My Guardian Vampire

I had been with Billie Joe for a month now.
One wonderful, lovely, romantic...
Heart-wrenching, alcohol and drugged filled month.
Mike, Tré, and Alcohol became my new best friends.
And pot was becoming a pretty damn good acquaintance.
Other than the new friends, I hadn't really changed. I was still as stubborn and playful as ever, and still in fact a virgin.

Though I didn't know how long that would last.

Amber and Tonya hung around every once in a while, but seemed wary of Billie Joe. They used to stop by all the time, but ever since I began to smoke their visits had become less frequent. But it didn't matter, because I had Billie Joe.

And I was beginning to forget, the alcohol and drugs my best helpers to heal. Sure, when I was sober it hurt like a bitch, but Billie was always there, us picking each other up off the floor the morning after. I still hadn't managed to say "I love you" yet, the words always on the edge of my tongue, ready to spill, but never there.

I woke up, wiping the dying remnants of a tear off my cheek. The crying was still there, but it had been dissolving to nearly nothing over time.

"Morning, sugar," Billie Joe said, sitting at the end of our bed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes sleepily, then studied him.

My mouth dropped. He looked drop-dead sexy, the most attractive I had ever seen him. How I could possibly deserve him, I didn't know.
He wore a black button-down shirt, the sleeves slightly rolled up to show part of his tattoos as he fiddled with the laces of undone black converse. A red tie laid unknotted around his neck, the ends lying loosely against his shirt. He sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, his lower half covered in tight black jeans.

"If you had woken up like two minutes later I would have been ready, but oh well--can't do everything perfectly." I wanted to tell him he was just perfect like this, but my words seemed to be caught in my throat.

There was a small tray on the bed with a clear, fragile vase and an ever more delicate-looking rose sitting in the center, leaning off to the side. There was a plate with toast, butter, jelly and strawberries among other various small fruits, accompanied by a glass of orange juice.

"How did you not get Tré to break all of that?" I asked, amazed. Billie Joe chuckled.

"It wasn't easy, trust me," he said smiling, and I leaned over the tray, careful not to spill anything, and hugged him warmly. I then kissed him lovingly, making him smirk. I grinned back and leaned backwards, feeling my heart leap once again asI looked at him. I then leaned over and began to tie his tie for him.

Once I was content with how it looked I smiled, happy with my good job, and noticed Billie Joe staring at me.

"Got an eye problem?" I teased, smirking. He smirked back sexily.

"Only for you, babe," he said, and leaned over to kiss me on the lips once again. Then he broke it off, tilting back and turning so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, stretching his legs out to tie his other shoe. "Now eat up babe; I have to go somewhere for a little bit, and I'll be back later. See you tonight," he said, and once he was done he leaned over and kissed me once again, a little bit longer this time.

I love the way he kissed.

"Happy one month, Ali. I love you," he said, looking into my eyes.

"I..." I said, and looked down; cursing myself for ruining a perfectly good moment with the words I couldn't say. I went to apologize, but he put his finger to my lips.

"Don't apologize love, I know how you feel. See you tonight."

He gave me another quick kiss and finally left. I sighed and plopped back into the bed, taking in the sweet smell of the night air.

Eventually I sat up once again and ate my breakfast, everything tasting wonderful. I picked up the rose and placed it at my lips, looking down into the deep red and smelling it.

"Aww, someone looks happy!" Tonya said, appearing at the end of the bed. I blushed, and Amber appeared next to her. We hugged.

"I've missed you guys!" I said once we broke apart.

"We've missed you too, Ali. You look so much better now from when we last saw you..." she said, and I looked away.

"Yeah, I've been feeling a little better," I admitted, blushing more.

And I had. The more I liked Billie it seemed the less I needed drugs to keep me happy, the more my sanity seemed to have something to cling onto.

"C'mon," Amber said, grabbing my hand. "We're gonna take ya out."

"Where?" I asked. Tonya smiled.

"I'm getting you ready for tonight."

Uh-oh.

"Tonya, my hair looks so… rich-kid preppy," I said, looking at myself in the grungy, only slightly broken broken mirror.

"That's what the red and black is for," she said, motioning to a box in her hand. I shut up while she began the process of dying my hair black with red highlights. It was styled in long loose waves that hung around my shoulders.

Once she was done, I grabbed for the tiny handheld mirror, but she snatched it away.

"Not done yet. Amber's gonna do your make-up first."

"Amber does make-up?"

"She sure does. She's really an artist with that kind of stuff."

"Don't worry kid; she's really good at finding what's just right. I gulped, still afraid.

Once Amber was finished, I was finally given the mirror, both of them grinning.

I took it and looked at it.

'Ok, so maybe it does look ok...'

"What do you think?" Amber asked, resting her hands on her hips.

"Is this some kind of mind trick?" I asked. I looked, well, pretty pale, but not horrible in the least. Everything seemed to be applied perfectly; it looked totally natural. And my eyes seemed to pop out, bright green where there was only darkness and light.

I looked up from the mirror, and grinned at the waiting Tonya and Amber.

"I love you mom and mom!" I said, hugging them.

"No! Don't mess up your make-up!" Tonya yelled, but laughed. "Now time for your dress."

"Dress?" I said, looking at them.

I did not like dresses.

"Yeah dress, and it's mandatory," Amber said, placing her hands on her hips as Tonya left to get the dress. "Do what your mother says."

"Fine mom..." I grumbled, frowning and folding my arms. Amber laughed, and Tonya came back.

"Black. Nice," I said, rolling my eyes. “Where exactly am I going?”

"Just put it on!" Tonya said, pulling me up and shoving me into the bathroom, all of us laughing. She tossed the dress in with a pair of shoes and shut the door.

"I coulda hit my head and died you know!" I shouted through the door. They just laughed, their voices fading as they left the room.

I sighed and put the dress on, making sure I didn't mess up the make-up.

Once I was done I stepped outside, not bothering to look at myself in the mirror.

"Can I take this off now?" I said, adjusting the stupid thing.

"No! It looks beautiful, Green! Billie will love it!" I looked down and blushed.

"Well... Fine. But only because you said I couldn't," I agreed grudgingly, making Amber and Tonya laugh knowingly. I rolled my eyes.
Eventually after hours of just hanging out at their place and doing nothing, we departed. It was such a simple, but wonderful day—as if Tonya and Amber were girls I grew up with, older sisters that had known and loved me my whole life. As we left, I felt a pang of sadness, missing my old friends—but knew that wasn’t fair to the wonderful pair that had been with me all this time.

"Where are we going?" I asked once we were outside.

"You'll see. I called a cab," Tonya said as a cab pulled up out of the darkness, the cabby looking nervous. We got in, and Tonya gave the guy money.

"A hundred dollars, as promised," she said, closing the door. The cabby nodded and we were off. I sent Tonya a questioning look, but she put her dainty finger to her lips to shush me.

We were soon in the city, and the cabby stopped in front of an extremely nice looking hotel. I thought it was just because of traffic, but Tonya opened the door and she and Amber got out, pulling me with them. The cab quickly sped off, glad to be rid of us.

"We had ta bribe him to come to our part of the city. What a fuckin’ scardey-cat,” Amber chided.

“I don’t blame him. Now come on," Tonya said. Amber and Tonya linked arms with me and we walked into a large, ornate walkway, leaving me feeling nervous and overwhelmed as we entered. The inside was even more grandeur than the outside, lavish and elegant. I could easily determine I had never been anywhere quite so upscale—and what I could only call “commoner butterflies” were tossing around in my stomach.

'What the hell am I doing here?'