Paper Lanterns

You woke up the next morning to the sound of a bass playing in the next room. You looked at Billie Joe who had a sour expression on his face. Apparently, he wasn't too appreciative of his friend playing his bass at 6 in the morning.

You threw your pillow at Billie Joe. "Oh, don't be such a sour puss."

"Hey, you hit me." Billie Joe pouted but then smirked. "With a pillow..." You smiled sheepishly and hid under the covers. Billie began tickling you copiously until he was ontop of you. Billie began to kiss you but pulled away and rolled off you so he was next to you instead of ontop.

"Huh?" You were a bit confused. Billie Joe whispered his plan and you nodded and smiled.

"On the count of three." Billie mouthed. "One, two, three."

"Ohhh Billie Joe." You fake-moaned. "Billie, don't ...stop." You tried your hardest to contain your laughter. You weren't sure if that was possible, but you tried anyway. "Faster baby, faster..."

"Ohhhh." Billie Joe imitated you. "Mariaaaa, you're so good."

You and Billie Joe continued on with the moaning and you two having "sex" until you heard Mike stop playing and say loudly, "I can't take this anymore!!" You both burst into laughter as you heard Mike walk out of his room. He stood in the doorway, seeing as Billie never shut the door last night, with his eyes closed. "I hope you know my eyes are closed. And I would like you to also know that I heard it all and you never warned me."

You poked your head out from under the covers. "Well you were playing your bass, so we figured you wouldn't be able to hear us." You smiled at Mike.

Billie Joe poked his head out to and removed the covers off of you and him. "Oh my word!" Mike shrieked. He opened his eyes. "You're fully-clothed?!" He was confused. "B-b-but ...I heard ..how ...?"

"Now, that's what you get when you play your bass." Billie Joe paused. "At six o'clock in the fucking morning."

"Oh, sorry." Mike said ashamed. "So let me get this straight. You two woke up because I was playing my bass and so you pretended to have ...'it' to teach me a lesson about playing so early?" You and Billie nodded your heads. Mike went to leave when you stopped him.

"Hey Mike."

"Yeah?" Mike turned back around.

You shook your head. "Still can't say the 'sex' word, can you?"

"I prefer not to." Mike answered.

"And one more thing, Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"You and Dani can't have 'it' in my apartment. Ever." You said shaking your head. "Got it."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Mike said saluting you and walking out to the living room.

"Poseur!" You yelled before pulling the covers over your head, and ultimately Billie Joe's.

"What was that whole, 'poseur' thing about?" Billie asked.

"Remember way back when you made me get out at Mike's house that one night." Billie Joe nodded solemnly. "Well, when I said I was leaving Mike wanted me to tell him something or other the next day and so I said 'Aye, aye Captain' and saluted him as well. Therefore, he is a poseur because he copied me."

Billie Joe pulled you closer and kissed you. "That's because you're the best girl in the whole world and you always come up with the funniest things so Mike just has to copy you."

"Oh." You said. "Okay." Billie smiled and kissed you again. You two fell back asleep.

"WAKE UP!!!" You heard being yelled somewhere in the vicinity of yours and Billie Joe's bedroom. You woke up almost instantly and pulled the covers off of your head. There stood John.

You turned to Billie Joe who seemed rather annoyed that he was woken up, again, by a disturbance in his and your apartment. "Billie Joe, I'm afraid you're going to have to find another drummer."

John's face was filled with fear. "W-w-why?"

"Because...you'll be dead!" You jumped off the bed and chased after John with the a baseball bat that just so happened to be leaning against the wall. John ran around the apartment screaming like a girl, begging you not to kill him. Just when you were about to hit him, someone removed the bat from your hands. "What the fuck...?"

You looked at Mike who was shaking his head in disapproval. "Maria, killing the poor boy isn't going to solve anything."

"You..." You pointed a finger at him. "You let him in. Maybe I should do away with you instead." You went to lunge at Mike but someone stopped you. "Billie Joe, let go of me!"

"Not if you're going to kill off my band." Billie Joe said not loosening his grip.

You had an expression on your face that looked as if a light bulb had gone off in your head. "Okay then. You can forget about 'it' for the rest of forever." Billie Joe let go of you. "Thought so." You walked into the kitchen and took your medicine and some advil, hoping all the pills in your system wouldn't react badly and kill you. "Sorry about that. Killer headache plus TWO rude awakenings can make a bipolar girl snap."

"Hey, Billie Joe. You better not piss her off. She might kill you." John joked. You glared at him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights and shut up.

You sat down on the couch and curled up into a ball and closed your eyes. "What time is it?"

"Seven." Mike and John said.

Your eyes shot open and you looked at the two of them. "Seven? As in, 7 in the morning?!?!" They both nodded cautiously. You stood up and went back into the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. You closed your eyes and just as you were about to fall asleep, you felt the bed sink.

"Baby, it's just me." Billie Joe whispered and wrapped his arms around you. "I came to keep you company."

"Aw, you didn't have to." You said turning so you could face him.

Billie smiled. "I wanted to."

"That's why I love you." You said. Billie Joe kissed you on your forehead.

"I love you too, baby." You heard him say just before you fell asleep. When you woke up a few hours later, you were alone. You smelt waffles either actually cooked or burning and decided to get up in case the apartment burns down.

You walked into the kitchen to find Billie Joe placing two blueberry waffles on a plate. There was another plate with three sitting on the table already. They weren't burnt, which was a surprise. He looked up at you and smiled. "Good afternoon, Maria."

"Afternoon?" You inquired. "I slept that long?"

"Yeah, you were tired." Billie said unplugging the toaster and getting out the syrup and some orange juice. "Come sit down and eat."

"Where's John and Mike?" You asked sitting down at the table.

Billie poured two glasses of orange juice and joined you at the table. "They went somewhere. I don't know."

"Oh." You say. "So you made this, all by yourself?"

"Are you questioning my abilities to cook?" You nodded. "Try it. Bon appetito." You looked at him oddly. "That's french."

You laughed. "Honey, it's italian. Nice try, though." You took a bite out of the waffle. It tasted good. "This is actually pretty good."

Billie Joe's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"No." Billie frowned. "I'm just teasing."

Billie Joe smirked. "Hm...teasing..?"

"I need to learn to keep my mouth shut." You say out loud before taking a sip of orange juice.

"Oh come on, Maria." Billie Joe said seductively. "You know you want to."

You laughed and stood up to put your empty plate in the sink. "Haha, no." Billie stood up and wrapped his arms around you and began kissing your neck. "Billie ..." He didn't stop. "Billie Joe, seducing me isn't going to get you what you want."

He stopped and spun you around so you were facing him. "It's not?" You shook your head. "Why not?"

"Because I said so. That's why." You said matter-of-factly. "Maybe later." Billie Joe's face lit back up. "I said maybe"

Billie followed you into the living room and sat down on the couch next to you. "What can I do to guarantee that I will get what I want?"

"Quit bugging me about it."

"So no kisses?" Billie looked sad, as if he couldn't last the rest of the day without kissing you.

"No, you can kiss me .." You said grabbing the remote.

"Okay." Billie put his arm around you. "This is okay right? Me putting my arm around you?"

You nodded. "Of course." You then muttered under your breath, "Minus one point."

"Huh?" Billie Joe asked.

"Nothing, nothing." You replied sheepishly.

"I'm home!" Mike announced opening the door to the apartment. "Miss me?"

"No." Billie Joe said. "I was this close.."

You, Billie Joe, and Mike watched the Godfather, which you had picked and they weren't allowed to object. "If you object.." You turned to Billie Joe. "Well, you already know what'll happen." You turned back to Mike. "But you, I'll have my godfather come after you." So you got your way and watched the movie.

Mike got up and announced he was going to sleep once the movie had ended. Billie Joe stopped him. "Wait. I need to ask Maria something." He turned to you. "So...?" You whispered your reply in his ear. He smiled and turned to Mike. "Earplugs tonight."

"Yesh." Mike cringed his face. "Thanks for the warning."

"Not a problem." Billie said cheerfully thinking he was going to get what he wanted. He grabbed your hand and you two walked into the bedroom. Billie Joe began planting kisses on your neck and then moved up to your lips. He pulled away and moved over to the bed, take you with him. You both lay down, side by side for the moment, as Billie Joe continued to kiss you until he was ontop of you.

You pulled away before he could succeed at that and smiled innocently. "Ah, getting a bit carried away for a good night kiss aren't we, Mr. Armstrong?" You rolled over and went to sleep smiling while Billie cursed under his breath.