Better Man

Caroline couldn't think of a better way to start the new year.

Making an album with her best friends for a major label with the help of Rob Cavallo, and starting a relationship with Green Day's enthusiastic drummer, Tre Cool.

The events of New Years at Rob's house, jumping into bed with Tre so rashly didn't put a damper on the friendship they were starting to build. And it didn't end with just a one night stand, either. After making love, they laid in bed together, talking; with Tre twirling her hair around his fingers so affectionately.

He had whispered little compliments in her ear while following suit with a trail of kisses on and around her neck, making sure he played nice.

He'd screwed up several serious relationships in the past. Lisea, Claudia, Donna. And he didn't want Caroline to end up as another casualty. She was going through a transition in her life of trying to come to terms with where her life would be headed. And the last thing she needed was any sort of drama to distract her from what had to be done in her professional life.

As soon as they had gotten dressed and left the bedroom, they passed Billie Joe in the hallway, leading his giggling wife into an empty bedroom across the hall. It made the drummer smile and admire his friend all the more for succeeding in keeping his marriage afloat after all these years.

Tre and Caroline went back downstairs to where Dave could be found chatting up some female guest, which was always odd for The Sinners' lead singer, since she had once been his ladylove, albeit still one of his best friends.

With everyone seeming to go off in other directions, be it to check out other parties about town, to move to different parts of Rob's house to mingle, or to just go home, Tre asked Caroline if she'd would like to join him when he returned to his hotel suite.

Without much hesitation on her part, Caroline agreed and told her bandmates to not wait up for her. Making sure she left with everything she'd brought with her, the duo took a cab back to Tre's hotel.

They stayed up until dawn, talking on the balcony, drinking a little more and making love once again on the bedroom floor.

It was, to say the least, the beginning of an eventful relationship.

* * *

As the weeks followed, recording in San Francisco resumed without missing a beat for The Sinners. However, Nef developed a penchant for sleeping in late, which tended to leave the remaining three band members in a pickle when it came to recording. So, it was a bit of a bittersweet convenience that Tre was traveling back and forth between Oakland and the city to spend time with Caroline.

He offered to lend a hand when they wanted to rehearse or sometimes needed to record at least something.

It did get to the point where Rob was getting as frustrated as the other bandmates; that Nef was slacking so early on in the recording and production process of the album. Caroline, herself was starting to feel slightly angsty. Granted she was a rocker and shared Tre's demented humor to the core and could be just as wild and crazy when she felt like it, but she was not one who typically liked confrontation. Instead of coming right out and giving Nef a piece of her mind, she turned to listening to music of the aggressive variety or dates and sex with Tre to relieve the tension.

Finally, the one day Nef surprised everyone by showing up to the studio on time, Dave put out the cigarette he'd been smoking and stepped up to the drummer, poking the younger man in the chest with his pointer and middle finger.

He laid into Nef; letting him know that if he continued to jeopardize their recording from that point on, that everyone would unanimously vote to kick him out of the band. They would even pack his bags for him and hand him a plane ticket back to Buffalo; knowing very well how Nef felt about planes.

Nef seemed to have been hit by a ton of bricks; sobering up and realizing how much of a jackass he'd been. He promised to get his act together. And thankfully, he did.

* * *

Before anyone realized it, January had come and gone and February had arrived like a herd of buffalo trampling through the Great Plains of yore.

Every Sunday, Tre would drive into the city to pick up Caroline and have her join him at Mike's diner in Emeryville, where they were joined by Billie Joe, Adrienne and their kids, Tre's ex-wife Claudia and son Frankito, as well as Mike, of course, and his daughter Estelle. It was like a family affair. Well, more like a best friends affair with their family tagging along.

Or something like that.

Then there was how Mike was putting on a brave face each time he saw Tre and Caroline together, managing to accept that he let his chance with the dark-haired singer slip through his fingers.

He could see in their eyes that they were happy, even if he wasn't completely happy. And that was enough to get him by. He was glad for his friend. And if he couldn't be with Caroline in the romantic sense, then he was be grateful to be her friend; which he was.

They would all sit together, chatting away, amiably, about this or that. And it was a weird experience for Caroline who found sitting in the company her boyfriend's ex-wife, whom he lived with, to be reaffirming that they were simply friends sharing a home together to raise their son in a home that wasn't broken.

It was admirable.

And really attractive.

As Caroline sat there beside Tre, she swung her feet a little back and forth, at one point accidentally bumping into Mike's leg. They looked at each other for a moment and she smiled sheepishly, muttering her apology. But Mike just smiled back, assuring her it was nothing. Because, frankly, he was sometimes just grateful for any contact with her.

It was like a cheap thrill he lived for, but could possibly be his downfall.

To live for every accidental touch or brush-up could leave him eternally longing for something he'd never have, thus hindering him from ever allowing himself to develop a relationship with anyone else. Even though it seemed difficult at the time; to think that anyone else could make his heart flutter the way Caroline did, although she wasn't trying or unaware of how she affected him.

It would be something that he would carry with him. To live silently with this feeling, this secret desire. This crush. But the important thing was that he could live with it.

* * *

Valetine's Day rolled around and the day before, Caroline was standing before the fridge in her and the guys' cramped apartment, sticking her head in and looking for something decent to eat when there was a knock at the door.

Nick got up off his ass, pulling up his pants when Dave groaned about not wanting to see the bassist's hairy ass crack all the time. He peered into the eyehole first and then smirked as he pulled open the door to reveal Tre standing there holding a bouquet of red roses and a heart-shaped box of what had to be chocolates.

"For me?" Nick inquired, with a joking grin.

Tre laughed and shook his head, not bothering with a comic retort this time as his blue eyes looked beyond the man who was ten years younger than him so that he could manage a nice view of Caroline, bent over, looking in the fridge.

Putting a finger to his lips so that none of the guys would say anything, Tre slipped into the small apartment and over to the kitchenette area.

"Who's at the door?" Caroline called out, unaware of Tre now standing behind her.

Casually he reached the hand holding the roses around her body so that they were right in front of her, which caused her to jump. Slamming the fridge door shut, she spun around and grabbed onto Tre's shoulders for support as she let out a pleasantly surprised laugh.

"What are you doing here in our very own ghetto?" she questioned with a smirk dangling from her lips.

"To woo you with my masculine wiles...and roses." Caroline took the roses from his hands, graciously, and smiled. He then handed her the heart-shaped box and nodded to it. "Oh, and this, too."

"Chocolates?" she quirked an eyebrow. "As if my thighs need any extra chub rub."

Tre chuckled. "Just open it."

Hesitating, Caroline finally gave in, handing the roses back to Tre so that she could open the box with both hands. To her surprise, there were no chocolates inside. Well, that wasn't entirely true. At one point there had been, but all that remained was the small brown wrappers. What was most significant about the contents of the box was what was lying on top of the wrappers.

A plane ticket.

"What's this?"

Tre nodded. "Check it out."

And she did; setting the box down on the small counter space and looking the information on the ticket over. "A round trip ticket to Vegas?" She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned back. "Are you planning on kidnaping me and taking me to Elvis' Wedding Chapel of Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love?"

Laughing, Tre shook his head. "No, nothing like that. But," he began. "I am planning on kidnaping you and taking you on a five day stay at the world famous Bellagio Hotel and Casino, complete with a day at the spa where you can get full body massages whenever your little heart desires. And there's swimming by the pool...and..." he trailed off, setting the roses on the counter and then placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him. "...and..." he whispered something in her ear which caused her to giggle.

"When do we leave?"

"Tonight," he replied. "Go pack your things."

"Just like that, huh?"

With a shrug and a nod, he smiled. "Yeap, pretty much."

Giving him a faux evil eye, Caroline slipped from his grasp and ordered him to help himself to putting the flowers in water so that she could go pack what she'd need for five days.

* * *

Later that night, Tre and Caroline could be found at a Blackjack table at the Bellagio, drinking complimentary drinks and dressed comfortably but still stylish. Biting her bottom lip, The Sinners' lead singer leaned against her boyfriend, resting her head on his shoulder as he got a 19 and the house only got a 17, causing Tre to win the latest hand.

Letting her fingers dance up to the shoulder furthest away from her, Caroline whispered in Tre's ear, and he turned his head to look at her.

He grinned, as if sending her dirty messages, telepathically.

Walking away from the Blackjack table, the two of them made their way toward the elevators which took them to their floor. Reaching their suite, Tre lifted Caroline up and laid her down on the neatly made bed in the bedroom.

Brushing the hair out of her face, he looked over at the clock to see that it was already past midnight, and officially the holiday.

Smiling, he brought his warm lips to the valley between her breasts after he slowly pulled her dress off and over head, and then murmuring, "Happy Valentine's Day, milady..."