Billie Joe's American Idiot, chapter 4

The next morning Mike and Tre found Billie Joe STILL sitting in the exactly the same position, still writing, looking even worse than he had the night before, if it was possible. He looked like he hadn't slept in months: his eyes were completely bloodshot and his hair was sticking up in about twenty different directions.

Mike and Tre just stared. "Hey guys," Billie Joe croaked weakly, then coughed.
"Billie Joe. I am so not kidding right now, get some sleep. You are going to kill yourself if you keep this up much longer." Mike said sternly.
"But..." Billie Joe didn't have the strength to argue. "Okay." He dragged himself out of his chair and into one of the bedrooms. He slipped under the cool, white sheets without even bothering to take off his shoes. He sighed and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

This left Tre and Mike in the kitchen to sit, talk, and worry.
"This is out of control." Tre sighed.
"I know, but what are we going to do? If we told him to give up, it would break his heart." Mike pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tre noticed that Billie Joe had left his ink-stained, slightly crumpled sheets of lyrics lying on the table. "So let's see what else he's written."
"Are you sure?" Mike asked. "I mean, isn't that invading his privacy?"
"C'mon, it's not like he's going to know." Tre's mischieviousness won out over his worry. He picked up a sheet of paper, and Mike did the same.

They began to read, again. And again, they were shocked at the sheer genius of the lyrics of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Are We the Waiting," and "St. Jimmy." They continued to read until they got halfway through "Letterbomb," where Billie Joe had stopped.

"You know, all that crap he was saying about 'biggest band in the world', or whatever...I think he might be right. This is great." Mike said, for lack of anything better to say.
"Yeah." Tre said, speechless as well.
"Come to think of it, I'll be right back." Mike said, getting up.
"What..." Tre started to say.
"You'll see," Mike said as he was leaving the room. He returned a few seconds later with his bass. "I think we should start on this."
"But...without Billie Joe?" Tre questioned. Billie Joe had always been involved in everything Green Day had ever done.
"Sure, just this once." Mike reassured him. "Even if we don't come up with anything, we have to do something."
"Uh...sure." Tre quickly fetched some drumsticks, and used the table as drums, since his drum kit was in a truck somewhere.
Soon they were having more fun than they had had in months, Mike playing his bass and singing Billie Joe's lyrics, and Tre drumming on the table.

Back in his room, Billie Joe groaned and rubbed at his face, waking up. He heard something...music? What? He slowly got up, stretched, and wandered into the kitchen.

"Mike, Tre, I...." He started, but stopped short when he saw what they were doing.
"Hey! My lyrics! You read them?!" He said, running quickly over to the table and snatching up the pages. "And you...what are you doing?"
"Billie, it's okay, we were just seeing how they would sound." Mike tried to cover up quickly.
"And, to tell you the truth," Tre said, smiling. "They're awesome."

Billie Joe smiled. This was turning out more amazing than he had ever dreamed.
"Well, I better get started now then, shouldn't I?" he said gleefully. "And...maybe you guys could help me. But first...I had a dream." He said quietly. "While I was sleeping. Before." He added needlessly.
"Yeah, a dream? About what?" Mike asked.
"Um. Well...my dad." Billie Joe muttered.
Mike sucked in a breath. He couldn't remember the last time Billie Joe had mentioned his father. He didn't really like to talk about it.
"And..." Billie Joe continued. "I think I wanted to write a song about...um...when he...you know, died." He said quickly.
"Billie Joe, that's big. You've..never...done that. Before." Mike said uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I know, but I feel like...I need to. Like I owe it to him." Billie Joe said, his voice a little stronger now.
"I hate to be the one to say it, Billie, but how would that fit? With the story, I mean." Tre pointed out.
"Yeah, I thought about that too." Billie Joe sighed, then furrowed his brow. "But I'll make it work." He paused. "Wake Me Up When September Ends." he said.
Mike and Tre were silent, completely taken aback. "What?"
"Wake Me Up When September Ends. The song. That's what it's called."
Mike noticed that Billie Joe said it as if it already existed, as if it were written already. "Sure." he said.

There was a pause.
"Well!" Billie Joe said suddenly, causing Mike and Tre to jump. "I had better get