly.

"You stopped walking to watch me. I remember you standing there, you're eyes stuck on mine. Don't tell me our connection has done nothing for us because ever since that single fucking second I have finally been able to be me again after so long on autopilot. Before you, I didn't do shit because everyone was saying I could die. And what did you tell me?"

"'What if you fucking live?'" I whisper.

"The nightclub where we met. The all nighter we pulled brainstorming art ideas together. When I wrote you a song. The concert where we kissed. The night you stayed in my hotel room and we showered together. When you helped me with my panic attack. The party where we went in the pool. The night we jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. The night we had sex for the first time. And yesterday: the day I realised I'm in love with you."

I look up at her in shock.

"Don't tell me that our connection has done nothing good for either of us - that's bullshit and you fucking know it." She says, walking out the flat and slamming the door behind her.

Billie's PoV:

Elliot walks into the apartment block right before I reach the exit. She smiles as she approaches me, clearly not knowing that Francis and I know she's the one who took and leaked the picture of us kissing.

"Oh, hey. I thought I'd say goodbye to Francis as I'm leaving a few days early back to England. I..."

Before she can finish her sentence, I punch her in the face, then march off with my head held high.

Fuck, that felt good.

A/N: do yall prefer this? :)

I wrote the other version at 3am so explains why it was rather... imaginative but we back to the story now pahaha

PLEASE ADD TO YOUR LIBRARY, VOTE AND COMMENT!!!!

(Ps. I really wanted to write full on smut in this chapter but I cldnt find a place to fit it so I just randomly wrote some - get ready for that shit)