Suffer, but dont forget., chapter 2

Sibhael blushed at this but to Billie and Tre it just seemed to make her more beautiful. "Tre, this is Sibhael" Billie said nodding in her direction. Tre stood up walked over to the bed where she was staring in awe at the most amazing drummer in the world. He gaped at her for a moment then collected himself and remembered his manners. "Will you sleep with me?" he asked politely. Sibhael's mouth fell open.

Billie, now standing, grabbed his friends arm and shoved him back onto the ground beside him. "Sit down, you horny fucker!" he smiled. "Sorry about him. He doesn't hide anything" Billie said, turning to Sibhael.

"Its ok I don't mind. It's actually sort of flattering," she said looking at the drummers face light up again with hope. She laughed. "Sorry Tre. No chance in hell, I'm not that cheap"

He smiled and said innocently "Oh ok. Appearances can be deceiving." She burst into a fit of giggles that left her feeling very light-headed and she suddenly had to lie down, still laughing. Then Tre left the room mentioning something about needing a hot nurse and some morphine.

"Billie? Can I ask you something?" Sibhael asked when she was sure Tre was gone.

"Yeah sure, shoot" he replied curiously.

"Em... Billie, why did you stop to help me?" she said hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" he said shocked at her question.

"Well, I don't mean this in a bad way, because you know I wouldn't dream of it, but I don't believe that you, or anyone for that matter, would usually stop by some stranger on the main street, bring them to the hospital and wait with them for no reason. I mean no one, not even you are going to give up that much time on some homeless junkie that they think they have already saved."

He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out how she could read the motive he hadn't even known existed and whether he should trust her with the answer before continuing. "Well, I guess I was trying to find something to take my mind off things, you know. I suppose this was perfect, wasn't it?" he said looking directly into her eyes in anticipation of her answer.

She could feel his eyes searching hers for some depth of understanding and she gave him a meaningful, sympathetic look. "I understand. I know the feeling," she decided not to press him about the 'things' on his mind, he would tell her in his own time. He flashed her a grateful smile and she left the issue.

Just then Tre walked into the room with his arm round a very amused and frustrated looking young nurse. "Look lady ether pump me full of drugs or have sex with me, I really don't mind but I would personally rather both," he said slyly slipping his hand into her back pocket.

"Ok then... Tre is it? I will have sex with you but I can't give you any pain killers, ok?" she laughed. Both Sibhael and Billie gawped at this and Tre jumped around in circles shouting "I am so great!" repeatedly.

"I'm still on my rounds, so let's just go in here," she said and led him to a broom closet at the other end of the room. She took out a massive chain of colour coded keys, found a light blue one and unlocked the door. She then opened it for the extremely excited Tre, who walked inside happily.

She turned and winked at Billie and Sibhael before closing the door behind him, turning the key and leaving the room. "Awwww come on that's so mean!... Billie, Hot girl are you there? It's dark and scary in here. Ahhhhhh something just brushed my arm, I'm going to get eaten! Help me!" came Tre's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

But both Billie and Sibhael were rolling around on the floor in agonizingly side-splitting laughter. "Shut up, you guys! You won't be laughing anymore when I'm eaten by a mop and you have to pay for the funeral" he shouted but this sent them into another fit.

Between Tre's screaming and the other's hysterical laughter another nurse soon entered and released Tre from his prison. "You guys suck, you know that right?" he said resentfully. "Aw come on man. You know that if it was me stuck in there I would have cared way more!" Billie mocked. "That doesn't even make sense. I don't know why I even try. You're so immature" Tre sighed.

Sibhael turned to the nurse and asked her the question on all there minds. "When the hell can I get out of here?" The nurse walked over to the end of the bed and picked up the chart. "You're scheduled to leave today" she said, happy to give the young patient the good news.

"Today? That's great!" Billie exclaimed but his big smile faded as he turned to see Sibhael staring at the ground worriedly.

"What's the matter?" he asked her in a concerned tone. "Oh... Em... Nothing it's just.. " she paused. Could she really tell her idol that she had run away? What would he think about her? Would her make her go back? She didn't know but her intuition told her to continue. "It's just that... Well I don't know where the fuck I'm going to go! I didn't think it through... I just ran, I couldn't stay, it was too much. Please don't send me back."

Something suddenly clicked into place in Billie's mind. "Someone hit you, didn't they?" he asked already knowing the answer. She was shocked how understanding he was acting.

"Em, yeah... By my mom's boyfriend," she hesitated. "How did he rip your head open? What did he hit you with?" Tre inquired, suddenly uncharacteristically serious.

"Oh right, he used a knuckle duster," she said almost casually. Both Billie and Tre let their jaws drop. "A knuckle duster? He hit his girlfriend's kid over the head with a knuckle duster? What did your mom say?" Billie asked her, still in shock. "She laughed" Sibhael replied simply.

Billie gaped at her. She had nowhere to go and, although it wasn't quite the same, he understood the feeling of being lost, especially now when... He caught his breath and sighed. "Sibhael? I know this may sound kind of stupid but eh me and Tre are headed back to California now anyway since Tre trashed the room we were staying in," he paused to glare at Tre who gave him the finger and stuck his tongue out, Billie had a very strong urge to tackle him to the ground but instead focused on what he was trying to say. "Look, If you want, since you have nowhere to go, you can come and stay with me" he rushed knowing how stupid it sounded but he also knew how much it meant to have someone who cared at times when you feel alone.

"Oh my God, Billie, are you serious? That would be so amazing! And I have some money saved I can pay rent!" she managed through her gasps for air.

Tre turned to Billie and thumped him in the arm. "You bastard! I have known you for 17 years, you have known her for a couple of hours and you invite her to live with you? I find that highly offensive," he spat dramatically.

"Oh shut up you big eejit!" Sibhael said and steered Tre out of the room towards the checkout desk before he could make a scene.


Sibhael and Billie hopped into the back of the cramped black van and cleared spaces among all the equipment to sit down for the long trip ahead of them down route 66. Tre who was taking the first driving shift, jumped into the front seat and turned on the engine but not before he popped International Superhits into the CD drive and began singing Maria at the top of his voice.

As they started down the road, Sibhael's curiosity got the better of her. "So... Billie, What exactly are you doing this far away from home? And don't say that it was for a gig or anything because, believe me, if you were playing in my town I would have been there," she said, looking directly at him. Tre immediately stopped singing and Billie diverted his eyes to the ground. Sibhael suddenly blushed furiously, it was obviously a touchy subject and he hardly new her even though she felt she had known him a lifetime.

Billie sat there stunned by her direct approach to her curiosity. But despite only knowing her for a short while, he liked her already and she seemed trust worthy. He decided just to be up front because he didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with her if they were to be living in the same house. "Em... Well you see... I was eh married and em... Now I'm... Not." he managed hesitantly, trying to act as though it didn't effect him.

Now it was Sibhael's turn to be shocked. "You... You split up with Adrianne? What about when you said that she was the only woman you'll ever love? What about Joey and Jakob?" She stuttered helplessly. He looked into her eyes for some sign of comfort or understanding and was surprised to find it.

"Em yeah that's why I'm up here. I just needed to get away and think," he said quietly, still looking into her eyes. "And I'm here to make sure he doesn't kill himself," Tre piped up. They looked up at him and laughed in relief as the tension lifted. But Billie looked straight back at Sibhael. He had never thought he would feel this way again but the intensity of compassion in her eyes made him think. No, that couldn't be possible, he had just met her and she was far too young. He decided it was just an attraction and looked at the ground again.

"So where's Mike?" Sibhael asked, changing the subject. "Oh he's off visiting Estelle," Tre replied quickly, trying to cover for Billie who seemed to have withdrawn into his thoughts.


Over the course of the next few hours the group switched driving shifts and only stopped to eat three times before they reached Berkley, and Billie's house.

Tre and Sibhael fell out of the back of the van and stretched out, moaning and sighing in relief. "I have the worst cramp ever in my leg," Sibhael said while rubbing her thigh vigorously.

"Would you like me to give you a massage?" Tre asked hopefully, eying her upper leg. She laughed out loud and politely declined.

"Ah fuck off you horny little bastard!" she giggled and leaped out of the way of one of Tre's lunges for her. He started chasing her around in circles and being far faster than her caught up with her and grabbed her from behind.

At that moment Billie came around the van and stopped to watch the scene. "Am I interrupting something?" he smirked. Sibhael blushed and pulled away from Tre but he grabbed her back.

"Yes you are interrupting something, actually!" he shouted over to Billie, while looking playfully at Sibhael. She gasped at his antics in mock horror.

"I'm sorry but it will take more than that before you can put your grubby little hands on me," she said and shook him off her.

"Aw crap," he moaned and skipped off towards the house.

Sibhael smiled at Billie who was leaning against the back of the van and staring at her without realizing it. "Shit!" she whispered and jumped turning away from her a little to fast and hit his head off the open van door. Sibhael burst out laughing despite herself and then collecting her manners asked him trough tears "Oh my God! Billie are you okay?" He rubbed his head and smirked at her

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks for the concern!"

"Your welcome!" she replied, wiping her eyes.

Just then three young boys came running out of the house "Daddy!" They chorused together excitedly. Sibhael soon recognized one of the boys to be Tre as the three of them jumped on Billie who fell over laughing. Sibhael looked at the smile on Billie's face; it was absolutely ecstatic and radiant and filled his eyes with light, a smile she had only ever seen in his family pictures in internet cafes. Somehow it touched her and made her feel a deep sadness and sympathy for Jakob, Joey and their father. She didn't know for sure but she had a feeling that Adrianne had left Billie, she couldn't believe that the man before her could care any more about his boys and Adrianne and she knew that he would never do anything to hurt them.