An Address Book Romance

Take Care of Her For Me

Grace almost choked on her sip of soda as she heard the very end of Mike's story. She glanced back and forth between Mike and Tre trying to make sure that this wasn't some elaborate plan between the two of them to mess with her mind by telling her completely false stories about Tre's antics on tour.

She stared over at Tre as she sat her can of diet soda on the picnic table below her. “Please tell me that he's just kidding and that you seriously didn't use a rope to rig the door to that poor man's hotel room so he couldn't get it open.”

Tre shrugged his shoulders as he took a quick glance at the pool happy to see that Frankito was still in the pool strapped into his water wings. The little boy was still insisting that Jen hold him though since he was too frightened of the water to float in it freely.

Jen was currently standing in the shallow end of the pool by Mike's girlfriend Brittney. The two women were attempting to have a conversation while fending off splashing water from both of the Armstrong boys.

Tre smiled realizing that ten year old Joesph Armstrong may have developed a slight school boy crush on Jen seeing as he'd been following her around since she had arrived.

Tre took a quick gulp from his can of beer as he spoke up staring over at his girlfriend. “He wasn't some poor man. He was a rude jerk who had it coming. Mike isn't completely innocent you know? He was the one who helped me rig that door.”

“Who was a rude jerk who had it coming?” Adrienne asked as she took a seat beside Grace and Tre.

She took a quick glance at her husband making sure that Billie was actually paying attention to the hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill instead of the beer in his hand and the little radio he had set up beside him.

“Oh just that drummer from that other band way back when. You remember the one Billie told you about right?” Mike asked not giving Tre a chance to change the subject.

Tre spoke up rolling his eyes. “In my defense I'd like to point out that he truly did have it coming. I mean he came to my hotel room at three am wanting me to keep it down a bit. I was having a really good time so I just turned up the music and the next morning I get up only to find a nasty note pinned to my door. So I just got a little revenge on him that's all.”

Grace shook her head wondering how that could be Tre's definition of a little revenge? She'd hate to see his definition a lot of revenge.

She didn't have much time to think about her boyfriend's twisted concept of revenge since Billie spoke up sounding very excited from his spot at the grill. “Oh Mike did you tell her about what Tre did to that dog that one time?”

Grace widened her eyes staring over at Tre who's cheeks had noticeably darkened a little. She had slight feeling that his cheeks weren't getting darker from the heat. “A dog? Tre what on earth did you do to a dog?”

She stared over at Adrienne and Mike to see Adrienne shaking her head slightly, apparently having heard this story before, and Mike snickering at the look of shock on her face.

Mike let out a slight sight finally managing to recover from his giggling fit. “Well you see we weren't really big yet and we were just touring in the bookmobile, but it was summer and it was really hot you know. So after we played at some party this fan lets us stay at his house so we don't have to worry about sleeping in a hot van. So anyway Tre wakes up the next morning wanting coffee, but there wasn't any milk. Tre why don't you finish the story? I mean you tell it so well.”

Grace spoke up staring over at her still pink cheeked boyfriend. “Tre what did you do?”

Tre let out a sigh. He was beginning to think that it had become Billie and Mike's special mission to completely and totally embarrass him in front of Grace.

“I noticed that the dog had puppies and I was really feeling desperate. So I milked the dog and drank it in my coffee. In my defense I smoked a ton of pot and did a lot of speed back then.” Tre blurted out glancing over at Grace to see her staring at him in slight horror.

“You still smoke a ton of pot.” Billie stated taking a quick glance over at the children grateful to see that they were still distracted with the pool and not hearing any of this conversation about speed, pot, and milking dogs.

Tre let out a slight groan staring at Billie and then Mike. “Why do I get the feeling that you two are trying to humiliate me?”

Billie snickered at this question. “Hey buddy you were going to do it yourself eventually. We're just beating you to it.”

Grace finally managed to speak up finally processing what she'd just been told. She spoke up resting her head against Tre's shoulder teasing him “So Frank what does dog milk taste like?”

Tre rolled his eyes speaking up. “Trust me you don't want to know and for the last time don't call me Frank.”

Grace didn't have time to respond to this since Adrienne spoke up apparently finally tired of all the discussion about Tre's tour antics. She had heard the dog milking story at least a million times.

“Hey Grace do you think you can help me get the bread, and the mustard, and all that good stuff?”

Grace nodded her head following Adrienne into the house secretly grateful to escape from being forced to learn about any of her boyfriend's other disturbing touring habits.

Adrienne spoke up as she removed a couple of bottles of ketchup, mayo, and mustard from the refrigerator. “I swear the older they get the more they become like twelve year old boys.”

Grace responded to this comment with a smirk. “I think Tre may be a little under the age of twelve. I'm thinking he's a little closer to Frankito's age group.”

Adrienne giggled at this comment for a moment before speaking up in a more serious tone of voice. “You make Tre really happy. I haven't seen him this happy in a while. He's actually sort of like a brother to me. I mean Mike and him both are. I've been around them as long as I've known Billie so they both feel like family. Tre really likes you. I mean he likes you enough that he's willing to introduce you to the nut-house that is all of us.”

“You guys aren't that bad.....I mean your stories about him are a little frightening, but I was probably going to have to hear about them somehow. I like him as well. He's actually the first person I've seriously dated in a while.” Grace said feeling a bit awkward about the fact that she'd just pretty much summed up her dating history with that sentence.

Adrienne thankfully paid no mind to Grace's dating comment. “Well I can defiantly say that we like you way more than we liked his last girlfriend.”

Grace did her best not to frown as she heard this. “Yeah I've heard about her.”

The two women didn't have time to continue this conversation since Tre sulked in and spoke up. “Adie your husband's being mean to me. He put something weird in my beer. I think It was dirt. Go punish him now.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes as she heard this. “I've told you once I'll tell you again don't leave your beer unattended. How did you know it was dirt?”

Tre let out a huff as he wrapped his arms around Grace from behind. “It was all gritty. Come on Graceful you can defend my beer.”

Grace let out a sigh managing to grab a couple of packages of hamburger buns and some ketchup so she wouldn't be completely abandoning Adrienne, as Tre practically drug her away.

She rolled her eyes as they walked out the back door and Tre spoke up trying to sound intimidating without giggling. “You two are in trouble now.”

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Tre chuckled slightly as he leaned against the side of the house and took in the sight in front of him. Brittney and Grace had just gotten through tossing Joey into the deep end of the pool as revenge since the boy had just finished throwing a water balloon at them.

Adrienne was currently chasing a slightly drunk Billie Joe around the pool so she could shove him in as well. Billie was the one responsible for the water balloon incident since he was the one whom had filled up the water balloons and then instructed his oldest son to throw them at each of the women.

Mike had been the smart one and had disappeared inside the house so he would be safe from all the water balloon insanity.

Lunch and dinner had both been eaten a long time ago and the sun had set making it dark outside except for the lights coming off of the back porch light and the lights around the pool. Both Frankito and Jakob had just been unwillingly put to bed since the six year old and the three year old were getting a tiny bit restless.

Tre couldn't help but to burst out laughing as Grace took it upon herself to jump into the pool announcing that she might as well seeing as she was wet already.

At least she was still in just her bikini so it wasn't like she had gotten her clothing soaked.

He almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a familiar voice behind him. “She's great isn't she?”

He turned around connecting his eyes with Jen's. He spoke smirking slightly. “So is this the part where you go all psycho fan on me?”

She rolled her eyes as she heard this. “No Grace has forbidden me from being a psycho fan as you put it.”

“You know I'm still mad about the CD thing.” Tre stated causing Jen the let out a frustrated huff.

“Oh for gods sake Tre it was Duran Duran. I was trying to perform a musical intervention.”

Tre frowned not amused by her statement. “Your generation doesn't understand good music.”

“Whatever.”Jen grumbled before the two turned both their heads towards the pool hearing a loud splash.

Tre grinned as he saw the fact that Adrienne with the help of Grace had finally successfully pushed Billie into the pool.

“Yeah she's something.” Tre exclaimed finally responding to Jen's earlier statement.

“She likes you. I mean I think she's just too scared to actually full out admit to it, but she does really care about you.” Jen said as she stared down at her wringing hands.

Tre couldn't help but to notice that the young women had become suddenly nervous during the course of this conversation.

Jen spoke up again wringing her hands even harder. “She was engaged once you know? It was only for a few months they had been dating off and on since they were like sixteen. He moved up to like Boston after they split up. I never liked him I mean he was a real ass. Brent never treated her right.”

Tre noticed that she widened her eyes as soon as she blurted that out. She spoke up again quickly trying to save face. “She told you about her ex right? Oh god please tell me that she told you?”

“Yeah she told me. He didn't want kids right?” Tre assured trying his best to calm her down.

She let out a sigh of relief grateful that she hadn't just revealed something she shouldn't have. “Yeah that was the start of the whole downfall of the relationship. He slept with someone else up at the end of things. She went out of town and came back home to their apartment only to find him in bed with some girl he picked up at a bar. She was really young and it was her first relationship so it kind of screwed her up. Emotionally you know? I mean it's like she's always waiting for the bottom to fall out.”

He nodded his head taking a quick glance at Grace wondering if he should be letting her roommate tell him all of this.

Jen shrugged speaking up again. “I think that's why she hasn't been in a relationship in a long time. You're the first guy she hasn't really tried too hard to scare away. I just think that she doesn't want to get hurt like that ever again. So I guess what I'm trying to say is do me a favor and take care of her for me.”

He managed to clear his throat still feeling a little awkward about this whole conversation. “Okay I will I promise. I would never hurt her like that.”

Jen nodded her head before giving him an almost cold look. “Okay I hope you're serious about that promise, because mark my words if you ever so much as make her cry I will hunt you down and make you regret the day you were ever born.”

Tre widened his eyes slightly making a quick note to himself to never make it so he would have to suffer Jen's wrath.

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It was late by the time Tre pulled up to Jen and Grace's house. Jen had taken a cab and left pretty soon after she'd had her conversation with Tre.

She had claimed that she was going to go hang out with a friend which both Tre and Grace had translated to mean that she was going to go hang out with a guy.

Tre took Grace by surprise as he spoke up when they'd reached her front door. “Would it bother you too much if I spent the night on your couch. I know Claudia took the opportunity to go to her boyfriend's place for the night and if one of us is gone the other is always with Franky. So it's going to be weird for me being at home without him.”

Grace took herself by surprise by speaking up. “Okay sure. I don't know how you're going to relax on that couch though. It's terrible.”

Tre found out what she meant as he entered the house and took a seat on the couch finding a few large lumps underneath him.

Grace tossed her purse on the broken recliner by the front door as she ran and hand through her hair. At least Adrienne had offered to let her borrow the shower before they'd left so she didn't smell like a pool.

“Do you want something to drink?” She asked feeling a little awkward about this whole situation.

Tre shook his head managing to work out a “no thanks.”

She took a seat beside him swallowing the lump that was beginning to develop in the back of her throat as he placed an arm comfortably around her waist.

She reached out grabbing the remote off of the coffee table and turning on the TV trying to calm her nerves. She shouldn't be feeling like this. She was a grown women and no one should be getting to her like this.

Tre spoke up remembering his conversation with Jen earlier. “So Jen and I had an interesting talk earlier.”

“What did she do? I thought I made her promise me to completely be on her best behavior.” Grace asked fearing what exactly her roommate could have done.

“No it was nothing like that. She just kind of warned me to never hurt you or she'd kill me.” Tre remarked deciding to leave out exactly what he'd been told about Grace's ex fiancée.

Grace couldn't help but to burst out laughing as she heard this. “Well that sounds about right. I wouldn't worry too much. I almost thought her obsession for Green Day may out shine her unfiltered rage against the men of my past.”

“It didn't seem very funny when she told me she'd make me regret the day I was born.” He mumbled rolling his eyes slightly

She shook her head noticing that Tre had paled slightly. “Jen can't help it. I've known her since I was seven and she's always been protective of me.”

Tre huffed slightly at this remark. He managed to kiss Grace's cheek as he spoke up. “She sounded more than just a little protective. You didn't see the look on her face. It was the way you'd imagine a mother bear looks when she realizes someones messed with her cubs.”

“You don't understand. I mean she's almost like a sister to me. Jen's parents didn't really do that much parenting. They were both trust funders who divorced when she was six. Her mom ran off with the first rancher with a little cash that she could find and left Jen with her dad who was clueless. He pretty much hired a nanny do most of the child raising. I guess in a way my family sort of became Jen's surrogate family. I mean I had a house full of siblings so we just sort of took her in. Jen and I have just sort of always taken care of each other. Ever since my last relationship she's always been a little wary of guys that want to get involved with me.” Grace said noticeably scooting a tiny bit closer to him.

Tre nodded his head as he pulled her even closer to him. “She doesn't have anything to worry about you know.”

She turned her head to face him a little bit surprised when he locked his lips with hers. She could admit though they had only kissed a few times she had come to the conclusion that Tre was a pretty good kisser.

Tre's lips weren't way too dry, his breath still had the slight hint of the cinnamon gum he had been chewing earlier, he thankfully wasn't drooling and practically shoving his tongue down her throat. He knew how to apply just the right amount of force without overpowering her.

They both pulled away when the need to breathe became too much to ignore. Tre was the first to speak up realizing that though their lips had parted they hadn't pulled completely away from each other. “Are you okay with this?”

She opened and shut her mouth a few times unsure of what to say. She finally managed to just dumbly nod her head and a mutter out a quick “Yeah”

He gave her a quick kiss on her shoulder over the strap of her dress. “You know you have a freckle right there. I saw it earlier.”

She bit her bottom lip not having any time to give him a response before he crashed his lips back against hers.

Grace couldn't help but to let out a slight gasp as she felt him somehow turn them and press her down onto the couch with out breaking their kiss. She hesitantly managed to wrap her arms around his waist before finally working up the nerve to let one hand sneak up underneath his cotton T-shirt.

She let the hand underneath his shirt rest against his bare back unsure of where else she should put it. She did manage to let the other hand wonder up his back and finally rest on the back of his head. She tugged at his hair ever so slightly as she tried to focus on the way his tongue slid gently against hers.

She couldn't help but to feel slightly juvenile laying back on the couch in the dim living room making out hoping that no one walked in on them. It was just like high school all over again.

All thoughts of how juvenile this all seemed were knocked out of her head as he began to rock against her ever so slightly.
Tre reached down letting a hand run up her bare leg causing her sun dress to bunch up slightly as he finally got her to wrap a leg around his waist.

Tre rocked against Grace a little bit more forcefully causing her shiver slightly against him. He pulled away from the kiss letting his mouth wonder over to where her shoulder met her neck. He smirked slightly as he apparently kissed a sensitive spot causing her to gasp and tug a tiny bit harder at his hair.

He connected his lips with hers once again as he finally worked up the nerve to slide his hand as slowly as he possibly could up towards his destination.
He finally placed his hand on top of her breast squeezing gently snickering as he heard her let out a distinct moan.
It was Tre's turn to gasp as Grace began to rock back against him finally becoming a little bit more comfortable with their current situation.

He let out a huff as Grace pulled away frowning. “Uh Tre I think I heard a car pull up.”

“What?”He asked reluctantly sitting up slightly staring at the front door.

The couple sat up quickly trying to look natural as the door handle moved and the door opened revealing a sleepy looking Jen.

Jen eyed Tre and Grace taking note of their flushed faces and their messy hair. She stared at the TV noticing an old black and white horror movie was on. “So are you two enjoying the movie?”

Grace rolled her eyes noticing the amused look in Jen's eyes. She couldn't help but to think that if Jen hadn't shown up she would have willingly gone much farther with Tre.

Somehow that realization didn't bother her as much as she had thought it would.