An Address Book Romance

Does It Ever Get Any Easier

Tre nodded his head trying to remain as polite as he possibly could as he listened to the same label head whom had been talking his ear off for the past ten minutes. It wouldn't be so hard to pay attention if the current conversation this man was trying to have with him wasn't so dull.

This was probably the worst part about parties like this. He had never enjoyed having to make small talk with label heads and other music bigwigs. When it came to having conversations like this he usually attempted to push the conversation onto Billie or Mike or anyone else but him.

Billie, Mike, and he had been at the release party for nearly an hour now and they'd already listened to the new record and done their fair share of mingling.

To tell the truth they were all still a little anxious about how this new album would be received. American Idiot was a pretty big departure from any other album they'd ever released and they really had no idea what anyone would think about it.
He knew he just had to keep trying to remind himself that it really shouldn't matter what anyone else thought of it. They were proud of it and they'd worked their asses off to make it so that's all that should matter.

Tre could admit that his attention had begun to completely drift away over the course of the current conversation he was attempting to have so he had no idea what to say when the man spoke up in a hopeful voice. “So what do you think about it? Do you think that you guys are up for it?”

Tre cleared his throat wishing that he hadn't gotten so distracted since he now had no idea what he was being asked about.

He did the best he could to give the man a friendly smile as he spoke up trying as hard as he could to fake his way through a reasonable sounding answer. “I uh well..... why don't you ask Billie Joe? I think he may have a better idea of how to answer that question.”

Tre quickly walked away from the man before he had the chance to say anything else. He made his way through the dim crowded club and back over to the booth where Grace was currently sitting alone.

He gave her a crooked smile as he handed her a plate of tiny appetizers and slipped into the booth beside her.

He leaned over giving her a soft kiss on the cheek before he spoke up motioning over to the plate. “You've got to try one of these. They're really great”

Grace raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the colossal pile of appetizers piled up on the plate he'd handed her. To tell the truth nothing on the plate looked very appetizing. She quickly decided that her safest bet would be just to eat a cracker and leave everything else on the plate for Tre.

“So you're leaving next week?” She asked trying to hide the disappointment and anxiety from her voice.

“Yeah we're flying out first thing next Monday. We'll be in LA first and then we'll go to New York for a couple of interviews and some photo shoots. Then we've got tour dates lined up after that. At least I'll get to visit with Ramona once I get to New York. I won't get to see her again until around the beginning of November when I have to go to New York for another interview. I won't really get to spend some time with her without having to worry about work until Christmas though.” He remarked as he took one of the unappealing looking appetizers popping it in his mouth.

She did her best not to smirk at the grimace that developed on his face as soon as he swallowed the appetizer. Apparently she'd been smart to avoid it. “That's good. So what are you going to do with her?”

“I don't know. I think I may take her out to dinner or maybe to get some ice cream. I just want to take her somewhere where I can talk to her without any interruptions. I'm going to tell her about us. I'm planning on introducing you to her when I go to see her again in November. I've got to admit I'm pretty thrilled that I'm getting to see her. It seems like it's been too long.” He said as he pushed the plate of appetizers far away from him.

She nodded her head trying to hide how worried she was about getting to meet his daughter. Grace couldn't help but to fixate on the possible chance that Ramona wouldn't like her.

Yes Frankito liked her well enough, but he was three years old and three year olds weren't that hard to win over. Nine year old girls however were a completely different story all together.

“Anyway. I'm pretty excited to get out on tour and play some shows.” He mused before he guzzled down the rest of his drink more than likely trying to get the taste of that appetizer out of his mouth.

“So what kind of plans do you have with Franky tomorrow?” She asked noticing that his face paled a tiny bit as he heard this question.

“Claudia took Frankito out of town with her. They won't be back for two weeks. So I'm probably not going to be able to really see him until Christmas” Tre mumbled as he stared down at his empty glass.

“But aren't you supposed to spend some time with him before you have to go?” She asked wanting to say something more, but she guessed by the look on his face that he wasn't really in the mood to talk way too much about this.

He nodded his head letting out a quiet sigh. “Yeah I was, but Claudia's mom is in the hospital so she went to San Francisco to see her. She had to take Franky with her. I mean I'm leaving next week so she couldn't just leave him with me and there isn't anyone she really trusts to leave him with until she gets back from San Francisco.”

“Oh. I'm sorry.” She murmured as she reached over and clasped her hand in his.

He gave her a kiss on the lips before he spoke up changing the subject.“I think I'm going to go grab another drink. Do you want another glass of champagne or something like that?”

She stared over at her half empty glass of champagne before she nodded her head muttering out a “yes please.”

Grace was still a little apprehensive about Tre leaving next week.. Yes she would be joining him near the end of October, but she still couldn't help but to worry about what would happen until then.

She felt bad about the fact that she was still having such a hard time completely trusting him. She couldn't help but to fear that her lack of trust in him would somehow lead to problems between the two of them somewhere down the road.

She still hadn't brought up any of these fears with him mainly because she had no idea how exactly she was supposed to bring something like this up.

She was pretty sure he wouldn't be to thrilled if she just blurted out that her weird relationship phobia was making her paranoid that he'd cheat on her while they were apart

If she said something like that it would just be like she was trying to say that he was shallow enough that he would just toss her aside when he grew tired of her. She knew that most people wouldn't want to hear their girlfriends basically admit that they had serious trust issues.

She knew that he must already be aware of her trust issues. He had spent more than enough time in this relationship repeating the phrase, 'Trust me'

There seemed to be something in the back of her mind that was stopping her from letting herself fully trust him though. It was the fear she had of the bottom dropping out below her. She had promised herself she'd never go back to being heartbroken again.

She thankfully didn't have way too much time to focus on her anxieties since Adrienne slid into the booth across from her and spoke up. “So are you as bored as I am?”

“Yeah I'm getting there.” Grace responded taking a sip from her glass deciding that she should finish her champagne before Tre came back with another glass.

Adrienne cleared her throat glancing over at the younger women. “So Tre says you're planning on quiting your job.”

“Yeah I'm going to work up until the middle of October so I can still pay my roommate up until I leave to join up with Tre. This salon job wasn't really working out anymore. I'm probably going to try working as a freelance stylist for a while before I try to find a job at another salon.” Grace explained.

“So you're going out on tour in late October?” Adrienne asked.

She nodded her head before she finally worked up the nerve to speak up again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Okay go ahead.”

Grace took in a deep breath before she spoke. “Does it ever get any easier? I mean having someone that you're trying to have a relationship with leave for months at a time.”

Adrienne shrugged her shoulders as she responded to her question. “Not really. The first time Billie went away on a really big tour was the hardest. I had just moved out to California and Billie and I had just gotten married. I'd just found out I was pregnant after the wedding and we really didn't have the time to have a honeymoon or anything like that before he had to go. So there I was a pregnant newlywed living somewhere I wasn't that familiar with, without my husband. It gets a little better with time though. I mean you just have to learn to enjoy the time you have together more.”

“I'm worried Tre's going to cheat on me while he's gone.” Grace confessed as she avoided eye contact with Adrienne.

She knew that Adrienne had told her that Tre was almost like a brother to her. So she worried that saying something like that may have offended her.

She didn't lock eyes with her until Adrienne spoke up. “Trust me Tre wouldn't do that to you. I mean I'm not the first one to point out that he may act like an overgrown kid at times, but I know that he's always taken his relationships really seriously. Both of his divorces really broke his heart and he's had a really hard time keeping up a relationship with someone who's patient enough to put up with him. He's really taken with you though. I mean I don't know if you've noticed the way he looks at you.”

“I'm sorry I'm dumping all this on you. I mean we haven't known each other that long. I must sound really paranoid right now.” Grace stammered as she finished off the rest of her champagne.

Adrienne did her best to give the younger women a reassuring smile. “No don't worry about it. I'm happy that you trust me enough to come to me for advice. Just trust me about Tre okay. He really is crazy about you."

Grace didn't have time to say anything else since Tre slid into the booth beside her handing her a champagne flute. He glanced in between the two women before joking. “So have you ladies been talking about me while I was gone?”

Grace rolled her eyes as she responded to his question. “No actually Adrienne and I have decided that we're madly in love and we were planning on running away together until you showed up and ruined all our plans.”

Tre let out a playful gasp as he heard this. “Oh you know that you would miss me way too much if you ever ran off with Adie.”

She laughed slightly as she reached up and patted his cheek. “Crap you're right. Adrienne I think we may have to take him with us.”

Adrienne shook her head as she heard this. “I don't think my husband would be too pleased with me if I ran of with the two of you.”

“You hear that Graceful. Your love for Adie will have to wait.” Tre taunted giving Grace a kiss on the lips.

Grace pulled away from the kiss frowning. “Damn you mean I'm going to have to settle for you.”

“Hey that's not funny.” Tre grumbled as he crossed his arms.

Billie plopped down in the booth beside his wife before speaking up. “So what did I miss?”

“Just the women in our lives love affair.” Tre reported finally uncrossing his arms.

Billie raised his eyebrows staring at the three snickering faces at the table. “Okay then. I'm officially cutting the three of you off from the bar.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes knowing that Billie had probably drank more than everyone sitting at this table. She reached out grabbing her husband's hand. “Come on lets go dance.”

Tre shook his head speaking up as the couple left to join Mike and Brittney on the dance floor. “So what were you two really talking about.”

“Just the tour.” Grace mumbled as she took a sip from her drink.

Tre raised an eyebrow not sure if he believed that they had been talking about just the tour and nothing more.

He leaned close to her managing to press a kiss to her shoulder next to the strap of her dark blue dress. “So do you want to get out of here.”

Grace bit her bottom lip knowing that she was more than ready to get out of here.
--------------------------------------------

Grace wasn't sure exactly how they'd ended up in this situation. She was sure that the champagne may have helped. They weren't drunk but they were just buzzed enough that any doubts that she may have previously experienced had left her brain temporarily.

So here they were at his house laying up in his bedroom. She had been his bedroom twice before and she had quickly noticed that he wasn't the cleanest person. So it was a miracle that they hadn't tripped over any of his junk on the way to the bed.

The mess really wasn't his fault. He just didn't have that much room for all of his things. His bedroom wasn't really that big considering he had moved into the guest bedroom the second that Claudia and he had decided to split up.

Tre let out a slight frustrated grunt as he reached behind Grace attempting to unzip her dress. She pulled away from him letting out a huff as she swatted his hands away unzipping it herself.

He pressed his lips back against hers kissing her as tenderly as he could as he pulled her dress down stopping at her hips. He began to rock against her smirking a bit into the kiss as he heard her let out a distinct groan.

He pulled away giving her a questioning look before she nodded her head signaling that she didn't have any objections yet.

He slid his hands around her reaching back behind her unclasping her bra.
He widened his eyes staring down at her breasts before he reached out eagerly cupping them.

She locked her lips against his letting out a tiny moan. She pulled away moving her lips over to the side of his neck as she slid her hands down the front of his dress shirt finally working up the nerve to unbutton it.

He pulled away from her taking the unbuttoned shirt off and tossing it across the room before he reached down running a hand through her hair. He spoke up finding a way to speak up over his buzzed mind and his hormones. “Are you sure you want to do this? I don't want you to have any regrets about any of this tomorrow.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat considering her options. She could pull away from him and tell him no, or she could just focus on how good this felt and just go with this.

She made up her mind as she gave him a gentle kiss as she spoke. “I want this. Just take care of me okay. It's been a really long time.”

He nodded his head reaching out searching in his bedside table smiling when he finally located a condom. He pressed his lips back against hers pulling her closer towards him.

She smiled slightly into the kiss deciding that she'd defiantly made the right decision.
------------------------------------

Grace woke up the next morning as the sun began to seep between the blinds. She kept her eyes closed frowning as she realized that there was something heavy pressed up against her.

She finally opened her eyes all the way rolling over only to face Tre's sleeping face. She reached out running a hand through his hair causing him to shift slightly in his sleep and grumble something unintelligible under his breath.

He finally did open his eyes giving her a sleepy smile as he spoke up. “Morning.”

She nodded her head not saying anything in response as he somehow managed to pull her even closer towards him.

“You don't regret last night right? he murmured as he let a hand run along the side of her body.

“Not at all.” She stated truthfully letting him press a kiss to her lips.

He sighed speaking up again. “Good. You know what I just realized?”

“What?” She asked feeling her eyes begin to grow heavy.

“Jen's probably going to wonder why you never came home last night.” He chuckled lightly causing her to open her eyes widening them.

He shook his head pressing another kiss to her lips. “Stay here and avoid it for as long as you can. Stay here for the rest of the week with me and keep me company”

She nodded her head snuggling against him deciding that she would do just that. She felt her eyes growing heavy once again as she hoped that this week would never end.