REMUS BENNET
Remus drove with Rue and Jules to Pasadena, and while riding uptown, he was reminded of the last time he had visited the place.
Lexie and he had enjoyed their first date in the town, and yet that relationship was now gone.
Rue was somewhat quiet during the journey, and so he found himself talking mostly with Jules as they rode to the therapy center.
Jules was an interesting person, and a genuinely good influence.
She was smart, bubbly, and had a good enough moral compass.
It was obvious that she was dealing with her own demons, but he could see how Rue and Jules were able to help each other with their troubles.
The two had a genuine connection, though both of them seemed content to ignore it for the time being as they simply soaked up the other person’s presence.
“You are telling me Billie Eilish watches anime,” and this was true, and it was one of their major topics of discussion over the phone.
“Yup, she recently even collaborated with a Japanese artist,” and Jules shook her head.
“I don’t believe you,” she added from the backseat.
“Why would I lie to you? You can check it up yourself,” and Jules finally relented and picked up her phone.
Those eyes widened as they saw the truth.
“I can’t believe it,” and it did not matter, for that was the truth.
“Well, you should. Honestly, it’s how we two connected,” and that was the truth of it, and now, after around a month of back and forth, he was finally going to meet the infamous Billie Eilish.
They reached the Therapy centre, and he parked the car and handed the keys to his sister.
“Drive back safely. No detours, and no funny business,” he reminded her, and Rue nodded.
“Sure,” he said, and he would be leaving after his own session and would take an Uber home.
He walked up to the receptionist, and soon enough they were led to the waiting area, and thankfully he did not have to wait for long, as Jimmy Laird led a stout bespectacled man out of his office and smiled at him.
“Hey, it’s our fucking rockstar,” and the tall man had a rather bubbly personality, and even with his own growth spurt, Remus was barely reaching the man’s shoulders.
“It’s been a while,” they greeted each other, as the man’s eyes tracked towards Rue and Jules sitting beside him, as his eyes lit up.
“You must be the sister, Rue,” he began while offering his hand to Jules, who shook her head.
“Not really, I am just a friend,” and he seemed taken aback, as he finally looked at Rue.
“Yeah, I am Rue,” and Jimmy’s head shifted between the two.
“He takes after our father,” Rue pointed out, as she finally shook the offered hand.
“It’s nice to see you,” he managed, even with the awkwardness.
“You are seeing Gabby today, right?” and Rue nodded.
“Yeah,” and the man’s eyes lit up.
“You are going to like her very much. Gabby is the best there is,” and the praise did little for Rue, as he finally turned towards Remus again.
“Let’s go in,” and so he led him into his office, and it was a cozy place with a table on one end and a couch and chair on the other end.
Remus walked up to the sofa and plopped down easily.
“So, how’s life?” Jimmy asked while picking up his diary, but not actually opening it.
“Good,” he answered, and despite the troubles in his love life and the frustrations that came with it, he was in a comfortable place.
“Speaking of that, I have something for you,” Remus cut in, as he reached into his pocket and gave the man something he had brought for him.
“Wait… me? For real?”Jimmy asked, as he handed him the pass.
“It’s a family pass for a fair we have in our town. It’s happening this weekend, and I was going to do a performance there for charity,” and now Jimmy’s eyes widened.
“You are going to do a concert,” he asked in surprise, and he shook his head.
“Not really. This is going to be a more local thing. I just wanted to give it to you, because you told me that your wife and daughter were fans and you could all come and see it, that is, unless you were lying,” he added the last part conspiratorially.
“Of course, not. Tia and Alice are going to love this,” he added excitedly, as he pushed it into his diary.
“Good,” and now Jimmy raised a brow.
“You seem rather,” and the man took a few seconds to fight for the right word.
“…open today,” and that was true.
“Well, a friend of mine told me how a mix of fame, money, and expectations led her down a rather dangerous path,” and suddenly the mood in the room turned somber.
“She told me that therapy helped her deal with it all, and so I am trying to keep an open mind now,” and that lit him up.
“Nice,” the taller man added, before he looked him directly into his eyes.
“Honestly, you are very well adjusted as a person despite your circumstances, but there are always things that one can do to improve upon themselves. As a therapist, it is my job to equip you with the tools to be the best version of yourself in all the aspects of your life,” and well, he was going to give this a shot.
So, now he finally opened his diary.
“So, tell me. Is there anything that is troubling you?” and the question was loaded, and he sensed it.
“Even if it is a small thing, just say it. Blurt it out,” and so after a second of hesitation, he decided to be a bit upfront about it.
“I broke up with my girlfriend,” and now he saw those eyes lock in, as if they had caught a great prey.
“Interesting, tell me more…” and somehow minutes turned into an hour, and by the time he walked out of that office, he felt as if he knew a lot more about him than he had when he had walked in.
“Thank you for this,” he added, and the taller man simply waved it away.
“I am just doing my job,” he replied, shaking his hand.
“Just remember, you don’t have to look for a long-term commitment right now. You are still young, and your life is changing. Just enjoy yourself,” and his voice grew softer as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
“The world will not end if you mess around a bit,” and that was good advice.
“You are quite good at your job,” and he looked at the empty waiting area before his eyes roamed towards the office beside Jimmy’s.
“If you say so,” and Jimmy noticed his gaze lingering towards the door to the side office.
“Your sister is going to be just fine,” he reassured him.
“You are done,” Jules began as she saw him.
“Yeah,” and he had to leave now.
“I will be leaving now, so please take care of Rue,” he asked again, and she smiled.
“Don’t worry. I promise to get her back in one piece,” and with that he walked out of the office and hailed himself an Uber.
Billie had sent him the address a day ago, and he stopped near a gift shop and got them a small vase.
If ever he was asked about how long it took him to decide on what to get, he would lie, and he would never admit that he had to FaceTime Amy for such a thing.
Those were all baseless rumors, and he would deny anything contrary to that.
He reached their home two hours later, and after paying the Uber driver an exorbitant amount of money, he took a deep breath as he walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell.
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.
.
.
Hours later, the Sun had long set, and the nervousness that had been eating away at him was all gone.
He was lying on the ground, in Billie’s makeshift studio, while trying to balance a soda bottle on her nose.
“So, you are telling me you have never watched Naruto?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“Nope,” and she was much different up close than her on-stage persona.
She had mentioned how she had dealt with severe anxiety and depression during the start of her career, and had been the one to advise him to give therapy a real chance so that the same problems that had plagued her life would not appear in his.
“You have not watched the greatest anime of all time, and you dare to call yourself a weeb,” and he pushed himself up slightly as he shook her head.
“You are no weeb. You are just a casual fan,” and her eyes widened at the insult.
“You take that back,” she warned, and he refused to.
“Never,” and she picked up a soda can from the side and threw it at him.
“Hey! Watch the guitar,” Fineas’ voice cut in from teh back as he caught the can.
He picked up the guitar and joined him on the ground.
“Honestly, you are much different than how I imagined you to be,” Fineas added, and he was both Billie’s brother and her producer.
He also had a band of his own and was one of the most talented people he had ever met.
“Why? How?” he asked, and it was Billie who answered for him.
“He thought that you would be more broody,” she added.
“Do you blame me?” Fineas added.
“Have you listened to his songs?” and that was a point.
“You sound suicidal,” he added, and at one time he had been.
But those times were gone, and he had been blessed with a new life and opportunity, and he had no intentions of wasting them.
“Speaking of that, I heard a rumor that you will be doing an album this year,” Billie questioned from the bed.
“Yeah,” and that was true, and the answer caught them both by surprise.
“Really?” Fineas was the one to ask him that.
“I have to make a full album in six months,” and the two of them exchanged glances.
“Why did you promise them such a thing?” and he shrugged.
“Can you do it?” Billie asked, and he nodded.
“I already have seven songs, and I will need around four or five more. I think I have an idea about four at least,” and they seemed a bit taken aback by his progress.
“You mentioned a song to me.” Billie now leaned forward and looked him in the eyes.
“Is it for your album as well?” and he shook his head.
“No. This is separate. I don’t think it will work on an album. This is more your style,” and now they were both interested.
“Show me,” and now he finally pushed himself off of the ground and walked up to the board placed to the side.
“So, this is just the idea of it. I think this still needs a lot of work,” said Fineas.
“Just sing it,” and he sat down and drew in a deep breath.
His fingers reached for the keys, and the years of training and practise did not let him down as he sang the first verse, trying to imitate the slow, breathy style of Billie herself.
‘Thought I found a way
Thought I found a way out (found)
But you never go away (never go away)
So I guess I gotta stay now.
.
.
.
Whoa, yeah
Yeah, ah
Whoa, whoa
Hello, welcome home.’
And by the time he finished it up, the room was dead silent, and neither Billie nor Fineas said anything at all, forcing him to break the silence.
“So, will you do it?” he asked, looking directly at Billie, and for a second he felt as if her eyes had tears in them before she gave an exaggerated nod.
“That was something else,” Fineaas finally gave his opinion.
“Are you sure you don’t want to use this on your album?” he asked again.
“I know that labels usually want a coherent style on an album, but those were the old days, and this song is not that different from your style. Hell, you were even able to imitate Billie’s vocals almost perfectly,” and he shook his head.
“I have other songs for my album,” he replied.
“I want to do this with you. With both of you,” he added, and Billie smiled.
“This is going to be a banger. Believe me, it’s going to blow up,” and she was right.
“Yup,” Fineas agreed.
“I think we should use the violin or a cello with it,” and he was already in producer mode now.
“So, when are you free to work on this?” Remus asked, and the two siblings exchanged glances.
“We are going to start rehearsing for her Coachella performance, from tomorrow onwards,” and so she would be busy with that.
“You are performing on the 13th, right?” he had read this somewhere.
“Yeah,” Billie added excitedly.
“I am going to be performing a full set. I have spent days designing the stage and the whole thing. It’s going to be awesome,” and he hoped for such a thing as well.
“We could probably do the recording afterward,” and that worked out for him as well.
“I have my SATs on the 8th. So, I will be free as well,” and Fineas’ eyes widened.
“You are taking the SATs!” he seemed surprised.
“Yeah,” and it was how he was able to get out of the mandatory media appearances the label wanted him to do, though he would no longer have that cushion once he was done with the exam.
“I am mostly using it as an excuse to get out of media experiences,” and there was no need to hide the truth from them.
“Ah, I was wondering why I haven’t seen you on TV yet,” and indeed there had been major inquiries by some of the most famous talk shows of the time, including both Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
But each of the inquiries had been dismissed with the same answer.
“My manager wanted me to settle into the celebrity life first before throwing me to the wolves,” and both Fineas and Billie nodded at that.
“Fucking sage that one,” she added, probably contrasting this with her own circumstances in her mind.
“But I can only duck this for so long. I will probably have to go to a few shows at least,” and now he turned towards the blue-eyed girl.
“Any recommendations?” he asked.
“Fellon,” she answered.
“He is nice, and Graham Norton is pretty chill as well,” and Graham Norton was a British anchor, and he had seen a few of his clips.
“I will keep that in mind,” and with that done.
“Will you be there at Coachella?” Fineas asked, and he shook his head.
“I don’t think I have the tickets,” and the duo laughed at his answer.
“You don’t need tickets now, man,” Fineas pointed out, and he had not thought of it like that.
“Well, I haven’t made any plans yet,” and now he made his offer.
“You should come with us,” he offered.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and Billie was quick to add in.
“Definitely. Have you been to Coachella before?” and he shook his head.
“Oh man, you are going to have a fucking blast. It’s amazing. It’s one of the most exhilarating things you will ever experience,” and she was really hyping this up.
“You can hang out with us backstage, and see how the whole thing works. It will help you when you perform there yourself,” Fineas offered a more tangible advantage.
“Why not….”
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.
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Back in East Highland, Rue closed the door as Jules left after having dinner at her home.
It had been a very fun evening given everything, and her mother seemed especially fond of her.
Still, Rue’s mind was stuck on the session from earlier in the day and she would be lying if she said that the woman had not helped.
Unlike Mrs.
Grant, Gabby understood her troubles and her anxieties and was willing to go the extra mile for her.
She had faced many troubles in her own life, and yet now she was helping others deal with their trauma.
It was very inspiring to her, and for the first time in a long time Rue felt that the world was right once more.
She and Jules were going strong, and though neither of them had yet popped the integral question, she could tell that they both knew that it just a formality at this point.
Her mother had resigned from one of her jobs already, and would smile more as the burdens of debt and raising three children eased up.
She felt that she was healing now, and that was why she dreaded the incoming change.
She had heard the talk between Remus and her mother earlier in the day, in how he wanted them to move and perhaps it was not even a bad idea objectively.
But, Rue did not want to leave this place.
She had brought this up to her therapist as well and she had asked her to speak of her fears to her mother rather than letting them fester inside of herself.
So, she gathered up the courage and turned to face her mother.
“I knew I would like her,” Leslie added as she gathered up the plates.
“Mom,” and she wondered how long it had been since she had called her like this,
“Yeah,” Leslie added from behind the kitchen counter, and it would have been easier to simply walk away but she knew that she had to do this now before things were underway.
“I don’t want to leave this house….”
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Have a fantastic day!