Fallen Embers

Sabrina slept so soundly that she ended up sleeping through Sunday. A number of times during the day though, various people stuck their head into her bedroom to make sure she was still breathing. The one time Tre checked, he actually went in and saw her tightly clutching the t-shirt he had left for her. It seemed it was a security blanket. He watched the light rise and fall of her chest as she slept unawares of his presence. "I love you Sabrina." he said quietly and brushed a wayward piece of hair from her face before he turned and left her bedroom.

When Sabrina finally woke up, she yawned and stretched in bed. She glanced at the bedside clock and saw it read Monday 7:04am. With a blink she realized she must have slept an entire day away. She rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom to get around for her day.

About a half hour later Sabrina was walking out of her bedroom and encountering the smell of coffee brewing. She expected to find Mike but instead found Billie Joe sitting there looking for the entire world as though his entire life revolved around the cup of coffee in his hands. When she pulled open the Sub Zero and grabbed a soda, did he finally look up and see her standing there.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty. First we have Snow White and now you, a fucking fairy tale in the flesh." He muttered into his coffee cup.

Sabrina snorted, "Well damn, you make a piss poor Prince Charming there Armstrong." She said as she ruffled his hair before sitting down next to him. "And if I'm Sleeping Beauty, where the fuck is my wake up kiss? I got gypped..." she muttered.

He smiled and pulled her in to kiss her square in the lips. He let her go and gave her an evil smile. "Better?" he asked her as she stared at him like he was crazy.

"Ewwww, no. Fuck that was like kissing my brother, if I had a brother." She made a show of wiping her mouth off. "Damn, I'm gonna NEED therapy after that Armstrong." She got out before she burst out laughing. Billie joined in and the two friends shared the moment together.

Soon Toby came out and joined the two singers at the table. "Can anyone join or is it 'lead singers' only?" he asked with a smile.

Sabrina eyed Toby, "Wait... why are you so chipper this morning, what's up with that?"

"Because today is such a beautiful morning, AND I didn't have to listen to you all yesterday AND tonight is the AOL sessions gig. I have many things to be chipper about, milady."

"Sessions is today? Shit... " Sabrina said as she dropped her head into her hands. "I don't wanna do Sessions... "

"And why not?" Billie asked interested in her answer.

"Well for one, there is no audience, for two it's gonna be hot as a bitch in there since it's a TV studio."

"Well I agree with you on those points Sab," Billie said, "It was hot as hell in there, but on the bright side, we got to meet Ashlee Simpson."

Sabrina gave the raven haired man a deadly look, "Do I look like I want to meet Ashlee Simpson? God Billie, that makes me all the more so NOT want to do it."

"Well geez, we're going to be there, isn't that good enough for you?"

"What do you mean, 'we'?"

"We; as in me, Adie, Mike, Tre, and Toby. Isn't that good enough reason to go?"

Sabrina make a big show of sighing, "I guess so. I guess Green Day is a big enough reason to do Sessions." She laughed as she finished rattling the men's cages.

Within the next hour or so, everyone else got up and joined the conversation. The group chatted about this that and the other things, everyone behaving and being on their best behavior.

A few hours later, they were all in a van on their way to the studio where Sessions was going to held. Sabrina sat in between Beth and Tre on the front bench seat of the van. Tre was silent and behaving while Beth had on Sabrina's iPod and was listening to some of her songs as a reminder on how they went.

Upon arriving the studio was all lit up with huge lights and cameras everywhere. Off to the side was one of her road cases in front of a black backdrop where the interview portion would take place. There were her customary sofas and risers set up and her band was already there waiting on her to arrive. After meeting the interviewer, Sabrina went into makeup and wardrobe and got herself beautified.

She came out and once again the men drank in her appearance like a fine wine. She wore her normal lace-up the side leather pants and had a black pair of cowboy boots on. The Adeline records tank skimmed down her sides like butter. Her hair and makeup were very natural looking and she indeed still looked hot for a woman of 45.

She settled herself on top of the road case with a Diet Pepsi while the sound man hooked her up with a mic. When he finished, they ran a camera and sound test and finally were ready.

"Hi, I'm Sabrina Sanders and this is AOL Sessions. Come on in, the water's fine, Clothing optional." She said with a wink.

"Hi, let's start off with some quick on the spot questions, I'll give you two things and you tell me which one you'd pick."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Half empty or half full?"

"Ummm, I am very much a 'Negative Nelly' so half empty."

"Okay, Fight or Flight?"

"Ohhh, ummm, I'd go with fight."

"American Idiot or American Woman?"

"American Idiot, though I do love The Guess Who."

"Old school or new school?"

"Ohhh, another hard one, well I have this motto; 'If the old dog won't learn the new tricks then they will become road kill along the road to excellence'."

"Top or bottom?"

"I am so a top girl, posting and all." Sabrina said with a wink.

"English or western saddle?"

"Totally english, I mean what's the point of having a horn to only have it nut you at the worst time?"

"Wild night out or romantic night in?"

"Hmmm, must take a page from a good friend of mine and say, wild night in."

"Democrat or Republican?"

"Neither, I'm registered as Independent."

"West Coast or East Coast?"

"Well East Coast girls are hip I really dig those style they wear." Sabrina sang.

"And finally, Hard Rock or Punk?"

"It's all rock and roll to me." She smiled as she sang the Billie Joel line.

"Great, thanks for that segment, and now on to the main interview." The interview continued with the normal questions being asked and answered until finally it came time for Sabrina to do what she did best, which was to sing.

Sabrina got to the stage and after a quick sound check began to play songs from 'Rebirth'. After about 5 songs, the band found themselves sweating up buckets until the hot studio lights. Sabrina felt as though she was melting. "I hope you all don't mind but I am fucking hot and sweaty and it's not the kind of hot and sweaty I'd rather be." She said with a wink. That brought laughter from the people watching. She smiled, "Excuse me but this tank top is wet, anyone mind if I take it off?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sabrina pealed the wet top off from her body, revealing a black sports bra underneath. Her taunt stomach was sweaty and gleamed under the lights. Tre's breath caught in his throat at the sight of her near naked body. He swallowed as he tried to block her from his mind; her body was like a drug and he was addicted to her. He watched as she cued the band to start an appropriate song, 'Hungry'.

The high hat rang out along with the Wa-Wa pedal of Gary's guitar, as Emmett asked her, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" he answered as the rest of the band joined in and brought the music around again to a sexy bass driven beat. Sabrina moved up to her mic stand and seemed to melt into it as she sang the words. Tre watched as she ran her hands up and down her body when the words said to.

My nylons are melting down my legs
Your heart is pounding at my throat
I can't catch my breath
I lost it when your fingertips
Ran down my back and up my neck
Your kiss makes me feel like this

I'm so hungry for your sex
I'm so hungry for your sex
I got an appetite for love tonight
I wanna taste your sweet thing
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex

My body all painted lipstick red
We ripped the sheets right off the bed
My fingernails left fiery trails
Across your back, oh, tell me baby
How'd you like that little pussycat scratch

I'm so hungry for your sex
I'm so hungry for your sex
I got an appetite for love tonight
I wanna taste your sweet thing
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex

I'm so hungry for your sex

Gary started his guitar solo which quickly turned around for Beth's solo.

I'm so hungry for your sex
I'm so hungry for your sex
I got an appetite for love tonight
I wanna taste your sweet thing
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex

I'm so hungry for your...

The music stopped as Sabrina fell to her knees and did her best bump and grind as the guitar began to wail again. Sabrina looked into the camera and gave it everything she had. Tre didn't even realize that he had begun to sweat until the song ended. Sabrina then gracefully rose to her feet and turned around to take a drink from her water bottle as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

The song list went on as she went back to songs off 'Rebirth'. The end of the Sessions loomed and Sabrina ended the set with the four slow songs from the album. They ran though 'Only Women Bleed', and moved to 'Wild Horses'. Following on that tail of that song came, 'I Fall to Pieces'. Tre figured out that she was singing these last songs for him to show him how she still felt and would feel for a long time to come. The last song of the set was 'Don't'. Sabrina poured all of her heart and soul into the words and literally held Tre's gaze as she sang. The tears flowed by the time the end of the song came. The crew and friends gave her a rousing ovation and it sounded to her as though she was in an arena for the volume of the cheers. She quickly bowed and gestured to the band and everyone came up front to form a line and bow. The director yelled 'Cut!' and it was all over.

Sabrina made her way over to the makeup mirror where she sat in the chair and picked up a hairbrush. She closed her eyes as she settled in to detangling her hair which always seemed to knot up when she got sweaty. She felt someone behind her and opened her eyes and looked into the mirror in front of her and saw Tre standing there. He glanced to the brush and she shrugged as she handed it over to him.

She closed her eyes once again as she felt his hands on her head. He slowly and sensuously brushed out her hair. He placed one hand on her head and with the other brushed the long tendrils out. When he got to a tangle, he placed pressure on his hand on her head, so she wouldn't feel him work through the tangles. When he finished each piece he lovingly moved it to the side of her shoulders out of the way of the unbrushed hair. The two people became lost in the moment until all of her hair was tangle free.

When she opened her eyes and glanced into the mirror she locked gazes with the man. His eyes were dark and deep blue with desire that sent shivers down her spine. He must have felt her movement because he smiled that predatory smile that always made her weak in the knees. She closed her eyes one more time to stop the butterflies in her stomach that Tre had caused just by looking at her. Once she had control of herself, she reopened them to find him gone.

When all was said and done, Sabrina decided to wander off by herself for a while before heading home to her penthouse. With her hair pulled back into a ponytail and a hoodie on to guard against the cool night breeze, Sabrina walked down the still busy streets. She wanted some alone time since tomorrow was the day that her new album dropped, and once that happened; trying to find another peaceful time like this would be near to impossible.

As the night air swirled around her, covering her up in its grasp; Sabrina thought about how her life was changing yet again. She walked hoping to slow down her life which was gearing up to run out of control. She had turned her phone off after being gone for almost 2 hours and her friends started to call to see if she was alright. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

Awhile later after sitting on some park bench in some little out of the way corner park, Sabrina glanced at her watch and show with surprise that it read 12:12am. She had been gone well over 6 hours. With a groan she stood up and started to make her way back to her penthouse, still no clearer about her life then she was before she began her journey all those hours ago.

She walked through the door into her penthouse and was met with three pairs of eyes. Tre, Mike and Toby all were still up and watching TV apparently waiting up for her to make sure she was okay. She rolled her eyes at the men and when Mike went to open his mouth Sabrina cut his off before the words were even formed. "I don't want to talk about it... ANY of it," she said as she moved through the living room to the kitchen. The men watched as she grabbed a bottle of wine, pausing only long enough to open it and take a swallow right from the bottle, before she continued to her bedroom. With a closing of the door she shut them out of her problems.

The three men looked at each other, each having a different reaction to Sabrina's actions. As they pondered their individual thoughts; the sound of breaking glass emanated from Sabrina's room along with a string of curses that were bad enough to even make Tre cringe. Toby looked at Tre, "It's your fault she's like this, and YOU fix it." He mumbled, "I'm going to bed and I would suggest you do the same Mike." Upon saying that, Toby stalked away to his own bedroom leaving Mike and Toby there. Toby looked toward Mike with a pleading look on his face.

"No man, he's right. Everything was fine today and then you went and did whatever you did afterwards to her. Dude, you need to decide what you want. If you want her, go get her; if you only want to fuck her, then you need to walk away. Stop doing this to her, it's not fair to either of you." Mike explained as he stood up to go to bed, "Man just make up your mind. She loves you more than life itself and she won't wait forever for you."

As Mike walked away, Tre sat in thought pondering what his friend had said. He knew Mike was right but his body was making it hard to think straight. As Tre made his way toward Sabrina's bedroom he tried to convince himself that she would always be there no matter what.

Tre didn't bother knocking this time, opting for just walking in. He found her sitting on the couch watching TV. The shattered remains of her dresser mirror were in a garbage can that sat near her nightstand. She was steadily working her way through the bottle of wine, "I'd share, but I only have a few sips left."

"That's fine... what happened?" he asked as he gestured to what was left of the mirror.

"Seven years bad luck." She responded with a snort. When he didn't laugh back she rolled her eyes, "I didn't like what I was seeing, so I did something about it." She tossed back the wine bottle to her lips and when she emptied the contents she let the bottle fall to the ground, "...and I did something about it." she muttered.

"What, you drank?"

"What is it to you if I drink or not. We're not married anymore, I don't have to answer to you any more." She stood up not so steadily and went to move past him standing there. "You made your decision Tre, you don't want me. Don't you dare come in here pretending to give a shit about anything I say or do. You don't have the right to do that."

"I don't have the right... you're saying as a friend and the fact that I care about you; that doesn't give me the right to be concerned?" he blocked her way and they stood nose to nose.

"Fuck off Tre; I'm not in the mood. You tell me you don't want me, but then you do look at me in a way that is the complete opposite of what you said. If you want something, tell me for fuck's sake."

Tre blinked at her words that seemed to be floating in the air between them. He could see the pleading in her blue eyes. Something that said, 'please love me'. He wanted so badly to protect her, but shook off that feeling. "You want to know what I want?" he asked quietly as he moved to within inches of her face, "Do you?"

"Yes, I do."

"I want to see you naked right now. I want to hear you moan my name as I am making love to you. I want feel your skin against mine."

Sabrina gasped and closed her eyes at his words and fought against the physical response that they brought out in her body. "So what do you want? Say it... tell me... put a name to it."

"I want to be able to throw you a different kind of bone once and a while."

She jerked her head at his words, she didn't think he was going to say it, but he surprised her. "I need to think about it..." She replied quietly.

"Well let me give a good reason why you should say yes." He said as he closed the distance between them and took control of her lips. He felt her resisting at first, but he didn't let up until he was rewarded with the feeling of her melting into his body; and he knew her answer then. He pushed her down onto the bed and proceeded to give her a bone of his own.

The next morning Sabrina awoke and sighed as she realized she was again alone. She vaguely remembered Tre telling her during one of their 'breaks' that they were leaving to go back to Oakland. She shook off the weird feeling that began to crawl through her consciousness. As she dressed that feeling didn't go away and she was starting to get annoyed at it. It was a feeling that she didn't want to acknowledge since it was one that she wasn't equipped to handle.

She felt as though her soul was starting to wither away.