Waking Up, chapter 20

Adrienne smiled as she opened the door, finding Billie on the other side.
"Hey,"
"Hey," Billie answered, looking past her into the house. "Are Joey and Jakob ready?"
"Yes." She replied shortly. "I'll go get them."
"Okay," Billie said cheerfully, ignoring Adie's irritation.
She disappeared, and a few moments later, Jakob came out.
"Hey dad."
"Hey. How are you?" he asked.
"Okay." Jakob said, walking to the car.
Adie came back to the door. "Joey's coming... " she looked at Billie for a second. "Did you have a good time?" she asked, looking kinda sad.
"Yeah," Billie grinned. "It was great."
"Hi. Can we go?" Joey asked, looking bored.
"Yeah. Bye,"
"Bye, Billie."
Adie sighed as she watched him go. She was tired of being alone.

"Guess what?" Ella asked, smiling. She climbed on Billie's lap, throwing her arms around his neck.
"You forgot to put sugar in the cake?"
"No. I got into a gallery." She said, still smiling.
"Seriously?" Billie was somewhat startled.
"Yup." She kissed him on the cheek. "But the problem is that I have to leave. Only for a few days. To New York."
"Oh. Okay."
"Are you all right?"
"Of course. You should go."
Frowning, Ella looked into his eyes. "I don't have to... "
"What?! No. You let me go into the studio or whatever. You want this, right?"
"Yeah... "
"Then go." Billie smiled.
"Will you come with me?" she asked nervously.
"Of course."

"You wanna go see... the Statue of Liberty?" she asked.
He just looked at her blankly. Ever since they had arrived, she had been full of random questions.
"No... ."
"Okay. How about... I don't know... " she glanced at her watch. "I need to go meet with that woman in an hour. You going to do anything while I'm gone?"
"Probably not."
She rolled her eyes. "You hungry?"
Billie sighed. "Nope."
"I'm gonna go get a sandwich. See you later."
She left the hotel room, closing the door a little harder than she meant. She worked to get everything done at home. It seemed Billie had just forgotten that she had dreams too.

When she came back to the hotel, it was dark.
"Hellooo?" she called, turning a few lights on.
"I'm on the balcony." Billie voice said.
She walked out, shivering slightly at the coldness of the concrete. "What are doing out here?" she asked, sitting in the chair beside his.
He just shrugged. "Are you happy?" he asked suddenly, after a long pause.
"Yes," she said immediately, then stopped, thinking. Billie looked at her with a sad kind of fear in his brilliant green eyes.
"I want you to be... " he added softly.
"I know." She put her head in her hands, thinking. "Yeah," she said, sitting up again. "As happy as I'll ever be."
He sighed. "Will you marry me? For real?"
He watched as her sorrowful black eyes met his, and her face lose its natural glow.
"I think so."
"Ella... " he looked down. "I love you. I want to be... with you forever. I've wanted that for a long time... "
She smiled, but it wasn't one of joy, one more of perseverance. "I do to. But I... I almost married someone... And I lost them."
"I promise not to--"
"You can't promise that." Ella said shortly.
"I'll try then. Really hard."
After a long and tired silence, she nodded. "I would love to marry you, Billie... "

The Ending.