Pieces of Truth

[Grace]

The next morning I was sitting in my English Lit class, when the boy next to me tapped my arm. I looked over at Greg, his hazel eyes watching me through dark red hair. He smiled, waving hello and I smiled back. Greg had been showing an interest in me since winter, but I hadn't acknowledged it. I didn't want to deal with it.

"Meet me after class?" he asked quietly and I nodded just to shut him up.

As soon as class ended, I made my way out to the main plaza.

"Ellie!" I heard Greg calling and I stopped, sitting on the bench closest to where I was. The 5'11" man sat beside me, smiling.

"Ellie, I-"

"My name is Grace," I corrected, "But continue."

"I was wondering if you'd want to have dinner with me Friday night?"

"You mean like a date?" I asked, glancing up at him, then out at the people passing by.

"I'm not totally against the idea," Greg winked.

"Look, Greg.. You're really nice and all. I'm just not looking to date anyone right now," I froze, spotting Billie Joe across the courtyard, staring at me intently. What the hell was he doing here?

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not exactly over my ex-boyfriend, alright? And I'm pretty sure he's not over me.. Things are just super complicated right now and we need to sort everything out," I explained, not taking my eyes off of my hands; still feeling Billie's gaze.

"What makes this guy so worth your time? What's his name?"

"I don't have to explain that to you.. Billie Joe is twice the man you are, so back off," I got up, shooting a glare at Greg.

"Grace, wait," he said, getting up and trying to follow me.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.."

"Whatever. Just.. I have to be somewhere," I said quickly, walking off, and as I passed by Billie, I barely glanced up at him.. But he understood, following me to Tightwad Hill.

"Thanks for coming," I smiled, sitting on the grass at the top of the hill, "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I know when you need a friend, Gray.. Plus, I wanted to apologize for putting you in that uncomfortable situation last night," he told me, sitting to my right.

A few minutes of silence passed, then Billie finally spoke.

"What was that guy saying to get you all flustered?"

"He was asking me out to dinner."

"Oh?" Billie asked, trying not to sound too nosy or interested.

"Yeah, and I told him I wasn't interested and that my love life, or lack there of, was too complicated," I said, "and that I need to sort stuff you with you."

"You're ready to talk civilly with me?" Billie asked in a surprised voice.

"Yeah.. It's about time, huh?" I let out a small laugh, making him smile.

"Can I take you back to my house so we can talk?" Billie asked carefully and I thought about it for a second or two.

"Sure.. You're house is beautiful, by the way," I nodded as we got up and walked down the hill to Billie's newer black car.

"What happened to the Ford?" I asked once we were on the road.

"It's back at home," Billie told me and I nodded.

"A lot has changed since you left," Billie said quietly as he pulled into his driveway, "But I'm still the same guy."

"I'm glad you didn't lose yourself within the fame you've worked so hard for," I smiled, sliding out of the parked car.

Billie led me inside and I looked around in awe. This house; three stories tall, including a basement, was gorgeous. It didn't seem like Billie whatsoever. I watched him curiously as he walked through a house he didn't fit in with, yet called home.

We ended up in the kitchen, and I sat at the counter while Billie preferred to stand on the other side of the dark granite counter top.

"Billie Joe, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I live here," he stammered, confused by my strange, sudden question.

"No, why did you buy a house like this? It's not you at all."

"Well I've lived in an apartment and a warehouse, so I thought I'd move up to something nicer.. And I really liked this house. It's got tons of room, a basement for a studio and practice space, and it's in a chill neighborhood."

"But it's just you living here.."

"I was kind of hoping that would change," he replied, his eyes flickering to me then to the counter.

"You can't honestly say that you bought this house because you thought you'd find me, then if you did, that I would come and move in with you."

When he didn't answer, I gaped at him.

"You did?!"

He nodded slightly.

"Not at first. But eventually, yeah. I thought you would want to."

"You do know that this all depends on whether or not we get back together, right?"

"I understand that... I'm willing to do anything to get you back, and I mean it."

"I know you do. You found those girls and brought them here to prove to me that you weren't lying. I should have listened to you in the first place."

Billie went to reply, but I continued.

"But in my defense, when I first told you that if you were unfaithful on tour, I said I would leave no matter what you said. I said I wasn't going to listen to your excuses, and I thought that's what you were doing.. Making excuses. I should have known better," I sighed.

"If I had been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing. I would have gone ballistic, caused a scene, beaten up whoever you were supposedly with, then I would have left."

I repressed a laugh, knowing he would do something along those lines.

"Hey, would you mind if I ran upstairs to get something real fast?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Go ahead," I said with a nod and Billie left the kitchen.

I got up, wandering through the kitchen and I found a door next to the entrance from the garage. I opened it, smiling at the stairs. I went down the stairs, closing the door behind me and turning the lights on.

At the bottom of the steps I found guitars, drums, harmonicas, a saxophone, a mandolin, as well as several other instruments along with a gorgeous stand up piano. I saw microphones and soundboards that needed to be set up. A couch, chairs and a coffee table all sat around waiting to be organized.

I spotted a desk in the corner against a wall, so I sat in the chair and glanced curiously down at what was on it. I noticed a stack of four by six glossy photos, so I picked them up with a slight smile.

As I thumbed through the pictures of Billie, Mike and Tre at the beach, hotels and outside of music venues, I realized just what these were.

The next picture was of Billie, standing next to a huge cactus and holding up a piece of paper with, 'Grace, I like PHX but I love you more!' written in large, black letters. These were the pictures he had promised to take on tour for me.

"Grace?!" I heard Billie calling from upstairs in a frantic voice, then the sounds of footsteps hit the stairs to the basement.

"There you are," he let out a sigh of relief and I turned to face him.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been down here without asking..." I got up quickly, putting the pictures down.

"No, it's fine. You found my favourite part of the whole house," Billie smiled, "It's not finished though."

"Well maybe I could help you unpack stuff.. If you want me to, that is. Moving sucks, especially with a house this enormous."

"I'd really like that, Gray," he grinned, and I knew we were getting somewhere.