Kiss the Flame

The woman sat on the step and blindly fumbled with her cell phone trying to make a call. The sound of the ringing phone in her ear was welcomed as she tried to compose herself enough to speak to the other party. That battle though was one she was slowly losing.

The phone rang in the Armstrong house as the family was spending some quality time together. Joey ran over and picked up the cordless phone and clicking on with the touch of a button as he spoke the standard greeting, "Hello?"

The boy never got a response but could only hear muffled sounds coming from the other end. Frowning he tried again, "Hello?" a little more loudly. Listening intently Joey finally was able to make out the sound of crying.

Billie Joe looked over at his son who had a puzzled look on his face. "What's the matter?"

"I dunno Dad, all I can hear is the sound of someone crying."

Billie Joe frowned as he got up and walked over to where his son held the phone out. Taking the phone from Joey he placed the headset to his ear and listened to the sounds coming from the other end. "Hello?" he said trying to get a response from the other party.

Sabrina in her haze heard a familiar voice and latched onto it in her wildly spinning emotional state, "Billie?"

"Sabrina is that you? What's wrong, why are you crying?"

The woman tried to calm down enough to talk and finally with a shaky voice was able to communicate. "Billie? Can you come over... please... it's important... please... "

Billie listened to her words and the tone of voice they were said in and got concerned, "Sure sweetie, I'll be right there." He pulled a frown again as he didn't hear her response but rather the dial tone stating that she had hung up. Clicking off the phone he set it back on its cradle before turning to face his wife who by this time was standing next to him curious as to what was going on.

"I don't know what's happening but Sabrina's crying and wants me to go over there... what for I don't know but I'll call as soon as I know what's happening."

Adie smiled and kissed her husband, "Okay Billie, be safe." The man nodded and grabbed his jacket and car keys to leave and go to Sabrina's house.

Billie arrived at Sabrina's and walked in through the garage door which opened into the kitchen. When he walked in her found Sabrina sitting quietly at the kitchen table, hands folded and staring off into space. He walked over and pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, the noise seemed to bring the woman back to reality. Without looking at Billie she stood up and began to walk away. When she got to the garage door she turned back to a confused Billie, "TJ is asleep and when he wakes he'll need a bottle which is in the fridge already to go; it just needs to be heated. I have to go." Without waiting for an answer she opened the door and disappeared.

Billie sat there stunned at what just happened. He didn't know what to think since there was such a difference in the woman from the phone conversation to now. He shook his head and pulled out his cell to call Adie and bring her up to speed.

Charlotte was wiping down a table when Sabrina entered the café. She didn't even glance toward the hostess as she made her way to a back table in the little alcove of the dining room. Charlotte walked over to the table to get a drink order and leave a menu but got no response from the woman who just sat there like she was in a coma. The hostess backed away and went and grabbed a coffee and a diet soda, unsure of which once was wanted but hoping that one of the two items would work. She placed the drinks back on the table in front of Sabrina who still wasn't acknowledging the other woman. Without another word Charlotte backed off figuring that Sabrina would let her know when she was ready to order or something.

An hour went by and the woman sitting at the table never moved or changed position or acknowledged another else in the café. Charlotte had grown more and more concerned as the time went by with the woman in a near comatose state. She wondered about the newborn infant and if he was safe. She walked over to her hostess stand and grabbed the phone and started to dial numbers.

The man teased the strawberry blonde's neck with kisses as their bodies started to become one in the age old dance of love. Beth moaned at the feel of Mike's lips on her skin and dimly was aware of a phone ringing. Mike reached out his hand and quickly glanced at the call id and groaned; except it was from frustration rather than pleasure. Beth navigated his head back to her's and kissed him to bring him back into her world. The man dropped the phone to the bed and resumed what he was doing when the phone quieted. He smiled into Beth's lips only to have the phone begin it's ringing again.

"Ignore it... ignore it... ahhh," Beth mumbled as Mike hit a sweet spot of her neck.

"Trying... to... " he said as the phone again stopped its noise. Just as he was able to claim the woman underneath him in one trust the phone again began to ring. "Oh come ON," he said defeatedly as he reached over to grab the offending item and clicked it on with a disgusted snort, "What?" he said non-too gently to the person on the other end.

"Sorry Mike but something's going on here and you needed to know about it," the hostess said to her boss.

Mike sighed as he moved his body off of Beth's and sat up next to her. He pulled his hand over his face, "Sorry Dark Eye didn't mean to snap at you. I know you wouldn't call unless it was important... " Mike was having a hard time concentrating when Beth came up behind him to wrap her arms around his chest and dropping light kisses along the back of his neck. With in quick in take of breath he found his voice again, "It is important right?" His thoughts again wandered from the call as Beth now moved to sit in his lap, rubbing her hands up and down his naked chest.

"Well yea... I wouldn't have bothered the big boss unless it wasn't. Sabrina came in about an hour ago alone and has been sitting at a table not saying anything or moving or anything since sitting down. I'm worried she's isn't talking or anything... and I don't know where her baby is; she came in alone."

That had Mike's full and undivided attention. Pushing Beth out of his lap he bolted completely upright while clicking on the speaker phone, "TJ's not with her?" Upon hearing the hostess's answer he closed his eyes and hoped nothing had happened. "Give me a few minutes and I'll see what's going on and come in. Call me if anything changes." He quickly turned off the phone and began to scroll through his phone book looking for another number. With a muttered 'ah-ha' he hit the call button and waited as the phone began to ring on the other side. A very familiar voice answered and shocked Mike for a minute.

"Hello?"

Mike blinked as his friend's voice filtered through the phone. "Bill, what's going on? Why are you at Sabrina's house?"

"I dunno; your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that Sabrina called my house phone crying and I couldn't understand a damn thing until she finally was able to say that she needed help and if I would come over. So I did and I find her sitting at the table not saying a word and staring straight ahead, like she was in her own little world. She walked out and just said that TJ was asleep and when he wakes up bottles are in the fridge and then left. I dunno Mike what's going on but it doesn't sound good."

Mike related that call from Rudy's to Billie as they made plans. "I'll go over to the Café and see if I can get anything out of Sabrina. Do we know where Tre is?" the bassist said as he threw off the covers to start getting dressed.

"No, but I'll call him and see if he knows anything. I'll call if I find out anything and you do the same okay."

"Okay, I'm getting dressed now so it will take me a few minutes before I can leave... " Mike said trailing off as he bent over to grab a shirt from the floor. The sound of Billie's snorting came through the phone as Mike clicked it off with a muttered "Asshole," flowing from his lips. He pulled on the shirt and sat on the bed and grabbed his jeans and socks and within minutes was completely dressed. He stood up and began to walk out of the bedroom when a voice stopped him.

"Wait."

He turned around to see Beth walking toward him in nothing but the bed sheet wrapped around her naked body. He smiled at the sexy picture she made with her newly colored hair all tousled and messy, her naked shoulders and neck, the contrast of the red satin against her white skin. He had begun to lose himself in the picture in front of him and was jarred back to reality by some sound she was making.

"You hoo... Earth to Mike," she said while snapping her fingers in front of the man's nose.

He blinked and shook his head a bit before pulling her into his arms. He dropped a kiss to her plump lips and ran his hands down her back. When she groaned at his touch he smiled and pulled away. "You stay here and man the fort." He smiled at her pouting of her lips.

"You come back home before midnight and I'll man your fort," she said with a saucy toss of her hair. Grinning from ear to ear Mike kissed her lightly again before letting her go as he turned to walk from the room pausing at the door for a moment, "I'll call as soon as I know what's going on." Then he left the room and a moment later she heard the front door slam as he left on his mission.

Mike turned into the parking lot at Rudy's and pulled in next to Sabrina's SUV. Killing the engine of his BMW he got of the car and took a deep breath before walking to the front door Rudy's Can't Fail Café.

Charlotte was wiping off some tables when she looked up at the sound of the door opening and saw the big boss coming in from the outside. She rushed over to him grateful that he had shown up rather quickly. "She still hasn't moved or talked or anything," the hostess said, words rushing out in one breath. Mike nodded at her words so she continued, "She is in the back corner by the window sitting at the big table."

Mike took another deep breath and went across the dining room toward the annex where some publicity shots were taken of him and the guys during the American Idiot time. He paused when Sabrina came into sight. He frowned at how calm she looked; like someone had "Turned a faucet off," he said completing his thought out loud. What ever had happened, it was big. So big that she shut herself down to everything. He turned and moved over to the drink station pouring himself a cup of coffee before headed into the lions den. Sabrina never looked over when Mike sat down next to her. She didn't even acknowledge his presence at all. Mike took a long sip from his cup and geared himself up for a wait.

They sat there in silence for a while until Sabrina seemed to blink and finally turned her head to the man sitting next to her. "He's still with her... all this time I thought he was with us, he was still with her," she said in such a tiny small sounding voice. "I thought... I guess I assumed... "

Mike just looked at her as the wheels inside his head were churning away. Questions began to form but he knew she wasn't in a place to be able to answer them. He took another sip of his coffee before setting it down and turning sideways to face the woman. "He is still with Jill? I would have thought that he was with you also."

The woman shook her head, "No... before his parents left he was going out for long periods of time during the day. I just thought he was with you and Billie. I heard Frank Sr. and him fighting one day but no one would say anything to me. After they left he continued being gone but he always came back... I just assumed... ." She ducked her head as the memory came flooding back to her, "He came home tonight and said he had to leave again. When I asked him when he was coming back he said he wasn't... that he was going back to her." Tears leaked from her eyes as she turned back to look pleadingly at Mike. "What does she have that I don't Michael? What makes her so special? I know I'm not young and beautiful but what power does she have over him?"

Mike had an overwhelming urge to take Sabrina into his arms and shield her from all the bad stuff going on, but held back. He instead placed his hand against her cheek and felt her lean into him. "You are beautiful Sabrina... Tre... I don't know what's going on but Tre is a fool to pass you over for Jill."

The woman smiled weakly before closing her eyes and leaning into the feel of Mike's hand. "What am I going to do Michael? Every fiber of my being is screaming at me to run back home; to The Farm but I can't. He asked me to promise that I wouldn't take TJ away from him... and I did."

Mike got angry that Tre asked that of her but just like Sabrina did, he remembered how Tre was when Lisea took Ramona so far away from him. The lean man understood why Tre asked but in reality he knew that it was the worst thing for Sabrina. He made a silent vow to himself to be there for his friend during the rough journey he knew laid away for her. "Come on Sab; let me take you home to TJ. God knows how Billie is holding up with an infant all by himself."

"My SUV... "

"Beth and I will come get it tomorrow and drop it off at your place. Okay?" When she nodded her agreement he stood and held his hand out to her and helped her stand up. Draping an arm around her shoulders he led her through the Café and out to the parking lot to his awaiting BMW.

Tre left Sabrina's house but didn't want to go back so soon to Jill. He ignored the ringing of his cell phone as he drove around endlessly, not really having a place to go but just not wanting to go home. He stopped to grab a bottle of tequila from a liquor store, thinking of going somewhere and getting plastered until he couldn't think. Until he could get the sight of Sabrina crying out of his mind. Drink until he didn't have to feel anymore.

He started to drive again and suddenly with a start he realized where he was. Making up his mind he made a couple of turns and ended up at a place where he thought that he could work out some of his thoughts and feelings.

Beth was watching TV when she heard the doorbell ring. Frowning she tried to figure out who it was since the gate was shut and only a few people knew the code to get in. Walking down the stairs with the bed sheet wrapped around her she figured it had to be a friend of Mike's. She came up to the door and hiked the sheet tighter around herself before opening up see who was there. She was shocked at who was standing there in front of her, "What are you doing here?"

Tre blinked in surprise when Beth opened the door because she was the last person he wanted to see at that moment in time. Digging his toe into the concrete of the front step he answered, "Nothing... I dunno... is Mike here?"

"Uh...no. He just went to Rudy's because apparently you did something again to turn Sab into a zombie. She left your son with Billie."

Running his hand through is hair Tre stammered for a second; "Ummm... yea..." he trailed off as the tears started to spring to his eyes.

Frowning, "Come in. Try not to flood the front steps," Beth said with a hint of pity.

He stood dumbstruck for a moment before taking her up on her offer and walking through the front door into the living room. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Yeah...don't mention it."

He looked at the woman and cocked his head to the side. "Your hair is tousled and lighter... did I disturb something?"

Deciding to be frank with, well, Frank, Beth tightened her grip on the bed sheet and sighed. "Mike and I were...busy. And, I dyed my hair yesterday."

The man nodded, "It looks nice..." he said trailing off again seemingly lost in his own mind. After a moment he looked up at Beth, "Is she really that bad?" he said in a whisper.

Beth shrugged. "I don't know. But Mike left in a hurry and all I know is what he told me the hostess from Rudy's told him; Sabrina's been there for about an hour or two and hasn't moved or said a word. Like I said; a zombie."

The man sighed again and seemed to turn into an old man shriveling up into himself as he dropped into the couch. "I left her... for good this time," he said softly as tears once again began to form in his eyes. "I had too... I didn't want to but had to. I owe it to her... she wants to marry me and I have to," he said as he slumped down further into the couch where he was sitting before muttering again, "I have to..."

"We're not talking about Sab now are we?" Beth scowled. It meant only one thing, and it left a bad taste in her mouth. Whore-bag, Jill. "Her."

Tre flinched as the word came out of Beth's mouth like venom shooting from a snake's strike. "I had to... you don't understand... I didn't have a choice..." He looked away from the now angry woman and made motions to stand up, "I'll go... it's clear that I'm not wanted here..."

Beth sighed. "Tre, sit your dumb ass down and just give me thirty seconds to change into something that doesn't have a thread count. I can't talk like this when I'm pretty much naked."

The man obeyed the order and actually took a second to take in what she was wearing, "Red suits you well," he said with a slight chuckle.

"It's strawberry blonde, for your information."

"I didn't mean your hair," he replied sounding for a minute like the carefree Tre of old.

Growling at the man she spun around on the balls of her feet to go upstairs to change and not long after she returned to the living room dressed in Mike's white dress shirt from the night before and a clean pair of his boxers. "Alright, where were we?"

Tre glanced at her outfit and smiled, "I see what Mike sees in you," he said. Upon seeing her annoyed look to his comment the man quickly changed gears. "You were saying her in an evil tone and I was going to leave."

Raising an eyebrow at Tre, she discarded his comment and moved to reply to the latter. "And I'll keep saying it in an evil tone because, let's face it; I don't like her. Never did, never will. And you're not going anywhere because you just have no idea how much of a dumb ass you are being and I need to inform you of it since Mike and Billie don't have the balls," Beth said as she was on a roll with the man in front of her.

The shocked look upon the man's face said it all. He blinked a few times as he struggled for a reply. "Explain to me how I'm being a dumb ass when I'm trying to make one relationship in my life work for once?" he said with a touch of anger showing in his voice.

"You honestly love the dingbat more than Sabrina? The dingbat who openly criticizes the mother of your son when she's done nothing to deserve it? You wanna marry the woman who kept you from being with Sabrina when she needed you at the doctor's because the two of you had a special night planned? For fuck's sake, Tre, you can have a special night whenever you want. You can't have a child whenever. You are letting her manipulate you and you're doing nothing. She's got you whipped and it's nauseating."

"Jill isn't that bad... you just need to get to know her better," he said stubbornly.

"No thanks, but I'd rather take a hot poker through my eyes."

"And she is not manipulating me..."

Beth interrupted him, "Well, don't come crying to me one day when Ms. I-Gotta-Make-It-Right-With-Her turns on you the way you turned on Sab." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before turning her gaze back to Tre, "Shit, why can't Sabrina be the one you make it right with? Ever hear of second goddamn chances?"

"You don't understand Beth; Jill wouldn't do that to me. I have to make this work. Jill has done nothing to deserve less than 100% from me. I plan on making it work; for once I want something to work out... it never has before. It's important to me. Sabrina... she is entirely a different matter..." Tre shifted around in his seat at her biting words.

"And if you even attempt to move away from where you are because you don't like what I'm saying about your precious Jill, then I will cut off your remaining ball and shove it up your ass."

Tre again was taken aback by her outburst and totally misunderstood it, "I not moving anywhere. I asked Sab not to take TJ away from me." The man looked down at the floor, "I would never desert my son. I would never desert ANY of my children. They are the reason I breathe."

Beth growled in frustration, looking up at the cathedral ceiling of the living room and then sighed. Sinking back onto the opposite end of the couch, she stared at him. "Maybe. But if your antics with your worse half ever take precedence to the point of causing Sabrina any trouble or turmoil, you will lose your son. I feel it."

"No... She promised me she won't. Sab would never break that promise."

"And you promised Sabrina to have and to hold and we all know where that stands now..."

"She promised me that too... that was all her doing... she sent me away after that accident..." he trailed off remembering that day in the hospital. "You have no idea what is was like to sit there for two days worried sick only to have her wake up and send me down the road... I can't go through that again... that's why I can't go back with her... I can't stand for her to send me away again," he said in a small voice.

"If you loved her, truly loved her, nothing she could've said in her anger or grief would've made you walk away from her. You didn't bother to fight. You gave up on her and she needed you, no matter what she said under a morphine drip." Beth shook her head. "You gotta start looking at things through her eyes."

"Her eyes?" he snorted with disgust. "Her eyes told her she wasn't good enough for me... that I deserved to be a dad and she couldn't do that for me... God dammit, I never asked to be sent away, she told me to go... I just did as she asked. What else was I supposed to do? Stay with her even though she didn't want me? Besides... she got over me quick enough with your boyfriend."

"Are you even listening to yourself? Horse shit. She needed you and still does, and I don't see why," Beth remarked. Suddenly the last words the man said sunk into her being, "Wait... what?"

"Yea... your boyfriend... after she recorded 'Rebirth' she jumped into the sack with him... Didn't you know that?"

Beth's open mouth closed slowly and a pang of jealously clouded her heart. "No, I didn't know about that. But what does it matter? I didn't know either of them then." Beth looked down at her kneecap and began drawing circles on her skin with her finger.

"Hit a nerve did I? Doesn't feel too good does it," he replied. For once, Beth had nothing to say. Pursing her lips slightly, she looked away and curled her legs up under her. Seeing a chance to take the heat off himself for a moment Tre continued his line of dialog, "So what's your story?"

"I don't have one," she blatantly lied.

Raising an eyebrow to the woman, "Wait... what was your quote? Oh yea... Horseshit."

Turning to look at Tre, she shot daggers at him with her eyes. "I don't open up to Mike that often. What makes you think I'll open my flood gates for you?"

"Cause I tell you my reasons for staying with Jill and then you tell me something... even stevens."

"I tell you something?" she repeated with a coy smirk. "Okay. I have a half sister who's half Chinese. Oh, and I be turning thirty one this September." Folding her arms, she continued to look at the drummer. "Anything else?"

"That's not what I meant," he said rolling his eyes. "Wait... half sister who's half Chinese?"

Beth nodded. "Yeah. She's 18; product of my Caucasian mother and Chinese stepfather. Half-Chinese."

Composing himself for the task at hand he tried again, "Okay... look at me. I'm almost thirty five years old with not one but three bad marriages under my belt. Three... how pathetic is that? I just want something to work out. I want to have that perfect marriage that Billie and Adie have... I want that... that kind of love. I know that if I work hard enough I can get it. I just need to do this..." He looked up at the woman, "Do you understand what I mean?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never been married."

"No... that love... that kind of love that is the reason you breathe every day." Picking at his nails he shrugged his shoulders, "I want that. I know Jill is young but I think she wants that too."

Her mind lingered to Mike for a moment and she simply nodded. "Who doesn't?" She licked her lips and frowned. "Who doesn't want someone who'll stick with them through thick and thin, and never leave their side..." she trailed off but not before adding, "Who'll never walk out."

Tre looked up sharply at her words, "I had to walk out because of Jill..." trailing off suddenly he cocked his head at Beth as understanding came over him. "Who walked out on you?

Not realizing what had slipped past her lips, Beth instantly clammed up on instinct. "Beth? Who?" he prodded lightly of her. Not really looking for an answer but just wanting to be there for her at this moment.

Staring at a spot on the floor, images of a little girl under an apple tree smiling up at an older man flooded her mind. Without her permission, tears welled up in her eyes. Tre placed a hand on her arm as he saw the tears in her eyes, "Beth?"

She sensed his touch and that was enough to crack her dam. "It's been twenty-five years. Twenty-five goddamn years."

Tre mentally counted twenty five years back and understood it wasn't a boyfriend so that only left one person, "Your dad?"

Slowly, she nodded her head. "He didn't die. He just...left," she mumbled. "I was seven. He took me to see Poltergeist the night before. My mom was mad at him because she thought I'd get nightmares. But I didn't." Looking briefly at Tre, she pouted. "For the longest time I thought reason he left was because he got in trouble for taking me to see that movie. How silly, huh?"

Tre's heart went out to the now vulnerable woman, "No... It's not silly... You were just a child, you didn't know..."

"I loved him. He was my world. My dad. He would sing me songs on his guitar and he would even show me how to play," she commented. "That's how I first learned. He was a musician; bluegrass and country. His heart and ambition was so big, it was infectious. I loved being in his presence. He was larger than life to me."

"Wow, he must have been something since you are such an amazing player yourself." The man said the words but didn't really know what else to say to the woman.

Beth ignored Tre's lame comment because she knew it was out of the need to say something comforting. "I remember, the day after the movie, I was across the road...see; we lived in the finished apartment in my mom's parents' basement in the Adirondack area. Peru, to be exact. Across the road was an apple orchard. There was rarely traffic so it was no big deal for me, at seven, to just walk across..."

Tre moved closer to comfort the woman and placed his hand again on her arm. Just a token to say he was there. "But that day, I was sitting under this one tree and I heard the screen door slam shut from the Florida room on my grandparents' house and out walked my dad, throwing his guitar case into his truck along with a small bag. I didn't think anything of it then. I just smiled as he came across the road to see me."

"He crouched down and cupped my face and smiled. He said, 'I love you, Holly Bethie.' Then he started to sing this lullaby he made up for me when I was a baby..." Slowly Tre saw where the story was going and his heart went out to her as she struggled to continue. "Little Holly Bethie, short and sweet. She only stands about two feet. She's got a pudgy belly and a pair of piggy toes...when she cries, everybody knows," she recited with small sobs clogging her throat.

Her expression sobering up, she eyed Tre. "Oh yeah, in case you didn't catch on, my real name's Holly Elizabeth. Beth is just more a nickname."

Tre nodded his understanding and looked at the woman, "He left you then didn't he? Jesus Beth, I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you."

Beth shrugged. "He told me he had to go get cigarettes. But he never came home. He hasn't come home for twenty-five years. He left June 16th, 1982."

Tre sat back as her words settled in his being, "Wow... Beth. I don't know what to say. That's such a bad thing to have happen and what a bad WAY to have it happen to such a little girl."

"His loss. That's what my mom used to tell me. After I knew the truth of what happened."

"What happened?" re said looking somewhat confused.

"He took off for Nashville to be a famous country musician. Fucker only had a one hit wonder. And guess what it was called?"

Tre thought for a second, "I dunno know but I bet Ollie would know... she's the country music buff around here."

The woman snorted her disgust, "Under the stage name of Mark Pritt...'Holly Bethie'. Last I heard he was writing songs for established musicians or something. I dunno."

"I have to download that when I get home, I never heard it before," Tre said before a smack of understanding shot through him. "Rock stars... is that where that came from?"

Beth scowled slightly. "He's one of the reasons."

"You know, Sab did some country work a while back, maybe she has heard of him..." Tre mused out loud.

I don't care about him anymore, Tre," she scowled. "He left me, I shouldn't have to care."

Turning his attention back to the topic at hand Tre paused for a moment to find the right words, "Beth... you do know that Mike isn't your Dad right? I mean Mike is as far from 'rock star' as one can be... For Christ sake's the man lived in an Airstream trailer when as we went out on the Pop Disaster tour. And that is about as far from rock star as you can get."

My dad wasn't a rock star either..." she trailed. "Things can change. People change. People fuck you and leave you...when something better comes along..."

"Ummm no, not Mike; he lives and breathes for Stella. His last two relationships failed to no reason of his."

"Whatever," she shrugged.

"Jesus, look at what Brittney did and his last wife left him while we recorded AI." As he suddenly watched Beth's body language, Tre realized to back off. "Thank you Beth."

"For what??" she asked looking confused.

"For listening to me and sharing with me. You're good people Beth. Mike is lucky to have found you."

"Can you keep a secret, Tre?"

That set the man aback for a moment, "Yea... sure," he stammered. "Does it have to do with sex?" he asked with a hint of the normal Tre showing through.

Hesitating, Beth bit her bottom lip as a bit of anxiety overwhelmed her. "I..."

Tre struggled not to force Beth so he just sat and waited for her. "I'm scared to love him," she finally whispered.

Out of everything that Tre thought she could say; that came out of left field, "Why?"

"He makes me feel good, but how long will it last?" she confessed.

"I dunno, but I understand that feeling... it's what stops me from being with her," he confided to the woman.

Trying to divert focus from their woes, Beth looked toward the clock and uttered in a whispery voice, "I hope he comes back soon."

"Yea, so do I... I hope she's okay," he said bringing Beth back into his sight he sighed. "You know, think we might actually be able to call a truce now?"

Beth tried to smile but it was a limp one. She shrugged. "I suppose. As long as you never utter her name in my presence, we should be fine."

"I can do that... we need to all get along for everyone's sake. It's going to be hard but I know it will all work out in the end," he said trying to convince himself of that very thought.