Please Don't Make Me Beg

Li and Andi stood side by side in front of the bathroom mirror, laughing and elbowing each other for room as they passed hairdryers and brushes back and forth. In the living room downstairs, "David Courtney" was rattling the windows as only Rancid could, and both mother and daughter were singing along at the top of their lungs. The headbanging was doing nothing to help their hairstyles, but they barely noticed.

The doorbell rang, once, twice, three times before the door creaked open. Cautiously, a head peered around the edge and winced at the explosion of sound. Seeing no one, the visitor slipped inside and closed the door. Black checkered Vans padded up the stairs, but the music drowned out the voice calling to anybody who might hear.

"Hey Andi!" he shouted, "I let myself in! Are you here?" Stupid--of course she was here. Who else would be listening to the stereo? He reached the top of the stairs, and hearing the roar of the dryers through the open door, he continued down the hall toward the bathroom.

"Hang on, I have to get my silver skulls," he heard her shout, and before he could get out of the way, she burst through the door and collided with him, knocking him flat on his behind.

"Oooff!" he grunted, instinctively stretching his arms up to catch her fall. "Take it easy there, Speedy!"

"Dan, I'm so sorry--I didn't hear you come in!" she almost shouted.

Small wonder, he thought.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the remote and edged down the volume to a conversational level. "Better?" she grinned.

"I think so. I'll let you know when my ears stop ringing," he laughed. "Got the party started without me, didn't you?"

Li's head emerged from the bathroom, and her face lit up when she saw the tall, lanky boy. "Welcome home, sweetheart! It's wonderful to see you! I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in."

Andi and Dan exchanged a look, and burst into laughter.

"What?" Li asked. "What's so funny?" Shrugging, she disappeared back into the bathroom, toothbrush in hand.

"I missed you," Andi said. "I'm really glad you're home. It's not the same talking on the phone. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Well, except my ass, but you can't have everything, can you?" he grinned, rubbing his backside tenderly. Her smile made his heart beat a little quicker, and impulsively, he leaned down to kiss her forehead. As his lips pressed against her smooth skin, his hand cradled the back of her head, caressing her silky hair. "I'm so glad you stayed with me in the hospital. It was good to have you there. I missed the hell out of you after you left."

"It's the least I could do," she said, her arms reaching up to encircle his neck. Eyes closed, she held him for a long moment, remembering. "After all, you're my hero," she whispered.

**************

Li watched the car pull away, waving as Cooper whined and barked. He had shadowed her steps since she had come home, not fully trusting that he wasn't going to be left alone again. She knelt and took his shaggy head in her hands, flapping his ears on top of his head in a playful game that he loved. It was good to be home.

Dan's father had brought him by to pick up Andi, since he wasn't allowed to drive until his wounds had completely healed. Dinner was to be at Dan's favorite Italian restaurant, Luigi's, and afterwards they were going to the mall for a movie. Classic date fare, but Andi was adamant that it was "just hanging out." It didn't go unnoticed by Li that she blushed furiously as she said it.

And now, alone in the house, she could hear the ticking of the clock sledgehammering away the thick, slow minutes, but not quickly enough for her racing heart. The days since she had left California had been so long, and the time there had begun to seem like nothing more than a beautiful dream that was fading like a rainbow in the sun. But today, soon, her empty arms would hold more than her pillow, and she would taste the sweetness of his kiss again.

Nothing felt quite right. She couldn't concentrate to read, didn't want to watch TV, had cleaned the house from top to bottom. Opening the front door, she let Cooper bound across the front yard to the edge of the woods, and sank into the rocker to watch him. But her eyes and her attention wandered to the street, watching for a car with rental tags and a familiar face.

The sun was warm on her body, and after a while her lids began to grow heavy in spite of her excitement. Cooper's romp over, he flopped his furry body beside her, and was snoring within moments. She drifted, languid with the scent of newly mown grass and the twittering of birds, almost but not quite dreaming.

Something was tickling her cheek, like fur against her skin, and as she reached up to brush it away, her lips met warm, soft resistance, and she opened her eyes to find that the sky, blue only a moment ago, was now the deepest green she had ever seen. With a cry of delight, she rose to her feet and threw her arms around him, every sense tingling with his scent, the beauty of his full, sensual lips, the sound of his voice in her ears.

She was alive again at last.

He lifted her effortlessly into his arms, and she could feel his smile against her mouth as they kissed hungrily. She murmured his name over and over against his ear as her hands tangled themselves in his black hair and caressed the back of his neck. It was like bursting through the surface of the water when your lungs had given up hope of ever tasting pure, cool air again--she was intoxicated with the nearness of him.

Without putting her down, Billie opened the screen door and they were swallowed by the cool shade inside the house. He made his way up the stairs with the ease of familiarity, turning at the top toward her bedroom, and kicked the door shut behind him.

**************

Much later, long after the sunset had splashed itself across the sky and faded, and stars had begun to poke holes through the satin of the night sky, they lay together in the tangle of sheets. Their voices were low and soft, murmuring and sometimes laughing, and their bodies draped comfortably across each other, as if they were no longer separate. They had come through the worst together, and now their thoughts were on the future.

"The boys want to meet you, too," he said hopefully. "How about if they come out for a few days and spend some time with us? They already know Andi, and they really liked her. They said she was--how did they put it?--'cooler than Tre'."

"Wow, I had no idea that was possible!" she giggled. "I'd love to have them come and stay as long as they like. I have to work during the day, but it'll give you a chance to explore the city a little with them."

"Sounds like fun. I hope you'll enjoy meeting them--they really are good kids." The pride in his voice was unmistakable.

"Of course they are--they're your boys, how could they be anything less than wonderful?" She smiled, watching him roll over to reach for his wallet on the nightstand. "I can't wait to see them."

"These are their school pictures from this year," he said, holding out small photos of two of the most cherubic faces she had ever seen. "Jakob just got his hair lightened, and Joey kept teasing him about being a dumb blond. But they're both smart, nothing like their dad."

She punched him in the arm, an angry frown on her face. "I want you to stop saying things like that! You always put yourself down because you didn't graduate, and it doesn't mean a thing--you're brilliant, and I won't have you insulting the man I love like that!"

"Why, do you think he can beat me up?" he snickered.

"Ha ha, very funny."

It came so easily with him, the laughter, the affectionate kisses, the dreams about what the days and months ahead might be like. Sometimes it came back to her how unlikely it all seemed, to have him here with her, but in her mind, it was as if there were two Billies now. One was the image, the larger-than-life musician who was the face that fronted the band. But the other, the one she held in her arms now, was a real, flesh-and-blood man, one who had the same needs as any other--to love and be loved, to care for his children, to have a soft place to fall when the world was unkind.

"Billie..." she sighed.

"Mmm hmmm?"

She looked up at him, not realizing she had said it aloud. "Nothing. I just love the sound of your name."

The smile that spread across his face and made his green eyes dance was the most beautiful sight she had seen in a long time. He pulled her close, and for a while, they simply lay snuggled, side by side, lost in each other's hearbeats.

************************

Eventually, she had to get up. On the front porch, Cooper was barking furiously, and was probably mad at her for leaving him outside. She knew that Andi would be coming home before too long, and she wanted to shower and dress first. Dan would probably visit for a while, too, and Billie was looking forward to seeing him again, almost as much as Li was.

Billie rose, too, slipping into his jeans, and as she was reaching for a towel, he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"I'll be back in a minute. I better go get my things out of the car so I can change, too," he whispered against her ear. "I'll see what Cooper's so excited about." He kissed the back of her neck, sending goose bumps down her arms, and headed downstairs.

Poor Cooper stood patiently outside, still barking, staring in the door and wondering why they had forgotten him. His tail swished happily as Billie came to the door.

"Sorry, boy, we got carried away there. Come on in!" he said, patting the furry head and getting a friendly lick in return. Cooper, true to form, headed to the kitchen after introductions were over, checking his bowl to see if food had magically appeared.

Billie shook his head, amused, and stepped out onto the porch. He loved the southern weather--even in October, you could go out shirtless at night and not get cold.

As he rounded the front of his rented BMW, something white caught his eye on the windshield. He picked up a plain white envelope, and as he turned it over, he saw Andi's name scrawled across the front. There was something hard and flat inside, and for some reason he couldn't explain, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

After a moment's hesitation, he decided to open the envelope rather than taking it inside to Li. A piece of paper wrapped around something dark and plastic slid out into his hand. He opened the car door and sank into the drivers seat, flipping on the reading light so he could see the note.

"Welcome home, bitch. Bail was high, but that's what parents are for. See you around."

It was wrapped around a cell phone battery...

*The End*