An Address Book Romance

She Was Probably the Most Neurotic Person He'd ever met

Grace sat up on the unmade bed in their hotel suite as she picked at the reminder of the bagel that had been brought up with room service early this morning. Her nerves had gotten the best of her this morning so she'd only managed to eat about half of her bagel. Unlike Tre whom had scarfed down his entire ham and cheese omelet and managed to drink two cups of coffee afterwards.

She could distinctly hear Tre in the bathroom humming what sounded like 'I Fought The Law And The Law Won' as he shaved. She managed to speak up over his humming hoping that she didn't sound to terribly anxious. “So what are we doing with Ramona today?”

She heard the sound of splashing water before Tre answered her question finally stopping his humming. “Nothing much. We'll probably just take her to lunch so you two have the chance to get to know each other. Then I was thinking that maybe we should take her to the movies or maybe take her shopping and let her buy a couple of movies or something like that.”

She nodded her head speaking up again as she placed her half eaten bagel back onto the room service cart. “So I should just dress casual then?”

Tre stuck his head out of the bathroom and raised his eyebrow as he heard this question. Which was a slightly amusing sight considering half of his face was still covered in shaving cream.

“Just wear what you usually wear. You know jeans and blouse or something like that. It's not like you're having tea with the queen of England.” Tre sighed noticing the anxious look that was beginning to develop on her face.

She was probably the most neurotic person he'd ever met in his entire life. He both loved it and hated it. He could admit that at times it could be a little bit amusing to see her get all flustered and spaz out over nothing. There were times though that he really just wanted to pull her aside and tell her to chill out.

Tre had always been the type of person who adjusted to change without any trouble at all. He could just relax and go with the flow. It had become pretty clear to him that Grace wasn't like that at all. Panic should probably be Grace's middle name since she was known to do just that at the drop of a hat.

Grace managed to climb out of bed and make it over to her suitcase where she searched for something appropriate to wear. It had to be casual but it couldn't look like she'd put absolutely no thought into her outfit whatsoever.

She knew that she needed to make a good impression on Ramona , and Grace had always believed that first impressions meant everything.

Then again her first impression of Tre had been that he was an idiot and complete pain in her ass. So she guessed that maybe first impressions weren't everything.

She finally settled on a pair of jeans,a cap sleeved lilac floral blouse, and a pair of flats. By the time she had slipped all of this on , put on a tiny bit of makeup, and run a brush through her tangled hair Tre had exited the bathroom freshly shaved.

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips as he spoke up. “You're going to be just fine trust me.”

She cleared her throat as she plopped back down onto their bed. “I just want her to like me. I mean she's your daughter and she needs to approve of me.”

“She will approve of you. Trust me Mona has rarely ever hated a women I've dated. And Franky's already nuts about you so don't freak out on me now.” Tre assured her as he plopped down on the bed beside her.

He reached behind his head picking up the magazine that he'd plopped down on top of. He studied the cover for a moment before opening it and snickering. “Graceful please tell you've read this article.”

“What article?” She asked knowing that she had only bought the magazine at the airport the night before and hadn't even really had a chance to even open it up yet.

He turned the magazine towards her pointing out the article. She rolled her eyes as she read the headline: Twenty Ways To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed.

“Please tell me you plan on doing all twenty of these things to me.” Tre begged causing her to snort slightly.

“Only if you want to spend the night in the emergency room.” She remarked causing him to let out a huff.

“What do you mean by that? What's wrong with driving me wild in bed?” Tre asked.

She shook her head taking the magazine from him and turning the page before showing him. “Cookie if you and I even tried any of these things we'd end up breaking something. Can you imagine a more embarrassing thing to have to explain to some emergency room doctor?”

He smirked as he spoke up. “Okay point taken. I am planning on getting you to get a little kinky with me though.”

She shook her head not even wanting to know what Tre had in mind. She could admit that she was a tiny bit reserved when it came to sex. So it did amaze her a little that she'd ended up with someone whom was as adventurous about sex as Tre.

They laid there in silence for a moment before Tre spoke up sounding a little anxious. “So I talked to Jen while we were in England.”

“When did she call you? How did she even get your number?” Grace asked lifting her head up and staring at him.

Tre cleared his throat as he answered her question. “She called me while you were out shopping with Brittney. She got the number from your address book. She misses you and I think that she's really sorry about everything that went wrong.”

“I'm not calling her. I've already decided that I'm going to be a stubborn bitch about all of this” Grace blurted out.

Tre let out a sigh not surprised to hear this. He tried to remember all of the content of Jen and his conversation as he spoke up. “You aren't being bitchy. You're just upset. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah go ahead.” Grace murmured as she laid her head back down.

“After you broke up with your ex did you really disappear in Texas for two months? Jen just kind of mentioned it and I was just wondering about it.” Tre said unsure of what Grace's reaction would be to him mentioning her ex.

Grace let out a sigh a little bit annoyed that Jen had brought up something that delicate about her past to Tre behind her back. “Yeah I can admit that Brent messed me up for a while. I freaked out and ran. I didn't do anything interesting. I just drank.....well I drank a lot and sort of just hid out until I was ready to go home and face everything. I was still pretty young and the guy that I was sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with practically ripped my heart out.”

“Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. I mean I just didn't like knowing that about you without you even being aware of it.” Tre mumbled as he took her hand in his.

He stared down at her silver nail polish unsure if he wanted to look her in the eyes after they'd talked about this.

He had to look up at her face though when she took her hand away from his and ran her hand through his hair. “It's probably good that we talked about it though. I mean it's probably healthy for you to know about my past relationships no matter how awkward it can be. I already know a little bit about your past relationships.”

He nodded his head knowing that he'd told her a little bit about his two divorces. Though he hadn't said too much about it not wanting to drag up all those old feelings or even worst to scare her away.

Grace let out a tired sigh as she spoke up feeling a little bit of anger beginning to set in. “ I'm not too pleased that Jen told you all of that behind my back. I mean I should have been the one to tell you about it.”

He cleared his throat wondering if he'd just made things worst between Grace and Jen. “Maybe she was just trying to help you out you know. I mean you did say that she's really protective of you. She may have just wanted me to know that I should be gentle with you.”

“Yeah maybe that was her reasoning behind it. I'm still not happy about it though. I mean wouldn't you be a little pissed off if Billie or Mike talked about some kind of painful little moment from your past to me without you knowing about it” Grace grumbled.

He let out a sigh knowing that she had a point. “Yeah I guess so.”

“I don't know Tre. Maybe Jen and I just need some time away from each other for a little while. I mean we've spent practically every second of our time together since we were kids and maybe we're just starting to finally get on each others nerves.”

He cleared his throat as he sat up and stared over at his suitcase. “Yeah maybe. I should probably get ready huh? We're gonna have to head over to Ramona's pretty soon.”

She nodded her head sitting up as well as she tried to ignore the anxiety beginning to bubble up in the pit of her stomach once again.

She could only hope that Tre was right and that she had absolutely nothing to worry about.

....................................................................

It was obvious that Ramona had her father's undying energy. Grace had become sure of this from the second she'd met her and now that Tre and Grace were sitting in a restaurant at a table across from his daughter she was noticing this fact even more.

Ramona was practically squirming in her seat. She stopped her squirming for only a moment as she reached across the table grabbing her glass and taking a sip from it before looking up at her father. “Dad when I turn eighteen can I get a tattoo?”

Tre was almost tempted to slam his palm into his forehead as he heard this question. He somehow maintained his composure as he spoke up. “It depends.”

“Depends on what?” Ramona asked obviously not ready to let this subject drop that easily.

“On what kind of tattoo you'd want and if you still want a tattoo by the time you turn eighteen.” Tre grumbled as he took a sip from his own drink.

“I don't know what I'd want yet. I'll still want one when I turn eighteen. Do you have a tattoo?” Ramona asked staring directly at Grace.

Grace cleared her throat as she answered the little girl. “Uh well......... yes I do.”

“Where at? What's it look like? Can I see it? Did it hurt?” Ramona asked clearly fascinated by this subject.

Tre was quick to speak up saving Grace from having to answer any of these questions. “Kiddo have you decided what you want to order for lunch? They have club sandwiches and I know you love those.”

Ramona let out a sigh as she spoke up. “I think I just want a hamburger and fries. Dad I'm almost ten aren't I getting too old to be called kiddo or munchkin.”

“Hey you're always going to be my kiddo or my munchkin even when you turn forty Mona.” Tre pointed out causing Ramona to roll her eyes a tiny bit.

It didn't take long for Ramona to speak up returning to the conversation about body art. “My cousin Amber has a tattoo. It's of a rose on her ankle. She got it when she was sixteen though and my mom said that my aunt Katherine was really mad about it. So Amber's grounded until she leaves for college.”

Tre rolled his eyes remembering his first ex wife's niece Amber. The last time he'd seen the Amber she had been a little kid and now he was hearing that she was a teenage hellion. It was making him feel old and he didn't like it.

Ramona spoke up again looking over at Grace. “My dad has tattoos. I saw them when he took me to a water park when I came to visit him in July. He said that I shouldn't get any tattoos because they hurt, but if they hurt so much then why did he get them?."

Grace did her best not to snicker as she noticed the look on Tre's face. She had the feeling that he hadn't realized that his daughter would come up with that realization on her own. “I know I've seen those tattoos.”

“He used to have green hair too. I want a green streak in my hair, but dad and my mom won't let me.” Ramona said not hiding her disappointment.

“Maybe they'll let you dye it when you're older.” Grace reasoned taking a quick glance over at Tre hoping that she hadn't just blurted out the wrong thing.

Grace was thankful to see that Tre wasn't giving her any dirty looks or telling her not to get into what Ramona could and couldn't do with her hair.

Tre just smirked slightly before speaking up. “Hey munchkin your mom and I don't really care about the possibility of you putting a streak in your hair. We just know that you couldn't get away with that at school.”

“What if I get home schooled? Then can I do it?” Ramona asked causing Tre to shake his head.

“I don't think so. You would miss your friends way too much if we ever home schooled you.” Tre remarked.

Ramona let out huff before she mumbled something that sounded like “no I wouldn't”

Tre ignored this mumbled comment as he leaned over in his seat and gave Grace a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up. “I think I'm going to go to the bathroom. If the waiter comes I want the Reuben sandwich and some fries on the side.”

Grace let out a nervous sigh as she watched him head to the bathroom being stopped a couple of times by a few fans asking him for an autograph and a picture. She glanced over at Ramona whom didn't seem to be paying any attention to the fans stopping her father.

Grace could admit that she felt a bit awkward when the occasional fan stopped Tre. It was a bit hard for her to adjust to his life considering how normal her life had been before she'd met Tre.

To tell the truth she forgot at times how big of a deal Tre was. She had just grown so accustomed to seeing him as her hyperactive boyfriend who constantly seemed to have sex on the brain.

She had a feeling though that this view of him would change though once the band officially kicked off the tour next week. She knew that there would be way more attention than there already was on Billie, Mike, and Tre soon enough.

She glanced over at Ramona as the little girl spoke up. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah sure.” Grace stated beginning to feel a bit anxious at the thought of what kind of question a nine year old would have for her.

“Are you in love with my dad?” Ramona asked as she took another sip from her soda.

Grace widened her eyes as she heard this question. She had no earthly idea how she was supposed to answer that.

Did she love Tre? Well she knew that she loved certain things about him. She loved the way he always found a way to reassure her when she was panicking. She loved the way that he made her laugh. She loved it when he called her Graceful or beautiful. She really loved it when he kissed her or when he did something as simple as hold her hand or wrap his arm around her waist when they were walking down the street.

She wasn't really sure if all of these little things she loved about him added up to her being in love with him though. Then again she might just be over analyzing the way she felt like she always tended to do.

She spoke up doing her best to answer this question without totally screwing it up. “Well it's a little soon for your dad and I to really know if we love each other or not.”

“That's what my dad said when I asked him.” Ramona pointed out causing Grace to smile slightly.

She was grateful when Ramona spoke up changing the subject. “I still can't believe that my dad and mom won't let me dye my hair yet.”

“I'll make you a deal okay but only if it's alright with both of your parents. When you turn eighteen and you're still just dying to have that streak in your hair then I'll dye it for you.” Grace stated not surprised that Ramona's face practically lit up upon hearing this.

She wasn't surprised that Ramona spoke up as soon as Tre returned to the table and sat back down. “Guess what dad? Grace said that when I turn eighteen if I still want my hair dyed then she'll do it for me.”

“Oh really.” Tre remarked staring over at his girlfriend.

Grace gave him a nervous smile hoping that she hadn't overstepped her boundaries by promising something like that.

She couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relief as Tre gave her a quick kiss on the lips and spoke up joking. “I guess I'm going to have to find a way too keep an eye on you two's conversations while I'm away. Who knows what else you two have planned. What's next matching tattoos, clubbing all night,complete mayhem.”

Grace gave him a slight smile as she spoke. “Hey having me dye her hair when the times right is a lot better than her trying to do it herself. Or even worst letting one of her friends do it and then having her hair all fall out or become completely damaged or something like that.”

She leaned over whispering in his ear. “And besides I have a feeling that she'll change her mind before she turns eighteen.”

He smiled slightly knowing that she did have a point. He glanced over at Ramona whom looked as though she was thrilled about this promise that Grace had made her.

He smiled over at Grace as he whispered in her ear. “See I told you that she'd love you.”

Grace couldn't help but to feel a sense of relief wash over her as she heard this. He was right everything had turned out just fine.