Better Man

Caroline couldn't get over the fact that she had met Mike Dirnt of Green Day, let alone that she was signed to the same record company as him and sharing his producer. It was so surreal at times that she felt like any moment she would wake up and be back in Buffalo.

Her and the guys were given a slight 'allowance,' so to speak, by Reprise, so it was she was finally able to get some nice, new things and Christmas gifts to get her friends and family without setting a ten dollar limit on each person. But it was a bit of a paradox because even though she had a little more money to spend, the stores in San Francisco were still a tad expensive.

Thank God for Pier 39.

It was great. It was like a mini mall located on a pier.

Caroline found some great deals without having to pinch her pennies, grinning happily to herself after each sale. She found a small restaurant that was even decently priced and sat down for a bit of lunch while thinking to herself what her and the guys would be working on at the studio later that night with Rob.

She twirled her fork around on her plate, her body facing the door a few yards away, while looking down into her glass of raspberry iced tea. She smiled once at the waiter who was standing behind the bar briefly and then looked out the windowed wall to her left, at the small boats docked in the water, bobbing at the movement from the Bay's slight waves.

She was completely unaware of anyone passing by the restaurant's door, outside amongst the other holiday shoppers at Pier 39.

Mike Dirnt wasn't sure why he'd decided to check out Pier 39 on this very day. He was in the city, with nothing else to do except with the thought of maybe finding something extra to get Estelle for Christmas.

Donning a baseball cap, his dark brown hair hung out slightly, covering the tops of his ears. The Northern Californian winter wind was whipping around, and Mike was thankful he was wearing his black, corduroy jacket over his white, long sleeved shirt that was also underneath a gray T-shirt with the words 'Goat Milk?' in black letters on it. With the sound of his loose-fitting stone-washed jeans swishing, Mike smiled nonchalantly to himself as he walked along the edge of Pier 39, walking by the glass door to a restaurant he'd been to a few times in his life.

And then something caused him to stop in his tracks.

He was sure he'd seen someone in the restaurant in the corner of his eye that looked familiar to him. Backtracking his steps, he turned his head to look through the restaurant's door and pleasantly overcome with a warm feeling that swept through him. A feeling that was, again, hard to explain.

Grabbing the door handle, he pulled it open and walked in, as subtly as possible.

There sat Caroline, looking out the window, looking at the docked boats and the overcast sky above.

Placing his hand on the top of the chair opposite from her side of the table, Mike smirked and leaned down a bit. "Boo," he said with a smile in his voice.

Caroline jumped in her seat and then lifted her hazel eyes up to find Mike Dirnt standing before her. Her look of surprise quickly transitioned into a grin. "Oh...hey. You scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Will you be joining her?" came the waiter's voice as he seemed to appear out of no where beside both Caroline and Mike.

"Uh..." Mike began, hesitating.

"Yeah," Caroline answered for him, kicking out the chair he had his hand on with her foot. He grinned at her and sat down.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the waiter inquired.

Mike took a moment to think about it and then just pointed to Caroline's glass. "I'll, uh...I'll have what she's having."

"Anything to eat?" the waiter pestered further.

"Um...I dunno. I suppose I'll get--"

"--What she's having?" the waiter finished for him.

"Um, yeah," Mike replied a little shyly, and thanking whatever deity that the waiter finally left so he could finally chat with Caroline. "So...Christmas shopping?" he deducted, taking note of the bags at her feet and in the empty chair beside her.

She nodded. "Yeah. I found some great deals," she replied lamely. "Uh, what about you? Not following the male cliche come the holiday season and shopping on Christmas Eve?"

Mike laughed and shook his head. "No...I got most of my shopping done already. I was just in the mood to come into the city today and I thought stopping by Pier 39 would be something more to do. And I figured maybe I'll find a little something extra for my daughter."

Caroline just seemed to glow as she rested her elbows on the table, tilting her head to the side a little and lifting up her raspberry iced tea. "What's your daughter's name?" she wondered just as the waiter returned with Mike's raspberry iced tea.

"Thanks," he said to the waiter who disappeared again, then looked back to Caroline, admiring how pretty she really was. "Um...her name's Estelle Desiree Pritchard," he recited, then winced. Why the hell did he give his daughter's full name? It's not like Caroline asked for the whole name. "She's eight. She'll, uh...be nine in April." There he went again, rambling.

Thankfully, Caroline just smiled. "I bet she's adorable."

"She is. She's great."

"You must love her something terrible to have a grin that big when you mention her," Caroline commented.

"Am I--? Oh." Mike let out a nervous laugh and shrugged. "Yeah. She's one of the only reasons I get up every morning."

Caroline could've just melted. Oh, Mike was too cute. "You seem like you must be a great dad."

"Well, I try to be."

A moment of silence fell over them as the waiter returned for a second time with Mike's plate. The bassist nodded his thanks and then picked up his fork, suddenly feeling a little warm in his face as he caught Caroline's eye. They smiled at each other as he took his first bite.

"So, um..." he began as he finished chewing. "You and the guys going to the Warner Bros./Reprise Christmas Party in LA?"

Caroline scrunched up her nose. "What party?"

"The annual Christmas party the label throws. All the execs, artists and whatever are invited. You should've gotten something in the mail about it," Mike replied.

"Nick may have taken the mail in but forgotten to go through it yet."

Mike nodded. "Well, you'll get something. Don't worry."

"I'm not," she smirked, twirling her fork around. Suddenly she began to smile like a fool which made Mike a little confused.

"What?" he asked, wondering if he had something on his face.

"Nothing. Well...I just can't believe I'm having an impromptu lunch date with Mike Dirnt," she replied, still smiling, and touching her tongue to her top row of teeth. Then her smile disappeared as it turned into a frown of embarrassment. "And I must sound like a retard."

"No," Mike insisted, giving his head a shake. "It's flattering. And kinda nice, too."

"Well, as long as you don't think I'm a retard..."

"Doubt I ever could."

* * *

Sure enough, The Sinners had received an invitation to the Annual Warner Bros./Reprise Records Christmas Party in LA. And they were all a bit nervous about how to dress. But they figured it had to be something classy, so the guys got themselves some decent dress suits and Caroline bought a black dress that barely reached the tops of her knees but flared out, making her look like a bell swaying back and forth when she moved her hips from side to side. It was a strapless dress; something of which she was surprised she could pull off because, let's be frank, Caroline was slightly well-endowed when it came to her chest. She was lucky the dress fit her right.

She had her hair done up with little tendrils curled and hanging around her face and on the back of her neck, which exposed the tattoo on the back of her neck of a triquetra.

As The Sinners walked into the hotel ballroom where the party was being held, the sound of Caroline's heels were muted by the sound of the music playing over the speakers.

Turning toward the bar, Caroline grabbed up a glass of whatever red wine they had. It didn't much matter. She just wanted something to wet her palate. As she stood, holding her drink, she found herself smiling at how Nick was introducing himself to Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance. The other guys had also gone off and mingled with Reprise execs and other artists signed to the label while Caroline began to migrate through the crowd, holding her now empty glass of wine, drumming her fingers on it.

A tap on her bare shoulder made her turn around and then smile at the sight of Mike staring back at her with a smile of his own.

"Merry Christmas," he greeted. "Even though it's technically in a week."

Caroline smirked. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Mike."

Oh, he just loved how she said his name. It rolled off her tongue like a warm knife cutting through butter. Fuck, it was sexy.

Damnit, Dirnt. Control yourself, he mentally scolded himself.

"I, uh, noticed your drink was empty," he commented, lamely. "Would you like me to get you another one?"

Caroline looked down at her glass and shrugged, giving Mike a nod. "You're not gonna try and get me shitfaced and then take advantage of me later, are you?"

He laughed. "Of course not."

"Damn. I was really hoping you'd say yes," she teased.

Smiling, he reached out and took her glass from her, their fingers brushing against each other ever so gently. His blue eyes sparkling with their own smile, he stepped away from her and walked off toward the bar.

Caroline turned to watch him go, smiling a little to herself as she looked out at the crowd and then spotted someone walking toward her.

Tre Cool.

Oh, shit. Was he coming right toward her? Yeah. Yes, he was. Oh wow. This was so, well, cool.

"Hello," he said to her in his slightly childlike voice. "I saw you talking with Mike and was trying to figure out who it was you are," he began. "And then I remembered. You're the lovely and very rockin' lead singer of that new band Rob's producing."

Caroline grinned. "Yeah, that I am." She offered him his hand. "I'm Caroline Woods."

He shook her hand and pulled her close to him as he whispered in her ear quite huskily, much to her surprise. "I'm Frank Edwin Wright III, but you can call me what everyone else does."

"Tre Cool?"

He pulled back, eyeing her mischievously. "No. 'Hey You,'" he joked, wiggling his eyebrows a tad.

Caroline laughed and nodded. "Okay, but I think I'll stray from what everyone else does and call you Tre."

"I've always thought you were the independent type."

"But you just met me. How could you know how I was always like?" she grinned.

"That's what I said. I just met you." Now he was just messing with her. As he looked off toward the dance floor, he saw Billie Joe there, dancing with his wife Adrienne, along with several other couples dancing together. Looking back at Caroline, he stood back at arm's length and gave a bit of a bow, like a gentleman of yore. "May I have this dance, milady?" he inquired.

Biting her bottom lip, Caroline thought about it. "Well, I was waiting for..." she trailed off. But then she smiled. "Okay, yeah. I'd love to dance."

Tre hadn't stopped holding her hand from when they shook. And as soon as their feet touched the dance floor, he pulled her up against him, encircling one arm around her waist. They stepped in time together, starting to chat about this and that, and joking as well.

Unaware that Mike had found his way back to where Caroline had been standing, with her glass of red wine, and his own glass of scotch on the rocks.

He watched as Caroline and Tre danced together, smiling and laughing, looking rather at ease with each other. And it wasn't that he was jealous, but it heart did ache a little as he remained on the sidelines.

Just watching.