Social Suicide

Willa opened her eyes and squinted. Her head hurt and her eyes felt way too heavy considering that she'd gone to bed early the night before. She would have thought she might have been sick, but she decided to blame her crying from the day before instead of dwelling on the moment. She let her eyes adjust to the realization that it was morning. She looked around for a moment then sat straight up in bed.

She didn't know if Billie was back. She'd fallen asleep the night before and hadn't heard him come in, not that she'd really been waiting up for him, but she had kept an ear open. She wondered for a moment if he had gotten into trouble or something the night before. He probably hadn't called Spanky to take him out with him.

"Billie?" she called out. If he was there surely he'd answer. She didn't know what she was going to say to him if he did answer, but she wanted to know that he was safe.

There wasn't an answer and she found her heart sinking. She thought that he would have at least tried again with her. He didn't seem like the type to give up so easily. He hadn't given up so far. Maybe she had pushed too far. She'd been slightly irrational, not staying around to hear what he had to say about Tracy.

The thoughts of her dead little friend caused her pain and in that pain she knew that the one person in the world who would know what she was going through wasn't around at the moment. It had been her fault though. She began to doubt herself a little. She hadn't wanted to fall for him and she hadn't wanted to rely on him, but now she found herself missing him more than she knew how to handle.

Deciding that she'd better go and see if he was still asleep she made her way out to the living room. He might be a heavy sleeper or he might have stuffed his head under a pillow or something.

What she found in her living room wasn't anything that she could have expected. She expected to find her house empty, but Billie had left her a little bit of a present. "A little bit" was an understatement. The entire floor of the living room was covered in small flower arrangements. She didn't know how he'd done it, but he must have bought out all the flower shops in the area. There were all kinds of flowers all over the place, the main focus being a vase of roses on the table to the side of the bigger arrangement.

As she leaned to smell the arrangement of long-stem red roses that were on her kitchen table she saw a card. She hoped that this wasn't going to be something bad. If he'd given up she almost didn't want to know.

I know you want picture perfect.
It may be something I can't give you,
but I want you to know you already
have the most perfect thing I could give.
My love and my heart.

Willa's breath caught in her throat. She could have never expected something like this from him. Just when she was expecting something completely NOT like this, he was acting the part of the romantic. She'd expected him to keep brushing her off or ignoring her for a while, not the lavish present that he'd left her. There had always been this thing about flowers. It was a simple gift, but it spoke volumes.

Now though, that the ball was in her court, she was going to have a little fun with
him. She had a plan and was going to try to make him pay a little before he let things settle between them. When he called she was going to make him grovel a little. She wanted him to know that he was going to have to work for it if they were going to be together. Flowers were always a good start, but after what he'd put her through they were only the start.

Willa picked out a flower and went to go find herself some breakfast. She noticed her answering machine blinking so she went over and pressed the button.

"Willa, this is Elena. I just wanted to call you and tell you that Todd wants to reschedule the shoot you passed up. He found out why you didn't come to the shoot and decided that he'd reshoot with you as soon as you can give him time. I know it's not the most convenient thing, but how does Christmas in Jamaica sound? Call me back when you get this message."

The machine beeped and then another voice came on.

"Willa, this is Billie. I hope you like the flowers. I'm boarding my flight in about five minutes. It's just after seven. I have a show tonight, but I want to call you. I think we have a lot to talk about, that's if you'll even hear what I have to say. Anyway I'll call you later."

When the phone rang a few moments later Willa jumped. She reached for the phone. "Hello?"

There was a laugh and a scream then a rushed voice. "Girl, what happened last night?"

Willa looked around the room and laughed. "God, Amy! You're so nosy!"

"I had to witness the whole 'Days of Our Lives' episode in the airport. You can't leave a girl hanging like that."

Willa folded her arms across her chest. "This isn't some soap opera."

"I'm waiting," Amy said. Willa could picture her with her hands on her hips staring at her from across town.

Willa looked around. How was she going to explain her way out of this one? It wasn't like anyone could understand any of this.

"Well I'm standing in my living room and there are about a million flowers around here."

"Flowers?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you guys together still?"

"No, but it's in the works. His people are going to have to call my people."

"Now what are you planning to do?"

"Milk it girl, I'm going to milk it and make him squirm a little before I give in."

"What'd you tell him last night?"

"The truth. I love the guy." She sighed at the sound of that. It was good to get it out. She needed to be happy about it for once. "I can't help that. I want something more though and he's going to have to work with me if we've got any hope at all."

"It's going to be like pulling teeth with that guy. He's dense if you hadn't noticed!"

[ San Diego ]

"Shh... " Billie said and smiled. He dialed the phone and waited as it rang. Mike stood next to him and counted off the rings.

"Hello?" He smiled at the sound of her sleepy voice. He knew he might catch hell from her to call her this late, but he had to take the chance.

"Billie?" she asked.

"Hi Willa."

"Why do you sound like you're in a tunnel?" she asked.

Billie made a face at the crowd gathered. "I'm not in a tunnel."

"What are you doing? It's past midnight. Actually it's past one." She paused for a moment. "Am I on speaker phone?"

A few people cracked up at that comment and Mike tried to motion for them to be quiet.

"I know it's late and I know I shouldn't have called you and woken you up. I just wanted you to hear something."

"Now?" she asked. "You do know there is such a thing as a time difference, don't you? I thought you had a show tonight."

Her words were met with silence.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Billie nodded and Mike played a slow bass line as Billie began to sing. The audience fell silent as the sound of the song "Whatsername" began to flow. It was cheesy and stupid to dedicate that song to her. He had promised himself he'd never do something that silly, but he found that he was at the end of his ropes on this one. He needed something new. The song also described how his relationship has progressed with her; from not knowing her name back at the Grammy afterparty, to last night. He thought that it might just work. He'd embarrassed her in public once before, but this time he had good intentions behind it and he thought that she'd take that into consideration.

When the song came to an end he didn't hear anything.

For a moment he thought she might have hung up on him. He almost expected that, but deep down he knew that this would get through to her. He wasn't the perfect guy that she wanted and he did need to do some work to try to save things with her, but at least now she would know that he was thinking about her and cared enough to try.

"Willa?" he asked.

"Yeah?" her voice came out weakly. He smiled as the crowd cheered.

It took a moment to quiet them down, but after he got them quiet he held the phone to his ear. He took a deep breath and looked across the stage to where Wes was standing. The man gave him a nod and Billie spoke.

"I love you honey, go back to sleep."

[ The next day... ]

Slamming his hand down on the table Billie looked around the room. He was alone for once which was nice, but at the same time he was getting worried. When he'd called Willa that morning to try to talk to her he couldn't get a hold of her. He'd called Spanky and had him drive by and Spanky had said that she might just be shopping or something.

"You okay Billie?" Wes asked from the open door that lead to the hallway.

"Where the hell is she?" he asked. "I've called her house, I've called her cell. I even called Elena at the agency. It's like she's disappeared. I think I really screwed up this time."

"You called the woman and serenaded her in front of an arena of people. I don't think that there is a woman alive who could resist that."

Billie laughed. "You really don't know Willa then. She'd fight me to the end just to say that she won."

"There's got to be a reason for that fight. I mean really. If she was mad at you she would have stopped talking to you long ago."

Billie rubbed his forehead, "She told me she loves me." He looked up at Wes. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Love her back, even if she stops. She'll come around. It's all too perfect not to work out in the end."

"I think that's the problem. It's too perfect and it's going to get in the way of something normal."

[ Willa ]

Willa stepped off the elevator and slowly made her way down the hallway. A few doors seemed to be open, but no one sitting in the hall or inside the rooms seemed to notice her. She got a nod from a security guard at the door and a smile when she caught eye contact with Tre as she passed what she figured was his room.

When she saw Wes standing in the hallway just outside a door she walked slower and listened to see who he was talking to.

"It's too perfect. How am I supposed to live up to that?" Billie's voice sounded worried and tired. She prayed that he still felt the same way he'd felt the night before. If not her thousand-dollar ticket out west was going to be a complete waste of time and money.

Wes took a breath and turned and noticed her there. She put a finger to her lips and stayed where she was.

"Hey Billie?"

"Yeah?" she heard his voice say from inside the room.

"I think there's something you should see," Wes said.

"Is Tre running around again?" He asked.

Willa motioned to Wes to have him take Billie down the hall the way she'd been heading and that she was going to go up behind him to surprise him.

"No," Wes said.

"What is it then?"

"Just get off your ass and come here and look at this," Wes firmly commanded.

"Fine," Billie said.

Willa watched as Wes guided Billie along. She snuck up so that she was just behind and to the side of him then reached and grabbed his hand.

"You're going to get lost if you follow this guy around," she said with a smile.

Billie stopped in his tracks and again that slow motion "Dream Weaver" thing happened.

No lights.

No cameras.

No hallway.

No Wes.

No nothing.

It was just them.

And it was JUST PERFECT.

[ NYC 5 weeks later; December ]

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Somehow the sound made it through Willa's sleeping coma. After first trying to block the noise out with a pillow she finally pushed herself out of bed. She shivered at the cool air in the room and looked around for a moment as she cursed herself for falling asleep in the robe she'd changed into the night before after her shower. She'd been so tired that she hadn't put on her pajamas and now was half icicle for it.

"Good morning New York," she grumbled as the snow fell then reached a shaky arm out to turn off the noise coming from her night stand. She stared blankly at the red 10:00 that was glowing happily at her and for a moment tried to remind herself that she really did need to get up and get herself back on east coast time. She'd been in three different time zones in the last three weeks and needed to get back on some kind of schedule. Today was going to be hell to get through, but hopefully the next day would be better as she got reacquainted with being home and being in this time zone.

As she went to go start a pot of coffee she checked her messages, since she hadn't done it the night before. She'd turned off the ringer when she'd gotten home in hopes that no one would disturb her while she tried to catch up on her sleep.

The message machine light was blinking and the tiny digital number read out that she had ten messages. She groaned at the thought of checking them. Somehow she knew that they were from reporters wanting to talk to her.

While she'd been away the papers had gone crazy with the rumors about her and Billie. He'd warned her and tried to prepare her for her homecoming, but even he couldn't have warned her about the reporters that took her picture the night before at the airport or the ones who had found themselves a nice little seat across the street from her apartment. Hoping to keep herself from worrying about the reporters she decided not to listen to them until she was more awake. She flipped back on the ringer and headed for the bathroom.

"Beautiful Willa," she said as she caught her reflection in the mirror. She definitely wasn't looking like a model now.

She leaned over and pulled at her face a little. She didn't have any make up on and she wondered for a moment if Billie would really want to stay with her if he knew she woke up looking like that in the mornings. Her eyes carried bags under them and although she had gotten a bit of a tan while she'd been shooting in Australia, she still looked a little sickly. Hopefully a good shower and the wonders of some make up would at least help her look less like a zombie, even if she still might feel like one.

An hour and a half later, feeling a lot more human than when she'd woken up, Willa took a deep breath and walked through the door to the agency's office, smiling at her escort for a quick moment as she passed him holding the door open for her. She shivered and pulled her jacket around her more. It was almost January and it was snowing out, but they had the air conditioning on in the building. Trust them to do something idiotic like that. With all these little skinny girls running around, Willa would have thought that they would have put on the heater.

"You okay?" Spanky asked from next to her. He was pealing off his scarf and letting it hang around his neck, holding onto the ends to occupy his hands.

She nodded and looked around for a moment. She needed a plan, but she couldn't think of one right away. She knew that she needed to find Elena and to get her pay checks and her schedule, but her mind was so clouded from her sleep deprivation that she didn't think she even remembered the way to Elena's desk at the moment.

She hadn't been in there in almost a month and a half and was almost scared to find out what awaited her now that she had returned to New York. She'd been in touch with Elena by phone, but it wasn't the same thing as actually being close to home, not that it had been her choice to leave in the first place.

Only a small portion of the three weeks away had been her choosing. After her short weekend-like stay with Billie in San Diego, she'd started what would turn out to be the other eighty or so percent of her month outside of the New York City Limits. Her time was spent in four different countries doing God knows how many shows and shoots. It had all been one big blur that had ended the night before when her flight Sydney, Australia had touched down at the JFK airport. She'd never known that she loved the city so much until she stepped off the plane and found herself enjoying the crowds and pushing and pulling of the crowds.

"It's good to see you!" Elena came into sight pulled her into a hug and held her close for a moment. It was the only real welcome home she'd had other than the quick hug Spanky had given her at the airport.

Despite much protest on her part, Billie had insisted that when Willa went out and about in the city that she contact Spanky. It wouldn't have normally been something that she would have agreed to, but after a few close calls with some not so friendly fans in San Diego, having Spanky around gave them both some sense of peace.

"It's good to be back." Willa leaned into the hug. She hadn't realized it, but it had been weeks since anyone had really been touchy-feely with her.

While she was on the road she was alone and the only time anyone came within touching distance of her was when they were pinning some outfit, or doing her hair, or putting on her make up. It had been a long month and she was glad to have the contact again with the real world.

"Where are you headed?"

"Back to the desk of doom." Elena made a face. "I really need to take a vacation."

"Traveling isn't really that great," Willa said and let out a yawn, "But then again you should know that."

"Ah... the good old days," Elena said with a sigh. She laughed at her dramatics. "How's boy?"

"He's fine." Willa found herself smiling when she thought of him. "I talked to him yesterday. They're all down in Florida right now spending a lovely winter in the tropics. He keeps teasing me about the snow up here. I think he just wants me to come and visit, but of course he and I never can make things easy on each other. We always have to do things the hard way. So of course he hasn't asked and I haven't offered."

"Still holding up the front." Elena smiled. "As much as I hate to say this, because of how the jerk screwed with you like that, I'm glad that you two are happy."

Willa ran her hands through her hair and looked over at Spanky. It still made her uncomfortable for him to be watching her. She didn't like the knowledge of anyone looking at her, even though she'd been in a million magazine pictures.
He'd taken a seat in the lobby and had picked up a magazine, but wasn't reading it. He was scanning the lobby as if he expected someone to jump out and grab her or something.

"Well I haven't seen him in three weeks, but I guess that's to be expected. I came over to get a copy of my schedule so I can try to plan something with him. You think you can print me up a copy?" Willa rocked back and forth on her feet and smiled brightly hoping that it wouldn't be an inconvenience.

"For Christmas?"

"Aren't we the little tabloid reporter?" Willa commented swatting at her arm playfully.

Willa scrunched up her toes in her shoes nervously. She hated answering questions about her and Billie. The few weeks out of the country had been nice. She hadn't had to face any of that kind of stuff since she'd left San Diego. She'd been so nervous about answering people in San Diego that most of the staff that worked with Billie thought she was deaf or something because in the forty-eight hours she was in San Diego she only spoke to him and the other guys.

"Come along my dear." Elena's voice was filled with sarcasm. "I just wanted to know where you're going to be so I can forward you all your checks. You missed a payday girl." Elena hooked her arm through Willa's and pulled her along through the maze of cubicles until they were at Elena's desk.

"Well I'm sure my bank will thank you," Willa said.

"So who's the thug with you?" Elena asked in a hushed tone as she pulled out a stash of cookies then turned to her computer screen.

"That's Spanky... well, William. He's my bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Elena asked, "Aren't we getting all high and mighty?"

"Billie thinks that I need some babysitting."

"How sweet." Elena rolled her eyes then offered her a cookie.

Willa refused the offer. It was too early in the morning for cookies and after three weeks of having people critique her body, the thought of eating cookies wasn't making her feel quite as cheery as it usually would have.

"You aren't eating these... are you getting picky now? Can't eat any other cookies but your own?"

Willa looked at the cookies then looked away. "It's too early for them."

"You sure?" Elena asked.

"Yes, I've already had my morning coffee and I'm not going to get all crazy hyper on sugar like that," Willa snapped.

"Whoa there turbo," Elena said, "What was that?" Willa covered her face with her hands for a moment then tried to rub away some of her tiredness.

"Sorry, I'm working on like no sleep and I don't know what time it is and right now all I can think of is just going home and going to sleep, but I know I have things to do... it's making me all bitchy."

"Don't worry about it honey," Elena said with a smile. She turned and clicked a few things on her computer then a moment later the printer started up. "I'll get you your schedule and your checks then you should go home and rest. You have the week off so enjoy it because the whole New Years thing is going to be a killer."

"Great," Willa said with a groan.

Elena leaned back in her chair for a moment and looked at her message board.

"Oh yeah. We... well you... got a call from Reprise. They want you to be in another video," Elena said with a smile.

"Book it," Willa said without any hesitation.

Elena burst out laughing at Willa's reaction to the news of the new video. "You aren't going to pull a Jessica Simpson on me are you?"

"What?" Willa glanced at the cookies again and her stomach rumbled.

"You know, that whole 98 Degrees-Jessica Simpson thing that's going on just because Jessica is dating Nick?"

"You're really scaring me," Willa stared at her for a moment with wide eyes. "You should really try to get a part time gig with the Enquirer."

"I have to pay attention to stuff like that now. I want to make sure that this Billie character keeps his career going for a while longer. I don't want him to mooch off of you."

"Like that will be happening anytime soon." Willa laughed. "He's the one in the family with the money."

"Family?"

A blush covered her face. "I'm not saying anything," Willa said.

"You didn't... " Elena paused and made a face. "You didn't corrupt the guy did you?"

"Corrupt?" she asked.

"You know," Elena made another face, this time wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"You are the older woman in the relationship."

"No I'm not, actually," Willa blushed for a moment. Elena looked up for a second and lifted an eyebrow as she put down what she had been holding and smirked.

Willa groaned. "Yes, I'm dating an older man"

"Looks pretty good for a guy older than you."

Elena smiled and Willa continued without furthering the conversation of the age difference between them, but not forgetting to shoot Elena a glare. Sure she was older for a model, but that didn't stop all the photographers and press from drooling over her.

"I got to San Diego and this whole crazy scene happened in the hallway of the hotel and then he had to work so we didn't see each other until he got back from the concert and by that time everyone was tired and he'd been fighting off a cold." Willa paused and looked across the room to see outside that it had started to snow again.

"Did you know that he spent most of the night in Central Park after he came up to tell me about Tracy's death? The guy is nuts if you ask me."

"You're just bubbling," Elena said and reached for her schedule. "We'll have to sit and catch up sometime, but at the moment I have to get back to work and you need to get some sleep girl. You look really tired."

"I am," she yawned suddenly then looked at the schedule as she stepped away from Elena's desk. It seemed that her movement was the cue for people to call again.

The phone rang and Elena reached to pick it up. "Keep in touch you."

"I will," Willa said and wove her way back to the front of the office.

Spanky greeted her with a smile. "It's snowing again."

"I saw," she said and folded the paper in half then shoved it in her pocket. "I think I'm going to just go home from here."

"Sounds good to me," Spanky said, "I'll ride along with you then leave you alone."

Willa frowned and buttoned all the buttons on her long coat. "I don't mean to seem--"

"Look, it's okay. No one really wants to be your age and be baby-sat, but the guy is paying me and I feel like I can't just steal his money."

"I'm sure that he'll appreciate that," Willa said with a smile.

As Willa entered the studio apartment twenty minutes after leaving Elena's desk she heard a noise in the apartment. For a moment she wanted to run down and get Spanky to save her, but then she listened and she realized it was her answering machine and it was just Billie leaving her a message.

"I'm home!" she called out into the apartment and ran for the phone. She grabbed it up just before he was going to hang up.

"I'm here. I'm here."

"Well hello there Miss Marviani," he said with a laugh.

"Sorry about that," she said, "I just got home."

"I thought your flight got in last night," he said.

"It did, I had to go to the agency this morning."

"Troubles?" She loved the way his voice sounded so concerned. It was nice to know that he cared, or at least that he'd thought to ask if she was okay.

"No," she said and took the portable phone towards the front door so that she could lock herself in. "I just had to get my pay checks and I had to get my schedule for the next few weeks."

"That's good." She could hear noises in the background and she tried to picture him sitting somewhere doing whatever it was he was doing.

"So what are you up to?" she asked. His voice sounded a little hoarse and she wondered if he was still working.

He coughed. "Sorry about that... I'm taking a break," he said.

"Are you getting sick?" she asked as she closed herself in and locked the door.
"No," he said. "I just went and got lunch and was trying to do two things at once. I guess that will teach me. I shouldn't try to eat and talk."

"I didn't know you were that talented," she teased.

"Ha, ha, funny one Willa," he said.

"So you guys are still in the studio?"

"Yep, we've gotten a lot done, but with everyone trying to take vacation time and working on other stuff it's not going as fast as we thought it would."

"Do you guys get in trouble for stuff like that?" She made her way over to the couch, slipped out of her jacket and flopped down so that she could sit and talk.

"No, not really. It just costs money to be in the studio and to record so it's a pain in the wallet."

"Are you going to be able to get away for Christmas like you wanted?" They'd talked about their Christmas plans in one of her calls to him. He'd told her he was big on being with his family and had hoped that his studio work would be well into it so that he could take the whole week off to go and visit his hometown, Rodeo, where his mother was still located.

"I got my ticket this morning." His voice bubbled with excitement at the sound of him going home. "I fly out two days before Christmas and fly back to Orlando for New Years," he said, "What about you? What's your schedule like?"

"I have the whole week off, remember?" she said. Before, when Billie hadn't known his schedule she'd rubbed that fact in a little. That's when he'd mentioned to her about being in Orlando for the vacation and how it wasn't snowing there.

"I thought I'd fly up to Seattle for a day or two, but I'm not sure after my trip that I want to travel again, at least not that far."

"So how far is far?" he asked. She heard noises again that sounded like he was trying to eat again.

"I was thinking of staying on the East Coast, or at least staying on this side of the Mississippi," she said with a laugh. She stopped and finally said, "Billie why are we doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Just ask me to visit you in Orlando and I'll be on the first flight I can get down there."

"No," he said.

"No?"

"No, I mean yeah I want to see you, but you flew out here to see me already. I hate to put you out like that."

"That was different. Billie, really it's okay."

There was a long pause. "Well I was thinking of going home for that time, but what about New Years. We can spend New Years down here."

"You don't want to do New Years in New York?" she asked with a laugh.

"If I headed anywhere near that city they'd have me on MTV in a minute. I love Carson, but if that guy knew I was in the city limits I'd already be booked to be on some show. I think if I stay down here I at least could relax my way into the New Year."

"Oh," she said.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's just that it's only the twentieth and I won't get to see you for another week." She took a deep breath and let it out. "God that sounded so girly."

"It actually sounded nice," he said. "I like hearing that you miss me."

"Don't get a big ego," she said.

"AH, there's my girl... couldn't be too nice for too long."

"So do you miss me?" she asked.

"Nope." He sounded completely serious then laughed. "You must not have gotten any of my messages I left."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I called you about five times last night and tried to get a hold of you, but your machine kept coming on."

Willa held the phone to her ear and leaned back into her seat. It was comforting to know that her messages weren't all from strangers. She hadn't checked them yet, hoping to get herself into a good mood before she bombarded herself with the outside world.

"I turned the ringer off when I got home and didn't check the machine before I left to go to the agency."

"You did go with Spanky didn't you?" he asked.

"Of course," she said, "He took me over to the agency then brought me home again safe and sound." She thought of telling him about the reporters at the airport or the ones outside, but decided that he'd probably double the security force if he did know about them.

"Good," he said.

"You know that I hate having him around," she said.

"He's not mean or anything is he?" He asked.

"No, Spanky is fine. Actually he's really nice. I just don't like to be babysat."

"Yeah well it lets me sleep at night to know that he's there with you. I know you didn't have to deal with him while you were out of the country, but the tabloids and stuff have been going crazy and I don't want anyone to harass you."

"No one is harassing me," she said trying to hope that her lie would work on him.

"Well see then, it's working."

"Whatever."

"Anyway," he said, "I've got to get my lunch down and get back into the studio."

"Okay," she said.

"How about I call you when I get home tonight?" he said.

"Okay," she said, "But if you get the machine it means I'm asleep."

"Turn off the ringer if you go to bed. I don't want to wake you up."

"Don't worry. I will," she said.

"I'll see you in a few days."

"What day are you flying back to Orlando?"

"The thirtieth," he said.

"I'll get a flight down for that day then," she said.

"I'll get you the ticket," he said, "My Christmas present to you."

She thought for a moment about protesting, but she didn't want to fight. "Get it from JFK down there then," she said.

"You aren't going to Seattle?"

"Yeah, but you don't--" She reached for her schedule.

"Just tell me when you want to fly to Seattle and I'll get you all the tickets you need."

She hesitated as she looked over the schedule. "How about fly out the twenty-third to Seattle then back to Orlando on the thirtieth then I'll head back up to New York on the second."

"How about you fly back up to New York on the fifth? They guys and I are going to be going up there then to do a TRL taping."

"You want me down there with you for that long?"

"If your schedule can let you," he said.

Her eyes flew over the schedule. She had a shoot on the third with a photographer in the city. "I can't stay that long. I have a shoot on the third, but maybe I could take the last plane out that I possibly could on the second."

"Sounds good to me," he said.

"I'll have the tickets waiting for you at the Ritz," he said.

"At the Ritz?" she asked.

"I've got a friend who'll pick the tickets up for me and take them there. You can have Spanky pick them up for you."

"Okay," she said.

"So I'll see you in ten days?"

"With bells on," she said.

Billie laughed. "I hope you'll have more than that on," he said, "It's warm down here in Florida, but not that warm."

"Whatever Billie," she said with a laugh. "I'll see you then."

"Later." he said.

"Bye," she said and hung up the phone.

Adrenaline filled her veins at the thought of seeing him again. Ten days and she'd be back with him. Part of her was excited and part of her was nervous as hell. The last time they'd been together in Florida they'd had a great time and she hoped that it would be that way this time.

[ Orlando, Florida ]

"Come on, come on." His impatient mumble caught the ears of the man next to him, causing the man to look in his direction.

"Waiting for someone special?" the older man in a business suit asked giving him a sympathetic smile.

"You could say so," Billie said and pulled his hat further down on his head. He was taking a chance being there alone; Wes had been late and he'd had no choice to go and pick Willa up at her gate. He didn't want her to come out and see no one there for her. It would have started off their vacation together on a sour note, which was something he was trying to avoid.

He hadn't slept well the night before because he'd been playing the what-if game. He'd been worried about seeing her again. He wasn't sure how things would go and he didn't want to mess things up with her.

"Girlfriend?" the guy asked.

Billie's heartbeat quickened at the sound of the word. He could feel his pulse pounding in his neck and his head ached a little from nervousness. It was the first time, the first real time that someone had mentioned Willa as his girlfriend outside the confines of the group. He looked the guy up and down and saw that he didn't recognize him. This guy wasn't a reporter, just some random person trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her in a month."

"A month?"

Billie let his stance relax a little and tried to act normally while talking. He usually didn't speak to people like that one on one unless it was a business meeting or he already knew the person so this was a change.

"We're sort of busy with... " He stopped for a moment and looked around then chose his words carefully. "... Work."

"Really? I know my wife would kill me if I was gone that long. I can't stand to be away from her for over a few nights a week."

Billie smiled. "Well she understands about me being gone and I understand about her being gone."

"Must be nice."

"It's been so far, but you should see our phone bills. I was calling all over the world to find her and she was doing the same thing. I think those cellular phone companies are going to be in business for a long time if we stay together for a long time."

"All over the world?" the man asked. "I bet you're glad to have her home. I know the feeling."

"Yeah," Billie said and blushed a little. "It's been a while."

"Just take things slow," the man said, "My wife and I have the best... well the best make-up... welcome home... "

Billie nodded in appreciation of the unspoken message. He looked around. "Yeah well we haven't... "

The guy's eyes widened with surprise, "Planning a big night then?"

"Yeah... " Lance looked around again and wondered for a moment if he should be talking about this. If Willa knew that he was talking about their personal lives without her she'd probably get mad. "Eventually."

"So what is she doing out there all this time?"

"She's a model and I'm in a band so we never are in the same place together."

The man looked at him. "Now I know why I recognize you. I think my daughter has your picture on the wall in her room."

"Really?" Billie smiled.

"Yeah. It's you and some other kids," the guy said.

"That's probably us," Billie said. He stuck his hand out. "Billie Joe Armstrong, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," the man said shaking his hand. "Kenneth Clope."

Billie nodded at him then looked around.

"They should be out soon," Kenneth said looking at his watch. "The flight takes a while to unboard."

The man held up the flower in his hand. "No flowers?"

Billie looked down and saw only his bag and his backpack. He hadn't really thought about getting her anything. Well he had thought about it, but he was so nervous he'd forgotten about getting anything. He had her Christmas present at the house waiting for her, but he hadn't thought of a gift for the meantime.

"Shit."

"There's a place just down that way," the guy said and pointed, "They know me by name... I'm always rushing in to get flowers for my wife... she's a flight attendant so I'm there almost every day."

"Thanks," Billie said quickly and collected his bags and rushed towards where the guy had pointed.

In the shop the woman recognized him. It was a pain to have her ask, but he ended up signing some things for her daughter and niece then he paid for his single rose and rushed back to the gate.

The rosebud, which had been in a refrigerator in the store, began to open as he waited with everyone as everyone streamed out of the plane. Billie looked around and saw the man meet up with his wife and smiled. They looked happy together and Billie hoped that he and Willa could be that happy. After months of fighting he was waiting for a nice relationship with her, something a little less stressful than their first few months together.

When he finally saw Willa emerge from the crowd he caught site of a reporter with a camera poised near his face watching her. Billie immediately went to go and greet her with a big hug, holding her close for a moment before presenting her with a flower and a quick kiss. "You ready to go?"

She must have caught the urgency in his voice because she looked around for a moment then nodded. She took his hand, "Let's ditch the reporter."

"Sounds good to me," he said. Together, almost as twins, they walked out towards the parking lot. Each carried a small rolling suitcase in their freehand while keep their other hands linked.

"Have a nice vacation," Kenneth said as they passed him. He had found his wife and they were hugging hello.

"Who was that?" Willa asked as they walked past.

"Just this guy I was chatting to."

"You were having a conversation with a complete stranger?"

Billie rolled his eyes. "Okay mom, I always talk to people I don't know."

"You must not have listened to your mom very well when you were little," she said with a laugh, "Never talk to strangers honey."

"Well you'll have to keep your eye on me," he said.

"I'm already doing that." She wiggled her eyebrows at him and Billie felt relieved for the first time that day.

Once to the car Billie opened the passenger door and let Willa get settled in the front seat with her backpack while he took the bags and put them in the back before closing Willa in and finding his own seat on the driver's side.

"How was your flight?" he asked as he started the engine a few moments later.

"Good," she pulled her seatbelt on. "How was home?"

"Good." He nodded. "Christmas was a little wild since all the family was there and my friends were all wanting me to go and hang out. Did you have fun with your parents?"

"Fun wouldn't be the word I'd use," she said with a sigh.

He turned and watched her lean into her seat and move around trying to get comfortable. "Not good?"

"It's my father," she said, "He still thinks, after all this time, that I need a nine-to-five job."

Billie nodded. He didn't know exactly how that was since his mother had been involved since the beginning. "Ah," he tried to sound sympathetic.

"He also asked about you. He figures now that I must be into drugs and stuff since I'm dating a rock star." She laughed.

Billie let out a laugh. "Rock star?"

"That was his word, not mine," she said.

"I like my drinks and all, but who does he think I am, Keith Richards?" She smiled.

"Something like that. He's a bit out of it."

"Sounds like it. That's a first for me though, being called a druggie."

Willa looked over at him with an expression of doubt. Billie could feel her stare and he turned to her and laughed. She silently told him with her eyes that she knew he was a liar.

"I showed him your picture in People Magazine and I thought that would have settled him down, but it didn't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh hon, you're such a good looking boy... "

"Boy?" he asked with a laugh.

"You know what I mean," she said lazily.

Billie looked over at her and saw that she now had her eyes closed, as if she was going to try to go to sleep on the drive home.

"Hey now," he said softly and reached out and touched her arm on the armrest as he maneuvered the car from the parking lot. "I know I'm boring and all, but don't fall asleep on me just yet."

"Sorry," she said opening her eyes. He could tell that she was exhausted from the way they didn't open up completely. "It's been a long day."

"Well I hope you get some rest tonight because we have invites to four parties for New Years Eve."

"Four?"

"Yeah, there are two informal ones, one at Planet Hollywood, and then Mike's mother invited us over for breakfast."

She let out a laugh. "This sounds like a Prom Night plan."

"Well it sort of is," he said, "Kathy, Mike's mom, is our surrogate mother since everyone is from out of state. She worries about all of us, but actually I think this time she wants to meet you since she's seen you in all those tabloid pictures."

"Tabloid pictures?" she asked. She reached and took the rose from where she'd put it on the dashboard and smelled it then returned it to its resting-place.

"Yeah, while you were gone there were a lot of stories run about you. They had pictures from when we were at the VMA's and decided to make up all this drama. It's nothing. The Reprise publicity machine went into overdrive and tried to do damage control and they were in touch with Elena."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about it?" she asked.

"Well you were out of the country and Elena and I thought that you could use a vacation... sort of a calm before the storm."

Billie was about to continue when her phone rang. Willa's arm slipped out from under his touch as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the phone. She returned her hand to his and Billie listened as she spoke.

"Hello?"

He smiled at the tone of her voice. She always greeted the caller on the line with an enthusiasm that he'd missed in the last month.

"Yes Elena he's here and we're on our way--"

"Hi Elena!" Billie called out.

"No Elena I'm going to be home the morning of the third. I'm taking the midnight flight up to JFK."

Billie paid attention to his driving, getting onto the freeway while trying to distract himself from the sensation of Willa tracing his arm with her fingernails.

"I'll make it there fine," Willa said, "I'm getting Spanky to pick me up."

Billie felt her move her hand up his arm and across his shoulder. When she began to massage his neck he almost jerked the car out of the lane he was driving in, but luckily he corrected before they got into an accident. As the muscles in his neck loosened he glanced over at Willa who was watching him.

"I love you too Elena. Tell Amy or anyone else for that matter to just call me on the cell phone if they need me."

When it was time Billie exited the freeway and began to weave his way through the city streets that led to the house. He was just pulling into the driveway when Willa began to say her goodbye.

"Yeah I'll be in touch and no don't worry about me... " She let out a laugh.
He caught the shocked look on her face as he waited for the gate to open in front of them.

"Whatever Elena. I'll talk to you soon," she hung up without a goodbye.

"What'd she say?" he asked as he pulled through and followed the short drive to the house.

"You don't want to know."

"A little uncomfortable, Miss Wilfred Ann Marviani?"

"Wilfred?" she asked. "How do you know that's my first name?"

"I did a little research. Someone once told me I was going to lose it if I didn't stay up with the times," he said with a laugh.

"Don't call me Wilfred. I hate that name. It was my uncle's name and my parents were too stubborn to think of a girl's name when I was born. I still can't believe that they thought I was going to be a boy."

"Oh come on Fred, I like Wilfred. Like on the Batman show."

"Fred?" she asked.

"WAM?" he said spelling out her initials. "You weren't a part of that group were you?"

"No," she said and folded her arms across her chest.

"So can I call you Fred?"

"No," she turned and looked out the window, but he guessed that her anger was all in fun.

"It's better than calling you babe."

She turned back to him. "You never call me babe."

"Well I didn't want to start," he said with a laugh and pushed the button for the garage door opener, "FRED."

"Whatever."

"So back to my original question Fred," he said, "A little uncomfortable this evening?"

She stayed silent until he pulled into the garage. "A little," she finally mumbled.

"Well come here then," he turned off the engine then turned to her and pulled her closer to him.

He leaned and kissed her lips. "I've been waiting to do that all day, hell all month."

"You kissed me at the airport," she said.

"I did?" He thought for a moment. "Well that was a public kiss... and my public and my private kisses are a little different."

"Oh really?" she asked with a flirtatious look at him.

"Yes," he said and leaned and kissed her again, this time pulling her closer and deepening the kiss until they both broke apart breathless.

"I missed you too," she said.

"You ready to go in?" he asked

"Not yet. I like making out in the car. I haven't done this in a while," she said.

"Yeah, my garage is the perfect lovers lane."

"I'd make out with you anywhere," she said.

"Okay, let's get inside," Billie said with a chuckle. "Don't forget your flower FRED."

They parted and each got out of the car on their respective sides. They kissed once more before they entered the house, but when they got inside Billie was a little more business like than he'd been a few moments before.
He leaned and flipped on the kitchen light and shut the door that led to the garage.

"Why don't you put that flower in some water while I take these upstairs."

"Wow. I've moved up in the world. I get to sleep on the second floor this time."

"You don't have to," he said hesitantly. He'd assumed that she'd be sharing his bed and he thought badly of himself for doing so. Not that he planned to seduce her, but now that they'd moved into really dating he'd planned to sleep next to her, if that's what she wanted.

"No," she said, "That's fine."

"Is that a blush?" he asked.

"No," she said.

He walked over and kissed her. "I'll be back in a minute." She laughed.

"What?"

"I can tell you've been at your mother's house," she said.

"Why?"

"Because all boys... " He gave her a shocked look. "Excuse me... all men seem to be more polite after they've been anywhere near their mother's house."

"Well I'm just trying to be the gentleman that I am," he said. He leaned and kissed her again. "I'll be right back."

He left the room, hoping that she would make herself at home. He got to his room and almost thought about dropping the bags on the floor and running back to her. He didn't though. It would have looked strange for him to be overly excited to see her. He'd never been like that in the past, or at least he'd never acted like that in the past. He carefully set the two bags on the bed and threw the backpacks on top then turned and made his way down to the first floor again.

When he got back to the first floor her flower was in the vase his mother had gotten for him the Christmas before. He looked around for a minute.

"Over here," she said with a small voice. He went to the living room and found her laying face down on the couch.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm exhausted," she said with a sigh.

"Well scoot over. Don't hog the couch."

"There's another one," she said lifting her arm to point at the other smaller couch. "Sorry," she said and started to sit up.

"Hold up," he said. He took a seat near where her head had been and reached for a pillow and he plopped it on his lap. "Here you go."

She lay back down and he ran his hand through her hair as she closed her eyes. He started at her forehead and worked his hand through her hair, massaging her scalp the way that the hairdressers and masseuse on tour did with him. He'd never tell anyone where he learned the skill, but he'd found that it had come in handy over the last few years. Girls were suckers for massages and he wasn't at all against them himself.

"Hmm," she mumbled.

"We need this more often," he said finding himself yawning at the thought of going to sleep soon. He stretched out a little more trying to get comfortable. He could see himself falling asleep on the couch and thanked God for whoever had talked him into getting the overstuffed couch.

"What? Be in the same state?" she asked with a laugh.

"That too. I meant that we should hang out like this more often."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like this," he said, "Listen... no screaming... no people... no cameras... "

"I'm up for that," she said

Billie took a deep breath. "It's still early, but I think it's time for bed Fred."

"You aren't trying to take advantage of me are you?" she asked.

"Sort of," he said.

"Sort of?" She sounded a bit offended by his lazy answer.

"I'm still trying to be a gentleman." He let his drawl go thicker than normal. "I mean I have to be a good host."

"Okay that's your secret?" she asked and sat up to look at him. "Kill them with kindness?"

He smiled. "Is it working?"

"It's working a little," she said.

Billie made a face and scratched his head and looked at her. He was trying to be comedic, but he was a little serious when he spoke again, "I must be getting rusty."

She scooted over to him. "You're not getting rusty," she said. She leaned and kissed him. "Let me go and take a shower and I'll be ready for bed."

"Sounds good," he leaned and kissed her again.

Willa pushed herself up and walked past him. "You know the way?"

"Not really, but I'm sure I can find it," she said with a smile. "Give me about fifteen minutes and it'll be sleepy time."

Billie nodded. "Okay Fred."

He watched her leave the room. She looked back at him in the doorway and smiled at him again. "I'm glad I came down here."

She left before he could say anything, but he sure was thinking a good answer. He was definitely glad that she was there with him. He wanted to go and join her in the shower, but he knew he shouldn't. They weren't at that step in the relationship yet, but hopefully they would get to be more physically comfortable with each other now that they'd gotten past a lot of the drama and tension that had plagued them since the beginning.