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Principal photography ends in December, and Billy has his stuff all packed to go back home. He gets drunk enough so that he won't remember if he cries at the wrap party. Later, he thinks he remembers Dom making a fool of himself, but he could just be transferring that from any other night out at a pub. Dom being an idiot is pretty standard, really. He's hungover when he gets on the plane the next morning, and he squints his eyes at the sun, which is just starting to peek over the horizon. Puts on his sunglasses. He has a window seat, but he doesn't look out the window until they're at cruising altitude. He can't stand to see places shrinking away into the distance; it always depresses the hell out of him.
Billy doesn't get up before noon for an entire month. No early morning call times, and he doesn't care that he's being lazy. If he sees a sunrise, he's more likely to see it from the wrong side. And that's perfectly fine with him.
His razor isn't getting much of a workout. Billy only shaves twice or three times a week, so when he rubs his chin it's always stubbly or prickly. His sister thinks he looks like a bum, but he doesn't feel like shaving. Let her shave her legs every day for a year and a half and see how she likes it.
His surfboard is nowhere to be seen, and he's not sure what he did with it. Not too big a loss, considering the fact that there's nowhere good to surf in Scotland. No one to surf with, either. Maybe his surfing skills will get rusty and he'll drown the next time he tries. Billy can't bring himself to care.
Even though his hair's starting to get too long, he doesn't really want to cut it. The length is rather nice, brushing the back of his collar. It feels good...familiar. It's even started to get a little wavy. Billy looks in the mirror one day after he's finished shaving and can almost see Pippin staring back. He gets a haircut the next day.
There's a nearby shoe shop where the salespeople have started calling him by name. He's been there several times over the last couple of weeks, buying new shoes. His old ones aren't worn out or anything, but he wants a different pair for each day of the week. He wears shoes everywhere he goes, even in his house. He can't stand to go barefoot anymore.
One afternoon, he slides out of bed and heads to the kitchen for some breakfast...lunch. Whatever. Passing the answer phone, he sees a light flashing and pushes the playback button. He thinks it's a hang-up at first, because no one speaks. Just as he reaches for the skip button, though, he hears waves in the background, and maybe something that sounds like raindrops and birds calling. He identifies it as New Zealand, early morning, and thinks maybe he can hear Karl breathing on the other end. Which should be kind of weird, because how much does that sound like an obscene phone call? But it's not obscene at all. It makes Billy smile. He wakes up early the next morning and, from the sandbox in a nearby playground, watches the sun rise. He even takes his shoes off to wiggle his toes in the sand. It's not so bad, after all. END
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