The Tale of Time and Love, chapter 6

Before I knew it, I was staring into the round, cheerful face of Tre Cool. His hair was slightly damp and a couple droplets of water were snaking from his hair line. He was dressed in a black shirt, which was half done up and his lack of trousers was made up by the banana yellow boxers he wore instead. He seemed a little surprised by the fact that he was confronted by two kids, both without security passes. His blue eyes scanned our faces in a silence, rested upon Billie's. His eyebrows rose a little higher.

"Hey Tre, who is it?" called a voice from inside the room. Tre seemed to be frozen, as if the eyes of Billie had paralysed him. Another figure appeared in the doorway, fully dressed. I felt a slight buzz of heat touch my cheeks; either it was embarrassment or shock.

"Never answer the doors in your underwear... piece of advice Tre... who have we got here?" Mike Dirnt said, as his face appeared beside Tre's. I half expected him to be dressed in a red vest top and long black trousers and I wasn't disappointed. He was taller than I imagined, quite intimidating too. I felt the first pangs of fear that day and they weren't expected.

My voice was caught in my throat, like a bubble getting stuck in a tube too narrow. I noticed Billie recoiling, as if he seemed to sense the fact that I had become speechless.

"Hey guys, my friend here is a huge fan of you so you can understand how exciting this is for her. My name is..." he paused, furrowing his brow in obvious thought. But, it was in that momentary pause which many things happened. The first thing was how I felt my hair on the back of my neck stand on end, with that strange feeling that I get when someone is behind me. Then, I noticed how Tre and Mike looked up slightly above my head, looking at something behind me.

Two hands grabbed me from behind, causing me to curse colourfully. I was pulled backwards by someone much stronger and taller than myself. I managed to glance backwards, catching the gaze of the burly security guard behind me. I noticed how Billie wasn't being attacked by security and how Tre and Mike stepped towards him. It struck me that the older Billie Joe wasn't in the dressing room.

"Come on little lady," mumbled the guard, as I struggled to get to Billie, who was looking shocked. I then drove my elbow backwards into the Guard's groin. He groaned in pain and his hold loosened. Unfortunately, more guards had been alerted. I ran back to Billie and grabbed his hand, his green eyes weren't looking at me, but at someone beyond. I turned just as I was grabbed by more pairs of hands, forceful enough to drag me away from Billie and into the wall of the corridor. I groaned as a collided into solid plaster, pushed by many built men. I felt something cold against my wrist, then the familiar 'click' of a handcuff.

"Shit," I murmured as my arms were forced behind my back, with another click. Billie yelled something and charged into one of the guards holding me. It was like watching bowling pins fall down at a strike. Billie knocked over a few, the other staggered at the force. I found myself pinned against the wall by fallen bodies. Billie emerged, then grabbed my arms and pulled me away from the guards. I never realised how awkward things were with my hands cuffed behind my back.

"Who called security?" demanded Billie, staring at the surprised band members. They looked at each other then shrugged. I sighed, wondering whether this was going to be as easy as I first thought. My eyes drifted over to a man still standing over at the far end and my jaw dropped as recognition fizzled back into place. He was just like the boy next to me, with green eyes and black hair. He was dressed in a black shirt with black trousers. He wore a studded belt around his waist and tucked in his back pockets was a poke-a-dot handkerchief. He was very surprised at the bundle of security guards, but moments passed as I looked at him, oblivious to the stirring security.

"Can you guys clear off, now? And take the cuffs off that girl?" he said in a voice I knew well yet I had never heard it spoken in real life. That was what brought me back to earth with a rather large lurch.

Billie Joe Armstrong walked over to me, eyes darting at my damp hair and dark colours. His eyes ran onto Billie, and then they both stared at each other in complete surprise. The younger Billie stepped closer and I could feel a surge of something between them. I suddenly remembered something I heard of only in films. That when the present and past selves meet, the world will collapse on itself.

What I felt was the beginning of a paradox. At once, I pushed myself into the younger Billie as my hands were behind my back. He stumbled sideways, and then looked at me in anger.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked indignantly. I sighed and looked at the older Billie, who was looking as if he had seen as ghost.

"He... he is... but that's impossible," he muttered, eyes widened in obvious fear. I looked at both Billie's sternly, and then sighed deeply. This was going to be one hell of a day.

"Yes, he is you," I said impatiently, "Now what ever you do, don't touch each other," I said, my voice becoming alarmingly like my mother's. The Younger Billie scowled at me.

"Why not?" he implored, sounding miffed.

"Well, if you do, not only will you collapse into nothing but so will the entire universe. It's called a paradox, something which happened when two people of the exact same atomic mass touch," I said, my voice sounding unlike my own. The young Billie drew in his hands at once, careful not to touch him at all. The older Billie seemed to have been brought back to life.

"No offence... er-"

"-Jess."

"No offence, Jess, but what the hell is going on here?"