When He Came Around, chapter 4
Mercedes stood there, not too sure what she was going to say next. If you had told her that she would be standing in the kitchen of the Armstrong household, with her boys playing outside and Tre Cool standing beside her as she washed dishes, she would no doubt, tell you that you were insane and even offer to call some sort of people to cart you off. However, here she was.
Tre turned to her. "I know it's pretty fast... I mean, this is only the second time I met you, but it doesn't mean that I wasn't always thinking about you. You just... it's different being around you. There's just something different about you, and I like it."
It had been a long time since Mercedes had gotten any attention from anyone of the opposite sex. She had consumed all of her time with the studio, Joey and Liam and just concentrating on their futures that for so long, she was neglecting her own. Feeling herself go a little weak in the knees, she locked eyes with Tre once more.
Not knowing what came over him, Tre snaked his arms around Mercedes and pulled her towards him, locking her into a passionate, yet ever gentle kiss. And not knowing what came over her, Mercedes could only press herself closer to him and deepen the kiss.
* * *
"Where's Mercedes and Tre?" Mike asked.
Billie Joe and Adrienne looked around and saw that they could no longer see them inside the kitchen. Billie Joe squinted as he quickly scanned what he could, but it was Estelle who knew the answer. "Uncle Tre's kissing Mercedes!"
All the adults looked at each other in amusingly shocked expressions. "What a dog," Mike joked as picked up Estelle into his lap.
"I had no idea that Tre was even considering to look at another female," Adrienne added.
Billie Joe nodded. "I must admit, he's been a little off... since him and Claudia split, but I can only imagine how hard it must be. I mean, they still live together and I know that there's still a huge part of Tre's heart that's taken by Claudia. Just for so long he hasn't really been looking around I guess."
"Until Mercedes apparently," Mike said.
"Well, she's quite the catch," Adrienne confirmed.
Silently, Billie Joe blinked in complete agreement.
* * *
Mercedes felt Tre's hands run through her thick hair and softly move down to rest itself on her cheek as he started to pull away from the kiss, quickly licking her lips before he spoke. "I'm usually not that forward... " he whispered.
Mercedes giggled and felt herself being held a little tighter by Tre. She looked up at him and smiled, showing truly how excited she was. "Well I don't mind in the least."
* * *
The next day, Mercedes awoke quite early, unbeknownst to why. Tre said he was going to come pick her up around six and then from there, the rest was a surprise. Mercedes looked around and saw Joey and Liam sleeping in a little fort that they had made with their blanket and pillows. Smiling, she made a note to compliment their fort making skills... usually, they always asked for her help and this was the first time that they managed to make a sturdy fort without her. Shaking the thought away, she went to take a shower and quickly changed into her, as Mike labeled with her, "mommy attire."
Coming down the stairs, she noticed that Billie Joe was already up with Joey, Jacob, the other Joey and Liam. As her foot touched the ground in the dining room, Billie Joe immediately looked up and offered a smile. "Mommy! Did you see our fort!" Liam said, bouncing towards her.
"I did... it was amazing!"
"Mr. Armstrong helped us build it."
Mercedes looked up at Billie Joe who wasn't paying attention to what her Joey was saying, but listening to what his Joey was telling him. She watched him for what seemed like an hour and realized just how good of a father he was. Internally though, it hurt... knowing her little nephews never had that. "So I'm the last one up?" Adrienne called as she made her way into the kitchen.
"I wanted to let you sleep in," Billie called from the dining room.
Breakfast that morning was an assortment of various brightly colored cereals and fruits (Adrienne insisted on having at least some healthy food for breakfast). Billie Joe and all four boys decided to head out and buy some decorations for their New Years party. All the boys were actually headed off to Billie's mother's home and Joey and Liam were nothing short of little balls of energy.
Considering the weather outside, Adrienne and Mercedes lounged around the pool after finishing some basic cleaning chores and just got to know each other a little better. Mercedes was in heaven. Here she was, now talking with another female who understood her. When Joey and Liam had fallen into her lap, all of Mercedes' 'friends' had become, possibly too young for her. None of them understood what she was going through, nor did they ever try to. But sitting with Adrienne, she knew that there was someone else who was like her. A mother, but still young at heart.
* * *
Mercedes found one of her strapless chocolate brown dresses to wear that night for her outing with Tre. As she stood in front of the mirror, she sheepishly grinned at just how much of a tan she had gotten from one afternoon outside. Pleased with the way she looked, she turned to her three judges. "What do you think?"
Joey, Liam, and Jacob sat on the bed, thinking hard on their decision. Simultaneously, she received three thumbs up. Kissing them all on their forehead, and getting a little blush from Jacob who had taken a liking to her, Mercedes bounded downstairs, surprised to see that Tre was already there. She quietly continued downstairs, looking at Tre as he spoke. He was wearing dark jeans and a button-down black shirt that was very complimentary to the muscles on his arms. Looking down at her arm, she was glad that she had her warm wool cardigan with her that she immediately pulled on, in order to dress down her appearance a little bit. As she came down in full view, it wasn't only Tre's eyes that widened, but Billie's as well.
"You look great," Adrienne called.
Tre walked over to her and kissed her on her lips and whispered, "and that's an understatement," in her ear. Taking in her soft vanilla scent, Tre entwined her fingers in his own.
"Now you two be good tonight... don't be back too late... " Billie Joe warned, his true father-figure coming out.
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tre guided Mercedes out the front door and said their quick goodbyes. "Well first... a little bit of dinner, and then I can get you real drunk and have my way with you," Tre joked.
"Real classy Tre," Mercedes laughed.
"Alright alright. My apologies," Tre said as he opened the door for her. "We'll skip dinner and go right for the part where I get you drunk and take advantage of you."
The evening passed better than anyone could over hope for it to. Dinner was full of quality time, getting to really know each other, and in each of their cases, getting to like each other more and more with each word spoken. Once dinner was over, the sun was already set and Tre's smile widened. "Now I know that we're not really dressed for this... but I couldn't resist. I was looking through your CD collection and couldn't help but notice some of your musical tastes. So, in lieu of other dates where it's dinner and dancing... a date with Tre is dinner... then moshing."
"What?" Mercedes said, confusion etched in her features.
"The Living End is playing and we're going. Now come on."
Mercedes had always enjoyed live music the most. To her, that was how music should be; live, loud and fast. Tre had acquired ideal seating, on the side of the stage, just like how she had watched Green Day perform a few days ago. The night passed perfectly. In her mind, she gave bonus points to Tre for choosing something that they both had in common, but also set them in an environment that made them both comfortable. And the show that night, was livelier, louder and faster than anyone anticipated.
The date ended with much more than just a goodnight kiss and Tre felt himself quite lightheaded after he had surrendered Mercedes back to the Armstrong house where, unawares to him, everyone was waiting inside to hear about her evening. He drove home, quite in a daze, and more content with himself and everything than he had been in a while. Mercedes was that breath of fresh and clean air that was needed after being stuck in an air-polluted city for so long. She was new and foreign and he loved every aspect and second of that.
* * *
The day of the party, Adrienne and Mercedes went shopping, looking for something to wear that night, in hopes to show off their youthful and sexy femininity. Adrienne had settled on a red dress that was sure to get Billie's mind wandering, whereas Mercedes chose the safe and simple black dress.
Returning back to the Armstrong house was a relief, for there was still enough time to get everything ready, including themselves before anyone would really show up. The afternoon was spent joking around and putting up simple streamers that no one would really notice after enough drinks.
Adrienne came down the stairs, changed and ready to go, and laughed at the sight of her husband. Billie Joe had streamer wrapped around his body, but had stopped in mid-step when he saw Adrienne. "Must you remind me why I married you?" he cooed.
"Sometimes there is a need, yes I'll admit," Adrienne purred.
Mercedes shook her head at the two lovebirds and then decided she too would get ready. She walked into the kitchen and decided to get something to drink before heading upstairs, and she noticed that there were a dew essentials missing from the refrigerator. Bringing it to Adrienne's attention, she offered to go out and pick up what was needed after she got ready.
Mercedes then shot upstairs, fixed herself up and throwing on a light jacket, headed downstairs. "Wow Mercedes... " Adrienne began. "I didn't realize that you were all leg."
Mercedes knew that Adrienne was referring to the shortness of the dress, but smiled anyway. "Well I hope you're not the only one who enjoys it then," she joked.
Mercedes grabbed her keys and went into the car. Billie Joe stood in the doorway.
"Don't be late though," he warned.
"I won't," she answered. "I promise."
* * *
Mercedes walked into the house and was caught a bit off guard at the amount of people in the house. She set the bag of groceries down and took a second look around. 'I wasn't gone for that long, was I?' she thought. Removing her coat, she looked around, searching for a friendly face, little did she know that one had already found her.
Billie Joe had tuned out of Tre's amusing anecdote and watched Mercedes as she removed her coat. She truly was beautiful. She wore a simple black dress that cut off just above the knees and also gave just enough cleavage to keep any male's mind wandering for the night. Grinning to himself, he kind of envied Tre a bit, for obvious reasons. Although he wasn't in love with Mercedes, or so he told himself, he still could tear his eyes away from her.
"Mercedes!"
She turned around and Mike was approaching her with two drinks in his hands. "Here's to you, you sexy animal you. Wow... really, you do look quite stunning. I mean, I'm so used to seeing you in like... "
"Mother attire?" she finished for him.
Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "If that's what you call it," he whispered in her ear.
Mercedes had always had some little crush on Mike. He was always the one she would watch at the concert and the one that thought had a real appealing personality. Yet here she was, more or less together with Tre and thinking about Mike. She quickly disregarded the thought, but the slight scent of Mike's cologne made her rethink those thoughts periodically throughout the night. "Come on, I'll help you with these," he said, motioning to the groceries.
Before she could protest, Mike took the bag from the ground and made his way into the kitchen with Mercedes following closely behind. "When did all these people get here?" she asked.
Mike laughed. "You'd be surprised at how quickly they came. Honestly, I walked into the driveway and twenty cars just like... fucking came out of nowhere."
"Well, I guess that the Armstrong New Years party is pretty popular around here," Mercedes finished as she put the last of the groceries in the refrigerator.
Mike nodded and leaned back against the counter. "So I heard about you and Tre," he spoke.
Mercedes turned and looked at Mike. He stood there, completely expressionless and she wondered whether or not he meant that as a good thing or perhaps, a little less favorable. "Yeah, I have to admit, I was kind of surprised. Happy of course, but I had no idea coming down here and then starting something, whatever you choose to call it."
"Well he's been a little more reserved, shall we say, ever since we left Vancouver. I think you really made an impression on him, even if you were only with us for like, a half hour."
Mercedes laughed and took a sip of her drink. "I guess so."
"He's a great guy though. And although he has the attention span of a goldfish sometimes, at least you know you'll always be entertained," Mike teased as he finished his drink.
"Real nice," Mercedes added.
"Although, when are you leaving?" Mike asked sincerely.
Mercedes frowned. That was a thought that she had put in the back of her mind. "Three days I think. I only really came down intentionally for tonight after Billie Joe invited me, but I didn't make any plans to come back anytime soon or anything. I mean, I have a studio to run back home and the kids wanted to start pre-school... why they want to go to school I'm not too sure, but still."
"It sucks, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I mean although Vancouver isn't terribly far from California... there's still that distance, you know?"
"Well, if I was Tre, you could be living in Alaska, but truth is, if I had a girl like you, distance wouldn't matter to me."
Mike swallowed the lump in his throat. Why had he said that? He never really considered Mercedes in a romantic way... ever. Yet... why had he said that?
Mercedes on the other hand, felt terribly flattered. And she wondered if his words held a little bit of truth to them, so as she looked at him in the eye, she was dumbfounded to see an earnest sparkle in those orbs of blue.
"Hey, you're back!"
Mercedes and Mike turned their attention to Adrienne who came into the kitchen, a little less than sober. "Thanks again Mercedes... you're a real help around here."
"I brought the groceries into the kitchen," Mike coaxed.
Adrienne rolled her eyes and looked back at Mercedes. "You know, I think there's someone waiting for you in the patio outside."
Mercedes felt herself blush and with her drink in her hand, excused herself and made her way to go find the lonely man in the patio. As she walked through the crowded living room, she noticed that the there was indeed only one man outside... Billie Joe.
Mercedes tilted her head and just as she reached the doorway to outside, a hand gently grabbed her arm. "There you are!"
Mercedes turned to meet the sparkling blue eyes of Tre. "I was waiting outside for you... but I didn't see you get back."
Tre had felt fine throughout the time that he spent surrounded by all the people in the Armstrong house, but for some reason, having Mercedes there with him, he felt a lot better. She was some kind of medicine that soothed any ache or pain. She was a drug and he was already strongly addicted.
For some reason, Mercedes just took a deep breath and smiled widely. "I just got in not too long ago. Mike and I were in the kitchen."
"So are you done running errands and can actually enjoy some time for yourself?" he said.
"Yes. Well... I hope I don't have to be completely by myself... "
* * *
Three hours later, at one in the morning, after receiving a New Years kiss from Tre at the precise moment, a few drinks and laughter later, Mercedes found herself lying in bed with her sheets and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Looking up, she saw Tre's sleeping body, his muscles, and face completely relaxed. Snuggling a little more into him, she purred at the softness of his skin and fell back asleep with a smile on her face that screamed more than words.
Tre turned to her. "I know it's pretty fast... I mean, this is only the second time I met you, but it doesn't mean that I wasn't always thinking about you. You just... it's different being around you. There's just something different about you, and I like it."
It had been a long time since Mercedes had gotten any attention from anyone of the opposite sex. She had consumed all of her time with the studio, Joey and Liam and just concentrating on their futures that for so long, she was neglecting her own. Feeling herself go a little weak in the knees, she locked eyes with Tre once more.
Not knowing what came over him, Tre snaked his arms around Mercedes and pulled her towards him, locking her into a passionate, yet ever gentle kiss. And not knowing what came over her, Mercedes could only press herself closer to him and deepen the kiss.
* * *
"Where's Mercedes and Tre?" Mike asked.
Billie Joe and Adrienne looked around and saw that they could no longer see them inside the kitchen. Billie Joe squinted as he quickly scanned what he could, but it was Estelle who knew the answer. "Uncle Tre's kissing Mercedes!"
All the adults looked at each other in amusingly shocked expressions. "What a dog," Mike joked as picked up Estelle into his lap.
"I had no idea that Tre was even considering to look at another female," Adrienne added.
Billie Joe nodded. "I must admit, he's been a little off... since him and Claudia split, but I can only imagine how hard it must be. I mean, they still live together and I know that there's still a huge part of Tre's heart that's taken by Claudia. Just for so long he hasn't really been looking around I guess."
"Until Mercedes apparently," Mike said.
"Well, she's quite the catch," Adrienne confirmed.
Silently, Billie Joe blinked in complete agreement.
* * *
Mercedes felt Tre's hands run through her thick hair and softly move down to rest itself on her cheek as he started to pull away from the kiss, quickly licking her lips before he spoke. "I'm usually not that forward... " he whispered.
Mercedes giggled and felt herself being held a little tighter by Tre. She looked up at him and smiled, showing truly how excited she was. "Well I don't mind in the least."
* * *
The next day, Mercedes awoke quite early, unbeknownst to why. Tre said he was going to come pick her up around six and then from there, the rest was a surprise. Mercedes looked around and saw Joey and Liam sleeping in a little fort that they had made with their blanket and pillows. Smiling, she made a note to compliment their fort making skills... usually, they always asked for her help and this was the first time that they managed to make a sturdy fort without her. Shaking the thought away, she went to take a shower and quickly changed into her, as Mike labeled with her, "mommy attire."
Coming down the stairs, she noticed that Billie Joe was already up with Joey, Jacob, the other Joey and Liam. As her foot touched the ground in the dining room, Billie Joe immediately looked up and offered a smile. "Mommy! Did you see our fort!" Liam said, bouncing towards her.
"I did... it was amazing!"
"Mr. Armstrong helped us build it."
Mercedes looked up at Billie Joe who wasn't paying attention to what her Joey was saying, but listening to what his Joey was telling him. She watched him for what seemed like an hour and realized just how good of a father he was. Internally though, it hurt... knowing her little nephews never had that. "So I'm the last one up?" Adrienne called as she made her way into the kitchen.
"I wanted to let you sleep in," Billie called from the dining room.
Breakfast that morning was an assortment of various brightly colored cereals and fruits (Adrienne insisted on having at least some healthy food for breakfast). Billie Joe and all four boys decided to head out and buy some decorations for their New Years party. All the boys were actually headed off to Billie's mother's home and Joey and Liam were nothing short of little balls of energy.
Considering the weather outside, Adrienne and Mercedes lounged around the pool after finishing some basic cleaning chores and just got to know each other a little better. Mercedes was in heaven. Here she was, now talking with another female who understood her. When Joey and Liam had fallen into her lap, all of Mercedes' 'friends' had become, possibly too young for her. None of them understood what she was going through, nor did they ever try to. But sitting with Adrienne, she knew that there was someone else who was like her. A mother, but still young at heart.
* * *
Mercedes found one of her strapless chocolate brown dresses to wear that night for her outing with Tre. As she stood in front of the mirror, she sheepishly grinned at just how much of a tan she had gotten from one afternoon outside. Pleased with the way she looked, she turned to her three judges. "What do you think?"
Joey, Liam, and Jacob sat on the bed, thinking hard on their decision. Simultaneously, she received three thumbs up. Kissing them all on their forehead, and getting a little blush from Jacob who had taken a liking to her, Mercedes bounded downstairs, surprised to see that Tre was already there. She quietly continued downstairs, looking at Tre as he spoke. He was wearing dark jeans and a button-down black shirt that was very complimentary to the muscles on his arms. Looking down at her arm, she was glad that she had her warm wool cardigan with her that she immediately pulled on, in order to dress down her appearance a little bit. As she came down in full view, it wasn't only Tre's eyes that widened, but Billie's as well.
"You look great," Adrienne called.
Tre walked over to her and kissed her on her lips and whispered, "and that's an understatement," in her ear. Taking in her soft vanilla scent, Tre entwined her fingers in his own.
"Now you two be good tonight... don't be back too late... " Billie Joe warned, his true father-figure coming out.
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tre guided Mercedes out the front door and said their quick goodbyes. "Well first... a little bit of dinner, and then I can get you real drunk and have my way with you," Tre joked.
"Real classy Tre," Mercedes laughed.
"Alright alright. My apologies," Tre said as he opened the door for her. "We'll skip dinner and go right for the part where I get you drunk and take advantage of you."
The evening passed better than anyone could over hope for it to. Dinner was full of quality time, getting to really know each other, and in each of their cases, getting to like each other more and more with each word spoken. Once dinner was over, the sun was already set and Tre's smile widened. "Now I know that we're not really dressed for this... but I couldn't resist. I was looking through your CD collection and couldn't help but notice some of your musical tastes. So, in lieu of other dates where it's dinner and dancing... a date with Tre is dinner... then moshing."
"What?" Mercedes said, confusion etched in her features.
"The Living End is playing and we're going. Now come on."
Mercedes had always enjoyed live music the most. To her, that was how music should be; live, loud and fast. Tre had acquired ideal seating, on the side of the stage, just like how she had watched Green Day perform a few days ago. The night passed perfectly. In her mind, she gave bonus points to Tre for choosing something that they both had in common, but also set them in an environment that made them both comfortable. And the show that night, was livelier, louder and faster than anyone anticipated.
The date ended with much more than just a goodnight kiss and Tre felt himself quite lightheaded after he had surrendered Mercedes back to the Armstrong house where, unawares to him, everyone was waiting inside to hear about her evening. He drove home, quite in a daze, and more content with himself and everything than he had been in a while. Mercedes was that breath of fresh and clean air that was needed after being stuck in an air-polluted city for so long. She was new and foreign and he loved every aspect and second of that.
* * *
The day of the party, Adrienne and Mercedes went shopping, looking for something to wear that night, in hopes to show off their youthful and sexy femininity. Adrienne had settled on a red dress that was sure to get Billie's mind wandering, whereas Mercedes chose the safe and simple black dress.
Returning back to the Armstrong house was a relief, for there was still enough time to get everything ready, including themselves before anyone would really show up. The afternoon was spent joking around and putting up simple streamers that no one would really notice after enough drinks.
Adrienne came down the stairs, changed and ready to go, and laughed at the sight of her husband. Billie Joe had streamer wrapped around his body, but had stopped in mid-step when he saw Adrienne. "Must you remind me why I married you?" he cooed.
"Sometimes there is a need, yes I'll admit," Adrienne purred.
Mercedes shook her head at the two lovebirds and then decided she too would get ready. She walked into the kitchen and decided to get something to drink before heading upstairs, and she noticed that there were a dew essentials missing from the refrigerator. Bringing it to Adrienne's attention, she offered to go out and pick up what was needed after she got ready.
Mercedes then shot upstairs, fixed herself up and throwing on a light jacket, headed downstairs. "Wow Mercedes... " Adrienne began. "I didn't realize that you were all leg."
Mercedes knew that Adrienne was referring to the shortness of the dress, but smiled anyway. "Well I hope you're not the only one who enjoys it then," she joked.
Mercedes grabbed her keys and went into the car. Billie Joe stood in the doorway.
"Don't be late though," he warned.
"I won't," she answered. "I promise."
* * *
Mercedes walked into the house and was caught a bit off guard at the amount of people in the house. She set the bag of groceries down and took a second look around. 'I wasn't gone for that long, was I?' she thought. Removing her coat, she looked around, searching for a friendly face, little did she know that one had already found her.
Billie Joe had tuned out of Tre's amusing anecdote and watched Mercedes as she removed her coat. She truly was beautiful. She wore a simple black dress that cut off just above the knees and also gave just enough cleavage to keep any male's mind wandering for the night. Grinning to himself, he kind of envied Tre a bit, for obvious reasons. Although he wasn't in love with Mercedes, or so he told himself, he still could tear his eyes away from her.
"Mercedes!"
She turned around and Mike was approaching her with two drinks in his hands. "Here's to you, you sexy animal you. Wow... really, you do look quite stunning. I mean, I'm so used to seeing you in like... "
"Mother attire?" she finished for him.
Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "If that's what you call it," he whispered in her ear.
Mercedes had always had some little crush on Mike. He was always the one she would watch at the concert and the one that thought had a real appealing personality. Yet here she was, more or less together with Tre and thinking about Mike. She quickly disregarded the thought, but the slight scent of Mike's cologne made her rethink those thoughts periodically throughout the night. "Come on, I'll help you with these," he said, motioning to the groceries.
Before she could protest, Mike took the bag from the ground and made his way into the kitchen with Mercedes following closely behind. "When did all these people get here?" she asked.
Mike laughed. "You'd be surprised at how quickly they came. Honestly, I walked into the driveway and twenty cars just like... fucking came out of nowhere."
"Well, I guess that the Armstrong New Years party is pretty popular around here," Mercedes finished as she put the last of the groceries in the refrigerator.
Mike nodded and leaned back against the counter. "So I heard about you and Tre," he spoke.
Mercedes turned and looked at Mike. He stood there, completely expressionless and she wondered whether or not he meant that as a good thing or perhaps, a little less favorable. "Yeah, I have to admit, I was kind of surprised. Happy of course, but I had no idea coming down here and then starting something, whatever you choose to call it."
"Well he's been a little more reserved, shall we say, ever since we left Vancouver. I think you really made an impression on him, even if you were only with us for like, a half hour."
Mercedes laughed and took a sip of her drink. "I guess so."
"He's a great guy though. And although he has the attention span of a goldfish sometimes, at least you know you'll always be entertained," Mike teased as he finished his drink.
"Real nice," Mercedes added.
"Although, when are you leaving?" Mike asked sincerely.
Mercedes frowned. That was a thought that she had put in the back of her mind. "Three days I think. I only really came down intentionally for tonight after Billie Joe invited me, but I didn't make any plans to come back anytime soon or anything. I mean, I have a studio to run back home and the kids wanted to start pre-school... why they want to go to school I'm not too sure, but still."
"It sucks, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I mean although Vancouver isn't terribly far from California... there's still that distance, you know?"
"Well, if I was Tre, you could be living in Alaska, but truth is, if I had a girl like you, distance wouldn't matter to me."
Mike swallowed the lump in his throat. Why had he said that? He never really considered Mercedes in a romantic way... ever. Yet... why had he said that?
Mercedes on the other hand, felt terribly flattered. And she wondered if his words held a little bit of truth to them, so as she looked at him in the eye, she was dumbfounded to see an earnest sparkle in those orbs of blue.
"Hey, you're back!"
Mercedes and Mike turned their attention to Adrienne who came into the kitchen, a little less than sober. "Thanks again Mercedes... you're a real help around here."
"I brought the groceries into the kitchen," Mike coaxed.
Adrienne rolled her eyes and looked back at Mercedes. "You know, I think there's someone waiting for you in the patio outside."
Mercedes felt herself blush and with her drink in her hand, excused herself and made her way to go find the lonely man in the patio. As she walked through the crowded living room, she noticed that the there was indeed only one man outside... Billie Joe.
Mercedes tilted her head and just as she reached the doorway to outside, a hand gently grabbed her arm. "There you are!"
Mercedes turned to meet the sparkling blue eyes of Tre. "I was waiting outside for you... but I didn't see you get back."
Tre had felt fine throughout the time that he spent surrounded by all the people in the Armstrong house, but for some reason, having Mercedes there with him, he felt a lot better. She was some kind of medicine that soothed any ache or pain. She was a drug and he was already strongly addicted.
For some reason, Mercedes just took a deep breath and smiled widely. "I just got in not too long ago. Mike and I were in the kitchen."
"So are you done running errands and can actually enjoy some time for yourself?" he said.
"Yes. Well... I hope I don't have to be completely by myself... "
* * *
Three hours later, at one in the morning, after receiving a New Years kiss from Tre at the precise moment, a few drinks and laughter later, Mercedes found herself lying in bed with her sheets and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Looking up, she saw Tre's sleeping body, his muscles, and face completely relaxed. Snuggling a little more into him, she purred at the softness of his skin and fell back asleep with a smile on her face that screamed more than words.
