Pieces of Truth

I wasn't sure what they wanted me to do to help with the music video, so I simply stood and watched them film.

Billie would ask for my opinion after every take and I would give him an honest answer each time. He already had a clear vision and I didn't want to mess with it. They had decided to do a simple, yet meaningful music video for Longview, a song that Billie wrote out of sheer boredom.

Billie and I went home after they were done filming for the day; apparently it was a two day shoot.

"You didn't have a lot of suggestions," he mentioned when we got into the house.

"I liked what you were already doing," I shrugged, "Want to play a board game or something?"

We played Guess Who on the floor of the living room, talking the while time.

"I want to get my point across in this video. You have to help me make it happen," Billie told me after asking if my person wore glasses. Max did not.

"I'll try. From what I've seen, your imagery is very good. Does your person look like a total douche?" I
asked with three options left. I had to make a guess.

"Oh, God yes," Billie laughed.

"You're Alfred!" I said like the kids did in the commercial and he nodded, then we reset the game.

Later that night I got a call from a very distraught Sarah. Mike had broken up with her and she had no idea what to do. It was pretty late, so I told her to come stay the night over here. While she was on her way, I went and found Billie.

"You knew Mike was gonna call it quits with Sarah! That's why you were poking around in November. How long has this been going on?" I asked Billie, who was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed.

"I-uh.. I didn't know for sure. He was talking about it… It's between them though, not us," he told me.

"Fine. Just be nice when she gets here. Maybe you can talk to Mike," I suggested.

"No, Grace. I'm not getting in the middle and neither should you!"

"Okay, okay. I'll stay out of it," I sighed as the doorbell rang.

When I greeted Sarah, she was in a sad state. I showed her in and gave the redhead a much appreciated hug.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" I offered and she shook her head.

"Can I just go to bed?"

"Definitely." I took her up to a guest room and left her to get some sleep, heading back to my bedroom.

"How is she?" Billie asked from his spot all tucked into bed.

"It's gonna take time for her to heal if it's really over," I shrugged, sliding into bed.

Sarah had gone to work by the time Billie and I got up. I hated not doing anything to hep her situation, but Billie had been keeping me busy with his own shenanigans.

"Billie Joe, what the hell do you think you're doing with that?" I asked the second I saw him rifling through my purse.

"Nothing," he blurted, dropping it onto our bed.

Lately I had been noticing that cash was disappearing from my wallet, but I figured it was because I always shoved the change from my purchases into my pockets. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the amount was never too large to be that noticeable. It was always small bills here and there.

"Don't lie to me," I warned him.

"I was looking for chap stick! My lips hurt," Billie covered, but his lips obviously weren't chapped.

"How come money has been vanishing from my purse, Billie?" I asked, trying to get him to own up to it.

"Maybe you put it somewhere and forget," he shrugged, heading into the bathroom.

"Why is it that every time I find I'm missing cash, it's just enough to buy a speedball?" I called after him and he poked his head out of the bathroom, a guilty look on his face that he was trying desperately to hide.

"I don't care if you do that shit, but I'm not paying for your drug habit!"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Billie asked, coming back into the bedroom.

"Ask your friends for cash? Or here's a concept- don't do it if you can't afford it!" What seemed to be the simplest solution to me apparently escaped Billie.

"You know my friends. They don't just hand out money."

"Then go turn some tricks on the Hill. I have to go get envelopes for our invitations because someone told me he would, but didn't!" I grabbed my purse off of the bed and put on my shoes.

"Gray, come here," Billie said softly, "Don't leave angry.."

We had started saying that to each other so that we wouldn't do anything stupid after a fight, even if it was a little argument.

I took a deep breath, went over to Billie and gave him a quick kiss.

"I love you, Gracie Gray," he smiled, making me grin.

"Love you too. I'll be back in a bit"

I went out to a few stationary stores and found the perfect envelopes, so I bought just about every one they had. I decided to have them printed too, so I wouldn't have to hand address every one of them. The woman at the store told me that they would be ready by five. It was noon now, so I had a lot of time to kill.

I headed over to Mike's to see how the rest of the video shoot was going.

"Billie went on a run for some supplies. Wanna fill in till he gets back?" Tre asked.

I nodded, slinging Blue over my shoulder, standing in front of a microphone and facing the camera. The director, Mark Kohr, turned the camera on to record and told me to take it from the top and do my thing.
Tre counted us in and Mike began to play the familiar riff.

I took a hold of the microphone stand and began to sing in a low, even voice up until I hit, "Bite my lip and close my eyes, take me away to paradise."

By then I was in my own world, doing whatever came naturally, whether it was with facial expressions or body language.

When I finished the song, I effortlessly let Blue fall to the floor, subconsciously making sure not to break it, then I knocked the microphone off of the stand, blew my bangs out of my face and walked out of the camera's frame.

It was then I noticed that everyone, including Billie, had been watching. The camera stopped rolling and I was immediately bombarded with comments.

"Fucking bitch just stole my band right out from under me!" Billie laughed.

"We should probably keep that tape in case our final cut sucks," Mike mused as we all watched it play back.

"Gracie, make that face again!" Tre said, pointing to when I was biting my bottom lip with my eyes shut tightly.

"Uhh. No," I told him bluntly.

"That's only for me," Billie replied to Tre in a proud, commanding voice.

"You did this part better than Billie's done all day. Want to tape the couch part so we can cut him out all together?" Mr. Kohr chuckled, getting a rise out of Billie as everyone else agreed.

"This isn't a democracy. This is a Billocracy, so I'm in charge. Grace, go make me a sandwich."

As soon as those words flew from Billie's big mouth, I heard a few of the guys gasp.

"Don't take that shit, G!" Tre told me.

"I don't plan on it, Tre. I know what Billie likes, and how he feels when he doesn't get it. If he insists on being a chauvinist pig, he won't be getting any for a long time," I smirked, taking control right out from under Billie, and he knew it.

"I'll go make myself a grilled cheese. Want one Grace?" Billie asked, not liking that he had to appear weak in front of everyone.

"That would be great. I'll be right here, stealing your career," I laughed, giving him a peck on the cheek.

When Billie went into the kitchen, Mike and Tre began to direct me on the couch scene. Apparently they wanted me to keep filming. I indulged them for a while until Billie came back with my sandwich and a Coca-Cola.

Then I sat behind the scenes so the guys could actually film their video. While I munched, I gave a few suggestions before they would begin a new take. Billie seriously wanted my impute; he tried practically every idea that I offered up and I was surprised. He usually was so stubborn and never took advice from anyone. I stuck around until five, then I told Billie I would see him at home and went to pick up the envelopes.

On my way home I stopped at the grocery store and got stuff to make barbecue chicken. But when I walked into the house, I was hit with the pleasant aroma of vegetarian lasagna. When I got to the kitchen, Billie was plating his masterpiece.

"Wow," I mused, "I'm gonna be amazed if this tastes half as good as it smells."

We both knew that Billie wasn't the greatest chef, but he had the basics down.

"I sure hope it's edible," he laughed.

"What made you decide to cook and risk burning down the house?" I asked, sitting at the kitchen table.

"I just felt like cooking for you… I saw how sultry you were today while you filmed and I dunno… Plus I had to keep myself occupied until you came home."

"Why's that?"

"So I'll be prepared for that sultry girl to make an appearance upstairs tonight," Billie winked, setting plates down on the table.

"If this is delicious, I'll see what I can do," I smiled.

Billie watched me take a bite, so I made a disgusted face and his smile vanished.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked, shocked, then he quickly dug in to see for himself. When he realized that his dish was actually good, he shot me a look.

"You lied!"

"I never said anything," I laughed, "But it is pretty good."

Billie grinned, knowing what he was in for later.