Social Suicide

[ New Years]

"Are you sure you don't want any Fred?" Billie smiled at her and tipped his glass almost as if he was showing her that it wasn't going to attack her or something.

"Don't call me that!" she laughed.

He laughed and gave her a wink. "Okay Fred."

"Stop!" she said and smacked at him.

"Okay, okay." He moved his head around as if he were looking for someone. "Where's Wes when I need him?"

"He wouldn't be able to stop me," she said boldly, "He'd probably end up helping me by holding you down. He told me once that if I did smack you that he and I would be better friends."

"Oh he did, did he?" Billie asked. He looked around again. "Where is that guy?"

Willa moved her hand out and grabbed his chin forcing him to look at her. "All you need to see is right here in front of you. Don't you be looking at all the other girls here."

"Little jealous Fred?" he asked.

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, Fred, I won't call you Fred," he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Watch it Mister."

He laughed and continued to joke with her, "What am I supposed to be watching?"

"Me," she said with a laugh.

"I'm sure that I can do that," he said and gave her a once over. She twirled around a little to show herself off.

When she turned back around he was looking in the other direction. She grabbed his chin again and kissed him. "You better be watching me or I'm going to throw a supermodel fit."

"I'd love to see that," he said. He made a face. "I want my agent! I want my publicist! Where's my latte?"

She leaned forward and cut him off with a kiss before he could continue. "I'm sure that you would love to see that."

"So do you want something to drink?" he asked as shehttp://www.geekstinkbreath.net/users/profile/21533/
Billie-Joeluva1 wiped his lips gently with her fingers.

"No thanks," she said with a smile glancing at the glass in his hand.

She reached out and fixed the collar of his shirt. She had somehow gotten him to change out of his black band T-Shirt and into something more formal, and the collar of his shirt had somehow had gotten flipped up when he'd pushed through the crowd. She then took his hand squeezing it trying to reassure him that she was fine. He seemed to be worried about her for some reason. Her only excuse for not drinking was that she had been trying to pace herself. She'd had a drink or two at barbecue, but had refused anything to drink when Billie planned to disappear to the bar after they'd come in the place. She wanted to keep her wits about her seeing that she was going to be in public that night and didn't want to make a fool of herself.

Putting the glass of alcohol to his lips to take a drink Billie paused and she saw is eyes go wider.

"What?" she asked, curious to find out what had caused the sudden shock she saw in his eyes. He'd been a little nervous that day with her, but this sudden nervousness was something new. He held the glass near his mouth and extended his pinky to point over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed for a moment.

"Isn't that your ex-man over there? Brennan? Isn't that his name?"

At the mention of Brennan's name Willa whipped around to the direction that Billie was staring in. She hadn't seen the guy in months, but she'd heard enough of his big mouth in the press. It seemed as if Brennan couldn't keep from talking about her enough. He'd slammed her a few times when they'd first broken up and he always seemed to find his way into the press. Elena had tried to keep her from seeing all the reports, but people had mentioned him to her from time to time and when she saw his face on a magazine she'd tried to ignore it, but always seemed to read the comments anyway.

For a moment she didn't see what Billie was talking about, there were too many people in the confined space of the restaurant and everyone seemed to get lost in the crowd. They'd been there for over an hour and she wondered if she'd ever see any of the guys in the group again since they both seemed to have faded into the mass hysteria of the New Years Bash. She'd seen them from time to time, but it was as if every time she blinked they would disappear again. They'd all arrived there together and had planned to leave together, but she thought it might take them hours to find anyone in the sea of people that started at the door and spread across the bar, the dance floor and the tables.

Just as she was about to give up looking for Brennan in the mess of people in front of her, when the crowd seemed to part just enough for her to catch a glimpse at a man that looked a little like Brennan. He was standing with his right profile to her, but when he turned to talk to the person on his other side she saw his whole face. She should have known. He was in designer clothes; she could almost see the tags on the clothes across the room blaring like a neon sign at her and everyone else in the room.

Someone's head moved into her line of vision, cutting her off from her little spying session. "What the hell?" She moved to look to see the group he was talking to.

Billie stood on his tiptoes and leaned towards her to see. They must have looked like nosy teenagers snooping like they were, but it didn't seem to matter what people thought of them for a moment. They were both perplexed by the sight of him across the room. "Isn't that--?"

"What the hell? Is that Amy?" Willa's shoulders and back tensed at the sight of her friend with Brennan. She didn't understand first off what Brennan was doing in Orlando of all places, but seeing Amy with him was more of a shock to her system.

"What the hell is she doing here? And where the hell did she hook up with Brennan?"

"I take it that this is a bit of a shock?" Billie asked.

"Yeah," she said and tried to get the dryness in her mouth to go away, "Amy knows how much I hate him. I guess loyalty goes out the window with that one. I wonder how the hell she got together with him."

"Go over and ask," He said simply taking a drink. She hated the way he seemed to think that everything was so simple. He'd acted that way when they'd come in and had seen Justin Timberlake near the door. She'd been amazed to see him and Billie had simply walked by the guy and mumbled a hello.

"Hell no," she said. The sight of the two was making her sick to her stomach. She thought that she'd told Amy how she hated Brennan. Why would she even be seen with the guy if she knew how Willa felt about him?

"Well I will if you won't," Billie said and began to move past her then stopped and turned back. He leaned and kissed her cheek then whispered, "Never mind, they're coming over here."

Willa turned to face them as they approached, sliding her arm through Billie's for protection. She leaned against him a little for support. He switched his drink to the other hand and ended up unlinking his arm from hers. She protested for a moment reaching out for him, but only found that he had wanted to move his arm so that he could put his arm around her. He pulled her protectively close, even planting a kiss on her forehead as he rubbed the side of her stomach, moving his hand between the black skirt and silver shirt she was wearing, as if he was trying to comfort her.

"Hey girl!" Amy said with a sweet smile and leaned to hug Willa. The scene was a bit sickening, that Hollywood fake kind of greeting that Willa always had said she'd never participate in, but now found herself doing a little too often, especially at an event like that. Everyone had on their smiles and was acting all too sweet to everyone. No wonder people thought that being a celebrity was such a nice thing. They only saw these nice little meetings and would never know what kind of crazy thoughts were going through everyone's heads during them, like the thoughts that Willa was having at the moment about strangling her friend.

Willa reluctantly hugged her then stepped back. She was speechless for a moment. She didn't know how to start a conversation with her. Normally talking to Amy was easy, but this situation changed everything. She had thought that Amy was on her side, but it was evident that she wasn't at all as she slid her arm though Brennan's arm and hugged him. She was very showy in her affection towards Brennan as if she was trying to rub it in that they were together.

Willa didn't really care. She was glad that he'd moved on. She hoped that it would be a chance for him to get his mind off of her for a change.

"What are you doing here?" Willa asked. She plastered a smile on her face and tried not to sound or look too shocked to see her.

"We thought we'd come down for the weekend seeing as you would be down here," Amy said. "We figured if you two were down here that some great party was going on." She looked around the room for a moment, "And we were right... this really is the best bash in town."

Willa nodded and stared at Brennan. "How've you been?"

"Good," he said, although he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at Billie who was staring back at him.

"I'm Billie, by the way," Billie finally reached a hand to shake his.

"I know," Brennan said with a very deliberate tone to his voice. He sounded as if was trying to make Billie feel stupid for the introduction. It was stupid for anyone to not recognize him and the fact that Brennan was her ex-boyfriend did make it a little ridiculous.

The two men had a very tense exchange then Brennan looked at Willa as she slid back to Billie's side. He seemed to see that she was really tense and he put his arm around her and put a hand at the small of her back, rubbing her back as if he could tell that her back was tense.

"What a cute couple you make," Brennan said with a slightly evil smile. Willa knew that if people looked at him at that moment they wouldn't be able to tell that he was being at all mean in his speech to them, but Willa still didn't trust the look in his eyes. There was something behind that look that almost scared her. She'd known, when they'd dated, that Brennan was very picky about things and when he got pissed enough he was a real brat, but this look in his eyes seemed like he was about to be worse than anything she'd seen before.

"Still keeping up the lie I see."

"Lie?" Willa asked hoping that no one around them was eavesdropping. She looked at Billie and prayed that this wasn't going to bring up something ugly between them. They hadn't spoken about the lie since she'd showed up on his doorstep before she'd left for Europe. The past had become exactly that, the past, but Brennan seemed to be determined to bring it up again. She didn't know why he wanted to rub it in, but he seemed determine to never let her forget the decision she'd made and the life she'd chosen over the life she'd had with him.

"Oh give me a break Willa I know that you and he aren't really together." He looked around for a moment and raised his voice a little. "You told me yourself it was all for publicity sake. I know your career means a lot to you. I mean wasn't it his idea that you get a little more publicity? I'm sure you two both know how to make a scene."

"Shut up Brennan," she snapped at him, "You're the asshole who keeps putting us in the news. I mean with your big mouth, we don't have to say anything to the press. You seem to be promoting us just as well as we're promoting ourselves! You're the rat bastard who can't keep your big fat head out of the press."

Billie grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. She looked at him and took a breath as he gave her a warning look. Her voice must have been louder than she'd thought.

Brennan just smiled wildly at them. "You have a new profession now, don't you?"

Willa narrowed her eyes at him watching him closely as he watched her. He was up to something and she hoped she'd find out soon what it was.

"Excuse me?" Billie asked. Willa could see that this was bothering him. It was nice to know that he was being so protective.

"You seem to be really good at pimping yourself out," he said, "Or is that his job?"

"Hey now!" Billie said and took a step towards Brennan. "Mind repeating that?"

Brennan put his hands up. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend."

"Yeah right," He said and bumped him in the ribs.

Willa searched the crowd for a moment for Wes. She didn't see him around, although she knew he was there somewhere. She worried that there was going to be a brawl right there in front of her with no one to stop it. She knew that she might be able to get in the middle of things, but pulling the two men apart was something she wasn't ready to do.

"No offense or anything Billie, I mean it worked for Britney and Justin didn't it?"
Brennan commented and pointed to where the younger couple was sitting together in the corner. It seemed as if they were sitting on throwns instead of just barstools. The crowd of the party all seemed to be making their way over to say hello or to wish the couple a happy New Year.

Billie took another step towards him, this time bumping into Brennan a little. He stuck his face up to Brennan's and stared at him intensely. Willa reached and pulled him back. The tension in the air was almost exciting, not because of what Brennan had said, but the fact that Billie was so upset by the comment. It seemed to only reinforce the fact that he really felt strongly for her.

"Brennan you're just jealous. I heard that they picked someone else for the CK ads. That must have hurt," Willa said. She let out a sigh. "I guess business has been bad this year."

"Whatever Willa," Brennan said, "I heard that Hustler called you for a spread, but I'm sure all the spreading you need has already been done." Billie stepped again towards Brennan.

"God Willa." Amy stepped into the mix and stared at Willa as if she had two heads or something. "I thought you had more control over your man than that. I thought that was your plan, you know... control him and use him for the publicity?"

Willa tensed at the words that were being thrown at her and tried to avoid Billie's eyes. It was true, that had been the plan, back then anyway, but things were different now. They were a real couple and no one was going to cheapen that.
She was very hurt by Amy's comment and she didn't understand where this was coming from. It hurt her to think that Amy was mad or something and hadn't told her. This wasn't the way for them to be acting, but she wasn't going to let Amy or Brennan see that hurt. She had to save face and be the mature one in this situation.

She took a deep breath and took Billie's hand. "Honey let's go get a drink."

His eyes grew wide again with shock as he stared at her. He seemed to be amazed that she would back off from this situation. It was a little shocking for her, because she'd never backed down from a fight in her life, but she knew that this was neither the time or place to get into any kind of a fight. There were too many people there and the press was just outside.

"Willa?" he asked.

"I really think that we need to get a drink," she said firmly and looked over at where Wes was now watching them. He'd kept himself just on the edge of where they were, but he'd been watching them the entire night, which she suddenly found comforting. She knew that if something happened to them that night that Wes would come to their rescue. This time though she didn't think she needed it so she smiled and waved to him.

He must have seen the entire exchange because he mouthed the words, "Are you okay?"

Willa smiled and nodded then pulled Billie away from where they'd been standing. It wasn't easy since the testosterone was flying between the two men, but she finally pulled them apart.

"Where are you going?" he asked and looked back over at Brennan and Amy who seemed to be just as surprised to see her leave as he was.

"To get a drink," she said. Her teeth were grinding together now in anger, but she knew she couldn't blow up. There were too many people around and she didn't think that they needed to witness her emotions like that. She'd tried hard to keep her name out of the papers and she wasn't going to throw herself into the middle of things now trying to keep her image under control.

"How can you let them say stuff like that to you?" he asked, "You would have decked me for something like that... hell, you have hit me for less than that."

"I'm not going to stoop to their level like that," Willa said, "You know it may be true that this whole thing started out as a lie, but it's not one now, or at least I don't think it is. I'm not going to spend my time trying to explain that to them. They need to get a life if they think I'm going to spend my holiday arguing with them."

"But?" he said.

"But nothing," she said and pushed up through to the bar. Billie found a spot next to her and they waited for the bartender to take their order. "You and I are here to have some fun and they aren't going to ruin that. I haven't seen you in about a month and I'm not going to let them put a cloud over the fun that you and I are going to have tonight."

The bartender showed up and smiled at the two of them.

"Can I get a shot of tequila?" Willa asked the bartender when he finally came over.

"Tequila?" Billie asked as the bartender turned to find the bottle. He must have been shocked because she'd never really had alcohol in front of him before.

"I need a drink," she said with a sigh.

"Fine," he said and rubbed her back, "Make that two." He reached for his pocket and paid for the drinks.

They toasted the tequila shots and slammed them then Willa slid up next to him and pulled him close, pulling him into a kiss before he could stop her. She ran her hands up into his hair and pulled him against her when he started to protest a little. After a moment he deepened the kiss and put his arms around her, sliding his fingers onto the bare skin of her back, causing her to shiver a little.
When she finally pulled back from the kiss she was breathless. She reached behind him and pulled his hands from around her.

"Let's dance." Her adrenaline rushed when she saw Amy and Brennan watching them across the room. She leaned towards Billie and kissed him again.

"They're watching us," her voice came out seductively, "Let's give them a show."

"Sure," he said and Willa thought that he must have caught the dirty looks on Brennan and Amy's faces because he was staring in their direction.

"I want to have some fun," she said with a smile turning back to him. He smiled back at her as they made their way out onto the dance floor and joined the crowd that was already keeping up with the music.

When they got to the dance floor Willa slid her arms around Billie and danced closely to him. She wanted to forget the last few moments and immerse herself in Billie and all that came with him. She planned to make her vacation in Orlando as fun as possible and she was going to start as soon as she could.

Fun was exactly what Billie wanted to have when he'd thought to invite Willa down to Orlando to visit for New Years, but this kind of fun should have been deemed illegal by the local authorities. He'd wanted to have a good time that New Years and he was sure that this definitely wasn't going to be a night he would soon forget. He knew that any guy his age would have thought about the same thing having their girlfriend lean all up against them the way Willa was clutching to him. The sexual tension between them had built up long enough and it was time now to release some of that energy on the dance floor, only a taste, he thought with a smile on his face, of what might come later.

She'd gotten to him mentally, since he couldn't stop picturing her in bed with him later on that night, as she rubbed herself against him seductively. He'd already figured out, through some hands-on exploring of his own that she was wearing little under the skirt and shirt she'd worn to the party.

The clothes themselves might have kept her modestly covered, there were girls walking around in less, but they didn't seem to appeal to him the way she did. He thought that it came partly from the fact that he didn't suspect that there was too much under her outfit to be covering up. She wasn't naked, he knew that much since he'd spent more than a few minutes tracing her panty-line with his palms through her skirt, but she was definitely going bra-less that evening. There was no mistaking the feeling of her through the material of her top when they pressed together as they made their way across the room to get another drink at the bar after dancing for five songs in a row.

He took a breath as she dipped again and her hip rubbed against him. She grabbed at his shirt collar and brought him closer to her with every beat of the song. Her eyes were sparkling now as she leaned and kissed him. He kept his hands conveniently hooked into the waistband of her skirt and prayed that no one was watching them. God forbid that a moment like that would come back to haunt them. He could see someone being interested in a picture of them like that, since they hadn't been overly affectionate with each other in public, or in private for that matter, but he didn't want to know what they looked like being so caught up in the moment. He was out of control himself and he was sure that she was way over the line and he didn't think they needed to be reminded of that later on since they were both usually so in control of themselves.

She was nothing like any woman he's ever dated prior to her. She was a model for one thing, dressed up from head to toe in designer clothing or in almost nothing. She wasn't a 'rock chick' as he was used to. She didn't even listen to rock music, but those qualities about her almost made him realize how oddly of a couple people must consider them.

For the moment all he wanted to do was to enjoy the feeling of his arms around her and his lips on hers when they had the chance to kiss between dances. Nothing else needed to be remembered or recorded, other than the bliss that had come along with them being so freely affectionate with each other.

The whole physicality of the relationship was something new for them. He was just now getting used to having her in his arms and knowing her body the way he'd known her personality over the last few months. He thought that the tension before would have slowed up them learning to be in the same place together, but she didn't seem to mind and he wasn't going to stop her exploring; he was going to enjoy it. She had been shy that morning and the day before, but now she seemed like she'd realized that he was free territory for her to explore. True, it was making it difficult for him to stand away from her without his feelings literally showing for her, but the way her body felt against his was way too good to keep himself from.

He wanted Willa. That part was simple to figure out. He'd wanted her since the first time he'd seen her, but now that he had the chance to actually be with her he wasn't sure how it was going to go. He wasn't sure if they were at the point in their relationship to really make things more than what they'd been before, although from her actions towards him since they'd gotten onto the dance floor she seemed more than ready to take the next step with him. Petting and pawing at each other was one thing, but bringing sex into the mix definitely wasn't something to take lightly.

"Fred?" he said softly to her as she turned in his arms and danced with him. Her back pressed against his chest and stomach as her bottom moved against his hips as she tried to get him to dance. Willa had been doing most of the dancing, almost pretending Billie was some sort of pole rather than a person. He wrapped an arm around her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Fred?"

"Huh?" she said. She turned and faced him again and he could see how the dancing was causing her to sweat a little. She didn't seem to notice the wetness on her forehead or the way that her whole face had become flushed.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked. He rushed the words, saying them closely to her ear so that no one else would hear. He was nervous about the outcome of his proposal and thought for a moment if he had to repeat it he'd stumble even worse over the words. Sometimes actions did speak louder than words. If he could just pull her out of the room and into the car he was sure she would come along, but actually asking her was a different thing entirely.

She tilted her head away from where his lips had delivered his message, "Huh?"

Billie leaned again, but this time he changed what he said to her. "Do you want to go and get a drink?"

She nodded and turned, holding on to his hand she danced her way over towards the bar. He followed along after her, slipping an arm around her waist when they paused to side step a few people in their path.

He leaned and kissed her neck and she giggled. "What do you want honey?" she asked.

"How about a slammer?" he suggested into her ear as he pulled her tight against him. He'd only had a few drinks that night, and being Billie Joe Armstrong he knew he had to keep them going.

"Sure!" she said enthusiastically.

"Not for you girl, for me," he said with a laugh. He squeezed her tight against him for a moment and tried not to imagine her with him like that naked, although that's what he'd been doing for most of the night.

"What?" she said sounded offended that he wouldn't be offering her a drink. She turned in his arms and kissed him hard then pulled back. "No love for me?"

"You've already had a few Fred," he spoke playfully to her as moved her hair away from her face a little so that he could see her.

"Don't call me that," she said, "And I'm completely fine." She tried to look sober for a moment. She was having a hard time of doing it, but for a moment her giggles disappeared and the smile was gone from her face.

Billie let out a laugh. "Okay, I won't call you that."

"You'd better not," she said with a smile.

The bartender set them up with drinks and they clinked glasses together before they did their shots. Afterwards she leaned and kissed him deeply. He could taste the alcohol in her mouth and somehow it tasted better than the shot he'd taken.

"That... " she said with a smile against his lips, "... was great."

"Good." He captured her lips with his again, nipping softly at her bottom lip before she leaned back a little. He pushed some hair out of her face and kissed her cheek.

"What's the plan for after this?" She leaned against him wrapping her arms around his waist and hooking her hands together behind him pulling his hips against hers. She danced a little with the music as they stood in place. The bar area was crowded, but no one seemed to care that everyone kept hitting into each other and no one seemed to mind her dancing with him.

He slid one arm around her to steady her as she began to lean too hard on him then he moved his arm and pushed back his shirtsleeve to look at his watch for a moment.

"Well we have another half hour until midnight then we'll see. Breakfast at Kathy's doesn't start until about three or so."

"So what to do between midnight and three?" she asked. Before he could answer she looked around the room then turned back to him. "Do you know what the other guys are going to do until breakfast? I don't want you to change plans or something if you guys all had planned something."

He looked around nervously and wondered if she was getting at what he thought she was getting at. "I think they'll end up staying here maybe, or go to some other party."

"What are we going to do?" she asked. She placed a hand over his heart and tapped the rhythm of the song on his chest as she waited for his answer.

"Whatever you want to do," he said and leaned against her a little more relishing the way her body was feeling of her against him.

"Can we go home?" she asked innocently. She danced against him smiling in what he took to be a seductively manner. Her eyes seemed to be half open and her once perfect make up now was smudged a little making her eyes seem smoky and seductive in a way that made him want her even more.

"Go home?" he asked. He wanted to make sure that's really what she wanted and that he understood her correctly. He didn't want to assume something more than he should.

"I want to be alone with you." Her statement was firm, though her voice was soft and seductive in its delivery.

"Alone with me, or just not with all these people?" he asked.

She leaned and sucked on his earlobe for a moment. "Alone with you."

Billie leaned back and looked in her eyes for a moment. She didn't seem as drunk as she had been a few moments before. There was some soberness, some intent, behind the look in her eyes that made him think that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"How about we stay until just after midnight then go home?" he said, "You don't want to miss the confetti and the balloons do you?"

She nodded her head no and smiled, "Let's go sit down though."

"Okay." Billie did a quick scan of the room and found the area that the guys had reserved for the night. Wes and another man, Karl, were sitting at the long span of tables that had been pushed together chatting. He wondered for a moment if Tre and Mike were actually out dancing. He had to see that.

"Come on Fred," he said softly. He tucked her into his arms, facing the table, then pointed so that she knew where they were headed. As they pushed through the crowd to the table he prayed that he could keep his cool. Her body was pressed against his as they walked and the thoughts of being with her later weighed heavy on his mind. He had to stop thinking like that or it was all going to get out of control.

"Hey guys!" Willa said loudly as the two of them slid into the far side of the table so that they were sitting on the bench seat facing the crowd.

"Willa this is Karl. Karl, this is Willa."

"Nice to meet you," The man said and reached to shake Willa's hand.

Billie slid an arm around the back of the bench as he slid closer to her so that his hand could rest on her shoulder. He found that while she chatted with the two security guards her hand made its way from resting on her own knee to resting on his. Without looking at him she rubbed her hand against the material a little then tapped her fingers to the beat.

"You guys having fun?" Wes asked.

Billie kept his eyes on the guys across the table. He knew that he should act as normal as possible, but it was going to be hard with her hand in his lap.

"It's been a blast!" Willa said with an over-dramatic enthusiasm.

Billie nodded and quickly glanced down at Willa's hand. Both of his hands were in plane sight and he wondered if the guys noticed her hand being under the table.

"We're going to head out early tonight, just after midnight."

"Going to get some rest before Kathy stuffs you with breakfast?" Wes asked with a laugh.

Billie wasn't sure if there was a hidden meaning behind the comment, but he figured Wes probably knew why they were going to leave early. The issues of dating and the guys sex lives had been discussed before and Wes knew not to make comments about his relationships, but this time Wes almost seemed glad that he and Willa would be leaving the party together.

Willa nodded and Billie felt her hand slowly move up his thigh. It made him nervous to have her hand on him like that. He knew that no one could see them, but things like that didn't happen every day and he wasn't sure how he should react to her. The table blocked anyone's view, but he was surprised to find that she was so bold with her exploration of his leg.

Just as her hand began to stray where he knew that it shouldn't be, he put his hand over hers and stopped her. They made eye contact for a moment and he tried to give her a warning look. He wanted her to stop, not because he didn't like it. He liked it too much and thought that if she was going to act like that she should wait until they got home to do so.

She was hurt by his expression. He could see it in her eyes.

"Willa honey," he said in a firm voice into her ear. "If you don't keep your hands off of me until we get home we're going to make fools of ourselves."

She smiled and gave him a flirtatious answer back as she ran her other hand along his collar, letting her fingernail trail along his neck. "Can we make fools of ourselves at home?"

Billie leaned and kissed her neck. "Of course." He took her hand and placed it more towards his knee and less towards his lap then spoke again, "But until then I don't want you teasing me."

"Me? A tease?" she said with a laugh, "Never. I'm an angel." She moved her hands away from him to make a halo over her head.

"You know what I mean Fred," he said.

"What?" she said bumping her hip into his. "I'm not doing anything."

"Sure you aren't," he said and watched her.

She turned to Wes. "Hey Wes!"

"Hey Willa!" he said back with a silly look on his face.

"Am I a good girl Wes?"

Wes made a sour looking face. "I'm not sure you should be asking me that. Was is or was it not you who smacked Billie a few weeks ago?"

She put her hands on her hips and looked at Billie then back at Wes. "I had a good reason!"

Karl began to laugh.

"Oh shut up you!" She pouted at him. "Be nice to me! Boys are supposed to be nice to girls."

"Boys?" Karl asked with wide eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"Whatever. Just don't smack the guy again."

"What are you talking about?" Wes interrupted. "You SHOULD smack him."

"Hey you!" Billie yelled. "You watch it!"

"Yeah!" Willa said firmly. "I had my reasons! You weren't even there. He was being rude and he deserved it!"

"Yeah but I heard about it and that was good enough!" Karl said.

"Be nice!" She pouted. "You're going to be next on my smack list!"

"Oh really?" he asked. "You want to take this outside?"

"Bring it on!" she taunted.

"See I was right. You aren't an angel." Billie pulled her against him and kissed her forehead trying to get the argument to stop.

"I am so!" She pouted cutely and pushed away from him.

Billie mimicked her face then let out a rumbling laugh and kissed her deeply, running his hands up into her hair and pulling her close kissing her until they were both breathless. Panting he kissed his way along her chin and neck until his lips met with her ear.

"I never said that being a bad girl was something negative," he whispered.

"Oh really?" The tone of her voice suddenly changed. She now seemed interested in his reaction to her being a bad girl, as if it now might be a challenge for her to live up to her new bad-girl status.

He nuzzled her neck a little with his nose and placed a kiss on the skin below and behind her ear, making her shiver. "Bad is good sometimes," he said softly into her ear.

"Oh really?"

"Shocked?"

"Just a little," she said, "I mean I hadn't always thought you were the good one, but I'm finding out that you are probably the most not like your little star profile."
He smiled at her.

"You'd be surprised."

[ Midnight ]

"You ready?"

Willa looked up as Billie offered her a hand up. She had been watching the crowd and hadn't noticed that he'd slid away from her and was now waiting for her to come with him.

"It's time already?" she asked looking around. She didn't know what time it was, but figured that he was keeping track. He'd told her earlier that he always made a toast at midnight so they'd agreed to get another drink just before the countdown began.

He smiled at her and she felt her insides melt. She loved the look in his eyes. She'd been flirting with him all night and he was matching her cat and mouse game perfectly. Now though she saw the need in his eyes that had been evident when she'd placed her hand on his leg. She'd done it on purpose, to test him a little. They hadn't had much of a physical relationship and she wanted to see his reaction, which had been what she'd thought it would be. He wanted her. It was clear on his face and in the way he'd kept her hand off of his lap.

"Yeah, let's go get a drink real quick."

They made their way to the bar just as everyone else was refilling their drinks to toast at midnight.

Billie handed her a glass a moment later and she took a sip of the almost overflowing glass. It turned out to be rum and coke and she could tell, unless she was drunker than she thought, that it was more coke than rum. He took her hand and moved through the crowd, pulling her along with him, out into the middle of the dance floor where everyone had stopped dancing and were now watching the huge clock near where the DJ had been set up.

"FIVE!"

Willa got bumped and was about to turn around and start a fight. The drink in her hand had almost spilled on her and she was definitely not going to have coke all over her when she left that night to go home.

"Sorry!" Tre's wide smile greeted her. He hugged her a little and gave her a kiss on the cheek then pulled Laura up to his side.

"FOUR!"

Mike and Sarah appeared out of no where and joined the group.

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE!"

Somehow before the end of the countdown everyone was there with them. Willa looked around and felt at ease in their presence. She could see that her new little family was all glad to be there and she was glad to be with them.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The noise of screaming and noisemakers that filled the room made Willa's ears ring. She let go of Billie's hand and covered her ears. Billie smiled at her and slid his arms around her, pulling her against him again. She could feel him against her and knew that the night was far from over. They were going to be together that night, she'd tried to hint to him that's what she'd wanted to happen and it seemed like it had worked.

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to make a wish like she always did at midnight on New Years, but her thoughts were cut off when she felt Billie kissing her. Slowly she opened her eyes as his lips parted hers and stared into his eyes that were open and watching her. Her heartbeat went out of control as she saw the want in his eyes.

When they finally pulled back from their kiss they made their rounds and gave hugs and kisses to the others in the group then Billie pulled her back into his arms and held her close.

"You ready to go?" he asked in a whisper.

She nodded leaning into him she put her arms around him, slipping her hand into the back pocket of his slacks. She pressed herself against him and kissed his neck.

"Breakfast at four!" Mike called out then was pulled by Sarah away from everyone.

Once inside the front door of the house, Billie closed and locked the door behind them then threw his keys onto the table near the door. Willa slid out of her shoes and was carrying them in her hands when he reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a laugh.

"Nothing." He let his hands slid around her so that his hands were pressing her against him. He ground his hips into hers with a mischievous smile on his face. "Just making a fool of myself." He glanced at the stairs then back at Willa. "You want to go and change?"

Willa tried to speak but found that she couldn't get the words out. Her voice caught in her throat so she nodded her head. She knew that changing wasn't the real reason for them going up to the second floor. It was a simple excuse. They both suddenly seemed a bit nervous so his excuse was at least a way to get them from the front door to the bedroom without a hassle or any more nervousness than possible.

Willa slid out of his arms and held onto his hand with her free hand as they made their way up the stairs. She tucked her arm behind her and held her hand at the small of her back and as they ascended the steps his hands brushed against her backside. She enjoyed his hands on her. She couldn't believe that a few weeks before she'd almost thrown a fit because he'd put his hands on her, now she thought she might throw a fit if he didn't put his hands on her.

At the top of the stairs Billie slid past her and led the way to the bedroom. She thought back to that morning when they'd been making the bed together. She'd been making it while he was in the shower and he came out wearing a towel around his waist and had helped her finish the job. They'd only fallen asleep in each other's arms the night before, being that they were so tired from traveling, but she remembered that she loved the idea of falling asleep and waking up in his arms. It had been months since she'd woken up in such a good mood.

"I forgot to give you your Christmas present."

"What'd you get me?" she asked.

She hadn't really thought about their gift exchanging. She hadn't gotten him much. She'd searched around New York and had found some Dr. Suess stuff for his bare bathroom in California. It had seemed silly getting him the 'Cat in the Hat' toilet seat cover, cup, soap dish and toothbrush holder, but when he'd gotten them the night before he'd loved them so much he had forgotten to give her the present he bought her.

"Well, well. Aren't we the greedy one?" he said.

"What did you want me to do?" She rolled her eyes. "Act like I'm not excited? If I remember correctly you ripped open your presents pretty quickly last night."

"It was Dr. Suess," he said with a boyish smile that ran from ear to ear. "What can I say?"

"I bet you go crazy in FAO Schwartz!" She laughed.

He stopped and gave her a sobering look. "How'd you know?"

"You're a big child," she said with a laugh.

"You love it though," he said pulling her close he tickled her sides.

She slid away from him and into the bedroom. "Honey, I didn't say I didn't."

Willa went into the room and grabbed up her suitcase. She didn't exactly know if she should be putting on her pajamas, but she thought she would try to act as normal as possible. After all she didn't want to look too eager, although she was.

When she looked up after putting her bag back onto the floor Billie was standing in the doorway with a box in his hand. It was the size of the boxes that they gave when you bought clothes, although this one had been professionally wrapped in red and green wrapping paper that had hearts and Christmas trees all over it.

"My present?" she asked looking from his eyes to his hand and back again. She abandoned her clothes, throwing them onto the bed to wait to see what he was going to do next.

"Yep," he said with a smile. He held it out towards her and shook it a little. It made a soft crunching noise as if it was wrapped in tissue paper. "Santa came a little late this year, but I'm sure you won't mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, "Are you saying that I'm spoiled?"

He smiled and came over to her. "No, just well taken care of."

"Quoting license plate covers now?" She reached out to grab the box, but he held it back to her, teasing her two times before he finally handed over the present. "I thought you'd be a little more original than that since you do seem to write songs that are pretty sincere. I still have the card you left with the roses."

Billie seemed to blush a little. "You do?"

"Of course. Romance like that can't be thrown away. The card is in my wallet."

"That's a strange place to keep it." Billie made a face.

"Guys keep condoms," she said, "I try to be a little more sentimental. I don't have a picture of you so it's the best substitute I could find."

"Did you say you don't have a picture of me?" He laughed hard and fell onto the bed. "No picture of me... that's a good one."

"I'm not going to shrink a 16 Magazine shot," she said.

"Well then we'll have to get a picture of me," he looked around the room. "I think I can find one somewhere around here.

Willa smiled. "That would be good. We should also have someone take our picture together. I don't have a picture of us together that isn't from a tabloid. Elena has a copy of most of the tabloid ones. She insists she keep them with my file at the office."

Billie nodded and patted the bed next to him. She plopped down next to him and wrestled open the box. When she got the box open she pushed back the delicate tissue paper to find a silky nightgown in the box.

"I know it's predictable and corny and every guy buys their girlfriend... " He paused as she picked up the spaghetti straps of the garment and held it up to look at it. It wasn't anything too special, she'd seen outfits like it before in Victoria's Secret, but she loved the color. It was a midnight blue that shimmered just a little.

"It's gorgeous," she said, "I love the color... blue is my favorite." Billie suddenly seemed shy.

"I'm going to go put this on and brush my teeth," she said.

"Ready for bed so soon?" he asked.

"I want to get out of these clothes. I smell like cigarette smoke and bar air."

"I'm going to change too," he said softly.

She nodded, leaned and kissed him. "Thank you for my Christmas present."

He smiled up and her as she went to leave for the bathroom. "You're welcome."

"I'll be right back."

Willa went into the bathroom, leaving the door mostly open. She figured that he was going to see all of her in a few minutes so it seemed stupid to try to hide from him in the bathroom now. She slid out of her shirt and slid the cool fabric of the nightgown over her head. The bottom hem of it hung mid thigh, but didn't show off her leg well until she removed the skirt from underneath it.

A moment later, as she was grabbing up her skirt off the floor there was a knock at the door.

"Fred?" she heard from the bedroom.

"Yeah Hon?" she said.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said.

Billie pushed the door open, wearing only a pair of flannel looking pajama bottoms.

"You like it?" she asked when she saw him watching her. She spun around a little to show him.

He nodded, not moving from near the doorway.

"Did you need something Hon?" she asked.

"Brush my teeth," he said in a choppy manner never taking his eyes off of her.

She liked the feeling of him being so intrigued by her. It was nice to be appreciated that way. Brennan had been complimentary of her, but she always had a feeling that if they were in the bathroom together that he was staring at himself and not her in the mirror.

Billie made his way over to the sink and they stood side by side to brush their teeth.

"This is too funny," she said with a nervous smile as she grabbed up her toothbrush from where she'd left it near the sink that morning.

"What?" He looked at her sideways as he grabbed his and the toothpaste.

"Brushing my teeth with you." She held out the toothbrush and he put some Aquafresh on it for her.

"Stars brush their teeth too," He said. He put the toothpaste on his toothbrush then stuck the toothbrush into his mouth. "Actually I think many of them don't. You'd be surprised at how many people there are in Hollywood and the music world with bad breath."

She laughed. "That's not what I meant when I thought it was funny. It's not funny 'haha'. I just find it strange to think at how many women in the world I'm making jealous right now," she said and stuck her toothbrush into her mouth.

"Too many," he said sarcastically.

It was a homey little scene that Willa hoped would happen on a regular basis. It was simple things like that, which kept Willa in love. If a person couldn't do the simple things with their mate, like washing dishes or brushing teeth, then the bigger things that they did didn't seem to be important either.

As they brushed their teeth Billie made faces at her in the mirror. At one point he tried to say something to her and almost choked. He had to spit because he started to choke, which made Willa need to spit because she started to laugh at him.

They rinsed their mouths out with water still laughing. Billie looked over. "Kiss?"

She kissed him and smiled. "Minty fresh," she said nervously with a laugh.

Billie slid his arms around her and hugged her to him. He kissed her shoulder then let his lips drag along her skin as he made his way towards her ear. "Did I tell you how I love this outfit on you?"

She smiled as he nibbled at the sensitive skin just under her earlobe. "This old thing? I've had this forever. This nice guy I met gave it to me," she said.

He smiled as he placed his lips against her cheek. "I figured you'd look great in it, but it's a lot better than I imagined," he said, and rubbed her back through the material of the gown.

A few moments later they made their way back into the bedroom. Billie pulled back the covers and let her slide in then he went and turned off the lights. She thought it was a very traditional and old fashioned approach to the whole thing.

She was soon delighted to find the room romantically lit up by a set of soft white lights, which ran along the junction of the ceiling and walls that were the size of Christmas tree lights.

"Who thought to put those in?" she asked.

"Mike's mom actually," he said with a laugh. "As crazy as it sounds she knows that I'm a romantic at heart, but she also knows that I'm forgetful. She said that she didn't want me to burn down the house with candles."

She laughed imagining Billie with candles all over the room. He had surprised her, she imagined him as a wild animal in bed with no sense of a relationship and romance.

"What time is it?" she asked nervously. All of a sudden she felt this great pressure on her. She hadn't felt it a few moments before, but now that they were in bed together it was like there was no turning back.

"I love you Willa," he said softly.

She turned and buried herself in his arms when she saw him reaching for her. "I love you too." Her voice was weak when she said it, not because she wasn't sure about her feelings, but because her nerves were getting to her.

"Then relax," he said rubbing her back again.

"I am relaxed," she said. She sounded stupid saying it because she knew how he probably could tell that she was so tense.

"Honey, it's not like there is a film crew here or something," he laughed.

"Although I can get the radio out and get the porno music going if want to." He made a noise like seventies porno music.

"No, no," she said with a smile trying not to laugh too loudly. Comedy was a good way to ease the tension between them. She had been nervous as she slept in bed with him for the last few nights, but it didn't compare to the nervousness she felt now.

"Fred lay on your stomach and I'll give you a back rub," he said.

"Don't call me that," she said with a laugh then moved so that she was stomach down on the bed and waited, holding her breath until she felt his hands on her. He pushed the nightgown up her back until it was gathered up around her neck. She took the cue and slid it off, leaving her bare from the waist up, and Billie took the garment and threw it onto the end of the bed.

"So much for that outfit," she said with a smile.

"You know what?"

"Huh?" she said as his hands began to massage her back.

"I don't understand sexy nightgowns and stuff like that."

"Huh?" she said, "Why not?"

"Well you buy them for someone to wear only for a few minutes." He sounded very philosophical about the whole thing, as if the idea of lingerie was some intriguing subject that needed to be debated. "I mean it seems like a waste."

"Well then you can return it," she said.

"No," he said, "I didn't mean... "

"Billie, it's okay. I know what you mean," she said and rolled over onto her back to face him before she thought about it.

Billie's eyes stayed on her eyes, but his hands were now on her stomach just under her bra line. He took a breath. "I like you in that outfit," he said.

"I know," she said and moved her hands up around his back to pull him towards her. Bare chest to bare chest they lay there for a moment. The freedom to do whatever they pleased in one hand set her at ease, but in the next moment scared her. She didn't know what to expect and was having a hard time trying to figure out how to react to everything that was about to happen.

"You should have seen the hassle that it took to get that thing," he said.

"Billie honey?" she said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Shut up and kiss me," she said.

As Billie complied with her request she let her mind rest. It was just them again and it was about as perfect as it could get. They were there together and would be together in the morning, something that she'd been waiting for since San Diego.

As their kiss deepened he began to hatch his plan on how to proceed with the rest of the evening. He kept enough of his attention on meeting every move she made against his lips while the other half of him tried to maneuver his body into a more comfortable position over her. When he'd been massaging her shoulders he'd been sitting next to her and when she'd rolled over he'd twisted a little to hug her, leaving him in a strange position. He was already sort of on the top of her so he moved his legs over so that he was basically laying on his stomach next to her with his chest against hers. He slowly slid a leg over hers then began to push with his knee on her leg so that he could rest his leg between hers. He bent his knee once he was between her legs and he heard her let out a breath as his leg parted her legs and lifted up to rub against the crotch of her underwear.

He stopped what he was doing at the sound. "You okay?" he asked retreating a bit so that his full weight wasn't on her.

Her breaths were labored as she nodded up at him. She licked her lips and moved her arms more securely around him.

"You sure?" he asked. "I'm not squishing you am I?"

She nodded that she was okay then reinforced the feeling by pulling him down to kiss her again. "Did I tell you that I like these pajama bottoms?" She leaned and looked at them over his shoulder.

Willa moved her legs a little settling into a more comfortable position underneath him then moved her legs again and smiled, "Flannel, just like my sheets at home."

"You don't get hot in those?" he asked. Just the thought of flannel made him sweat. The only reason he'd put on the pants that he had on was because they'd been the clean ones of his set of sleeping clothes.

"No," she said, "Why? You do?"

He nodded, "Flannel sucks unless you're in the middle of winter. I like to sleep cold. Flannel is too hot." He was already hot just having her body against him. He would have just worn boxers to bed, but he didn't know what the plan was so he didn't want to chance offending her.

"You're wearing it now though," she said.

"I know, I know, and I'm regretting it already," he said moving his away from her a little as the heat began to make his leg uncomfortable.

"Well take them off then," she said softly.

Billie tried to swallow, but he found that he couldn't. She was killing him with her boldness. He'd never dated anyone who really spoke their mind like she did. For a few moments that night she'd been a bit shy, but once they'd had their drinks she'd said whatever seemed to come to her mind.

"God Willa you kill me," she said and leaned his forehead against hers.

"What?" she asked, "You're hot, take them off."

"Are you still drunk?"

"No," she said, "Just a little buzzed, why?"

Billie stared at her for a moment. She had no clue what her comment was doing to him. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," she said.

"Whatever I did to deserve you, please let me keep doing it," he said with a laugh.

Willa moved her hands to push against his chest. "Come on, get up and get them off. I'm getting hot too."

"Whatever," he said and pulled away from her. He pulled the pants off and slid back into bed completely naked. The sheets were cooler than he thought and for a moment, before the heat of her body began to warm him up he felt goosebumps all over his body. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been naked like that in bed, but Willa seemed to take control, moving so that she was laying on top of him.

His breath caught in his throat as her bare legs met his and he could feel the silkiness of her underwear against him. He gave her a what-are-you-doing look, but she didn't notice, or at least it didn't cause her to pause her actions.

His arms slid around her, resting at the small of her back, his fingers playing with the edge of her underwear covering her bottom. He let out a satisfied groan as he lifted his hips up a little. He'd only meant to move into a more comfortable position, but the material of the tiny scrap of clothing that she wore was causing the crazy sexual thoughts he'd been imagining about her at the party to return.
As she propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him he closed his eyes and willed himself not to move against her.

"Well one of us has to get this started or we're going to be here all night talking," she said.

"I'll shut up," he said and took a breath as she moved her hips against his, "I promise."

"Go-od," she said pressing her hips against him tightly for a moment. He knew that it was evident her effect on him and although it was a little embarrassing.
Soon they were kissing again, then even sooner than he expected her underwear joined his pajama bottoms on the floor.

The Christmas tree lights on her skin made her glow and as they moved through the motions of their love making he marveled at how good they were together. He'd imagined it before, on many occasions, but even she was going past his wildest dreams.

It was perfect, too perfect, and when they finally collapsed on each other, completely sated they both laughed.

"I can't believe that we didn't do this sooner," he said with a smile.

"You know what," she said lifting her head to look at him.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Shower," she said softly, leaning to kiss his neck, "You and me and a whole lot of hot water."

"Hmm," he said. He took a breath and ran his hand through his hair with his free hand then squeezed her closer to him for a moment. "Sounds good to me."