Always There

Billie Joe returned home to a somewhat stoic house. Adrienne showed him no emotion whatsoever when he greeted her and the boys. The first inkling he should've had about her being truly upset was when she failed to pick him up at the airport so he had to cab it home. The second inkling was how she had made dinner but only set out three place settings; one for her and two for the boys. But he wasn't ready to get into it with her just yet. He knew it would come to a head soon enough. Just...not now.

The next day was a Monday and Billie Joe spent it helping his sons put the finishing touches on their Halloween costumes that night. Jakob was dressed like Austin Powers, complete with the horribly grotesque chest hair and fake teeth. Then there was Joey who was dressed as Dr. Evil, complete with a bald head thanks to a flesh-colored cap to conceal his hair. The boys looked hilarious and it made their father smile despite feeling like shit on the inside.

It was the following night, Halloween, that was what put the extra strain on the punk rocker.

Around six in the evening, both Billie Joe and Adrienne took their boys out Trick-Or-Treating around their neighborhood. The moments when Joey and Jakob would scurry up to the neighbors' doors and shout, "TRICK OR TREAT!" was when the married couple were forced to talk to each other so that their kids could enjoy the fun of getting candy without feeling the ominous presence that was their parents' silent argument.

"You still wanna go to Mike's Halloween party?" Billie Joe asked.

Adrienne looked sideways at him, and sighed lightly with her arms folded across her chest. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

"Then I am too," he replied.

She just looked at him, then turned her attention back to Joey and Jakob as they came back from their latest conquest and the four of them began to walk down the sidewalk, to the next house.

Watching his sons head up the next house's driveway, Billie Joe shoved his hands in his front pockets. "You dressing up?" he wondered.

"Yeah."

"As what?"

"A witch," she responded. "Can't go wrong with the classics."

"Wicked Witch of the West witch? Or just...original?"

"Original." She looked at him and nodded. "You gonna dress up?"

"Always do."

"What are you gonna go as?" Adrienne inquired.

Billie Joe shrugged. "I dunno. I'll probably throw something together. Maybe I'll wear one of your dresses and go as a woman."

"Yeah, like that's a stretch for you," she snickered.

A part of him was tempted to say the same thing back to her about her going as a witch, but his heart wasn't really in it. He simply smiled a smile that was slightly forced as their boys returned with more candy and they all continued on their way.

* * *

Well, Billie Joe kept to his word and dressed like a woman for Mike's Halloween Bash. He ended up wearing the same dress Adrienne had worn a year and a half earlier to the 2005 Grammy Awards and then threw on a ladies' brown wig that was slightly wavy and fell just past his shoulders. Finishing the look, he shoved his feet into a pair of heels that Adrienne never wore anymore and applied his make-up just as expertly as a woman.

At one point while applying some eyeshadow, he laughed; thinking about his song 'King For A Day.' It more or less fit the situation. He had gone through his wife's closet and was wearing her clothes, had on make-up and could wait to see how everyone reacted to seeing him at the party.

He stuffed the strapless bra he was wearing with water balloons and took one last look in the full length mirror, almost shitting himself over how eerily he looked like Olivia. Or would that be the other way around? That Olivia looked like how he looked in drag?

Shaking it off, he found Adrienne waiting downstairs with the boys and his sister Anna who was gonna babysit for the night. Anna just about keeled over in laughter when she saw her little brother and shook her head with a smile as she hugged him.

"I always thought you'd make a beautiful sister."

He grinned. "Well, what can I say? I'm hot."

After chit chat was exchanged, Billie Joe and Adrienne left but rode in silence to Mike's house. They arrived not long after for the simple fact that all the guys didn't live that far from each other. But the quiet drive did irk Billie Joe a great deal. The lack of talking and just the radio playing grated on his nerves. But he couldn't think of anything to say to break the silence. Instead, he allowed his mind to wander, thinking about what Maria was doing with Olivia and her boys for the holiday. He hadn't bothered asking if she was taking them all out Trick-Or-Treating with the trial still going on. And if she did, he wondered what the kids all dressed as. Espicially his daughter.

As soon as the Armstrong couple greeted their host, they made their way to the mini bar and helped themselves to some alcoholic beverages. However, it didn't take long for the two of them to be separated in the throng of guests. Billie Joe found himself joking around with Mike who was dressed as a 1930s gangster, complete with a toy Tommy gun and a real cigar hanging out the side of his mouth. The green eyed guitarist prented to flirt and hit on Mike as if he were a real woman, going the extra mile and occasionally grabbing Mike's ass and then shying away like a demure teenager, batting his eyelashes.

Tre was dressed as a devil and insited he was not Satan, but simply horny. Which, of course, went over well with how Billie Joe was dressed. And everything seemed to be going rather well at the party. Everyone was having a good time, playing cheesy Halloween party games like bobbing for apples and such. But as we all know, all good things must come to an end.

With a few drinks in her, Adrienne was loosening up a bit, and started to swear a little more freely. The alcohol certainly was boding well with the emotions she was trying to deal with on the inside. Though, she wasn't drunk, just slightly buzzed. Which was enough to turn the mood sour for Billie Joe.

Halfway through the party, Adrienne approached her husband and pushed him slightly, while holding her drink.

"What?" Billie Joe wondered.

"Are you happier when you're gone?" she inquired.

"Huh? What are you--"

"With Maria? Are you happier with her than with me?" She looked like she wanted to cry, but she didn't. She held him with a firm gaze. Maybe the look was due to the booze she had in her. It was a possibilty. "You were gone a month, Billie. On the other side of the country with your whore, the mother of your illegitimate children. Your bastard children. All the while your real children are wondering when their daddy is coming home."

Billie Joe's breath got caught up in his throat, feeling several eyes drifitng over to their direction as Adrienne's voice lingered a little.

"Adie...not now..."

"Why not now? Why not get it out into the open? You've knocked up Maria again, only this time you did it by cheating on me. Lisea called me about Olivia's birthday party and about how chummy you were with Maria," she admited. "Do you know what I've been going through? Trying to be the good, understanding wife while you were fucking another woman? Being a nice stepmother to your bastard daughter knowing you have another on the way!"

"Don't you dare ever call her a bastard again!" he growled.

"Why not? It's what she is. Look it up in dictionary, Billie. She was born out of wedlock, and so will this other mutt." She scowled and threw her drink to the floor. "Maybe it'll be twins and you can clog the world with more illegitmate mutts..."

Without warning, Billie Joe slapped Adrienne, causing several people watching the argument to gasp; Billie Joe included. She just looked at her husband with her mouth agape; holding her hand up to the side of her face he slapped. Adrienne looked like she either wanted to cry or rip his face off.

Stepping back in shock, Billie Joe couldn't believe he'd actually hit Adrienne. Scowling, despite what he'd done, he pointed at her and shook his head. He went to say something but shook it off. Pushing his way out of the room through the crowd of people, Billie Joe stumbled outside and began to look for where he parked his car. But he knew he'd had too much to drink to drive, and he wasn't going to leave Adrienne behind like that. He wasn't that much of an asshole.

Instead, he began to saunter down the driveway and down the sidewalk...looking like a very drunken drag queen. He couldn't properly walk in his condition so he pulled off the heels and walked barefoot, while holding one shoe in each hand just as a voice came calling after him.

"Billie! Billie Joe!"

The guitarist turned slightly to see Tre's devil-clad self trying to catch up.

"What?" Billie Joe snipped.

"Where're you going?"

"Anywhere."

"Billie..."

"What, damnit?!"

"Fucking stop it." Tre grabbed Billie Joe by the shoulder and jerked his friend back.

Billie Joe shoved Tre, who shoved back. When Billie Joe took a swing at the drummer, he stumbled a little and ended up falling down on his ass when Tre avoided being punched in the face. Tre just looked down at his best friend and shook his head. Billie Joe brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his arms which he folded on top of his knees. Sinking down to the ground, Tre sat beside Billie Joe and nudged him slightly.

"What's happening with you, Bill?"

"I'm falling apart."

"Well, duh."

Billie Joe lifted his head and glared at Tre through tear-brimmed eyes. "Go to hell." Then he paused over the fact of how Tre was dressed. "No pun intended."

"Yeah, well, kiss my ass," Tre replied with a slight smirk. "Now, as your friend, tell me what's going on."

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

The green eyed punk rocker sighed and looked down at the ground. "I love Maria."

"Okay..."

"No, I mean it. I love her. I'm in love with her. I want to be with her every moment of the day."

"Where does this leave Adie?"

"I dunno. I still love her. Always will. But...Maria's this...she's got my heart like a vice."

"What happened to Adrienne being the only woman you'll ever love?" Tre wondered.

"That was when I'd given up all hope of ever seeing Maria again. I mean, she'd only been in my life for a year when she left. And she's been in my life only a year again. That's two years total while Adie's been in mine for sixteen. Yet, Maria's made such a deeper impact on me. How do I explain that?"

Tre just frowned. He didn't know how to respond.

"I love Adrienne. Don't get me wrong...but...I think that ship has sailed..."

"Billie..." Tre began.

Billie Joe shook his head. "Call me a fucking asshole, horrible husband and father if you want, but...God..." he sighed sadly. "I want Maria so much, Tre...I need her. I've never felt so whole in all my life than when I'm with her. She's the one I'm meant to be with."

Holy shit. This quite the bomb for Tre to deal with. He couldn't begin to comprehend how Billie Joe was dealing with it. But, he did understand the whole 'ship sailing away' analogy. Hell, he'd been married and divorced twice. He was well aware of what it was like to fall out with someone romantically. But after sixteen years to another woman? He couldn't hold a flame to that problem.

Billie Joe looked a mess. But he was strangley very sure of what he was feeling and expressing to Tre.

"Well...uh..." Tre began, wondering what he would say. "So, what are you gonna do?"

Looking up and over at his friend, Billie Joe straightened his posture, took a deep breath and bit his bottom lip for a quick second. "The only thing I can do now..."

Tre was nervous about what Billie Joe might say, yet, he was actually expecting it. "And what's that?"

"Follow my heart home."