the soft chime from your phone pulled you out of a dreamless sleep, your eyes barely opening to the harsh flow on the screen. it was three in the morning and billie was facetiming you

your throat was dry as you quietly groaned, your fingers fumbling for your phone under your pillow as you blindly swiped to answer. her face lit up the screen immediately, blurry at first as your eyes adjusted but then it was unmistakably her

“hey sleepy” she cooed, holding her phone low so you saw her from a funny angle “sorry. forgot you were like in a whole other universe of time”

you cleared your throat, voice heavy with exhaustion “no no.. im up. im good”

you werent. your hair was a mess, your cheek was still red from the pillow, and your voice cracked when you tried to speak again “what time is it there?”

“just past six” she said, flipping the camera to show a view of the dressing room behind her. it had bright lights, stylists buzzing in the background, and clothes strewn over the couch. when she flipped it back to her face, she sat down with her perfume bottle in hand “i wanted to show you my little get ready. make you feel like youre here”

you smiled even if your eyes were partially shut “mmm yeah. feels just like it” you mumbled, head falling back against the pillow

she softly laughed and started spraying perfume onto her wrist “you better be imagining how good i smell right now”

“im imagining how good i was sleeping before you called” you teased, voice muffled in the blanket that was now over your face

“awww” she pouted “youre gonna make me feel bad for missing you”

“you should feel bad” you cracked on eye open again just to see her smile

“okay but like.. a tiny bit cute that youre all grumpy and soft right now” she said, setting her perfume aside and picking up a tube of eyeliner “you look like youre gonna fall back asleep”

“i might” you mumbled, eyes fluttering again “but ill try to stay. just.. talk. ill listen”

she smiled at that, the teasing fading into something more tender “alright baby ill talk”

she started doing her makeup, narrating little things as she went. what color she was using. how she accidentally stabbed her eye with mascara the night before. how the crowd already sounded insane from backstage. through it all, your tired little ‘mhms’ and half laughs kept coming even as your eyes stayed shut