Pieces of Truth

For Billie's birthday present I wanted to give him something different; something that really showed how much he meant to me. His party wasn't until tomorrow because having a raging party on a Thursday night would be dumb. Not to mention that I have class tomorrow morning.

"Hey, weird question. Where's your favorite spot to kiss me besides my face?" I asked as we walked through the Aquarium of the Bay. Yeah, that's where Billie Joe wanted to spend the day at.

"That is a pretty bizarre question. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," I shrugged.

"Well, there's this spot right here," he poked my right shoulder, just above the shoulder blade there was a little indent in the bone, "It always makes you smile."

"That's it then," I decided, admiring the jellyfish.

"It's what?" he asked, sounding confused.

"My next tattoo. Your lips, right here," I explained, pointing to where he had just kissed.

"Seriously? That's awesome!"

I could tell that Billie was pretty excited about my choice.

"Can we go see Ty after this then?" he asked, now chomping at the bit to get going.

"I guess," I nodded, feeling nervous all of a sudden and apparently Billie picked up on that.

"Hey don't freak out. I'll be right there holding your hand!" he assured me with a goofy grin, making me smile.

"Thanks," I nodded, feeling slightly more at ease.

"Can we go now?" Billie asked a few minutes later.

"No! We haven't even been here an hour. Plus, I want to see the sharks."

We kept checking out the sea creatures; octopi, eels and tropical fish were among some of what we saw. The shark tank was next and I was in awe. I was fascinated by sharks; I always had been.

"If I was at the beach and saw one of those bastards in the water.. I'd freak the fuck out," Billie said as we watched them swimming around leisurely.

"Seriously," I nodded, "They're cool at a distance though."

I took my time peering into the enormous tank while Billie stood around and looked around impatiently.

"Calm down, Beej," I said to him, feeling like he was a bored child.

"I'm going crazy just standing here," he answered.

"Go check out a different tank then," I sighed, "But don't wander too far!"

"Yes, mom," he laughed before heading off.

When I had my fill of sharks I went and found Billie, who was watching sea turtles.

"You want to get out of here, don't you?" I asked, lacing my fingers with his.

We walked by groups of kids that were on a field trip and I laughed.

"I remember being amazed by everything at that age…"

"We came here on a trip once too," Billie recalled, "It was cooler back then."

"Shut up! This place is still amazing! Let's head out."

Taking the Muni to the tattoo parlor where Billie had gotten his most recent one and Ty greeted us.

"What can I do for ya, Bill?" the man asked.

"Actually, it's Grace's turn today," Billie smiled.

"Really? Well come on back and tell me what you're thinking about." Ty led us back to his station, where we all sat down.

I told Ty what I wanted and he thought it was a cool idea.

"All I need is a print of his lips to trace a stencil. Do you have chapstick or lipstick?" Ty asked me and I nodded.

I pulled out a tube of lipstick from our last date night and gave it to Billie. When the stencil was in place, I told Ty that I didn't want it to be an outrageous color.

"Oh come on, Gray! Get it in hot pink or bright red," Billie tried to put the peer pressure on.

"I kind of want to be neutral… Ty?" I didn't want to make the wrong choice.

Ty told Billie to wipe off all of the excess lipstick, looking at the natural colour of his lips.

"We can do that shade, then go darker and brighter if you decide that's what you want later," the man suggested and I chose to do that.

Getting it done actually hurt more than I remembered my first one being, but luckily Billie Joe was holding my hand the entire time.

"This looks fucking rad," Billie noted as Ty finished up, much to my relief.

When Ty cleaned it up he gave me a nod and let me go look at it in the mirror.

"Exactly what I wanted. Thanks Ty!" I gave him a slight hug after he bandaged it up, careful of my shoulder. I paid for my new body art and as Billie and I left to go home, I told him happy birthday.

After we had lunch, I checked the clock and took a quick breath.

"I gotta run, Beej…"

"No! Where could you have to go now?" Billie whined as he sat on the couch.

"How old did you turn today?" I asked, grabbing my purse.

"Twenty two, thank you very much."

"Mmhmm. I'm going to a fitting for my dress."

"You got one? When?" Billie was full of questions.

"A few weeks ago. And no, you can't see it," I shot him down before he could even ask.

"Bitch," he mumbled, flicking through the tv stations.

"Oh get bent," I told him, then left.

Friday night, Mike and Tre threw Billie a huge party at a warehouse similar to where they played gigs at.

Like the extrovert he is, Billie was the bell of the ball. He kept everyone entertained, parading around the floor in a tutu and crown. I, on the other hand, maintained a mellow composure. Before too much time had passed, Billie found me chilling out.

"Have some fun! You're looking hot, so flaunt it. Just not too much. I don't want to have to beat the shit out of some dude for putting the moves on you." I could tell Billie was buzzed already, which didn't surprise me.

"What should I do then?" I asked.

"Let me do body shots off of you?" he asked innocently.

"No way in hell," I immediately answered, but he was persistent and put on his puppy eyes.

"It's my birthday party!"

"So?" I asked.

"If you really love me, you'll let me suck tequila off your stomach," Billie told me, now totally serious.

"Fine," I gave in and he took my hand, leading me to a table.

"Let's clear this shit off! I got body shots to do!" Billie announced, holding a bottle of Jose Cuervo in one hand and my wrist in the other.

A bunch of people cleared off the long table and the next thing I know I'm laying on my back with my shirt rolled up and alcohol pooled on my abs.

"Everybody get ready. Here we go!!!" Billie had handed his crown to Tre, then leaned down and proceeded to do a shot off of me.

People chanted, cheered and laughed as they poured another on me and Billie did it again. Since it was for his birthday I let him do a few more before calling it quits.

Roaming the party, I kept an eye out for Sarah. I had invited her, but she and Mike hadn't reconciled yet. From what I've heard, it's a whole 'he said, she said' kind of thing; most likely a huge misunderstanding that could be fixed. Sure, I was trying to help, but I had to be subtle or Billie would get after me. I didn't find her, so I had to look for something else to do to keep occupied while Billie socialized.

Billie's party didn't end until four or five a.m., when I took him home so he could spend Saturday recuperating; he had gotten pretty damn wasted.

Around noon, I peeked in on Billie, who had been making some miserable sounds since eleven.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly and he held up a thumbs down.

"Do you want me to get you anything before I go?"

"Where are you going?" he pulled the pillow off of his face, looking at me with sad eyes.

"I gotta go to San Fran and meet a lady at Golden Gate Park," I told him.

"Are you driving?"

"I'm taking the Bart then hitting the Muni. Hopefully I'll be back for dinner."

"Don't leave me here alone!" Billie groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"I wish I could stay and make you feel better, but if you want to get married on May tenth, I gotta go!"

"I want to go with you," he told me.

"Okay, you have five minutes before I leave."

Billie was up and ready to go within three minutes and we were on the Bart not long after.

"So, we're getting off at Powell and transferring to the Muni?"

"Yep," I nodded, "Hopefully the Muni won't take forever though…"

"I'm totally up for a Muni adventure!" Billie grinned.

Not wanting to risk missing our appointment, we caught a cab to Golden Gate Park and we were actually a little early. Billie was annoyed that we didn't get to take the unreliable public transit system, so I promised that we would on the way back.

The meeting with our planner, Rhonda, put me at ease. Most of our plans were finalized and everything was paid for. It just needed to be the big day now.

As we left the park and headed for the Muni bus stop, we passed by Haight. I noticed Billie's demeanor change. He obviously wanted to get high.

"Go hang with the hippies. I'm sure they'd love to pass their peace pipe to you," I laughed.

"I fucking hate hippies. I wouldn't deal with them for all the weed in the world."

I gave him a skeptical look and he sighed.

"Ok, I would if it was for that much grass.."

We got to the Powell Street station and I decided that it was time to be a tourist.

"Let's go!" I grinned, pulling Billie away from the escalator down to the Bart and Muni trains.

"Cable cars?" Billie asked, "Oh hell no!"

"Yeah! We're going to the Wharf."

I paid for the tickets, then we hopped on the cable car and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf.

"This place makes me want to puke," Billie mumbled as we walked around.

"I know.. I hate the seafood smell too," I agreed.

"No, there's too many tourists here," he replied.

"Oh just deal with it."

"But look at their fanny packs!" he cringed as we watched the people passing by.

"Stop complaining or I'll buy one and wear it all the time," I threatened playfully, making Billie shut up so we could enjoy our day.