Green Day, Why Am I In Your Room?

Tre's POV

I awoke with a bump. We were back in the United States. I felt Tash awake beside me.

"We're home!" I said.

"You sound too enthusiastic," she groaned, rubbing her eyes sleepily and giving a lazy smile.

We got off the plane and headed inside to the terminal, where we collected our bags and went to my car. It was as if we had never left - it was wet from rain everywhere, with a light drizzle gently falling.

I got into my car, putting on the heating full blast. Tash closed her door, flicking the water out of her hair.

"Ah shit," I said suddenly as we pulled out of the carpark.

"What?" she asked curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh...just didn't tell anyone where I was going." I had a feeling Billie and Mike wouldn't be too pleased.

Tash fell silent. "My fault...I should've reminded you to tell them," she said quietly.

"No way," I said shortly. "This isn't your fault. You thought you were leaving alone."

She nodded, peering out the window. The rain began to fall heavier. As I pulled into my driveway I realised I would have to go and face the firing squad, so to speak.

"Tash? Do you mind if I go to Billie's? I'm not sure whether they know or not..." my voice trailed off.

"I'll come," she said. I shrugged my shoulders and turned the car around, heading in the direction of Billie's place. We arrived outside his front door. Just as we were getting out of the car, I saw the front door open and a pissed off Billie walking towards us.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he demanded, Mike behind him.

"Australia - " I began.

There was an insane grin on Billie's face. "Tre, you missed the best fucking news. We're nominated for a Grammy!"

I felt relief sweep through every inch of my body. For a second there I had thought he was going to kill me.

"Are you fucking serious?" I exclaimed. "Again?"

"Yeah!" Mike said, looking just as excited. We were all acting like little kids awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. "We got the news yesterday for Rob - "

"Man this is fucking awesome..." I said. I was speechless. A Grammy? For the second time with American Idiot? It was too good to be true...

"Congratulations, guys," Tash said, grinning. She gave me a hug. We broke apart, with Billie and Mike exchanging knowing looks. I gave them a death stare.

Billie had a look of mock innocence on his face. "Come in you guys - otherwise you'll become soaking wet."

Me and Tash followed Mike and Billie inside to the hall, where Adrienne was standing there, grinning.

"Well done Tre," she said, hugging me. She smiled at Tash and pulled her into a hug as well.

"To the basment," Billie declared. I followed him downstairs with Mike, taking my usual by the seat.

"So," Billie prompted.

"So, shut up."

"Tut tut Tre, didn't your mother ever teach you to be polite?" Billie had an evil grin on his face. "Wanna tell us what happened?"

I took a deep breath. "She was going to leave me, leave American behind and try and restart her life back in Australia. Without me. Without anything she had here."

"So, what did you do - use the Tre charm on her?" Mike asked.

"No, that happened later. At the airport she decided she couldn't leave."

"So you both went to Australia anyway?" Billie gave me a strange look.

"She's moving in with me...permanently, I think." I held my breath as I watched their reactions. They probably didn't think I was serious about her. They thought she would be wife number three, she would divorce me and take my money.

"Are you serious?" Mike exclaimed. "Thats great!"

"Are you serious?" I couldn't tell by his tone whether he was genuinely happy, or if he was being sarcastic.

"Yes," Mike persisted.

"So she brought all of her shit from Australia?"

"No," I explained. "Just some random stuff. She just left most of her things back there. Didn't want to bring it."

"Aah..." Billie nodded slowly. "You fucked her though. I can tell. She loves you waaay too much now."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, you know you did. Anyways, let's just practice." I was glad Billie changed the subject.

MEANWHILE: Tash's POV

I watched Tre heading downstairs and I looked over to Adrienne. She was smiling knowingly.

"So...how was Australia?" she asked, a sly smile on her face. It seemed the first thing anyone thought was sex. Even though it was true.

"It was fine," I said, avoiding her gaze.

"I can tell something is up," she said, looking at my face intently.

In a flash I had pulled out the necklace from my pocket and handed it to her, without thinking. She was the only person I could tell about it. Adrienne looked at the box curiously, her eyes questioning.

"OK if I open it?"

I nodded wordlessly.

She opened the box, quickly reading the note and closely observing the shiny gold. She let out a low whistle.

"Tash, this must have set him back a lot," she said, picking it up and gently handling it. She held it up to my neck. "Perfectly suits," she added with a smile.

I shook my head. This seemed bigger than I thought it was. "I don't want to have to think about him. But he keeps coming back and saying he loves me - "

"Tash," said Adrienne abruptly, "Tre or Matt. You have to choose. You can't keep living in the past like this. If you want to risk it with an asshole like Matt, then choose him. If you want to live a happy, rockstar, loving life with Tre, then choose him. I never knew Matt - but I know you loved him. And possibly still love him."

"I don't love him anymore," I said quickly. "But what do I do when he does stuff like this? Do I send it back and notify the police, or just take it and accept his apology and become friends?"

Adrienne sighed. "It's your choice. Look, just don't say anything to him - or Tre. When it becomes a bigger problem, then mention it and do something about it, make up your mind and stick with it." She looked at me and put her hand on my arm. "I'm touched you came to me about it. Its not going to be easy with Tre, you know that."

"I know," I said, watching Adie pack up the necklace carefully and hand it back to me. "But I do love him."

She smiled. "He's a charmer. Oh - the necklace will look really good on you, by the way."

I rolled my eyes. "If I'll wear it. It probably has some hidden curse on it, knowing Matt."

She took hold of my arm. "Come on - tell me all about Australia. Even if it only was two days."