Changes

Billie didn't really remember their set. He didn't remember if they'd rocked or not. He didn't even remember what songs they'd done. Because right before he'd take the stage, the guitarist for the Dolls had started laughing.

It might not sound like such a big deal, but she'd sounded exactly like Adrienne. The same sound, the same pitch. And it had been enough to shake his resolve. It was enough to freeze him in that spot, watching her laugh at something the bassist had said to her. Mike almost had to drag him onto the stage, where Billie must have given a kick ass performance, because Mike and Tre seemed extremely happy.

Which is quite possibly why they invited the Dolls out for drinks.

And their names posed a small problem.

Onstage, their guitarist was Marie Antoinette, offstage, she was just Tony. No word on whether or not her name was actually Marie Antoinette.
Onstage, their singer was King Louise. Offstage, he went by Robby.
As for the bassist, onstage he was simply NUMBER 2. Offstage, he preferred, Tom. And the drummer had no name onstage. But he introduced himself as Blondie, despite the fact that his hair was black.

"What are you drinking?" Billie asked Tony. She looked at him, makeup smeared, eyes still flashing with that concert high Billie knew so well.
"Vodka. Or a Jack Daniels. I'm not really partial."

Nearby, Tom laughed. Billie felt his stomach clench, almost hoping the little guy would come over and make Tony laugh again.

It was like poking a bruise. He knew he'd feel just THAT much better if Tony didn't laugh, if in fact she cried. But he was compelled to hear he laugh again, just to see if she really did sound like Adrienne.

And then she turned to him, looking straight into his eyes. And he noticed her eyes were blue. Almost as blue as her sweat stained t-shirt.

"Your wife died." The way she said it was not a question, more of a statement. Billie nodded slowly.
"I'm sorry." She said.

And before he could move away, put some space between the two of them, she hugged him.

She smelled like Mike after a concert, if Mike wore vanilla scented perfume. And before he was quite done with the hug, she pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I'm not really good with....thinking before i do things."
"It's fine, really." Billie assured her, although he had a sneaking suspiscion that it wasn't fine with him.

There was a brief moment of silence, then Billie broke the silence.

"Mike's pissed at you."

Tony burst out laughing.

"Good. I love you guys, honestly, but what an arrogant, jerky thing to do. Hand me a list of songs and say, it would make us look better if you performed these. We went out of our way to change everything after that. And that's probably why we sucked."

Billie blinked.

"Sucked? You guys were better than half the professional actors I've seen."

Tony laughed and hooked her arm through his.

"You're sweet, you know that?"

There was a rather awkward silence that Billie Joe didn't know how to break. And then Tom did turn up with jokes and charm, and Billie found himself laughing at the younger boy's jokes. He relaxed, and Mike drifted over with a beer in one hand and a very pretty girl on his arm. Tre had obviously become good friends with Blondie, Billie watched them comparing drumsticks and brandnames. And the singer, the arrogant young singer, wandered over to their little group and casually leaned against the bar next to Tony.

"Hey. Tonita."
"Yeah, Berto?"

Taking in their relaxed exchange, Billie came to the conclusion that they must be sleeping together. Or had been, at some point. He waited until Robby and Tony were absorbed in conversation before he asked Tom.

"Those two? Nope."
"You sure?" Billie aked, incredulous.
"I know, I was the same way when Blondie told me. But apparently they're just REALLY comfortable with each other."
"She's really comfortable around....everyone, isn't she?"
"Tony doesn't really have...boundries, persay. No physical ones, at least. But emotional, mental, she's got major boundries there. The most open she's been with us, her own band, is the song-writing. Other than that, she doesn't exactly share her feelings with us."
"Really?"
"Yeah...the girl is like a brick wall."
"Huh."

Billie watched as Tom faded away into the crowd in pursuit of a tall blond girl in an extremely shirt skirt.

And it might have been at that moment when he decided that he was going to figure out why this girl laughed like Adrienne, and why she wouldn't share anything with her own band.

He leaned back against the bar, and tossed back the rest of his drink. Then he smiled to himself and tried not to think about Adrienne.