Better Man

As the end of the tour rolled around, the one thing that seemed to stand out the most was the show in Ottawa where some random teenage girl somehow managed to sneak aboard The Sinners' tour bus, thinking it to be The Killers' bus. When they had headed onto the bus at the end of the night and found her sitting in the kitchenette area, her eyes went wide and she asked for autographs.

Needless to say The Sinners were a little surprised and mildly freaked out, but they were nonetheless flattered and signed some shit for the Canadian girl by the name of Anji.

Of course, afterward, they had to boot her ass off the bus, albeit nicely.

But, again, despite all the tour hijinks that was by far the most amusing one for the fab four.

The last show had been in The Killers' hometown of Las Vegas so, the lesser established group flew home out of Sin City, instead of taking the bus.

Caroline crashed at Dave's condo that first night, using his extra bedroom, but mostly staying up until four in the morning, talking with him about what she was going to do once she saw Tre and Mike, and what she would probably do, decision-wise. And Caroline had to admit; it was extremely helpful to have an outside opinion. Someone who'd had her like the two Green Day men, and knew how she was and what she wanted as well as what she needed. He was able to give her input to help her on the path of making the big decision, and for that she was grateful.

And then, the following day, Caroline got into her car, which she had left parked in the parking garage to Dave's apartment building, and drove off toward Oakland, on her own.

The drive seemed to take forever; like when the main character in a scary movie is walking or running down the hall and it just seems to go on for miles.

But, as the tree-lined streets came into view, The Sinners' frontwoman knew that the trip had come to an end. She pulled into the driveway, turned off the engine and hopped out of her car.

Slowly, she took the calculated steps to the front door and knocked, instead of ringing the doorbell.

As the door opened, Claudia stood at the other side with a small smile.

"Hey, girl. Long time, no see," Tre's second ex-wife remarked.

"Yeah, I know," Caroline replied lamely. "Is Tre here? I, uh...I need to talk to him."

"Uh, yeah," Claudia nodded. "He's out back in the yard. Last time I checked he was taking a quick swim," she explained and then gestured with a nod of her head. "C'mon."

Caroline stepped across the threshold and into the house as Claudia shut the door behind her.

Ready or not, Tre, here I come, Caroline thought.

* * *

Several hours later, not far from Tre's house, a black BMW rolled down the road and pulled into the driveway of Mike Dirnt's house, and, well...when the car was turned off, Mike, himself, stepped out with a bag of groceries in one hand and a smaller bag of DVDs from Blockbuster in another.

He walked slowly up the walk to his front door, struggling to put the key in the lock, but before he realized it, the door creaked open, which made the bassist nervous.

Why in the hell is the door unlocked?

He'd locked it before going out. Was there someone inside? Was he being robbed? What the fuck? What the fuck was going on?

Mike. Chill. Take a deep breath. Don't panic. Don't get stressed out. Take it easy.

Stepping inside, ever so quietly, he looked around, trying to see if anything was in disarray, but, to his surprise, everything was as he left it.

Closing the front door behind him with a soft click, the blue-eyed punk rocker took quiet steps from his front hall to his kitchen, placing the bags on the table and giving that room a looksee as well. And, again, nothing was unusual.

Except for the single scented candle sitting on the windowsill above the sink.

It was lit.

Did I leave a candle burning? he wondered.

It was possible. And perhaps he didn't lock the door when he left. Perhaps he only thought he did. Another quote from the movie, Empire Records: "In this life, there are nothing but possibilities." And how true that was.

Shrugging it off, Mike began to put the groceries away in the fridge when he heard a small creaking noise coming from upstairs, and he knew he didn't just hear things.

Someone was here, for sure.

Stopping what he was doing, Mike stalked over to one of the drawers and pulled out a rolling pin. Why he had a rolling pin was beyond him. It's not like he ever made cookies or homemade pizza which would call for rolling dough.

Anyway, Mike took the rolling pin, holding it in his hands like a baseball bat, and stealthily ascended the stairs to the second level of his house. Biting his lip, he hoped to God or whatever deity that he really was just hearing things because the last thing he wanted to do was get into a scuffle with a burglar.

Creeping slowly down the hall, he gently threw open each door he came upon and took a careful look around each room, throwing open closet doors. But he came up empty handed, which was a bit of a blessing.

Unfortunately there was one room left to check.

His bedroom.

Swallowing back a small lump in his throat, he gripped the rolling pin a little tighter and then reached out for his doorknob. Twisting it, he pushed the door open and as soon as he stepped inside, he stopped dead in tracks, his jaw dropping at the sight before and around him.

Letting his arms fall to his sides, he looked around at how his room was covered in a couple dozen lit candles of all different shapes, sizes, colors and scents. But giving off the same warm glow. When he looked at his bed, he saw that the sheets were pulled down, and were in fact different from the cotton sheets he'd had on them earlier. As he approached the bed to inspect, he could tell by look and touch that they were satin. Black, satin sheets.

He quirked his eyebrow.

What the hell?

Tilting his head, he discovered small, white piece of paper folded up and sticking out from underneath one of the black, satin pillows. Setting the rolling pin onto the floor beside him, he unfolded the paper and read the single word written in uppercase.


Hesitating, he slowly turned as he sat down on the edge of his bed. Just as he did so, he felt the extra presence in the room almost immediately. And when he looked up, he saw a figure standing in the doorway to his master bathroom. But not just any figure mind you.

"Caroline," Mike blurted in a surprised whisper. As he took in the sight of her, his pupils dilated in arousal, gulping at how sexy she looked.

Dressed in nothing but a black negligee and her dark hair long and wavy around her face, Caroline stepped further into the bedroom as demurely as a courtesan of yore.

"What are you--am I dreaming? Is this that dream I keep having?" Mike rambled off his questions as she neared him.

She shook her head. "This is no dream," she replied softly. Smiling, Caroline stepped right up to him and placed her hand on his chest, over his heart, then snaked it up to his shoulder after a beat. Pushing him back lightly, she climbed up onto the bed, and gathered herself in his lap, straddling him.

"What are you--what about Tre?"

Caroline placed a single finger against his lips to shut him up. "Do you want me?"

Mike opened his mouth to respond but she pressed her finger more firmly against his lips.

"Nod or shake your head," she said. "Now, let's try this again," Caroline smirked, sitting down on his lap. "Do you want me?"

Mike nodded, his eyes glazing over with desire for this woman, and Lord knows it didn't take much for her to get him going.

Caroline leaned down and kissed him. "Then have me," she muttered against his lips.

Sitting up so that they were facing each other with her in his lap, Mike snaked his arms around her waist and ran his hands ups her back as he leaned forward a bit to place kisses on her bare shoulders. Her hands cupped the back of his head, guiding him to her neck where he laid several soft pecks and licks.

"Tell me you want me," Caroline pleaded, tilting her head back as he licked up the front of her neck.

"I want you," he replied. "I want you so much."

Frantically, her hands moved down his chest and to the waist of his pants as she pulled his shirt out of his pants and lifted it over his head, followed by his beater until he was bare chested. Mike followed suit as he pulled at the spaghetti straps of her negligee.

"How much do you like this negligee?" he growled, huskily.

"Enough that I don't care if you rip it off me," Caroline grinned mischievously as she claimed his lips once against.

"I like the way you think," he muttered into her mouth, ripping the material off the top half of her body. "Just like me."

As they began to make love, it was an unspoken given to Mike that this would be his best romp with her ever, to date.

Running her hands up the back of his neck and to his head, she ran her fingers through his hair, bringing his face back to hers as they kissed yet again. Mike licked at her upper lip, pushing his tongue in to run against the top of her mouth and then duel with hers.

Mike locked eyes with Caroline, his lust mirroring in her hazel ones.

But it wasn't just lust.

It was love.

The two of them kept going at it for a while, rolling around on the black, satin sheets, until Caroline began to whimper underneath Mike.

Afterward, Mike nestled his face in the crook of her neck, happily basking in the afterglow.

"You okay?" she asked with a satiated smirk plastered on her face.

"You have no idea," he muttered as he rolled onto his side and then onto his back, lying side by side with Caroline.

Slowly, she turned her body and laid her head on his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist and entangling her legs with his.

"How's your heart holding up, old man?" she teased, kissing his chest where his heart was.

Mike brought a hand through her hair and smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. "I think it's completely healed now." He played with her hair, semi-subconsciously, as they locked eyes. "Caroline..."

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you come back?" he inquired. "I mean...what about Tre?"

Caroline licked her lips and let out a breath. "I went to see him earlier today and we talked for about two hours about everything and...how I felt. How he felt. How the dynamic between us had changed." She focused on a random, small freckle on his chest as she continued. "And as much as I loved Tre and always will, I kept thinking about you in the back of my mind, and when I told him as much, he was a bit quiet. Maybe a little heartbroken, but he admitted that he'd expected my change of heart. That him and I hadn't been the same together since last summer."

"Since our first kiss?"

"Yeah, more or less," she replied.

"So, uh...what's the final decision? Was this, um...a goodbye romp? Are you gonna move on away from Tre or me? Or---"

"I want you," she cut him off.

Mike raised his eyebrows as a smile crept onto his lips. "You do?"

Caroline nodded. "I want you more than anything, Mike." Sitting up, she pulled the sheet up to her chest, covering her body as she bit her bottom lip and stared down at his lean, but godlike body. "I was attracted to you first, and that day at the restaurant at Pier 39, I'd wished something would've built from that, but then I met Tre and he kinda swept me away with his humor and charm. And he was good to me, and yes, he was a good lover. But I wanted more. I didn't want just 'good.'"

Mike sat up and tilted his head slightly. "What did you want?"

"I wanted great." Looking him in the eye, Caroline cupped Mike's face and kissed him gently. "And I found that with you."

"Took you long enough," he joked against her lips.

Smacking him playfully on the shoulder, she then ran her fingers through his hair, studying his hairline before looking him in the eye again.

"I love you," she whispered. "I love you, Michael Ryan Pritchard. My Michael."

Mike gave her a smile as he bit his bottom lip in order to keep his happy tears at bay. "I love you, too...Caroline Anne Woods," he replied. "My Caroline."

She closed her eyes and brushed the tip of her nose against his. "I have so much of myself to give to you," she muttered, her lips desperate for his. "And I want you to have all of me."

"But you're not an object to be had," he responded with a grin. "You're a woman to be held."

Pulling back, Caroline smiled.

"What?" Mike wondered.

Climbing back up into his lap, Caroline wrapped the black, satin bedsheet around the both of them as she snuggled against him. "See...this is why you're the better man."

~*~ THE END ~*~