Better Man

Mike returned to an empty hotel suite that night, thinking over in his head why the image of Tre dancing with Caroline was driving him so crazy. He pressed his back up against the door after he shut it and slouched a little, peering through the darkness until he reached his hand out and flicked on the small hallway light. Dropping the card key onto the small table beside the door where a decorative vase of fresh flowers sat, Mike stepped away from the door and sauntered into the sitting room where he let himself fall face first onto the sofa, with a slight bounce.

Turning his head, he stared at the blank television screen, his hand scrambling for the remote, never lifting his head to check for the device's exact location. But he still found it, alright. Clicking the television on, he began to channel surf until he settled on QVC.

Sitting up, lazily, he brought himself to stand up and head over to the balcony doors. He looked back at the TV for a moment and then just let the sounds float around in the background as he opened the balcony doors and stepped out into the night.

Looking out at the skyline, he could see the Hollywood sign off in the distance and the familiar, round skyscraper that was the Capitol Records building. Mike rested his 33-year-old hands on the railing, running it along as his mind reeled with a million questions.

Why do I care if Tre was dancing with Caroline? I barely know her. I shouldn't feel jealous, right? No, I'm not jealous. Am I? Why is it that I feel like a giddy school boy around her? Why do I ramble when I talk to her? Why does she have to be so pretty? Why did I get her that drink? I felt like a fool standing there with two drinks in my hand while she was dancing with--damnit. I'm not jealous. They were just dancing. Nothing more.

He looked back up at the skyline.

Nothing more.

Right?

* * *

Christmas came and went quite happily for The Sinners. It was the first holiday they had together as a band signed to a major label. And they enjoyed exchanging gifts, since they had nice things to give this year.

Caroline called her family in North Carolina, talking mostly with her younger sister, Giselle, about everything that had been going on in her life with the band and then some. She mentioned Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool and the Christmas party in LA, laughing at how envious Giselle sounded on the phone, stating that sooner or later she would get out to California when it didn't cut into her education.

Giselle was twenty-four and had already received both her Bachelor's degree and was now in her third year of medical school, aiming to be a psychiatrist when all was said and done.

Obviously, Caroline's sister was the brains in the family.

After finishing all her holiday calls, she and the guys went out to dinner in the city, toasting to each other and the coming new year.

* * *

A week later, it was New Year's Eve, and Rob was having a party/get together at his Los Angeles home, and invited The Sinners to come, to which they were more than happy to attend.

Dressed more casually than at the Reprise party, the four of them showed up in their van. Not the classiest mode of transportation, but it got them there without having to fly; something of which Nef hated. His theory was that if he was gonna die in an accident, let it be on the ground, to which Nick would attest that if a plane crashed, it'd crash on the ground anyway.

Anyway, Rob's wife answered the door with a smile and let them all in, showing them to where everyone was hanging out in either the house or in the backyard. Since it was warmer in Southern California at this time of year, Caroline decided to take advantage of the opportunity of being outside. She was also so cramped up inside the studio or in a club or in the apartment.

This was just a nice change of scenery.

She took a drink offered to her by a hired waiter that was floating around the party, making Caroline feel all fancy, even if she was only in a skirt and simple chemise top. She had her dark brown hair curled and bouncing past her shoulders in loose ringlets.

Licking her lips, she moved through the clumps of bodies around the pool, finding a seat on a lounge chair, beside none other than Billie Joe's wife, Adrienne.

"Hi," Adrienne smiled, her legs crossed on the lounge at her ankles.

"Hi," Caroline repeated. "I'm Caroline. We met at the Reprise party two weeks ago," she added, offering her free hand that wasn't holding her glass of champagne.

Adrienne nodded. "Oh, yes. I remember you now. No offense. There's always so many people to remember at those things."

"None taken."

"And I'm Adrienne," Adrienne said with a smirk. "I'm just the wife of the guy dancing on that table over there."

Caroline followed Adrienne's gaze to the card table set up outside, where Billie Joe was performing a slight striptease for some other guests.

"How many drinks has he had?" Caroline asked with a laugh.

"Enough to kill any normal human being," she rolled her eyes with a laugh of her own. "If you'll excuse me, I think I should knock him off his pedestal. Pun intended."

Caroline nodded as Adrienne stood up and cut across the yard to the table, yanking on her husband's pant leg as he crouched down and began to gyrate in front of his wife's face. Caroline laughed, shaking her head.

Not that far away, Mike was standing with his own glass of champagne, and he'd noticed Caroline arrive; his heart fluttering and his stomach doing a somersault. If he played his cards right, tonight, he would luckily be able to get a New Years kiss from her. That is, if she didn't mind.

If only she knew how many times in the last two weeks he'd thought about what it'd be like to kiss her. To hold her close.

It was strange to think that he, Mike Dirnt, had a crush. Here he was at 33 years old, and he had a crush. That was supposed to be something left to teenagers. Not famous, grown men who could have any woman he wanted, for the most part.

As the night wore on, Caroline began to mingle with the other guests, chatting occasionally with Adrienne when Billie Joe wasn't making an ass out of himself. But then there was the moment Tre sauntered up to her and pulled her aside to talk with her, beside the pool.

"So, how've you been?" Tre asked, holding his glass of champagne between his knees.

"Extremely well, thank you."

"Extremely, huh? I like extreme."

"I bet you do," Caroline smirked. "What about you? How was your Christmas?"

"Eggs-cellent," he cooed. "I had my daughter Ramona out for the holiday. I always love having her out."

"She's the one that lives in New York, right? You mentioned that at the Reprise party."

"Yeah, she lives there with her mom, which makes it a little hard to see her, but the commute is always worth it. And I wasn't about to stop Lisea from pursuing her own career just so I could keep Ramona here with me. I mean, I'm not always home anyway. Either here or there for one reason or another," he explained. He then patted her knee a bit affectionately. "Something you'll come to know soon enough once this album you and your band is working on takes off, which I'm sure it will."

Caroline beamed and tilted her head. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Tre locked eyes with hers and smiled. "You're very welcome."

She found herself quite attracted to this man beside her. This man with blue eyes that were as sharp as his wit. They talked most of the night until it became close to the countdown. The two of them stood up and joined the rest of the guests inside the house, not noticing how Mike was standing a few feet away, glancing in their direction every so often.

And damnit if he wasn't slowly realizing that he was, indeed, a little jealous.

For some reason he just couldn't get the nerve up to talk to Caroline as easily as Tre seemed to be able to do, and it was seriously pissing him off. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh and smile, to chat with poolside over glasses of champagne. He wanted to be the one standing beside her while everyone was counting down to 2006.

But, apparently he hadn't moved quick enough to be that guy.

Though, there was still time to make his move.

Right?

"10...9...8...7...6..." everyone counted down; all smiles. "...5...4...3...2...1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Several noise makers sounded as well as guests hootin' and hollerin', and all around cheerin' for the new year.

And for some reason, Caroline didn't feel at all surprised when Tre's hand slipped around her waist and he pulled her body up against his. Slowly, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips, then a tad more hungrier, slipping his tongue past her lips for a moment to graze her teeth.

She closed her eyes, bringing her hand up to his shoulder and returning the kiss while everyone around them who had received New Years kisses had already parted ways.

All except for Mike, who hadn't gotten a kiss. Well, not from the one he wanted, anyway. Adrienne, as a friend, had walked up to him and kissed him, then patted him on the shoulder as she walked off with Billie Joe, who also gave Mike a kiss.

Turning away from the guests, Mike told Rob that he was gonna leave early. That he wanted to get back to his hotel where he could call Estelle and wish her a Happy New Year without a bunch of people in the background, to which the host of the party understood, calling Mike a cab so that he didn't have to drive.

Stepping away from the throng of guests, Tre took Caroline by the hand and the two of them moved toward the family room that was void of people. They only stepped into the room enough so that Tre could pin her against the wall and kiss her in private.

She was just so beautiful. And so much fun to talk to. He desperately wanted to get to know her better. In every aspect.

Running his hand up her thigh, he pressed his lips against the nape of her neck and then cupped her ass with his free hand. He smiled at how she moaned into his mouth when she felt his arousal prodding at her inner thigh.

Biting her lip, Caroline pushed him back a little ad then grabbed the pink tie he was wearing, smirked and pulled him back into crush her lips against his. "Not to rush into anything, but..." she trailed off. "Is there anywhere you and I can go?"

Oh, yeah. He definitely liked her a lot.

"Yeah," he muttered against her swollen lips. "Rob has some guest rooms upstairs. If we're subtle," he began. "We can make it upstairs without anyone asking any questions."

Caroline bit his bottom lip this time and smiled. "Good," she replied. "Lead the way, Mr. Wright."

"Very well, Miss Woods."

Finding the strength to pry himself away from her, he took her by the hand and the two of them slinked out of the family room and found the back staircase up to the second floor of Rob Cavallo's very large home. Looking from door to door, Tre tried to remember which door led to where from the last time he'd been there, and upstairs. But he finally found a vacant room, locking it behind them for privacy.

And Caroline didn't waste any time slipping out of her clothes, and de-clothing Tre, as well.

Hooking his hands under her arms, Tre lifted Caroline onto the bed and laid her down, looking down at her while taking in the sight of her naked form.

"This is how everyone should ring in the new year," Tre commented. "Making love to a beautiful woman."

And with that, Caroline and Tre's budding friendship had crossed the line...

...in a very satisfying way.