Poprocks and Coke: If I Can't Have Both, Which Do I Choose?

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Enjoy, Nimrods.

"Yea, he's a sweet guy and everything."

"But he's not Tre."

"Excuse me?"

"You want Tre, but you want Billie," Natasha sighed, "Hun, you've gotta make up your mind; you can't have both."

You stared at her for a few seconds contently, "I don't have both; I only have Billie, and he's who I want to be with."

She smirked; it seemed like she was having a great time watching you dealt with your stress in pain; "Are you sure it's not just your brain saying Billie? I have a feeling your brain is saying Billie but your heart is saying Tre."

Again, you were in complete awe. It's hard enough getting sleep over thinking about who you like more and now she has to add to the whole mess; "Natasha, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you helping me? I think you're enjoying yourself making me feel worse."

Her eyes went wide with surprise and shock, "What? I am trying to help! I'm saying that I think you're trying to convince yourself you love Billie when you really want Tre," she paused as you though about it, "Or maybe I'm wrong; maybe it's your head saying Tre and your heart calling for Billie - I'm not you - you have to figure this one out for yourself."

You sighed, staring out in the distance of the outside lunch restaurant Natasha and you were sitting at. You knew she was right and you had to try to figure out which man your heart wanted and which one your head was just using to play tricks on you.

"Nikki, consider this; which one of them gets your heart racing more when you see them or hear about them?" she said quietly.

You bit your bottom lip as you thought about it. It was hard to answer that question considering so many circumstances when it was Billie that got your heart in a panic of flutters, but then again, Tre has put your heart in highway before going 80 kilometers per hour.

You sighed and shook your head, keeping your eyes down on the table, you mumbled, "I don't know."

It was quiet, not just quiet, but an intense quiet coming from Natasha. You looked up at her stunned face that was staring off into the distance behind you which was in front of her. You raised an eyebrow at her odd look and slowly turned your head around to see what she was looking at.

Your eyes went wide as well at the sight of his adoring face, and you quickly turned back forward as your heart began to panic and your body temperature began to rise. You gave Natasha one of those intense 'lets go - Now!' looks. However, just like you, it was hard for her to move.

You knew it was too late; you could feel his intimidating body behind you.

"Hello, pretty ladies," came the always familiar and happy voice from the right of you.

"Oh, wow, Nikki, small world; didn't think we'd run into you here," came the other familiar, more deeper voice from the left of you.

You forced a smile and kept your eyes on Natasha's stunned look, "Hey Tre; hey Mike."

"Hello," said Natasha in more of a peep voice.

"Hi," both Mike and Tre said together in unison.

"Mike and Tre, this is my friend, Natasha; Natasha, this is Mike and Tre," you smiled lightly as you motioned to each one of the guys when saying their name,

She was a fan of Green Day and knew a bit about them and their music. Natasha use to hang out at Gilmans a lot during the summer time, so she use to watch them live whenever they were playing when they were there. She had never been introduced to them before.

She smiled, "It's nice to meet you guys, but I've got to go." She looked down at her watch and got up.

Your eyes went wide in surprise as you watched her get ready to leave; "Why? Where are you going?"

"I've got work, Nikki. Not everyone can sit back and be lazy like you," she joked, causing Tre and Mike to smile in amusement.

You rolled you eyes, smiling, "Fine. I'll talk to you later than, I guess."

"Of course," she smiled, "Nice meeting you guys," she looked over at both Tre and Mike before leaving.

A few seconds after she had left, Mike sat down across from you where Natasha was previously sitting, and Tre quickly dragged a chair from another table close by and sat to the right of you.

You looked at both of them a few times before asking, "How are you guys doing?"

Mike shrugged, "We went to go check out some of the new instruments at Greg's Music House."

You nodded slowly, "Sounds fun?"

"I got a new drum set!" Tre beamed, smacking the table in enthusiasm.

You jumped a little and stared at his bright eyes, as he stared back with a huge smile. You had to try hard to unlock your eye contact with his. It's odd how he could always get you to freeze up inside when he was staring at you, as if he had some kind of mind power over you. It made you feel tense though repelled at the same time.

"So, what have you been up to lately, Nikki? How did the whole Billie thing go last night?" asked Mike, making you slowly break your trance with Tre and look over at Mike who was tying his shoelace, unaware of the intensity from you and Tre.

You blinked, trying to get yourself to think about Billie when it was hard knowing that Tre was paying close attention and looking through your flesh. You took in a small breath, "It went well. We had a good time," you nodded, trying to keep it simple.

"Was there really a point?" Mike asked, looking up at your blushing face.

You shrugged, "It was just a nice date is all..." you looked over at Tre and quickly met with his saddening eyes, "It was just a get together, nothing more really," you smiled reassuringly at him, causing him to break a small smile.

Why would you say that? If Billie heard you say what he did last night was nothing, he'd be upset. You need to stop trying to protect Tre's feelings!

Thinking about it made you feel down on yourself and you slowly lost Tre's gaze and put your head down.

"I better get moving to work, you guys," sighed Mike. He had worked down at a record shop down in Emeryville, and he was the main income in the Green Day house, so without his pay, all three of the guys would probably be living back at their parents homes.

You slowly looked up and weakly smiled at him, "Have a good time."

He let out a fake chuckle, "Oh yea, I will." He got up and put his leather jacket over his thin body.

"See you later, Mike," smiled Tre.

Mike looked over at Tre and pointed at him as if he was in the middle of a thought, "Are we still on for tonight?"

Tre nodded, "Around eight. We'll bus there together because I think Billie's taking the car tonight."

Movies tonight! you had remembered after Tre mentioned about Billie and the car.

Mike nodded, "No problem." He smiled, "See you two later."

Tre looked over at you a few seconds after Mike left; you looked back and smiled small. He smiled too, keeping quiet as he looked at you.

"So, how are you, Tre?" you asked, grabbing onto your glass of water you had been ignoring for the whole time you were with the guys.

He shrugged, "Just been around," he said slowly.

You cracked a smile, "Whatever that means." You quickly looked out to the sunny streets of Berkeley, then slowly looked back at Tre, "Where are you and Mike going later?"

Tre shrugged, smirking a bit, "We're just going to hang out. You'll know where we went when the information goes public."

You stared at his smirking face and wondered what he was talking about and what he was thinking about. However, before you were able to question him, he made the most adorable smile that you had always craved about in him.