Rest

The following day was absolute hell for Billie Joe. He woke up with a screaming red nose, sore from all his sniffling and nose blowing from the previous night. His eyes were bloodshot and bleary from a sleepless night of coughing and non-stop sneezing. He couldn't hide his condition any longer, and surrendered in defeat. Adrienne walked out of the bathroom and smiled soothingly at him.

"Good morning."

"Ahh--Ahh--chooooo," he sneezed into his soggy, crumbled, and completely abused tissue.

"Bless You," Adrienne replied, rubbing Billie Joe's back.

He nodded, completely miserable. Tufts of his hair traveled in every direction as he managed to sneeze loudly again. His flaring, irritated nose seemed to grow worse every second, and soon he felt as if he was on his death bed. He knew his appearance must have been shocking, and the least bit attractive, but there was nothing he could do.

"How are you feeling?" Adrinne whispered, playing with his hair.

"What do you think?" he croaked, sneezing a sharply again.

"Awww," she said sympathetically, laughing slightly.

He sneezed again into his balled up Kleenex, and then sighed, "Oh, God."

"Nice cold you've got there," she sighed, feeling his forehead.

"You said we'd be able to relax together. This is NOT relaxing."

"Mike and Tre have already decided to cancel the meet and greets, and the concert tonight," Adrienne said, preparing herself for protesting. She quickly stuffed her index fingers into her ears.

"WHAT?!?" he shouted hoarsely, "I'll toughen it out."

"I don't think so, you're pretty sick, hon. Don't think I didn't hear you last night--with all your coughing and sneezing..." Adrienne laughed lightly again, "Look, I'm going to get you some tea from the Starbucks inside the hotel. Try not to sneeze your lungs out until then."

"I make no promises," he groaned, grabbing a new handful of precious tissues.

Adrienne retrieved the nice, steaming tea from Starbucks, and then traveled her way back to the hotel room. She tiptoed quietly inside, wondering if Billie Joe might have fallen asleep, but no such luck. He sat up in bed, pulling the blankets down to his lap, before he took a tentative sip of hot tea.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, unable to keep a note of concern from her voice.

"I'm fine," he insisted, curling both hands around the cup and avoiding her eyes. He wasn't fond of her constantly making a fuss over him. When he had enough tea for now, Adrienne took the cup from his shaky hands, gingerly placing it on the counter.

"There's one thing I'm happy about," Billie Joe grinned, his lips curling at the ends.

"Oh, yeah, what's that?" she asked absent-mindedly, still completely focused on Billie Joe’s soft, wavy hair.

"I'm glad you're here with me," he said sheepishly, a subtle smile still glued to his face.

"My pleasure," Adrienne replied, brushing the hair out of his hazel eyes. His eyelids were heavy-lidded and blotchy. It was more than obvious that he was tired, but couldn't fall asleep. It's strange how there are those moments where everything is in reverse. Where you’re exhausted, but cannot sleep. When you feel like the Earth is turning slowly, but it's moving rapidly. The moment when you feel it's Tuesday, even though it's Wednesday. Life likes to surprise us and keep us on our toes every once in a while, if only we could keep up.

Billie Joe smiled and thought that maybe he'd actually be able to enjoy the day. He'd search for the silver lining. So what if his concert was canceled? There will be millions more, but today he'd be able to spend his day and love with Adrienne.

He cuddled closer and wrapped his arms around the middle of her neck, sniffing her new perfume through his stuffy nose.

"Hmm, I like your perfume," he complimented.

"Thank you, it's Versace," she giggled, then ran her hand down his chest.

"Can we watch a movie together?" he begged, pouting playfully.

"You, mister, are going to get some rest," Adrienne insisted, taking his glasses off and kissing the top of his forehead.

"That's no fun," he laughed weakly, "Pleeeeeeease? I'll probably fall asleep during the movie anyway."

"So, what's the point of watching one? I'll just end up giving you a summary when you wake up," she made a funny face, meant to look confused.

"I just like listening to movies while I sleep," Billie Joe joked, then snatched the remote off the nightstand. He zipped through the channels and settled on a romance movie playing on Lifetime.

"Really?" Adrienne asked, suppressing her laughter.

Billie Joe smiled, "Yes, really," then allowed Adrienne to remove his glasses once more, and then place them on the nightstand where the T.V remote had been lying.

He snuggled into the covers once more, his head dropping near Adrienne's shoulder. She kissed him and whispered, "Sweet dreams," before watching the romance Billie Joe had chosen to fit his preference. She giggled and smoothed his hair out with one of her hands.

This was going to be some tour…