Whatever It Takes, chapter 2
Chapter 2: Short skirts, t-shirts, and baseball caps
Amber moved her head around just a bit only to find that she had bumped into Billie Joe in the process. Not remembering most of last night she opened her eyes half expecting it to be some random guy she hooked up with that night. It kind of scared her when she just saw the 'Explosion' logo of a shirt when she opened her eyes, but she was relieved to remember that Billie Joe was wearing the same shirt. Slowly she glanced up at him, wondering why she was facing him in their sleep. He was still asleep.
Breathing out Amber debated in her mind whether or not to get up, of course with out waking up, or at least trying not to. She finally decided that he probably wouldn't be sleeping much longer, after all when she woke up she did shift a little. Looking back up at him she wasn't surprised to see one of Billie Joe's eyes open slightly staring back at her. Amber smirked holding back her laughter, normally it would just be funny but it was hilarious when he looked like he did after he just woke up.
"Decided to stay over at your place huh?" Amber asked him, "Did you have anything to do with that decision my dear?"
"Nope," Billie Joe answered honestly sitting up to a more comfortable position then placing his arm around her, "Actually you practically had to beg me for me to let you spend the night over here, I wanted to take you home. I was afraid you were going to take advantage of me in my weak stoned stage, that I was in."
"Really," Amber placed her head on his chest, "Me take advantage of you when I was drunk, right. That would make tons of sense, not to mention I know that you didn't smoke that much last night, not to mention it takes quite a bit to get you high."
"Uh huh, well I also offered to sleep on the floor, being the gentleman that I am, but you wouldn't let me," Billie Joe told her innocently.
"Really?"
"Yes, would this face lie to you," He looked at her.
"Probably."
"And you are wrong, I wouldn't lie, that's what really happened last night. Oh by the way I caught you and Mike in the bathroom keeping time of how long it took him to piss out all the beer he drank," Billie Joe added with a smirk.
"I remember that actually, one of the more fascinating parts of the night."
"You mean you weren't all that drunk then?"
"Nope, but it really doesn't take me that long to get drunk, I swore I only had like 3 drinks."
"Maybe that's as far as your memory went back because you had a few more than just 3 three hun," Billie Joe kissed her temple.
She looked up at him, "Thanks for taking care of me, when you could have taken advantage, and I know that you didn't because I'm sleeping in my clothes."
"You bet, just please don't make me do it again. I had to carry you all the way from the party to my car then all the way up to my house, it wasn't the best experience I've ever had," Billie Joe told planting a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Still thanks, you really didn't have to, I could have spent the night with Crash," Amber turned to face him.
"Babe it really wasn't a problem, you were drunk and I took you home."
Amber smiled to him then kissed his lips softly before breaking away leaving him wanting more, "I bring you all this way and all I get is a kiss?"
"What do you want?" Amber said sitting up and messing with her hair.
He lifted his eye brows up and down.
Amber rolled her eyes, "Maybe when I think that you're ready for me."
Billie Joe watched her leave then yelled after her, "I'm ready for you, I was born ready for you. Oh come on, come back please!"
Amber walked into his bathroom, knowing where it was from coming over before many times to watch the band practice in the garage. She messed with her hair then put it up in a pony tail, then dragging her finger under her eyes to remove the eyeliner from last night. Like most know, she still had make up on her eyes, it just removed the dark stuff beneath them, so she didn't have to apply any more. Then looking around she finally found some tooth paste, which she put on her finger then proceeded to scrub her teeth with it. After she finished spitting all of the unwanted tooth paste into the sink she gave her self one final look then shrugged.
Before she could leave the room she saw a very pissed off Mike walking down the hall then decided she was curious, "Mike what are you doing? Where have you been?"
Mike turned to face her, he obviously had a major hangover and looked more tired than Amber had ever seen him before. His eyes were very dark at the moment, you could hardly tell that they were blue anymore. There were bags that normally weren't there, and his hair surpassed the natural messy look that he normally had, she seriously thought that some animal might have made its home there. Part of his shirt was wrinkled, the other half tucked into his pants not in a very orderly fashion. And his expression was blank, almost like he was searching for something in the space behind you, Amber was tempted to look over her shoulder. But more than anything Mike looked extremely pissed off for some odd reason, almost like Billie Joe had done something wrong.
"I've been walking, and I'm going to see our little friend Billie fucking Joe," Mike told her utterly pissed.
As he turned she spoke again, "What's the matter? Why were you walking? It's early in the morning, or rather early for you to wake up, let alone Billie Joe."
"I'm pissed because our little friend Billie fuck up Joe forgot a small little detail," Mike looked at her as her expression told him to go on, "It seems that he forgot that we all road together, meaning you, me, and him. Not just you and me, so while I was out looking for him in the party he was at home with you. Then I eventually realized what had happened, so I had to walk home, which took me like a half an hour to get here. That was at about 7:30, I assumed that the two of you would sleep over so I did, I was sleeping on the basement floor that night."
Amber bit on her bottom lip to keep from smiling then replied, "I'm sorry Mike, if I would have known, but I was kind of drunk and I barely remember last night at all. I'm sure that Billie Joe didn't mean to have you at such an inconvenience, he just was trying to get me home. Sorry that it put you in such a bad place man, I'm sure if he would have remembered her wouldn't have left you there, he really didn't do it on purpose. Don't be mad at him."
"Yeah," Mike sighed seemingly calming down, "I know he was just looking out for you, after all you were really wasted."
"And you were really stoned."
"Yeah," Mike put his hand behind his head to scratch his neck, laughing.
Amber giggled then told him, "I hope it wasn't all that bad, at least Cassady's house is warm."
"Yeah, I guess," Mike told her moving his arm back down to his side.
Billie Joe came down the hall to find Mike talking to Amber while she was in the bathroom, Mike smiled then walked down towards Billie Joe. He smiled then walked past, Billie Joe suppressed a sigh realizing just before that he had forgotten Mike the previous night. Then slightly confused he walked into the bathroom wrapping his arms around his girlfriend as she stared at her reflection in the mirror spacing out until she noticed him. Amber crossed her arms to grab each of his, pulling him closer to her then putting her arms down so that she could hold his hands. She turned her head to smile at him.
"I see you did me a favor," Billie Joe told her kissing her neck when she turned her head back to face the mirror staring at him.
"You mean with Mike?"
"Mmm hmm," he replied still kissing her neck.
She shivered slightly then bit her lip adding, "Yeah I just told him that you were just looking out for me, that you didn't mean to leave him. You didn't mean to leave him did you?"
"Well," Billie Joe said raising his head to look at her from the mirror.
"Billie! That's so mean," Amber told him.
"I'm just joking."
"I know."
Cassady woke up in her bed alone, and with a major headache something about the combination of a joint and trying to fall asleep to loud music gave her a killer migraine. She rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand then attempting to stand fell back on to the bed, apparently her legs decided to take a day off. Cringing at the tingling feeling you get when your legs have fallen asleep, Cassady tried to shake them in order for the feeling to leave. When it did she stood then walked out of her room only to turn slightly then grab at her chest from the sight.
Sleeping out side of her door was Tre. This made her lift an eyebrow, and fight the urge to kick him in the arm just to see if he was still alive. There he was just lying there with each of his arms extended, and his legs stretching out to their full length on the carpet. She smiled at him, wondering the reason that he had decided to sleep outside of her room for the night. Maybe he didn't mean what he told her that night, but then again she probably shouldn't have been taking off his shirt when she didn't know him that well.
"Have a good night?" Derek asked surprising her.
When she turned to face him he gestured to Tre.
Cassady shrugged, "Not really."
"So this is why you wouldn't just settle for a date, you had to leave him restless outside of your door after you were finished?" Derek asked lifting an eyebrow.
"Nope, and I still got more action than you, and just in case your gonna ask I'm certainly not interested in that stupid date," Cassady informed him.
"Damn, and I thought you'd like him," Derek said looking at Tre disappointed. "Well I've got to run, I'm meeting up with Amber to get some stuff at a shop."
"What?" Cassady asked.
"Nothing much just some food and stuff for the next party," Derek grinned.
"And when will that be?"
"Tonight, duh, I posted signs every where."
Cassady sighed then waved him off as he bound down the stair at a speed she thought would only cause him to trip over his own feet. After all Derek decided not that long ago that tying your shoes just wasn't cool enough for him, apparently tripping on his shoe laces was. Derek had also decided that he'd try to set Cassady up on a date with every guy wearing Dickies that he saw just because he heard Amber and Cassady's conversation. The two 15 year old girls were in love with Dickies, that so happened to be practically the favorite pants of every boy they decided were good enough for them to date. Dyed hair and Ramones t-shirts were another plus on their list, and Billie Joe just so happened to fit the description perfectly. Not only that, but he just happened to be a singer, and a guitarist, two things Amber dies for. Cassady wouldn't mind a guitarist of her own, but she always loved drummers, hence the perking up when Tre said that he was one. And Derek had heard their whole conversation about what types of guys were perfect that they had at least once a month.
Cassady knelt over to get a good look at Tre's face, he looked exactly the same as when he did the previous night. Only his eyes were closed, and he looked even more peaceful than when he was smoking his joint even. His mouth was also partly open, but luckily he wasn't snoring nor drooling, which was always a plus for any girl. She couldn't help, but stare for just a moment at his child-like stat that he was pursuing at the current moment.
"Tre," she whispered into his ear.
Chills went up his spine as the hairs on the back of his neck stuck up, he felt like it was just a dream, but he couldn't wake up.
"Tre," he whispered back.
Cassady was drawn back by this, she'd heard about people whispering back what people said into their ears. But she had tried it out on Amber, who only woke up when she said 'I want to make out with Billie's older brother' with a confused face. Now this would have to be her morning entertainment, after all she could make him say anything that she wanted him to say. The fact was that she heard you could also ask the sleeping person questions that they would have to answer correctly.
"I love Billie Joe," Cassady whispered.
"I love Billie Joe," he answered.
"I like it in the ass," Cassady continued trying to muffle her giggles so that he wouldn't wake up.
"You do?" Tre asked her.
She fell back onto her ass scared that he had woke up then burst out laughing as he stared at her. Cassady then stopped only to find herself staring into his bedroom blue eyes that seemed even more glazed over in the morning. His eyelids were only half open and he had a confused expression on his face, his hair was messed up, and Cassady thought she was going to melt. How often does a guy who looks like that with a jean jacket with pins and band logos and a pair of Dickies stay over at your house for the night? She just smiled softly moving close to sit with her back up against the wall just like he was doing.
"You were saying every thing that I was," Cassady said looking at him. "You said you loved Billie Joe, and then you started moaning."
"Okay I remember saying 'I love Billie Joe' but I did not moan," Tre informed her with a smirk.
"Uh huh, you can say whatever you want, but the way you screamed his name will be imprinted in my brain for ever," Cassady told him looking down at her hands in her lap.
His gaze fell on her hands that were playing with each other when he finally said, "Look I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said that, because I really am interested in you, I just was going to be set up with this girl that my friend told me about."
"So just tell him that you wont do it," She said looking up so that her eyes met his.
Tre bit his lip then answered, "I guess you got to do what you got to do right?"
"Yeah," Cassady sighed. "That's okay, well if things don't work out between the two of you just remember that I'm always here okay."
She then got up going towards her room, but he grabbed her arm, "I'm gonna tell him okay."
Smiling she answered, "Okay."
"But..." he went on.
"But," she repeated.
"I need to get to know you a whole lot better, let's say over ice cream?"
"Ice cream it is."
"Billie, my head hurts," Amber complained sitting down at his kitchen table.
"Hold on babe I'll get you some Advil," he replied searching the cupboards in search of aspirin.
"Ah, to be young," Billie Joe's mom came into the kitchen.
"You're not old Mrs. Armstrong, you are just aged, use positive thinking," Amber told her smiling.
"Right, aged, very aged," Billie Joe said aloud.
"Billie you still haven't managed to keep your mouth shut at the right moments have you? Well good morning to you both and thanks for your advise Amber I'll try that out and see if it makes me feel better. By the way you need to start calling me Ollie, it'll help me feel younger," Ollie told them.
"Good morning," Amber said cheerfully then gripped her head, "Fuck, why does it have to hurt so fucking much."
"Look who has a dirty mouth now," Billie Joe told her whilst still looking through the cupboards for the aspirin.
"Well you don't have a fucking migraine Billie or you'd be doing worse than I am," Amber replied.
"True, AH!"
Amber looked up at Billie Joe's sudden out burst, only to see him coming over with two aspirins in his hand. It was like the Golden Grail to Amber just because of the throbbing pain she had directly behind her eye at the moment. She took them in her hand then smiled up to him as he went back in search of some water for her.
"Here I'll get you some water," he told her getting out a glass.
"No need, I can swallow these with out one," Amber replied.
"Tough girl," Ollie added sipping on her coffee then setting it down by the sink, "Well I've got to be off because unlike you two I actually have a job."
"Well if you count being in a band and getting gigs as a job I'd be doing damn well," Billie Joe shouted back as his mother exited the room.
"Too bad it isn't considered that," Ollie yelled back before shutting the front door making Amber smiled to herself.
"Nice Billie," Amber told him while swallowing the aspirin.
"How can you do that?"
"Like this," Amber swallowed.
"No I mean how can you take pills with out some sort of liquid?" He asked curious.
"Dunno, I just take 'em like that you know, I didn't ever have to take them with water or for you I guess I should say beer," Amber replied smirking to herself.
"I don't drink that much, and I don't think that you should be talking after last night anyways," Billie Joe told her.
"Okay so I drank a whole lot more than you did, and yet my breath still smells 2354% better."
"So."
"So brush your fucking teeth, or I'll never kiss you again."
"Oh no, not that anything but that," he told her sarcastically getting up, "But for you I will brush my teeth, but you owe me more than just a simple kiss on the lips."
"Right," Amber told him rolling her eyes as he left the room.
She looked around, it wasn't that she thought that Billie Joe's house was boring, because he was there after all, it was just that there was never anything to do. It wasn't like they had any board games because Billie Joe was 16 going on 17 and didn't exactly want to play them all the time. They weren't very wealthy and if they had some sort of game system she hadn't seen it yet or maybe it was broken or something. And Mike was never around for her to talk to when Billie Joe left the room, she didn't know where he went all the time anyways. Billie Joe and Mike were best friends, but they only hung out at band practices, and of course gigs. Maybe if they hung out more than just that it would be too much time with each other or something like that. But still Mike didn't have a girlfriend that she knew of, so he must have been lonely at times.
"Brushed and cleaned," Billie Joe interrupted her train of thought causing her to look up at him as he smiled broadly at her.
She smiled back, "Yup I think they are good."
"Great because I didn't think I could make it any longer," he said while sitting down next to her and pulling her close.
Amber closed her eyes as his kisses began to get even more passionate then they already were, she couldn't help but smile into them. She loved the fact that she never lacked the feeling in the pit of her stomach every time that he kissed her, and the way she felt a flutter when he smiled at her. Honestly she didn't know exactly what it meant, other than that she was falling in love with Billie Joe Armstrong. The boy next door who plays guitar, and smokes a lot, who just happens to be a year or so older than she is. She felt his tongue slip past her lips as she kissed back trying to make him experience the same feeling that she was. Every time he made her feel that way she wanted to try harder to make him satisfied with what she was doing for him. He obviously was.
"Hey do we have-Woah, wrong moment to walk into the room I'm sorry," Mike said while walking into the kitchen.
"Mike!" Amber exclaimed, "I have a question?"
"What?"
"Can you please leave and do what ever you were doing before?"
"I could...."
"DO IT!" Billie Joe yelled smiling causing Amber to look at him.
Mike put his hands in the air trying to defend himself, "Okay I'm sorry Jesus. No need to go all crazy carnival freak on me."
As he walked out of the room Billie Joe turned to Amber then breathed out, "Where were we?"
Tre smiled at Cassady as he pulled her by her hand into the ice cream parlor. She looked around not having been there before, little did she know that Tre knew the guy who owned the bar. Cassady just smiled back at home, plainly excited to be with him, and the ice cream also helped a little bit. He quickly ran over to the front counter dragging her with him, then darted up to the man who was cleaning off the counter. She took this as an opportunity to look around the parlor, where she noticed that there were many pictures of popular punk bands and some that she didn't recognize.
"Hey kid," The man yelled out drawing Cassady's attention.
He was obviously talking to Tre, who now was broadly grinning, she now knew that he had known this guy for a while. The man was tall with a muscular build, and a mustache that seemed to be way to thick for anyone's face. He grinned back at Tre making Cassady feel like she had been left out of some really funny joke that they had between them. Despite how she felt she knew that she hadn't been left out of some joke, it was apparent that they were just happy to see each other. Which seemed kind of strange.
"Hey," Tre replied to the man.
He finally noticed Cassady then gestured to her, "Who's she."
"Uh," Tre began.
"Girlfriend, Cassady nice to meet you," Cassady finished for him taking Tre by surprise then sticking her hand out for the man to shake.
"Nice firm grip, I like this girl Tre, she's beautiful too," the man went on after shaking Cassady's hand, "Now what can I get you two?"
Tre turned to Cassady who plainly said, "Just a vanilla, please."
"Yeah and I'll have my usual," Tre told him.
"Great, on the house."
Cassady smiled at Tre as he took her to a booth in the corner of the place, she took notice that no one else was inside.
"So how are you doing?" Tre asked trying his best to be nice to her.
"Good, you?"
"Fine," he told her tapping his foot.
"Drummer's habit?" She asked.
"What?" He asked confused.
"Your foot," Cassady explained, "It's called the drummer's habit, that's what they do-well you do, when you sit there. You tap your foot. That's what I do when I take tests, but not when I'm just sitting there."
"Oh, yeah," Tre told her looking around, "So you like this place?"
"Yeah it's like really cool," she told him.
"Good," he replied.
"You know the guy who works here?"
"Yeah," he told her his eyes moving about the room, "he was my old baby sitter believe it or not, it's a very long story."
"Right, but I have all day long."
Tre smirked, "Okay well it all started when......"
"What do you want to do today," Billie Joe asked, breaking Amber away from her staring contest with the wall she was subconsciously having.
"I dunno, what do you feel like doing, because I'm up for anything," Amber replied looking at him with a smile.
"How about are annual trip to the guitar store?" He asked slightly excited.
"What the hell, let's go."
They both got up then strolled to the car, when Billie Joe was politely opening the door Amber then told him, "Billie, I kind of feel like stretching out my legs, do you wanna walk?"
He turned to face her then closed the door, "Sure, I mean we aren't that far anyways."
Billie Joe walked up to put his arm around her waist as she leaned in to him slightly putting her head on his shoulder and putting her arm around his waist. The one thing that Amber didn't like about being with Billie Joe was that he was relatively smaller than her, he was thinner although he weighed 20 pounds more and was about 3 inches taller. Even though he was pretty small she still couldn't help, but feel safe in his arms, although she had no idea why, him being a small guy. She supposed that it was just because of how often he played guitar, which helped him gain arm strength to some extent. He did occasionally lift some of the weights that his brother left when he went to college, but Billie Joe wasn't some body builder or anything.
"Looking for a new guitar," She suggested as their feet his the fist cement block of sidewalk actually in the shops part of town.
"Maybe, more like looking for a new amp," Billie Joe replied, his eyes scanning the shops for the store.
"I don't know, I think I'm going to get a new one at some point, mine can be a real piece of shit. Besides I like how each guitar has a different sound, maybe it would help me to get some of our songs to sound better. But I don't know, my old one's kind of scratched up," Amber explained.
"Well look at Blue," Billie Joe said laughing slightly at the thought of his first guitar.
"Yeah, I suppose that is true," Amber replied.
When they reached the guitar store Billie Joe removed his arm from Amber's waist then put it around her shoulders making the position more comfortable for the both of him. Amber took the opportunity to push herself even further into Billie Joe, making herself extremely warm. She liked it when they were very close to each other physically, and she supposed emotionally but in this situation physically. He didn't really seem to mind it, then they both walked further into the store eyeing particular items as they walked on. Amber felt really happy to be with him there in his arms, she felt like she had everything that she ever wanted right there. Billie Joe wasn't as mushy, but he truly love her, he just hadn't figured it out just yet.
Amber moved her head around just a bit only to find that she had bumped into Billie Joe in the process. Not remembering most of last night she opened her eyes half expecting it to be some random guy she hooked up with that night. It kind of scared her when she just saw the 'Explosion' logo of a shirt when she opened her eyes, but she was relieved to remember that Billie Joe was wearing the same shirt. Slowly she glanced up at him, wondering why she was facing him in their sleep. He was still asleep.
Breathing out Amber debated in her mind whether or not to get up, of course with out waking up, or at least trying not to. She finally decided that he probably wouldn't be sleeping much longer, after all when she woke up she did shift a little. Looking back up at him she wasn't surprised to see one of Billie Joe's eyes open slightly staring back at her. Amber smirked holding back her laughter, normally it would just be funny but it was hilarious when he looked like he did after he just woke up.
"Decided to stay over at your place huh?" Amber asked him, "Did you have anything to do with that decision my dear?"
"Nope," Billie Joe answered honestly sitting up to a more comfortable position then placing his arm around her, "Actually you practically had to beg me for me to let you spend the night over here, I wanted to take you home. I was afraid you were going to take advantage of me in my weak stoned stage, that I was in."
"Really," Amber placed her head on his chest, "Me take advantage of you when I was drunk, right. That would make tons of sense, not to mention I know that you didn't smoke that much last night, not to mention it takes quite a bit to get you high."
"Uh huh, well I also offered to sleep on the floor, being the gentleman that I am, but you wouldn't let me," Billie Joe told her innocently.
"Really?"
"Yes, would this face lie to you," He looked at her.
"Probably."
"And you are wrong, I wouldn't lie, that's what really happened last night. Oh by the way I caught you and Mike in the bathroom keeping time of how long it took him to piss out all the beer he drank," Billie Joe added with a smirk.
"I remember that actually, one of the more fascinating parts of the night."
"You mean you weren't all that drunk then?"
"Nope, but it really doesn't take me that long to get drunk, I swore I only had like 3 drinks."
"Maybe that's as far as your memory went back because you had a few more than just 3 three hun," Billie Joe kissed her temple.
She looked up at him, "Thanks for taking care of me, when you could have taken advantage, and I know that you didn't because I'm sleeping in my clothes."
"You bet, just please don't make me do it again. I had to carry you all the way from the party to my car then all the way up to my house, it wasn't the best experience I've ever had," Billie Joe told planting a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Still thanks, you really didn't have to, I could have spent the night with Crash," Amber turned to face him.
"Babe it really wasn't a problem, you were drunk and I took you home."
Amber smiled to him then kissed his lips softly before breaking away leaving him wanting more, "I bring you all this way and all I get is a kiss?"
"What do you want?" Amber said sitting up and messing with her hair.
He lifted his eye brows up and down.
Amber rolled her eyes, "Maybe when I think that you're ready for me."
Billie Joe watched her leave then yelled after her, "I'm ready for you, I was born ready for you. Oh come on, come back please!"
Amber walked into his bathroom, knowing where it was from coming over before many times to watch the band practice in the garage. She messed with her hair then put it up in a pony tail, then dragging her finger under her eyes to remove the eyeliner from last night. Like most know, she still had make up on her eyes, it just removed the dark stuff beneath them, so she didn't have to apply any more. Then looking around she finally found some tooth paste, which she put on her finger then proceeded to scrub her teeth with it. After she finished spitting all of the unwanted tooth paste into the sink she gave her self one final look then shrugged.
Before she could leave the room she saw a very pissed off Mike walking down the hall then decided she was curious, "Mike what are you doing? Where have you been?"
Mike turned to face her, he obviously had a major hangover and looked more tired than Amber had ever seen him before. His eyes were very dark at the moment, you could hardly tell that they were blue anymore. There were bags that normally weren't there, and his hair surpassed the natural messy look that he normally had, she seriously thought that some animal might have made its home there. Part of his shirt was wrinkled, the other half tucked into his pants not in a very orderly fashion. And his expression was blank, almost like he was searching for something in the space behind you, Amber was tempted to look over her shoulder. But more than anything Mike looked extremely pissed off for some odd reason, almost like Billie Joe had done something wrong.
"I've been walking, and I'm going to see our little friend Billie fucking Joe," Mike told her utterly pissed.
As he turned she spoke again, "What's the matter? Why were you walking? It's early in the morning, or rather early for you to wake up, let alone Billie Joe."
"I'm pissed because our little friend Billie fuck up Joe forgot a small little detail," Mike looked at her as her expression told him to go on, "It seems that he forgot that we all road together, meaning you, me, and him. Not just you and me, so while I was out looking for him in the party he was at home with you. Then I eventually realized what had happened, so I had to walk home, which took me like a half an hour to get here. That was at about 7:30, I assumed that the two of you would sleep over so I did, I was sleeping on the basement floor that night."
Amber bit on her bottom lip to keep from smiling then replied, "I'm sorry Mike, if I would have known, but I was kind of drunk and I barely remember last night at all. I'm sure that Billie Joe didn't mean to have you at such an inconvenience, he just was trying to get me home. Sorry that it put you in such a bad place man, I'm sure if he would have remembered her wouldn't have left you there, he really didn't do it on purpose. Don't be mad at him."
"Yeah," Mike sighed seemingly calming down, "I know he was just looking out for you, after all you were really wasted."
"And you were really stoned."
"Yeah," Mike put his hand behind his head to scratch his neck, laughing.
Amber giggled then told him, "I hope it wasn't all that bad, at least Cassady's house is warm."
"Yeah, I guess," Mike told her moving his arm back down to his side.
Billie Joe came down the hall to find Mike talking to Amber while she was in the bathroom, Mike smiled then walked down towards Billie Joe. He smiled then walked past, Billie Joe suppressed a sigh realizing just before that he had forgotten Mike the previous night. Then slightly confused he walked into the bathroom wrapping his arms around his girlfriend as she stared at her reflection in the mirror spacing out until she noticed him. Amber crossed her arms to grab each of his, pulling him closer to her then putting her arms down so that she could hold his hands. She turned her head to smile at him.
"I see you did me a favor," Billie Joe told her kissing her neck when she turned her head back to face the mirror staring at him.
"You mean with Mike?"
"Mmm hmm," he replied still kissing her neck.
She shivered slightly then bit her lip adding, "Yeah I just told him that you were just looking out for me, that you didn't mean to leave him. You didn't mean to leave him did you?"
"Well," Billie Joe said raising his head to look at her from the mirror.
"Billie! That's so mean," Amber told him.
"I'm just joking."
"I know."
Cassady woke up in her bed alone, and with a major headache something about the combination of a joint and trying to fall asleep to loud music gave her a killer migraine. She rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand then attempting to stand fell back on to the bed, apparently her legs decided to take a day off. Cringing at the tingling feeling you get when your legs have fallen asleep, Cassady tried to shake them in order for the feeling to leave. When it did she stood then walked out of her room only to turn slightly then grab at her chest from the sight.
Sleeping out side of her door was Tre. This made her lift an eyebrow, and fight the urge to kick him in the arm just to see if he was still alive. There he was just lying there with each of his arms extended, and his legs stretching out to their full length on the carpet. She smiled at him, wondering the reason that he had decided to sleep outside of her room for the night. Maybe he didn't mean what he told her that night, but then again she probably shouldn't have been taking off his shirt when she didn't know him that well.
"Have a good night?" Derek asked surprising her.
When she turned to face him he gestured to Tre.
Cassady shrugged, "Not really."
"So this is why you wouldn't just settle for a date, you had to leave him restless outside of your door after you were finished?" Derek asked lifting an eyebrow.
"Nope, and I still got more action than you, and just in case your gonna ask I'm certainly not interested in that stupid date," Cassady informed him.
"Damn, and I thought you'd like him," Derek said looking at Tre disappointed. "Well I've got to run, I'm meeting up with Amber to get some stuff at a shop."
"What?" Cassady asked.
"Nothing much just some food and stuff for the next party," Derek grinned.
"And when will that be?"
"Tonight, duh, I posted signs every where."
Cassady sighed then waved him off as he bound down the stair at a speed she thought would only cause him to trip over his own feet. After all Derek decided not that long ago that tying your shoes just wasn't cool enough for him, apparently tripping on his shoe laces was. Derek had also decided that he'd try to set Cassady up on a date with every guy wearing Dickies that he saw just because he heard Amber and Cassady's conversation. The two 15 year old girls were in love with Dickies, that so happened to be practically the favorite pants of every boy they decided were good enough for them to date. Dyed hair and Ramones t-shirts were another plus on their list, and Billie Joe just so happened to fit the description perfectly. Not only that, but he just happened to be a singer, and a guitarist, two things Amber dies for. Cassady wouldn't mind a guitarist of her own, but she always loved drummers, hence the perking up when Tre said that he was one. And Derek had heard their whole conversation about what types of guys were perfect that they had at least once a month.
Cassady knelt over to get a good look at Tre's face, he looked exactly the same as when he did the previous night. Only his eyes were closed, and he looked even more peaceful than when he was smoking his joint even. His mouth was also partly open, but luckily he wasn't snoring nor drooling, which was always a plus for any girl. She couldn't help, but stare for just a moment at his child-like stat that he was pursuing at the current moment.
"Tre," she whispered into his ear.
Chills went up his spine as the hairs on the back of his neck stuck up, he felt like it was just a dream, but he couldn't wake up.
"Tre," he whispered back.
Cassady was drawn back by this, she'd heard about people whispering back what people said into their ears. But she had tried it out on Amber, who only woke up when she said 'I want to make out with Billie's older brother' with a confused face. Now this would have to be her morning entertainment, after all she could make him say anything that she wanted him to say. The fact was that she heard you could also ask the sleeping person questions that they would have to answer correctly.
"I love Billie Joe," Cassady whispered.
"I love Billie Joe," he answered.
"I like it in the ass," Cassady continued trying to muffle her giggles so that he wouldn't wake up.
"You do?" Tre asked her.
She fell back onto her ass scared that he had woke up then burst out laughing as he stared at her. Cassady then stopped only to find herself staring into his bedroom blue eyes that seemed even more glazed over in the morning. His eyelids were only half open and he had a confused expression on his face, his hair was messed up, and Cassady thought she was going to melt. How often does a guy who looks like that with a jean jacket with pins and band logos and a pair of Dickies stay over at your house for the night? She just smiled softly moving close to sit with her back up against the wall just like he was doing.
"You were saying every thing that I was," Cassady said looking at him. "You said you loved Billie Joe, and then you started moaning."
"Okay I remember saying 'I love Billie Joe' but I did not moan," Tre informed her with a smirk.
"Uh huh, you can say whatever you want, but the way you screamed his name will be imprinted in my brain for ever," Cassady told him looking down at her hands in her lap.
His gaze fell on her hands that were playing with each other when he finally said, "Look I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said that, because I really am interested in you, I just was going to be set up with this girl that my friend told me about."
"So just tell him that you wont do it," She said looking up so that her eyes met his.
Tre bit his lip then answered, "I guess you got to do what you got to do right?"
"Yeah," Cassady sighed. "That's okay, well if things don't work out between the two of you just remember that I'm always here okay."
She then got up going towards her room, but he grabbed her arm, "I'm gonna tell him okay."
Smiling she answered, "Okay."
"But..." he went on.
"But," she repeated.
"I need to get to know you a whole lot better, let's say over ice cream?"
"Ice cream it is."
"Billie, my head hurts," Amber complained sitting down at his kitchen table.
"Hold on babe I'll get you some Advil," he replied searching the cupboards in search of aspirin.
"Ah, to be young," Billie Joe's mom came into the kitchen.
"You're not old Mrs. Armstrong, you are just aged, use positive thinking," Amber told her smiling.
"Right, aged, very aged," Billie Joe said aloud.
"Billie you still haven't managed to keep your mouth shut at the right moments have you? Well good morning to you both and thanks for your advise Amber I'll try that out and see if it makes me feel better. By the way you need to start calling me Ollie, it'll help me feel younger," Ollie told them.
"Good morning," Amber said cheerfully then gripped her head, "Fuck, why does it have to hurt so fucking much."
"Look who has a dirty mouth now," Billie Joe told her whilst still looking through the cupboards for the aspirin.
"Well you don't have a fucking migraine Billie or you'd be doing worse than I am," Amber replied.
"True, AH!"
Amber looked up at Billie Joe's sudden out burst, only to see him coming over with two aspirins in his hand. It was like the Golden Grail to Amber just because of the throbbing pain she had directly behind her eye at the moment. She took them in her hand then smiled up to him as he went back in search of some water for her.
"Here I'll get you some water," he told her getting out a glass.
"No need, I can swallow these with out one," Amber replied.
"Tough girl," Ollie added sipping on her coffee then setting it down by the sink, "Well I've got to be off because unlike you two I actually have a job."
"Well if you count being in a band and getting gigs as a job I'd be doing damn well," Billie Joe shouted back as his mother exited the room.
"Too bad it isn't considered that," Ollie yelled back before shutting the front door making Amber smiled to herself.
"Nice Billie," Amber told him while swallowing the aspirin.
"How can you do that?"
"Like this," Amber swallowed.
"No I mean how can you take pills with out some sort of liquid?" He asked curious.
"Dunno, I just take 'em like that you know, I didn't ever have to take them with water or for you I guess I should say beer," Amber replied smirking to herself.
"I don't drink that much, and I don't think that you should be talking after last night anyways," Billie Joe told her.
"Okay so I drank a whole lot more than you did, and yet my breath still smells 2354% better."
"So."
"So brush your fucking teeth, or I'll never kiss you again."
"Oh no, not that anything but that," he told her sarcastically getting up, "But for you I will brush my teeth, but you owe me more than just a simple kiss on the lips."
"Right," Amber told him rolling her eyes as he left the room.
She looked around, it wasn't that she thought that Billie Joe's house was boring, because he was there after all, it was just that there was never anything to do. It wasn't like they had any board games because Billie Joe was 16 going on 17 and didn't exactly want to play them all the time. They weren't very wealthy and if they had some sort of game system she hadn't seen it yet or maybe it was broken or something. And Mike was never around for her to talk to when Billie Joe left the room, she didn't know where he went all the time anyways. Billie Joe and Mike were best friends, but they only hung out at band practices, and of course gigs. Maybe if they hung out more than just that it would be too much time with each other or something like that. But still Mike didn't have a girlfriend that she knew of, so he must have been lonely at times.
"Brushed and cleaned," Billie Joe interrupted her train of thought causing her to look up at him as he smiled broadly at her.
She smiled back, "Yup I think they are good."
"Great because I didn't think I could make it any longer," he said while sitting down next to her and pulling her close.
Amber closed her eyes as his kisses began to get even more passionate then they already were, she couldn't help but smile into them. She loved the fact that she never lacked the feeling in the pit of her stomach every time that he kissed her, and the way she felt a flutter when he smiled at her. Honestly she didn't know exactly what it meant, other than that she was falling in love with Billie Joe Armstrong. The boy next door who plays guitar, and smokes a lot, who just happens to be a year or so older than she is. She felt his tongue slip past her lips as she kissed back trying to make him experience the same feeling that she was. Every time he made her feel that way she wanted to try harder to make him satisfied with what she was doing for him. He obviously was.
"Hey do we have-Woah, wrong moment to walk into the room I'm sorry," Mike said while walking into the kitchen.
"Mike!" Amber exclaimed, "I have a question?"
"What?"
"Can you please leave and do what ever you were doing before?"
"I could...."
"DO IT!" Billie Joe yelled smiling causing Amber to look at him.
Mike put his hands in the air trying to defend himself, "Okay I'm sorry Jesus. No need to go all crazy carnival freak on me."
As he walked out of the room Billie Joe turned to Amber then breathed out, "Where were we?"
Tre smiled at Cassady as he pulled her by her hand into the ice cream parlor. She looked around not having been there before, little did she know that Tre knew the guy who owned the bar. Cassady just smiled back at home, plainly excited to be with him, and the ice cream also helped a little bit. He quickly ran over to the front counter dragging her with him, then darted up to the man who was cleaning off the counter. She took this as an opportunity to look around the parlor, where she noticed that there were many pictures of popular punk bands and some that she didn't recognize.
"Hey kid," The man yelled out drawing Cassady's attention.
He was obviously talking to Tre, who now was broadly grinning, she now knew that he had known this guy for a while. The man was tall with a muscular build, and a mustache that seemed to be way to thick for anyone's face. He grinned back at Tre making Cassady feel like she had been left out of some really funny joke that they had between them. Despite how she felt she knew that she hadn't been left out of some joke, it was apparent that they were just happy to see each other. Which seemed kind of strange.
"Hey," Tre replied to the man.
He finally noticed Cassady then gestured to her, "Who's she."
"Uh," Tre began.
"Girlfriend, Cassady nice to meet you," Cassady finished for him taking Tre by surprise then sticking her hand out for the man to shake.
"Nice firm grip, I like this girl Tre, she's beautiful too," the man went on after shaking Cassady's hand, "Now what can I get you two?"
Tre turned to Cassady who plainly said, "Just a vanilla, please."
"Yeah and I'll have my usual," Tre told him.
"Great, on the house."
Cassady smiled at Tre as he took her to a booth in the corner of the place, she took notice that no one else was inside.
"So how are you doing?" Tre asked trying his best to be nice to her.
"Good, you?"
"Fine," he told her tapping his foot.
"Drummer's habit?" She asked.
"What?" He asked confused.
"Your foot," Cassady explained, "It's called the drummer's habit, that's what they do-well you do, when you sit there. You tap your foot. That's what I do when I take tests, but not when I'm just sitting there."
"Oh, yeah," Tre told her looking around, "So you like this place?"
"Yeah it's like really cool," she told him.
"Good," he replied.
"You know the guy who works here?"
"Yeah," he told her his eyes moving about the room, "he was my old baby sitter believe it or not, it's a very long story."
"Right, but I have all day long."
Tre smirked, "Okay well it all started when......"
"What do you want to do today," Billie Joe asked, breaking Amber away from her staring contest with the wall she was subconsciously having.
"I dunno, what do you feel like doing, because I'm up for anything," Amber replied looking at him with a smile.
"How about are annual trip to the guitar store?" He asked slightly excited.
"What the hell, let's go."
They both got up then strolled to the car, when Billie Joe was politely opening the door Amber then told him, "Billie, I kind of feel like stretching out my legs, do you wanna walk?"
He turned to face her then closed the door, "Sure, I mean we aren't that far anyways."
Billie Joe walked up to put his arm around her waist as she leaned in to him slightly putting her head on his shoulder and putting her arm around his waist. The one thing that Amber didn't like about being with Billie Joe was that he was relatively smaller than her, he was thinner although he weighed 20 pounds more and was about 3 inches taller. Even though he was pretty small she still couldn't help, but feel safe in his arms, although she had no idea why, him being a small guy. She supposed that it was just because of how often he played guitar, which helped him gain arm strength to some extent. He did occasionally lift some of the weights that his brother left when he went to college, but Billie Joe wasn't some body builder or anything.
"Looking for a new guitar," She suggested as their feet his the fist cement block of sidewalk actually in the shops part of town.
"Maybe, more like looking for a new amp," Billie Joe replied, his eyes scanning the shops for the store.
"I don't know, I think I'm going to get a new one at some point, mine can be a real piece of shit. Besides I like how each guitar has a different sound, maybe it would help me to get some of our songs to sound better. But I don't know, my old one's kind of scratched up," Amber explained.
"Well look at Blue," Billie Joe said laughing slightly at the thought of his first guitar.
"Yeah, I suppose that is true," Amber replied.
When they reached the guitar store Billie Joe removed his arm from Amber's waist then put it around her shoulders making the position more comfortable for the both of him. Amber took the opportunity to push herself even further into Billie Joe, making herself extremely warm. She liked it when they were very close to each other physically, and she supposed emotionally but in this situation physically. He didn't really seem to mind it, then they both walked further into the store eyeing particular items as they walked on. Amber felt really happy to be with him there in his arms, she felt like she had everything that she ever wanted right there. Billie Joe wasn't as mushy, but he truly love her, he just hadn't figured it out just yet.
