Destination Beautiful

Anxiously he stood at her doorway. After a three and a half hour flight he’d checked in and dumped his stuff at a cheap motel down the road from the airport, before picking up some lunch on the way downtown. He’d done everything he could possibly do to delay the actual goal of his journey. Confront her. And him. But now he was here. Billie Joe took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. It seemed ages, but then he heard some stumbling noises coming from inside, and finally, he saw her pretty face again after so long, as she peaked from the door while opening it.

“Hey,” he said.

Adrienne seemed startled for a moment, surprised to see him there.

“..hey,” she said, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

Billie Joe looked at her for a moment. God, she was gorgeous, still. She was even more beautiful than his memory had been telling him all those times they’d been spending apart. His sparkling green eyes met Adrienne’s big deep brown ones, and for a moment Billie thought he could see a glimpse of fear and regret in them.

“Wow, you’re here..” she said.

“Yeah, I missed you.”

Adrienne looked away, focusing her eyes on the dust on the ground. Billie Joe on the other hand, kept looking at her, waiting for a response. When he didn’t get one, he spoke again.

“Adie..” he said.

She bit her lip, but remained silent.

“I wanted to.. I was.. I’m..” Billie stumbled, not sure what to say.

A silent sob, coming from Adrienne, broke the short silence that followed.

“Adie, what happened?”

Billie Joe looked at his girlfriend, trying to read something off her face. She seemed so upset.

“Did you- did I do something wrong? Because if I did, I’m sorry,” he spoke, quite worried.

It took a while for Adrienne to reply. She tried to manage the tears that were silently running down her cheek, only succeeding in doing so after a few minutes. She swallowed, wiped her eyes and looked up again at Billie Joe.

“You were so far.. we were so far apart,” she whispered, her throat dry of crying.

“I know,” Billie said empathic. “But, I’m here now.”

“I didn’t think we would last..” Adrienne whispered.

“What? But, Adie.. I love you.”

Tears formed in her eyes again.

”I.. I know, Billie. That’s what makes it all so damn hard and complicated.”

Billie Joe looked at her, not quite believing what she’d just said.

”But-.. I thought we had something, have something, that's stronger than the distance between California and Minnesota.”

“We- I thought so too,” Adrienne said, quickly wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, “So I thought that, maybe if I wouldn’t contact you.. you’d forget about me.”

“You.. I.. Wh-“ Billie said, and he could feel a lump was forming in his throat.

“It was so hard,” Adrienne whispered.

“So you thought.. Br-“ Billie took a deep breath. “not seeing each other again would make it easier?”

“No- well, yes.. eventually,” she mumbled, biting her lip holding back new forming tears that were burning in her eyes.

“But, Adie..”

“I was lonely, Billie!” she cried. “I missed you like crazy, and I waited, every single day I waited, hoping you’d somehow magically appear. I was waiting and hoping and wishing for you to return, so I could feel loved again.”

“I’m here now,” Billie said, still fixing his eyes upon her.

“Yes, but,” she cried before turning silent. “then there was Gavin, and he, we were.. he made me feel something I’d been dreading for for so long. He- I felt loved again,” she spoke, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look at her boyfriend.

Billie Joe tried hard to make sense of the mess of thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head. He could feel his temper rising, but at the same time he felt his whole world shredding down into tiny pieces around him. She felt loved by somebody else. Someone that wasn’t him. But looking at her, seeing her eyes filled with fear and sorrow, her cheeks wet from floating tears, made his heart sink.

He put his hand on her cheek and softly wiped away some tears.

“Come here,” he said, wrapping a tight arm around her shoulder and softly stroking her hair.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I love you and I’m here for you. I don’t want you to wait and hope for me to love you. You don’t have to, cause I always have loved you, and I always will love you. And I’m sick and tired of the distance, the waiting, the way I’m never able to hold you in my arms, to stroke your hair and comfort you, and tell you that I love you. I’m tired of missing you, Adrienne. So I’m here now, to take you back to California with me. Will you come with me? Please?”

Adrienne looked at him for a couple of seconds before burying her face in his chest, crying.

”I’m so sorry..” she sniffed. “I- I love you, Billie Joe.. but I can’t. I can’t just come back with you to California.”

“Shh, it’s okay, we can arrange things. Just as long as we’re together, right? You don’t have to leave right away. I mean, I understand you’ve got things to settle before you can move and stuff..”

“No, Billie, you don’t understand. I can’t go, because-“ Adrienne said, taking a deep breath, trying to get the words out of her mouth.

“Adie, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Billie Joe asked, looking at her with concern.

Adrienne bit her lip and looked away from him.

“I’m pregnant,” she said.